Young adult literature has become more about the subject matter than the quality of the writing. It has been a challenge for me as an 8th grade teacher. I've had to read a lot of the Hunger Games to my lower achieving students and unpacked chunks of the text. My pre-Ap classes breezed through it with only some minor issues which as a class they were able to figure out.

 

Turn offs for adults might be the whishy washy relationship between the two main characters. She seems to be remaining clueless about the boy's feeling while being part MacGyver part Chuck Norris everywhere else. The setting is in the future yet there are some barbaric tendencies seem more ancient. It is a fast, easy read. I would say it is much more beach-n-beer than leather chair-n-brandy

I would say it is much more beach-n-beer than leather chair-n-brandy

I like that saying and will now be using it.

That's on my list, I just didn't want to jump into that monster right after 11/22/63.

 

Just bought this off of Ebay, and started it on Monday.

Just bought this off of Ebay, and started it on Monday.

It's awesome.

It's awesome.

 

I'm through the first three chapters, and pretty hooked so far.

At age 39, Pablo Escobar was a billionaire. The head of the Medellin drug cartel in Colombia, per Forbes, had an estimated net worth of around $3 billion. All of these earnings were ill-gotten -- his cartel controlled roughly three quarters of the global cocaine trade, and Escobar was a man wanted by both U.S. and Colombia officials. This combination of wealth and crime created a strange problem for Escobar: he simply had too much cash.

 

Escobar was wary of bankers -- and vice versa. Escobar couldn't risk putting too much money into any one bank, given that he had no legal recourse if they simply "lost" his deposits. Of course, he had other ways of exacting revenge, so this fear can easily be overstated. Bankers, however, had much more reasonable fears. If Escobar were ever convicted of a crime, those funds could be frozen or taken back by authorities. Or even worse, an aggressive prosecutor could have lumped the banker in with Escobar, as some sort of accomplice or co-conspirator. After all, it's not like people in Colombia regularly walk into the bank to make six figure deposits using American currency.

 

Escobar spent money in droves. In his community, he had a reputation of being a Robin Hood type, using his drug money to build schools, hospitals, churches and ball fields. He also spent a lot on frivolous items for himself, including a 5,500 acre estate replete with an air strip, a dozen large statutes of dinosaurs, and a wild animal preserve of sorts. Escobar owned multiple giraffes, elephants, zebras, and even four hippopotamuses.

 

But in the end, he could not spend it fast enough. So he rolled up wads of $100 bills and stored them in a warehouse. According to the book "The Accountant's Story," the memoir of Roberto Escobar -- Pablo's brother and the cartel's top accountant -- Escobar (Pablo) had so much cash on hand that he was spending $2,500 a month on rubber bands, necessary to bind them together. To those of us who are not kingpins of the cocaine trade, spending $30,000 annually on rubber bands seems like a huge expense. But for Escobar, it was a rounding error.

 

In fact, Escobar's warehouse of cash had a much bigger problem: rats. The warehouse -- as is true for much of Colombia -- had a rat problem, and Escobar lost about 10% of his wealth to these rats. They'd enter the warehouse at night and feast on the portraits of Benjamin Franklin captured within each rubber band.

 

Bonus fact: Escobar died in a firefight in 1993, a day after turning 44. His estate was ransacked soon thereafter by treasure seekers and most of the other stuff was seized by authorities. But the four hippos remained -- they were too cumbersome to move. Since then, they've multiplied in number, reaching 30 as recently as July of 2011, and are generally considered a menace.

 

From the Archives: Hippo in the Sun: Hippos spend a lot of time in the sun, but rarely get sunburns. Here's why.

 

Related: "The Accountant's Story" by Roberto Escobar. 3.5 stars on 21 reviews, available on Kindle.

Just bought this off of Ebay, and started it on Monday.

You'll have trouble putting it down. I've read some long books (Gone With The Wind, The Stand, It), and I've never flown through a book like I did 11/22/63.

FYI...you can get "Fight Club" on the Amazon Kindle store for 25 cents right now.

FYI...you can get "Fight Club" on the Amazon Kindle store for 25 cents right now.

I went through a Palahniuk phase awhile back. His best one, in my opinion, is "Choke" which they butchered into an awful movie. "Survivor" was pretty good. I'm kind of tired of his work, but I do have his latest book on my Nook ("Damned").

 

His books just keep getting weirder and weirder, though.

I've read most of Palahniuk. He's hit and miss. Damned was solid but nowhere near the level of Fight Club, Choke, and Survivor.

So excited! Sucks I have to wait another 7 months

 

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2012/03/08/the-tw...n-cover-reveal/

I've read most of Palahniuk. He's hit and miss. Damned was solid but nowhere near the level of Fight Club, Choke, and Survivor.

 

For me its been Choke, Rant, Pygmy, and the one about the porn star. I think that's enough, although I've been tempted to pick up Fight Club for awhile.

For me its been Choke, Rant, Pygmy, and the one about the porn star. I think that's enough, although I've been tempted to pick up Fight Club for awhile.

Rant, Pygmy, and Snuff were probably my least 3 favorites by him.

I went through a Palahniuk phase awhile back. His best one, in my opinion, is "Choke" which they butchered into an awful movie. "Survivor" was pretty good. I'm kind of tired of his work, but I do have his latest book on my Nook ("Damned").

 

His books just keep getting weirder and weirder, though.

 

"Lullaby" is f***ing impossible to read.

I'm having trouble getting very involved with the new book I'm reading. It's not that it's a bad book, the story is actually pretty interesting. But after reading 11/22/63, I'm hungry for more writing like that. I truly learned to appreciate Stephen King's writing with that book. Not many authors can write like that.

I'm having trouble getting very involved with the new book I'm reading. It's not that it's a bad book, the story is actually pretty interesting. But after reading 11/22/63, I'm hungry for more writing like that. I truly learned to appreciate Stephen King's writing with that book. Not many authors can write like that.

 

I'm 12 chapters in and hooked. The foreshadowing is addictingly well done.

"Lullaby" is f***ing impossible to read.

"Rant" is somehow worse.

"Rant" is somehow worse.

Pygmy was worse than Rant for me.

Currently reading: "Eureka Street" by Robert McLiam Wilson.

"Rant" is somehow worse.

 

Damn, really? I've been wanting to read that one for a while.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/10/business...tml?_r=1&hp

 

 

The hottest book since Twilight, it's being described as semi-porn (erotic fiction) for MOSTLY adult women.

Moneyball is 25 cents on the Amazon Kindle Store right now.

I read an entire book tonight. Hate when I do that.

I read an entire book tonight. Hate when I do that.

i know - i started reading Hunger Games like a week or so ago and i'm already on the third book. lol

i know - i started reading Hunger Games like a week or so ago and i'm already on the third book. lol

I had a Barnes and Noble gift card left over from Xmas so I ordered a box set of the trilogy. I hope you guys are right on this.