Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Genre: Horror

Publishing Info: IDW Publishing (September 2008)

Film Adaptation: As of the date of this review: Optioned by Dimension for a possible TV or movie deal.

Overview: Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft is the first volume in the tale of the Locke family and the terrible events that drive them to seek solace in their family home, the Lovecraft residence.

Points of Interest: You might be saying to yourself, wait, isn’t this a comic book? That’s kid’s stuff! Well if you are, you wouldn’t be further from the truth. If you are one of those readers who chooses not to read comic books--or graphic novels as the more high minded fans prefer to call them--then you are missing out on some of the hottest talent in storytelling.

Look at the treasure trove of quality stories Hollywood has been plundering lately (although they may not always do the characters and stories justice, but hey, that is a discussion for another day). Every other blockbuster to hit the screen in the past few years has had some or other spandex clad superhero performing feats of daring do. However, super heroes and spandex are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what comic books have to offer. There are titles out there that are sizzling with talent. The medium allows for a greater freedom in the storytelling art than strictly prose stories are capable of. Some of the most complex, challenging and well crafted tales that I have read come in the form of little text bubbles floating in colorful panels.

Locke and Key is one such comic. Collected by IDW in a great hardbound edition, the first volume tells the story of the Locke family and the terrible tragedy that befalls them, driving them to seek sanctuary in their old family home, the Lovecraft residence; which in itself is an homage to the great horror writer H.P.Lovecraft.

The book is written by the extremely talented Joe Hill, which is the pen name of Joseph King, son of the horror writer Stephen King. He appears to have followed in dad’s footsteps by choosing this genre to write in, but he is entirely capable of standing on his own two feet when it comes to talent. The story is incredibly well crafted, and moves at a perfect pace. The characters are beautifully portrayed and are what really took this comic to the next level for me. I found myself truly caring about what happened to them within the first few pages.

The artwork of Gabriel Rodriguez evokes this same empathy for the characters through his attention to detail. The little things the characters do, their facial expressions and mannerisms all bring them to life in a way that a prose novel would be hard pressed to match.

I would love to delve further into the events of the plot itself, but to do so would give too much of it away. I will say this though, if you took a classic ghost story, mixed in a contemporary thriller with a dose of family drama, and presented it in a perfectly polished little gem, you would have Locke and Key. Read it!

Overall Impression: 2 bordering on a 3. This is an amazing comic book, and a wonderful story. It teeters on the brink of greatness and is well worth your hard earned money.

Provoc-O-Meter: 2, there are some scenes of intense violence and adult themes, but they are not gratuitous. They fit within the context of the story well and serve to heighten the tension, which is what these elements should do.

Tylenol Rating: 1, this is a simple, fun ghost story. There are some implied lessons that rest between the lines, but nothing that will hurt your frontal lobes.

Recommended titles if you liked this:

Anything by H.P.Lovecraft

Anything by Stephen King

Fall of Cthulu, by Michael Alan Nelson, Jean-Jacques Dzialowski, Greg Scott, and Mat Santolouco

Other books by this author:

Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill

Would you like to learn more about Joe Hill?

His Wiki article.

Red Storm Rising, by Tom Clancy

Genre: Fiction: Military Fiction
Publishing Info: Berkley Books (1987)
Film Adaptaton: None as of the date of this review.

Overview: The story of what would happen if the USSR and NATO clashed at the height of the Cold War, as told by Mr. Military fiction himself: Tom Clancy.

Points of Interest: I am a fan of Tom Clancy and have read a number of his books. I had not read this, however, which is one of his first, being written just after “The Hunt for Red October.” I picked it up and was not disappointed.

Essentially this book is reading a war game played out between the USSR vs. NATO. It is a “what if” scenario taking into account myriad factors according to Mr. Clancy’s idea of what would occur. It is light on character development but heavy with what Clancy is known for: technically accurate, modern military action. The plot moves quickly, and every page I felt like I was learning some new fact about military hardware or doctrine. The characters are stereotypical American military men who nearly always seem to make the right decisions, as is often the case with Clancy. In his later books you start to see American characters that are less moral, but the line between good and evil is always clearly drawn.

As the reader, you are also keenly aware of Mr. Clancy’s political and religious stance as he pulls no punches in proclaiming America as the world’s greatest country, or Christianity’s virtues. He is at times a little heavy handed with it, which can be a good or bad thing depending on the reader’s own beliefs, but for me it never detracted from the story to the point where it was annoying as I found to be the case in some of his later books where he preaches to the reader through his characters.

One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the way in which Clancy humanizes the Russian Characters. At times, I found myself pulling for some of them which is the mark of a good writer in my mind. In many of his later books, the antagonists are purely evil with no redeeming characteristics. This detracts from the story in my opinion as they become symbols for ideas rather than actual people.

An interesting aspect of reading this book now after having read all of Clany’s more recent books with his famous Jack Ryan character, is seeing how the enemy in the books has changed over time. Then it was the Russians, and now in later books it has gone from extremist Muslims to the Chinese. The story remains largely the same in these books, only the enemies change. The plot in this book is incredibly similar to that of “The Bear and the Dragon,” only now that the Russians are no longer communists, they are our allies and not our enemies.

On the whole, if you like action and military technology, this will be a great book for you. If those subjects hold little interest for you, you won’t find much to like here. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.

Overall Impression: 2, Good Read. I enjoyed the book very much, although it was not a life altering affair.

Provoc-O-Meter: 1, Nothing in this book will raise your hackles, unless you are opposed to military violence.

Tylenol Rating: 2, This recieved a 2 only because of the amount of technical jargon used.

What the heck is this rating system all about? Click here for an explanation.

Recomended Titles if You Liked This:

Any of Tom Clancy's other works, obviously.
The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk
War and Rememberance, by Herman Wouk

Other Books by This Author:

A complete List of Works

Woud You Like to Learn More About the Book?

Wiki Article

A Planet for the President, by Alistair Beaton

Genre: Fiction: Satire
Publishing Info: Orion Publishing (September 1, 2004)
Film Adaptaton: None as of the date of this review.


Overview:
A political satire concerning the fictional U.S. President, Fletcher J. Fletcher and his administration’s decision to wipe out all non-Americans in the world in order to stave off an impending ecological disaster and preserve the American way of life.

Points of Interest:
First of all, let me say this book is hilarious. I mean laugh out loud, slap your knee, snot flying out of your nose funny. It is a scathing political satire mixed with a heavy dose of black humor. The idea is that the American President, Fletcher J. Fletcher is warned of a coming ecological disaster by a political advisor. He is told that if every human being on Earth lived a lifestyle similar to the average American, we would need over 15 Earths to provide for the current population. The President is also told that it is only a matter of time before the Earth’s reserves are run through and chaos and famine ensues. He is warned that if he does nothing, he will be remembered as the President that ruined the world, which would not look good in history books.

In order to circumvent the disaster President Fletcher is advised to find a way to lower the environmental strain American’s place on the environment. President Fletcher dismisses the idea as preposterous. Telling Americans to consume less would kill his approval rating.
His administration composed of imbeciles, incompetents, and self-serving opportunists propose the idea of killing off the rest of the world, allowing for more elbow room for Americans. The monstrous idea is rationalized as being the only viable solution to the coming crisis while maintaining the American way of life. It is also suggested that the President and his cabinet could use the incident to win a third term in office. The book then rolls out the details of how this genocide will be accomplished, and somehow makes the entire thing hilarious as good satire does.
That is why satire is so effective. It makes terrible topics palatable by coating them in humor. This book does just that as it brings the reader to the books horrifying but outrageously funny conclusion.

Fletcher J. Fletcher is a thinly veiled George W. Bush. His fictional cabinet represents neocon ideals in their aggressive policies, imperialism, need for fear to unify the country and its America first agenda, which in the case of the book is taken to an extreme. A few gems in this comparison are incidents such as President Fletcher taking time to “be with his God” when he actually drinks bourbon and then prays for a third term in office. Another occurs when the President asks his born again Christian Secretary of Defense if they should invade a small, possibly terrorist state and the Secretary responds, WWJD (what would Jesus do)? The President asks what Jesus would do and the Secretary replies, “Jesus would go in hard!” which is a criticism of the obvious hypocrisy of Bush’s administration that appeals to the religious right, claiming to be inspired by and modeled after Jesus’ life and yet initiates pre-emptive War and violence.

The administration decides to infect the world with a modified super bird flu, which will wipe out 100% of the people infected with it and will spread to every person around the world who is not protected with an inoculation. This will be administered on the pretense of an eminent terrorist attack which in actuality does not exist. The inoculation contract, which is obviously huge and highly lucrative, is promised to whomever can get it done the fastest as the operation needs to be carried out before the elections if the President is going to have a chance at his third term. The corporations vying for the contract take short cuts to increase their profit, as they do, which are allowed by the Fletcher administrations loosening of regulations in the Pharmaceuticals industries. This results in disaster later in the book and is the author showing his reader the underbelly of capitalism and some of the possible repercussions of a bottom line culture.

The only voice of reason in the insane asylum of the white house is the President’s personal advisor. Unfortunately, he is powerless to stop the juggernaut once it gets moving. He is also a man of compromised values as he has sacrificed much of what he believes in in order to gain the President’s ear. A vegetarian, he regularly eats hamburgers with the President so as not to look like a wimp which is only one of his many personal compromises. The only time he does come close to blowing the whistle on the entire operation is when he takes proof of the conspiracy to the Prime Minister of England who instead of publically condemning the United States, ask to receive the inoculation that all Americans are being given for his country as well. The author is Scottish and this would be a criticism of his country’s implicitly with America’s foreign policy actions, such as joining in on the War on Terror.

The book is extremely well written and in my opinion deserves a read by every student in the country not so much because it mirrors many of my own beliefs but because it encourages people to turn a critical eye on those in power and to question motivations. It inspires healthy and constructive criticism. The novel is ruthless in its condemnations, world governments, military, corporations, media agencies, the lust for power; everyone gets egg on their face in this book. Every page has an insight worth exploring and is delivered humorously. The reason the book stays with the reader though, is because it is plausible. The actions of the book mirror many real world events and the fact that it feels like it could possibly happen lend a lot of weight behind the vicious left hook it throws at society. As many other critics have said, this is the Dr. Strangelove of our generation.

• Overall Impression: 3, Wordgasm! This book is hillarious and it makes you think about the world we live in and question some of the things that go on around you. Fantastic book.
• Provoc-O-Meter: 2, This book is highly provocative as it turns the magnifying glass on current events and the world's governments reactions to them. many people will be challeneged by this book.
• Tylenol Rating: 1, This book presents nothig too difficult to absorb. It breaks down even complex issues like the mutating of the bird-flu into a super disease in ways that anyone should be able to understand.

What the heck is this rating system all about? Click here for an explanation.

Recomended Title if You Liked This:

• Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
• Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift
• Dr. Strangelove, byPeter George
• Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

Other Books by This Author:

• A complete List of Works

Woud You Like to Learn More About the Book?

• Wiki Article about the book

A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking

Genre: Non-Fiction: Science and Mathematics

Publishing Info: 1998 Bantom Books

Film Adaptation: Yes, click here for more information.

Overview:
As the title says this book is a brief overview of the current state of theoretical physics circa 1988 as written by one of the field’s brightest minds, Stephen Hawking. It is not so intimidating as it may at first sound as it does not utilize any equations but simply expresses complex ideas in the simplest terms available to the author.

Points of Interest:
Where to begin!? This is a book that should be required reading in my mind as it presents ideas that define the universe we live in as developed by the brightest minds the human species has produced. But before I get ahead of myself let me add this caveat: the book does present very complex ideas and if you are a layperson coming to the subjects of cosmology and theoretical physics then this may be a bit overwhelming. I have a very large interest in the subject and have managed to familiarize myself with many of the topics presented. If you would like to educate yourself a bit about these things (and you should, as they are fascinating!) then I would suggest checking out some TV specials (yes I am breaking a cardinal rule and suggesting that you watch TV) on the subjects of cosmology, quantum physics, and relativity. Do not be intimidated by these subjects! With a little effort you can open doors for your mind that will expand your perspectives on life.

Now, this book in particular does a brilliant job of exploring the big topics of theoretical physics: where did we come from, where are we going and why are we here? Sound familiar? They should, because those are the big questions that every religious and many philosophical systems have attempted to answer since man began painting on cave walls.

The primary difference between most religions’ approach to these questions and science is simply that religions propose to have the answers without verifiable proof, where science presents a theory with available evidence and says, prove me wrong. This fundamental difference is what fascinates me with the topic. Religions are static and unchanging (or at least claim to be) whereas science is dynamic and ever changing, adapting to new information.

Hawking begins by describing some of the models human beings have had of the universe. The model used previously was that of the Earth at the center, with everything else rotating around it. Hawking discusses the idea that the earth had also been thought to be flat, or supported on the back of a giant tortoise as believed by some indigenous peoples.

We now know all of these to be untrue. Hawking then goes on to stress the importance of asking questions and to not simply accept that which has been held as truth but has not been proven to be true. For example we now know that the idea held in western society that the earth was the center of the universe (which the catholic church threatened to excommunicate Galileo for challenging, and another Philosopher, Girodono Bruno, was burned at the stake for the same reason) is no less silly than the idea that it rested on the back of a giant tortoise. Yet this was held to be undeniable truth for centuries. Another example of this resistance to new ideas is the story told by Hawking of a meeting he had with the Pope where he was told to study only the events after the Big Bang (the proposed beginning of the universe) but not the Big Bang itself as this was believed to be the act of creation and forbidden knowledge to man. The Church forbade this because they were afraid of what would be discovered just as they had been afraid of Copernicus’ model of a Universe in which the Earth was not at the center. These ideas challenged doctrine and the uncovering of the Big Bang could have revealed a universe in which there was no room for God as defined in the Bible.

This is an interesting point also because Hawking addresses the difficulty many scientists’ have in reconciling there religious beliefs and scientific knowledge. Einstein for example refused to believe Quantum Physics because it showed us that the universe is fundamentally chaotic. He stated that he would not accept the theory as he felt that God did not play dice. However, we now know that Quantum Physics do dictate the actions of fundamental particles (which is a bit ironic of a statement as fundamental particles are inherently unpredictable!).

One of the structural devices Hawking’s uses throughout the book is to present similar previously held notions at the beginning of a chapter and then to explain how they were overturned and by whom. This creates within the reader a sense that the foundations of science have been laid over many years built up in steps with each proceeding step reliant on the previous. It is also interesting to me that the science community places such a large emphasis on giving credit to those who made the crucial discoveries. It makes me think of the Pyramids of Egypt, these men trying to write their names into history. As for longevity though, I would say that an essential law or equation that defines the universe in which we live would have a far greater impact than a man-made mountain. The mountain fades with time; a fundamental truth will endure and is a hell of a lot more useful to the rest of us.

Hawking also takes pains to mention his contributions to the field and his interactions with his colleagues, which at times are all too human. Even a man humbled by a broken body is not free of his ego! That made me chuckle, but it also colors the book with Hawking’s personality which I found gave it a personal touch lacking in many similar works I have read.

The book does a wonderful job of making understandable such complex topics as singularities, gravity, quantum mechanics, space time, the fundamental laws of the universe and black holes. Hawking’s breaks down the basic mechanics of these complex subjects and explains how they determine the universe we live in. He then goes on to explain how these have led him to construct a model of the universe that he believes to be accurate. The theories and questions he raises should elicit thought in any mind, regardless of personal belief. They are independently verifiable by anyone willing to take the time to understand them, which is what has always drawn my mind to theoretical physics and science and mathematics in general. This does not require any leap of faith, only a verification of facts. An individual is not confined to simply accepting and obeying the laws and origins of the universe but to interact with and help shape the discovering of them. That for me empowers man instead of an unseen deity and makes the journey of life so much more exciting as the emphasis is on the now and not a potential afterlife. In this system man is the key player and star of the show with the present being the critical time, not the past and all of its collected ghosts and myths or a hereafter which may or may not exist.

Hawking addresses this when he discusses the fact that the Universe as far as we know it had to exist exactly the way it does in order to have produced intelligent life capable of observing and questioning it. This proposes some fascinating questions about our place and purpose. Are we here to give order and purpose to a Universe that would otherwise go unappreciated, and unobserved? Perhaps simply existing is the meaning of our lives; perhaps we need to look for no further justification than that to explain our purpose here. These are just some of the many ideas that buzz through my mind when I consider this book.

Some of the possibilities proposed by Hawking in the book will twist your mind into pretzels: infinite alternate dimensions expanding infinitely, multitudes of dimensions beyond the four we operate in that exist all around us yet we are unaware of, just to name a few. This book is a roller coaster ride for your mind.

The conclusion to the book was profound for me as it proposed further models for the universe which are even now being explored. To unify all of physics with a single theory is the ultimate goal. Hawking’s closes with the statement that to achieve the unification of physics would be to understand the mind of God.

Wow, try and go after bigger game than that in a book!

• Overall Impression: 3, Wordgasm! This book is so educational and mind expanding that it deserves several readings.
• Provoc-O-Meter: 2, This book challenges a lot of commonly held beliefs as to the nature and origin of life and the universe. At the very least it will provoke a lot of thought.
• Tylenol Rating: 2, Minor Headache. This book definitely presents some challenging ideas and the only thing stopping it form getting a 3 is the fact that there are no equations in the book.

What the heck is this rating system all about? Click here for an explanation.

Recommended Titles if You Liked This:

• The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics, Gary Zukav.
• Contact, Carl Sagan

Other Books by this Author:

• George's Secret Key to the Universe, Lucy and Stephen Hawking
• Complete list of Stephen Hawking's Publications.

Want to Learn More About Topics Covered in the Book?

• A Brief history of Time, Movie, Youtube
• Flat Earth Article, Wikipedia
• Galileo Article, Wikipedia
• Copernicus Article, Wikipedia
• Theoretical Phsyics Article, Wikipedia
• Stepehen Hawking's Website

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

Genre: Fiction: Family Drama
Publishing Info: 2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing, PLC
Film Adaptation: Yes, click here for info.

Overview:
The kite runner is the story of Amir, who grows up in Kabul, Afghanistan and immigrates to the United States with his father after the USSR's invasion of his home country in 1978. The book focuses on the relationships between Amir, his father "Baba" (dad or daddy) and Amir's best friend, Hassan as well as the events of his life in both Afghanistan and the US.

Points of Interest (Spoilers Inside!):
The book is what I would call a family drama in that it revolves around the external events, emotions, decisions and relationships of the members of a given family. Think, The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy. One of the thing that sets this book apart from many other similar titles (other than the fact that it is simply amazingly written) is the fact that it is about an Afghan family. This sounds a bit ridiculous I am sure, but raise your hand if you know of another English language family drama about an Afghan family.

This combined with the fact that it was published not long after the U.S. attacked Afghanistan lent the book a lot of weight. One of the the things I love most about this book is the educational and humanizing effect it had on me.

This book educated me about a part of the world and historical events that I did not know much about. Afghanistan had always been a very cloudy and vague notion in my mind prior to the war and this book, and in all honesty I would not have even been able to point it out on a world map. The invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR was something I knew of, that it had been a sort of Vietnam for the USSR, but not much beyond that.

The culture of these far off and hazy people was also a mystery to me. After the US attacked, the only notions I had in mind were the same as the majority of Americans: that Afghanistan was a country that harbored extreme religious and political views and sought to undermine our way of life for some reason that was not very clear. I was a victim of the propaganda machine I am not proud to admit, but no less so than most of my fellow countrymen and women.

This book revealed to me a truth that is easily forgotten: that people are people no matter where they live, what they look like or any other superficial variation. That is one of the most powerful aspects of a good book, its ability to transcend cultural differences to reveal basic human commonalities. This book does so in grand fashion. I felt that after reading this book I had a much deeper understanding of the tragic recent history of Afghanistan. This was no country of frothing mad suicidal terrorists, it was a country of people like me. People that went about their daily lives of trying to provide for their family, and find happiness.

Amir turns out to be a boy like many I have known here. He struggles for his father's approval and is met with constant disappointment when he does not receive it, as any son in the world can relate to in at least a small way. He often vents his frustration on his best friend, Hassan and despite the fact that some of his actions are despicable, you can not help but pity Amir as much as Hassan because you understand why he does what he does. The tragedy of this situation is made all the more powerful due to Hassan's unfailing loyalty to Amir. This is the hallmark of a talented writer in my eyes, the ability to depict characters that are morally complex and feel so incredibly real to the reader.

One thing that really pissed me off (yes pissed off, that is how I felt) in this novel, was that fact that Afghanistan is depicted as a country that was not politically or religiously extreme until after the USSR had attacked. With the power vacuum left after the withdrawal of the Soviets, the Taliban was able to rise to power and rule over the people with an iron fist, imposing extreme religious law. One of the principal characters, Assef represents the Taliban, its viciousness and hypocrisy. He is one of the most despicable characters I have ever read and what he and the Taliban do to Afghanistan should boil the blood of anyone who reads the book. It made me realize that had the USSR not invaded Afghanistan, it could have been a modernizing, moderate country. It is possible that there never would have been a reason for the U.S. to invade the country and further disrupt these people's lives. It was one more reason to loathe imperialism in all of its forms for me. It really made me think about my country's actions and the ethics and long term consequences of invading a country for any reason.

Hosseini wields incredible skill in describing the relationships between people. It truly beggared my imagination that this man was able to so vividly paint pictures of human beings and the emotions that drive their decision making, motivations and the impacts they have on themselves and those around them. The relationship between Amir and his father is heartbreaking because they both want a strong relationship, but are never able to because they are fundamentally different people. Had they not been related by blood and were to have met, they would not have been friends, which is a terrible truth of all parents and their children. A child is not a copy of the parent, for better or for worse.

Hassan is an amazing character and when the true nature of his relationship to Amir is revealed, I nearly got choked up! Hosseini does a wonderful job of weaving all of these characters together and enticing his reader to become emotionally involved with them. I felt truly happy at times, sad, angry and a million other emotions as I turned the pages. However, when Amir makes the decision to go back to Afghanistan and as his uncle tells him, to be good again, I was moved as much as I ever have been while reading a book. I got chills during the scene in which Amir finally stands up to Assef, where he finally learns to be courageous and selfless. It is the universal theme of redemption and although it is nothing new, Hosseini does such an amazing job in the telling that it seems as if it has never been done before. As the reader this book was so cathartic for me that I felt like I had just gone through an intense session of psychotherapy!

This book is a masterpiece in my eyes, pure and simple. Some would call it a sad book, but you know what, life often is sad and if you are looking for something that sings, that shows us the world and its inhabitants the way they actually are as opposed to how we wish they were, read this book. It does everything a great story should. The fact that this was Hosseini's first book blew my mind and turned me green with envy, but also happy beyond words that there are people like this in the world. Read this book! Read it even if you do not think you like family dramas, history, Afghanistan, people, children, puppies or anything at all. It's that good.

• Overall Impression: 3, Multiple Wordgasm!!One of the best books I have ever read.

• Povoc-O-Meter: 2, Woah! moments all over the place, this should provoke an emotional reaction in nearly everyone.

• Tylenol Rating: 1, Slight Tinglings, I learned a lot but nothing was too difficult to comprehend.

What the heck is this rating system all about? Click here for an explanation.

Recommended Titles if You Liked This:

• The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
• The World According to Garp, by John Irving
• Virgins of Paradise, by Barbara Wood

Other Books by this Author:

• A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini.
  

Want to Learn More About Afghanistan or the Author?

• Brief Afghan History, Wikipedia.
• USSR's invasion of Afghanistan, Wikipedia.
• Khaled Hosseini's Web Page.
  

Explanation of the Rating System

This is a rough guide to how I go about my reviews, or there is a method to my madness.

Overview
This section provides an overview of the type of book under review, its basic premise and a very brief idea of some of the events of the book (I hate it when a review gives away any of the important plot elements).

Points of Interest
This section is where I point out any particularly interesting bits of the book that I felt were worth discussing. Here I will dig into the meat of the book and will often point out similarities I see between this and other works as well as any interesting themes I spotted. This section will often contain spoilers, so read it at your own risk!

Overall Impression
This is my overall impression of a book, expressed in a four tiered system. These tiers are as follows, and always remember, these are my opinions which anyone is free to agree or disagree with:

• 0 -Stinker. It was boring or painful to read, poorly written or simply did not grab me. For whatever reason, I just did not enjoy reading this at all, and quite possibly did not even finish reading it. I would only bring this book up to a friend to tell them how fantastically bad I found it.

• 1 -Amazingly mediocre. I found it to be readable, perhaps with interesting bits, but nothing to write home to mom about. It was competently written, but perhaps lacked any engaging ideas, characters, story lines, etc. Worth finishing, not worth recommending.

• 2 -Good Read. A book the compels you to finish it; very engaging, with great ideas, believable characters or a brilliant plot. This is a book I would highly recommend to a friend and would possibly read again myself.

• 3 -Wordgasm! This is that rare book that just sings. It is beautifully written, contains life changing ideas, presents characters that feel more real than your coworkers (and are certainly more interesting) or has a story that is utterly compelling. This represents the pinnacle of the craft in the book's genre/medium as I judge it. This book comes with my highest possible recommendation.

Provoc-O-Meter
This is a system to measure how provocative a book is in my opinion, it is independent of the above rating system which focuses on quality and presentation. Now lets be clear on the definition of provocative first. Provocative does not necessarily mean to elicit negative feelings, just strong feelings. In order to give some kind of basis for understanding this system, as everyone's idea of what is or is not provocative varies, I base it off of my own point of view.

• 0 -Meh. This book does not provoke strong emotions in me in even the slightest way. I would think that most people out there would feel the same way and if it did offend anyone out there, I would think that person was pretty weird. Think, the Sweet Valley High series by Francine Pascal, or Clifford the Big Red Dog, by Norman Birdwell.
  

• 1 -Has some juicy bits! This book contains some ideas, scenes or characters that I found somewhat provocative, but in its entirety did not evoke an extreme emotional reaction. I would think that the majority of the people in the world would have some reaction to this book, but would not run out and demand that it be burned or declare that it is divine truth. Think, The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding or Horror novels by Stephen King (No, he does not only write Horror).

• 2 -Has a lot of Woah! moments. This book definitely evoked a strong emotional reaction in me, and I feel that it would do so in most people who were to read it, either positive or negative. Think, What Uncle Sam Really Wants, by Noam Chomsky, or The End of Faith, by Sam Harris.

• 3 -Burn it or Canonize it! This books is designed to evoke an extreme emotional reaction in its reader and certainly did so with me. I would think that anyone that were to read it would have a similar reaction and if they did not, then they must be comatose. Think, Mein Kampf by Aldolf Hitler or The 120 Days of Sodom, by Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis De Sade.

Tylenol Rating
This is a rating of how challenging a book was for me to read, or how many Tylenol I felt like taking after I finished reading it. Bear in mind that this rating is independent of those above. Just because a book was not challenging, or was very challenging to read does not mean it was not enjoyable to read.

• 0 -No Tylenol Needed. This book was not challenging at all. There were no ideas that I found particularly difficult to understand. The setting was familiar to me, the characters behaved in predictable patterns. The plot progressed linearly. I did not feel like I learned anything I did not already know from reading this book. Examples: The Note Book, by Nicholas Sparks or Basic Concepts in Mathematics, by Elias Zakon.

• 1 Slight Tingling. There were a few ideas presented here that I did not absorb immediately. The setting may be something I am unfamiliar with or the characters may behave in ways I found to be different from my real world experiences. The plot may contain non-linear elements such as flash backs, etc. I felt that I learned something new reading this book. Examples: The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, or The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
  

• 2 Minor Headache. There are a number of ideas that were difficult to grasp, may have required rereading, or outside research. The setting was foreign to me or the characters behaved in ways that I found strange. The plot may be very fractured, starting at the end and progressing towards the begging, etc. I felt that I learned a great deal reading this book. Examples: A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking, or To the Lighthouse, by Virginia Woolf.
  

• 3 My brain is going to burst! This book presents ideas that went straight over my head. They were either so far beyond my capability to grasp or so specialized I simply did not understand them. The setting could be totally alien, or the characters could behave erratically. The plot could be completely non-linear, stream of consciousness, diary of an insane person, etc. This book could teach me a lot if I put a great deal of effort into it. Examples: Any Quantum Mechanics textbook, or Ulysses, by James Joyce.
  

Recommended Titles
In this final section, I will provide some links to other titles that I feel touch on similar themes or run in a similar vein to the book under review.

Books by Media

Books are organized alphabetically by title under each medium, which are also organized alphabetically. Please note that this list does not distinguish between genres.

Fiction and Non-Fiction Books
Brief History of Time, A. Stephen Hawking.
Kite Runner, The. Khaled Hosseini.
Planet for the President, A. Alistair Beaton.
Red Storm Rising. Tom Clancy.

Graphic Novels
Locke and Key: Welcome to lovecraft. Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez.

Screenplays

Short Stories

Stageplays