Attention Tributes!

Have you been wondering how you would fair in the arena? Well now you can find out. If you visit thehungergames.com you can play a game that will put your skills to the test. There are other interesting things on this site but this is the one that has occupied the majority of my time.

One piece of advice. Running blindly at you opponents won't get you very far apparently.

New Page Added

You may have noticed at the top of the blog that a new page has been added. Next to 'About' and 'Members' you will now see a link to our previous best and worst book choices of the year.

Speaking of which, stay tuned for our 2010 pick which will be announced in February which will be the 3rd anniversary of the Pleasant Hill Book Club.

The choices for best and worst book choice of the year are:

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Graham-Smith
Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin
Lamb by Christopher Moore
Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran-Foer
Watership Down by Richard Adams

Tough choices to say the least

Tis the Season...

Via http://richmondbookdrive.com/library

Because of your generosity, we have run into a wonderful problem: Leadership Public Schools – Richmond now has more books than its library can contain. Currently, the school’s library is in – no joke – a converted bathroom. Luckily, the school will be moving to a new campus outfitted with a library in the fall of 2012. In the interim, the Leadership Public Schools - Richmond needs your help accommodating all of the new books that are flowing in.

We are asking for donations to help the school rent a portable library building. We want to rent a California code-compliant structure that can serve as a library for $5,696.03. If you’re curious about that number, please see the cost breakdown below.

Your donation through PayPal will go directly into a special fund set up by Leadership Public Schools to support this critical project. Every dollar that you contribute will go directly towards the cost of bringing this library structure to campus. All of us at the Richmond Book Drive, the students and staff of LPS-Richmond, and the Richmond community want to thank you for your support of this cause. We are humbled by any help that you can provide.

Cost breakdown:
Rental costs: $275/month x 18 months = $4,950
Delivery fee: $120
Take away fee: $120
Total pre-tax: $5,190
Total with sales tax: $5,696.03

To donate please visit http://richmondbookdrive.com/library

Richmond Book Drive passes 10,000 books!

That's right! The Richmond Book Drive has passed the 10,000 mark for books donated to schools throughout the Richmond area. What started off as a book drive for 3 high schools and 1 middle school has now expanded to at least 8 schools including several elementary schools.

If you'd like to join this donation drive please visit richmondbookdrive.com.

Here is a KTVU piece on the book drive:
http://www.ktvu.com/video/26136882/index.html


and to see more press you can visit: richmondbookdrive.com/press

Thank you to all who have already donated!

Suzanne Collins and...Little Bear?

That's right. The writer of The Hunger Games trilogy began her career writing for children's cartoon shows including the toddler friendly show Little Bear. I found this out while watching an episode with my son and saw her name as the writer.

This would be like Stephen King writing for The Smurfs.

Super Cool!

The Hunger Games...one small issue so far.

I've read about 100 something pages in 2 days of reading The Hunger Games. This is saying a lot since my kids have slowed my book ingestion quite considerably.

So far the book is great, everything I expected, couldn't be happier.

However...

What the hell is the deal with the paper and ink quality? Maybe its just my copy but it seems as though the book is printed on newspaper stock by a copy machine that was low on toner.

I get times are tough, but this is ridiculous. I know the publisher, Scholastic, isn't wanting for money and a blockbuster bestseller like this should be of way better quality.

This is the first time I truly envied e-book readers. Let's call this strike one of three. Two more books published with this poor a quality and I'm buying a Nook.

Judge a Book by Its Cover

Story on book cover art by CBS Sunday Morning.

December and January Books of the Month

That's right, two books! Since the Book Club won't be able to meet in January we have made our picks for the next two months.

The December pick:
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Could you survive on your own, in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don't live to see the morning?

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.


The January pick:
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

Includes a section of b&w photos and one section of color plates. In the fall of 1991, two deep wreck divers discovered a World War II German U-boat sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey. No identifying marks were visible on the submarine or the few artifacts that John Chatterton and Richie Kohler brought to the surface. No historian, expert, or government had a clue as to which U-boat the men had found. In fact, the official records all agreed that there simply could be a sunken U-boat and crew at that location. Over the next six years, an elite team of divers embarked a quest to solve the mystery.

World's Most Expensive Book Sold

No, it's not Daniel X Demons and Druids

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_britain_rare_book

The Great Harlane Kane (Author of the Year?)

Follow-up on Video

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/education&id=7824503

Please Watch the Whole Video: Very Important Cause!

http://richmondbookdrive.com/