Skin: The Bare Facts

Title: Skin: The Bare Facts
Author: Lori Bergamotto
Pages: 95
Genre: Teen Nonfiction
Published: Zest Books (imprint of Orange Avenue Publishing)
Read For: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
My Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

I received Skin: The Bare Facts from Library Thing as part of their Early Reviewers program and was very happy to receive it.  Zest Books, from what I have seen, seems to do a good job of presenting nonfiction topics to teens in a clear, appealing manner.

I appreciated how logically and succinct the information in this book was presented. The way the book was organized, in combination with the simple, direct, informative writing style made it easy to read and retain information, and will prove an easily accessible resource to refer to at later dates. The artwork was nice--not overdone--and overall the layout and design was clean and balanced (making the book even easier to read.) Don't let the seeming simpleness make you think that this isn't a valuable resource. It may not have any breakout information ( I don't think that was the point of the book) but it does weed out all the excess information and give you--like the cover says--The Bare Facts.

In addition to informing the reader about what skin is, including the different types of skin and different skin problems, it also talks about skin care, encouraging natural, healthy practices. It talks about skin cancer in a non-threatening, informative manner, gives some natural spa recipes, and a brief history of makeup. Lori Bergamotto did a great job of sticking to the topic without becoming repetitive or boring. This is a book to keep around--for teens and adults alike.

Of Book Hops and Slimdowns and Lovely New Books

I've been making a concerted effort this summer to reduce the load that my TBR bookshelf constantly carries, ever so patiently.  I have a dual-pronged attack plan: read the books already on my shelf, and add no new books to the shelf.  I haven't been doing too badly, although I don't think I'm going to be winning any awards for my efforts.

Because of vacations and writing goals, I've only read 3 books so far this month [hanging my head in shame] and not big heavy tomes either.  (Of course, if I hadn't lost the book I was reading, that number would be higher.)  And of those three, one was read to my daughters, one was an ARC, and one was for my book club.  So my bookshelf isn't really all that much lighter.  Egads, let's hope the second half of July is better.

I am proud to say that I haven't purchased any books so far this month.  That pride isn't very far-reaching, however, because the lack of money spent does not equal a lack of new books in my house.  There's the book from PaperbackSwap that I received:  Angela's Ashes.  The LibraryThing Early Reviewer book: Skin.  The BookSneeze Review book: Resurrection in May.  And the book I borrowed from a friend (inadvertently): The Eyre Affair.  I don't think my bookshelf is getting any lighter.

If you are coming by from the Book Hop, thanks for coming by!  You are probably wondering when/if I'm going to answer the question of the week: What book are you Dying to get your hands on?  The answer to that is really simple.  I am bursting at the seams with the desire to get my hands on The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.  I HAD my hands on it and it disappeared.  I never lose books...especially books that I'm in the process of reading.  I was almost done!  I need to get my hands on it soon!

I've Lost It

My book, that is.  I've lost my book and I don't know where to find it.  This isn't just any book, mind you.  It is the book that I am currently reading (well, not quite currently, because I don't know where it is) and dying to finish.  It's  a lovely bright red, cloth bound copy of The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (a.k.a. the devil book).  I'm nearly done with it--I was carrying it around with me everywhere--and I need to know how it ends!

My public library--with 12 branches, in a city of a half-million people--has one copy at the main branch (a.k.a. the part of town I don't like taking all my kids to)  One copy?  I'm torn.  Where did my book go?  This just doesn't happen to me!

The Master and Margarita has been on my bookshelf for a year.  Waiting To Be Read.  A year ago, on the Fourth of July weekend, I was finishing reading War and Peace when a Russian friend told me that I needed to read The Master and Margarita: the one book he actually finished during his high school years in Siberia.  How do I refuse a book recommendation like that?  So, not knowing anything about the book, (except that Everyman's Library published it--I love Everyman's Library cloth bound books, someday I'll have them all,) I bought it and put it on my shelf.

It is totally NOT my type of book.  It is a political statement about Russian Communism at it's core, but the storyline is that of the devil visiting Moscow and wreaking havoc.  I'm really not into sci-fi (just ask my husband) or fantasy (have yet to be able to read all of the LOTR books). I didn't enjoy Peter Pan or The Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass, of which The Master and Margarita reminds me of somewhat.  But this book is so well written that the novelty just doesn't wear off.  My eyebrows have gotten quite the workout reading this book, and there have been a few laugh-out-loud moments.  The fact that I'm dying without it, NEED to finish, must say something.

If you find it, can you let me know?

The Intimidation Factor

Some books are just downright intimidating.  Be it size, subject matter, or something else entirely, some books are infamous for their intimidation factor while others hold their intimidation obscurely.  Size alone isn't the thing that turns my stomach cold--I've read War and Peace and loved it (read Anna Karenina in high school and loved it)--but it's definitely a factor.  1000+ pages is quite a commitment...if you are one of those persons who doesn't quit a book easily.  Of which I am one.

I'm generally intimidated by books that threaten to replace valuable, thought-provoking book reading time with dreadful amounts of long boring boringness.  Let's see if I can come up with a list [in no particular order] of 10 books that intimidate me for The Broke and The Brookish and their Top Ten Tuesday.

1. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand.  1000+ pages? Check.  Subject matter?  Not so straightforward.  People I know who have recommended it to me? None.

2. Finnegan's Wake, James Joyce.  I want to read James Joyce at some point, but I'm not so excited about the trudging and dissecting and re-reading and analyzing that I fear comes hand in hand with this one...or with Ulysses...hmmm

3. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov.  Somewhat disturbing subject matter, right?  And honestly...I'm a little worried I'll like it and feel like I shouldn't.

4. Don Quixote, Miguel De Cervantes. Again with the 1000+ pages, but this time let's add in the fact that it was written more than a couple hundred years ago--with a twist of translation on top.

5. Paradise Lost, John Milton.  Great epic poems in their original originality make my ears hear static.  I wish it weren't so, because this is on my shelf TBR.

And then let's add anything by:
6. Johann Wolfgang van Goethe...just an unknown to me--who is he? where do I start?
7. Marcel Proust.  Right.  ditto #6
8. Dante Alighieri.  See #5

And:
9. anything paranormal teen thriller romance-ish
10. anything super sci-fi with characters having weird unpronounceable names

Whew.  Do those even count?  It was a fun exercise, I'll say.  It's made me realize that the thing that intimidates me the most is the fear that a book will be a waste of time, or will otherwise be a drudgery or downright painful.  It'll be interesting to see if that changes in a decade or so when I'm able to reclaim some of my daily allotted time which has currently been requisitioned by my kiddos.  Have you read any of these?  Any advice?

Picking Favorites

Picking favorites is a horrible task that leaves me muddling through poorly organized mental filing cabinets in a frizzy flustered flurry.  (I do love playing with alliteration, but is it my favorite language novelty?  hrmm...I don't know, give me a sec...yeah, I don't know.)  In fact I have such a difficult time in general picking favorites that I've even blogged about it on my family blog: I'm "Favorite" Challenged.

Although, I must admit, it's been fun to see fellow bibliovores try to answer who their favorite author is.  What a question!  I can't narrow it down to one single entrée, so here is the tasting menu:

Harper Lee--To Kill a Mockingbird, deceptively simple, multi-layered yummy-ness

Betty Smith--A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty" -Keats

Willa Cather--Song of the Lark, I know I'm supposed to say My Antonia, (which was great all around) or Death Comes for the Archbishop (except I haven't read it yet) and I was tempted to say O Pioneers! (which, as my intro to Cather, may always be my first love) but it was Song of the Lark that really touched me--more on that in a day or two.

Jane Austen--Persuasion, although I've never met something of hers that I haven't liked.  Her wit and insight are...well, classic.

Leo Tolstoy--War and Peace, I admit to having a soft spot for gruff looking old men who [I imagine] are just teddy bears inside.  More than that, though, I love how Tolstoy thinks. 

So...who is your favorite?? If you are stopping by on the Book Hop, let me know so I can return your visit!

Cream of the Crop

No matter how much I read, it's not enough to satisfy the inner book beast.  My literary-tapeworm hungers for MORE!  So, the first six months of this year I read 59 books:  12 nonfiction (I like learning), 18 regular old adult fiction (and some were actually good), 24 junior fiction (I have 4 kiddos.  I'm pre-reading for them.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it), and 4 classics.  Four.  (That is NOT enough, for those of you who may be confused right now.)

So can you guess what the tapeworm is hungry for?  Classics.  That which I don't make enough time for.  Those books that--although I love them dearly, though they receive more 5 stars ratings from me than any other category of books--always fall to the back burner when life gets crazy.  Honestly?  Those are the TBR books taunting me from the shelf.  The others are patient...these classics cry for more attention.  Goal for the next half of 2010?  Make time for more classics.

The best books I've read this year so far, books that I would actually recommend with my whole heart, are:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Everyone else is saying it, why can't I?  Fairly quick to read, great authorial voice, entertaining, AND something to think about.

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt.  Junior Fiction, winner of the Newbery Honor.  I read this book aloud, (consider that if you decide to read it--reading aloud lends itself to a more dramatic, intense experience) to my 11 year-old son, 9 year-old daughter, and 5 year-old daughter (...although it was too intense for her gentle soul and she often left the room.)  There is something different about this book.  I still don't know if I've wrapped my mind around it, but my kids say it's the best book we read aloud all year.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.  *sigh*  This was the last remaining book of Jane Austen's published works that I hadn't read.  And may I say it was delightful?  Fanny Price wasn't simpering, pious, and pretentious.  She felt deeply, I believe, and is often misunderstood.  Reminded me most of Sense and Sensibility.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver.  I seriously need to read more of Barabara Kingsolver's books.  The two I've read (this and The Poisonwood Bible) have enchanted me.  Not necessarily in the storytelling, but the writing.  Her writing makes me cry because of its beauty.  There.  It's proven.  I'm a language geek. (See my full review)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.  I can't hardly think about this book without wanting to cry.  I wish I'd written it.  It's so beautiful, so real.  I'm thrilled that it's still selling enough copies to be on Target shelves, this is one everybody should read.  (See my full review)