In My Mailbox 25

IMM is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.  The idea is to share books bought, borrowed, scavenged, traded and won.  For more information click here.

Lots of Best of the Best Challenge Materials! And a few other fun things.

Borrowed:

More Show Me How: Everything We Couldn't Fit in the First Book (not pictured)
The Hunger Games: Tribute Guide by Emily Seife
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone
Whoogles: Can a Dog Make a Woman Pregnant? And Hundreds of Other Searches That Make You Ask "Who Would Google that?
 

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson (ebook)

Chime by Fanny Billingsly (eaudio)

Fever Crumb by Phillip Reeve (eaudio)

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 by HitRecord & Joseph Gordon Levitt 

New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2011

87 pages

5 out of 5

The Universe is not made of atoms; it's made of tiny stories.

To create The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, known within the hitRECord as RegularJOE--directed thousands of collaborators to tell tiny stories through words and art. With the help of the entire creative collective, Gordon-Levitt culled, edited and curated over 8,500 contributions into this finely turned collection of original art from 67 contributors. Reminiscent of the 6-Word Memoir series, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 brings together art and voices from around the world to unite and tell stories that defy size.

This is a cool little book that I feel the need to feature. The description mentions the 6-word memoir series, and although these entries are not limited to six words, they can be just as profound, sad, funny, and even a little sexy. These snippets make you think and encourage sharing of the book.

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story of Brain Science by John Fleischman 

Houghton Mifflin, 2002

86 pages

2.5 out of 5

Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head.  Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain.  Miraculously, he survived to live another eleven years and become a textbook case in brain science.  At the time, Phineas Gage seemed to completely recover from his accident.  He could walk, talk, work, and travel, but he was changed.  Gage "was no longer Gage," said his Vermont doctor, meaning that the old Phineas was dependable and well liked.  The new Phineas was crude and unpredictable.  His case astonished doctors in his day, and still fascinates doctors today.  What happened and what didn't happen inside the brain of Phineas Gage will tell you a lot about how your brain works and how you act human.

Phineas Gage is an interesting subject, but this title left me generally unimpressed.  It is classified as a biography, and though it does follow Phineas Gage from his accident until his death, the amount of information about the brain in general makes it feel like it could be categorized elsewhere.  It reminded me of true crime novels where the killer was never found or didn't confess to everything.

Early in the book, there was a long parenthetical didactic moment stressing the importance of wearing a helmet when engaging in certain activities.  Don't get me wrong, this is an important thing to know, but didn't seem to fit with the book (and it was the only inclusion of this type).

Another odd element was the continued use of a quotation marks.  Every word that could be deemed new vocabulary was surrounded by the little guys.  It seemed they were used as "emphasis," but it made for some "very" annoying reading at times. 

The book is written in a conversational tone, which is nice.   It was set up so that there was case study information and then would shift to the science side of it.  It's almost like reading an episode of Bill Nye or another science-y show.

Best description ever: The iron rod was like "a rocket through his brain."

____________________________

I borrowed this title from my local library.

Secrets of a Civil War Submarine

Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H. L. Hunley by Sally M. Walker

Carolhoda Books, Inc, 2005

112 pages

4 out of 5

For more than one hundred years, a submarine lay buried beneath the ocean floor near Charleston, South Carolina.  This Civil War stealth weapon--the H. L. Hunley--made history in 1864 as the first submarine ever to sink an enemy ship.  But something went wrong during that daring mission.  The Hunley never returned to port.

Despite decades of searching, the Hunley remained unfound, hidden by murky water and layers of mud.  In 1995 her story took a startling turn.  As she had during the Civil War, the Hunley once again made newspaper headlines.  How the submarine came to be on the ocean floor, how she came to leave it, and what happened next make up one of the most compelling stories in the history of archaeology and the history of the Civil War--an amazing tale of bravery, mystery, bones, and gold.

 This book focuses on the H.L. Hunley and its role in the Civil war.  The Hunley was tapped for the mission of breaking the Union Blockade in Charleston Harbor.  Although the submarine was cutting edge technology of the day, accidents plagued the submarine.  During tests of the Hunley in Mobil Bay, she sank twice killing her crew.  Even so, she was resurrected and returned to active duty.  Her final mission was a success, but the Hunley was not seen again for over a hundred years.

 One of my favorite elements of this book is that is inclused a forensic chapter on the crew.  Using many of the forensic techniques employed by law enforcement, the team working on the Hunley was able to identify each crew member.  They took it further, however, and used the skulls to create replicas of the men's faces.  It's amazing to see the final crew of the Hunley.

This book is great for history buffs, submarine enthusiasts or anyone interested in archaeology.  It details the raising of the Hunley, the excavation process, and the mystery surrounding her sinking.This book is divided into two sections: the building of the Hunley and the events of the 1860s and the events following the Hunley's successful mission and subsequent disappearance.

I Can't Keep My Own Secrets

I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser

HarperTeen, 2009

ISBN: 9780061726842

192 pages

5 out of 5

One life.  Six words.  What's yours?

True tales of love, loss, good friends, and bad hair days filled Not Quite What I was Planning, the New York Times bestselling first book in the Six-Word Memoir Series--and an international phenomenon.  Some of the most compelling were by teens, so now SMITH Magazine has compiled a book written entirely by these bold, brash truth-tellers.  From cancer to creativity, prom dates to promiscuity, and breaking hearts to breaking laws, the memoirs in this collection reveal that often the youngest writers have the most fascinating stories to tell.

Met online; love before first sight.

Hair's pink to piss you off.

I fulfilled my awkwardness quota today.

I'm seventeen, engaged, and not pregnant.

My mom had my boyfriend deported.

Late for school every single day.

According to facebook, be broke up.

From the moment I read this first memoir,  I could not put this book down.  This book contains some of the funniest, saddest, and most heartfelt sentiments I've read in a while, and it's all done in six words.  To some that might seem easy, but can you explain your life in just six words?

This is an excellent book for any teen to read.  If you read straight through it's pretty quick, but the beauty is that you can read these in any order.  Start from the back, the front, the middle or somewhere in between.  Any way you choose to read it, you'll be sure to read them all.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston 

New York: Atria Books, 2004

ISBN: 0743492811

342 pages

4 out of 5

One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told--Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought him home.

It started out as a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands on a warm Saturday afternoon.  For Aron Ralston, a twenty-seven-year-old mountaineer and outdoorsman a walk into the remove Blue John Canyon was a chance to get a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorado's highest and toughest peaks.  He'd earned this weekend vacation, and though he met two charming women along the way , by early afternoon he finally found himself in his element: alone, with just the beauty of the natural world around him.

It was 2:41 p.m.  Eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, Aron was climbing down off a wedged boulder when the rock suddenly, and terrifyingly, came loose.  Before he could get out of the way, the falling stone pinned his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall.

And so began six days of hell for Aron Ralston.  With scant water and little food, no jacket for the painfully cold nights, and the terrible knowledge that he'd told no one where he was headed, he found himself facing a lingering death--trapped by an 800-pound boulder 100 feet down in the bottom of a canyon.  As he eliminated his escape options one by one through the days, Aron faced the full horror of his predicament: By the time any possible search and rescue effort would begin, he'd most probably have died of dehydration, if a flash flood didn't down him before that.

What does one do in the face of almost certain death?  Using the video camera from his pack, Aron begins recording his grateful goodbyes to his family and friends all over the country, thinking back over a life filled with adventure and documenting a last will and testament with the hope that someone would find it.  (For their part, his family and friends had instigated a major search for Aron, the amazing details of which are also documented here for the first time).  The knowledge of their love kept Aron Ralston alive, until a divine inspiration on Thursday morning solved the riddle of the boulder.  Aron then committed the most extreme act imaginable to save himself.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place--a brilliantly written, funny, honest, inspiring, and downright astonishing report from the line where death meets life--will surely take its place in the annals of classic adventure stories.

So Aron Ralson is pretty cool guy.  His life is about adventure and being outdoors.  The book outlines his life before the accident and it's a life many guys (and perhaps some ladies) undoubtedly dream of.  What could be better?

This book happens to be about what could be worse.  But this isn’t exactly a book with spoilers: Ralston’s story was all over the news in 2003, the book was published in 2004 and now in 2010, Ralston is being played by James Franco in the upcoming movie 127 Hours. 

But sometimes it’s not about the ending; it really is about the journey.  The mental and physical difficulties of what Ralston went through during his week trapped by the boulder, his recovery, and his return to the outdoor life.  His story is about bravery, determination, and ultimately the will to survive. 

In My Mailbox (3)

IMM is a meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  She was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. Since the idea is to share titles, I'm including everything. 

Sorry for the lack of photos.  It's been a long week.



Bought:

The Hunger Games , Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
(apparently I'm a freak for not reading these earlier)
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett



Borrowed:
Slant by Laura Williams
The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan
To Heal the Heart of a Child: Helen Taussig, M.D. by Joyce Baldwin
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman

And WON!!!  (So exciting!! I never win anything!)

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri
Thanks so much to Ari of Reading in Color and Lee and Low Books!

Instructions for Life

Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know Instructions for Life from the Everyday to the Exotic

by Derek Fagerstrom, Lauren Smith & The Show Me Team

Collins Design, 2008

ISBN: 9780061662577

500 + pages

Life Explained.  One Step at a Time.

Simple, step-by-step instructions on how to do 492 things practically everyone need to know.*

________________

*And 8 that no sensible person would ever do.

I love this book. Some how to's will not interest guys (like how to press pretty flowers and how to apply makeup) but there is so much information in this book that the girly stuff won't matter.  When they say "step-by-step" they mean it.  There's a picture for each step and short descriptions (short, as in a sentence) for clarification. Simply perfect!

Some how to's from a few categories:
Make: assemble a super slingshot, make a playing card wallet
Style: spike up a mohawk, create an oozing fake wound
Nest:  boost my wi-fi with a strainer, create the ultimate tree house
Go: do a killer duck dive, leap from a cliff
Wow: give the illusion of levitation, land an old-school 180 kickflip
Other categories: eat, drink, love, grow, thrive and survive.