snickerpants.com

Written by Alan Gratz.
Narrated by Arthur Morey.

Set in 1890, Samurai Shortstop is the story of Bushido and Basuboru and a drastically changing Japan. We meetToyo Shimada, a 16 year old boy getting ready to start school at Ichiko First Higher, Japan’s premiere high school. Well, not actually “getting ready” but rather, along with his father, assisting his uncle Koji in seppuku. At 16 years old he does not understand why his uncle wants to die but he does understand that it is important. After the seppuku ceremony he learns that it is his father’s intention to follow suit soon.

The next day he is off to Ichiko First Higher and its many opportunities for corporal punishment and hazing. At least that’s what I was expecting. What happens is actually a very touching story of how Toyo learns about himself, the differences between the old and new Japan and just how important the Samurai code (Bushido) is to his father and eventually, himself.

One thing that confused the heck out of me through the first half of the book is what the hell Basuboru meant. Was it the name if the baseball team Toyo played on? Nope, it is the Japanese name for Baseball. As soon as I figured that out I felt like an idiot. But I did appreciate the way the author used the Japanese versions of several baseball terms instead of using the American words. It made the story feel more…well…Japanese.

I admit that I have so little in common with a teenaged Japanese boy learning to cope with the changes consuming Japan in the last decade of the 19th century. But this Gratz had written it so well I did feel as though I understood the characters and from where they were coming.

The back of the cd case recommends this book for listeners from 10-14 years old. I would increase that to anyone over 10 years old. Definitely I am going to press my husband into listening to it. Interestingly, the last cd includes a short essay from the author about why he chose to write the book. In the essay he admits that he assumed baseball was introduced to Japan through American occupation during the 1950′s. After seeing a picture of a man in Samurai kimono throw out the first pitch in a baseball game from 1915 he decided to investigate further. What came of that research is this book, mostly fictitious with strong currents of actual events. It is surprising to learn that Ichiko First Higher is actually the premiere high school of Japan and some of the boys we meet are based on real people.

All in all, this is a short book that is well worth the time spent listening. Another satisfying element is that the narrator, Arthur Morey, does an excellent job with the Japanese. I cannot recommend this story enough.

Written by Richard Russo.
Narrated by Ron McIarty.

So, there is a reason that you see this book lurking everywhere in the background.

You know how they sell “Top 10″ books at Costco? My mom has a theory about them. She secretly thinks they’re top 10 sellers because Costco is selling them. And then, when the hype wears off people realize that perhaps that book wasn’t as good as it was purported to be. Well, Empire Falls is not that type of book. I think it’s more of a sleeper hit to be honest. All the people I know that read the popular books have been talking about “Like Water for Elephants” (or whatever the hell that book is called) and “Life of Pi” for a while now but only recently have I heard murmurs of them reading this book called “Empire Falls”

My husband read it a few years ago a raved about it. Someone liked it enough to make a mini-series of it. I goes to show how long my book stack is that I’ve only just now got to it. And then only because my husband went to the library and borrowed the audio book version for me. I’m glad he did.

Ron McIarty is a talented narrator and pairing his talent with the subtle brilliance of Russo’s writing makes for one hell of an audio book.

Set in the small depressed town of Empire Falls Maine, the characters tangle in and out of each others’ lives in ways that make you think they are your own family, the part that you love and hate at the same time. It’s rare to come across an author that knows so much about the small things that make people human and the ability to display all the grist in a way that seems natural. I am looking forward to reading more of Russo’s work – but I have a stack of Hellblazer comics to get through first so it may be a while.

Written by Brian Azzarello
Art: Marcelo Frusin, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cameron Stewart

Whaaaaaa?

T

F?

I totally, completely and 100% did not understand this volume of Hellblazer. It starts with Neo-Nazi idiots and ends with Constantine supposedly spontaneously combusting on the floor of an S&M club. The problem I had with this was the fact that there was very little real explanation of why everything was happening.

I have heard it said by many people that they dropped Hellblazer about this time because of Brian Azzarello’s weird writing. I can understand that. I decided to pick it back up because I like Constantine so much but after reading this I can see why many people decided to drop it.
Fortunately “Highwater” was the last Azzarello/Hellblazer effort and there are at least 10 more compendium books following.

I will say that the art in this book was exceptional. I really like this particular style of drawing Constantine. It makes him look seedy and evil in a “He’s a bastard but I want him on MY team” way.

Today, while working quietly at my lab bench, our research doctor sneaked up behind me. As there was an impromptu meeting going on a few feet away between the head honchos of our lab, he very quietly asked me

“Hey, what’s the one thing that scares you the most?”

Without a second thought I turned to him and responded in the same quiet tone

“Spiders and super-fast zombies. Why do you ask?”

“Hm, that’s interesting. Spiders and super-fast zombies. Hm.”

Then he tip-toed back out of the lab. A few moments later, from farther on down the hall, I heard

“You were right! She totally said Spiders and super-fast zombies!”

I didn’t think to mention the whole demonic posession thing….