The Book Blawg

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith.

I guess it's vampire week here at The Book Blawg.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book! That's saying a bit, because I generally avoid biographies and history. I know I should like them and they are good for me to read, but I prefer historical fiction if I want to learn about history.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, as the title suggests, re-imagines Lincolns life with vampires. As a young man, Lincoln learns that his mother and his grandfather were murdered by vampires. He then writes in his journal:

I hereby resolve to kill every vampire in America.

Soon after, he meets a "good" vampire named Henry who teaches Lincoln about the undead and trains him to fight. Lincoln continues his secret vampire-fighting career until a "Union" of bloodsuckers persuades him to concentrate on politics. There is, we learn, a war coming - a war essentially between two groups of vampires: those that choose to coexist with humans; and those who enjoy terrorizing and victimizing them. (If this setup doesn't sound vaguely familiar, you haven't read any vampire fiction in the last 35 years.) The United States, particularly the South, has become a haven for vampires because of their ability to feed on slaves with impunity, and for that purpose have allied themselves with the southern plantation owners and slave traders. This fact makes the institution of slavery even darker, if that is possible; and their plans are to enslave the whole population and therefore they must be stopped, at all costs.

The bulk of the novel is not about vampires, but is a pretty well-written and engaging biography of Lincoln. It's not hard to discern fact from fiction. This book was great up until the very end, which didn't seem consistent with what we had learned about Lincoln. But I enjoyed reading it and learned a lot of history at the same time. The photos are clever, as well.

Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin.


I almost stopped reading this book in the middle. I have better things to do with my time. Seriously, unless you are a huge Kathy Griffin fan, or are trying to catch up on your celebrity gossip, just skip it.

Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down, by Kaylene Johnson

As a biography, it's not great. It's a history of Sarah Palin's life, without the critical analysis that one would expect from a professional biographer. But I notice that the book is penned by a magazine writer and two-time book author, a resident of Wasilla, Alaska; and as such, it is an adequate biography. It only covers Sarah's life up to her swearing-in as Alaska governor.

Audition: A Memoir, by Barbara Walters.

This book is really interesting, not so much because Barbara Walters is that fascinating - in fact, her constant low self-esteem and indecisiveness gets to be a bit wearing on the reader - but because she knew so many important, famous, and infamous people. In fact, I would suggest this book to someone older than me, as her career spans decades which I know little about, having been too young to experience them firsthand, and too old for them to get much coverage in history class.

Read lately:

The Rookie Mom's Handbook: 250 Activities to Do with (and Without!) Your Baby, by Heather Flett and Whitney Moss - I love Quirk books; they are sturdy with such nice, thick pages - one enjoys the book even before reading a single word. The Rookie Mom's Handbook is a funny and handy guide to activities for the first year of life, organized by month. It's not going to make anyone's "must-have" parenting library list, but it would make a great baby shower or new mom gift. You can check out the authors' blog at www.rookiemoms.com.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell. Not as great as Gladwell's Tipping Point, but still has some mind-blowing conclusions:

Sidetracked Home Executives: From Pigpen to Paradise, by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. - Written by sisters, this book (along with Suze Ormod's The Courage to Be Rich, and Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston) was one of the inspirations for The Fly Lady's system. I personally find the card file concept to be overwhelming, and not as thoroughly explained as could be, but I do use a tickler file for almost everything and heartily recommend it.

The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World, by Alan Greenspan. I thoroughly enjoyed this book - as much as I read of it. At 544 pages, at a certain point I decided that it was just taking too long to read and I had other, more pressing things to do with my time. The first part of the book is an autobiography of Greenspan, but really it reads as a politico-economic history of the last fifty years. The second half of the book is a discussion of the current state of world economics. This book is fascinating, but not for everyone.

sTORI Telling, by Tori Spelling.

Ok, I'm not a fan, but I checked it out because I can't resist a catchy title. Interesting (I read it in less than 24 hours), but not brilliant, much like Tori Spelling's acting.

Running with Scissors: A Memoir, by Augusten Burroughs.

Mr. Burroughs writes:

Whoa. Hold on. I read his brother's book, Look Me in the Eye, and I don't remember anything about him reading Encyclopedia Britannica. I just read another book, The Know-it-all, about A. J. Jacobs' quest to read the EB in one year. So I've read two books by people who have read the Encyclopedia. Any other books out there about Encyclopedia readers that I should know about?

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's, by John Elder Robison.

This is a very interesting story of a man who did not know "what was wrong with him" until he was forty and read a description of Asperger's syndrome. Robinson is the brother of Augusten Burroughs, who wrote Running with Scissors: A Memoir, and at times Look Me in the Eye feels like half of a story.

Don't Bet against Me!: Beating the Odds Against Breast Cancer and in Life, by Deanna Favre.

This book written by wife of Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre is a must-read for any Packer fan; but it's an interesting read even if you are not. Deanna talks a lot about her life before her diagnosis, and includes some helpful information about preventing and surviving breast cancer, even a glossary of breast cancer terms and a scripture guide.

Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert, by Brian Herbert

There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to a biography written by a close family member. On the one hand, Brian Herbert has detailed, personal knowledge of Frank Herbert's life. On the other hand, Brian Herbert has detailed, personal knowledge of Frank Herbert's life. Sometimes way, way too much detail. It's interesting, but not terribly objective.