Since I’m gearing up for NaNoWriMo in less than a month, I thought this would be the perfect time to read this book . . . and I was right! It’s written by the founder of NaNo, and is specifically about writing a novel in one month, so there were lots of ideas for keeping yourself going under a deadline, and it’s just darned funny, too. I must admit that I cheated a bit – he recommends that you read it during the month that you’re writing (he gives tips for each week, based on the challenges that usually happen to people during those weeks). I decided just to storm all the way through now, though. I can always go back if I get stuck. I finished this book feeling more excited than ever about writing next month, which is bound to be a good thing. 8/10

Really interesting and creepy, and I’m rather intrigued to know how much of this was based on real events. In the end, I found myself with more questions than answers, but that’s kind of fun with a film like this. It means I get to decide for myself how I choose to interpret what happened. :D I did enjoy this film, and thanks to whomever recommended this to me (I don’t remember who it was, though, and can’t seem to find a link that will tell me).

An Egyptian creation story, with gorgeous illustrations. My son and I both enjoyed this book, although I prefer the writing in the “Eyptian Myths” book that we’re currently reading. This one, in spite of being fairly simple, was a bit difficult for me to follow. 7/10

A cute book with pretty illustrations in which a brother and sister end up becoming artists for one of the pharoahs in ancient Egypt. Cute, but rather baby-ish for my 8-year-old. 8/10

This is an interesting little book on archaeology, describing some very basic facts about a number of “lost” cities, such as Troy, Pompeii, and Machu Picchu. A nice introduction into the subject; my 8-year-old son enjoyed it a lot. 8/10

This is an EXCELLENT two-DVD set about the Titanic. There are three separate episodes. “Death of a Dream” is all about the ship, from her construction up until the actual disaster; “The Legend Lives On” talks about the immediate aftermath of the disaster as well as the discovery of the wreck in the 1980s; “Beyond Titanic” covers the cultural phenomenon – books, films and exhibits – spawned by the disaster. I found this to be an excellent series about the ship, very thorough, and containing a lot of film footage and photographs that I’d not seen before. I borrowed this copy from Netflix, but enjoyed it enough that I’m planning to buy a copy for our video library. 10/10

This book gives a great overview of the evolution of life, beginning with single-celled organisms, all the way through modern humans. It covers each of the major stages of evolution in a two-page spread, with some general text, along with several photos of fossils or illustrations of specific organisms in that category. I found it a very good introduction into this subject, and the information was at an appropriate level for my (fairly knowledgeable) 8-year-old. I’d still consider it aimed at children, but the information is basic without being dumbed-down. An excellent book. 9/10

This was a fascinating book, and I’m pleased to have it be my 100th of the year. It contains two survivor stories – Col. Archibald Gracie’s extensive one, and the much shorter, “Sinking of the S.S. Titanic” by Jack Thayer.

Colonel Gracie’s story takes up most of the book. Not only does he give a detailed account of his own experience (he went down with the ship, but made his way to the overturned collapsible lifeboat on which he and several others were able to stand throughout the night until rescued), but he also put together a thorough sampling of other testimony from both the British and American inquiries.

All together, I felt as though I got an intimate look at what happened that night, and also about the mindset of many passengers and crew, and the era in general. I think the most interesting part – aside from learning about the actual events – was seeing so plainly the biases and predjudices of some of the people who survived the disaster. A great deal was made about how many persons from each class (first, second and third) were saved (this seemed important to many people at the time, with the inference being that some people didn’t consider the lives of the third class passengers as “important” as those in the upper classes). It was also disturbing to note the way many people from foreign countries were viewed in a less-than-favourable light (even Americans seemed to be viewed as “foreigners” by some of the British passengers and crew). There was also a lot about the actions of Bruce Ismay that night, and whether or not he had a moral obligation to go down with the ship. There were tales of heroism, too, though, so I’d say the story was both disturbing and uplifting in about equal parts, and most definitely a glimpse of that era in history.

Another thing that I really enjoyed was seeing where filmmakers (both Cameron and Baker/Lord) got their inspiration. Gracie’s account contained quotes and stories from actual passengers, some of whom are portrayed in the films, and their testimony here (or what was described of the actions of people who did not survive) was obviously a huge source of material. What I found even more interesting, though, were the little details about anonymous people which I spotted as having been incorporated into the films in various ways. For example, there is a very brief mention of a “male passenger carrying a baby” on one of the last lifeboats to leave the ship; I’m guessing this line was the inspiration for Hockley’s actions in the Cameron film.

There were parts of Gracie’s account that were repetetive and a bit tedious (some of the “duplicate” lifeboat accounts), but it was worth it to wade through them for the wonderful bits of information contained there.

Thayer was only 17 at the time of the disaster, and he, too, went down with the ship and ended up on the same overtuned collapsible. His account is very brief – not many more than a dozen pages long – but it was no less powerful than Gracie’s in many ways. Thayer is particularly eloquent in expressing his feelings about what the disaster meant to society:

It seems to me the disaster about to occur was the event, which not only made the world rub its eyes and awake, but woke it with a start, keeping it moving at a rapid pace ever since, with less and less peace, satisfaction, and happiness.

Today, the individual has to be contented with rapidity of motion, nervous emotion, and economic insecurity. To my mind the world of today awoke April 15th, 1912.

A fascinating book. I’m looking forward to the other collection of survivor stories I’ve got waiting for me to read. 10/10

A book about a crocodile and his “toothbrush” (a bird named Pete) who go on a school field trip and thwart a jewel thief. Cute-ish, but not all that exciting. Definitely too “young” for my son; maybe it would be better for very young children. 6/10

It took me a while to get through this book. It’s very dense, and I could only read a certain amount in a single sitting before I’d start feeling overloaded. He’s got lots of very interesting information about the philsophy of yoga, and of course, his descriptions/photographs of asanas are considered the “Bible” of yoga. I enjoyed this book, but didn’t love it. It will stay on my shelf always, though, because I know I’ll be referring to it again and again over the years. 8/10