The Big House by Warden James H. Bruton

As you can imagine, The Big House is a book about life in prison. Well... not exactly any prison, but the Minnesota Correctional Facility - Oak Park Heights supermax security jail. Impressive, huh?! Truth be told I didn't know what to expect from this book. Looking at the cover I figured it might be a bit like OZ - the TV series: lots of drama and gay rape in the showers. 

I was glad it wasn't like that, but quite the opposite. It shares the point of view of former warden - James H. Bruton. In this book he gives you some idea what kind of people get locked in the supermax security prison. This one is somewhat an autobiography, because the author tells us stories from his career. Stories that are scary and depict how vile some people can be, others are funny and others are heartbreaking. 

The prison has a world of its own. Inside people get stabbed for stealing a chocolate bar, cheating at cards or even for looking the wrong way at someone. It is a dog eat dog in there and the strong and violent are in charge over the others. Weapons can be made from any object: pencils, razors and even chairs had to be bolted in the prison chapel. There are rules and hierarchies: cop killers are at the top, next are the lifers (cons with life sentences), then come the cons who used a gun to do the crime, the lowest two are the ones who did sex crimes and the child molesters (go figure!). 

Nowadays there are lots of documentaries on Discovery Channel and the likes on prisons and prison life. This book is somewhat like that: violence is blurred and fowl language is avoided. "Now look how these extraordinary beasts surround and prepare to shank the unsuspecting prey." Heh, sorry about that, but you get the point. Read it if you want to know more about prison life, it's quite interesting, after reading it you'll want to join the boy scouts.

Don't be that guy by Colin Nissan and Sean Farrell

Don't be that guy: A collection of 60 annoying guys we all know and wish we didn't by Colin Nissan and Sean Farrell is one of those books that you buy and wish you didn't spend the money on it. It is trying to be funny by inserting lots of graphics, but is just bland. I think that, within the American stereotypical society, some of the annoying guys from this book are spot on but things get blurry depending on sexual orientation, type of relationship there is amongst those guys and level of comfort between them.

Let me explain this book in regards with how close I get to their categories. I am comfortable being naked at the gym because I don't think there is anything shameful in being nude in front of other guys, we all have the same thing down there. I did take my boyfriend at the gym and it was fun, though the category is about the guys who bring their girlfriends and size differences make the guy always having to adjust the machines. I don't mind if guys look at my penis while I am in the steam room, it's just part of my body. Should I feel offended if someone looks at my toes? Yes I am the kind of guy who emails porn that might haunt your dreams, but I do it to close friends who do the same to me, it's called "sex-ed the hard way".  I wear a perma-scruff because I hate shaving and rather trim my overgrown beard. I talk to other guys while we pee at work, I don't find it offensive because usually we talk while going in there and continue the convo while we're doing our business. Last one: I listen to Dave Matthews Band, deal with it.

Guys that I also find annoying: guys who verbally encourage themselves while working out, guys who know more about sports than we wish they did, guys in pornos who don't wear condoms (bareback is hot, but promoting safety is more important), guys who wear winter hats indoors (or during summer days), guys who over-hug (if you're not my boyfriend of an ex, stay away from me), guys who think we have a special handshake, bar-backs who stand around while we need drinks and the list can go on.

The book is one of those that you always find discounted. Those kind of books that you buy from a newspaper stand at the train station to fill your time during the trip and don't mind forgetting it in the hotel room or using it as toilet paper in case of dire necessity.

You might be a zombie and other bad news by cracked.com

I promise this will be the last book about zombies and horrors for a while, or not. It all depends on whatever catches my eye. Come to think of it, this isn't really a book about zombies per se. You might be a zombie and other bad news is a book with some crazy facts about things that were both surprising and funny. 

What is this book about? Well... the editors from cracked.com had some fun finding unusual facts and then presenting them in a humorous fashion. Most stories and statistics are related to the Americans, but there is a lot of other fucked up shit in there to keep you entertained for a day or two. One of my favorite facts is about the concept of "saccadic masking", meaning that during an entire day you are blind for about 40 minutes due to the fact that when you look from one place to the other, you are blind in that fraction of a second. Nifty, huh?

Another weird fact is that Hugo Boss, the fashion designer actually designed the uniforms of the Nazi troops and even IBM provided them with database technology, the Nazis, but maybe Hugo Boss too. Apparently even the internet is bad for your health. Yes, porn is good and fun, but prolonged stay in front of the computer while rubbing your stick or re-posting photos of kittens on your Facebook wall, your natural defense system begins to atrophy. (Kittens are porn for crazy cat ladies, hush).

This book as some very interesting facts about US presidents, disease, Nazis, natural disasters and, yes, zombies too. Fun, and after doing a bit of research on my own, I begin to think that this book is telling the truth. Read it at your own risk, hypochondriacs be warned.