I Love Better World Books

Okay, this is not meant as an advertisement, but it is probably going to sound like one. There are many places that I buy books from, but one of my favorite places to buy from is Better World Books.

Much like other online retailers of books, Better World Books sells both used and new books. They have also added ebooks. So what makes them different from sellers like Amazon or Barnes and Noble?

Better World Books is a B Corporation

 

"B Corps are certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency." (B Corporation)

So what does that mean? Well, from what I understand companies that are B Corporation certified work very hard to have a positive impact on the environment and their community. We'll learn more about the wonderful social and ecological impacts that Better World Books has in the next few sections.

 

Better World Books Triple Bottom Line

We hear about the bottom line all the time when talking about a business. For most companies the bottom line is simply becoming profitable. This refers to "net income" which is the total amount of income a business has after all expenses have been subtracted. So what is a triple bottom line?

Social

Better World Books has partnered with a number of literacy partners including: Room to Read, Books for Africa, Worldfund, National Center for Family Literacy, and 80 other literacy partners. 

A portion of the money from any book purchases goes to fund some of these literacy partners. On top of that they added a program called "Book for Book". This means that for every book that you buy, they donate one book to a literacy partner. That's awesome! So, not only do you get the books you want, but you help literacy worldwide along the way. I love it.

Environmental

There are two big things that Better World Books does to have a positive impact on the environment. The first of course is they sell a lot of used books. Often times they sell books that a library would otherwise have disposed. So by recycling these books back into someone's home they reduce wasting resources. From their website, "So far, we've kept over 8,000 tons of books out of landfills."

The second thing is the carbon offset program. When you buy a book from Better World Books you can choose to pay a little extra to help with the carbon offset program. Better World Books accounts for all of the carbon emissions that they produce and work to be a carbon neutral company.

Business

Now here is where we get back to the "bottom line" we heard about before. They answer to their employees (of which own around 64% of the company), the literacy partners they support, their customers, people that have invested in the company, and the environment. They are working hard to have a positive impact on the world.

Prices

This is one thing I love about Better World Books. Often when you think of buying things from companies that are socially responsible, prices often end up being expensive. I often think of things like organic foods and so on. Well, not the case at Better World Books. They sell both new and used books. The new books are basically the list price of the books, but the used books are often very inexpensive. Shipping is added into the price of the books.

One my last orders for example (which sadly was a long time ago, I need to buy some more books!) I purchased 10 books. Yes, you read that right, I purchased 10 books. A mix of hardcover, trade paperback, and I think one or two was a mass market paperback. I paid just over $30 for those ten books. That's not bad.

Better World Books will often have sales going on where if you buy a certain amount of used books you get them all for cheaper. So even better!

Shipping

I think I am a little spoiled here. I live in Wisconsin, and many of the books that ship from Better World Books ships from Indiana. So even with standard ground shipping I receive my books very quickly. All of the times I have ordered books they have been sent out within 1-2 days of my order, so the processing times are pretty good.

A note here, they also sell books from third party vendors which have different processing and shipping times. However, even when you buy a book from a third party vendor you are still helping to fund literacy programs worldwide.

They also send you this quirky little email as a confirmation of your shipment where the books you ordered write a funny little note thanking you for choosing them. It's really pretty cool. (:

Are you a paid spokesperson for Better World Books

No, I am not a paid spokesperson. I just know when I see something that is amazing. Better World Books is amazing. The work that they do is amazing, and it feels good to help out literacy programs just by buying books I want to read anyway! So I want to get the word out about Better World Books because more people should know about them.

So check them out at Better World Books.

Castaway on the Moon (2009)

Title: Castaway on the Moon (2009) (NR)

Starring:   Min-heui Hong, So-yeon Jang and Jae-yeong Jeong
Director: Hey-jun Lee
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: No Ratings, Audience: 80%
IMDB: 8.1/10
Language: Korean 
Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes



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Subtitled
Recommended
Available on Netflix
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Wow, here's a nice random one for you. This is the type of movie that I come across from randomly browsing Netflix's library. The premise of this movie is something that I haven't seen before and because the movie is so hilarious it just adds to that.

So here's a basic plot outline, this guy is depressed over debts and his life just generally being crappy. So he decides to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. (Wow.. getting heavy and sad.. I thought this was a comedy?) Well, hold on hold on. So he jumps from the bridge, but he doesn't end up dying. (Oh.. one of those.) He ends up on a little island in between the shores of the city.

Okay.. so why doesn't he just swim back? Well, that's the tricky part, apparently he cannot swim or has a fear of swimming. Since the water is too deep to walk across, he is effectively stuck on this island with no way of getting off the island. We see his feeble attempts to try to signal people and so on to no avail. Then the movie kind starts reminding me of Castaway ala Tom Hanks. He starts making the island his home and becomes really effective at living on this little island.

Okay, so the whole movie is like Castaway? Well, no the movie adds another nice angle. So the romance part comes from this girl who is kind of a shut in. Read like a Hikikomori who spots this guy trapped on the island from her window (she uses a telescope to look at people). Throughout the movie we see her attempts to break her own isolation because she becomes interested in this strange fellow living on this little island in the middle of a waterway. The basic feeling I get is people trying to break free from their own comfort zones of isolation.

The movie overall is very funny. It gets a little emotional (tear jerky) hear and there, and is a fun movie to watch. This is what I would call one of those hidden gems on Netflix, so be sure to check it out if you think you'll like it. Enjoy!

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

ISBN: 0307887448 ISBN13: 978-0307887443
Pages: 384
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction
Publisher: Broadway (Paperback, June 5, 2012)
Published: June 5, 2012
Awards: ALA Alex Award 2012




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Page-Turner
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This book received a lot of praise from the relatively niche audience to which it appeals. This book was an absolute page-turner for me. It was one of those books that I'd stop reading and I'd get that twinge in the back of my head.. once I get that twinge I'd end up reading another chapter.. then another.. and so on.

Straight up, this is a reference heavy book. Very heavy. Like.. shotgun to the face loaded with '80s and '90s references from video game and science fiction culture. I think if you grew up in the '80s and can appreciate all these references then you'll love the book all that much more.

The story itself is pretty straightforward, well written, and engaging. The main problem I had with the book was the main character. Wade Owen Watts. Wade is a poor kid that lives in the "stacks" (the stacks are basically houses stacked on top of one another usually in a slipshod fashion.. think of a shanty town.. only vertical), but he spends a lot of time in the virtual world OASIS.

The problem I had with Wade is the lack of conflict. (But.. lots of stuff happens to him.. and he runs into problems.. and so on..) Okay, yes Wade has conflicts that arise, perhaps I should say lack of needing to overcome these conflicts. A lot of things would get in Wade's way, but he (or life handed him) an ace up his sleeve and he was always able to get around these conflicts handily. In fewer words, things always worked out for him. Every time. There was no.. oh crap how do I manage this.. It was always, oh this is happening good thing I have this prepared ahead of time.

This bothers me because while the story isn't really meant to be a literary masterpiece, it made me feel less invested in Wade. As time after time he was able to avoid these conflicts with random fate inspired preparation or having something randomly come along, I felt less invested.

Despite this, I think the novel is definitely worth reading. If you are a child of the '80s and remember all these references then get ready for a nostalgia trip. The novel overall is very immersive. 

Harry Brown (2009)

Title: Harry Brown (2009) (R)

Starring:  Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, David Bradley
Director: Daniel Barber 
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: 63%, Audience: 74%
IMDB: 7.3/10  
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes



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I'm a little torn on this movie. On the one hand I loved Michael Caine's character. On the other hand there is no hand. Michael Caine makes this movie work. This is your typical former military serviceman (now old guy) gets pissed off by the lack of justice in his neighborhood and goes vigilante. So, Michael Caine's character lives in this rotten place and he feels like the police aren't getting things done. So he takes matters into his old.. hands.

Is this movie watchable? Absolutely. In fact it's very watchable. Is it astounding cinema destined to be remembered forever? Probably not. In fact within a few years nobody will probably remember this movie.

One thing I appreciate that they did with Caine's character the balance they gave him. Sometimes in these "turned vigilante" movies they make the main character relatively invincible throughout the whole movie. However, this movie takes into account the fact that Caine's character is an old guy and he struggles with his physical incapacities throughout his attempts to garner justice.

Really, the only reason I even watched this movie was because it has Michael Caine in it, and I am a fan of Michael Caine in general. Really, not much about this movie is worth watching, except for Michael Caine. So there you go.

As of this posting the movie is no longer available on Netflix, but I believe it's available on Crackle.

Enjoy.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

ISBN: 0802130208 ISBN13: 978-0802130204
Pages: 405
Genre: Fiction, Comedy, Tragicomedy
Publisher: Grove Weidenfeld (Paperback, 1987)
Published: 1987, (Originally Published 1980)
Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 1981


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Page-Turner
Recommended
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Oh how I loved this book. Ignatius J. Reilly is one of the most loveable characters of any book I have read. This is more of a character driven book than a plot driven one, and it follows the exploits of Mr. Reilly. The best way to understand this book is to look at the characters, namely Ignatius.

Ignatius J. Reilly: The main character of this book, he is a large (read obese) character who has multiple college degrees but lacks any real common sense. He has a lot of book smarts but not a lot of street smarts. Throughout the novel he will drop numerous literary references. He is also extremely egotistical and selfish.

What makes Ignatius likeable is the fact that his character is what I call being "weighted on the ends". "Weighted on the ends" refers to having some sort of advantage or positive trait that is offset by a negative trait which opposes it. Ignatius is extremely smart, in terms of books and education, but he has very little clue how to handle human interaction.

Some of his "weighted ends" are:

Has:

• Book smarts
• Self-confidence
• Ego

Doesn't Have:

• Street smarts
• Social skills
• Modesty

Other Characters:

Myrna Minkoff: Former classmate of Ignatius from college. She is also very intelligent but possesses many of the traits that Ignatius does not. For example, she has much better social skills, is more modest, and has better street skills. We don't see a lot of Myrna until the later half of the novel, and most of her character is revealed from Ignatius as he continually converses with her through letters.

A point on these letters. This is a writing tool that I usually dislike. Reading the "letters within a book" always felt forced and unnecessary. However, the letters that Ignatius writes to Myrna are absolutely hilarious and absurd.

Irene Reilly: The poor mother of Ignatius. Ignatius still lives with her and is utterly dependent on her. At first Irene is presented as having a sort of co-dependency with Ignatuis but she gains some independence later on in the novel. Irene is your typical motherly figure who only wants the best for her child, and she is generally scared of any sorts of changes.

One refreshing point of her character is that while she utterly spoils Ignatius, she also presents a positive force on him throughout the novel. She begins to force Ignatius to be less dependent on her, which does a world of good for both of them.

Angelo Mancuso: The "aww I feel sorry for him" character in the book. He is a police officer who likes his job quite a bit. We first meet Angelo early on in the book when he "improperly" arrests Ignatius for making a scene in public. He is punished and forced to wear disguises to catch "suspicious characters" at the bus station toilets.

Burma Jones: The "world viewpoint" character of the book. He is forced to take a job paid "under the minimal wage" at a local bar "Night of Joy" to avoid being arrested for vagrancy. He is treated very poorly by the owner of the bar, who constantly threatens to report him if he doesn't follow her direct orders. This is one of the political statements that are threaded in the book displaying race issues in the southern United States at the time (early '60s).

Gus Levy: Owner of "Levy Pants". Levy Pants is a business completely inept at keeping up with the styles of the times. They are always creating pants that would have been popular many years ago and are always late to keep up. Gus is your typical rich business owner type. He spends very little time actually managing his company (which was left by his father and which Gus has little interest in actually running).

Gus spends most of his time being annoyed by his wife. His wife is your typical spoiled rich person wife who thinks she knows everything and deserves everything.

Miss Trixie:  A worker at the Levy Pants company. She.. appears to have an extrordinary amount of senility, but is not allowed to retire (ala Mrs. Levy who thinks that Miss Trixie would be better off if she kept working). Miss Trixie takes an immediate liking to Ignatius (although we wonder if she even knows where she is most of the time), and spends most of her day doing everything except working.

Mr. Gonzalez: The office manager at Levy Pants. Another "aww I feel sorry for him" character in the book. Mr. Gonzalez loves his job, and puts everything that he has into accomplishing what needs to be done to keep the offices of Levy Pants running smoothly. Unfortunately, he is the one who hired (or more got bullied into hiring) Ignatius. He quickly realizes this error, but feels powerless to do anything. What Mr. Gonzalez has in commitment to the company he lacks in being able to assert himself.

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There are a number of other minor characters in the book, but I wanted to just touch on some of the characters that I felt were more important. For the most part, Ignatius dominates much of the plot line of this book and many of the other characters are supporting roles to him.

One of the great reoccuring events in this book is the absurd and off the cuff rants that Ignatius goes on when he doesn't like something. In his rants (many of which he records down on notebooks because the world must have published copies of her wondrous ideas), he presents very intelligent points, but points which lack much common sense or realism.

I absolutely recommend this book. It isn't often that books will make me audibly laugh, but this one was able to do that.