How to be Selfish (And other uncomfortable advice) by Olga Levancuka

From the title, you would think that this book is about being selfish in the traditional sense of the word. However, if you think that you are going to learn how to be greedy, self-centered and inconsiderate after reading it, I'm afraid you're in for a big disappointment. What it is actually about is how to be a better person, in other words self-help in order to work on yourself so that you can be of better use to others. It touches on weighty subjects like the body and self-image, religion and relationships. The author gives several examples from her own life and shares both painful, successful and joyful experiences she has had – which makes her all the more credible to the reader. There are also some exercises that you can work on in order to achieve your goals, and at the end of the book there are testimonials by the author's clients as Ms. Levancuka is also a life coach.

We are constantly bombarded by all kinds of advice in the media: from psychologists and other mental health professionals to members of the clergy to popular icons of the day. Some of them I find to be truly helpful, others do not strike a chord in me and others definitely turn me off. I would definitely put Olga Levancuka in the first category! I'll tell you why: she starts off by saying that the book is a conversation, as if she were sitting in front of the reader, and she truly carries on in this fashion in a credible manner. Being spontaneous and natural is a hard thing to do on paper (or in this case digitally). Many authors make this attempt and fail at it. Another aspect that I feel is in her favor is that she is an immigrant to the UK. She was born and raised in the USSR. Not always, but many times, coming from another culture and having to adapt to a new one gives a person insight (which the author definitely has) on life that not all natives to a particular country have the benefit of acquiring. You get to pick and choose what you like about the new culture and either retain or discard features of your original culture.

In this particular case, I also felt that the author has an advantage in being a layperson because everything she has to offer comes from her own experience and she does not use any psychological jargon. Her plain, simple language is a powerful vehicle to get her ideas across, and she uses it to elicit powerful emotions from her readers. In addition, the reader is not meant to follow an entire system, but rather he or she may pick and choose what advice to follow and what not to. That is not to say that How to be Selfish is unorthodox or unconventional. Some of the exercises in order to break free from unhappy relationships can be found in television programs on Discovery Home and Health.

If you feel that there are some issues in your life that you would like to address but have not had the courage or encouragement to face them, you would benefit from reading this book. It is a cathartic, yet no-nonsense approach to slowly becoming a better person and improving your own life to be better prepared to face the world and help others. Even if you find just one piece of advice that helps you (I have found at least four or five), you will have gotten your money's worth.

 

Available on Amazon.

Horn Pattern by Gretta Hines

Do you like roller coaster rides? If you do, you're in for a treat if you choose to read Horn Pattern. Indeed, the adrenaline never stops no matter what page of the book you happen to be on. The story starts out in Toronto, Canada (actually, there is a brief scene in Japan that precedes it, but Toronto is definitely the home base). The reader is almost tricked into believing that he or she is experiencing another day in an ordinary teenager's life - just as a roller coaster will falsely lull its riders into believing that it is utterly harmless as it secretly and slowly climbs its way to the top with a clackety-clack. The teenager in question is named Lorissa Vollist, and though she seems fairly normal, she is enshrouded by a dark, mysterious force. This is an entity that the reader gets to glimpse, to guess at, but it is always hiding, always lurking, never quite showing its face. Lorissa, who lives with her grandparents, is invited by her estranged father one day to spend her vacation with him in a place called Yelidin, a small town surrounded by countryside several hours from Toronto. Hesitantly, Lorissa agrees to go and finds herself surrounded by the splendor of her father's mansion complete with several servants. She discovers that all of the women who live in Yelidin dress in an antiquated yet fashionable way (it has a name, but I would rather you learn it through reading the book instead of me giving it away). Lorissa is anything but on vacation in Yelidin with all of the family and town secrets that she is busy deciphering and this dark force, taunting her while the reader follows right along in a frenzy of adrenaline.

Gretta Hines is without a doubt a master storyteller. No matter how intricate Horn Pattern becomes, the reader will always know where he or she is in the book. There is no sacrifice of clarity in order to provide suspense and excitement as there is in many other books that I've read. I also like how the author intervenes from time to time to give the reader a message. This reminds me of the device that Miguel de Unamuno used in his book Niebla. I also detected a clear Edgar Allen Poe influence in the story's gloominess, in Hines's foreshadowing. She has a knack for engaging the reader by using suspense, by hinting at what is to come without revealing it until the right moment. Her style is clean and crisp without being pretentious. She is more than able to juggle different registers in the speech of the various characters. Ms. Hines has a wonderful knack for describing women's clothing and accessories — things that I as a man would not know how to describe or name, nor would it occur to me to mention them.

　

The best reason for reading this book is that it is a quality story. You won't be bombarded by clichés or run into dead ends. You might say that this book is best suited for teenagers and young adults because Lorissa Vollist is 19 years old. However, I can assure you that it has appeal for adults as well. Go ahead, let your imagination run wild. Satisfy your curiosity. Horn Pattern awaits you here: http://www.amazon.com/Horn-Pattern-ebook/dp/B00DXNGA82/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374955123&sr=8-1&keywords=horn+pattern+gretta+hines

Empalado

by Javier Romero Valentín (Spanish)

 

This story is a painting as much as it is a book. I would liken it to a painting by El Greco, laden with gloomy and macabre details that give the eyes as well as the soul a great deal to gaze upon and contemplate afterward. However, I would be telling only part of the truth if I said that this book is about horror, a mere collection of words and thoughts to scare the reader, to appeal to the need for adrenaline. On the surface, it may be just that, but if you dig a little deeper, you will find that it has plentiful philosophical, geopolitical and religious underpinnings.

 

Almost everyone knows about the mythical Count Dracula. Not everyone knows, however, that there was a real Dracula named Vlad Dracul who ruled part of what is now Romania with terror. In fact, he was also known as Vlad Tepes, or the Impaler. Impaling, which I already knew about to some extent, entails forcing a wooden stake through the lower part of the body (I'll let you discover the exact part for yourself) all the way through the inside of the body, taking care not to damage any internal organs, exiting through the shoulder. The victim is then hoisted up, fully conscious, and left to die a slow, cruel death, usually of infection from the wounds made from impalement. The story starts out with the impalement of a young soldier, Mircea, who sought to avenge his relatives' death caused either directly or indirectly by Vlad Dracul who would either maim or impale a person over any trivial matter. Not only that, he took pleasure in watching his subjects suffer. The author makes it clear that Vlad Dracul is the closest thing to the devil himself on Earth.

 

The nice thing about this book is that it is well researched. I learned a lot about medieval Romania, the way people lived, the way they dressed, and especially about the conflicts. The Vlachs were at war with the Hungarians and the Turks. There was much instability at that time, and many saw Dracul as an ironfisted defender of his realm. The problem was that he took advantage of his power and showed no mercy to anyone. Everyone was susceptible to his wrath — nobles and commoners alike. Once a person fell out of his favor, he or she was doomed.

 

The real philosophical and religious exercise of the story begins when Mircea is impaled alongside a priest. The priest wants him to confess , but Mircea is reluctant to do so because of the way that the church treated him and his family — especially his sister, Nicoleta. She was probably mildly retarded or perhaps autistic, the author doesn't really let us know that part. According to the beliefs of the day, she was viewed as a witch because she didn't interact with her surroundings. She was always lost in her own special world. This is a firm reminder of the way people used to act and think and how that had a deep influence on those who did not fit in. In fact, this is an example of myth versus reason, an important motif throughout Empalado. The question of God comes up here as well. Why would God let people be so cruelly treated, their lives taken away from them only to die a slow, lonely and excruciating death? Why would an infinite and benevolent being do such a thing? The priest next to Mircea does his best to explain, but even then he falters once or twice and does not always come up with a clear answer.

 

I am still thinking about this book, and I will undoubtedly do so for some time to come. Being impaled can be construed as being in a finite situation of suffering or distress that limits one's existence. This type of situation occurs every day to humanity — without any physical stake being driven through us. It only takes one little mishap, even a psychological one that does not outwardly affect the body, to place one in a similar predicament to that of Empalado. I was moved by the way that the people who were impaled still cared about their lives even though they knew that they were going to die anyway and that there was no way they could be saved — even if they were taken off of the stake, because they would either bleed to death from opening the wound or most likely die from infection. It only goes to show how much life is worth living for, even in its terminal phase.

 

From my description, I surmise that have already made it clear that this is not the type of book that you can read in a hurry or even casually. To get the most out of it, you have to set aside some time, maybe make a few notes, and definitely look up some of the more arcane terms and find the place names on the map. Google Maps is great for that. I have been to get this book for free thanks to Amazon's policy of making certain books free for a limited period of time, but I believe that the original price is quite low.

Crown of the Realm by D. Dalton

This young adult fantasy book is about the return of ancient evil in which the Crown of the Realm was stolen. The main character, Derora Saxen was oblivious to that fact. What she does know, at her young age, is that she wants to be a warrior. As part of this endeavor, she set out from her village with her best friend Kelin. But by helping a stranger, she was pulled into an age-old feud which would determine her destiny. The good guys in the story are the elves, and the bad guys are called chemmen.

I am fascinated by the way Dalton weaves fantasy with reality. Some of the characters clearly have down-to-earth, modern-day human qualities, and this is evidenced in their dialog. Then there are other characters who are dwarves and elves who clearly denote a fantasy world. I like how she gives characters unusual names like Kaleb and Vlade. Though I am quite a bit older than the intended age group for this book, the quality of writing and the sheer imagery took me back to the days when I read the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I found myself absorbed in this book. In fact, this is the kind of book that you don't want to put down. I spent every free minute reading it, and was annoyed when I was called away to do a household task.

I don't want you to think that Crown of the Realm is a mere copy of the famous fantasy books mentioned above — quite the contrary. It is blessed with its own identity and signature sense of humor. The author is a master at employing archaic language to establish the setting and let the reader know that he or she is in a different realm — a magical place. Here is an example: "… mayhap I'll go even later because I'm missing some sleep!" Though I have not read every fantasy book out there, I can say that it is unusual for the main character to be a young lady. Der's (Derora's nickname) drive and zest for life as she meets the challenges throughout the book are a breath of fresh air and a testament to women's modern-day place in non-fantasy society. Indeed, there are many lessons to be learned from this book. I came away feeling more courageous with a greater desire to help others — quite unusual when you compare Crown of the Realm with your run-of-the-mill fantasy book that is read for mere entertainment value and little else.

Crown of the Realm, the first of five books in the All Things Impossible series, is a must read for fantasy buffs, as it will open new doors and broaden your horizons. For those just getting your feet wet in the realm of fantasy fiction, this is a good place to start because there are plenty of references to our "non-fantasy" world for you to get your bearings. None too often, a fantasy author will devise a marvelous, fantasy world, but will forget to clue the reader in on how that world came to be and fail to give the reader sufficient references to the real world. Well, this is not the case with Crown of the Realm: I always knew where I was while reading this book despite the new and exciting concepts. If you like reading e-books, you can download this book free at the author's webpage: http://www.allthingsimpossible.com/ or, if you prefer a physical paper book, you can buy it from Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/All-Things-Impossible-Crown-Realm/dp/0578023253. If you have a sharp eye for typos (I found none), you might want to consider notifying the author about them, as she will send you a free bookmark for your troubles.

Going Home by Kim Welsman

Going Home is a medium length book set in the future, about 300 years from now in what seems to be North America, although the exact location is quite vague. Imposing names like the Lakeshore District are used. The main character is a woman named Lyrissa. She is hired by a man named Jenkins who works for the Queen to track down an object (I'll let you read the book to find out what it is). The person who supposedly has this object in her possession is a mysterious woman named Peggy. Lyrissa makes several inquiries with different people before she discovers Peggy's whereabouts. Although apparently not a drug addict, she takes pills called zyloftin that give her the power to get into other people's minds and to relax her and tame her anxiety. Peggy seems to be involved with what is known as the Agency, a heinous organization led by a man named Mitch Christie whose office is located in an immense building. More than just finding the object, Peggy ends up helping Lyrissa with her fears and troubled childhood. In fact, Peggy has powers much stronger than Lyrissa's and does not have to induce them with drugs; she made a blind man see again by just laying her hands on him. After Peggy goes home at the end of the book, Lyrissa goes back to her childhood home in the country and comes to terms with the events that kept her from leading a happy life.

Although I recognize certain ideas and concepts in this book that remind me of H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury and George Orwell, Kim Welsman has managed to establish her own style and carry the reader away with her. She has an excellent command of register: dialogs between people who work at a diner are colloquial and informal, and instructions given by important figures are formal; aliens are stiff sounding, and they don't use contractions. I was intrigued by how the past and the present, the familiar and the strange are interwoven in Going Home. A Victorian house will vie with a hovercar and aliens, making for an entirely new environment sculpted by the author. What I loved about reading this book is how vivid the imagery is. This is important because the author is describing machines and concepts that do not exist, and if they are not well-described, they are very difficult to conceive of. All of this aside, I was touched by how emotional the story was. I felt like I was right there, sitting next to Lyrissa in her hovercar, feeling what she felt, going where she went. Indeed, the author manages to establish a bond between the reader and Lyrissa through carefully crafted sentences.

There are several reasons to read this book. If you are a science-fiction devotee, you can't afford not to read it, because no matter how many science-fiction books you've read, this one will throw you a curveball, take you for a ride, and make you see fantasy the way you never have before. If your interest is fiction about women, you will greatly benefit from the power that Kim Welsman imbues in both Lyrissa and Peggy. If you want to see what life may be like in the future, and what people in the future think about life in the 20th century, this book will give you an eye-opening picture. Once you finish Going Home, you'll be happy to know that there are total of five books in the Alien Encounters Series. You can download this book from Amazon for only 99 cents.

Found in Translation

by Jost Zetsche and Nataly Kelly

Something I love almost as much as I love languages is reading about them. However, many books on languages suffer from what I like to call the "Goldilocks and the three Bears" syndrome: often they are too close to either end of the difficulty spectrum. In other words, they are either too simplified or too dry and academic. I don't know about you, but after a long day of translating, the last thing I want to do is glance over tidbits that sound nice but mean little or wade through page after page of metalanguage which, though well researched, puts me to sleep.

Thankfully, I believe that Goldilocks herself, had she been a translator or interpreter, would have said that Found in Translation read "just right". Indeed, you will not find anything remotely close to velar fricatives nor will you be serenaded by a half-explained language concept that you might see on the last five minutes of the evening news. A case in point is the explanation of the Chevy Nova (I could give it away, but I want you to read the book yourself).

In a nutshell, Found in Translation explains what translators and interpreters do and why they are important. Some key areas of translation and interpreting that the book covers are religion, politics, commerce, the Internet and, ehem, pornography. I had never stopped to think that there was a need for translating pornography, but that just goes to show the broad spectrum of the applications of translating and interpreting. Even if you are an experienced translator or interpreter, you will benefit from reading this book because I guarantee that it will shed new light on the profession, and when you finish reading the book, you will come away with new knowledge.If you are not a translator interpreter, this book will be an eye-opener for you because it will expand your conception of what it means to translate and interpret.

There is only one point that I am not as zealous about as the authors of this book. Along with debunking myths about translating and interpreting and showing that the entire world owes a great deal of its success to translation, I sensed an undercurrent of seeking more recognition for translators and interpreters. On a personal note, though I would not mind earning more money for translating (Who wouldn't want to earn more money from their job?), I see an advantage in being anonymous, in people not really knowing what I do for a living. True, it is always nice to be appreciated, but there is something to be said about not being in the line of fire--to be able to fade into the background.

If you'd like to pick up a copy, you can buy it either as an e-book or hard copy here.

The Kindle Versus Paper Books

For the majority of my life, I have only read paper books. In fact, I didn't even use computers until I was age 16, and most of my time in front of the screen was devoted to typing and other tasks, not reading novel-length books. It was only until two or three years ago that I started reading on my laptop. I used the Mobipocket e-book reader. This system satisfied me for short spurts only. I had to fiddle with the laptop, load the book, find a spot away from bright sunshine. It ended up being my lunch hour activity since I usually eat lunch alone.

Then the Kindle came out and I did buy a few books like dictionaries to consult on my computer – but not to read them. As a translator, is quite handy to have digital information that you can search, copy and paste anywhere. Getting out of my office chair and leafing through paper books is becoming increasingly less frequent occurrence for me. It is much faster and more convenient to have all of my information either online or on screen and ready to go.

However, it must admit that what is handy and convenient when working is not always so when I am reading for pleasure. Paper books are far more enchanting to me because I can heft them and feel the pages tickle my fingertip when I turn them. The very physical quality of paper books means that they belong on the shelf, in a drawer, on a nightstand–somewhere where you know they will be when you wake up in the morning. I have very fond memories of books at the Green Lake Library in Seattle, and I know right where they are (or at least where they were 20 or 30 years ago).

Another aspect of paper books is that, at least for me, there is a certain undefinable holiness about them. I would feel terrible if I saw a book burning. It wouldn't matter if I had read it or if I was interested in reading it, just the fact that it was being destroyed would pain me. With an e-book, I couldn't say the same thing. If someone were to delete an e-book from a computer, it just wouldn't have the same effect. After all, what is an e-book when it's "closed"? Where are the words? In what form are they represented? I'm sure someone has an explanation, but it's not the same as knowing that a printed book continues to have the same printed words in it when it is closed. You can't even really "close" an e-book.

Now that I own a Kindle, I use it often, especially with books that I do not have in paper format and that I do not wish to acquire at a hefty price. It is a device of convenience. Since I live far away from where English-language books are sold in mass quantities, I'm overbowled by the Kindle and what I can shop for at the Kindle store. No longer do I have to pay high prices for books and shipping in order to get them to Chile. Just as the Kindle store advertises, I am able to receive any book in the catalog in under a minute on my Kindle.

When I read books in Spanish, I almost always like to read them in print form. Living in Chile, a Spanish-speaking country, books and Spanish are readily available, and though not all of them are cheap, if they are worth reading, I sometimes buy them. It is interesting, but the Spanish language selection at the Kindle store is nowhere near the size of the English language selection. In fact, there are many books in Chile that cannot be found in e-book format. I think that people here and in the rest of Latin America are more interested in reading physical books than they are e-books.

The good news is that for the time being, there is no need to decide which method to stick to. When I want to read a paper book, I read a paper book and when I want to read on the Kindle, I read on the Kindle. It's that simple.