Book Review: The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live

Want to plan a trip to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA in January? How about the Iditarod dog sled races in Alaska next March? And what about the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, Canada next year?

It wouldn't be that hard to plan, not if you had Robert Tuchman's guide that lists almost everything you would want or need to know - when, where, the  history of each sports event,  records, things to know before you go, and, of course, how to get tickets, find travel packages, dining, airports, and relevant websites.

The 100 sports events are organized by order of importance, popularity? I'm not sure; it's a guess. Here are the first 4 listed.

1. Masters
2.  World Cup
3. Super Bowl
4. Summer Olympics (1012 in London)    

 If you wanted to go to Europe for Wimbledon, the Grand Prix, the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, or even events in Dubai and Hong Kong, all the helpful information is there.

Tuchman also gives you his top 10 cities for hosting a major sporting event. The top 3:
1. Miami, Fla. for the weather, South Beach and "topnotch facilities"
2. Surprise! Indianapolis, Ind.
3. San Antonio, Tx.

A valuable resource for sports fans, for those who can afford the time and expense to travel and buy tickets,
and even for those who just want to read about sports events you really should see live. I'm not a big sports fan but I give the guide four stars!

The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live: An Insider’s Guide to Creating the Sports Experience of a Lifetime by Robert Tuchman

Thanks Tracee and  BenBella Books for a review copy.

Book Review: Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me by Lisa Fineberg Cook

I laughed out loud several times while reading this memoir, in the funny parts
 at the beginning, when Lisa finds herself puzzled and unable to understand
the language and her surroundings in her temporary new home, Japan.

A newly married and relatively spoilt 30 year old woman, a J.A.P. (Jewish-American Princess), the author negotiates her way around her
 temporary home in Nagoya, Japan, finding out she has to do housework
 she had never had to do back in L.A. - laundry with a vengeful,
outmoded washing machine, cooking at home, taking public transportation,
 going shopping without knowing the language, and finding friends
among adults and even among schoolgirls who scream with excitement every time they see her - the Meg Ryan look-alike and possible celebrity.

Lisa makes it amusing, and later finds that adjusting to living in a foreign country changes her a bit and even strengthens her relationship with her husband Peter. Her advice to anyone who has a chance to live abroad for a while - do it!

A fun read. I finished in two sittings :  Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me by Lisa Fineberg Cook

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for a review copy of this book.

Review: Savage Days Haunted Nights by Bennett Kremen

From the publisher's description:

"Savage Days Haunted Nights portrays Dorian, a man trapped in a harrowing struggle between good and evil, striving now perilously day after day to conquer this. It's an arresting tale, suspenseful and driven by forceful action from the first page to the last. Criminals, professors, socialites... and ordinary people animate every chapter of this saga, revealing some of the darkest secrets of the back streets of Chicago and New York and, in one chapter, a breathtaking adventure on a bleak, forbidding tundra in the wilds of Alaska. Revealed here also are the very deepest recesses of human character and the agonies of love amidst the moral challenges of our age." 

This unusual novel by Bennett Kremen has been compared to Crime and Punishment as it deals with a crime and the moral issues that one man struggles with. The author has used his experiences as a world traveler in writing this novel. Now living in New York City, the author has contributed articles to the New York Time Book Review and Financial Pages, to The Nation, to The Village Voice and to other publications.

His novel is printed by Arnone Press.
Review copy provided by Ariel Publicity

Movie Meme: The Story of the Weeping Camel

Monday Movie Meme: this week's movie topic is all about Life Changers....what movies had such an impact that they caused a change in our behavior, beliefs, or exposed us to a new passion? Share on your blog movies that caused a major impact in your life. Then link back to the hosts at  The Bumbles Blog,

Here's my "life-changing" movie, an award-winning documentary:

"The Story of the Weeping Camel is an enchanting film that follows the adventures of a family of herders in Mongolia's Gobi region who face a crisis when the mother camel unexpectedly rejects her newborn calf after a particularly difficult birth. Uniquely composed of equal parts reality, drama, and magic, this film is a window into a different way of life and the universal terrain of the heart."
(From The Story of the Weeping Camel by National Geographic.)

Amazing how music was used to "soothe the savage beast" - how someone played music to calm and entice the young camel into finally accepting and allowing her calf to feed. Beautiful cinematography and story/documentary.

Review: Public Image by Thomas A. Hauck

"When I woke up this morning I had a good idea for a story. It did not come to me in a dream as they sometimes do, but popped into my head as I was squinting into a shaft of sunlight piercing the blind that did not quite cover the window..." (p. 32, "Uncle Hiram")


I liked this  short story about how Uncle Hiram replaced the story the writer had in mind and helped create a new story with his usual question,

"What'cha writing about?"

The writer lied to deflect Uncle Hiram's usual criticisms and said,

" A dog's head and a cat's head on the same body." (p. 34)

But Uncle Hiram liked the idea and asked a few more pointed questions to show his interest. The lie then truly became a good idea - the cat and the dog in an argument, about the auto industry for one.

In the end, the author says, "I knew that Uncle Hiram was going to love this story." (p. 35)

These quotes are from "Uncle Hiram," one of 24 short stories and 27 poems in Thomas A. Hauck's new book, PUBLIC IMAGE: stories and poems, published 2009 by Avanti Literary, in association with Booklocker, Inc.

Publisher's description:

"Revealing the lives of ordinary people in extraordinary situations, (the stories and poems)...examine the human experience.

Thomas Hauck is also author of Pistonhead, a contemporaty novel about how rock guitar player Charlie Sinclair finds success." More information at www.thomasahauck.net

Thanks to the author for review copies.

Sunday Salon: Fall Is Here For Sure

All the leaves are off the trees, except for a good amount on a red maple in the back. Finally planted the third red barberry bush I bought about a month ago. Hope they keep that color even in summer.

Re blogging, I haven't been doing a lot of memes lately, except for a Friday Finds this past week with Sue Grafton's new book, U is for Undertow. Other memes I occasionally join are Teaser Tuesdays, A-Z Wednesday, and Booking for Thursday.

I do a Library Loot every now and then, but the only library books I have out right now are the first novel by Nahid Raschid, Foreigner, about an Iranian student's visit home after many years in the U.S., and Breathing Water, which I've finished reading.

What memes have you done this past week?

Book Review: 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly

This is a good police procedural through the first two-thirds of the book, with detective Harry Bosch
investigating the shooting of a grocery store owner in a run-down part of Los Angeles, suspecting
Asian triad connections, and heading off to Hong Kong where the triads have kidnapped
his daughter while telling Bosch to back off his investigations.

Bosch's ex-wife and his daughter live in Hong Kong, and because of his dangerous occupation, his wife says he may never again be allowed to see his daughter, if she is recovered and rescued. How this family situation is resolved is the part where the plot starts to become unrealistic and improbable.

SPOILER ALERT :

Bosch's ex-wife is shot and killed in an attempted robbery in Hong Kong, and this dilemma of his continuing to see his daughter is suddenly resolved - he is the only surviving parent. Another  improbable section of the plot -
the mystery surrounding the shooting death of the grocery store owner in LA, where the book began.

What is highly unlikely and unconvincing is that a Chinese American son and daughter  would plot to
kill their father just because the father refused to close an old grocery store in LA so that they could open
 a 3rd one in a more upscale neighborhood. Motive: the son" got tired of the refusal" and so
 had his father shot with three well placed bullets to the chest. In a culture where filial respect has been taught  for centuries, this was a pretty flimsy motive for such a heinous crime. I had to shake my head at this one.

I would have given 9 Dragons a four out of five stars after reading the first 2/3rd of the novel, but the last third of the book pulled it down to a 2, IMO.