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I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells
You can scare the crap out of me (Aracnaphobia), and I will love you forever. You can make me bite my nails in terrible suspense (Wait Until Dark, The Village) or throw supernatural at me (Poltergeist) and I will sing with praise. But the moment you do gruesome, the moment you start showing me entrails and organs, my discomfort level shoots through the roof.And this is why I would not have finished I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Well’s if I had just picked it up off a shelf–because the main character is the son of a woman who owns a mortuary. We get to see him help process a mutilated body very early in the book, pumping fluids in etc., and Wells knows his craft so I was THERE. I’m sure it’s not too gruesome for some, but I just have issues with organs. I don’t know why. I also have an issue with clowns.
Clowns are, by far, the scariest things around. And this is not because I read the book IT by Stephen King as a wee lad because I didn’t. It’s because they’re painted vessels of evil. End of story. They’re perfect examples of the freakazoids that lurk in the uncanny valley.
Anyway, I’d heard Wells read a portion of this book that had all of us in the room crying because we were laughing so hard. So I read on, telling myself I had to at least get to that part. And I am so very happy I did.
I Am Not A Serial Killer is young adult story about a good-hearted teen named John Cleaver who is a sociopath with all the traits shared by serial killers. John’s in counseling, but more importantly, he is convinced he can prevent himself from becoming a serial killer by keeping rules he’s made for himself like not watching people for too long and complimenting someone when they make him angry. Such rules, he hopes, will keep him from feeding compulsions he won’t be able to resist. The problem is a real serial killer has come to town (but unlike any you’ve seen before). And John may be the only one who can stop him. Will he let go of his rules to save the town? Or will he keep his monster asleep while others die around him?
It’s a fascinating situation (without a clown in sight, may the writing gods be praised). And Wells takes the reader on a journey through it that includes mystery, dread, and humor. In the hands of some other author, that would be enough. But Wells does more than entertain us. He gives us things to think about. He gives us great characters to boot–come on, when was the last time you read a book where the hero was a likeable sociopath? And most of the gruesome is up front anyway.
Read this book. Skim the body processing if you must. But you simply don’t want to miss the rest. It was a fabulous read and I recommend it highly.
The US version comes out in March of 2010. But you can get the UK version now on Amazon UK, Borders UK, etc. The links are all here on Well’s site.
Laff and Learn
My daughters have introduced me to Studio C, a comedy program that started with The Divine Comedy troupe on the BYU campus who all growed up and were given a gig on TV. They do these hilarious skits.
Like “Drivers Ed”
And “Blind Date“.
And “Shoulder Devil”.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. BTW, Studio C airs weekly on BYUtv.
My oldest daughter introduced me to Olan Rogers. Who is crazy. Here’s “Ghost in the Stalls”
If you loved that, I think you’ll enjoy “Midnight Claw”
Sock slouch . . .
Next is John Branyan’s brilliant “Three Little Pigs”. My family and I have been enjoying this for months.
Finally, here’s something to think about. You know I enjoyed Jonathan Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind. Matt Wolfe pointed it out his TED talk to me. The one that preceeded his book. If you’re conservative, like I am, this talk will, at times, annoy you. But the ideas behind it are great.
If you want to be equally enlightened but less annoyed, let me suggest you watch Bill Moyer’s interview of Haidt instead.
Good Stuff! StoryBrand
Folks running for office, especially our wonderful citizens running for local county offices, business owners, and any of the rest of us who what to persuade people to listen, I’ve got something for you.I will bet that most of you aren’t aware that you’re muddling your message and losing votes, sales, and converts to your causes.
Of course, maybe you’re way ahead of me. I thought I knew what I was doing. I have a master’s degree in business, spent a few years in business consulting, have created a few small startups, and currently am a product manager for large software company. Despite all of that, I had somehow missed something vital. Something simple and powerful. Something that has a dramatic effect on sales, votes, and converts. On getting people to even listen to what I had to say.
And I’m not alone. I saw another company struggling with it this weekend.
On Saturday I went and watched the latest Marvel movie at a theater in Logan. One of the pre-movie video ads was for a local company called Conservice. I don’t know how many thousands of dollars they spent on the ad they played. Or how much they spent on the many other ads we’ve seen over the years. But when it finished, I turned to Nellie and said, “I still don’t know what that company does or why I should care.”
“I know,” she said. “I know.”
We were both baffled. After years of seeing their ads, we still have no idea what they do, how it would make our lives better, or what action we should take to use their service.
They have wasted thousands and thousands of dollars on their marketing.
There’s another local company that advertises during those pre-movie slots. It’s called ARS. I saw one of their ads this weekend as well. But it only reminded me of what I already know. I know exactly what they do, how it would make my life better, and what action to take.
If you have a flood, fire, or plumbing backup—whatever—they clean it up. “Got a mess? Call ARS.” That’s their one-liner.
If I ever have a mess, I will call ARS. I will never call Conservice. I have no idea what they do.
What’s the difference here?
Clarity.
And what generates that clarity?
A complete focus on the customer. The ARS ads are all about the customer and their problems and needs.
The Conservice ads, on the other hand, are all about Conservice. We’ve been in business for x years. Here’s what our building looks like. Here’s a worker planting a bush. Blah, blah, blah.
The ARS ads are all about me, the guy in the theater seat, the thing I want and the problem I have. ARS features me as the hero in my own story. They present themselves as the helper—the Yoda or Gandalf or Haymitch who helps the hero get what they want. You got a mess? We’ll help you.
The difference in the power of the two ads is night and day.
Of course this means it’s been verified that I’m a dolt. After all the years in business and education, I should have known this. But the surprising truth is that I’m not alone.
I look at the marketing we do at the billion-dollar company I work for and see this same issue everywhere. Millions of dollars spent on muddles. I look at company websites on the internet and see more muddles. I recently listened to pitches by many of our local citizens running for office and saw the same thing. It seems this communication muddle afflicts a lot of us.
About five years ago, when I began investigating an idea for a new company, I came across the Lean Startup method pioneered by a guy at Stanford and began to see the light. But a few months ago, the curtains were completely pulled aside to let in the sunshine. And wow! What a revelation.
If you want to get people to listen, you have got to hear what Donald Miller has to say. He’s consulted with thousands of companies on how to clarify their message so people will listen. His framework and method make clarifying your message so easy.
He calls it the StoryBrand framework, and it’s brilliant. What it does is help you clarify your message so that a customer or voter or whoever will know within three seconds:
- What you offer
- How it will make their life better
- And what action they should take if they are interested
But it goes beyond that. It helps you actually define what you should be offering in the first place. It’s a powerful product development tool. I’ve started using this in all my business efforts. And in my training and presentations.
For example, I just used it to develop a presentation I delivered at a huge writer’s conference last week. The results were that after the presentation, I had a line of people wanting to thank me. I had people telling me I made them cry. Others wanted to give me a hug. They were grateful. I had people tell me it was the best presentation of the conference.
This was not because I’m brilliant. I’m a dolt, remember. It’s because I used the StoryBrand framework to focus on those people. Their needs. Their problems. Their aspirations.
If you’re running for office, if you have a business, if you want to persuade anyone to do anything, then let me recommend you listen to this guy and learn about this framework.
- Start by signing up for the free 15-minute intro to the framework (the signup is at the top).
- Next watch this 30-minute presentation on the StoryBrand framework
- And then this 1 hour expanded application of framework
- Finally, read Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller (you’re going to love this book)
Get the revelation. Get out of the muddle. And get people to listen.
And when you’ve finished the Miller stuff above, read How to Write Copy That Sells by Ray Edwards, the guy who has partnered with Miller. It’s all about clarifying your message as well.
Top 200 Juvenile Novels of 2010
Two weeks ago I published the top 200 novels and authors of YA fiction. As I stated then, looking at bestselling novels only gives one view into what readers are enjoying. Looking at library circulation gives another view that complements sales. These rankings are based on the circulation (number of times the book was checked out) at the Logan Utah Libarary which serves a community of over 100,000 residents.
This week I present to you the top 200 Juvenile (these are mostly middle grade) novels of 2010. These are from the 5,377 different titles that were checked out. I can’t claim these lists show what’s most popular nationally. I’m confident the libraries in each region of the nation will have lists that vary a little or a lot from these. However, this does show what’s being read in this neck of the woods. Furthermore, all of these should be great reads for middle graders, teens, and adults.
As before, the list features a lot of authors who live in Utah or have ties to Utah. The number of titles are in ( ).
- Obert Skye (8)
- Brandon Mull (6)
- James Dashner (3)
- J. Scott Savage (2)
- Matthew Buckley (1)
I’m surprise at just how much these folks dominate this list. They’re rock stars! If I’ve missed anyone, let me know. For the previous lists, see these links:
And now, the top 200 Juvenile Novels of 2010.
The List
Title Total % Rank Fablehaven book 5 : Keys to the Demon Prison / Brandon Mull* 319 0.98% 1 Diary of a wimpy kid : dog days/ Jeff Kinney 261 0.80% 2 Diary of a wimpy kid : Greg Heffley’s journal / Jeff Kinney 239 0.74% 3 Fablehaven / Brandon Mull* 236 0.73% 4 Diary of a wimpy kid : Rodrick rules / Jeff Kinney 235 0.72% 5 Fablehaven Book 4 : Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary / Brandon Mull* 226 0.70% 6 Diary of a wimpy kid : the last straw / Jeff Kinney 217 0.67% 7 Fablehaven Book 3 : Grip of the Shadow Plague / Brandon Mull* 215 0.66% 8 Fablehaven Book 2 : Rise of the Evening Star / Brandon Mull* 152 0.47% 9 The candy shop war / Brandon Mull* 139 0.43% 10 Leven Thumps and the ruins of Alder / Obert Skye* 110 0.34% 11 Leven Thumps and the gateway to Foo / Obert Skye* 110 0.34% 12 Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone / J.K. Rowling 90 0.28% 13 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets / J.K. Rowling 86 0.26% 14 Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban / J.K. Rowling 85 0.26% 15 Fairest / Gail Carson Levine 78 0.24% 16 Charlie Bone and the Red Knight / Jenny Nimmo 78 0.24% 17 The journal of curious letters / James Dashner* 76 0.23% 18 Pillage / Obert Skye* 74 0.23% 19 Leven Thumps and the whispered secret / Obert Skye* 74 0.23% 20 The hunt for dark infinity / James Dashner* 69 0.21% 21 The Blade of Shattered Hope / James Dashner* 69 0.21% 22 The 39 clues. Viper’s nest / Peter Lerangis 68 0.21% 23 The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe / C.S. Lewis 67 0.21% 24 Diary of a wimpy kid : the ugly truth / Jeff Kinney 67 0.21% 25 The 39 clues. The maze of bones / Rick Riordan 67 0.21% 26 The bad beginning / Lemony Snicket 66 0.20% 27 The field guide / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 64 0.20% 28 How to train your dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III / Cressida Cowell 62 0.19% 29 The Society of Unrelenting Vigilance / Glenn Dakin 62 0.19% 30 The tales of Beedle the Bard / J.K. Rowling 61 0.19% 31 Dragon rider / Cornelia Funke 59 0.18% 32 Midnight for Charlie Bone / Jenny Nimmo 59 0.18% 33 Leven Thumps and the eyes of the Want / Obert Skye* 59 0.18% 34 The 39 clues. One false note / Gordon Korman 58 0.18% 35 The 39 clues. In too deep / Jude Watson 58 0.18% 36 Peter and the Sword of Mercy / Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson 57 0.18% 37 The 39 clues. The emperor’s code / Gordon Korman 56 0.17% 38 The reptile room / Lemony Snicket 55 0.17% 39 The 39 clues. Storm warning / Linda Sue Park 55 0.17% 40 Choke / Obert Skye* 55 0.17% 41 Leven Thumps and the wrath of Ezra / Obert Skye* 54 0.17% 42 The wide window / Lemony Snicket 53 0.16% 43 Gregor the Overlander / Suzanne Collins 53 0.16% 44 The miserable mill / Lemony Snicket 52 0.16% 45 The 39 clues. The sword thief / Peter Lerangis 52 0.16% 46 Peter & the Starcatchers / Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson 51 0.16% 47 The 39 clues. Beyond the grave / Jude Watson 51 0.16% 48 The 39 clues. The black circle / Patrick Carman 51 0.16% 49 Fantastic Mr. Fox / Roald Dahl 50 0.15% 50 Into the wild / Erin Hunter 49 0.15% 51 The city of Ember / Jeanne DuPrau 49 0.15% 52 The seeing stone / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 49 0.15% 53 The witches / Roald Dahl 48 0.15% 54 The end / Lemony Snicket 47 0.14% 55 Charlie and the chocolate factory / Roald Dahl 46 0.14% 56 Gregor and the prophecy of Bane / Suzanne Collins 46 0.14% 57 Redwall / Brian Jacques 45 0.14% 58 Land keep / J. Scott Savage* 45 0.14% 59 Charlie Bone and the time twister / Jenny Nimmo 45 0.14% 60 Professor Winsnicker’s book of proper etiquette for well-mannered sycophants / Obert Skye* 45 0.14% 61 Found / Sarah Prineas 45 0.14% 62 The people of Sparks / Jeanne DuPrau 43 0.13% 63 Beezus and Ramona / Beverly Cleary 42 0.13% 64 The austere academy / Lemony Snicket 42 0.13% 65 39 clues. Into the gauntlet/ Margaret Peterson Haddix 42 0.13% 66 Lucinda’s secret / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 42 0.13% 67 Ramona’s world / Beverly Cleary 41 0.13% 68 Midnight / Erin Hunter 41 0.13% 69 Captain Underpants and the attack of the talking toilets / Dave Pilky 40 0.12% 70 The penultimate peril / Lemony Snicket 40 0.12% 71 The nixie’s song / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 40 0.12% 72 The magician’s nephew / C.S. Lewis 39 0.12% 73 Fading echoes / Erin Hunter 39 0.12% 74 Charlie Bone and the shadow / Jenny Nimmo 39 0.12% 75 The capture / Kathryn Lasky 39 0.12% 76 The fairy-tale detectives / Michael Buckley 39 0.12% 77 The inside story / Michael Buckley 39 0.12% 78 Gregor and the curse of the warmbloods / Suzanne Collins 39 0.12% 79 The mouse and the motorcycle / Beverly Cleary 38 0.12% 80 The wide-awake princess / E.D. Baker 38 0.12% 81 Ella enchanted / Gail Carson Levine 38 0.12% 82 Water keep / J. Scott Savage* 38 0.12% 83 Little house in the big woods / Laura Ingalls Wilder 38 0.12% 84 The vile village / Lemony Snicket 38 0.12% 85 Prince Caspian : the return to Narnia / C.S. Lewis 37 0.11% 86 The fourth apprentice / Erin Hunter 37 0.11% 87 The prophet of Yonwood / Jeanne DuPrau 37 0.11% 88 Among the hidden / Margaret Peterson Haddix 37 0.11% 89 The Wrath of Mulgarath / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 37 0.11% 90 The diamond of Darkhold / Jeanne DuPrau 36 0.11% 91 The ersatz elevator / Lemony Snicket 36 0.11% 92 Rani in the Mermaid Lagoon / 36 0.11% 93 Gregor and the Code of Claw / Suzanne Collins 36 0.11% 94 The Ironwood tree / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 36 0.11% 95 The Sable Quean / Brian Jacques 35 0.11% 96 Fire star / Chris d’Lacey 35 0.11% 97 Bluestar’s prophecy / Erin Hunter 35 0.11% 98 Gregor and the marks of secret / Suzanne Collins 35 0.11% 99 How to speak dragonese by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III / Cressida Cowell 34 0.10% 100 Charlotte’s web / E. B. White. Pictures by Garth Williams 34 0.10% 101 The grim grotto / Lemony Snicket 34 0.10% 102 The Everafter War / Michael Buckley 34 0.10% 103 The Dark Hills divide / Patrick Carman 34 0.10% 104 Magic thief / Sarah Prineas 34 0.10% 105 Forest of secrets / Erin Hunter 33 0.10% 106 Found / Margaret Peterson Haddix 33 0.10% 107 Chickens in the headlights ; a novel / Matthew Buckley* 33 0.10% 108 In the realm of the Never Fairies / Monique Peterson 33 0.10% 109 The Thief Lord / Cornelia Funke 32 0.10% 110 The last wilderness / Erin Hunter 32 0.10% 111 Charlie Bone and the invisible boy / Jenny Nimmo 32 0.10% 112 Tunnels / Roderick Gordon, Brian Williams 32 0.10% 113 Ramona the brave / Beverly Cleary 32 0.10% 114 How to be a pirate by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III / Cressida Cowell 31 0.10% 115 Captain Underpants and the wrath of the wicked Wedgie Woman / Dave Pilky 31 0.10% 116 Fire in the sky / Erin Hunter 31 0.10% 117 Charlie Bone and the castle of mirrors / Jenny Nimmo 31 0.10% 118 Little house on the prairie / Laura Ingalls Wilder 31 0.10% 119 The slippery slope / Lemony Snicket 31 0.10% 120 The wyrm king / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black 31 0.10% 121 The fire within / Chris D’Lacey 30 0.09% 122 Captain Underpants and the perilous plot of Professor Poopypants / Dave Pilky 30 0.09% 123 Fire and ice / Erin Hunter 30 0.09% 124 The princess test / Gail Carson Levine 30 0.09% 125 A Giant Problem / Holly Black 30 0.09% 126 Charlie Bone and the beast / Jenny Nimmo 30 0.09% 127 Dealing with dragons / Patricia C. Wrede 30 0.09% 128 Over sea, under stone / Susan Cooper 30 0.09% 129 How to twist a dragon’s tale / Cressida Cowell 29 0.09% 130 The adventures of Captain Underpants : an epic novel / Dav Pilky 29 0.09% 131 Once upon a curse / E.D. Baker 29 0.09% 132 Cats of the Clans / Erin Hunter 29 0.09% 133 The sight / Erin Hunter 29 0.09% 134 Moonrise / Erin Hunter 29 0.09% 135 Charlie Bone and the hidden king / Jenny Nimmo 29 0.09% 136 The carnivorous carnival / Lemony Snicket 29 0.09% 137 The hostile hospital / Lemony Snicket 29 0.09% 138 Matilda / Roald Dahl 29 0.09% 139 The frog princess / E.D. Baker 28 0.09% 140 Long shadows / Erin Hunter 28 0.09% 141 The darkest hour / Erin Hunter 28 0.09% 142 Lanie / Jane Kurtz 28 0.09% 143 Wayside School gets a little stranger / Louis Sachar 28 0.09% 144 Atherton : the house of power / Patrick Carman 28 0.09% 145 The dark is rising / Susan Cooper 28 0.09% 146 Icefire / Chris D’Lacey 27 0.08% 147 Sunset / Erin Hunter 27 0.08% 148 Sunrise / Erin Hunter 27 0.08% 149 Fawn and the mysterious trickster / Laura Driscoll 27 0.08% 150 The unusual suspects / Michael Buckley 27 0.08% 151 Charlie and the great glass elevator / Roald Dahl 27 0.08% 152 The Twits / Roald Dahl 27 0.08% 153 Ramona Quimby, age 8 / Beverly Cleary 26 0.08% 154 Peter & the shadow thieves / Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson 26 0.08% 155 Peter & the secret of Rundoon / Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson 26 0.08% 156 Twilight / Erin Hunter 26 0.08% 157 The quest begins / Erin Hunter 26 0.08% 158 Dawn / Erin Hunter 26 0.08% 159 Fairy Haven and the quest for the wand / Gail Carson Levine 26 0.08% 160 For Biddle’s sake / Gail Carson Levine 26 0.08% 161 Myka finds her way / Gail Herman 26 0.08% 162 The Boxcar children / Gertrude Chandler Warner 26 0.08% 163 Dear Dumb Diary #1: Let’s pretend this never happened / Jim Benton 26 0.08% 164 Tales of a fourth grade nothing / Judy Blume 26 0.08% 165 Rosetta’s daring day / Lisa Papademetriou 26 0.08% 166 Among the enemy / Margaret Peterson Haddix 26 0.08% 167 Beyond the Valley of Thorns / Patrick Carman 26 0.08% 168 Dork diaries : tales from a not-so-fabulous life / Rachel Renee 26 0.08% 169 Where the red fern grows / Wilson Rawls 26 0.08% 170 Ramona and her father / Beverly Cleary 25 0.08% 171 Captain Underpants and the big, bad battle of the Bionic Booger / Dave Pilky 25 0.08% 172 Dragon kiss / E.D. Baker 25 0.08% 173 Code of the clans / Erin Hunter 25 0.08% 174 The two princesses of Bamarre / Gail Carson Levine 25 0.08% 175 Silvermist and the ladybug curse / Gail Herman 25 0.08% 176 Iridessa, lost at sea / Lisa Papademetriou 25 0.08% 177 Sideways stories from Wayside School / Louis Sachar 25 0.08% 178 A long way from Chicago : a novel in stories / Richard Peck 25 0.08% 179 Island of the giant Pokâemon / adapted by Tracey West 24 0.07% 180 How to cheat a dragon’s curse / Cressida Cowell 24 0.07% 181 Firestar’s quest / Erin Hunter 24 0.07% 182 Fira and the full moon / Gail Herman 24 0.07% 183 Savvy / Ingrid Law 24 0.07% 184 Vidia and the fairy crown / Laura Driscoll 24 0.07% 185 Sent / Margaret Peterson Haddix 24 0.07% 186 NERDS : National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society / Michael Buckley 24 0.07% 187 Beauty : a retelling of the story of Beauty & the beast / Robin Mckinley 24 0.07% 188 The popularity papers / Amy Ignatow 23 0.07% 189 Ramona forever / Beverly Cleary 23 0.07% 190 Dark fire / Chris d’Lacey 23 0.07% 191 The salamander spell / E.D. Baker 23 0.07% 192 Outcast / Erin Hunter 23 0.07% 193 Eclipse / Erin Hunter 23 0.07% 194 The hound of Rowan / Henry H. Neff 23 0.07% 195 Erec Rex : the dragon’s eye / Kaza Kingsley 23 0.07% 196 Beck beyond the sea / Kimberly Morris 23 0.07% 197 Prilla and the butterfly lie / Kitty Richards 23 0.07% 198 Utterly me, Clarice Bean / Lauren Child 23 0.07% 199 Among the Barons / Margaret Peterson Haddix 23 0.07% 200 Into the mist / Patrick Carman 23 0.07% 201 This book is not good for you / Pseudonymous Bosch 23 0.07% 202 George’s marvelous medicine / Roald Dahl 23 0.07% 203 A hero’s guide to deadly dragons : the heroic misadventures of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III / Cressida Cowell 23 0.07% 204 Correia’s Son of the Black Sword
I just finished reading Larry Correia’s Son of the Black Sword, and enjoyed it immensely.It takes memes from King Arthur’s sword, Moses, the Shaolin monks, special operations forces, ancient India, prophets, and freedom and mixes them into an epic fantasy that’s simply tremendous.
It has all the action and entertainment you expect from a Correia production. There are monsters. There are battles and wonderful scenes of sword fighting. There are magic and wizards, but it’s not the magic and wizards you’ve seen before (magic from demon body parts?!) And unlike many fantasies, which revolve around the magic—discovering how it works and some chosen person growing in its power—this story revolves around matters of justice and mercy and law and truth.
This isn’t a story about magic. It’s a story about a man in terrible conflict.
The main character, Ashok, is not just a Lord Protector, one trained in battle to kill demons and administer death to those who break the law, he’s the most fearsome of them all. And the most pure in his devotion to the law. There’s just one problem—he finds out that he himself is a terrible affront to the law.
Discovering why that is and how it occurred is part of the enjoyment, so I won’t give it away. But along with that and all the action, you’ll be transported to a new world based on the old Indian caste system with a number of twists. You’ll encounter the court intrigue found in so many fantasies. But probably what was most delicious to me was a central mystery shrouded in the ancient past and a whole cast of wonderful characters. There’s Ashok, but we also get a courageous librarian/legal assistant, a tough female boat captain, a funny black market smuggler, and a veteran soldier who wants to restore the honor that was unjustly taken from him.
As a reader, I was delighted. As an author, I found many things to admire (and some to be envious of), including the fact that when you’re in the point of view of a character, you’re with that character, caring about what they care about and seeing the world through their eyes.
Son of the Black Sword is a book chock-full of delights. If you like fantasy and action, I think you’ll love it. As for me, I can’t wait for the second in the series.
Gladwell, Dish Cloths, and Higher Technology for Tuna
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
After reading Made to Stick, I decided to read the book that inspired it—The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. I’d read Blink and Outliers by the same author and found both fascinating. I’m happy to report The Tipping Point is just as good. In it, Gladwell examines what conditions cause ideas, behaviors, messages, and products to spread like outbreaks of infectious disease. In the book he shares a number of situations and studies, including the sudden drop in crime in New York city in the 1990’s (which started by attacking graffiti in the subway), the dramatic popularity of the Blue’s Clues TV program with pre-schoolers, Paul Revere’s success in rousing the citizens along his route (versus the almost total failure of the other guy who rode that night), the resurgence of Hush Puppies shoes, syphilis in Baltimore, Columbia Record’s amazingly effective golden box ad campaign, and a dozen other outbreaks. From all of these, he extrapolates three rules of social epidemics—The Law of the Few, The Stickiness Factor, and The Power of Context.
The arguments Gladwell presents are thought-provoking and powerful, but what makes him such a treat to read is how he writes. Like the best science writers (in fact, I think he IS one of the best), he tells great stories with interesting characters. He puts the reader on the edge of the seat with mystery, insight, and humor. He makes things that could be incredibly complex seem like first grade math. It’s as if he’s standing right there with you chatting about the subject. Moreover, he does all this from page one.Here’s what I mean. I left the book out on the kitchen table one night after reading a few chapters. The next morning Super Wife came down to quickly eat breakfast and get herself to a meeting. She made the mistake of opening the book to glance at the first page. Twenty-five minutes later she came up for air and realized she was going to be late and dashed out the door. The writing is pure mind control. And I loved every minute of it.
If you’re at all interested in advertising or how fads and movements start, if you want to affect the behavior of customers or local teens, if you just like to read how things work, I think you’ll love this book.
Sunflower Dish Cloths
I used to suffer along with subpar dish cloths. There were the dish cloths with mesh on one side that were so small you had to rinse them after every wiping stroke. There were the hand cloths made of terri that belonged in a bathroom but were repurposed and were far too big. Then were the cloths that had some slippery crap in the thread that refused to soak up water. And there were the crocheted things that I think we should have put out of their misery when we first got them. Folks suggested we go to sponges. So we did sponges and had similar results.Oh, woe, woe, woe.
Then a kind and loving friend gave us a set of mystery cloths that were incredible. They were large enough that we didn’t need to rinse with every wipe. They had this fantastic weave that was open, yet absorbent, and dried quickly. And the weave had enough of a texture that you could use it to scrub. We received those back in 1999. They lasted us for years and gave us much kitchen cleaning joy. But, alas, like all of mortality, those brave cloths finally began to give up the ghost.
My problem was that I didn’t know who had made those cloths and where I could get more. We looked all over and couldn’t find them. And then, at this year’s Garden City Raspberry Days craft fair, we saw them nestled amidst all the kitsch! We bought as many as we could afford, and went our way rejoicing, fully expecting these to last us until we have grandchildren. Maybe we’ll pass them down as priceless heirlooms. Maybe some day they’ll be featured on Antique Roadshow. Maybe they’ll be resurrected with us and become the official dish cloth of the Millennium when the world is renewed (it could happen).
If you’re sick and tired of sponges and crappy dish cloths, let me suggest you pick up some Sunflower Dish Cloths made by Sangamon Mill. You can order them in bulk at http://www.sangamonmill.com/ , or in smaller quantities online from places like Amazon.
Everiholder’s Veggie & Tuna Press & Strainer
Do you eat tuna? If so, you know the biggest pain is draining the can. But you don’t have to suffer along any longer using the lid, which doesn’t do a good job at all anyway. There’s a better solution, which Super Wife discovered. It’s called the Tuna and Veggies Press and Strainer by Evriholder: http://www.evriholder.com/Tuna-Veggie-Press.asp. With this little blue piece of higher technology you easily and quickly press all the juices away, and nothing slips out the sides. We love our. You can order it online, although Super Wife found it at our local evil empire Wal-Mart store.That’s it for now. In the next review, I’m going to reveal two killer recipes over which all who partake will salivate and drool—Chocolate Éclair Cake and Dill Potato Salad.
