My Favorite Childhood Book

Book Questions*: Favorite Childhood Book

I didn't read much as a child - most books were read to me: by my mother or by teachers at a very young age. I remember going to the town library and seeing books that I thought might interest me, but I don't remember actually taking out any.

It wasn't until I was in junior high school that I started a membership in a science fiction book club and ordered books, but even then I didn't finish reading any of them. Several times I tried to get through Foundation by Isaac Asimov, but I didn't make it through a full read-through until adulthood.

Then in high school, in my junior year, I finally made a breakthrough. At the high school library I found The Bedford Incident by Mark Rascovich, a speculative-fiction thriller so exciting that I couldn't put it down, and I finished reading my first book. In it, a reporter is allowed aboard a U.S. submarine hunter during a training exercise at sea that is drawn into an increasingly dangerous nuclear showdown with a Soviet submarine, and there is no escape for the reporter and no turning back for the crew of the destroyer or the submarine.

That remains my favorite childhood book, although it arrived late in my "childhood." I will forever remember it for awakening my love for books and reading.

When did you first start reading, and what was your favorite childhood book?

*Inspired by "55 questions about reading"

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

Go Set a Watchman: Begs to Be Read

Book Review: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

I have read all kinds of missives from people on social media and news site comment sections at how horrified they were that one of the main characters from Harper Lee’s beloved To Kill a Mockingbird had changed so drastically in Go Set a Watchman. Many were refusing to read the new novel published this summer. A few who had bought it were returning it to bookstores.

Let me set the record straight, having just finished reading it: Atticus Finch hasn’t changed. Scout has grown up and her world view has changed. So have we grown up and so have our world views.

Go Set a Watchman takes place several years after the close of To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout - her real name is Jean Louise Finch - has grown up, gone to college, and moved from Maycomb, Alabama, to New York City. As Go Set a Watchman opens, Jean Louise is returning to Maycomb to visit her ailing father, Atticus.

In growing up and moving to New York City, Jean Louis has outgrown her Southern roots. She’s really no longer Scout. And so, she rarely revisits her former home town. When she does visit she finds herself traipsing through old familiar territory with misty memory only to be disappointed at how much the town has changed in her absence.

What she seeks in comfort are the parts of Maycomb that always seemed stable to her: Her wise and god-like father Atticus, her stubborn and change-resistant aunt Alexandra, her strange but comforting uncle Jake, and the boy across the street who was her best friend and became her constant pursuer Hank. Yet in the end Jean Louise discovers even they aren’t who she thought they were.

Recoiled by what she thought she knew growing up, Jean Louise rebels on one hot summer afternoon. She confronts and condemns them all and is ready to leave Maycomb and all its residents forever.

Yet it’s those on whom she relied most in her life who come to her rescue and she finally finds solace and grace.

Many have condemned this book - many without ever having opened a page or read a single word - for being racist. They express dismay at Harper Lee for using language they deem deeply disturbing. But before you accept their condemnation, consider this: Go Set a Watchman was written before To Kill a Mockingbird. Both were written before the Civil Rights Movement made its strides in the 1960s but as troubles were brewing in the Deep South and resentment against Blacks and Civil Rights groups was high.

The character Atticus Finch would have been about the age of my grandfather, who was born around 1900. Jean Louise and Hank would have been about the age of my parents, who were born around 1925. My grandparents and my mother lived in South Carolina for a time, and there it was common to call Blacks negroes and colored and other terms that most of us today wouldn’t consider calling anyone. That’s what my grandparents often called Blacks, stunned that it was considered the wrong thing. This book reflects that culture.

Moreover, I can recall during my youth my grandparents and my parents saying many of the things I read in Go Set a Watchman, even living here in Michigan. Until the urban legends of those misconceptions about Blacks were cleared up, people continued to believe them. Today, those misconceptions are dispelled among most but not all Americans, and they explain a lot about the cultural wars we are experiencing today.

The fact that Go Set a Watchmen sat for decades unpublished means it is a cultural artifact that doesn’t necessarily reflect on Harper Lee today nor necessarily on the South as a whole today. But publishing the book now exposes us to it and allows us to read it and breath it and address it. And it educates a new generation to a point of view many of us may have missed over the intervening years.

But let me get back to a central truth I think many will have missed by not reading this book. And that is that Atticus Finch is not a changed man. He is the same character from To Kill a Mockingbird, but he is being seen through the prism of a grown child who is finally coming of age. And maybe this is really the point of the novel. This book is about the coming of age of Scout.

And if you loved Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, I think you will also love Jean Louise in Go Set a Watchmen. In the same way, if you loved Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, you will by the end of the novel love him just as much in Go Set a Watchman. 

For all these reasons, it begs to be read.

© 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

Tyger: Much to Treasure in the 16th Novel in the Kydd Series

Book Review: Tyger by Julian Stockwin

an uncorrected advance proof copy

We are at sea again. Transported back to 1807 European waters under the command of Sir Thomas Kydd, captain of the captured-French frigate L’Aurore, we return to the comradeship of friends with names like Bowden, Stirk, and Dowd. All memorable characters that weave like threads through past Kydd novels.

But L’Aurore is no longer seaworthy and we have to give her up to the dry docks, and all our friends are set adrift.

There is hope of command of a new heavy frigate being freshly built, but instead Captain Kydd is given command of another frigate, Tyger, sequestered offshore because she has recently been the victim of a mutiny. It’s Kydd’s duty to bring this dangerous crew back into fighting shape under service of king and country, and thus is set the conflict underlying our keen adventures in this high-seas age-of-sail tale. We are at sea again at Kydd's side, his only comrades.

In this well researched, excellently detailed new novel, we wrestle with a restless crew, board sneaky merchant ships for prize money, battle enemy frigates that out number and out gun us, explore uncertain Arctic waters as winter sets in, and then there is the ambitious Napoleon to consider.

Impeded by England’s naval triumph at Trafalgar, Napoleon has moved east on land to conquer most of Europe. The crew of Tyger is sent to the Baltic to aid Prussia in its desperate final hours under siege by the French and their allies. Oh, that bastard Napoleon and his unrelenting French forces! 

Can Kydd trust his crew and officers in battle and in crisis? We voyage vicariously through Kydd’s mind as he fights doubts and imagines daring solutions. We experience life at sea and death in battle. A few friends even re-emerge. Tyger becomes the Thomas Kydd tale that we have all come to admire through fifteen novels, and now in a sixteenth. There are twists and turns, failures and successes, and as always, the triumph at his darkest hour of our favorite English naval hero.

There’s no hiding that I am a huge fan of Julian Stockwin’s Thomas Kydd series. If you like heroic tales, great sea adventures, the romance of the age of the sail, and the details of historical fiction, then you will find much to treasure in Tyger, the next wonderful addition to this series.

Tyger reaches bookstores in October. Prepare to board for adventure!

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

The Martian: You've Got Read This Great Scifi Thriller!

Book Review: The Martian by Andy Weir

A team of astronauts visits Mars, the third to explore the cold, dry fourth planet in our solar system. After a hefty dust storm threatens the mission, he's wounded and stranded on the planet when the rest of the team can't find him and has to leave. His new mission is to survive until the next team arrives - in four years. Using science - real science - the astronaut faces one devastating tragedy after another, relying on his wits and his diminishing resources to stay alive. Written in the voice of the astronaut, it's a personal journey written with great humor and amazing insight into the psychology of someone undergoing isolation and great danger.

This is the well written story of The Martian by Andy Weir, a journey so intriguing I had to keep reading it even when I should be writing or doing chores or sleeping. I finished it in three days, I was so engrossed in the story.

To be fair, my wife's response was, "Meh..." But we often like different kinds of science fiction. I love hard-core science fiction. She more enjoys fantasy scifi.

Andy Weir did a huge amount of research to write this compelling novel, but he is also trained in much of the science. As a result, it's extremely well crafted and its accuracy is spot on.

When Weir wrote The Martian, he first posted it by chapter online. Then fans suggested he post it as an ebook. Others asked that he print it as a paper book. All which he did for free. It became so popular he put it on Amazon, where it's now a best seller. He tried to publish it for free on Amazon but Amazon requires at least some price, so it's no longer free. But in my mind, it's well worth the low price (only $5.99 for the Kindle version).

If you're a scifi reader, and in particular if you're a fan of hard-core scifi (scifi primarily based on actual science), then this is a book for you. I hope you enjoy nearly as much as I did.

Ridley Scott, who brought us the movie Aliens, is making a movie out of The Martian, coming to theaters in October 2015. The trailer (below) looks great. It's how I first learned about the book, and doing more research I found his website and the book on Amazon and read the excerpt there, where I instantly became excited about the novel.

I've since also watched an interview of author Andy Weir by Adam Savage (MythBusters), who read The Martian in one sitting. The interview is below. I hope you'll take Savage's enthusiasm along with mine as motivation to read this great novel.

OK, enough background - now go find a copy, even if it's in your local library.

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

Frontier Is Worth a Preview Read

Book Recommedation: Frontier by Raymond Alvarez

The author of the very popular The Martian started posting his book a chapter at a time online. Then he received requests to make it into an ebook, and then a paper book. It's now a bestseller. A new author is taking a similar tack, and I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a similar success in time, too.

If you're a scifi fan, you need to take a look at Frontier by Raymond Alvarez. As of this writing, Alvarez has posted the first two chapters free online, inviting comment and corrections. The "Chapters" navigation link has spots for four chapters.

Here's a brief synopsis based on the introduction from Alvarez's home page.

Scientists find a mystery at the bottom of Europa’s hidden ocean, a spherical object that turns out to be an extraterrestrial spaceship with incredible technology asleep inside. A trillionaire on Earth insists on controlling the alien technology, but with the object’s powerful secrets within grasp something goes terribly wrong. It sets loose a chain of events as mankind struggles for its very survival. 

Like The Martian, Frontier is a novel based on science. Alvarez has done his research. And while his core idea is at this time a fantasy - finding alien technology - everything about Europa and getting there is based on what science tells us today. And of course, there are those who would say there is evidence that alien civilizations have visited us in the past, so maybe finding alien technology isn't so much fantasy as science awaiting discovery.

Alvarez is working on finishing the book and hopes it will become popular enough that readers will want to buy it. Now is a good time to get a free look at the first chapters and decide for yourself. And enjoy the opportunity of interacting with an author by commenting on the novel and offering suggestions. 

As a former bookseller, I can attest that writing and publishing books has changed significantly over the past ten years. Today, authors are able to take more of publishing into their own hands, and Raymond Alvarez is taking a bold step in an ever-changing and uncertain profession. But he's living the dream of actually being published, and he's taking the opportunity to do it his way. I hope you'll see what it's about and give him a chance to prove himself by reading a couple of chapters.

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

"What If?" Great Summer Reading for the Curious Reader

Book Review: What If? by Randall Munroe

Not sure this book is meant for the poolside or the beach, but it makes good light summer reading, especially if you like humor and science: What If? by Randall Munroe.

• Full title: What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

I spotted What If? on the new-books table at my local independent bookstore, and flipping through its pages it immediately intrigued me. Although I have definite likes and dislikes in books, I would describe my reading tastes as eclectic and this book hit that spot perfectly.

What If? fills the desire for a fun read. It's crammed with humor. It brings up interesting questions or scenarios, and then it answers them, using real science - which is one of my interests. And it is written and illustrated by Randall Munroe who writes and illustrates the xkcd comic website. What's not to like about that!

Munroe studied physics and math in college and went on to work on robotics at NASA before giving it all up to freelance stick-figure comics on his own popular website. He uses that acumen to answer the silly hypothetical questions the people have sent him both to interact with his readers and to inform others through this book.

I would suggest this book is a great way to introduce science to curious young  minds who might otherwise be having a tough time finding science interesting in school. Or perhaps a way to keep their minds engaged in science during the summer or during other holidays. It's not like they have to take a test or exam when it's over - it's casual reading. And no actual math is involved.

So, if you're looking for a fun read and some crazy hypothetical questions with answers to go with them, or if you just want a good laugh, consider picking up What If? by Randall Munroe.

(c) 2015. Alan Eggleston. All Rights Reserved.

Book Editors and Literary Agents on Twitter

If you're a writer, here are a couple of resources that might help you.

From GalleyCat ("The FirstWord on the Book Publishing Industry"):

• Best Book Editors on Twitter
• Best Literary Agents on Twitter

Sometimes, following the right person or people on Twitter can make all the difference in the world.