Category: books

Tales of the Alhambra

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

Last summer while in Spain I listened to this classic as a book on tape. Highly recommended. I’s not “dated” at all.

This book, implemental in reintroducing the Alhambra to the Western world, was published initially in the beginning of the 19th century. It consists of a series of essays and short fiction pieces. …

Amazon

… The Alhambra (Arabic: الْحَمْرَاء‎, Al-Ḥamrā’ , literally “the red one”), the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra (الْقَلْعَةُ ٱلْحَمْرَاءُ, Al-Qal’at al-Ḥamrā’ , “the red fortress”), is a palace and fortress complex constructed during the mid 14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus, occupying a hilly terrace on the southeastern border of the city of Granada, now in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.

Once the residence of the Muslim rulers of Granada and their court, the site became a Christian palace. Within the Alhambra, the Palace of Charles V was erected by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1527. After being allowed to fall into disrepair, the Alhambra was “rediscovered” in the 19th century. It is now one of Spain’s major tourist attractions and exhibits the country’s most famous Islamic architecture, together with Christian 16th-century and later interventions in buildings and gardens. …

Wikipedia – Alhambra

book review – The Hunger Games

On By Rick McIn books, product endorsementsLeave a comment

The Hunger Games (2008) is a young-adult science fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins.

… It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters.

In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless and evil Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, who are then pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains. …

Wikipedia

This book was recommended to me by 16yr-old Sam. And, I have to admit, I did enjoy it … despite the grizzly plot.

It got generally good reviews. (Steven King gave it a “B”.) And a film is planned.

And it’s refreshing to have a female author and female protagonist in a book of this genre. I recommend the book for teens. Adults could take it or leave it.

I paid about $12 for the Audible MP3 version, as part of my monthly package and some “deals”. If a non-member buys that same version, it’s $20.98.

Other costs from Amazon:

Hard Cover = $10.52.
Kindle = $9.00
Paperback = $8.99
Audiobook CD = $26.37

Worst deal in 2010 is CD. Those spinning disks have to be phased out soon.

Long term the Kindle and audio versions will have to drop in price. Cost of production and distribution is much lower than dead tree.

Prelude to Dune

On By Rick McIn books, product endorsements2 Comments

Dune, by Frank Herbert, is considered by many to be the greatest Science Fiction novel of all time.

I loved Dune but found each of the five sequels to be weaker than the last.

When Dave Adlard recommended yet more books set in the Dune Universe, I was dubious.

Prelude to Dune is a “a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.”

Brian is Frank’s son. The prequels were written after Frank’s death, based on original notes.

Dune: House Atreides chronicles the early life of Leto Atreides, prince of a minor House in the galactic Imperium. The novel begins on the planet of Arrakis, 35 years before the events of the original novel Dune.

We meet Duncan Idaho, only 7yrs-old. And learn more about the history of houses Atreides and Harkonnen, their bitter feud.

So far as I’m concerned, this prequel is as good or better than Dune itself. An impressive feat.

Thanks Dave.

The first film of Dune was adapted by David Lynch (1984). Frank Herbert liked it. As did I.

There’s another film version in the works. No date of release has yet been announced.

the Apple iPad intro video

On By Rick McIn Apple, books, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Watch it on Apple.

Price starts at $499. Cheap.

Most people will pay $30 / month for internet access.

Is it a good book reader?

On first impression, I thought kindle had nothing to worry about. But Mashable disagrees:

… given that iPad starts at $499 and iBooks offers such an impressive ebook experience, we have to wonder what Amazon could do at this point to stay competitive.

book review – Born to Run

On By Rick McIn books, health & fitness, product endorsements, sport - amateur, sport - pro4 Comments

On the insistence of my Adventure Racing buddy, Dave Adlard, I bought a book.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

A fantastic read, even for non-runners. The author, Christopher McDougall, (video) is a master story teller. I was gripped by this true life story.

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. …

It’s available on Audible.com, as well as in a Kindle edition.

Get it!

I listened to this book immediately after Dan Brown’s entertaining The Lost Symbol (my review).

It was crystal clear that Dan Brown is a hack compared with by Christopher Mcdougall.

Why is that?

I believe Brown is an old school author. Mcdougall an author of the future,

Mcdougall is a journalist, writing primarily magazine articles. This is his first book.

A magazine article must be instantly engaging. Otherwise the reader will flip ahead to the next story.

Christopher Mcdougall reminds me of Jon Krakauer, another magazine scribe turned author.

Bottom line: get Born to Run.

The Lost Symbol – book review

On By Rick McIn books, product endorsements1 Comment

Dan Brown, author of super popular blockbuster hit novels, has done it again.

The Lost Symbol, his most recent, is the best of his very, very similar books. They follow a formula.

Amazon review:

… The Lost Symbol begins with an ancient ritual, a shadowy enclave, and of course, a secret.

Readers know they are in Dan Brown territory when, by the end of the first chapter, a secret within a secret is revealed. …

Again, brilliant Harvard professor Robert Langdon finds himself in a predicament that requires his vast knowledge of symbology and superior problem-solving skills to save the day. The setting, unlike other Robert Langdon novels, is stateside, and in Brown’s hands Washington D.C. is as fascinating as Paris or Vatican City …

Brown is only an average wordsmith. But his plots are complex, interesting and entertaining.

The plot of The Lost Symbol is terrific. It had me guessing. The setting, Washington, D.C., is superb. I want to visit as a tourist now.

This book is highly recommended. Author Dave Adlard calls it one of his favourite books of all time.

Amazon

There’s one glaring problem. This book is perhaps 30% too long. Dan Brown, get an editor!

Adventure Story of the Decade – Greg Mortenson

On By Rick McIn books, education, product endorsementsLeave a comment

Outside Adventure Blog named Greg Mortenson the Adventure Story of the Decade.

Kudos to Outside. That’s a gutsy and correct call. What Greg has done was the most inspirational story I’ve heard in recent years.

… Who is Greg Mortenson?

Greg Mortenson is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org , founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org , and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea www.threecupsoftea.com , and author of the bestsellerStones into Schools www.stonesintoschools.com.

In 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”) for his dedicated and humanitarian effort to promote education and literacy in rural areas for fifteen years. …

About Greg Mortenson

This guy has done more by himself to help Pakistan than all the hundreds of millions spent by the U.S. government. I love the title of this article: He Fights Terror With Books

I highly recommend his first book. Greg Mortenson is my hero.

click for details on the book

Never has the failure to climb a mountain led to such success. After Greg Mortenson failed to climb K2 in 1993 to honor his dead sister, he picked a new mountain. He raised enough money so a small village in Pakistan could build their own school.

In 2006 he published Three Cups of Tea, a book chronicling his journey. By 2009 he had supported more than 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. At a time when U.S. foreign policy is governed by military might that includes Shock and Awe and a flock of high-altitude drones, Greg Mortenson took a simpler, gentler approach. He traveled on rugged roads to small villages—in the same remote regions where the United States dropped bombs from unseen and unheard planes high in the sky—to deliver cash so locals could build schools from stones and have basic learning supplies for their children. He took the war against violence out of the sky and put it in the hands of young girls on the ground.

The Top 10 Adventure Stories of the Decade

the future of magazines

On By Rick McIn booksLeave a comment

National Geographic Adventure magazine announced recently that it was ceasing regular publication.

The brand survives in two annual newsstand-only publications, in books and on the Web.

I can’t complain. I like that magazine … but never actually paid for one.

One company seriously looking to the future is Time, Inc. Here’s a possible electronic distribution of Sports Illustrated that could be on a tablet by 2010.

This collaboration between The Wonderfactory and Time, Inc. is an excellent example of how tablets will enable the creation of innovative, addictive experiences by publishers, media companies, and advertisers.

Click PLAY or watch Sports Illustrated – Tablet Demo 1.5 on YouTube.

This is exactly the kind of thing you’d find, hypothetically, on the much rumoured Apple tablet.

(That hand is freaking me out. You’d think guys that could design that cool demo could come up with a less ghoulish graphic.)

Improv Everywhere – We Cause Scenes

On By Rick McIn books, humour, musicLeave a comment

Improv Everywhere (often IE) is a comedic performance art group based in New York City, formed in 2001 by Charlie Todd. Its slogan is “We Cause Scenes.”

The group carries out pranks, which they call “missions” in public places. The stated goal of these missions is to cause scenes of “chaos and joy.” Some of the group’s missions use hundreds of performers and are similar to flash mobs, while other missions utilize only a handful of performers. Improv Everywhere has stated that they do not identify their work with the term flash mob, in part because their site was created two years prior to the flash mob trend. …

Wikipedia

Click PLAY or watch a sample “mission”, Frozen Grand Central, on YouTube.

Another sample …

Click PLAY or watch I Love Lunch! The Musical on YouTube.

Improv Everywhere’s videos have been viewed over 78 million times on YouTube and their channel is the 64th most subscribed on the site.

I’ve subscribed to their blog. This is the kind of troupe I would join!

They’ve even got a book out now: Causing a Scene: Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere

I first heard of them on This American Life.