Looking for Authors to Interview/Guest Bloggers!

Hey everyone!  

Authors: I'm looking to add some new features to Bookophile Reviews. The first such feature is Author Interviews! I'm looking for up and coming or already established authors to do a feature on. If you'd like to be featured on Bookophile Reviews, leave a comment below before Friday, August 22nd for consideration.  

Bloggers: If you'd like to post a guest review of a book, leave a comment or contact me by email (instructions on the contact tab at the top of the page). I'm not too worried about keeping genre-specific, I know I have eclectic tastes.

Readers: Let me know what books you want reviewed in the comments!

Book Review: The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate

This book, written by Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957) and John Teramoto is not just a guide to the main principles of Shotokan Karate, but a guide to many aspects of life.  Each of the twenty principles is made into a chapter, which begins with commentary by Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate.  After that, John Teramoto gives a fresh perspective that relates the principle to the present, giving readers unfamiliar with karate a great reason to read this book.  The twenty principles could easier be applied to business or other disciplines.

Throughout the novel there are anecdotes that explain why the specific principle is important from the perspective of karate and life.  I would recommend this short book (128 pages) to anyone looking for a quick read that will make you think.  Even a couple weeks after I read it I find myself thinking about a few of the principles that resonated particularly well with my life.

Bookophile Rating: Good (For a book you can read in an afternoon that will leave you taking a closer look at your own life).

Book Review: Fool Moon

The second book in the Dresden Files series, Fool Moon brings back Harry Dresden as the only professional wizard in the telephone book who also happens to doubles as a consultant to the Chicago Police Department.  The second installment in the series finds Harry Dresden lending a hand in solving a series of murders involving the full moon.  One real interesting takeaway from this book is that Jim Butcher didn't just stick with plain old werewolves.  No, he broke them down into multiple types and styles of wolves.  This brings an added dimension as Harry has to find out who the murderer/s is/are and sort out who's good, who's bad, and who's neither.

Fool Moon also shows the reader more of Dresden's power than Storm Front.  In the first novel, I kept waiting for Dresden to do something spectacular, and was often left wondering if he was really so great after all.  Fool Moon definitely upped the ante in that respect, and I expect future installments will have Dresden growing even further in power and presence.  As far as writing style, it is on par with the first novel.

I read elsewhere that Jim Butcher wrote the first three novels in the series back to back and then approached a publisher, who picked up all three.  Friends have told me that in future installments Butcher's writing gets even better as he better learns his craft and really comes to know the characters.  This is good news, because as it stands the first two novels, Storm Front and Fool Moon, are good novels in and of themselves.

However, besides Dresden's power growing and a new set of baddies, Fool Moon wasn't as intriguing as Storm Front simply because the first time I was introduced to Harry Dresden, I was really interested in the character, the world, and the relationships.  In Fool Moon, I don't feel like a lot of new ground was broken with the relationships and Dresden's character from an interpersonal standpoint.  Sure he is more powerful (or shows more of his power), but we don't learn too much more about the magical world than
we learned from Storm Front.  I would, however, still recommend this as a solid fantasy read that gives hope that future installments will be even better.  If you liked Storm Front, you should read Fool Moon if nothing more than as a bridge to the supposed better installments to come.

Bookophile Rating: Good (For a solid read that shows promise for future installments)

Film Review: The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity is a 2002 film based on the 1980 novel of the same name.  It follows Jason Bourne, an amnesiac attempting to discover his true identity, while terrorist organizations, assassins, and the CIA want him dead (the latter due to a deep-rooted conspiracy).  Bourne must use all of his considerable skill to discover the truth before it is too late.  This is the first in a franchise that spans four films (so far) as well as three original books by Robert Ludlum and seven additional books by Eric Van Lustbader.

The film's opening scene was potent.  Matt Damon is dragged out of the sea with bullet holes in his back.  He is nursed back to health by the Captain of the fishing boat that saved him.  He finds his memory is gone and all he has is a tiny metal chip that looks like a grain of rice which can flash a safety deposit box number.  He is dropped off in Italy to track down clues to his past.  Soon he finds himself on the radar of people intent on killing him.

Matt Damon gave a thrilling performance as Jason Bourne.  It was a part he was meant to play.  I personally enjoyed when he randomly broke into various languages without knowing he could speak them.  Also, his trick with remembering license plates was humorous.

The part of Marie, played by Franka Potente, was adequate, though lacked real chemistry with Damon.  Probably the thing I liked most about her was the kind of car she drove (an old Mini Cooper).  For fans of car chases, you will find there are some great chase scenes in this movie.

Bookophile Rating: Excellent (For great acting by Damon, and a good plot that unravels splendidly).

Film Review: A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly is a film based on the novel of the same name by psychedelic master Philip K. Dick.  The movie was filmed digitally then filtered by a process called interpolated rotoscope, which gives the film a comic book sort of look that is pretty unique.  The main premise of the story is that in the near future, there is a drug epidemic in which much of the population is addicted to a drug called Substance D.  The government has created a sort of police-state to deal with the crisis, which results in countless police detectives and snitches around every corner.

The acting was quite good by the main cast.  Notably, Woody Harrelson's drug tripping performance was the most memorable of the bunch.  The film deals with mind-bending realities that Philip K. Dick so enjoys exploring.  For the most part, A Scanner Darkly is an interesting ride, although at times a terrifying one.  Dick had firsthand experience with a multitude of drugs and so his dystopian vision is all the more vivid.

About the only downside of A Scanner Darkly is at times the pacing is slow and I found myself itching for something to happen.  It's one of those films that is much better in retrospect when thinking about the concept, or the idea of the film itself, rather than the quality of the film itself.  Although this film never found mainstream success, I believe it is one of the closer adaptations of Philip K. Dick's extensive works and has its place in the hearts of his fans.

I recommend this film and the source book for fans of Philip K. Dick, dystopian fiction, psychedelic drug trips, and a glimpse into a dark subculture that, though few talk about it, already exists in America today.

Bookophile Rating: Good (For a film that is enjoyable despite its flaws and offers a new way to show audiences the inner workings of a dark subculture).

Book Review: Einstein's Dreams

This fascinating work of fiction tells the story of Albert Einstein as a young scientist and the dreams he has while trying to posit the theory of relativity.  Each chapter explores a dream, truly capturing the phantasmagoric nature of our dormant minds.  During a few interlude sections, Einstein speaks with his friend Michele Besso about the troubling thoughts he's haunted by while sleeping.  Alan Lightman does a wonderful job fictionalizing these events.  As a reader, I felt it was entirely plausible that Einstein could dream the way described.

Each chapter's dream explores a different conception of time.  While some dreams are entirely nonsense, as is the nature with many dreams, some were truly profound ways to look at the universe and time.  Ultimately, it is the human perception of time that is the most elusive to describe.  However, Alan Lightman has helped give an understanding of a man who so many idolize, but so few actually knew.  I recommend this novel not only to fans of science and Albert Einstein, but also to people who want to discover a new way to look at the world around them.

Bookophile Rating: Excellent (For groundbreaking insight to the inner workings of one of history's most famous and revered minds).

Book Review: City of Thieves

City of Thieves is a World War II historical fiction novel written in with a dark comedic style fitting for the timeframe.  The story is set in Leningrad as two teenagers desperately search for a carton of eggs for soviet officers for a wedding cake.  Meanwhile, the Germans are sieging the city and each day becomes more dangerous than the last.  It is a coming-of-age story about love and friendship in the darkest of times.

The story is introduced as the author, David Benioff, speaking to his grandfather about his experiences growing up during World War II.  Benioff appears to have taken minute amounts of truth from his grandfather and spun it into a story far grander than the original but no less moving.

After reading this novel I researched the author and discovered he is one of the co-creators of HBO's Game of Thrones (one of my favorite series').  He is an exceptional writer and is succinct enough to complete a story without bloviating for 500 pages, which I appreciate.

Bookophile Rating: Excellent (For a well-written piece that shows a unique perspective of one of history's darkest hours and the sliver of good that shines through).