Tomorrow, When the War Began

I have started reading Tomorrow, When the War Began. It is the first book in a seven book series from an Australian author, John Marsden. A group of teenagers go bush and when they come out of the wilderness everything has changed. Australia has been invaded by a foreign power. Their home town is occupied and their families are kept as prisoners. It is quite an interesting story.

My Third Book Reader: Sony Pocket Edition

I was looking for a smaller book reader which I can carry around. That’s why I got a Sony book reader pocket edition. Although it’s called the pocket edition it won’t fit in my pocket but it is small enough to carry around and the screen is big enough to read comfortably. It’s about the size of a paperback. Surprisingly it’s a bit heavy compared to its size. But it looks sturdy and well constructed. And it has a good design. It feels like a book.

There’s a lot of hype around Kindle and they have an edge over having the book distribution network. But Sony has been designing great book readers for quiet sometime. Thanks to the Amazon’s recent price slash their prices have also gone down a bit.

Although the screen is five inches it shows almost the same content as a Kindle’s six inch screen because the pocket edition uses the screen space more efficiently and economically. The margins are minimized and text is more condensed but it is quiet readable. It’s a good replacement for my Kindle original.

Pay It Forward

Is the world just shit? That is what Trevor thought who lived in Las Vegas with his mother who did two jobs to make ends meet. His social studies teacher asked the class to come up with something that could change the world and put that into action. Pay it forward was the project Trevor came up with. It’s a pyramid scheme. Not the bad kind. You help three people. Not  in just ordinary things but in special and extraordinary ways. Instead of paying it back, you do good deeds to three other people. So the pyramid grows. Trevor thought he failed the project because from his point of view all the three people he tried to help were not successful. The homeless drug addict who he took home and gave his savings to buy clothes for going to a job interview was back in the streets injecting drugs himself. But that wasn’t the end. A journalist was tracking down the chain of extraordinary events that were happening in the faraway cities back to its originator.

Pay it Forward is a movie based on the book with the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde. The concept has been there since the ancient times. I’ve just watched it for the third time on TV. It’s one of the best movies I have ever seen. And the story ends with Trevor fulfilling his three deeds. It’s not a happy ending. Pay It Forward Foundation is an organization that has been setup to inspire people to realize that they can change the world.

Some people are too scared or something to think things can be different. The world’s not exactly… shit. I guess it’s hard or some people who are so use to things the way they are — even if they’re bad — to change and they kinda give up and when they do, everybody loses.
– Trevor

The Lottery

The Lottery, a short story by Shirley Jackson is something to read.

Little Brother

My name is Marcus Yallow. I was tortured by my country, but I still love it here. I’m seventeen years old. I want to grow up in a free country. I want to live in a free country.
– Little Brother, Cory Doctorow

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is a book everyone should read. Markus is a technology savvy kid who knows how to out smart the surveillance systems at school. He and his friends are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in San Fransisco. They are held and tortured at a place similar to the Guantánamo Bay detention camp. After Marcus gets out he realizes the city has become a police state. He’s determined to go after the Department of Homeland Security and protect the freedom and the rights of the people. Although the story is fictional there is nothing out of ordinary from what is happening today.

You can read it FREE. The book is available in every format you can think of. Read it and if you like it spread the message.