Books
Zombies!
Oct 24 2009 09:35 PM
I've been on a bit of a zombie kick lately when it
comes to books. I don't know what made me purchase so
many zombie stories, but I enjoyed all of them.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Max Brooks
This is a fantastic book. I think it would make a great movie. The premise of this book is that an actual Zombie War took place, which almost wiped out human civilization. The book is told from the point of view of the people involved in the war. It's a great premise for a story, and it is well written; I highly recommend it.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austin, Seth Grahame-Smith
This is an interesting take on a zombie story. While not one of the better ones that I read, I still enjoyed it. The author expands on Jane Austin's classic novel, strategically inserting zombies into the story.
Breathers: A Zombies Lament - S. G. Browne
In the world of this book, zombies have always existed. They're just a part of life. For some reason, when some people pass away, they return as a zombie. This book takes a look at what the world would be like if zombie's were just a part of every day life. The main character, Andy, was in a car wreck with his wife. She died, but he returned, coming to life after his funeral took place. The story follows Andy adjusting to being an outcast. He lives in his parents basement, sees a therapist, and attends a zombie support group. The story takes a pretty good twist, and is more a humorous look at zombies than a horror story.
Jailbait Zombie - Mario Acevedo
This story deals with vampires and zombies. It takes place in modern day America, where vampire's exist, but have kept hidden from humanity. The undead have started appearing, and the vampires are wiping them out, before humanity sees that there can be a such thing as supernatural creatures. The main character, Felix Gomez, is sent to track down the source of the zombies, and in the course of that search, comes upon a sixteen year old girl who wants to become a vampire because she has some debilitating disease. It's a good book, told in the manner of old noir detective novels.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Max Brooks
This is a fantastic book. I think it would make a great movie. The premise of this book is that an actual Zombie War took place, which almost wiped out human civilization. The book is told from the point of view of the people involved in the war. It's a great premise for a story, and it is well written; I highly recommend it.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austin, Seth Grahame-Smith
This is an interesting take on a zombie story. While not one of the better ones that I read, I still enjoyed it. The author expands on Jane Austin's classic novel, strategically inserting zombies into the story.
Breathers: A Zombies Lament - S. G. Browne
In the world of this book, zombies have always existed. They're just a part of life. For some reason, when some people pass away, they return as a zombie. This book takes a look at what the world would be like if zombie's were just a part of every day life. The main character, Andy, was in a car wreck with his wife. She died, but he returned, coming to life after his funeral took place. The story follows Andy adjusting to being an outcast. He lives in his parents basement, sees a therapist, and attends a zombie support group. The story takes a pretty good twist, and is more a humorous look at zombies than a horror story.
Jailbait Zombie - Mario Acevedo
This story deals with vampires and zombies. It takes place in modern day America, where vampire's exist, but have kept hidden from humanity. The undead have started appearing, and the vampires are wiping them out, before humanity sees that there can be a such thing as supernatural creatures. The main character, Felix Gomez, is sent to track down the source of the zombies, and in the course of that search, comes upon a sixteen year old girl who wants to become a vampire because she has some debilitating disease. It's a good book, told in the manner of old noir detective novels.
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Finished more Dorsey Books
May 08 2009 03:33 PM
I tell you, since I started reading on the train ride
to and from work every day, I’ve been plowing through
some books. It’s been a little over a month since I
finished ‘The Stingray Shuffle’, and I just finished
the last of four more books by Tim Dorsey.
I’ll tell you one thing, the author is very consistent. The first book of his I read, ‘Triggerfish Twist’, was one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Five books later, and I’d have to give them all the same rating. The books are well written, very imaginative, great plots, great characters, and hilarious. I have one more, ‘Nuclear Jellyfish’, but I’m taking a break and moving on to something else starting next week.
I’ll tell you one thing, the author is very consistent. The first book of his I read, ‘Triggerfish Twist’, was one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Five books later, and I’d have to give them all the same rating. The books are well written, very imaginative, great plots, great characters, and hilarious. I have one more, ‘Nuclear Jellyfish’, but I’m taking a break and moving on to something else starting next week.
The Stingray Shuffle
Apr 06 2009 09:10 PM
I just finished another novel by Tim Dorsey, and I
can now safely say that he may have become one of my
favorite writers.
The premise of the book is that a book written almost a decade ago, called ‘The Stingray Shuffle’ is suddenly starting to sell like crazy. This catches the eye of the publisher, who let’s the author know, and he sets up a book signing tour. Thing is, the reason the book was selling so well is that a drug cartel chose the book as a container for selling drugs through the bookstores they were using as the front for their drug operation.
The main character of these books is Serge A. Stroms, a serial-killing local Floridian historian. Serge is okay until he’s off his meds, which is pretty much all of the time. Serge has a great way of killing people. It’s never just something simple, it’s always very elaborate; like when he makes a guy swallow a bunch of bullets and then puts the guy in an MRI, so that the bullets are pulled out of his body by the powerful magnets. This makes for fun for the coroner when he sees all these exit wounds for the bullets, but no entry wounds.
While Serge is a serial-killer, he’s also one of the most likable characters you will ever read about.
I have 6 books by Tim Dorsey, I’ve already started on the next one. I’ve started taking a book along with me for the ride to and from work on MARTA. I used to just listen to music, but this helps make the time pass even more quickly; plus it helps me get through the huge stack of books I have sitting at home.
The premise of the book is that a book written almost a decade ago, called ‘The Stingray Shuffle’ is suddenly starting to sell like crazy. This catches the eye of the publisher, who let’s the author know, and he sets up a book signing tour. Thing is, the reason the book was selling so well is that a drug cartel chose the book as a container for selling drugs through the bookstores they were using as the front for their drug operation.
The main character of these books is Serge A. Stroms, a serial-killing local Floridian historian. Serge is okay until he’s off his meds, which is pretty much all of the time. Serge has a great way of killing people. It’s never just something simple, it’s always very elaborate; like when he makes a guy swallow a bunch of bullets and then puts the guy in an MRI, so that the bullets are pulled out of his body by the powerful magnets. This makes for fun for the coroner when he sees all these exit wounds for the bullets, but no entry wounds.
While Serge is a serial-killer, he’s also one of the most likable characters you will ever read about.
I have 6 books by Tim Dorsey, I’ve already started on the next one. I’ve started taking a book along with me for the ride to and from work on MARTA. I used to just listen to music, but this helps make the time pass even more quickly; plus it helps me get through the huge stack of books I have sitting at home.
Triggerfish Twist
Mar 28 2009 11:51 AM
I would list Christopher Moore as my favorite writer,
his imagination and humor are the best; but, Tim
Dorsey may have just taken over that spot. I’ll be
able to tell when I finish a couple more of his
books.
I just finished reading “Triggerfish Twist”.
This book never slows down. The characters, and there are a lot of them, are some of the best written characters I’ve seen in a book. The book takes place in Tampa, FL, a town that had just been named the third best town in America to live. This happened by mistake, when the company in charge of making up the list of best towns transcribed the crime rate incorrectly, causing the town to jump from the lower three hundreds the year before, to third this year. A family, the Davenports, move to Tampa as part of a job relocation. While the neighborhood they move into looks nice, they soon find it’s definitely not. I enjoy humorous books, and this one is funnier than any other I have ever read. The situations and characters that Tim Dorsey can dream up are amazing. I found this author through a recommendation when I purchased the last Christopher Moore book. I can definitely see how people that like Christopher Moore like Tim Dorsey. I purchased a couple of his books, so I will be able to see if he’s as consistently funny as Christopher Moore.
I just finished reading “Triggerfish Twist”.
This book never slows down. The characters, and there are a lot of them, are some of the best written characters I’ve seen in a book. The book takes place in Tampa, FL, a town that had just been named the third best town in America to live. This happened by mistake, when the company in charge of making up the list of best towns transcribed the crime rate incorrectly, causing the town to jump from the lower three hundreds the year before, to third this year. A family, the Davenports, move to Tampa as part of a job relocation. While the neighborhood they move into looks nice, they soon find it’s definitely not. I enjoy humorous books, and this one is funnier than any other I have ever read. The situations and characters that Tim Dorsey can dream up are amazing. I found this author through a recommendation when I purchased the last Christopher Moore book. I can definitely see how people that like Christopher Moore like Tim Dorsey. I purchased a couple of his books, so I will be able to see if he’s as consistently funny as Christopher Moore.
Fool
Mar 24 2009 09:16 PM
I just finished reading the new Christopher Moore
book, “Fool”.
Christopher Moore is my favorite author, and I think Fool ranks up there as one of his best books since “Lamb”. Although it was a little of a slow start, this new take on King Lear ended up being an offbeat, easy to read, delight. Even if you’ve never read any of the other books by Christopher Moore, I recommend picking this up.
Christopher Moore is my favorite author, and I think Fool ranks up there as one of his best books since “Lamb”. Although it was a little of a slow start, this new take on King Lear ended up being an offbeat, easy to read, delight. Even if you’ve never read any of the other books by Christopher Moore, I recommend picking this up.
Oz
Mar 11 2009 10:09 PM
I bought my first Gregory Maguire book a few years
ago. It was ‘Wicked’. This was before it was made
into a broadway play. I’d never heard of the author,
I just saw a book that said it was the story about
the Wicked Witch of the West and thought it looked
interesting. I bought the book and ended up really
liking it. I thought it was very creative to take a
story and tell it from the point of view of one of
the other characters. It had a great back story, you
actually saw that the Wicked Witch was a nice person
when she was younger, an activist, and a good friend.
After that I read a couple other books by him:
‘Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister’, ‘Mirror, Mirror’
and ‘Lost’. I just finished reading the two other
books in the Wicked series.
Son of a Witch
This is the story about Liir. It is thought that Liir is the son of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, but even he is not totally sure of that. This story follows him leaving the Witch’s castle after Dorothy kills her, and his adventures there after. While not as good as Wicked, it’s still a good story, and very well written.
A Lion Among Men
As you can probably tell from the title, this story revolves around the Cowardly Lion. It starts when the lion is young, and follows through the time he is with Dorothy, and up through the time where he is searching for Liir, because Liir is thought to have the spell book the Wicked Witch used. This story is great, I almost like it as much as the original. The ending is great, and ties up a couple loose ends from the second book.
I recommend reading all three books if you enjoy fiction and are a fan of the Wizard of Oz. Gregory Maguire is a great writer, he paints a great picture of Oz, he’s very imaginative and is a joy to read. I also recommend his other books, all of them have been great so far.
Son of a Witch
This is the story about Liir. It is thought that Liir is the son of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, but even he is not totally sure of that. This story follows him leaving the Witch’s castle after Dorothy kills her, and his adventures there after. While not as good as Wicked, it’s still a good story, and very well written.
A Lion Among Men
As you can probably tell from the title, this story revolves around the Cowardly Lion. It starts when the lion is young, and follows through the time he is with Dorothy, and up through the time where he is searching for Liir, because Liir is thought to have the spell book the Wicked Witch used. This story is great, I almost like it as much as the original. The ending is great, and ties up a couple loose ends from the second book.
I recommend reading all three books if you enjoy fiction and are a fan of the Wizard of Oz. Gregory Maguire is a great writer, he paints a great picture of Oz, he’s very imaginative and is a joy to read. I also recommend his other books, all of them have been great so far.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Dec 29 2008 10:04 PM
I picked up the new J. K. Rowling book, “The Tales of
Beedle the Bard” last night while grabbing a couple
things from Kroger. It was already 40% off, plus I
used my Kroger card to get additional savings, it
cost around $5.
For those of you not up on Harry Potter, one of the stories from this book was mentioned in the final Harry Potter book. This book is short, around 120 pages, and can be read in about 1 hour. It contains 5 stories, and commentary on each story by Dumbledore. I would liken this to something like Grimms Fairy Tales. Each of the stories are very short, and convey a message. The commentary by Dumbledore is the interesting part. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, it’s a good quick read if you can find it cheap.
For those of you not up on Harry Potter, one of the stories from this book was mentioned in the final Harry Potter book. This book is short, around 120 pages, and can be read in about 1 hour. It contains 5 stories, and commentary on each story by Dumbledore. I would liken this to something like Grimms Fairy Tales. Each of the stories are very short, and convey a message. The commentary by Dumbledore is the interesting part. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, it’s a good quick read if you can find it cheap.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Dec 28 2008 05:36 PM
I just finished a great book called ‘The Girl With
the Dragon Tattoo’, by Stieg Larsson.
This book caught my eye one day while I was at Barnes & Noble, and after giving it a once over I figured I’d pick it up. I haven’t read many mysteries lately. This mystery is what’s known as a ‘closed room’ murder mystery, akin to what Agatha Christie would write, where a murder has taken place, and because of the circumstances, you know who all the suspects are. In this case the suspects were all trapped on an island, where the only access was a bridge, that was closed due to an accident.
It wasn’t until I finished the book, and read a quick blurb about the author, that I found out he had passed away in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscript for this novel, and two others. He was 50 years old and died of a heart attack. The two other books are being released in the coming years, and if they are anything like this one I will plan on reading them.
I recommend this book if you are into a good mystery.
This book caught my eye one day while I was at Barnes & Noble, and after giving it a once over I figured I’d pick it up. I haven’t read many mysteries lately. This mystery is what’s known as a ‘closed room’ murder mystery, akin to what Agatha Christie would write, where a murder has taken place, and because of the circumstances, you know who all the suspects are. In this case the suspects were all trapped on an island, where the only access was a bridge, that was closed due to an accident.
It wasn’t until I finished the book, and read a quick blurb about the author, that I found out he had passed away in 2004, shortly after delivering the manuscript for this novel, and two others. He was 50 years old and died of a heart attack. The two other books are being released in the coming years, and if they are anything like this one I will plan on reading them.
I recommend this book if you are into a good mystery.
Tech Books I'm Currently Reading
Dec 08 2008 10:28 PM
The iPhone Developer’s Cookbook
I have a couple ideas for iPhone applications, nothing big, quick hit applications that would be available for free, so I picked up this book to point me in the right direction. I also have plans for a big iPhone application, that the people I’ve mentioned it to think is a great idea, but it’s one of those things that would take a team of developers, some venture capital, and some big company buy in, not something I think I can pull off at the moment, but maybe I can patent the idea
Silverlight 2 Unleashed
The application I am currently working on at work is a Silverlight web application. Silverlight 2 was recently released out of beta, so there are finally books showing up that are no longer referencing the beta build. I purchased this book to bring into our war room as a reference. I like the Unleashed books, and this one seems to cover a wide variety of subjects related to Silverlight 2, so hopefully it’s of use to the team.
I have a couple ideas for iPhone applications, nothing big, quick hit applications that would be available for free, so I picked up this book to point me in the right direction. I also have plans for a big iPhone application, that the people I’ve mentioned it to think is a great idea, but it’s one of those things that would take a team of developers, some venture capital, and some big company buy in, not something I think I can pull off at the moment, but maybe I can patent the idea
Silverlight 2 Unleashed
The application I am currently working on at work is a Silverlight web application. Silverlight 2 was recently released out of beta, so there are finally books showing up that are no longer referencing the beta build. I purchased this book to bring into our war room as a reference. I like the Unleashed books, and this one seems to cover a wide variety of subjects related to Silverlight 2, so hopefully it’s of use to the team.
Finished a couple more books
Dec 06 2008 09:37 AM
I just finished reading two more books.
A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich
I have been on a little bit of a history kick lately. The story behind this book is actually pretty interesting. In 1935 a 26-year old Gombrich was tasked with writing a history book that could be enjoyed by children and adults alike. He completed the book in 6 weeks. The way he made it enjoyable to children is the text isn’t littered with dates. Instead he will tell you about on piece of history taking place, such as Julius Caesar in Rome, and when he tells you about another piece of history he would say it happened around the same time as Julius Caesar or maybe 100 - 200 years after. This helps you put everything into perspective, without constantly having to see tons of dates. I guess this makes it more of a history book you can read instead of one you would want to use as a reference book.
I’m a Stranger Here Myself (Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away) by Bill Bryson
I love Bill Bryson books. He could write about the most boring subject in the world and make it both an interesting and humorous narrative. This book is a collection of weekly stories that Mr. Bryson wrote for Night & Day magazine, one of the Sunday inserts for a newspaper in England. Bryson had lived in England for a while with his English wife and kids and had recently moved back to America. His stories are a mixture of what is different between America and England and also is used to introduce English citizens to some of the American traditions. As always, he is very funny, and this is a very entertaining read.
A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich
I have been on a little bit of a history kick lately. The story behind this book is actually pretty interesting. In 1935 a 26-year old Gombrich was tasked with writing a history book that could be enjoyed by children and adults alike. He completed the book in 6 weeks. The way he made it enjoyable to children is the text isn’t littered with dates. Instead he will tell you about on piece of history taking place, such as Julius Caesar in Rome, and when he tells you about another piece of history he would say it happened around the same time as Julius Caesar or maybe 100 - 200 years after. This helps you put everything into perspective, without constantly having to see tons of dates. I guess this makes it more of a history book you can read instead of one you would want to use as a reference book.
I’m a Stranger Here Myself (Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away) by Bill Bryson
I love Bill Bryson books. He could write about the most boring subject in the world and make it both an interesting and humorous narrative. This book is a collection of weekly stories that Mr. Bryson wrote for Night & Day magazine, one of the Sunday inserts for a newspaper in England. Bryson had lived in England for a while with his English wife and kids and had recently moved back to America. His stories are a mixture of what is different between America and England and also is used to introduce English citizens to some of the American traditions. As always, he is very funny, and this is a very entertaining read.
Something Rotten
Oct 23 2008 09:33 PM
I just finished reading another Thursday Next novel,
by Jasper Fforde, called Something Rotten.
This is the fourth book in the Thursday Next series and it is probably my favorite. Jasper Fforde has to be one of the most imaginative authors I’ve ever read; it’s amazing the stuff he comes up with. This story is very funny, entertaining and well written. I recommend this series to anyone that enjoys quirky humor and a fun book.
I have his newest Thursday Next novel, First Among Sequels, but I think I am going to take a break and read something else right now. I purchased a couple classic novels, you know, the stuff you were forced to read back in grade school. I figure I’ll appreciate them more now that I am reading them for my own pleasure. I also have a couple other books sitting around that need reading. Will get back to Fforde later on.
This is the fourth book in the Thursday Next series and it is probably my favorite. Jasper Fforde has to be one of the most imaginative authors I’ve ever read; it’s amazing the stuff he comes up with. This story is very funny, entertaining and well written. I recommend this series to anyone that enjoys quirky humor and a fun book.
I have his newest Thursday Next novel, First Among Sequels, but I think I am going to take a break and read something else right now. I purchased a couple classic novels, you know, the stuff you were forced to read back in grade school. I figure I’ll appreciate them more now that I am reading them for my own pleasure. I also have a couple other books sitting around that need reading. Will get back to Fforde later on.
America's Hidden History
Oct 13 2008 10:07 PM
While I mostly read fiction I try to fit in a
non-fiction book or two when I can. Lately these have
dealt with American History. When I was in high
school and college I was always more interested in
World History or Medieval History, I didn’t develop
an interest for American History until later.
I just finished reading a pretty good book by Kenneth C. Davis, “America’s Hidden History”. This book deals with some of the unknown facts or back stories around the events and characters in a couple events from history, such as the Revolutionary War, or the Pilgrims. I found it a very interesting read, and Mr. Davis does a good job of keeping you interested in the subject, which can be a hard thing to do when it comes to history.
I just finished reading a pretty good book by Kenneth C. Davis, “America’s Hidden History”. This book deals with some of the unknown facts or back stories around the events and characters in a couple events from history, such as the Revolutionary War, or the Pilgrims. I found it a very interesting read, and Mr. Davis does a good job of keeping you interested in the subject, which can be a hard thing to do when it comes to history.
The Well of Lost Plots
Sep 01 2008 02:42 PM
I recently finished the third book in the Thursday
Next series by Jasper Fforde, “The Well of Lost
Plots”.
Jasper Fforde has to be one of the most imaginative writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Like I said, this is the third book in the Thursday Next series, the first two being The Eyre Affaire and Lost in a Good Book. Thursday Next is the main character in the series, she is a SpecOps agent working for The Literary Detectives. Her teams job is to police the book world, looking for fraud, changed story lines, missing characters, etc. In their world the literary detectives can jump in and out of books, and the same can happen the other way, fictional characters leaving their books and entering the real world. The stories are great, full of humor and great characters. I’ve already started reading the next in the series, Something Rotten, will probably have it finished sometime this week or next. If you enjoy a good, humorous, fictional story I recommend the series, as well as Jasper Fforde’s other series dealing with Nursery Crime.
Jasper Fforde has to be one of the most imaginative writers I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Like I said, this is the third book in the Thursday Next series, the first two being The Eyre Affaire and Lost in a Good Book. Thursday Next is the main character in the series, she is a SpecOps agent working for The Literary Detectives. Her teams job is to police the book world, looking for fraud, changed story lines, missing characters, etc. In their world the literary detectives can jump in and out of books, and the same can happen the other way, fictional characters leaving their books and entering the real world. The stories are great, full of humor and great characters. I’ve already started reading the next in the series, Something Rotten, will probably have it finished sometime this week or next. If you enjoy a good, humorous, fictional story I recommend the series, as well as Jasper Fforde’s other series dealing with Nursery Crime.
Lonely Werewolf Girl
Aug 03 2008 02:13 PM
Most of the time I research a book before I purchase
it if it’s from an author I am unfamiliar with, but a
while back as I was perusing the shelves at Barnes
& Noble I came across a book that caught my eye:
“Lonely Werewolf Girl”, by Martin Millar.
The beautiful illustration on the front caught my eye, so I took a closer look. I am a fan of stories that deal with Werewolves or Vampires, plus this book appeared to have a bit of humor thrown in too; so I went ahead and purchased it.
When I started reading it there was one thing I found weird, the length of the chapters. Now, this story takes place in Scotland and in London, and jumps around between 5 or 6 different story lines, so I understand having new chapters for each story line, but most of the chapters averaged 1 - 2 pages, with the longest chapter being probably 5 - 6 pages. The book is 558 pages and comes in at 236 chapters. Usually when I read a book I try to read a chapter or two an evening, with this that would have taken a couple minutes.
The story revolves around a werewolf clan whose leader had just passed away. Two brother werewolves from the clan want to try for the Thaneship, but the voting by the council doesn’t favor either brother to victory. There are a couple werewolves in the clan that weren’t present for the voting, having moved off to London to start their own lives. The story revolves around these other family members, the two brothers battling, killing, and doing anything else they can to get the vote to go their way, a fire elemental queen that is obsessed with fashion, her crazy niece, and a couple college students caught in the middle. Throw in a guild of humans that hunt werewolves, and you have a pretty good story. Kalix, the youngest werewolf, is the main character this story revolves around, but most characters get equal treatment.
I’m glad I picked up this book, and will look out for other books by this author, it’s a great read.
The beautiful illustration on the front caught my eye, so I took a closer look. I am a fan of stories that deal with Werewolves or Vampires, plus this book appeared to have a bit of humor thrown in too; so I went ahead and purchased it.
When I started reading it there was one thing I found weird, the length of the chapters. Now, this story takes place in Scotland and in London, and jumps around between 5 or 6 different story lines, so I understand having new chapters for each story line, but most of the chapters averaged 1 - 2 pages, with the longest chapter being probably 5 - 6 pages. The book is 558 pages and comes in at 236 chapters. Usually when I read a book I try to read a chapter or two an evening, with this that would have taken a couple minutes.
The story revolves around a werewolf clan whose leader had just passed away. Two brother werewolves from the clan want to try for the Thaneship, but the voting by the council doesn’t favor either brother to victory. There are a couple werewolves in the clan that weren’t present for the voting, having moved off to London to start their own lives. The story revolves around these other family members, the two brothers battling, killing, and doing anything else they can to get the vote to go their way, a fire elemental queen that is obsessed with fashion, her crazy niece, and a couple college students caught in the middle. Throw in a guild of humans that hunt werewolves, and you have a pretty good story. Kalix, the youngest werewolf, is the main character this story revolves around, but most characters get equal treatment.
I’m glad I picked up this book, and will look out for other books by this author, it’s a great read.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Jun 03 2008 09:31 PM
I just finished reading another book. This time of
year, when the TV season that has a couple shows I am
interested in and have subscriptions to, has drawn to
a close, I tend to read even more than usual. I try
to get in a couple hours of reading a day, it helps
me relax before bed.
The book I just finished is 'The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid', by Bill Bryson. I read an earlier book by the same author, 'A Short History of Nearly Everything', which I loved.
This book is a memoir of Bill's early life, growing up in the middle of last century in a town in Iowa. There are few writers that can make me laugh out loud when I read (Christopher Moore and Jasper Fforde come to mind), but Bill Bryson has written a hilarious story here.
While reading the story I couldn't help but think back to when I was younger. I don't remember too much from when I was really young, just bits and pieces, but I do remember some of the good times I had back then.
I should start ranking books. I'll give this one a 5 out of 5. Pick it up, it's a great read.
The book I just finished is 'The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid', by Bill Bryson. I read an earlier book by the same author, 'A Short History of Nearly Everything', which I loved.
This book is a memoir of Bill's early life, growing up in the middle of last century in a town in Iowa. There are few writers that can make me laugh out loud when I read (Christopher Moore and Jasper Fforde come to mind), but Bill Bryson has written a hilarious story here.
While reading the story I couldn't help but think back to when I was younger. I don't remember too much from when I was really young, just bits and pieces, but I do remember some of the good times I had back then.
I should start ranking books. I'll give this one a 5 out of 5. Pick it up, it's a great read.
Mistress of the Art of Death
May 26 2008 10:51 PM
I just finished another book, Mistress of the Art of
Death, by Ariana Franklin. It's a mystery novel that
takes place in the 12th century. I like to mix up my
reading, some humor, some drama, some action,
fiction, non-fiction, you name it. It's been a while
since I've read a who-dunnit mystery, and this was a
very good one.
The premise for the book is: four children have been murdered in Cambridge, England. The town, a very Christian town, blames the Jews; mainly because one of the children, the first to be killed, was crucified. The Jews of the town are locked away, and the King sends for help. The main character of the story is Adelia, she is a doctor from Italy, whose specialty is being a coroner. Now, back in the 12th century women weren't known for being doctors, if you were a woman that could heal someone, you were obviously a witch (that's one thing I do enjoy about reading this book, since it deals so much with what I consider the stupidity that is organized religion), so she has a male traveler along with her, whom they pretend is the doctor. There is also another male, Simon of Naples. He is the detective of the group.
The story is beautifully written, and is very interesting. I recommend it for anyone who is into a good mystery novel.
The premise for the book is: four children have been murdered in Cambridge, England. The town, a very Christian town, blames the Jews; mainly because one of the children, the first to be killed, was crucified. The Jews of the town are locked away, and the King sends for help. The main character of the story is Adelia, she is a doctor from Italy, whose specialty is being a coroner. Now, back in the 12th century women weren't known for being doctors, if you were a woman that could heal someone, you were obviously a witch (that's one thing I do enjoy about reading this book, since it deals so much with what I consider the stupidity that is organized religion), so she has a male traveler along with her, whom they pretend is the doctor. There is also another male, Simon of Naples. He is the detective of the group.
The story is beautifully written, and is very interesting. I recommend it for anyone who is into a good mystery novel.
Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
Apr 30 2008 10:21 PM
I just finished reading another book: Lone Ranger and
Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, by Sherman Alexie. This
book is a collection of short stories about life in
and around the Spokane Indian Reservation.
There are 22 stories in all, and each one is a pleasure to read. They were the basis for the award-winning movie Smoke Signals.
I am also reading a book called Material World: A Global Family Portrait
This book is like an earlier book I read, Hungry Planet. In Hungry Planet, a husband wife team stayed with families and learned about the way they eat, taking photos of all the food they buy in a week. This book is pretty much the same thing, except that instead of food it deals with the families possessions. It's interesting seeing what the average family around the world owns. I find this book most interesting because since I have moved into this house I am renting I have slowly been getting rid of anything I no longer use. It's interesting the amount of junk we have. I donate a lot to Goodwill, but I still have a lot I can go through and get rid of.
There are 22 stories in all, and each one is a pleasure to read. They were the basis for the award-winning movie Smoke Signals.
I am also reading a book called Material World: A Global Family Portrait
This book is like an earlier book I read, Hungry Planet. In Hungry Planet, a husband wife team stayed with families and learned about the way they eat, taking photos of all the food they buy in a week. This book is pretty much the same thing, except that instead of food it deals with the families possessions. It's interesting seeing what the average family around the world owns. I find this book most interesting because since I have moved into this house I am renting I have slowly been getting rid of anything I no longer use. It's interesting the amount of junk we have. I donate a lot to Goodwill, but I still have a lot I can go through and get rid of.
Handling Sin - Michael Malone
Apr 20 2008 10:13 PM
I just finished reading a great book called "Handling
Sin", by Michael Malone.
The book starts off with the main character, Raleigh, finding out his father checked himself out of the hospital, bought a new Cadillac, and was last seen withdrawing a lot of money and driving away with a teenage black girl in his car. Later Raleigh receives a call from his father saying he would like Raleigh to come meet him down in New Orleans, they live in North Carolina, but he needs to do a couple things before coming. The bulk of the book revolves around those things he has to do. Michael Malone is a great writer; his characters are great, and he is very funny. This is a long book, over 600 pages, so it took me a while to read, but there was never a dull part in the whole story. I definitely recommend it.
The book starts off with the main character, Raleigh, finding out his father checked himself out of the hospital, bought a new Cadillac, and was last seen withdrawing a lot of money and driving away with a teenage black girl in his car. Later Raleigh receives a call from his father saying he would like Raleigh to come meet him down in New Orleans, they live in North Carolina, but he needs to do a couple things before coming. The bulk of the book revolves around those things he has to do. Michael Malone is a great writer; his characters are great, and he is very funny. This is a long book, over 600 pages, so it took me a while to read, but there was never a dull part in the whole story. I definitely recommend it.
Some good reading
Dec 27 2007 12:25 PM
Since I don't subscribe to cable I have to make good
use of my down time. I spend a lot of this time
reading. I've always enjoyed reading, and I find it a
great way to pass the time. I thought I'd highlight a
couple books I read this past year that I thought
were good.
Hungry Planet: What The World Eats - The premise of this book is an interesting one. A husband a wife team, one a writer the other a photographer, travelled the world and found families that would let them live with them for a week. The family would do their weekly grocery shopping and a photo would be taken of all the food that the family bought. A family recipe was also included. What makes the book so interesting is to see the various kinds of foods, how healthy some parts of the world are compared to others, and to see how much is spent on food by various cultures. Every story in the book was interesting, and the photos were spectacular.
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Yes, I realize I am 36 and this is a kids book, but J. K. Rowling writes in a way that makes it entertaining for all ages; plus, I read the other six books, can't very well not read the last one. I thought all the books of the series were great. It's a great story, the kind of thing I wish was around when I was young, maybe I would have read more. This book nicely wraps everything up.
You Suck: A Love Story - I love Christopher Moore. I have every one of his books, and I find them all entertaining. This book is a continuation of Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story, so I recommend reading that one first.
The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime - Jasper Fforde has two lines of books that I read. First is the Nursery Crime books, which features Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading Police Department. In their world there is a such thing as fictional Nursery Rhyme creatures, and it makes for a great story. His other line of books are the Thursday Next series, which I also recommend. Jasper Fforde has a lot of the humor and great storytelling that Christopher Moore has.
People's History of The United States - I've been reading this book for a while. I pull it out at lunch when I have a chance and read a few pages. Howard Zinn is pretty controversial, and you shouldn't take everything in this book as fact, but it is a great history book. It's basically a book of history told through the people that lived at that time, through journals, newspaper articles, interviews, etc. This kind of lets you cut through the censored media to see what was really going on at the time, but it also presents you with a new problem, since a lot of this writing can't be backed up by hard facts. Still, I recommend it to anyone wanting to see the history of The United States from a different view.
Hungry Planet: What The World Eats - The premise of this book is an interesting one. A husband a wife team, one a writer the other a photographer, travelled the world and found families that would let them live with them for a week. The family would do their weekly grocery shopping and a photo would be taken of all the food that the family bought. A family recipe was also included. What makes the book so interesting is to see the various kinds of foods, how healthy some parts of the world are compared to others, and to see how much is spent on food by various cultures. Every story in the book was interesting, and the photos were spectacular.
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Yes, I realize I am 36 and this is a kids book, but J. K. Rowling writes in a way that makes it entertaining for all ages; plus, I read the other six books, can't very well not read the last one. I thought all the books of the series were great. It's a great story, the kind of thing I wish was around when I was young, maybe I would have read more. This book nicely wraps everything up.
You Suck: A Love Story - I love Christopher Moore. I have every one of his books, and I find them all entertaining. This book is a continuation of Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story, so I recommend reading that one first.
The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime - Jasper Fforde has two lines of books that I read. First is the Nursery Crime books, which features Jack Spratt of the Nursery Crime Division of the Reading Police Department. In their world there is a such thing as fictional Nursery Rhyme creatures, and it makes for a great story. His other line of books are the Thursday Next series, which I also recommend. Jasper Fforde has a lot of the humor and great storytelling that Christopher Moore has.
People's History of The United States - I've been reading this book for a while. I pull it out at lunch when I have a chance and read a few pages. Howard Zinn is pretty controversial, and you shouldn't take everything in this book as fact, but it is a great history book. It's basically a book of history told through the people that lived at that time, through journals, newspaper articles, interviews, etc. This kind of lets you cut through the censored media to see what was really going on at the time, but it also presents you with a new problem, since a lot of this writing can't be backed up by hard facts. Still, I recommend it to anyone wanting to see the history of The United States from a different view.