"Columbine" by Dave Cullen

A Definitive Book!
Forget what you think you know about Columbine.  You will get the true story and much, much more after you read this book.  Dave Cullen had to do a job of research!  Columbine is absolutely riveting which makes it hard to put down.  It goes way beyond just the day of the shooting.  You will learn not only about Eric and Dylan but also other people affected by it too.  The story is gruesome, the writing is superb!  Put this on your "To Read" list.  This story will stay with you long after you are finished reading it.  A lot of the stories of the people whose lives were impacted by the shooting are heartbreaking, gut wrenching and one is a story of triumph!  All makes for one powerful read!  I loved this book and highly recommend it--give it 50 stars!

(Gerard's review 5/21/09)

Columbine is a comprehensive account of the school shooting that is very informative, filled with research, but became tedious for me and depressing.  The author went in-depth revealing not only what happened that day but sharing findings that revealed the thinking of the shooters, and also the horror the victims and their families endured.  I learned a lot about psychopaths by reading this book.  Rumors and myths were exposed, including the story of Cassie Bernall being a martyr and that the shooters were loners and bullied. 

I feel so sad for the victims and their families.  It was a horrible thing to have happen and I felt sad for the shooters who wasted their lives and their parents who really had no clue what their sons were doing, feeling or how to help them.  If you want to find out what really happened and why, I recommend this book.
My husband read this book too and he liked it better than I did.
(Karen's Review 1/23/10) 

Here is a video about it by the author, David Cullen:


Comments we received transferred from our other blog:

I'm still planning to read the Wally Lamb book, too. There was no time while we were getting my book to press and doing the author tour. The tour was a lot of fun, but WAY more daunting than I imagined.

By Dave Cullen on May 21, 2009

Wow. I was ten minutes away when this shooting happened. Not sure I'm ready for such an honest look at something so traumatic yet, but I'm glad that the truth is out there. Columbine is becoming a legend...

By awaitingbloom on May 21, 2009

Thanks for that, Gerard. Very kind of you. (And it did take a lot of work, but it felt worth it.) d

By Dave Cullen on May 21, 2009

Have you read The Hour I First Believed? It makes me want to read the one you suggest.  It's about Columbine, fiction but meticulously researched and quotes from the boys web emails and diaries--fascinating, but the author of I know this much is true & of She's come undone. Wally Lamb, he's spectacular.

By writing on May 21, 2009

I love reading too, this book would interest me. Gattina http://gattinawritercramps.blogspot.com/

By Gattina on January 24, 2010

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Check out Reading, Reading & Life for a review of the audio book of Columbine.

"Bleachers" by John Grisham

Bleachers by John Grisham is a good book about a high school football coach’s impact on town and players. It was all about the coach but coach was never actually in the story—dying and the players came back to the town for the funeral and all talked about him with each other.  I liked it all right but not as much as his legal thrillers.
(Karen's review 12/03)

Please tell us: What categories of literature do you like? What are you reading now? Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise" by Julia Stuart

I ordered The Tower, The Zoo And The Tortoise by Julia Stuart from the library because of the great reviews it go in USA TODAY and our local newspaper.  The premise of the story sounded good to me.  I really wanted to like it but just could not get into it at all.  The writing is sort of hard to follow.  It was about a couple who lived in a tower with a tortoise and the queen decided to move the animals from zoo to the tower.  The tortoise got away, the couple had problems and I didn't even bother finishing it.  I just skimmed the last 50 pages. I was very disappointed in it and do not recommend it.  I guess I didn't get it.  Did I miss something?  If you liked this book, can you please explain what I missed?
(Gerard's review)

Who are your top five favorite authors? Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Book Blogger Hop September 3-6, 2010

I missed participating last week so we'll answer both last week's and this week's questions sponsored by Crazy For books.

Do you judge a book by its cover?

Yes, I do if I am browsing in the library for something to read.  I definitely am attracted to read the summary on the cover jackets when the cover of the book appeals to me.  Gerard though pays no attention to the cover.  He goes strictly by titles and usually ones he is specifically looking for that he has heard something about.

Do you use a rating system for your reviews and if so, what is it and why?

 I only rate books when I do customer reviews on Amazon.  Gerard, however, has a sporadic rating system which changes from time to time.  Sometimes, he rates books 1-100, sometimes he becomes more traditional and used the 1-5 system but will often add plus signs when he really, really loved it.  He has also gone to a system 1-1000 for those very rare books.  For this blog, however, I have limited his highest rating to 100 stars.  Those are his outstanding books.

Be sure to visit others in this blog hop, it usually gets over 300 participants!

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a strange but entertaining book.

I liked the story once I got passed the first 100 pages which went into great detail about different religions and animals. The boy's father was a zookeeper in India. When the family decided to move to Canada, their boat sank and the boy, Pi, was the lone survivor in a lifeboat with several of the animals (zebra, hyena, orangutan and a tiger) that were being taking to different zoos. Of the animals, only the tiger had a name, Richard Parker. Sometimes the writing was hard to follow.

This book is baffling, at least it was to me. As I was reading, I was pretty bored with the first 100 pages where Pi tells about the zoo animals and his search for God through different religions but once Pi got shipwrecked and found himself on a lifeboat with a tiger and some other wild animals, my interest picked up. It's quite an adventure story and I enjoyed Pi's fight for survival, even though parts were very gross and at some points it didn't make sense (I wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or if it was just turning into a fantasy book).

Then, as I finished the book, I realized it is a metaphor and there was so much to look back at and try to figure out what the author's message really is. It's quite a book, a challenging read. I recommend it to anyone who likes a thought-provoking book and strange endings. It has suspense, adventure, humor and philosophy all mixed into it.
(Karen's review 4/08)

I finally got around to watching the movie on DVD and loved it!  See my review of it here.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?