Cheap: the High Cost of Discount Culture

"Cheap" by Ellen Ruppel Shell examines why our obsession with getting goods cheaper and cheaper has ruined our society as a whole. In a lot of ways, I agree with her and always have. I've always been willing to pay more for something manufactured here in America rather than in China. I don't like supporting another nation's economy. There are costs we don't usually even think about as we grab $20 shirts off the rack at Target, like the environmental factors of what's going to happen to all this stuff that we treat as disposable but not biodegradable. There's also the human factor--people working for pennies in sweat shops and whatnot. It was a very sobering look at how much we're truly paying when we go in quest of that great deal.

Peep Diaries; After Etan

"The Peep Diaries" by Hal Niedzviecki (whew, what a last name!) has been getting some buzz in the community lately due to the timeliness of the topic: how social networking has changing our perceptions of privacy and how we interact with others online. I thought it was quite interesting and I enjoyed it, and Hal's style was easy to read. He made a lot of good points on why he thinks we are so eager to post online all sorts of private information that would have been unthinkable in the past. It doesn't really change how I use social networking, but it did give me a better understanding of how others see it.
"After Etan" by Lisa R. Cohen looked at the kidnapping of six year old Etan Patz on May 25, 1979, from his New York neighborhood. Before Adam Walsh, there was Etan, and the two kidnappings together kind of became the catalyst for changes made in the system as to how kidnappings were handled nationally. There is no tidy resolution to Etan's case, unfortunately, a body has never been found and the main suspect, while behind bars for an unrelated crime, has never confessed, although in 2004 he was found responsible for Etan's death in a civil case. Tragic, sad stuff that makes me want to go back and reread such books as "I Know My First Name is Steven" by Mike Echols. I hope whoever was responsible for Etan's death burns in the deepest levels of Hell along with Otis Toole and Kenneth Parnell. Crimes against children are unforgivable.

Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder

One of my all time favorite authors, Rebecca Wells, is back after a much too long hiatus. I absolutely love "Little Altars Everywhere", her first book, so much so that I named my little dachshund Siddalee after the main character in her books. I was really looking forward to this book, and while it was good, it wasn't as great as I'd hoped. The last fifty pages or so seemed rushed and not very well thought out, and the ending was entirely too pat. I did really like Calla Lily Ponder, the main character, more than I thought I would. I envy Wells' ability to write about convincing female relationships. I wonder if she has a lot of really good female friends, since all of her books are focused on relationships between women. Either way, I hope her Lyme disease isn't going to keep her from writing more. It's good to have her back.

Battle Royale Vols. 2 & 3; Fell Vol. 1: Feral City; Dead Until Dark

The next two manga volumes of "Battle Royale" were excellent. Vol. 3 documents the fall of bad girl Mitsuko Souma in very graphic detail, but it was an interesting backstory. They're such quick reads I'm trying to take my time and draw them out a bit.
"Fell Vol. 1: Feral City" by Warren Ellis is a graphic novel featuring amazing artwork by Ben Templesmith, who did "Wormwood". I really liked the story of Detective Fell coming to the hole that is Snowtown and trying to clean it up. It was interesting and fun, and I'm really enamored with Templesmith's artwork.
After totally falling in love with HBO's "True Blood" last week, I decided to start reading the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris that the series is based on. The first one, "Dead Until Dark", was really good, a quick and fun read. It introduces us to barmaid Sookie and what she calls her disability: she can read minds. She's delighted when she meets a vampire named Bill, who is trying to mainstream and live as normal a life as possible. She can't read Bill's mind, so she is able to relax and let her guard down around him. While it would have been nice to drag their courtship out a bit (damn "Twilight" for reintroducing me to the concept of delayed gratification!) their relationship seemed sweet and natural. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Beat the Reaper; Battle Royale Vol. 1

Josh Bazell’s first novel is the epitome of dark humor done correctly, from the first lines about being mugged while watching a pigeon and rat fight. Peter Brown is a doctor in a Manhattan hospital, in the witness protection program because he used to be a hit man for the mob. Fast paced, energetic, and absolutely hilarious, with funny footnotes, it strikes the perfect balance and never seems overdone.
Filling in the back story of the novel “Battle Royale”, also by Koushun Takami, the manga explores the characters involved in the Program in greater detail, probing their individual motivations for choosing either to play and kill or not. While the story is familiar, the stark black and white artwork adds a whole new dimension. It's brilliantly gory even without being in color. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Eclipse and Breaking Dawn

I thought I was in the mood to reread some Stephenie Meyer vampire goodness, and since "Eclipse" is my favorite I started there (well, that and the fact that my sister has "Twilight"). For some reason this time around it really bugged me, and I was able to understand why so many people hate it. The writing really is godawful, and Bella's constant martyrdom is annoying to the extreme. Maybe I was just too hard on it, I don't know. "Breaking Dawn" was better although I can't say I really enjoyed rereading it. Maybe because I already know how it ends the tension was just gone for me. Maybe Bella and Edward's ridiculously high level of happiness is just on my nerves right now. I'm sure in a few months, or a year, when I go back to reread again I'll enjoy it.

Methland

Methland by Nick Reding traces the spread of methamphetamine in America, especially in regards to one small town in Iowa, Oelwein. Reding explores how meth got to be the drug of choice in rural America and how its damage got to be so far reaching and widespread. It was a painfully hard book to read, especially for me, who has first hand experience with tweakers, and ends with a strong sense of how hopeless the government and local area law enforcement are when it comes to eradicating this blight. Still, it's a powerful book that anyone who is at all interested in how awful meth really is should read.

A Bright and Guilty Place

"A Bright and Guilty Place" is Richard Raynor's biography on Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s, the unique people and events that came together at one time in one place to create the experience that was L.A. While it was very interesting, it was also really short and kind of skimpy on details. I would have liked more. Here's hoping the upcoming "L.A. Noir" by John Buntin is a little more fleshed out.