The Bad Influence Speaks

BIS Review: Destination Truth: Memoirs of a Monster Hunter

by Josh Gates

 

“Wind is suddenly screaming into the cockpit of this aging Antonov biplane. Charts and a half-assed, handwritten flight plan whip by my face and through the cockpit door into the main cabin. In the rear of the plane our director of photography, Evan, who has been filming out the open door, is suddenly thrust forward toward the edge of open space, only to be yanked to a stop by his four-point harness. Documents eject past him into oblivion.”

Josh Gates brings his customary wry sense of humor and boyish charm to Memoirs of a Monster Hunter, which tells the story of the Syfy series Destination Truth. For those not familiar with the show, Josh and compatriots travel the world digging into stories of monsters, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night. The book takes the same tone as the series as Josh looks back over their varied misadventures. The opening paragraph above aptly demonstrates the crew’s luck with modes of transportation. It also shows you should not read this book while sitting in an airport or on board a plane especially if you are a nervous flier. (Though that boarding pass does make an appropriate bookmark.)

I forgot about that fact and read it on a flight last week. Even with their horrid travel luck, I struggled not to howl with laughter at some parts and enjoyed remembering favorite investigations. Also included are travel tips and the exhortation that Americans need to step outside their comfort zones and travel more. And he’s not talking about tours where every stop is planned out. Book a hotel, or bed and breakfast somewhere, rent a car, and stop anywhere that looks interesting.*

Even if you aren’t a fan of the show, I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys or is interested in travel adventures. Plus you really can't beat Josh's sense of humor.

You can pick up a copy from Amazon here.

 

BIS Rating: 4 nightlights

BIS Rating system:
1 nightlight = put it down and didn't care to pick it back up
2 nightlights = finished the book
3 nightlights = enjoyed the book but probably wouldn't re-read it
4 nightlights = had a hard time putting the book down
5 nightlights = stayed up way too late to finish instead of going to bed

 

New episodes of Destination Truth will air in 2012 on Syfy. You can find season one on DVD, all  seasons on Netflix, iTunes and Amazon instant video, and 4.5 on hulu.com.

*My sister and I have done this. A few years ago, we took a week long trip to Wales. We booked B&B’s in both the north and south of the country for several nights each to be used as a home base. Then we flew into London, rented a car, and saw everything that caught our interest. Yes, there were transportation hiccups along the way, but nowhere near as bad as on the show. I mean, the live fire range wasn’t active that day or anything.

BIS Book Review: Zoo Story

Life in the Gargen of Captives

by Thomas French

 

French takes us behind the scenes at the Lowry Zoo in Tampa, Florida, and provides an intimate look into the lives of the animals and their keepers.  Along the way you meet a chimp who loves blondes, a tiger who takes no crap and 4 elephants acquired from a game preserve in Africa.

 

 

I grabbed this off the shelf at the library on a whim. I know a person through a message board that used to work at a zoo and her stories about it are interesting. Thomas French takes this behind the scenes look and makes it personal. The stories the keepers tell about 'their' animals are touching and demonstrate just how intelligent and soulful they really are. You also hear from the keepers about the struggles they face on a daily basis from disagreements between animals, to managing with limited resources, to dealing with public controversy over zoo policies and actions. An example of this comes from the zoo purchasing 4 wild elephants that were due to be culled from their herd on an African game preserve. Even after all the paperwork was finished, it still took months to bring the elephants over because of lawsuits and threats of violence from animal rights groups.

I had a hard time putting down this book (to the point where I completely forgot about a load of laundry that ended up not getting put in the dryer until 11:30 pm). French pulls you into the relationships between the animals and their keepers. With some talk about artificial insemination and mating, this isn't a book for young kids but I think teens and up will be engrossed.

 

BIS Rating: 5 flashlights

BIS Rating system:
1 nightlight = put it down and didn't care to pick it back up
2 nightlights = finished the book
3 nightlights = enjoyed the book but probably wouldn't re-read it
4 nightlights = had a hard time putting the book down
5 nightlights = stayed up way too late to finish instead of going to bed

 

Zoo Story by Thomas French on Amazon.com

You can find more book reviews at BIS Book Review

BIS Book Review: The Lost City of Z

A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

by David Grann

 

After a prestigious career mapping the interior of the Amazon, explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett ventured in with his oldest son, and his son's best friend to find a lost city he theorized was there. They never returned. Over the almost century since countless others have tried to follow their path and find the lost party. Many of those were never seen again. Reporter David Grann takes a look into the obsession that prompted Fawcett and numerous others into risking their lives and reputations and gets swept away in the rush himself.

 

 

This isn't a dry bit of history. Grann takes an engrossing and in depth look into Fawcett's life. He uses many contemporary and original sources including Fawcett's own papers, and interviews with surviving members of his family. Beginning with his early life as a member of the British military, we have a pragmatic view of how and why Fawcett became who he was. In our time, adventurous, trail blazing (literally) men are a rare thing which makes this story all the more fascinating.

I had a hard time putting this book down (so I could do things like make dinner and go to bed). Grann does an excellent job of sucking you into the story. By the end, I absolutely had to know what really happened to Fawcett. (I trusted the author made it out of the Amazon alive since the book was published.) The ending wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was still satisfying.

It's a true life, action-adventure story that you can live right from your living room. It also reminds you of the points in your own life where you have found yourself standing on a precipice (in Grann's case this wasn't figurative) and stop to think, "How the hell did I end up here?" Obsession has it's part in all of our lives no matter how small that part may be. The Lost City of Z reminds us that while obsession can be a driving force for good, it can also lead to tragedy if you don't heed the warnings.

 

 

BIS Rating: 4 nightlights

BIS Rating system:
1 nightlight = put it down and didn't care to pick it back up
2 nightlights = finished the book
3 nightlights = enjoyed the book but probably wouldn't re-read it
4 nightlights = had a hard time putting the book down
5 nightlights = stayed up way too late to finish instead of going to bed

 

David Grann's The Lost City of Z on Amazon.com

BIS Book Review: Packing for Mars

The Curious Science of Life in the Void
by Mary Roach

 

It is astounding the number of factors that can affect even the simplest choices when it comes to space travel.

Packing for Mars takes an informative, and humorous, look at the science of and difficulties involved in space exploration. Mary Roach takes the humor and down to earth (pardon the pun) explanations she has shared in previous books to illustrate the years of research and processes that go into selecting astronauts, formulating food, choosing what to pack and even designing toilets.

 I've read Mrs. Roach's 3 previous books and found this one just as charming, easy to understand and down right hilarious. There were several moments where I was bawling with laughter. She uses transcripts from previous voyages into the dark, her own experiences, and interviews with astronauts and scientists to great effect in dealing with a not so surprisingly complicated subject. Her explanation of gravity made it clearer than what I gained in science classes.  I'm also now going to have to read Gene Cernan's memoirs because of some of the mission transcripts she quoted. He seems like such a character, probably as much as she is.

If you want to read about science in a practical but entertaining manner, Mary Roach is the way to go.

I also heartily recommend her other books:
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Spook: Science Takes on the Afterlife

BIS Rating: 4 nightlights

 

BIS Rating system:
1 nightlight = put it down and didn't care to pick it back up
2 nightlights = finished the book
3 nightlights = enjoyed the book but probably wouldn't re-read it
4 nightlights = had a hard time putting the book down
5 nightlights = stayed up way too late to finish instead of going to bed

BIS Book Review: This Book is Overdue!

How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
by Marilyn Johnson

"Show me a computer expert who gives a damn, and I'll show you a librarian."
~Patricia Wilson Berger, former president, ALA

This is the opening salvo for Marilyn Johnson's second book in which she delves into the world of public libraries, research, the virtual arena and, of course, librarians. Librarians, and the places in which they work, form a cornerstone for civilization. With their guidance, we are provided with the tools to learn, create, and manage anything our imaginations can devise.

 

Johnson manages to cover the wide ranging area governed by librarians with style, humor, and just a touch of awe. Over the course of 12 chapters, the author illustrates the ever changing world of librarianship and the effect technology has on it. In her chapter titled, "How to Change the World," Johnson discusses how the use of online programs can help bring the necessary virtual skills to students of poor nations. "Gotham City" is about the changes happening to the New York Public Library system and how its focus is changing. "What's Worth Saving" focuses on archiving. "To The Ramparts" shows the impact librarians can have on activism and introduces the reader to Radical Reference, an online reference site dedicated to answering questions by activists and independent journalists. "Wizards of Odd" explores the boom in virtual libraries and reference activities in Second Life. "Follow That Tattooed Librarian" shows that librarians are not the buttoned down, staid creatures the stereotype describes. I would really love to see the bookcart challenge some day. "The Blog People" introduces the variety of librarians online and the breadth of their sites. "Big Brother and the Holdout Company" reveals to the world the intrusions of the Patriot Act upon libraries and group of librarians who fought to protect their patrons. The final chapter, "The Best Day," gives hope in the creation (and continuation) of libraries.

 

Johnson closes by writing,
"I was under the librarians' protection. Civil servants and servants of civility, they had my back. They would be whatever they needed to be that day: information professionals, teachers, police, community organizers, computer technicians, historians, confidantes, clerks, social workers, storytellers, or, in this case, guardians of my peace.
They were the authors of this opportunity - diversion form the economy, and distraction from the snow, protectors of the bubble of concentration I'd found in the maddening world. And I knew they wouldn't disturb me until closing time."

BIS Rating: 4 Nightlights

Amazon.com: This Book Is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

BIS Rating system:
1 nightlight = put it down and didn't care to pick it back up
2 nightlights = finished the book
3 nightlights = enjoyed the book but probably wouldn't re-read it
4 nightlights = had a hard time putting the book down
5 nightlights = stayed up way too late to finish instead of going to bed