The Danny and the Dinosaur Treasury: Three Huge Adventures

The Danny and the Dinosaur Treasury: Three Huge Adventures by Syd Hoff

This treasury includes

Danny the Dinosaur (1958)

Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur (1985)

Danny and the Dinosaur Go to Camp (1996)

I'm a bit baffled about the dates. Everywhere I see claims the Goes to Camp was copyright 1996, yet this treasury was clearly copyrighted in 1993. There is no additional copyright date shown for the two additional stories.

The original story is half the book. The other two are half the length of that book. There is a huge gap in time from when they were written, yet the stories could easily fit in the same time line.

In the first, Danny runs into the dinosaur in the museum. It is just natural for everyone to do things with the dinosaur.

In the next, Danny is celebrating a birthday, so the dinosaur does too.

In the final, the kids go to camp. The dinosaur makes camp a lot of fun in a different way.

The later stories do continue in the same spirit of normalcy with the absurd.

The Big Worry Day

The Big Worry Day by K.A. Reynolds and Chloe Dominique

A girl worries that her dog is worrying about all sorts of things. This is likely her way of expressing her own worries and concerns. It tries a bit too hard to have a message.

100 Goats and Granny!

100 Goats and Granny!  by Atinuke and Lauren Hinds

The kids count 100 of Granny's goats. They go off and do ruckus. The police are mad at this, but defer to Granny. They get all the goats and return them to Granny's farm (with one goat off to ruckus.) It is set in an urban/rural boundary area in Africa, and seems to be most interesting in showcasing the region. The story and illustrations have some potential, but don't quite live up to it.

Benito Cereno

Benito Cereno by Herman Melville 

Benito Cereno seems like it should have been a good book, but I had trouble getting into it. An American comes across a ship in distress. Benito Cereno, the captain is always accompanied by his servant.  He explains that many of the Spaniards had been taken by a fever. Only at the end does he jump away from the ship and let the Americans know that a slave revolt occurred and that the blacks controlled everything.

Walden; or, Life in the Woods

Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

As a short book Walden would have been great. However, it goes on for much too long. Thoreau goes "back to nature" and enjoys the experience. He likes the slower pace of life and finds way to live and feed himself there. It is a nice thought. Alas, these days it is difficult to find this type of nature close to home, let alone a place where you could self-sufficiently live. However, it was nice while it was there.

Carta de Jamaica

Carta de Jamaica by Simón Bolívar

The Jamaica letter was something like a "declaration of independence" of South America. Bolivar had a gradualist approach to liberation from Spain. He saw the people as a "new" people that were part Spanish, part native. They were "slaves" to Spain. They would inevitably form their own countries of various sizes. Some were expected to gather large groups and form monarchies, but these monarchies are likely to fail. This short letter foretells much of the future of South America, but was perhaps too conservative in outlook.

The Innocents Abroad: Or, The New Pilgrim’s Progress

The Innocents Abroad: Or, The New Pilgrim’s Progress by Mark Twain

Mark Twain went on a trip with a group of Americans to visit the Holy Land and many places in between. Twain's wit and humour make for one of the better travel stories. The trip and the actions of everyone involved are more important than the actual site. The profiteering of the locals is critisized outright, while the naive behavior of Americans gets criticized in passing. As an example, in Paris, the tour guide goes through great efforts to take them to so many different stores that it becomes too late to visit the museum they had asked to visit. The Americans naively believe they just needed to better instruct what they wanted to do. The Americans end up calling all guides by the same name.

When they finally get to the Holy Land, Twain is let down by the small scale of things. It is a small area and extremely impoverished. It was much less grand than he expected. It was difficult to comprehend a deity walking among the people.

Innocentes is an appropriate title. These people seem very innocent and naive. This adds to the humor as they explore historical parts of the world in a relatively clueless way. 

Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days adapted by Jules Verne, adapted by Anna Lea

I had a bit of trouble figuring out what this actually was. It credits an "adaptor", but not a translator. I'm assuming that this was adapted from some English translation of the original French. There were multiple characters and the pace was perfect.

Phileas Fogg is an eccentric British aristocrat. He places a bet that he can get around the world in the unheard time of 80 days. A new assistant, Jean Passepartout, happened to join him just before he makes this bet. They journey together to complete the quest. They have to deal with steamers, trains, and even elephant travel. Fogg is willing to throw vast sums at solutions due to the money that he has at stake. His assistant gets into a bit of trouble (for things such as not taking his shoes off at an Indian temple). They are also chased by police who mistake Fogg for a thief. They have many adventures, including the rescue of a woman from ritual suicide. They make it back in what they think is just a bit too late. Later they realize they forgot to take into account the date change and rush to make it back just in time. It is a fun adventure that has been well adapted to movies and other media.

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara (Guardians of Dawn, 1) by S. Jae-Jones

Zhara is a bright, light fantasy book. There is a character that loves to read romance books. The book becomes involved in some plot twists. This society had some big war and one side is power and strives to hide books to keep from unifying others. Books hold some special secrets. Gender can be a bit confusing. He and she are used together with "they", but it may change for a character as they become gendered. There was an introductory note about it. In spoken Chinese he and she are pronounced the same. Is Korean something like that. Did some googling, and it seems that Korean doesn't often use the gendered pronouns, so that does make sense. The book felt fairly good as far as fantasy goes, but I did get a bit lost as it kept going on. It would be great if fantasy writers could write short. This one seemed to have potential.

The Living Years: The First Genesis Memoir

The Living Years: The First Genesis Memoir by Mike Rutherford

Mike Rutherford's father was a British naval officer that did not communicate well with his children. Mike wished he would have taken more time to get to know him and understand his life and experience. Mike had traveled around a lot while young and went to a well-to-do school. He ran into trouble and did drugs and joined a band. During his life, there were a few times he got in trouble with the drugs. He joined Genesis as a founding member and stayed with the band through multiple iterations. The band kept going, even after key band members left. However, finally when Phil Collins left, they realized their recruited singer would not be enough. They later had legacy tours with original members. Genesis also had multiple members go solo or have alternate groups with great success. Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel each had number one songs on their own. Rutherford's spin off, Mike + the Mechanics also had a number one along with a few other top 40 hits.

Genesis did have a fair amount of turn over. Rutherford was present for all of it. In the book he paints a picture of most people leaving because they wanted to. (The few that were "fired" were portrayed as short-termers.) It is interesting the Phil Collins could have a solo career that eclipsed the band and yet still return for a few more albums (that were also highly successful.) The book talks about the music, but doesn't go into much detail about the evolution through different genres and styles (and different fan appeal.) It is an interesting case of appealing to different groups.

They Bloom at Night

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

Life among the poor in Louisiana is hard enough. After a hurricane some deadly algae makes it even worse. The book us dark and forgettable.

Ruby's Tools for Making Friends (Ruby’s Tools Series)

Ruby's Tools for Making Friends (Ruby’s Tools Series) by Apryl Stott 

An animal has tools to calm herself. She starts a new school and has trouble speaking up and making friends. She wants to succeed in egg drop contest. She talks to another quiet boy and he helps her. Her group likes her idea and they run with it. They win the class contest, but lose the school one. Things end up good. The book seems to try too hard to have a "message" and fidget concepts, thus distracting from what could be a somewhat compelling story.

The Daddy Book / El libro de los papás (Spanish and English Edition)

The Daddy Book / El libro de los papás (Spanish and English Edition) by Todd Parr

A simple book describes things that daddy does. It can lend itself to doing actions like tickling the kid. This version had text in both languages (but my kid did not want to hear any Spanish)

The Secret Life of Squirrels

The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose

A squirrel named Mr. Peanuts does a bunch of human-like things shown in photographs in this picture book. It has a cute basic story. We got it from a little free library, but it was a school library sticker on it. Hmmm...

If I Ran the Circus

If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss

A boy, Morris McGurk, walks by a large, nearly empty lot with Sneelock's store at the corner. He imagines the great Circus Mcgurkus. Sneelock has a role that gets more and more elaborate, starting as a vendor, and growing to performing some increasingly elaborate stunts. The book feels a little too long for the story.

 

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings

The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, some translated by H. J. Stenning and Samuel Moore

Translations appear to have come from KARL MARX: SELECTED ESSAYS

"Communist Manifesto" (1888 translation by Samuel Moore )

"A Criticism of the Hegelian Philosophy of Right" -1843, intro published in 1844

"On the King of Prussia and Social Reform" 1844

"Moralizing Criticism and Critical Morality: A Polemic Against Karl Heinzen" 1847

"Proudhon" (from Holy Family, 1844)

"French Materialism" (from Holy Family, 1844)

"The English Revolution" (1850)

This collection has the real Communist Manifesto and some additional essays by Marx. The topics do not quite seem so revolutionary today. Neither do they sound hugely Marxist in the modern view. The communism of these writings expects a more gradual change that will be inevitable. Classes of people have found themselves as mere cogs and want to assert general rights. What is the best way to go about doing it?

Fahrenheit-182: A Humorous and Inspirational Memoir by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182

Fahrenheit-182: A Humorous and Inspirational Memoir by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 by Mark Hoppus and Dan Ozzi

Mark Hoppus is the only person that has been a member of Blink-182 for the band's entire history. In his early life, he grew up in the Mojave desert. He was smart and did well in school. His family didn't have a whole lot of money, but they were not poor. Then his parents' marriage had issues. They separated and eventually divorced. There were violent boyfriends and other issues. Mark's sister chose to live with their mother, so Mark chose the father. They moved around a bit. Mark's academic performance faltered. He got into various substances and music. His first concert was They Might Be Giants in DC. He decided he liked to play bass. Later he managed get into a college in California, and lived with his Mom. His sister introduced him to Tom Delonge. They hit it off big and would form the nucleus of Blink-182.

The rest of the book is primarily related to the experience of the band. Even life events (like cancer) seem to be colored by the band. They were somewhat in the San Diego skate-punk scene, though there didn't seem to be a strong tie. Blink-182 was originally blink until another "blink" band sued. Their first concert had nobody in attendance. They had one guy at the next. However, they kept plugging away. Tom was the one that kept pushing for more goals and greater success. Scott, their first drummer was younger and more of an introvert. The book gently threads the issue of dumping him. Scott had a different personality and a drinking problem. He got booted and the band didn't talk to him much afterwards. Travis Barker was recruited from the Aquabats and that became the classic lineup.

They worked hard to get their break. Then they hit it big. They were willing to write poppy songs. They mocked boy bands and got pigeonholed as one. They ran around in nearly naked in a video. There were plenty of juvenile antics and jokes. There may be an undertext of this being a means to hide from concerns. Mark talks about many "one in a million" events. Travis was in a plane crash that killed others and left him burnt all over. Their producer died. Even a deer hit seemed to show tragedy. And later, Mark was diagnosed with cancer. The band became hugely popular. Then they broke up and did not-so-popular side projects. Then they got back together again to big success. Then Tom left again. This time they recruited another singer. They had some success. Finally after Mark's cancer treatment they got back together again as the original band.

The story is similar to other bands. There was a lot of hard work and a desire to succeed as well as lucky breaks. There was also plenty of tragedy of various types. There is very little that is taken outwardly very seriously. Even the cancer treatment was treated flippantly. The internal demons are a different story. How much of this is a facade and how much is just his way of looking at life?

The Great Chinese Art Heist: Imperialism, Organized Crime, and the Hidden Story of China's Stolen Artistic Treasures

The Great Chinese Art Heist: Imperialism, Organized Crime, and the Hidden Story of China's Stolen Artistic Treasures by Ralph Pezzullo

Westerners had taken many artistic treasures from China during China's period of weakness. These days, China wants it back. What can't be received directly, art has often suddenly disappeared. It has appeared that China's wealthy (possibly with consent of the government) have employed criminal gangs to steal Chinese treasures valuable to them.

There are various conflicting values in play. Should people return appropriated items? Why does it seem that just the ones in power have artifacts returned? What if the artifacts have played a role in the culture that currently possesses them, even if they did not create them? Is it ok to steal back what was stolen?  The book does not make many judgements.

Les Miserables

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, translated by Charles E Wilbour

Les Miserables has a core story of morality and redemption. It is extremely long. (I have a copy in the original French that is three long paperbacks.) At the core, the book is a story about Jean Valjean. He is poor and commits petty crimes, such as stealing bread. He is committed to long terms in prison. He is shown mercy by a Bishop. When Jean Valjean steals some silver, the Bishop claimed he offered it to him and offered him more. This is the seed that helped Jean Valjean turn away from a life of crime and help others positively. He would later accumulate great wealth, help save people's lives and care for others. However, he had previous convictions and escapes hanging over his head. He feels obligated to reveal his true identity when others are accused of his crimes. Even at the end, when he is free, he feels a sense of shame and need to atone for his past. Eventually, others understand all the positive he has done and are willing to forgive the past.

The novel provides many incidents to show Jean Valjean's character. Javert is a police inspector who chases him through much of the novel. At one point, Valjean is part of an uprising. The group catches Javert and plan to kill him. Valjean volunteers to carry it out. However, rather than do so, he shoots the gun in the air and sets Javert free. Later when Javert does capture Valjean, he is torn between supporting the mercy shown and following the letter of the law. Unable to decide, he commits suicide.

Cosette also plays a significant role. She is a poor daughter of a prostitute. Jean Valjean cares for her both directly and indirectly. He saves the life of the man that will eventually become her husband. 

There are many other characters and events in the novel. There are also a huge amount of digressions that are general essays on topics of interest to Hugo that only slightly tie in to the novel. There is a long discussion of sewers and the benefit of fertilizing with human waste as is done in China. Napoleon and the French revolution also get coverage. I enjoyed the digressions, but I did struggle with the overall length. The audiobook is nearly 60 hours long at regular speed. An abridgement could easily make it to ten hours or less with a focus on just the key plot points. 

The Upstairs Room

The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss

This has a number of similarities to the "Diary of Anne Frank". Both were written by Jewish girls in the Netherlands who went into hiding during the Holocaust. Upstairs Room is a retrospective story, written by the author much later in life. This it can expected to be much more influenced by later events. The author also survived the experience, She was able to live with caring families outside of the city. It remains scary that modern culture can carry off such atrocities towards certain groups.

The Communist Manifesto [fake]

The Communist Manifesto [fake], not really by Karl Marx

I'm not sure what this was, but it wasn't the Communist Manifesto. There was some introductory material on Marx and the background of communism. The last part contained a catalog of available publications from some 100-year old British Socialist Society. This is the epitome of false advertising. Don't claim this is the "Communist Manifesto" by Marx when there is almost nothing that he wrote.

The Unmaking of June Farrow: A Novel

The Unmaking of June Farrow: A Novel by Adrienne Young

The Farrow women seem to go crazy later in life. June does some research and tries to find out more about her family history. She discovers people with similar names that lived at different times in the past. She even discovers somebody with her name. Then she goes through the door. The Farrow women can go through the door to different time periods. They have three chances to do this, and then they are stuck. June ends up back in the 1950s in a time period almost a year after a different version of her had lived before. She was involved with the murder of a priest in the small North Carolina town. Others are trying to catch her, especially after she mysteriously disappeared shortly after the crime. Gradually some memories come back and others leave. She does something to unravel time that would thus end the curse of time travel in her family. This unraveling part is quite confusing, but so is just about any attempt to explain time travel. Somehow she overlaps history with a loop and things stop or something like that. There is still some weirdness with generations where younger generations raise older ones due to time travel and age differences. How does this work out with the unravelling? This is not very clear. While time travel is confusing, the challenges of "outsiders" in small southern towns is accurately portrayed.

Red in Tooth and Claw

Red in Tooth and Claw by Lish McBride

I got lost with this book. It had vibes of a western with a bit of fantasy thrown in. Some kid is off on his own. He gets a companion. They run across a dead body. There is some work to join a settlement and be part of the community, but also conflicts. Eventually things come to an end. I just didn't care much for any of it.

The Demon Next Door

The Demon Next Door by Bryan Burrough

A teenage Danny Corwin in Temple, Texas committed a couple rapes, including one in 1975 where he kidnapped the girl and stabbed her. However, his family had important connections in the town through the First Presbyterian Church. There were key figures in the school administration as well as media in the congregation. The family was fairly respected and the teenager seemed upstanding and always worked to please adults. Rather than support the girl, the people accused her of being a whore. (The details of her wounds were not well known to the public.) The girl was reluctant to testify for fear of being disparaged. Corwin entered a plea deal and was sentenced to 40 years.

In prison he was a model inmate and was released after 9 years. He got a job, enrolled in Texas A&M and was in a relationship with a girl that had visited him in prison. However, things began to unravel. The girl broke up with him. He flunked out of school (but still pretended to attend classes.) Then he got the rape and murder bug. He killed three women, including a mom who was at the car wash with her young daughter. Despite many tips, he was not traced to any of those murders. Then he carjacked a girl at the Texas A&M parking lot and took her to under-construction Lick Creek park to rape her and slit her throat. She played dead until he left. Then he wandered up to the street where she was found and received medical help. She could not talk, but a police artist was able to create a drawing of Danny by communicating with her. He was then found and linked to the crime via fingerprints and later confessed to the other crimes. He was eventually sentenced to death.

The book is a short audiobook only release that has sufficient details to place things well in the locations. The perpetrator did appear to have mental illness that was well hidden. What would have been the best way to prevent future problems?

Floods (A True Book: Earth Science)

Floods (A True Book: Earth Science)

The book on floods starts with examples of floods in the midwest. It then goes to explain the cause of floods and follows up with other examples, such as Katrina in New Orleans. It felt detailed without being too long.