Book Review: Blood Colony

Posted by admin on 06.30.2008 at 11:06 am

Blood Colony, the third in a fiction series of books by Tananarive Due, focuses on a mysterious sect of people who are immortal, and live in a secluded colony in the Pacific Northwest.  Blood Colony in particular tells the story of Fana, a young woman who holds the power to cure nearly all mortal diseases with a few drops of her blood.

Fana is an integral part of the new Underground Railroad – a distribution network to heal people with “Glow,” the street name for her blood. Because of the nature of her talents (reading minds, regeneration, etc…), Fana has been shielded from the outside world. However, as a teenager’s rite of passage, Fana decides to run away from the confines of home to try and share the gift of her blood with the world. Her parents, Jessica and Dawit, set out on a desperate mission to find their once sheltered daughter, but little do they know that there is another group of immortals seeking to locate Fana - religious fanatics that wish to fulfill a prophecy to cleanse the world with “the Blood.”

This book will take you to every end of the emotional spectrum – pain, agony, gut-wrenching laughter, horror and hope. Due is an excellent writer that uses beautiful imagery to keep the reader’s attention but this book has more: filled with sharp social commentary, cynical remarks and moments of terror that will have you gripping the pages. I finished in 5 days (reading slowly because I’ve been waiting for nearly 7 years for this book and I was not disappointed!). I highly recommend this book for anyone that may enjoy a thrilling series that spans over 500 years. However, you should read the two novels preceding this one, namely: My Soul to Keep and The Living Blood, before you attempt to read this book. It’s the only way you can fully appreciate the storyline.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Reviews, ayanna, blood colony, book reviews, tananarive due

San Francisco, Get Ready!

Posted by admin on 06.27.2008 at 2:39 pm

Many people will be coming to San Francisco this weekend, on the small scale for the uber-fun (or uber-hated depending on how you feel about bikes vs. cars respectively) Critical Mass and of course, Pride 2008 (which should be particularly colorful considering the recent victory for gay marriage in the state of California).

If you plan on navigating the streets, as they will be full of bikers and floats, I suggest you peer through some literature first, so you don’t try to cross Market St. too many times…

You could start here but to get deeper in, may I suggest:

You’re going to want to take notes and file your pictures away.  If you want to access the city and do that the Moleskine Notebook series is amazing (the notebook of Hemingway and Picasso, notably).  They have one for most major US cities.

SF, what is it known for more than restaurants?  The food here is awesome, but you’ll need help figuring out where on earth to go.  Zagat’s is still the standard on this front.  I would definitely Yelp when you get a little more clear on what you’re looking for, but the long thing maroon book is still the starting point, no question.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, Lonely Planet is amazing.  Get the SF one here.

Oh, and if you wanna stop by, the ultracool betterworld.com team is here in the Bay, leave a comment with your email, maybe we can go get a drink.

Have your say » | Tagged Book Reviews, ayanna grady, Book Reviews, tananarive due

Looking for a Suggestion

Posted by Jack on 06.27.2008 at 1:21 pm

Hey readers, I want to get into podcasting and would love a suggestion on what book to get.  There are tons of great books on the topic but it’s hard to figure out what the best place to start is.  Email suggestion to jack (at) betterworld (dot) com or leave a comment below!

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, books, podcasting, suggestions

What We’re Reading: ATL

Posted by admin on 06.26.2008 at 11:04 am

Over in the ATL office, home of book collections, and the Braves and unofficial capital of the Souf [sic], here’s what they’re reading (when they’re not on the phone or emailing you updates):

Roselle - Smart Women Finish Rich (by David Bach, video interview with DB coming soon!)
Erin - Hell to Pay & Soul Circus & American Gods & Good Omens
Lora - Manner of Death & 11 on Top & Thr3e & The Good Guy & The Taking (overachiever!)
Jozi - Emotional Intelligence & Christine & The Enchantress of Florence & She Got Up Off the Couch
Courtney - The Five Love Languages
Angela - The Last Juror
Will - Black Voices
Ayanna - Shattered Trust & Rich Dad, Poor Dad & Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
[Library Team member] - Think and Grow Rich & No Plot, No Problem

Have your say » | Tagged Book Reviews, ATL office, book reviews, books, what we're reading

The Green House has a New Boy!

Posted by admin on 06.25.2008 at 12:09 pm

BWB gave birth today to a new baby boy!!  Roy the bookmobile was born at 9:35 am on June 25th.  He was born at a 12 foot 1 Inches high and 9 foot 8 inches wide.  He is a beautiful baby boy!!  We are not wasting anytime with Roy’s first steps because we are putting Roy on the road for the first time on Friday.

Let me be the first to say congrats to BWB and may Roy the Bookmobile live a long and healthy life!

Roy and his new family

Have your say » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, david hoffman, green house, roy the bookmobile

What We’re Reading: SF

Posted by admin on 06.24.2008 at 1:35 pm

Here at the SF office we have 5 employees, all of whom work in some way or another on www.betterworld.com.  Here’s what we’ve been reading lately between the hours of meeting and phone calls and “networking” at the local watering hole:

Xavier: The Landmark Herodotus (seriously it’s like 980 pages of history)
Geoff: Let My People Go Surfing & Crossing the Line
Justin: The World is Flat & The World Without Us
Elina: Chinese Takeout: a Novel
Jack: Made to Stick & Jitterbug Perfume

Have your say » | Tagged Book Reviews, book reviews, books, SF office, what we're reading

Show Us Some Love, Facebook Edition

Posted by admin on 06.24.2008 at 1:01 pm

Here are some highlights from the posts on our Facebook Fan Page:

Belkis in Venezuela: I have (been) buying books from them for more than three years and i love them, not only because i benefit from the prices and variety of books, also i am helping along with the environment and the most important i am supporting the causes they support, especially books for my brothers and sisters in Africa. I am so happy to find everything that makes me happy in one place.

Angela at IUPUI: I just got some books I ordered from Better World Books; they arrived in a timely fashion, were in good shape, were very reasonably priced, and best of all, they were shipped in an eco-friendly way without all that extra packaging and some of the funds went towards good literacy-promoting causes. Considering I’m a librarian (a librarian in training, actually), I couldn’t ask for a better place from which to buy books!

Madzia in Poland: I love, love, love BetterWorld. I can buy cheap books that are hard to find elsewhere- most of the sources for my master’s thesis came from Better World. And I am very glad to know that I don’t have to worry about the carbon footprint, that my money helps charity, and that I save books from becoming landfill. Long live Better World!

Dor in Israel: Better World books made it possible for me to order books online and not have to pay double just for shipping, you people rock!

Patti at Harding: Amazing selection and great service! I ordered 17 books and received them exactly as ordered just a week later.

Gerry in New Zealand: Def some good prices. Seems like an all around good choice

but perhaps Scott in L.A. says it best:

Have your say » | Tagged Show Us Some Love

University of British Columbia Book Drive

Posted by admin on 06.23.2008 at 10:52 am

Hi all!  My UBC Golden Key contact sent along this shot today.  He’s basically coordinated and collected all of the books himself – already has 48 boxes packed and more to go!

Woot woot!!

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, book drive, campus, Canada, UBC, University of British Columbia

All Things Must Pass

Posted by admin on 06.23.2008 at 10:41 am

This week will be reports and pictures from the Better World Books Warehouse (or “Green House” as we know it) in South Bend as we conduct our yearly meeting week.


Mr. LaGrou showing how we solve disputes concerning process decisions at Better World Books

Before the climactic scene in “Almost Famous” (in which they sing “Tiny Dancer” on the bus, legendary scene) they carry the guitarist, Russell, onto the bus.  The manager says, in his almost British lilt “Ladies and gentlemen, the evening is over.  We hope you’ve enjoyed yourselves, and we’ll See you again in 1974!! Good evening!!”  The bus doors close and the rest is a come down from the insanity of the previous days, which is an apt comparison after the non-stop action of Better World Books week.  Our shirts say “I survived BWB Week 2008″ but some people made the adjustment “I almost survived…” and that was probably more accurate.  Hitting the books and then unwinding is quite a task…

So it was on Friday, as people slowly filed out after a spectacular presentation and a group photo that is sure to have some fine lookin’ individuals in it with our  new Better World Books shirts.  One by one cars filtered off to Midway (gotta love Southwest Airlines!  Also, loving Midway, the expert traveler line was fantastic and the sandwich shop hits the spot) and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say sleep was had and relief was enjoyed.

As usual, these events can’t come soon enough and there are so many updates I’m scouring my notebook trying to keep you posted, that’s going to have to come in another email, blowing up with awesome.

Have your say » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, green house, pictures, yearly meetings

It’s Business Time

Posted by Jack on 06.19.2008 at 5:52 pm

This week will be reports and pictures from the Better World Books Warehouse (or “Green House” as we know it) in South Bend as we conduct our yearly meeting week.

“It’s business, it’s business tiiiime.”  OK, so we didn’t have Flight of the Conchords, but what we did have was some ideas that are going to blow your doors off, no question.  We’ve got great new moves happening with new ways to get books and new ways to get money for our partners.  Further we’ll be working on more ways to maximize your savings, getting you better books, cheaper.  More updates on those things as we roll them out (OK, I’ll tell you before anyone else, but sssshhhhh)

Yesterday we spent tons of time in department meetings and then had updates between departments and to suggest that people are excited really doesn’t scratch the surface.  However, fatigue after a week of meetings was setting in, so last night we had to unwind.  After checking out a new surprise (can’t tell you yet, I want to so bad but I can’t!) we rocked karaoke including a rousing “Under the Bridge” from founder Xavier, a dominant (and prize winning) performance from Brad, and most notably instead of “The Online Bookstore with a Soul” the Atlanta office made sure we were “The Online Bookstore with Soul.”  Perfect.  After I rocked a Jay-Z track (I’ve got 99 problems but a blog ain’t one…) we were off.

Today we had a day of service that was simply awesome.  I’ll let Rudy write about it and show you his photo taking prowess later in the week…

Have your say » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, great times, the green house