Review: Columbine – A Definite Must-Read

Ten years have passed since the tragic event that has become synonymous with school shootings. ColumbineColumbine reviews was once a word that simply denoted a high school, a football team or a state flower. But now the word is tainted. Despite the fact that we have moved on to newer tragedies with higher body-counts, the stain has not been scrubbed off of the word ‘Columbine’. But perhaps we need to do something other than wish it away. A better solution might be a deeper understanding of Columbine and similar events. The What, How and Why. Most of our answers to these simple questions have been dead-wrong and it is time to replace myth with truth. [Read more...]

Review: The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death

–I had this great English teacher in college.  Worshiped the guy.  I was a physics major and yet, every semester I was trying to shoe-horn every one of this guy’s classes in as electives.  I was a sophomore physics major sitting in 400-level English classes with a small circle of other students that could actually spell.  Literally a small circle.  These were those tiny classes that sometimes don’t get taught because not enough students think the subject is important and the ones that do think they are so important they have to face each other instead of the teacher.  I was just there because I worshiped the wrinkled-old man who was teaching the class and who was probably gay for me in a less-abstract way than I was gay for him. [Read more...]

Review: Daemon – One Of The Best Books Of The Year

Daniel Suarez’s DaemonDaemon reviews is an amazing story.  And I’m not talking about the actual plot; for that, the word “Amazing” would not suffice.  No, I am referring to the incredible series of events which are leading up to its publication and release on January 8th. After writing Daemon back in 2004, Suarez faced the uphill battle common to many first-time authors.  Unable to find a buyer, yet confident of the quality of his work, he decided to self-publish.  Using print-on-demand, Suarez pumped out a few dozen copies a month, at the time sporting the pseudonym of Leinad Zeraus, his real name spelled backwards. Eventually the book achieved an underground and vocal following.  A tipping point of sorts was reached, and the right people began promoting the book in whatever way they could, people like Craig, of CraigslistCraigslist fame and Rick Klau, at Feedburner (now owned by GoogleGoogle).  This network helped boost sales until the bright folks at Dutton publishing realized that a phenomenal author was going ignored. [Read more...]