READERS' PICKS
Against All Enemies: Inside America's War On Terror by Richard Clark
Former counter terrorism czar Richard Clark addresses the development of al Queda and the attack on September 11 as well as the government's failure to eliminate al Queda and instead go to war against Iraq.
Rating: * * * * * Mr. Bob Gibson (Social Studies Teacher) ---check it out in the library---
Chain of Command: The Road From 9/11 to Abu Ghraib by Seymour Hersh
This non-fiction pick includes details and an analysis of events leading to the torture scandal at Abu Ghraib Prison.
Rating: * * * * * Mr. Bob Gibson (Social Studies Teacher) ---check it out in the library---
Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush by John W. Dean
Critical look into the Bush presidency by Nixon former counsel John Dean.
Rating: * * * * Mr. Bob Gibson (Social Studies Teacher) ---not currently in our library collection---
Monster by Frank Peretti
A woman is lost in the forest, adopted by a family of "beasts". Her husband and a rescue squad try to find her. This book keeps you on your toes and wanting more. Peretti's novel is an evangelical take on DNA research.
Rating: * * * * * Mrs. Karen Brock (Math Teacher) ---not currently in our library collection---
Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror by Michael Scheuer
An outstanding look at Bin Laden and Muslim views on American actions in the Middle East. Scheuer had previously released this book without naming himself as the author.
Rating: * * * * * Mr. Bob Gibson (Social Studies Teacher) ---not currently in our library collection---
The Hedge Knight by George R.R. Martin
This graphic novel depicts the struggle of a knight to defend his oath as knight of the seven kingdoms. What I liked about this book was that Sir Duncan the Tall didn't give up even in the very end.
Rating * * * * * Timothy (T.J.) Walton (student) ---check it out in the library---
Footprints of God by Greg Iles
Man has never been able to find true "artificial intelligence" in a machine through the use of modern day computers because the technology hasn't existed...until now. In the flavor of Brown's DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons, Greg Isles takes us for a very scary ride across two continents and fleeing from people with unknown corporate/governmental affiliations making us question our own values and ethics to the point where the lines begin to blur. It reads like a Hitchcock and gives you a twist like a Cristie.
Rating * * * * * Mr. Kingsley (Art Teacher) ---not currently available in out collection---
The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
Orlean tracks both the Ghost Orchid and John Laroche, the orchid thief of the title, in this expose of the orchid world. Focusing on the orchid history of Florida, Orlean provides an engaging account of a unique group of people passionate about orchids. Her dramatic accounts of orchid hunters of the past are particularly interesting. The book also inspires Charlie Kaufman, writer of Being John Malkovitch and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, to write a very loose adaptation of the book, the film entitled Adaptation.
Rating * * * * Mr. Ruff (English Teacher) ---not currently in our library collection---
No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
McCarthy, author of All the Pretty Horses, provides an extremely violent and sometimes unsettling story about a hunter who becomes enmeshed in a drug deal gone bad. His attempts to gain financial security prove very difficult due to the pursuits of a relentless assassin. Not for the faint of heart.
Rating * * * * Mr. Ruff (English Teacher) ---on order---
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Outdoor adventure, Non-Fiction
Wow! A mesmerizing, yet haunting book to read. Chris McCandless, a well-to-do, intelligent, likeable, college graduate sheds his material possessions to travel the American west as a hobo and become "one with nature". His travails and experiences over several years while living on the edge of civilization caused me to reflect frequently on my own more mundane daily struggles. If you love the outdoors as I do, perhaps we've both experienced some degree of this desire to literally "be free". On his final ultimate challenge, to survive in solitude in the bush country of Alaska, he succumbs to starvation/poisoning and eventual death in less than 3 months, leaving behind many unanswered questions. The author completely retraces the events of the story through the journal, photos and personal contacts Chris left behind. He investigates Chris's life and sheds lights on his idealistic, rick-taking personality by telling his own story of life on the edge as an extreme mountain climber.
Rating * * * * * Mr. Bush (Science Teacher) ---check it out in the library---