The Cat in the Cradle (Loka Legends #1)

#932
Title: The Cat in the Cradle (Loka Legends #1)
Author: Jay Bell
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
Year: 2010
257 pages

**SPOILERS**

 This YA fantasy with a gay adolescent protagonist manages to do a pretty good job of fantasy as well as its coming of age theme. The hero needs to take the risk of acknowledging his love in order to fully find and use his magical powers. The fantasy elements hold together pretty well, though I didn't feel entirely identified with the main characters, perhaps because the narrative told rather than showed. A little sexist decision-making toward the end annoyed me, especially since the female oligarchs wielded considerable plot-changing power. It also struck me as too easy that the villainous oligarch was the only person to denigrate Dylan's love. Still, it's nice to see a matter-of-fact treatment of homoeroticism in a YA fantasy.

Fahrenheit 451

#931
Title: Fahrenheit 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 1953/1991
190 pages

Re-read, as an audiobook because that's funny. Read many times in the past. I am the first several chapters of Beowulf and an anthology of poetry, including John Donne and e.e. cummings.

Read by Ray Bradbury. 

The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism

#930
Title: The Mystery of the Kaddish: Its Profound Influence on Judaism
Author: Leon H. Charney & Saul Mayzlish
Publisher: Barricade Books
Year: 2006 (publication date for audiobook unknown)
236 pages
Narrated by George Guidall
5 hours, 13 minutes


Received as a free review copy from Audiobook Jukebox.

Guidall's narration is clear and pleasant to listen to. His phrasing makes complex sentences easy to follow. His Hebrew and Aramaic pronunciation is crisp and, so far as I can tell, accurate.

While I found this exploration of the Kaddish interesting, it was not primarily a book about the evolution of the Kaddish, nor did it appear to include a great deal of new information. What I take from the book is that not a lot is actually known about the Kaddish, or at least, not a lot is known that can be well-verified by interviewing a selection of people around the world. I was expecting a more scholarly exploration of the Kaddish’s origins, changes in text and function over time, and perhaps contemporary variations. While the historical and informational sections were indeed very interesting, they formed a disappointingly small portion of the book. This material might better have been presented as a long article.

A great deal of the book was anecdotes and suppositions, some related more directly to the Kaddish and others peripheral. Woven throughout were conversations and reflections that were not well-integrated into the overall structure of the book. At times I felt that I was reading a mystical religious exposition, not a fact-based history. A more descriptive title and a reorganization of the sections would clarify the book's genre and flow.

I didn't find the Hebrew, Aramaic, or cultural information difficult to follow. However, someone who is not Jewish might have a harder time understanding the narrative or points being made. In the print version this would be less pronounced, but as an audiobook this might be difficult to follow for someone without the linguistic and cultural context. It's probably best for a reader familiar with Judaism and Jewish prayer who is most interested in how the Kaddish's history may contribute to its personal and emotional relevance.

The Woman Who Changed Her Brain: And Other Inspiring Stories of Pioneering Brain Transformation

#929
Title: The Woman Who Changed Her Brain: And Other Inspiring Stories of Pioneering Brain Transformation
Author: Barbara Arrowsmith-Young
Publisher: Post Hypnotic Press
Year: 2012
288 pages

Narrator: Lisa Bunting
Length: 9 hours, 13 minutes

Free review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.

This is a tremendously interesting and hopeful book about brain plasticity, and it's no surprise that Norman Doidge (The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science) wrote the introduction. Like Doidge, Arrowsmith-Young uses both life stories and more technical material to tell stories of opportunities to improve cognitive functioning for people with serious to severe learning disabilities, brain damage, and other forms of brain-related disability. Arrowsmith-Young incorporates her own stories throughout the book. Her descriptions are clear and evocative in the style of the best of Oliver Sacks's neurological case studies.

Over the course of the book, the reader learns about the newer and more hopeful model of plasticity and relearning (or differently learning), not to accommodate problems so much as to address the deficits that lead to them. A variety of exemplar stories are included, most about pupils at Arrowsmith-Young's school. There are intriguing glimpses of the actual interventions used. I would have enjoyed more technical detail, but the inclusion of that material may have made the book more difficult for a non-professional to read, especially in audiobook format. Indeed, some examples were hard to follow as a listener rather than a print reader. Lisa Bunting reads clearly and that clarity helped me to follow examples that would have been easier on the page.

Recommended for readers who enjoy popular biological science, those who have a family member with a cognitive deficit (or have one themselves), and educators. While not a self-help book, it may well stimulate further exploration and lead a person to new resources.

Surinam: Stumbling Through the Dark Heart of South America's Forgotten Jungle

#928
Title: Surinam: Stumbling through the Dark Heart of South America's Forgotten Jungle [The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname]
Author: Andrew Westoll
Publisher: Old Street Publishing
Year:2008/2009
Country: Suriname
349 pages

My last country for reading the world. The book was also published as The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname. It doesn't quite meet my 2-year author residency requirement, but I'll follow up with Mark Plotkin, who is featured in absentia here as well.

Mostly but not entirely a quest memoir, this follows Westoll as he hangs around in Surinam experiencing inchoate longings and, in the process of searching for what he's searching for, loses a relationship. Those there is some focus on the okopipi (Dendrobates azureus, blue frog), the purpose is to find meaning and identity, not just the frog. See his website, http://www.andrewwestoll.com/

Swimming in Uncharted Waters: Reports from Cambodia

#927
Title: Swimming in Uncharted Waters: Reports from Cambodia
Author: Gina Wijers
Publisher: AnyPress, The American Book Center
Year: 2009/2011
177 pages

    A collection of essays based on letters home (or perhaps simply those letters) from a development worker in Cambodia. The author raises many useful questions and explores pertinent issues. A little more editing would enhance the English edition.

Title: Ambassadors Before They Knew It: Song Kosal and Tun Channareth of the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines 1994-2011

#926
Title: Ambassadors Before They Knew It: Song Kosal and Tun Channareth of the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines 1994-2011
Authors: Hannah Cole, Molly Mullen, Tess O'Brien, Denise Coghlan
Publisher: Jesuit Refugee Service
Year: 2011
63 pages

A montage of photos, reports, brief speeches, and other ephemera related to Cambodian activists' work toward establishing a worldwide landmine ban. The collection is well-organized and is moving to read.