Book Reviews

Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson, Susan Roth

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:54:00 -0400

After beingrescuedand nursed to health by the villagers, Mortenson wonders what he can doto thank them.Advised by a wise elder to listen to the wind, Mortenson becomes aware of childrens voices, children he has helped teach during his convalescence,and he decides to build them a school. Greg listened, heard the eager voices of students at their lessons, and promised to return to build a school. Wanting to do something special for the village, he was encouraged by wise man Haji Ali to “listen to the wind.” Dr. The picture-book narrative successfully compresses Mortensons story by focusing on the elements most important to children: the strangers appearance, the drama of the construction, thehappy conclusion. The remarkable account of this quest, which involved constructing a bridge and manually carrying supplies to the building site, is magnificently enhanced by Roth’s colorful collages. Starred Review. Greg met the children of Korphe, who were eager to learn but were forced to write their lessons with sticks on the ground. After getting lost while climbing the world’s second tallest mountain, the K2 in the Baltistan region of Pakistan, Mortenson, a nurse, stumbled into a small village and learned of the dire circumstances in which local people lived. This truly exceptional and moving title should not be missed.Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA All rights reserved.
As explained in an artist’s note, she incorporated fabric, bits of paper, and other fibers into the scenery in appreciation of the Balti people’s aesthetic use of scraps. “A Korphe Scrapbook” follows the story, displaying photographs of the events, the village’s inhabitants, and the librarian who helped to fill this school and the 57 more schools that have since been built in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kindergarten-Grade 4Holding true to the original title for adults, Three Cups of Tea (Viking, 2006), this moving story will amaze and inspire young readers.

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett Review

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:02:00 -0400

Ken Sanders is the self-appointed “bibliodick” gdriven to catch him. With a mixture of suspense, insight, and humor, she has woven this entertaining cat-and-mouse chase into a narrative that not only reveals exactly how Gilkey pulled off his dirtiest crimes, where he stashed the loot, and how Sanders ultimately caught him but also explores the romance of books, the lure to collect them, and the temptation to steal them. Most thieves, of course, steal for profit. Gilkey is an obsessed, unrepentant book thief who has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of rare books from book fairs, stores, and libraries around the country. Basbanes, author of A Gentle Madness “A fascinating journey into a strange, obsessive world where a love for books can sometimes become a fatal attraction.” “John Gilkey wanted to own a rich-man’s library in the worst way, and was soon acquiring expensive first editions in the very worst way of all: theft. Bartlett befriended both outlandish characters and found herself caught in the middle of efforts to recover hidden treasure. Rare-book theft is even more widespread than fine-art theft. It’s a captivating cat-and-mouse game and a fascinating exploration of why people are so passionate about books. In an attempt to understand him better, journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett plunged herself into the world of book lust and discovered just how dangerous it can be. John Charles Gilkey steals purely for the love of books. I found the narrative compelling, and I loved the inside stories about old books.” -Erik Larson, bestselling author of The Devil and the White City
In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, a compelling narrative set within the strange and genteel world of rare-book collecting: the true story of an infamous book thief, his victims, and the man determined to catch him. It will be especially gripping for those of us who trade in antiquarian books, who owe much to Ken Sanders’s persistence. Nicholas, author of The Rape of Europa “Hats off to Allison Bartlett for a splendid contribution to the literature of bibliophilia/bibliomania, the John Gilkey-Ken ‘bibliodick’ Sanders story is one that cried out to be told, and she has accomplished it with style and substance. A fine read.” “With its brilliantly observed details, wry humor, and thrilling plot twists, Bartlett’s narrative drew me deep into the obsessive world of a book thief and the dealer determined to stop him. If you liked The Orchid Thief, you’re going to love The Man Who Loved Books Too Much.” “Bartlett’s tale of literary intrigue makes you fall in love with books all over again. “In this great read about the collector’s obsession gone wrong, Ms. Bartlett gives us fascinating glimpses of the rare book world, the criminal mind and the limits of journalistic involvement. Anyone who has trouble passing a used bookstore without going in will love this book.”

Review: Skippyjon Jones, Lost in Spice by Judy Schachner

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:00:59 -0400

You’ll want to be there when the brave Skippito gets lost in spice! Thats right, spice. The New York Times bestselling kitty boy blasts off into another hilarious adventure. To prove it, hes off on a space jaunt replete with craters, crazies, and creatures from Mars. His new adventure is packed with witty wordplay, Spanish phrases, and Judy Schachners trademark hilarity. Skippy knows from his big ears to his toesthat the planet Mars is red because its covered in spicy red pepper. Buckle up, amigos everyones favorite kitty boy is about to lift off.

Why Our Health Matters by M.D. Andrew Weil Review

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:45:58 -0400

Weil has arguably become America’s best known doctor.” -The New York Times Magazine. The government and corporations both have to work to make the right lifestyle choices affordable and easy. You can knock it over; it bounces back up to the center. This is not the most cost-effective way to prevent disease. They dont learn about botanical medicine. You can interact with toxins and not be harmed. Q: What is health and who is responsible for it? A: To me health is an inner state of balance and resilience that allows you to move through life and not get hurt by all the things out there that have the potential to hurt you. An image that I like to use to illustrate that is a childs knock-down toy with a weighted bottom. And thats any way you look at it, whether its in terms of infant mortality, longevity, or rates of chronic disease.
The second myth is that having the most elaborate and expensive medical technology in the world must translate into medical excellence. Q: Why arent we doing better at preventing disease in this country? A: I think our efforts at prevention are feeble because we work from a model of prevention that is not very robust. The reality is that medical technology has helped us in certain areas like the management of trauma and critical conditions. That means teaching people how to make better choices about how they eat, how they exercise, how they rest, how they neutralize stress. You cant have the federal government telling people to eat more fruits and vegetables while at the same time making unhealthy foods cheap and healthy foods expensive through its patterns of crop subsidies. The fact is that we have a great medical infrastructure, in terms of bricks and mortar and very highly trained faculty. For example, our health professionals know next to nothing about nutrition. In fact, one of the main reasons American health care is so expensive is that our interventions are based in expensive technologyincluding pharmaceutical drugs. We need to think about prevention in new and better ways. I would like to see people become informed, and upset and angry with the facts about health care in America. There are many low-tech methods of intervening in disease that our doctors simply dont learn. They dont learn about mind/body interactions. We conduct a great deal of research, but the fraction of it that is relevant to health and healing and to developing cost-effective treatment strategies is very low. Q: Can you talk about the three myths of American health care and the realities? A: I think many people buy into three myths about American health care that really deaden us to the realities.
The first is that because American health care is the most expensive in the world, it must be the best. Many Americans would be surprised to know that our national health is far from the best in the world, even though we spend more money on it than any other country. The cornerstone of prevention should be lifestyle medicine. This is primarily something that needs to be done in terms of education, but the whole society has to pull in the same direction. I want to show them all the things that have to change. He shows us exactly how we have become embroiled in the present situation and provides a solution that will not only make healthcare affordable, but will also put each one of us on the road to optimum health. That puts us on a par with Serbia. The reality is that although we spend more per capita on health care than any people in the world by a long shot, our health outcomes are at or near the bottom compared to those of other developed countries. But the curriculum of medical schooland this is also true of nursing and pharmacy schoolsomits very large areas that are extremely relevant to health and healing. Cost of medical care today are a leading cause of personal bankruptcy. Weil shows how medical schools fail to give future doctors the education they need to care for patients, how insurance companies have destroyed our opportunity to get excellent care, and how pharmaceutical companies have come to rule our lives. The World Health Organization recently ranked America thirty-seventh in a survey of countries in terms of health-care outcomes. The World Health Organization recently rated America thirty-seventh in health outcomes, on par with Serbia. Also, our entire health-care system is geared toward intervention in established disease, yet the vast majority of that disease is lifestyle related and therefore preventable.
The third myth is that we have the best medical schools and research institutions in the world and that they are producing the best physicians and the best research in the world. Healthcare is no longer just a public issue; for millions of Americans it is now a crisis on their own doorstep. I want them to understand how much we are paying and how little we are getting.