The Adventure of Archaeology

When I was little, I wanted to be an archaeologist. It's not the only aspiration I had. I also wanted to be a concert pianist and astronaut. But Indiana Jones inspired me, and for a while I wanted to follow in his footsteps..in a less scary way. Now the subject kind of bores me.

The Adventure of Archaeology by Brian M. Fagan is a huge book about the whole history of archaeology and where it stands today. Yes, there are plenty of photos to keep the reader entertained on the way. And I finally learned how the Parthenon was ruined and how Agatha Christie is connected to the world of archaeology.

I do wonder if archaeology is declining now that so much has already been discovered. Will it be like forensics and decline in popularity once all the available jobs have been taken? I know there are still plenty of dig sites in Israel and underwater archaeology is still going strong.

All in all, I had a hard time finishing the book because it just didn't hold my attention very well. Yes, I realize that archaeology is not all glamour and excitement like film would try to portray, but I was still disappointed.

Rating - 1

Adventure New England

Ah, New England! Land of fall foliage, Ben & Jerry's ice cream and salt-water taffy. This particular guide is targeted to the vacationer with a love of the outdoors. Diane Bair and Pamela Wright must be a daring duo, because instead of writing this book stock full of jargon from the tourism bureau, the authors have written about each excursion from their own experience. And it has everything from orienteering to fly fishing to ice climbing. I wonder if they went to all of these places and then decided they were experts enough to write a book about it or if they were commissioned to write and paid the fees for all the adventures.

Outdoorsy people make me jealous. As much as I love hiking and camping, I've done very little of it. Books like this one do inspire me to some degree to do things like canoeing and spelunking. Things like kayaking and downhill skiing however will never make my list. "Wet exit" can't be natural. After reading this book I desperately want to ride aboard the Brilliant in Mystic, CT. I hope she's still floating.

The writing is of a high quality, being both entertaining and fully informative. I would strongly recommend the book if it weren't for one crucial point: it was written in 1996. The contact info, pricing, even locations and proprietor names are outdated to the point that one may as well start their search for adventure with an entirely different book.

Rating - 2

Adventure Classics

Meh. Adventure Classics is part of the Graphic Classics series. It features short stories by the likes of Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Zane Grey, but is visualized into graphic novel form.

I like a good graphic novel, especially as an escape from the norm. This, however, didn't hit the spot for me. The illustrations of most of the stories are rough on the eyes and made the story hard to follow. The stories themselves aren't really that adventurous, nor are they really classics, regardless of their being written by classic authors.

No high marks here.

Rating - 1

Adventure Capitalist

Here is another book where the wording of the tagline can make or break the interest of the potential reader: "The Ultimate Investor's Road Trip". To clarify, this is about the road trip that the ultimate investor made, not about road tripping for investors.
I love this book! It's easy for me to enjoy a book about traveling especially when it's a first-hand account of someone who actually spends time in places, getting to know the locals and understanding their culture as much as possible. Jim Rogers is an investor (duh) who decided to drive around the world in three years with his new wife (married during the trip) and a very beastly looking yellow Mercedes.
Because of his background as an investor, and a very successful one at that, Rogers was able to view the world from that perspective. His writing style is exciting, he has very diverse tastes, and he has very strong opinions. I don't necessarily agree with all the conclusions he makes, but his expertise definitely makes one pay attention.

Rating - 4/5

Advantage

I was a bit tentative when I picked up this book by Adam Segal. The tagline is "How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge". In an election year, anything that hints of political territory can put me on edge, but I set aside my own assumptions and read it anyway.

 My first and perhaps most important observation is that Advantage is very hopeful. Instead of listing all the problems with the West or the East, Segal focuses on how and why America should be breeding innovation, mostly scientific, in order to save us from our own economic crisis. I am in no way a science buff, but my husband is in physics, so it provided me a bit of a personal connection to the topic.

 I took so many notes that I wanted to share here, but the play I was in kept me too busy to post, and the notes have since disappeared. I may not recommend the book to everyone just because of the subject matter itself, but if you have any interest in political science or research and development, you should read this book, and soon.

Rating - 3

An Advancement of Learning

First things first. I am quite pleased to learn that this book cover is not the only one in print, because this one is absolutely awful. An Advancement of Learning is actually a rather exciting mystery novel, but I would have never chosen it if it weren't for this reading challenge.
Ok, now on to the juicy, mysterious details. The first thing that distinguishes this book among other mystery novels is the fact that it is written by a man. Reginald Hill immediately drew me in to his book with his descriptive visuals. The word play is quintessentially British and helps define the characters within the story.
This is the second book in his Dalziel & Pascoe series, following the adventures of two Yorkshire detective partners. The two are hardly alike, but their separate strengths seem to help discover "who done it". The book follows the typical mystery structure, with an obvious exposition, scandals, false leads, chase, and a nice wrap-up explaining how everything happened. The only real criticism I have is that it is too long. At least too long for my tastes. Otherwise, quite a fun read.

Rating - 3

Advanced Stickfighting

How do you teach stick fighting with a book? By filling most of the book with nonsensical spiritual vagueness. Masaaki Hatsumi suggests that these spiritual explanations are fundamental to stick fighting, but if that's true, then surely they belong to a book about basic stick fighting instead.
But I don't want to give the impression that I disliked reading this book. I want to frame every photo in it to hang on my wall. It does seem a strange way to teach a martial art however. I may not be an expert, but I assume that live instruction or even video would be much more useful. I had difficulty understanding the sequence of movements even with the photos.

Rating - 2

Advanced Skateboarding

Ah skateboarding. Something I have very rarely attempted, with less than desirable consequences. This particular book didn't exactly inspire me to pick it up again, but I still found it to be a serviceable read.
Advanced Skateboarding by Aaron Rosenberg is part of a larger book series called The World of Skateboarding. The books are short, concise, and complete with loads of photos to help illustrate the techniques described. Terms are explained nicely and the color scheme and layout help the reader progress from one idea to the next.
If you already have mastered the ollie, but want some advice on cool new tricks to learn, this book may help. Or, you could just watch a million videos on the same topic.

Rating - 2

Advanced Screenwriting

Often times, I begin reading a book with a preformed opinion of how it's going to be. I try not to read the little blurb about the author until I'm finished, so as not to shape my bias toward or away from his or her expertise.
Advanced Screenwriting by Linda Seger is one of the more boring books that I've read to date, and I've recently read about household plumbing. The tagline makes me want to retch: Taking Your Writing To the Academy Award Level. This gives the reader the sense that the goal of the instruction in the book is not so much to improve ones writing abilities as much as it is to cater to a particular group of people for the purposes of an award. That may not be Seger's goal, but it does give that impression.
Why is this book advanced? The topics covered seem pretty basic to me. She does use a lot of examples to illustrate her points, but then she goes on and on for pages talking about what happens in a handful of movies. The examples would be more meaningful and instructive if she toned it down a bit and left out some of the embellishment.
This is, of course, only my opinion, but that's why it's my blog. If you want to advance your screenwriting skills, don't bother with this book.

Rating - 1

Advanced Origami

This origami book is SUPER advanced. It's difficult to tell that some of the images are even made of paper. If you're interested in origami, I would recommend mastering the simple dry folding technique before turning to the wet folding shown in this book.
From a literary perspective, the book achieves its purpose with very detailed folding instructions (more clear than most origami I've seen), as well as in-depth recipes for various folding papers. My one real criticism of Michael LaFosse is his flowery stories about each animal and why he's inspired by them. Really not necessary.

Rating - 2

Advanced Home Plumbing

So, I probably wouldn't have read this, but it's tiny and mostly pictures. As such, I finished it in one morning. Not sure if I learned much of anything though. The projects illustrated in the book are the type that most home owners would hire a professional for, unless they are trying to build their own home. I wonder how reliable the book is when it's published by Black & Decker, the very company that is trying to sell its tools and supplies. I'm gonna try not to think about it too much, and just enjoy the photos of the man in plaid.

The Advanced Genius Theory

It's hard to know how to describe this book. Jason Hartley is an amazing writer. Perhaps the word "genius" is what really threw me off at first. This theory was discovered by Hartley and one of his friends after wondering why some of their favorite artists seemed to lose their way or "sell out". The theory states, that they weren't really crap all of a sudden, but rather they were advanced beyond their fan base's ability to comprehend. Like I said...hard to explain. If these people are Advanced, the artists who don't advance are merely Overt. In other words, they are obvious about who they are and what they're doing and fans know what to expect. I can't explain it as well as Hartley.

"Don't worry, I don't think the Advanced approach the status of gods. They still screw up and make bad art from time to time, but their mistakes are at the very least interesting and serve their evolution as Advanced Geniuses."

"The Overt find faith in a Christian or Muslim God to be absurd, though they frequently believe in other kinds of spirituality such as yoga or quasi Buddhism that don't prohibit believers from getting drunk or having sex before being married. What is interesting is that Overt people typically find religious people closed-minded and intolerant, but they too have a very specific set of rules about what makes a person acceptable or unacceptable."

"I'm not saying Elvis is a messianic figure or anything. Elvis was more like Obi-Wan Kenobe calmly allowing himself to be light-sabered by Darth Vader. If he is Obi-Wan, then we are Luke, yelling "No!" because we can't understand that by leaving the physical plane, Elvis/Obi Wan gets closer to the Force and will give us some of his power when we are ready to destroy the Death Star."
Advanced British Artists are more likely to keep their fan because Europeans have more advanced taste.

"One of the greatest challengs all parents face is having "The Talk" with their child..."But whenever the time comes--and it will--we parents are going to have to sit down and try to explain where James Brown came from."

Rating - 4

The Advanced Cyclist's Training Manual

I'm rather biased when I respond to this book because I love cycling. I would consider myself in no way advanced, but Luke Edwardes-Evans was able to teach me a few very practical things. I thought at first that it would leave me depressed because I'm not even in good enough shape to do RAGBRAI, let alone a race.
This is a different kind of book. It's not about training schedules and mantras (although it does have its share of both). Rather, it's geared toward the rider as an individual. Yes, hardcore training is important if you want to race well, but if you set out with no regard to your schedule, relationships, and fitness goals, you will burn out fast. One can only hope that doesn't include an injury in the process.
The information was surprisingly NOT over my head and March was the perfect month to read it, as this is about the time when I get really obsessed with cycling. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating - 4

Advanced Cancer

Hooray, another cancer book! Ok, it's not that bad...the book that is. This is part of a series of books from the American Cancer Society called Quick Facts. It is exactly that.

The book covers all the basics without delving into flowery language or overly technical jargon. It is specifically about advanced cancer, where there is little or no chance of recovery. Prevention, diagnosis, which types of cancer tend to spread where. It's all there, compacted into a quick, easy to navigate read.

Rating - 2

Advanced Bread and Pastry conclusion

I wonder how much of all this I'll remember. What a huge book! In case anyone suspects that this is a recipe book, they are mistaken. There are, however, many "formulas" for breads and pastries. I love carbohydrates, but after reading this book, I'm becoming gradually convinced that humans aren't meant to eat bread. The percentage of actual nutrition is rather small.
But that didn't stop me from lusting after the many photos of grandiose concoctions. My only negative comment is that the author veers too far from the bread and pastry topic and spends a considerable chunk of the end talking about things like syrups and sugar molds and *sigh* chocolate. Lovely topics on their own, but he could have spared me a few hundred pages and a few pounds to boot.
If you're considering a career in baking, this book is a must read. If you're a casual home cook, I'd recommend a simple cook book instead and leave the chemistry to the professionals.
Rating - 3