Owner: Bibliosaurus URL:http://bookdinosaur.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 23:25:18 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Books are rad. Writing about them makes me rad too. Site statistics:Click here
Mouse Guard - David Petersen 2008-05-30 01:23:55 Picked this graphic novel up at the library, because really ... cute mice with human traits!It's the story of a medieval kingdom of mice, who are oh-so-little, and are therefore protected by the MouseGuard
s. In the first collection, betrayal and plots to overthrow are uncovered by various characters and they set out to save the day.What I loved: Cute! Mice! Oh so cute! I want to pick them up and Read more:David
Dreams Underfoot - Charles de Lint 2008-05-26 19:53:32 I always used to imagine odd things when I was a kid obsessed with fairy tales (okay, so I still do today). Like what if there were microscopic elves living in the snowbanks during the winter. Or what if that stray cat was really a werecat who would run off into the woods at night and transform into a human shape. Which is why I was so happy to recently reread Charles
de Lint's Dreams
Underfoot, w
Persepolis 2 - Marjane Satrapi 2008-05-26 19:15:58 a.k.a. the graphic novel that makes the political/historical geek within me squeal with joy. Okay, so maybe most books I love do that.Persepolis 2 is the sequel to Satrapi's autobiographical Persepolis, which told her story of growing up during the Iranian revolution. The sequel picks up where the first one left off, with Marjane leaving Iran for Europe, all by herself.What I loved: Plucky Heroin
Foreward 2008-05-25 23:19:03 This is my first overly generalized post about what this blog is about! Uh, well ... If you can't tell by the title, it's going to be a journal about books and reading. It's not so much about dinosaurs. I know, I know, the title is a little misleading on that front. I mean, dinosaurs are cool and all, but I hardly have the expertise to write about them. But if I were a dinosaur, I'd be the dinosau
The Book of Merlyn - T.H. White 2008-06-01 10:52:18 The long lost chapter of T.H. White
's The Once and Future King. Everyone is probably more aware of Disney's The Sword and the Stone which is based off the first half of this book. In this "lost" chapter, an old King Arthur pays a visit to Merlyn and some animal friends the night before his last battle.There, the animals and Merlyn "finish up" Arthur's training in political philosophy ... the ever
Censorshiptastic! 2008-06-03 00:04:25 + Jamaica's education minister doesn't want to ban books ... he just wants to make sure no public school has the ones he doesn't want kids to read. (okay, it's almost a month old news, but still very "wtf??") + His royal highness, the supreme benevolent ruler of the The USA's Environmental Protection Agency has pretty much gutted all the EPA libraries across the country. Because knowledge is scary
Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko 2008-06-04 22:43:32 Please ignore the somewhat cheesy book cover. The innards are definitely worth it.Night
Watch is an urban fantasy tale about humans born with magical talent that makes them witches, warlocks, werecreatures and so on. At a certain point in their lives, these "Others" go to the proverbial light or dark side. Now, the good/bad armies realized centuries ago they were evenly matched and no side could w
Acts of Faith - Philip Caputo 2008-06-08 13:22:58 A fictional account of a group of people in the 1990s in Africa, working to save the Sudanese population from war, poverty and famine. Or to make a ton of money from saving the Sudanese. And all that gray area inbetween.What I loved:That the book isn't some moralizing annoying piece of preaching, even if the title would suggest it.That it doesn't judge the sinners and the saints, just the people w Read more:Faith
, Philip
All aboard the CensorShip* 2008-06-10 18:45:24 + Down in North Carolina, the Kite Runner survives a bout with a committee after a complaint for it to be removed. As usual, the complainer vows to fight onwards. Against a book that might actually help the youth of America understand Afghanistan.+ Students given copies of Fahrenheit 451+ Very cool: Interview with the director of Baghdad's national library, Saad Eskander(x-posted at Soup is Good F
Against the Grain - Catherine Ford 2008-06-28 15:10:47 Ford has been a journalist for decades, working out of the Calgary Herald, and this book is her liberal feminist love story with Alberta. Like any love story, there are its ups and downs. Western alienation, provincial parks and global warming, or the rivalry between Edmonton and Calgary.What I loved: As a liberal feminist, it's just great to hear a voice from Alberta that's different from the ste Read more:Catherine
, Grain
The Last Temptation - Neil Gaiman/Michael Zulli/Alice Cooper 2008-06-21 23:39:50 If the picture wasn't a tip off, this was the comic book created by Neil Gaiman in collaboration with Alice Cooper
as part of Cooper's 1994 concept album. The horror-based tale of a young boy and a devilish Alice-Cooper-looking man with a ghoulish theater.What I loved:The usual twists and turns on the usual that Gaiman is known for. And that it shows the power of the library to overcome all evil! Read more:Michael
The Superman Chronicles - Volume One 2008-06-21 23:39:16 Yeah, I think I'm definitely on a bit of a comic book streak after reading this compilation of the original Superman
comics, from #1 to 13.What I loved:The cheese of it all. It's just really fun to read and see how Superman evolved over the years, from these first comics to the latest movie. I especially loved seeing the things that Superman takes on in these first comics: stopping a man from beat Read more:Volume
Books are friends, not food. Part II. 2008-09-29 18:50:23 + Google needs to be more open, author of new book says+ Biblioclasm: The Assault on Ideas from Homer to Harry Potter - Exhibit/Event+ Children's book deals with gay marriage - Lets start the betting pool for this one being on tops for next year's 'top challenged books' list+ School board votes to keep controversial book in school + Dawkins website banned in Turkey Read more:Books
Books are friends, not food. 2008-09-29 18:50:23 + Librarians lead the way in keeping information free+ Prominent authors, journalists, rights experts honour Burmese writers+ Publisher of controversial book's home firebombed+ Parents petition to move racy library books ... ah the ironic timing of this during Banned Book Week...+ Palin's Book-banning effort, redux. Read more:Books
Books are for reading, not banning 2008-09-29 18:50:23 + UAE censors opt to approve controversial Gulf book+Freedom to Publish Prize for Turkish Journalist+Catholic book raises furor+Banned Books
Week is coming!!!+Superman versus Uncle Sam: Free speech in the balance
Ideas are bulletproof 2008-09-29 18:49:35 + "Pullman defiant over US protests against Northern Lights"+ Henrico school to host author of debated book+ Libraries asked to stock ex-gay literature" ... I'm all for it, so long as they also go on to stock ex-ex-gay literature to show how horribly dehumanizing nasty and soul destroying the ex-gay movement is.+ "Nigeria: Writers, Film-Makers Defy Censors"+ Rushdie: Protect intellectual freedom"
The Fairy Godmother - Mercedes Lackey 2008-09-28 15:48:19 The story of Elena Klovis, who was supposed to be Cinderella, but fairy tales are a lot more complicated that it would seem. Instead she ends up as a brand new Fairy Godmother
. Adventure ensues!What I loved:First and foremost, it passes the Bechdel Test, and there were numerous female characters portrayed in a strong manner. So a win on that front.Plus, Elena is wicked (wicked as in awesome, not Read more:Mercedes
Runaways, Volume 1, 2, 3 2008-09-24 22:00:52 Marvel Comic series that tells the tales of (go figure) runaway children, all with special powers. And evil parents. Evil evil parents. Dun dun dun!What I Loved: Points for the broad cross section in racial representation.Points for sexual diversity, with a lesbian and Skrull shape shifter who doesn't give a crap which gender s/he is inPoints for using a "bigger" girl as a main character (and I us Read more:Volume
The Stone War - Madeleine E. Robins 2008-09-23 22:46:02 So this guy, named John, really loves the city of New York, even though his ex-wife is all-freaked-out-let's-lock-ourselves-up-and-stay-away-from-humanity-to-stay-safe. One week he has to leave the city, and while he's away an unknown disaster of huge magnitude hits. While others are fleeing, he fights his way back to New York, works with survivors to set up a sort of 'refugee camp' and fights for Read more:Madeleine
, Stone
Censorship off the ol' block 2008-10-17 18:38:02 + "Gay author no longer welcome to address N.B. students". Could we have all those who were freaking out against censorship in concern to the human rights commission vs. Steyn now freak out about this please? ... Bueller? .... Bueller? + "Booksellers can't afford to be censorious."+ Black Hawk Down banned from school Read more:block
, Censorship
Phoenix and Ashes - Mercedes Lackey 2008-10-17 18:21:15 Yes, another Mercedes
Lackey book again in a very short period of time. I'm crazy like that. Phoenix
and Ashes is one of the books in Lackey's "Elemental" series. It takes place during World War I, but in a world where alongside the "regular" folk, there's folks who have magic based on the four elements, earth, air, fire and water. This story is a take on Cinderella, where EleanorWhat I loved:The
The Postman - David Brin 2008-10-16 22:54:50 Futuristic tale of one man in a post-apocalyptic U.S.A. just trying to survive. He finds an old postman uniform, and becomes a ray of hope for civilization! The book was also made into quite a painful movie by Kevin Costner.What I loved: Even though the story's main character was a male, Brin took the time to talk about the effect this "future" had on women. And what happened to women was complete Read more:David
Books are friends, not food. Part III. 2008-11-16 21:54:56 + 'Wowie, wow, wow': Words too important to be banned"+ Burke County Board of Education (NC) considers parental notification policy on books in curriculum.+ Similar policy sees one parent stop whole class from reading 'Grendel' in an Honours English class ... a book that the large majority of other parents had okay'd. + Christian Group causes book launch/poetry reading to be pulled from Welsh book Read more:Books
No title 2008-11-06 23:01:48 + State of censorship in Turkey: link one and link two+ 'Booked: "an honor to be banned"'+ "Gay Writers Respond to Proposition 8’s Win in California"+"Kurdish literature revives in Turkey, writers say"+ "The Struggle of Three Books"
Coyote Blue - Christopher Moore 2008-11-23 22:04:44 The story of Sam Hunter, from the Crow Indian Reservation, who has to face his past after falling in love and coming face to face with the live Coyote
trickster god.What I loved:That it was an easy read. Not easy as in "juvenile and simple." More like "I didn't have to pause and scratch my head because the author attempted to show he was smart by picking up the nearest dictionary and sandwiching t Read more:Christopher
, Moore