City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism

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.The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Diane Ackerman

September 08, 2008
The Zookeeper's Wife was an interesting piece of work. A lovely story that read like investigative or textbook writing.
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.Fight Club: A Novel
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Chuck Palahniuk

October 03, 2005
For those of you who have never seen the movie, this book is a disturbing portrait of a narrator who begins to express his natural instincts and, before he realizes it, is terrified by what he has become a part of, leading up to a twist that you never saw coming.

For those of you that have seen the movie, yes, it does translate well into book form. There is much more psychological introspection and more recurrence of themes (such as the line "look up into the stars and you're gone"). There is also a bit of an extended ending that wraps things up nicely.

Overall, the book is a challenging read, but ultimately very satisfying. As far as contemporary literature goes, this is one of the best in my opinion.
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.What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Haruki Murakami

July 29, 2008
What I talk about when I talk about running - Haruki Murakami

Theme:
Making best use of ones talents in running as a metaphor for life and especially for running is the main theme of this book. Murakami started running at 33 after realizing that smoking an average of 60 cigarettes a day wasn't doing him any good. Twenty four marathons later and well over fifty years old, he is penning his thoughts on running and the part it plays in his life as an individual and as a writer.

Essentials:
* You have some talents in any sphere - running/writing. You can just do "as best as you can", by developing endurance and focus, without which one cannot "push his possibilities".
* Long distance running is an excellent example ... Read More:
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.Epilogue: A Memoir
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Anne Roiphe

August 26, 2008
As a new widow, I can relate to all the problems, concerns, feelings, adjusting, and just getting on with your life after a husband dies. Anne Roiphe has written such a beautiful memoir of her experience with the death of her husband, it was like she knew what I was feeling, or I knew what she was feeling and going through. I will be sharing this book not only with my widowed friends, but also my married friends. Epilogue: A Memoir, is a book I will be reading over again. I know life goes on after death, and this book shows how this can happen. This book will make you laugh and cry and hope for better days. I could be her friend.
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.How Fiction Works
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: James Wood

July 22, 2008
Breathtaking exposition on the development of the novel over the last few centuries, in particular the "realist" style. Brilliant non-fiction gem about fiction. Opinionated rather than encyclopedic, but a great touchstone for further reading.

The design of the book is particularly inviting--its modest weight, friendly typeface, and wide margins make this book a pleasant evening companion--a book you aren't afraid to ask out on a second date. I plan to re-read it once or twice if I ever get it back.

Bracing, memorable writing. If you want to add another dimension to your appreciation of the novel, this gorgeously edited book is ideal. If, like me, you are a writer of non-fiction, this book is a model.

If, on the other hand, ... Read More:
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.Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Jerry Boykin

July 29, 2008
I ordered this biography on a whim, as one of a dozen books on irregular warfare that I am using to review the thoughts of others before I publish my own book. When the three boxes from Amazon arrived, this book was buried under others, but was immediately the most attractive for the week-end.

Several important insights are available from this book:

1) Charlie Beckwith, whose book Delta Force: The Army's Elite Counterterrorist Unit I really enjoyed, especially the part where he refused to leave a British field hospital for an American one, learned from the SAS the most important lesson it had to teach, and brought it to DELTA: to be *truly* unconventional, to be *truly* irregular, you must be UNMILITARY. From this page (69) I simply relaxed ... Read More:
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.The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Oliver Sacks

April 02, 1998
I had to read chapters of this book for a cognitive neuroscience class, but everywhere this book went, people had to look at it and read it. It's so interesting, it reads really fast, and you really can read it in pieces as I did. In fact, a lot of the chapters gets a bit repetitive, so I tended to skip around. Still, you get a really good feel for the patients and their experience, and what that may tell us about how the brain works. Fascinating!!
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.An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Elizabeth McCracken

September 10, 2008
My husband and I lost our first baby (a girl) when I was 36 years old and 39 weeks pregnant. Elizabeth McCracken's brilliant writing style and ability to capture both the enormity of her own identical tragedy, as well as to offer a sense of restored joy in the memory of "Pudding" was cathartic to read. I felt as though I could have written several pages of this book myself. I am grateful that such a gifted writer had the courage to relive her own nightmare in such a way that enables any reader, whether or not they've been through such a tragedy, some insight into the cunning and unpredictable side of the reproductive world and to serve as a voice for those of us who have. In a society that treats this entire topic as taboo, this book is a welcome addition.

-K Van ... Read More:
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.To Kill a Mockingbird
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Harper Lee

March 05, 2002
Funny thing when my daughter requested this book she kept saying Tequila Mockingbird. Other than that, we received this on time and everything was great, it looks brand new and it was here when she needed it. Actually a week before.
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.How to Read a Book (A Touchstone Book)
City Travel Guides > Books > History and Criticism
by: Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren

August 15, 1972
This book has greatly helped me. I think this should be required reading in any school, be it home or public. I will certainly have my new born read it (well, once she is old enough). Now I have so many more tools available to me while reading. You will not read the same after reading this book. If you apply this book your skill will greatly increase. It has help me love to read!

Daniel Fuller, John Piper's hermeneutics teacher uses this book for his class. He doesn't believe in special hermeneutics but general hermeneutics. You can learn more here: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/1994/ and http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2006/1625_Where_can_I_learn_more_about_the_Bible_study_method_called_arcing/
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