Print Books vs. Digital Books

Snow in August

by: Pete Hamill

A friendship between a young Irish boy who loves Captain Marvel and an aging rabbi seems as unlikely as well, snow in August. Michael (the young boy) teaches the rabbi about English and baseball, while the rabbi shares the teachings of kabbalah and stories about Jewish life in Prague. When an Irish gang beats up the rabbi, it seems only Captain Marvel (or the mystical golem) can save him.

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Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 12/18/2009)

Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence

by: John Hockenberry

A car accident left reporter John Hockenberry paralyzed from the chest down. Despite this, he manages to navigate through war zones in the Middle East, up mountainsides, and around exploding volcanoes. He says, "In America access is always about architecture and never about human beings. Among Israelis and Palestinians, access was rarely about anything but people. While in the U.S. a wheelchair stands out as an explicitly separate experience from the mainstream, in the Israel and Arab worlds it is just another thing that can go wrong in a place where things go wrong all the time."

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Amazon Price: $15.95 (as of 12/18/2009)

The Good Earth (Enriched Classics)

by: Pearl S. Buck

This novel was awarded the 1932 Pulitzer Prize and it's still a winner, over 70 years later. Wang Lung is a poor and illiterate peasant farmer. He goes to town to buy a bride, but can only "afford" O-lan, a plain, hardworking slave woman. She turns out to be good luck. As time goes on, Wang Lung's fortune's change, but as he grows richer, he also grows greedier. The more he has, the more he wants, and the more he "needs". It's a story of what happens when a poor man suddenly succeeds, and how that success changes him.

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Amazon Price: $6.99 (as of 12/18/2009)

Things Fall Apart: A Novel

by: Chinua Achebe

"Things Fall Apart, is a relentlessly unsentimental rendering of Nigerian tribal life before and after the coming of colonialism. First published in 1958, just two years before Nigeria declared independence from Great Britain, the book eschews the obvious temptation of depicting pre-colonial life as a kind of Eden. Instead, Achebe sketches a world in which violence, war, and suffering exist, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. His Ibo protagonist, Okonkwo, is a self-made man. The son of a charming ne'er-do-well, he has worked all his life to overcome his father's weakness and has arrived, finally, at great prosperity and even greater reputation among his fellows in the village of Umuofia...He is also a man who exhibits flaws well-known in Greek tragedy:

...His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness... It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.

And yet Achebe manages to make this cruel man deeply sympathetic...Unfortunately, a series of tragic events tests the mettle of this strong man, and it is his fear of weakness that ultimately undoes him." --Alix Wilber (Amazon)

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Amazon Price: $7.92 (as of 12/18/2009)

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon

by: Spider Robinson

Be warned! This book is extremely punny. Reading it may result in bouts of laughing out loud, sore stomachs, and tears running down your cheeks. Find out how a seemingly ordinary bar in Long Island, New York manages to attract some decidedly unusual patrons, including time travelers, cyborgs, and empaths.

"If one were given the task of creating Spider Robinson from scratch, the best way to do it would be to snatch James Joyce from history, force-feed him Marx Brothers films and good jazz for the better part of a decade, then turn him loose on a world badly in need of a look at itself."-Vancouver Sun"

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Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Light (Silver)

This light has not one, but two bulbs. You can use one or both, so it's extra bright when you need it. It uses regular AAA batteries, so you don't need to go out and get the odd coin-shaped kind. The neck bends so you can point the light exactly where you want it.

Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 12/18/2009)

Twelve Monet Bookmarks (Small-Format Bookmarks)

by: Claude Monet

Don't lose your place. These bookmarks feature scenes from some of Monet's most famous paintings, including the water lilies in his garden at Giverny and the Rouen Cathedral.

Amazon Price: $1.50 (as of 12/18/2009)

Twelve Celtic Bookmarks (Small-Format Bookmarks)

by: Co Spinhoven

Printed on heavy stock, these bookmarks have traditional geometric designs, and rich colors. And hey, at this price, you can treat yourself without feeling guilty.

Amazon Price: $1.50 (as of 12/18/2009)