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The Dream Drugstore   by J Allan Hobson, 333 pages Steven Krise   18 August 2003 "In this extraordinary volume, Hobson links the mental changes that are common to dreaming, psychosis, and the actions of psychedelic drugs..." using his 3-dimensional AIM model. A truly interesting book in that Hobson actually addresses how changes in brain state link to changes in the *experience* of consciousness. Highly recommended to any interested in mind-brain studies.

The Catcher in the Rye   by J D Salinger, 192 pages Steven Krise   17 August 2007 That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose.

Cradle of Life   by J William Schopf, 367 pages Steven Krise   17 April 2009 A survey of Precambrian paleontology and its search for fossil microbes and evidence for how life began told from the perspective of the author over the 30 or so years he's been involved in the field. A thoroughly fascinating read.

Youth   by J. Coetzee, 188 pages James Donahue   01 April 2005 Suffering mightily through my comps, stuck skimming books and memorizing half-formed thoughts, Donahue reaches over during irregular bouts of insomnia to read about someone who is worse off than him, a boyish Afrikaaner in love with poetry but enslaved to the London business world, in love with Woman but hapless with women, a believer in the Sublime yet only because he has never truly tasted the banal. Think: the be-colleged Misirian-meets-Bridget-Jones-meets-Camus.

The Catcher in the Rye   by J. D. Salinger, 214 pages Steve Gadd   14 December 2004 My name is Holden Caulfield and I am a famous literary character. That kills me. If you want to hear about the madman stuff that made me famous you can read this book. I am sure you will get a bang out of it. Certainly you will. The critics sure seem to love it, but they are all a bunch of phonies. There is nothing I hate more than those goddam phony hot-shots.

The New Science of Strong Materials   by J. E. Gordon, 279 pages Steve Gadd   11 July 2004 Most materials exhibit only a fraction of their theoretical strength. Stress accumulates around microscopic cracks, enlarging them and leading to fracture. (A glazier exploits this by etching a scratch in a pane of glass to make a clean break.) The most successful light materials, like wood and fiberglass, incorporate weak layers that trap the point of cracks, dulling and stopping them. Iron is not very strong, but metallurgists over the centuries found ways to treat it to create steels with a strong crystalline structure. Gordon explains why traditional methods, such as quenching a sword in urine, are effective. His style is very readable, and what sounds like a sleep-inducing chapter on "Glue and Plywood" becomes a fascinating history of wooden warplanes in World War II. Thanks to Brian Chandler for the recommendation.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix   by J. K. Rowling, 870 pages Julie Gephart   29 June 2003 I knew I would read it eventually, so I figured I might as well dive in before the spoilers caught up to me. I think what Harry really needed in this book was for Tim McGraw to follow along crooning to him, “I don’t know why you’ve got to be angry all the time.”

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1997)   by J. K. Rowling, 309 pages Jennifer Dear   24 July 2007 Jen says, "Great fun. I'm hooked." Raully says, "Can it really be that no one on this booklist has yet read Rowling? Are we that pretentious?"

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone   by J. K. Rowling, 309 pages Steve Gadd   24 July 2007 Not bad I suppose for a kid's book but I expected more after hearing about 300 million copies sold. There was a bit of leading by the nose (at the halfway point: "Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?") and a classic villain speech at the end. You're never too young for a literary cliché.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)   by J. K. Rowling, 341 pages Jennifer Dear   03 August 2007 Very addictive.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)   by J. K. Rowling, 435 pages Jennifer Dear   07 August 2007 Even better than the last!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1997)   by J. K. Rowling, 309 pages James Donahue   16 August 2007 Does anyone else detect a nostalgia for the aristocratic age of Edwardian England? Harry Potter discovers he is no petit bourgouis flunky, but instead a wizard, a secret class that can combat the Continental aristocracies, secretly influence world power, and thrive amongst their own inner jokes. Immediately Harry discovers hidden shopping avenues in London ("Can we find these things in London?" asks Harry. Answer: "Only if you know where to look."), is sent to a boarding school complete with all the rituals and (in)dignities the Victorian 'public school' life (now dismantled in democratic England), and discovers his true athletic gifts in aristocratic sport (Quidditch, which is compared often to soccer in the book, but sounds much more to me like polo.) Surely English kids read this and wonder if they too can ever mount a charge into the wizard class, just as kids used to dream about discovering they were the lost children of a prince or duchess, just as Jane Eyre could come to terms with the responsibilities and privileges of her blood calling.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)   by J. K. Rowling, 341 pages James Donahue   28 August 2007 (Read during sleepless nights with a new baby and flu-ridden kids)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)   by J. K. Rowling, 734 pages Jennifer Dear   10 September 2007

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)   by J. K. Rowling, 435 pages James Donahue   12 September 2007 Desperately trying to keep up with his seven-year-old and his wife, Raully reads Rowling late into the night holding a crying baby. That way I can be included in the breakfast conversation once again!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)   by J. K. Rowling, 870 pages Jennifer Dear   20 September 2007 My least favorite so far.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)   by J. K. Rowling, 652 pages Jennifer Dear   16 October 2007 There's only one left!!!!!!!!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)   by J. K. Rowling, 734 pages James Donahue   28 November 2007

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)   by J. K. Rowling, 870 pages James Donahue   15 December 2007 It is wonderful to be able to read interesting, well-written books that Duncan likes too. A foreshadow of being able to talk about deep things and quality books with all of my sons!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)   by J. K. Rowling, 652 pages James Donahue   30 January 2008 I stayed up way too late at night because I had to finish this book. Its a lucky thing today was a snow day or my students would have had to endure a drowsy afternoon lecture.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)   by J. K. Rowling, 945 pages James Donahue   22 March 2008

Disgrace   by J. M. Coetzee , 220 pages Jaqi Ross   28 June 2004 David Lurie is hardly the hero of his own life, or anyone else's. At 52, the protagonist of Disgrace is at the end of his professional and romantic game, and seems to be deliberately courting disaster. Long a professor of modern languages at Cape Town University College, he has recently been relegated to adjunct professor of communications at the same institution, now pointedly renamed Cape Technical University:

Inner Workings (2007)   by J. M. Coetzee, 291 pages James Donahue   16 August 2007 A collection of Coetzee's book reviews over the past eight years, including short insightful essays for the NYTimes Book Review on Greene, Naipaul, Bellow, Musil, Roth, etc. Given his bent for biographical survey, its excellent crib notes for authors I haven't read. But for those authors I have read, the analysis falls flat. (I always end up saying: "Well any reader already knows that.") But then again, the purpose of the NYTimes Book Review is not to give insight to readers of books, but to the socialites who like to cite books they haven't read. Coetzee fulfills this aim perfectly.

The Physiology of Taste   by J.A. Brillat-Savarin, 443 pages Tony Pisarenkov   06 June 2004 Originally published in 1825, this is purportedly the first book to discuss cooking and eating as an art form. Although tedious in spots, it is mostly highly enetertaining, and fascinating because it illustrates both how much we already knew about the functioning of the human organism and how ignorant we were of what today would be considered common knowledge and even common sense. Commentary by M.F.K. Fisher (the translator) adds an entire new dimension to the text.

Bloody Mary   by J.A. Konrath, 315 pages Micaela Larkin   08 September 2005 Mystery! This is another freebie from my good friend who edits mystery novels!

Centrifuge   by J.C. Pollock, 297 pages Jeff Gadd   30 November 2002 Interesting how people become spies for other countries. A Veitnam soldiers find themselves being attack for something they saw in Veitnam. Who wants them dead and why? Its up to two soldiers to find out why.

The Catcher In The Rye   by J.D. Salinger, 214 pages Erik Bauer   10 April 2001 A Cynical Masterpiece. I'm not sure that it deserves all the controversy that surrounds it, but it certainly has a vivid description of a young punk that needs a good kick in the butt.

Franny and Zooey   by J.D. Salinger, 202 pages Kristin Schrock   09 October 2002 Holden Caulfield, I mean, Franny has a nervous breakdown and goes home. The Glass family resembles Wes Anderson's Tenenbaums (or the other way around)--they're all disaffected geniuses. Zooey tells Franny to "Snap out of it!" There's some talk about God and Jesus and shining your shoes for Jesus. The beginning is compelling, but the end just devolves into speechifying.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Audio)   by J.K. Rowling, 0 pages Kristin Schrock   14 February 2002 Harry should cry more. Terrible things happen to him and nary a tear. I wonder if that's because he's British. A little sobbing would do him good. This is the best of the bunch.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix   by J.K. Rowling, 766 pages A Bennett   24 July 2003 The only book I've ever read with a character who had my name was a first-person Holocaust memoir foisted on me by Julie's boss' (now ex-) wife, and as the main character rarely addressed herself, the name did not come up often. Here, however, a character, 'Alicia Spinnet' (no resemblance to persons real or historical intended, I'm sure), traipses across the background canvas of the story constantly catching my reader's 'eye' more than she should, and raising my discontent over the fact she's not particularly interesting, though she does once find herself jinxed with eyebrows that grow over her entire face, and she is a moderately competent Quidditch beater. I'm sure if my name were Susan or Becky I would have gotten over this sort of unnecessary fascination long ago, but, c'mon! Alicia _Spinnet_--how can one not be keen on one's fictional avatar?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)   by J.K. Rowling, 652 pages A Bennett   25 October 2005 Truly, a disappointment. The last book before the end, and quite frankly, all 652 pages felt like nothing but a great big stall technique not well executed. How many times, after all, can someone promise to tell Harry everything--come Monday, and then die Sunday night? It’s pointless stating the obvious: telling us everything is long overdue, as we’re to get “everything” with the final book. Still and all, it would have been interesting to see if Rowling could write plot, etc, AFTER having emptied her bag of secrets--especially since she will likely have to do so once concluding Harry’s books--unless she chooses to go into the mystery genre, in which case, bye-bye JK, I expected more.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)   by J.K. Rowling, 766 pages A Bennett   25 October 2005 I think this book was slightly better than the first time through. I had more time for it, with less rushing to get to the end and know all it had to say. That said, it’s awfully twisty and convoluted in its plot, and after finishing it I probably forgot at least 85% of what I’d learned.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)   by J.K. Rowling, 734 pages A Bennett   12 December 2005 Has an unreasonably long monologue performed by He Who Shall Not Be Named near the end. I mean, it's like 7+ pages, wherein he pretty much explains (like any Batman The Series villian) why and how he did what he did. Rowling can do better, as much of the novel already shows.

Elizabeth Costello   by J.M. Coetzee, 246 pages James Donahue   22 June 2004 An astounding novel centered around an aging novelist and eight public lectures. The embeddedness of Coetzee's thought within a body of language makes this book about more than ideas.

Disgrace   by J.M. Coetzee, 220 pages James Donahue   01 February 2005 I was really enwrapped in this story of South Africa. Coetzee writes so well of morally-laden issues without being moralist. Well deserving of the Booker.

War of the Worlds The Resurrection   by J.M.Dillard, 402 pages Jeff Gadd   15 February 2002 Interesting book. A little different to H.G. Wells book.

The Haunt   by J.N.Williamson, 356 pages Jeff Gadd   05 November 2002 The Kidd's house seems normal,but something that does not live or is dead haunts the family in their house. The thing hates them and cause them misery alot.

The Hobbit   by J.R.R. Tolkien, 333 pages Mike Gadd   16 July 2002 What can I say about 'The Hobbit'? I'm probably one of the last to read it. Of the people I talk to about it it seems the ones who had to read it in school liked it less than those who chose to read it. It's not a bad story, all in all. I have a copy of 'The Lord of the Rings' at home but it's over 1000 pages and the type is half the size. I don't want to spend the next two months reading it- Jeff's too far ahead as it is. I'm hearing so many good things about the movie that just came out I may read it just to see how close it comes to the story.

The Lord of the Rings   by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1346 pages Mike Gadd   12 August 2002 Phew! Finally done. What a great story though. I can''t imagine being tested on it for school. The index for people and place names was 18 pages long. No wonder people hated it who were forced to read it. The story itself rolls along quite merrily- full of all the ups and downs of a good adventure. Time to go watch the movie.

The Lord of the Rings, Part 1: The Fellowship of the Ring   by J.R.R. Tolkien, 458 pages Brad Snyder   15 July 2006 I read this out loud to my son, using voices for all the characters, an activity I greatly enjoyed. I'm looking forward to watching the movie again, now that I understand the story more.

The Lord of the Rings, Part 2: The Two Towers   by J.R.R. Tolkien, 398 pages Brad Snyder   27 May 2007 I'm still doing the voices and still enjoying the time with my son. However, at the risk of causing a whole lot of people to question my sanity and taste, I really don't understand why everyone thinks this book is so great. It contains at least 100 pages of the most boring prose written since "The Scarlet Letter" as he describes the (lame) journey of Frodo and Sam. The movie is better.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers   by Jack Finney, 212 pages Jeff Gadd   15 October 2002 Big outerspace seed pods,Which are parasites take over people in Mill Valley.

Night Judgement At Sinos   by Jack Higgins, 289 pages Jeff Gadd   29 June 2001

Day of Reckoning   by Jack Higgins, 288 pages Jeff Gadd   06 July 2001

Angel of Death   by Jack Higgins, 398 pages Jeff Gadd   11 July 2001

In The Hour Before Midnight   by Jack Higgins, 276 pages Jeff Gadd   16 July 2001

The Dark Side of the Island   by Jack Higgins, 151 pages Jeff Gadd   15 September 2001

The Iron Tiger   by Jack Higgins, 176 pages Jeff Gadd   27 September 2001

On The Road   by Jack Kerouac, 307 pages Erik Bauer   17 October 2001 This book was a going away gift when I finished my job in LA. I moved to San Francisco for a 6 week TEFL course before driving back across the US to Ohio. It was the perfect book for the time. I quit my job, changed my life plans and drove across the country. I didn't have the kind of adventures in Denver and SF as Sal Paradise, but I was in both of those cities having my own adventures, what a time.

To Build a Fire and Other Stories   by Jack London, 84 pages Jeff Gadd   01 February 2003 Some short stories from J.L. that are very well writting, Let all of them have sad endings.

To Build a Fire and Other Stories   by Jack London, 84 pages Steve Gadd   08 October 2008 "Love of Life" (here) is better than the more famous story in this collection -- at least it had a protagonist you could root for.

Trumpet   by Jackie Kay, 278 pages Jaqi Ross   01 September 2003 Inspired by the story of American jazz pianist Billy Tipton, who was discovered to be a woman upon his death.

The Bush Tragedy (2008)   by Jacob Weisberg, 272 pages Jonathan Misirian   08 April 2008 Excellent read. What separates this book from the numerous others that focus on the failure of Bush is that the author isn’t just putting forth a well-worn screed against the president. Weisberg covered Bush as a news reporter and has a great amount of respect for the man. That being said, this book delves into his psyche and really shows how little there is to be found. Bush, as we all know, isn’t an ideologue in any area, but rather is shown to be the result of familial forces, a brash will, and a center that is vaguely defined. Strongly recommended.

Grimm's Fairy Tales   by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, 246 pages Jeff Gadd   23 February 2003 Small fairy tales that I didn't get their points very well. Also books with missing pages should be banned from society.

The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward- A New Approach   by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, Co-chairs, 160 pages Jonathan Misirian   16 July 2007 Bush first rejected the formation of this bi-partisan group, then relented when political pressure came to bear on him. The ISG’s assessment of the current situation in Iraq is damning at best, and now that the report is over a year old, its themes and warnings continue to come to light. The American people, congress, top military generals in the field, and the international community have all expressed the need for a new approach, while our president continues ‘staying the course.’

The Authentic Adam Smith (2006)   by James Buchan, 145 pages James Donahue   22 January 2007 Annoyed at the ahistorical historiography that too often surrounds the patron saint of capitalism, Buchan reconstructs the original Smith within his Scottish milieu and as an Enlightenment figure more concerned with liberalism and moral philosophy, and not economics or industrialization. (Buchan himself comes from a distinguished Scottish literary family.) Trivia Point: Smith only uses the 'invisible hand' only twice in his entire ouerve.

The Authentic Adam Smith (2007)   by James Buchan, 160 pages James Donahue   18 March 2008 Short, informative, too the point. He didn't even take the diversions I was hoping for.

Connections   by James Burke, 295 pages Steve Gadd   04 April 1996

Shogun   by James Clavell, 1100 pages James Donahue   04 May 2004 Summer is finally here, and while I have to keep reading for my class next year, I finally have some time to indulge in those glossy mega-reads I love so much. Clavell is always good for some swashbuckling, macho orientalism. Like Hemingway meets Grisham. One question: why do the pretty women always have to die in the end?

Taipan   by James Clavell, 789 pages James Donahue   17 June 2004 Set in 1848 Hong Kong (i.e., before there was a Hong Kong), Clavell presents us here with another East-meets-West-both-culturally-and-sexually- where-one-culture-transcending-white-male-falls- in-love-only-to-see-his-metaphorical-and-literal- love-lie-shattered-in-a-dead-asian-women's-body- spellbinder. I always enjoy these escapes into historical fiction even if the postcolonialist lit-critic makes me feel a tad guilty about it

Gai-jin   by James Clavell, 1043 pages James Donahue   22 August 2004 The third in Clavell's historical series on Asia. Like his peer Clancy, Clavell writes novels like movies, and borrows from personal experience to make compelling mega-reads. Unfortunately he can also fall into Clancey's habit of predictable 'adventure'-plots and manly/womanly characters. This, one of the latest of his books, is the first to truly surprise me, and the first to really foreground legitimate woman characters.

Shogun   by James Clavell, 1152 pages Steve Gadd   16 May 2005 John Blackthorne wants to be the first Englishman to sail around the world, but he arrives in Japan with four of five ships lost and most of his crew perished. He, and his knowledge and inventory of firearms especially, find favor with a leader, and so begins an epic of war and love. There is plenty of swashbuckling, but there is some plodding as well, perhaps to be expected in a book this long. I don't know how accurate it is, but the view of sixteenth-century Japan is quite interesting.

Wit'ch Fire   by James Clemens, 439 pages Julie Gephart   17 February 2002 First book in a very enjoyable epic fantasy series. A motley group of travelers assembles around a young girl who may be the answer to an ancient prophesy.

Behind Enemy Lines   by James Dean Sanderson, 248 pages Jeff Gadd   26 January 2002 Great short storys of war missions in WWII very interesting.

Bringing up Boys   by James Dobson, 284 pages Mike Gadd   08 September 2004

Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker   by James Gavin, 448 pages Tony Pisarenkov   18 March 2007 Sordid does not even begin to describe it. Anyone who thinks they have seen the limits of humans' capacity to act irrationally need only to read about the countless lives Chet Baker ruined while extending his own beyond any reasonable expectation.

My Four Years in Germany (1917)   by James Gerard, 402 pages James Donahue   12 January 2007 Upon being expelled from his ambassadorship in Berlin in 1917, Gerard wrote this book partly as a memoir/travelogue about Berlin society (a popular genre for ex-servicemen in an America ready to move onto the world stage) and partly to inform the American public why they were fighting and what they were up against. As a personal sidelight, let me mention that Gerard married local nobility, the daughter of Marcus Daly whose copper-mining built the towns I grew up in; such glimpses into their life are fascinating.

Faster   by James Gleick, 281 pages Steve Gadd   11 February 2004 Subtitle: "The Acceleration of Just About Everything." Feeling rushed? Gleick explains why in this wide-ranging look at all the ways we try to save time, and the multitude of distractions, obligations, and leisure activities that soak up all that banked time. He covers the elevator's (frequently disconnected) Door Close button, airline scheduling, modifications of professional sports for television broadcast, and the effects of MTV (try counting shots in a typical commercial). Food preparation provides great examples. Once upon a time you mixed flour, sugar, and baking soda to make pancakes. Then came boxed pancake mix. Now you toast frozen waffles. Or: Homemade frosting, frosting mix, frosting in a can. But no matter how much time you save, it never seems enough. There is no longer minute than the one spent waiting for the microwave. Gleick cites surveys that inventory the daily 1,440 minutes and finds that, on average, four minutes a day are spent in what Americans describe as their most enjoyable activity. The same amount of time goes to filling out government forms, according to the "Sex and Paperwork" chapter. We spend about a year of our lifetime searching for lost objects. We all know that an awful lot of time is spent in traffic, but time researchers calculate their lifetime total for time spent tying shoes and switch to velcro.

Genius   by James Gleick, 560 pages Steve Gadd   26 April 2006 More sober than I remembered, this biography does not retell any of the funny anecdotes from the books that popularized the Feynman legend, either steering clear of them or pointing out the ways in which they were embellished.

Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman   by James Gleick, 531 pages Tony Pisarenkov   17 February 2008 Too heavy on the science for my taste, science of the kind that would have been lost on me even back in the day, when I was far more scientifically and mathematically minded than I am today. Still, definitely had its moments. Thank you, Steve, for the present, and I am sorry it took me two years to get to it!

The Geography of Nowhere   by James H. Kunstler, 303 pages Tony Pisarenkov   17 September 2004 Having become a minor classic since its publication roughly a decade and a half ago, this book cronicles the demise of our society's attention to the public realm and the quality of places we build for ourselves to live and work in all its chilling reality. Fascinating to see some of the phenomena the author predicted already beginning to take place. Certainly the worthiest successor to Jane Jacobs' "Death and Life of Great American Cities" available today.

Miss Shumway Waves a Wand   by James Hadley Chase, 169 pages Kristin Schrock   25 March 2002 I've been looking for this book for a long time. It's out of print in the U.S, but thanks to a interlibrary loan (hooray for the public library!) I got an ancient copy of it. It's a sort of magical realism noir. Bizarre and funny up until the third act which sort of goes astray.

The Fog   by James Herbert, 275 pages Jeff Gadd   13 January 2002 Very Creepy! Hope no goverment makes this virus for real!

Others   by James Herbert, 470 pages Mike Gadd   08 December 2004 One of the more unique main characters. This one was born malformed and got worse as he got older. He doesn't let his physical limitations keep him from getting his detective work done. This story turned pretty dark before it wrapped up.

A Yankee in Meiji Japan   by James Huffman, 278 pages James Donahue   31 March 2004 Biography of Ned House: first American journalist in Tokyo, intimate of Mark Twain, Nippophile, and all-around scamp.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man   by James Joyce, 253 pages Steven Krise   13 July 2002 Inspired by Percesepe's article here http://www.mississippireview.com/PublicScrutiny/Content/ps0104-percesepe.html I decided to read something from his list of authors I'd never read before. The style was disorienting at first, but worth the while to work through. Words I learned: soutane, athwart

The Dead   by James Joyce, 59 pages Steve Gadd   05 October 2008 A cunning format for a story: dry, dinner party dialog for the first half making the reflective, melancholic second half all the more effective. "She was walking on before him so lightly and so erect that he longed to run after her noiselessly, catch her by the shoulders and say something foolish and affectionate into her ear. She seemed to him so frail that he longed to defend her against something and then to be alone with her. Moments of their secret life together burst like stars upon his memory. A heliotrope envelope was lying beside his breakfast-cup and he was caressing it with his hand. Birds were twittering in the ivy and the sunny web of the curtain was shimmering along the floor: he could not eat for happiness. They were standing on the crowded platform and he was placing a ticket inside the warm palm of her glove. He was standing with her in the cold, looking in through a grated window at a man making bottles in a roaring furnace."

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man   by James Joyce, 253 pages Steve Gadd   20 December 2008 Not as compelling as I remembered it, though the extensive lecture on hell is still harrowing. Probably the only place you'll find fart jokes in Latin, or the tidbit that "bollocks" is "the only English dual number."

The Horned Man   by James Lasdun, 194 pages Tony Pisarenkov   11 September 2003 A novel about a college professor becoming a victim of what seems like an elaborate conspiracy but really a victim of his own spinelessness, culminating in a truly bizzarre, surreal, and highly symbolic denouement. An enormous amount of symbolism and an equally large variety of themes densely packed into a slim volume, propelled along by language that is surprisingly direct and unadorned for a book of this breadth and depth but ultimately highly effective. One of the best contemporary novels I've come across in quite some time. Highly recommended.

The Color Of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother   by James McBride, 291 pages Julie Gephart   28 September 2002 Excellent biography of an orthodox Jewish girl who married a black man in 1942. Perspective alternates between her miserable childhood with an abusive father and the author's childhood as his mother raised 12 children on her own after the death of her husband, living unflinchingly as the only white person in their neighborhood through the height of Civil Rights and Black Power.

The People’s Act of Love (2007)   by James Meek, 390 pages Jonathan Misirian   14 September 2007 The People’s Act of Love is set in Siberia during the waning days of WWI. An escaped convict, a religious sect of castrates, a rouge Czech military unit, and a Communist battle group all form the central characters of this compelling novel. Reviewers scrambled over themselves to compare this work with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.

Poland   by James Michener, 640 pages Micaela Larkin   11 June 2007 Awesome

Cat And Mouse   by James Patterson, 396 pages Jeff Gadd   02 July 2000

When the Wind Blows   by James Patterson, 413 pages Jeff Gadd   01 July 2001

Along Came a Spider   by James Patterson, 499 pages Jeff Gadd   26 August 2003 Along came a creepy spider named Gary Soneji, who commits a kidnap of some kids at school,to be famous for,but things just go out of hand for him. He also calls himself the Son of Lindbergh.

The Future of Christian Learning: An Evangelical and Catholic Dialogue (2008)   by James Turner and Mark Noll , 137 pages James Donahue   03 August 2008

Shopping for God: how Christianity went from in your heart to in your face (2007)   by James Twitchell, 324 pages Jonathan Misirian   07 May 2008 Twitchell, a self-described ‘apathiest’ writes from his position as a professor of advertising at the U. of Florida. His keen eye for explaining marketing trends made this book a great resource for understanding many of the advertising trends found in Evangelical Christianity. His assessment is sober, his insights are sharp, and his writing his excellent.

The Emperor's General   by James Webb, 464 pages Jeff Gadd   25 September 2003 A true story about Gen. McDouglas and Japanese leaders who fought against each other and their plans for Japan through the eyes of Gen. Mcouglas' second hand aide.

Mrs. Miniver (1941)   by Jan Struther, 288 pages A Bennett   17 June 2003 Printed in 1941, a series of Modern, impressionistic articles originally written for the London Times. Only at the very end do they enter the year 1939, and conclude on the very cusp of war. Such an introspective look at one woman’s life in London--addresses everything from problems with servants to issues of rising Socialism and the cultural shifts from post-WWI to pre-WWII. It is quite possible that I am in love with the Mrs. in the title (don’t tell Mr. Miniver!). A nice companion to the film (just what I was looking for) which was directly adapted from this. My only regret is that I have yet been unable to find a sequel that addresses the war years.

The Trunk Murderess   by Jana Bommersbach, 270 pages Micaela Larkin   01 February 2007 True life mystery regarding Arizona's most famous murder trial in the 1930s... engaging!

The Watsons (unpublished)   by Jane Austen, 49 pages A Bennett   05 January 2006 It's very disheartening when one of your favorite authors is dead, and their novel output stands complete, over. It requires great restraint in a reader of Austen (unlike a reader of, say, Clancy) to attempt to space out "new" material, however paltry it may be, so that they have SOMETHING of hers to look forward to as the decades pass. In "It's a Wonderful Life", Clarence mentions Mark Twain has started a new novel in heaven. If Twain did, indeed, find his way to heaven, may Austen have to, and may she have some new and complete work ready for me when I arrive...

The Diamond in the Window   by Jane Langton, 242 pages Julie Gephart   22 September 2002 Book for young readers starring a boy and a girl. Girl spends the whole book being afraid, worried, and dreaming of romantic stories, while she relies on her YOUNGER brother to be brave, resourceful, and able to read maps. Plus, the 'plot' was only a love song to the old Concord transcendentalists.

Ambulance Girl   by Jane Stern, 228 pages Jaqi Ross   16 April 2004 I didn't even realize it was the Jane Stern who contributes to NPR. Interesting read, but not fabulous.

White Oleander   by Janet Finch, 469 pages Julie Gephart   02 September 2002 I almost sent this straight to the trash when it arrived with the dreaded 'Oprah's Book Club' sticker, and it turns out I would have been happier for doing so. It's about a girl going through a series of foster homes.

Revivalism in Ireland and Britain, 1857-1910   by Janice Holmes, 234 pages James Donahue   28 July 2004

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies   by Jared Diamond, 480 pages James Donahue   23 March 2002 Interesting read. Posits that all of human history can be scientifically reduced to the initial availability of food and animal resources. (We historians are always so pleased when scientists can set us straight in our own fields; why did I bother learning about Napoleon when I should have been learning the five domesticable animals.) Some fascinating excursions from the main point, like why zebras cannot be ridden. Essential for better understanding Civilization III.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies   by Jared Diamond, 427 pages Jonathan Misirian   14 February 2005 Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Diamond gives a convincing account of why some societies advance over others. Diamond answers the questions that are rarely asked? How did Pizarro over take the Inca nation? Why did Aboriginal societal development occur at a slower pace, then say in China? Comprehensive and complete.

Guns, Germs and Steel   by Jared Diamond, 457 pages Tony Pisarenkov   19 May 2005 A sweeping examination of the history of the world's native cultures and the reasons why some have developed so far beyond others as to be able to subjugate them. Asks some fascinating questions, but reads too much like a textbook for an unqualified recommendation. Thank you, Steve, for the gift.

Guns, Germs, and Steel - The Fates of Human Societies   by Jared Diamond, 494 pages Steven Krise   29 June 2008

Guns, Germs, and Steel   by Jared Diamond, 425 pages Steve Gadd   27 July 2008 I suspect that this is a book that many more people have started than finished. The book has a great thesis, by which the author intends to explain the advancement of some cultures over others by crediting environmental factors rather than innate ability. This idea is supported by many diverse examples, showing that cultivable plants and soil, domesticable animals, and favorable climates were the mundane but critical ingredients of empires. I was captivated by the story in Chapter 3 of the fall of the last Incan emperor, Atahualpa, in his own land surrounded by thousands of loyal soldiers, at the hands (and guns) of Piazarro and his ragged band of conquistadores. Things bog down quite a bit as the book plods on. The text seems repetitive, and the illustrating examples become more and more spread out. At times it seems the language came straight from a lecture hall, as one paragraph after another is begun by posing a question and then giving the answer -- you can almost see the Powerpoint slides.

Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures Through the Ages   by Jaroslav Pelikan, 288 pages Brad Snyder   28 August 2006 Before his death in May, Pelikan served as a history professor at Yale. This book is an excellent and thorough history of the Bible and Tanakh as well as the relation between the two traditions that are defined by each.

Sword & Fist: A Guidebook to Fighters and Monks   by Jason Carl, 96 pages Steven Krise   30 January 2003 New feats, prestige classes, weapons and organizations. Most of the new feats are geared toward monks rather than fighters. Oh well.

The Eyre Affair   by Jasper Fforde, 376 pages Kristin Schrock   19 September 2003 A criminal mastermind is kidnapping characters from novels and holding them for ransom--and now he's after Jane Eyre! The middle and ending aren't as groovy as the beginning, but there's a scene wherein Richard III is performed like Rocky Horror Picture show. It would probably only appeal to lit geeks, but fun enough that I might check out the second in the series.

Lost in a Good Book   by Jasper Fforde, 399 pages Kristin Schrock   05 June 2005 The second in the Tuesday Next, literary detective series. Quick and entertaining, but a little too pleased with itself in places. But I'm too much of a literary geek to resist the literature in-jokes, so I'll probably read the next one, too.

The AmityVille Horror   by Jay Anson, 269 pages Jeff Gadd   14 July 2002 A True Story of A Haunted House. Read this book and be scared out of your socks. Keep lights on and doors locked tight. If book doesn't scare you call 911 to check your pulse.

Barmaid's Brain: And Other Strange Tales from Science   by Jay Ingram , 276 pages Jaqi Ross   28 June 2004 This hugely entertaining collection of popular-science essays is sure to appeal to fans of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Jay Gould, and Lewis Thomas. Like those best-selling authors, Ingram, a veteran science writer and television host (he anchors the world's first daily, science-based television show), combines snappy writing with interesting and unusual science.

Ravel: A Novel (2007)   by Jean Echenoz (trans. Linda Coverdale), 117 pages James Donahue   10 December 2007 I picked up this short novel, composed of short sketches from the end of Ravel's life, more for my interest in Ravel than in the author. But I ended the book more impressed by Echenoz than by Ravel. Wonderful prose, that reminded me of Kundera at his best. Like a Modernist painter, Echenoz emphasizes the historical currents around Ravel to explain Ravel in luminous portraits of the 1920s and 1930s

Hans-Georg Gadamer: A Biography (2003)   by Jean Grondin, 338 pages James Donahue   11 June 2008

Maximum Impact   by Jean Heller, 632 pages Mike Gadd   22 May 2002 Interesting but tedious story about a newspaper reporter investigating the deadliest airline crash in US history. Too many plot points to keep your interest and too few twists to tickle your fancy. Would have been much better cut in half.

Clan of the Cave Bear   by Jean M Auel, 495 pages Steven Krise   04 October 2003 Recent research on mtDNA recovered from Neandertal bones suggests that Durc and Ura were an impossibility. However, that does little to diminsh the verisimilitude of Auel's world.

The Clan of the Cave Bear   by Jean M. Auel, 468 pages Julie Gephart   24 November 2002 By the time I was reading the last page, I was already walking toward the computer to order the rest of the series. Good stuff, about the early society of hunter-gatherer cave dwellers.

The Valley of Horses   by Jean M. Auel, 502 pages Julie Gephart   20 December 2002 Second in Earth's Children series, and the fascination of the first book has been slightly dimmed. Early human woman is tossed out of her adopted Neanderthal clan and lives on her own for a few years with animal companions.

The Mammoth Hunters   by Jean M. Auel, 645 pages Julie Gephart   27 December 2002 Third book in Earth's Children series, a series that continues to slide downhill. Still an interesting look at daily life in an ice-age culture, but this one veers too far into romantic entanglements for my taste. Also, it would appear that the main character of these books invented and discovered every single thing that was invented or discovered during the ice age.

The Plains of Passage   by Jean M. Auel, 760 pages Julie Gephart   09 March 2003 (4th in series) Much better than the last book, but none have measured up to the joy that was the first book. In this, two people spend a year journeying across what is now Europe in the time just before the Ice Age.

Shelters of Stone   by Jean M. Auel, 883 pages Julie Gephart   09 November 2003 Somewhere during this series, Jean Auel must have taken the Anne Rice route of deciding that she was too popular to allow an editor to touch her books. That’s the only explanation for this bloated edition that could easily have been 400 pages instead of 900, full of useless repetition. Not only does she repeat plot points like we’re morons with an attention span of 5 pages, but she also repeats entire, detailed scenes over and over again. By now I could write the two-page scene where our hero meets a new group of people and introduces them to the wonders of starting a fire with flint and striker – I could write it because I’m sure I’ve read exactly the same scene 50 TIMES NOW. And unfortunately that’s only one of the discoveries we are compelled to relive time and time again. Curses upon you, Jean Auel, for still writing bits that are interesting enough to make me slog through all this mess to find them!

Good Morning, Midnight   by Jean Rhys, 190 pages Kristin Schrock   25 June 2004 I was bookless for a couple days post move because I had tucked this in a box somewhere knowing that I would find it at the new place. Of course, I had no idea where I had put and I couldn't start another book when so close to the end on this one. That being said, this seems to be the counterpart to the Sun Also Rises. A "wounded" woman wanders around Paris in a drunken haze. Amazing in that it's melodramatic, but does not feel forced. Like this: "...because it hurts, when you have been dead, to come alive."

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly   by Jean-Dominique Bauby, 132 pages Steve Gadd   29 August 1999 Written by a man who, following a stroke, could only communicate by blinking one eye.

Sexing the Cherry   by Jeannette Winterson, 167 pages Kristin Schrock   07 May 2003 Essentially, there are three different stories masquerading as a novel. The last two "stories" are interesting, but the first part was a bear to muddle through. The second one tells the story of the "Twelve Dancing Princesses" and I'm a sucker for the retelling of fairy tales. As I read more Winterson (this is my least favorite other than the one that I could never finish) I realize how in love she is with her writing and her tendency towards the precious gets on my nerves.

The Words   by Jean-Paul Sartre, 255 pages Steve Gadd   12 February 1996

The Size of the World   by Jeff Greenwald, 420 pages Steve Gadd   27 November 1999 Having seen more of the world than Magellan or Marco Polo but feeling less accomplished than they, this travel writer decided to attempt to circle the world without ever boarding a plane.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007)   by Jeff Kinney, 226 pages Brad Snyder   25 December 2008 Fun book written from the perspective of a sixth grader and the social pressures he faces. I laughed a lot.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2008)   by Jeff Kinney, 216 pages Brad Snyder   25 December 2008 Same premise as before, only the kid's in seventh grade, and his older brother, Rodrick, has a secret he holds over his younger brother's head. Not as funny as the first, but still amusing.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter   by Jeff Lindsay, 288 pages Mike Gadd   28 September 2005 A rather unique turn on the serial killer theme. In this case the killer works as a blood specialist at the police lab. He only kills 'bad people'. He is shocked and impressed to some degree to find a crime scene that mimics one of his own. He's not sure if someone is on to him or maybe he's having blackout episodes where he unknowingly is committing the crimes.

The Descent   by Jeff Long, 450 pages Jeff Gadd   20 July 2001

Year Zero   by Jeff Long, 406 pages Mike Gadd   07 May 2002

The Reckoning: A Thriller   by Jeff Long, 384 pages Micaela Larkin   08 September 2005 This engaging thriller is part historical mystery, part Michael Chrichton, and part magical realism.

The Reckoning   by Jeff Long, 384 pages Mike Gadd   18 October 2005 The Descent is Jeff Long's best work and in my top 10. This one doesn’t reach near that level, but was still entertaining. He's one of the best descriptive writers I'm familiar with. This story has several quality scenes in it, but the ending was empty. I just didn't get it. That doesn't settle well with my need for closure.

Sunday Money: Speed! Lust! Madness! Death! A Hot Lap Around America With Nascar.   by Jeff MacGregor, 370 pages Jonathan Misirian   15 July 2006 Writing in the manner of Hunter S. Thompson, MacGregor and his wife motor-home their way across the US visiting every stop in the 2002 Nascar season. Emerging from their travels, is a book satisfies the curious and the committed Nascar fan.

THE COFFIN DANCER   by Jeffery Deaver, 529 pages Jeff Gadd   24 October 2000

The Bone Collector   by Jeffery Deaver, 410 pages Jeff Gadd   11 September 2001

The Empty Chair   by Jeffery Deaver, 476 pages Jeff Gadd   29 September 2001

A Maiden's Grave   by Jeffery Deaver, 416 pages Jeff Gadd   30 November 2001

The Devil's TearDrop   by Jeffery Deaver, 451 pages Jeff Gadd   18 November 2002 Just when you think they caught the bad guys,their are more twist to the game. A man using a Uzi with a silencer,leaving no clues behind,is killing a lot of people.Interesting how the police stopped them at the end.

Twisted   by Jeffery Deaver, 383 pages Steven Krise   04 January 2004 It's the collected short stories of Jeffery Deaver, all featuring his distinctive plot/character twists. With them all collected in one tome, the gimmick began to wear thin after a while, but still a number of good stories. Sorry, still no female authors, but this one had a number of female "protagonists".

The Blue Nowhere   by Jeffery Deaver, 505 pages Steven Krise   10 January 2004 Psychopathic cracker, Phate, is using his revolutionary backdoor software, Trapdoor, to gain access to his victim's lives in his Real World version of a deadly MUD game. Who the hell is Shawn, you'll wonder.

The Vanished Man   by Jeffery Deaver, 399 pages Steven Krise   08 February 2004 Rhyme and Sachs are tracking down a maniacally devious illusionist turned mercenary/murderer. Little is what it seems to be.

The Empty Chair   by Jeffery Deaver, 479 pages Steven Krise   20 February 2004 To quote 'The Critic', "It stinks!"

Speaking In Tongues   by Jeffery Deaver, 354 pages Steven Krise   29 February 2004 Two silver tongued devils (one a psychiatrist, the other a lawyer) battle over the life of a 17 yr old girl.

The Coffin Dancer   by Jeffery Deaver, 532 pages Steven Krise   25 May 2004 Rhyme and Sachs catch the bad guy. I think I may have finally read too much Deaver since I can pick out which characters are going to be part of the twist almost as soon as they're introduced. It's always an enjoyable read regardless.

The Devil's Teardrop   by Jeffery Deaver, 451 pages Steven Krise   28 June 2004 Parker and Jackie/Margaret catch the bad guy...eventually. Lincoln Rhyme only makes a cameo in this one.

Mistress of Justice   by Jeffery Deaver, 357 pages Steven Krise   01 September 2004 Tale of corporate espionage, coke-snorting lawyers, and high pressure corporate mergers...and don't forget the blood. They're all blood, you see.

A Maiden's Grave   by Jeffery Deaver, 419 pages Steven Krise   07 November 2004 A hostage situation in an old slaughter house. The twists come in just where you expect them.

The Garden of Beasts   by Jeffery Deaver, 402 pages Steven Krise   15 January 2005 An American bad guy (who's really a good guy) is sent to 1936 Berlin to kill a Nazi bad guy (who seems to be a good guy). Intrigue ensues and the American is pursued by a wiley Kripo Inspector who is a good guy.

The 12th Card   by Jeffery Deaver, 395 pages Steven Krise   21 June 2005 bad guys, obligatory plot twist, Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs, good guys win.

The Cold Moon   by Jeffery Deaver, 370 pages Steven Krise   01 August 2006 I think the old boy has gone daffy trying to fit in the twists.

Transgressions   by Jeffery Deaver, 339 pages Steven Krise   02 January 2007 Deaver and another author each wrote a novella. The other guy seemed to get the knack of it better.

The Sleeping Doll   by Jeffery Deaver, 428 pages Steven Krise   14 August 2007 A Kathryn Dance novel.

The Broken Window   by Jeffery Deaver, 415 pages Steven Krise   06 July 2008 Rhyme and Sachs catch a bad guy who uses "identity theft" to frame and murder people.

Divided Memory: The Nazi Past in the Two Germanies   by Jeffery Herf, 527 pages James Donahue   21 July 2002 Herf compares the development of divergent paths of public memory and policy in East and West Germany from 1945-1990. He ably uses newly opened files from the Soviet Bloc to do so. Good analysis, but heavily biased toward the SPD party.

Beyond UFOs: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future   by Jeffrey Bennett, 211 pages Steven Krise   10 September 2009 The author is a professor and textbox author, so he's spent a little too much time dumbing down his prose for creationist college students (shudder) that end up in his Intro to Astrobiology class, which was annoying. However, the book was a serviceable overview of the topic.

The Bone Collector   by Jeffrey Deaver, 427 pages Steven Krise   05 July 2002 A New York crime drama. The most interesting thing about it was the emphasis and detail spent on forensic procedures. I guess there was a twist or two at the end, too, but one expects that from this genre. The twist would be not having a twist.

The Stone Monkey   by Jeffrey Deaver, 424 pages Steven Krise   26 December 2003 Another Lincoln Rhyme novel. This time Rhyme and Sachs are tracking down a notorious Chinese snakehead (human smuggler) with connections high in the Chinese and United States governments.

Middlesex   by Jeffrey Eugenides, 529 pages Jaqi Ross   11 March 2004 "Expansive and radiantly generous... Deliriously American." -The New York Times Book Review

The Virgin Suicides   by Jeffrey Eugenides, 249 pages Mike Gadd   20 March 2005 Since I enjoyed Ms. Coppola's 'Lost in Translation' so much I thought I'd give her another shot. I prefer to read the book version first whenever there is a movie to follow. This book was well written despite the subject matter. I don't recommend bookending this one with The House of Sand and Fog. I also can't remember a story told in the first person where you don't really know who the 'first person' is. He's just one of the guys, but you never even get his name.

Season of Life: A Football Star, a Boy, a Journey to Manhood   by Jeffrey Marx, 177 pages Brad Snyder   08 May 2006 A true story of a man who starts out writing a story about one of his football heroes, and how he learns to think differently as a man for the interaction. Kind of touchy feely, but certainly worthwhile.

The Man Who Ate Everything   by Jeffrey Steingarten, 494 pages Tony Pisarenkov   26 December 2004 A collection of magazine pieces on every imaginable aspect of food, cooking and eating. Entertaining, irreverent and insightful; recommended to anyone who has even a passing interest in food.

It Must Have Been Something I Ate   by Jeffrey Steingarten, 513 pages Tony Pisarenkov   23 January 2005 Even better than his previous collection (see my entry form last year), funnier, with more recipes, and slightly less science (although still with plenty of detailed explanations of exactly what chemical processes make dry-aged steaks superior to all other kinds).

Darkly Dreaming Dexter   by Jeffry Lindsay, 288 pages Steven Krise   26 October 2008 A break from this 500 page opus I've been moving through for 4 months.

Dexter in the Dark   by Jeffry Lindsay, 303 pages Steven Krise   02 November 2008 Sort of like Dexter's "Superman 3".

Dearly Devoted Dexter   by Jeffry Lindsay, 292 pages Steven Krise   02 December 2008 Sort of like Dexter's "Wrath of Khan".

Reinventing Mona   by Jennifer Coburn, 314 pages Kristin Schrock   23 February 2005 Light trash. A nice diversion from the tragedy of The House of Sand and Fog.

Blackbird : A Childhood Lost and Found   by Jennifer Lauck , 432 pages Jaqi Ross   29 August 2004 Writing from the viewpoint of the child, rather than as an adult looking back with a mature perspective, Lauck's memoir recounts a childhood troubled by an unending string of upheavals and heartbreaks. Lauck's loving mother was chronically ill and absent for long periods of hospitalization. When she was home, she was frequently bedridden, and young Lauck, her brother and her father took turns attending to her catheter. After her mother's death, the father uprooted the family and, in an attempt to give his children a stable family, quickly remarried to an emotionally abusive woman with kids of her own. More losses followed, including the death of her father. Lauck's poignant narration matches the tone of the text: her youthful voice sounds innocent, bewildered and wounded as she tries to understand the devastations going on outside her control. At the same time, there's a core of defiance in her voice, a refusal to be beaten down by life's adversity.

Lady of Sherwood   by Jennifer Roberson, 373 pages A Bennett   11 April 2002 The author's name is "Rober-son," as in she "robbed" me of both my time and my innocence in putting this book into my hands to read. If my own mother had written this dreckish, stand-still narrative of Robin Hood and the Crown in 1199 after the death of Richard Plantagenant, I'd have to hate her, too. Necessary vocabulary: tonsure, garderobe.

The Mole People   by Jennifer Toth, 256 pages Steve Gadd   20 September 2000 Seven stories below the streets of New York City, in the extensive disused subway tunnels and abandoned stations, live literally thousands of people down on their luck. Toth tells their stories.

In Her Shoes   by Jennifer Weiner, 421 pages Kristin Schrock   15 July 2005 Enjoyable summer beach book. It even has discussion questions at the back, one of which claims that a multi-character point of view story is an "unusual technique." Yes, this author is totally breaking new ground. Also, Amazon.com revealed the following stastitics--it's a 6 grade reading level book, the author uses "again" 167 times, and I got 12,540 words per dollar--which seems like a good deal.

Blackwater: The rise of the world’s most powerful mercenary army (2007)   by Jeremy Scahill, 382 pages Jonathan Misirian   17 November 2007

A Fez of the Heart   by Jeremy Seal, 334 pages Steve Gadd   22 November 1999 Inspired by an old fez found in an attic, the author travels through modern Turkey looking for the story behind the outlawed hat.

Victoria's Daughters   by Jerrold M. Packard, 340 pages James Donahue   23 May 2008 Moral of the book: Queen Victoria had too many children for anyone to keep clear.

Bohemian Paris: Culture, Politics, and the Boundaries of Bourgeois Life, 1830-1930   by Jerrold Seigel, 440 pages James Donahue   30 October 2002 An excellent cultural history of one my favorite periods and styles of art. Wonderful background info for appreciating the movie Moulin Rouge.

SeinLanguage   by Jerry Seinfeld, 180 pages Brad Snyder   17 May 2006 I'm on this weird comedy kick, please bear with me... Seinfeld's stand-up routine is a lot like those Jack Handy skits featured on Saturday Night Live in the late 80s. If you've seen his show, you've seen some of the same routines there that are in this book.

History of Polish Christianity   by Jerzy Kloczowski, 344 pages James Donahue   10 July 2004

Over Tumbled Graves   by Jess Walter, 401 pages Mike Gadd   05 April 2002

Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days   by Jesse Liberty, 756 pages Steven Krise   30 April 2005 There's about zero chance of me ever programming in C++, but it's good to keep one's self sharp.

Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason   by Jessica Warner, 267 pages Tony Pisarenkov   20 February 2008 Warner documents the rise of distilled spirits consumption in England in the middle of the XVIII century and the government's backlash against it. Fairly interesting, though I was hoping for more on the early spirits' manufacture, flavor and the rituals of consumption, and less on parliamentary politics of the day.

Douglass’ Women   by Jewell Parker Rhodes, 416 pages Jaqi Ross   01 February 2004 Rhodes offers a fictionalized account of the two women at the center of the life of legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire   by Jim Cymbala, 196 pages Ian Hassell   01 January 2002 Awesome book about how the Holy Spirit worked in planting the Brooklyn Tabernacle. God is still working in miraculous ways - are we expecting Him to act in our lives?

Fresh Power   by Jim Cymbala, 208 pages Ian Hassell   19 April 2002 Another great book about how the Holy Spirit works in our lives.

Dalva   by Jim Harrison, 324 pages Kristin Schrock   13 July 2002 This guy is really good. An epic tale about coming home and unearthing bodies in the cellar--literally. Unfortunately, it's a dual p.o.v and the second isn't as compelling as it throws in some journal entries about the last of the Sioux, Crazy Horse, and the Ghost Dance movement. Also, an egret shows up on page 103 (the fourth book in a row if you're keeping track). Recommended vocabulary: tendentious, pule

The Road Home   by Jim Harrison, 446 pages Kristin Schrock   06 July 2005 Jim Harrison can tell a story. This one continues the story from his previous novel, Dalva. Epic and wonderful. Excellent read.

Jim and Casper Go to Church (2007)   by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, 170 pages Jonathan Misirian   08 April 2008 An atheist teams up with a former pastor and visit 10 or so famous churches around the country. Excellent anecdotes from some of the bigger pastor names. Great insights and a delightful quick read.

Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians (2007)   by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, 208 pages Brad Snyder   26 January 2009 Jim (Henderson), a Christian, and (Matt) Casper, an atheist, go on a road trip to see several major evangelical churches and record Casper's impressions. The list of churches is a veritable Who's Who of evangelicalism: Saddleback, Willow Creek, Mars Hill, and even that Osteen church. Casper shares his likes and dislikes with Jim, who urges the Christians reading the book to take heed and make changes so that atheists will want to come to church. It sounded intriguing at first, but it wore on me. I found the whole premise that atheists have an interest in going to church absurd.

No Certain Rest   by Jim Lehrer, 222 pages Steven Krise   26 May 2005 I think this is probably the absolute worst book I have ever read. The characters are flat, uninteresting, and unbelievable. The plot is ragged and threadbare without any unifying theme. The writing is amateurish, melodramatic and woefully unoriginal. Proof that hosts of lame Sunday morning news chat shows shouldn't attempt to write "Civil War archeological detective story as prototype for modern day strife" novels.

Apollo 13   by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, 382 pages Steve Gadd   05 December 2004 The book gives some background on the Apollo program and a detailed account of the unlucky mission. It was interesting to see that after the oxygen tank explosion, the oxygen supply problem was fairly minor. The ordeal was more a marathon of mundane challenges: keeping the ship oriented and warm, saving power, and modifying the ship's trajectory to actually return to Earth instead of becoming a permanent tomb orbiting the sun for centuries.

From Bondage To Liberty: Dance, Children, Dance   by Jim Rayburn III, 226 pages Brad Snyder   15 January 2006 A biography of Jim Rayburn, the founder of YoungLife, written by his son.

God's Politics   by Jim Wallis, 374 pages Jonathan Misirian   25 March 2005 Wallis shoots both the Left -for excluding spirituality out of the public square and at the same time takes on the Right -for representing a very narrow band of moral issues. Currently on the NYTimes Best Seller List and with good reason. Our current outlets for religiously infused politics have left both sides weakened.

The Great Awakening (2008)   by Jim Wallis, 320 pages Jonathan Misirian   08 April 2008 Seemed like a rehash of Walli’s God’s Politics. Little new ground broken in this mostly disappointing book.

Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather   by Jincy Willett, 323 pages Kristin Schrock   09 March 2006 I was trapped on an airplane (at the gate) for 6 hours. So I was very thankful that I always overpack my carry-on with books. This one was a very good read--Dorcas tells what really happened to her twin sister, Abigail.

A Very Civil War   by Joachim Remak, 185 pages James Donahue   22 August 2005 Remak portrays, with great illustrations and narrative punch, the Swiss civil of 1847. He compares it with the 1848 revolutions and the American Civil War, but his greatest skill is in portraying the individuals who made this conflict one of the least bloody in modern history.

Jane Fairfax (1990)   by Joan Aiken, 252 pages A Bennett   24 February 2004 Literary sequel to Austen's 'Emma', it, by its very nature, must present a case for a minor character of Austen's to become the protagonist and titular heroine of her own story. Not comparable to Austen by any means (there's not enough uncaged wit and vigor in the text for that), but an interesting exercise--even if, to pull of its central mission, Austen's heroine Emma, must, in contrast to the newly-imagined Jane, be portrayed in a less favorable light than even her (critical) creator chose for her.

The Year of Magical Thinking (2005)   by Joan Didion, 227 pages James Donahue   23 January 2006 Jen and I have read this at nights since my father has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Tough to get through, because it is so beautifully on the mark about grief.

Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life   by Joan Hendrick, 473 pages James Donahue   06 March 2004 Good detailed biography of the woman who thirved under the glare of being in America's premier evangelical family to become America's first celebrated novelist. But what she did to Byron was really inexcusible.

The Orchestra: Origins and Transformations   by Joan Peyser, ed., 646 pages Tony Pisarenkov   27 January 2008 A collection of essays on the various aspects of the symphony orchestra -- its development, history, social and commercial roles, its impact on the evolution of composition and conducting, etc. The quality of the essays varies greatly, but the best ones are quite good.

Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier   by Joanna L. Stratton, 267 pages Julie Gephart   28 June 2002 Recollections by women who settled in Kansas during the 19th century. For the most part, far more fascinating than I had anticipated, but the end got less interesting as it veered into politics and war.

Chocolat   by Joanne Harris, 320 pages Kristin Schrock   06 December 2002 I did not see the movie, but from the previews it seemed like "Juliette Binoche turns everyone into sex crazed chocolate fiends". Not that that's a bad thing. But the book isn't like that at all. In fact, hardly anyone gets some. Here's the gist: the Church is bad. Chocolate is good. Thus endeth the lesson.

Chocolat   by Joanne Harris, 306 pages Steve Gadd   26 December 2002 A small French town is transformed by the arrival of Vianne Rocher and her chocolate shop. Opposed by the local priest and his minions, she eventually prevails, armed with her tasty morsels. Now what's this about Juliette Binoche?

The Rhymer and the Ravens   by Jodie Forrest, 333 pages Julie Gephart   17 August 2002 Novelization of the ancient Celtic legend of Tomas the Rhymer. This novel also adds some Norse mythology when Tomas is sent to steal Thought and Memory, twin ravens belonging to Odin.

Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith (2008)   by Joe Eszterhas, 256 pages Brad Snyder   26 May 2009 Eszterhas brought us such movies as "Basic Instinct" and "Showgirls." Then, after smoking every day for 45 years, he came down with throat cancer. Then, the man who spent his life mocking God turned to him. Now a faithful follower of Christ, he talks about how his life has changed. This is the best such testimony I have ever read. His faith is infectious, his presentation is raw, and his story is encouraging.

Brewing Made Easy   by Joe Fisher & Dennis Fisher, 89 pages Steven Krise   03 October 2009 Like somebody created Cliff's Notes from the Cliff's Notes version of the New Complete Joy of Homebrewing. There's nothing to see here; move along.

Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon   by Joe Queenan, 188 pages Steve Gadd   10 October 2000 Bored silly with the highbrow culture to which he had become acustomed, this film critic decided to dive head-first into the worst of America's excesses: Cats, Yanni, "Encino Man," Geraldo, and Atlantic City.

Touching the Void   by Joe Simpson, 218 pages Mike Gadd   19 July 2005 Very similar to 'Into Thin Air' in it's compelling real-life drama. The writer tried his best to put his torturous experience into words without it becoming too cartoon-like. Very well done. Complete with good pix and a map for the cartographically inclined.

Touching the Void   by Joe Simpson, 215 pages Steve Gadd   01 July 2009

Why Things Are   by Joel Achenbach, 345 pages Steven Krise   06 September 2004 Why?

Defining Vision   by Joel Brinkley, 435 pages Steve Gadd   04 January 1999 Fascinating account of the race to develop high-definition television.

Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism   by Joel Carpenter, 317 pages James Donahue   09 October 2002 The book is meant to the continuation of Marsden's "Fundamentalism and American Culture." Carpenter examines how fundamentalism went underground after the Scopes trial to create a viable subculture only to re-emerge in the 1950s and even more so in the 1980s under Jerry Falwell. The book is esquisite, written by an ex-fundamentalist who is now the provost at Calvin College. I really recommend this book to those interested in a historical sense to the Cedarville experience.

The Emperors of Chocolate   by Joël Glenn Brenner, 324 pages Steve Gadd   28 January 2002 The author takes full advantage of her unique invitation to see Planet Mars from the inside. A fascinating history of the chocolate business in America.

The Sufferings of Young Werther   by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 160 pages Steve Gadd   26 April 1999 A moving and expertly written epistolary novel that created a sensation in its day.

Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management   by Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby, 167 pages Tony Pisarenkov   19 October 2007

The Legacy   by John Coyne, 246 pages Jeff Gadd   09 October 2002 Six peole come to inherity this castle,But they start to die,who will survive or die to gain inheritancy of the castle.

I Think, Therefore I Laugh   by John Allen Paulos, 155 pages Steve Gadd   12 June 1995

Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don''t Add Up   by John Allen Paulos, 158 pages Steven Krise   10 April 2009 A quirky, light read that critiques 12 classic arguments for the existence of God. With so few pages, there's not a lot of depth here, but it's a good overview of the topic, and, as the author notes, refutations of these "arguments" has been around for ages so there's not much new to say.

Richard Feynman: A Life in Science   by John and Mary Gribbin, 284 pages Steve Gadd   14 February 1998 The least worthy of all the Feynman material. They pad out the same information found in the better written Genius (by James Gleick) with tabloid revelations from personal letters.

Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil   by John Berendt, 386 pages Steven Krise   30 March 2003 The movie is much better.

Here Is Where We Meet (2005)   by John Berger, 237 pages James Donahue   12 June 2006 Berger, having passed eighty, writes of visiting various European cities where the dead come out to meet him. A chapter on Geneva is the reason I picked up this book, but I remained entranced since this is how I often feel about European cities, that they are so crowded with the dead.

The Secret Life of Laszlo Almasy: The Real English Patient : The Real English Patient (Hardcover)   by John Bierman, 304 pages Micaela Larkin   08 September 2005 The author surveys the truth and myth surrounding Laszlo Almasy, the subject of the novel The English Patient. Bierman proves that life is stranger than fiction in this decent account of a doomed desert lover.

Christianity in the West, 1400-1700   by John Bossy, 172 pages James Donahue   12 August 2003 A really excellent history of the Reformation from a historian with both Catholic and sociological sensibilities. Broadening for this Prot mind.

Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)   by John Buchan, 113 pages James Donahue   15 November 2007

Whipping Boy   by John Byrne, 498 pages Mike Gadd   21 January 2005 Slow read about a 15 year old boy with the ability to take everyone's pain and guilt away from all the bad stuff they ever did. It ends up being a temporary fix and violence ensues.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership   by John C. Maxwell, 233 pages Ian Hassell   24 February 2002 Good leadership principles from a very Western-Christian perspective. Left me wondering where God was in the leadership process.

Coding Techniques For Microsoft Visual Basic .NET   by John Connell, 633 pages Steven Krise   19 April 2004 Still trying to bone up on this new technology. Unfortunately, the author left out "For Dummies" in the title. This is an intro level text (where intro means "never programmed before"). The only highlight was the author's 2 chapter discussion on ADO.NET. If I had a dollar for everytime I read the phrase "does the heavy lifting", the book would have paid for itself. It certainly didn't pay for itself in any other way.

The Killing Kind   by John Connelly, 388 pages Mike Gadd   11 June 2002 Part 3 of the Charlie 'Bird' Parker detective series. He see's dead people. He shoots bad guys. He lost his family in episode 1 and has spent his time trying to ease the suffering of innocent people. The bad guy in this book uses spiders to do his dirty work. This one is good enough to continue with number 4.

Black Angel   by John Connelly, 496 pages Mike Gadd   15 August 2005 The strongest and best written of the series. The character builds in its complexity and you begin to see some of the bigger picture of why bad things keep happening to him.

Dark Hollow   by John Connolly, 489 pages Mike Gadd   22 March 2002

The White Road   by John Connolly, 408 pages Mike Gadd   02 November 2004 Nicely done story #4 featuring the haunted Charley Parker.

The Reflecting Eye   by John Connolly, 102 pages Mike Gadd   01 August 2005 A short story to continue the adventure of Charlie Parker. I don't like shorts as a rule. They are too limiting. I like to sink my teeth into the story and ride it out. I don't mind a 800 page book as long as it can carry you through.

Neanderthal   by John Darnton, 368 pages Steven Krise   25 February 2004 Col Kurtz with modern day Neanderthals, except not good.

War Without Mercy: Race Power in the Pacific War   by John Dower, 365 pages James Donahue   13 May 2004 A compelling read of the intense racial hatred in the 'clash of civilizations' during WWII. Dower has the unusual ability to discuss the Japanese and the American cases equally well. Chilling reading given our current international situation.

Embracing Defeat   by John Dower, 650 pages James Donahue   22 May 2004 Dower has written a remarkably comprehensive and readable (two traits not often paired) history of the American occupation of Japan. Great insight, and interesting to read while our current occupational efforts wallow in the mud.

Waking the Dead   by John Eldredge, 243 pages Jonathan Misirian   27 June 2005 Eldredge, author of Wild at Heart, returns to his similar theme of reclaiming the heart for Christ. Not as compelling as his WaH.

The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House   by John F. Harris, 504 pages Jonathan Misirian   03 March 2006 The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House Harris pulls together an insightful look into the character and personality that shaped Clinton’s 8 years in office. Both a sympathetic and unflattering Clinton emerges from the pages, which is probably the most accurate portrait of the man… His potential is only rivaled by his ability to self-destruct. A great read.

The French Lieutenant's Woman   by John Fowles, 366 pages Steve Gadd   09 September 1995

The Collector   by John Fowles, 288 pages Steve Gadd   08 February 1999 An unsettling narrative by the author of the more interesting The French Lieutenant's Woman.

The French Lieutenant's Woman   by John Fowles, 366 pages Steven Krise   29 May 2003 I don't think the author really flipped a coin.

The French Lieutenant's Woman   by John Fowles, 366 pages Steven Krise   17 August 2005 I still don't think he flipped a coin. And I still can't decide if the means by which the author inserted himself into the narrative (both as a character and as the overly self-aware narrator) is clever or not. Is this the first time we see the device of winding back a watch as the means to introducing the second of multiple "possible" endings?

The Collector   by John Fowles, 255 pages Steven Krise   16 February 2009 Very disturbing.

Grendel   by John Gardner, 154 pages Steve Gadd   05 September 1998 Very clever and memorable.

Grendel   by John Gardner, 174 pages Steven Krise   16 July 2003 He smashes me against it, breaks open my forehead. Hard, yes! Observe the hardness, write it down in careful runes. Now sing of walls! Sing! I howl. Sing! "I'm singing!" Sing Words! Sing raving hymns! "You're crazy. Ow!" Sing! "I sing of walls," I howl. "Hooray for the hardness of walls!" Terrible, he whispers. Terrible. He laughs and lets out fire. "You're crazy," I say. "If you think I created that wall that cracked my head, you're a fucking lunatic." Sing walls, he hisses. I have no choice.

The Wreckage of Agathon   by John Gardner, 279 pages Steven Krise   01 February 2005 I think there might something more going on underneath the story of a political dissident coming to grips with his mortality and the consequent "coming of age" of his disciple, but I'm not sure what it might be. Be sure to have your OED handy - dianoetic, canescence, pulchritude, brume.

The King's Indian   by John Gardner, 354 pages Steven Krise   25 February 2005 Three collections of short stories arranged into 3 "books". Author injects himself into the final story 8 pages from the end, apparently, to confirm that the book is mostly filled with nonsense.

Grendel   by John Gardner, 152 pages Steven Krise   27 April 2007 "You're crazy," I say. "If you think I created that wall that cracked my head, you're a fucking lunatic."

Grendel   by John Gardner, 174 pages Steve Gadd   11 May 2007 He stretched his wings -- it was like a huge, irascible yawn -- then settled again. "Things come and go," he said. "That's the gist of it."

The Sunlight Dialogues   by John Gardner, 746 pages Steven Krise   28 May 2007 "I'm boring you," Hodge said. And he knew it was true, or ought to be -- Millie, at any rate, would be bored, and rightly, rightly. So would a reader if this were all a novel.

The Art of Fiction   by John Gardner, 224 pages Steven Krise   13 January 2008 Great fiction can make us laugh or cry, in much the way that life can, and it gives us at least the powerful illusion that when we do so we're doing pretty much the same things we do when we laugh at Uncle Herman's jokes, or cry at funerals. Somehow the endlessly recombining elements that make up works of fiction have their roots hooked, it seems, into the universe, or at lesat into the hearts of human beings. Somehow the fictional dream persuades us that it's a clear, sharp, edited version of the dream all around us. Whatever our doubts, we pick up books at train stations, or withdraw into our studies and write them; and the world--or so we imagine--comes alive.

Grendel   by John Gardner, 174 pages Tony Pisarenkov   17 January 2008 Enjoyed it to a surprising degree. A lot of layers and a fair amount to chew on, especially for a book that starts with such a preposterous concept.

Freddy's Book   by John Gardner, 246 pages Steven Krise   29 January 2008

Mickelsson's Ghosts   by John Gardner, 590 pages Steven Krise   06 April 2008 I thought it was a story of one man's slow descent to the bottom (ala Fight Club) but Gardner threw in some back to back murder mystery twists in the last 50 pages.

The Art of Living and Other Stories   by John Gardner, 310 pages Steven Krise   13 May 2008 Gardner somehow always manages to get me to care about his characters.

Nickel Mountain   by John Gardner, 309 pages Steven Krise   07 February 2009

Grendel (audio)   by John Gardner, 0 pages Steve Gadd   23 June 2009 "My advice to you, my violent friend, is to seek out gold and sit on it."

The Resurrection   by John Gardner, 244 pages Steven Krise   15 September 2009 Gardner crafts a poignant story about the death of a man in his prime as a means of showing us his aesthetic theory.

Sex and Virtue: An Introduction to Sexual Ethics   by John Grabowski, 224 pages Micaela Larkin   16 July 2006 Virtue ethics meets theology of the body. Interesting read. It makes some telling points about the legalistic attitudes of the pro-contraception Catholic crowd.

Isaiah Berlin   by John Gray, 168 pages James Donahue   22 April 2003 An interesting examination of Berlin's combination of Romantic particularism and Enlightenment liberalism. Helpful background to Berlin's ever-so-readable intellectual histories.

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat   by John Gribbin, 302 pages Steven Krise   30 March 2002 Engaging survey of the history of the theory of quantum mechanics. Oddly, focused more on the double-slit experiment (which Feynman calls *the* fundamental mystery in physics) than Schrödinger's Cat paradox. Finishes up with a whole chapter devoted to the Aspect experiments that offer final empirical evidence that the Copenhagen Interpretation (as odd as it may seem) is correct.

The Chamber   by John Grisham, 676 pages Jeff Gadd   24 March 1999

The Runaway Jury   by John Grisham, 550 pages Jeff Gadd   21 May 1999

The RainMaker   by John Grisham, 598 pages Jeff Gadd   10 June 1999

The Firm   by John Grisham, 501 pages Jeff Gadd   26 June 1999

The Partner   by John Grisham, 468 pages Jeff Gadd   16 August 2001

The Brethren   by John Grisham, 366 pages Steven Krise   12 February 2002 A good enough book about politics, extortion, and government intrigue. Why do all of Grisham's books begin with an article, usually 'The'?

Skipping Christmas   by John Grisham, 177 pages Mike Gadd   20 February 2002

The Summons   by John Grisham, 341 pages Steve Gadd   02 March 2002 Another good story from John 'The' Grisham. For the record, the Also By page shows 13 titles, 10 of which begin with 'The.'

The Brethren   by John Grisham, 440 pages Steve Gadd   07 May 2004 Say what you will about John "The" Grisham, he's reliable for a quick read. Just compare the numbers on my last two entries: eye-opening, memorable travelogue/exposé, 6.5 pages per day; page-turning, forgettable, made-for-movies dirty lawyer conspiracy story, 88 pages per day.

The Innocent Man: murder and injustice in a small town (2006)   by John Grisham, 368 pages Jonathan Misirian   10 July 2007 John ‘The’ Grisham’s first work of non-fiction, examines what happens in small town America, when the police, DA, and the local judge all collude to conceal evidence, intimidate witnesses, and rush to make a conviction. The result, two innocent men find themselves locked up on death row. Grisham examines the entire story, painting a picture of corruption, hopelessness, and innocence behind bars. After spending over a decade behind bars, the men are freed primarily through the work of the Innocence Project. Gripping and sickening all at the same time, The Innocent Man reveals the injustices of our judicial system in a very compelling manner.

Apologia Pro Vita Sua   by John Henry Newman, 437 pages James Donahue   12 April 2003 Newman's defense and account of his conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism. Newman was one of the main leaders of the Oxford Movement in 19th century Britain, a movement devoted to combatting liberalism by returning the church to its orthodox roots. The book is very insightful and in many ways has mirrored some of my own thoughts. It is always amazing to me how one can reach across the centuries and touch a kindred spirit in another time and another place. The more things change. . . .

The Areas of My Expertise (2005)   by John Hodgman, 240 pages Brad Snyder   17 January 2009 Hodgman is best known as PC from the Mac commercials. This is a book of facts. Facts completely made up by Hodgman. He has a curious wit, one that grows on you as you read. Knowing what his voice sounds like added to the experience, making some passages much more funny.

The Water-Method Man   by John Irving, 272 pages Kristin Schrock   15 April 2002 Midway through the novel, the main character becomes the subject of a documentary called F***ing Up. In ways that I don't want to think about too long, I could really identify with him.

The World According to Garp   by John Irving, 609 pages Kristin Schrock   15 June 2003 Thanks to U.S. Airways and their faulty airplanes, I was able to finish this very entertaining, often poignant novel (despite Robin Williams on the cover). The more I read of Irving, the more I like him (his earlier stuff doesn't deal so much with incest). He's somehow able to combine humor and sadness in a way that makes me envy him. This one probably could've been cut back at least fifty pages, but he's a wonderful storyteller, so I'll let it slide this time.

A Confederacy of Dunces   by John Kennedy Toole, 462 pages Tony Pisarenkov   26 December 2003 In all of literature, Shakespeare included, there is no character more repugnant, deranged, conniving, self-absorbed, disconnected from reality yet able to pervert it to previously unfathomable extents, than Ignatius J. Reilly. A masterpiece of the ludicrous.

A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)   by John Kennedy Toole, 462 pages James Donahue   12 November 2007 One of the funniest satires I have ever read. An overweight, maladjusted, half-insane medieval studies MA terrorizes New Orleans and a cast of locals, putzing from job to job, mixing a passion for the lost wisdom of Boethius with his addiction to moral disapproval of teen-bop movies. A satire full of warning for anyone (like me) who cannot seem to get out of school!

A Separate Peace   by John Knowles, 196 pages Steven Krise   19 December 2004 The prose is well written even if the story is a cliche thrice over (coming of age story set in a New England boarding school during WW2).

Into the Wild (1996)   by John Krackauer, 208 pages Jonathan Misirian   08 April 2008 Krackauer’s novel became a movie directed by Sean Penn. The author traces the steps of the young Christopher McCandless who leaves his well to do suburban family and hitch hikes across the country, ending up in Alaska, where he ultimately meets his demise. McCandless becomes a cult hero of sorts, the kind of wandering existentialist philosopher who embodies the freedom and spirit of adventure.

What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam   by John L Esposito, 204 pages Steven Krise   18 August 2003 Book-length FAQ on Islam. It was hard to avoid hearing the bagpipes in the discussions about terrorists, but overall an informative read.

The Russia House   by John Le Carré, 431 pages Steve Gadd   15 April 2007 From the back cover: "An exciting spy story, which is at the same time a lively international comedy ... A well-informed, up-to-the-minute political parable, incisive and instructive ... rich ... poignant ... fascinating." --The New York Times Book Review. My excerpts from that same review would be different: "Portentous ... rather wooden ... Mr. le Carré is less good at portraying ... professional spies ... A sham and a mess ... distressing ... horse manure ... inherently pointless."

The Landscape of History (2002)   by John Lewis Gaddis, 151 pages James Donahue   12 August 2008

Handbook of Norse mythology   by John Lindow, 365 pages Steven Krise   28 November 2004 Insightful introduction outlining the author's theory of "mythic time" in the Norse mythos followed by an A-Z listing of gods, giants, and events based on the existing corpus of Norse mythology (i.e., skaldic and eddic poetry). Quite thorough with each entry extensively referenced.

The Right Kind of War   by John McCormick, 333 pages Jeff Gadd   20 November 1998

The Ape That Spoke - Language and the Evolution of the Human Mind   by John McCrone, 288 pages Steven Krise   24 January 2004 A discussion of how self-consciousness, higher emotions, and willful memory scans were built upon the foundations of the animal mind. McCrone believes language played the key role in providing the new organization for these structures, but it isn't clear if he thinks language evolved first for structure and then communication (like Bickerton) or vice versa. Either way uses an illuminating analogy of "nets" to describe brain function.

The Power Of Babel   by John McWhorther, 327 pages Steven Krise   22 December 2003 A treatise on language evolution exploring the myriad ways languages morph and change over time. Spent an inordinate amount of time beating the "dialects are all there is" dead horse. Interestingly, in the epilogue McWhorther addresses the improbability of Ruhlen's proto-World ursprache and echoes Bickerton's sentiment about creoles being the most accurate picture we'll ever get of what "Adam and Eve" spoke. It's weird to have your books converse with one another.

Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason   by John Milbank, 443 pages James Donahue   03 April 2002 THE theological book of the last decade. Milbank shows the erudition, attention to theological tradition, awareness of contemporary philosophy and critical thought (particularly postmodernism), detailed argumentation, and a fresh practicality that I wish other contemporary theolgians possessed. A must-read.

The Third Rumpole Omnibus (1997)   by John Mortimer, 739 pages James Donahue   04 July 2006 Ah. . . .Rumpole.

Max Weber: Politics and the Spirit of Tragedy (1997)   by John Patrick Diggins, 268 pages James Donahue   15 February 2008 Diggins knows a lot about Weber and sociology, but unfortunately he knows less about German intellectual history (except for the highlights) and extremely little (perhaps nothing) about Protestantism (or its supposed "ethic"). Because Diggins places Weber solely in a left-of-center intellectual canon, I think he misses quite a bit of Weber. Its a good book, but perhaps better for sociologists than for historians.

The Darker Side Generations of Horror   by John Pelan, 386 pages Jeff Gadd   16 September 2002

CERTAIN PREY   by John Sandford, 368 pages Jeff Gadd   04 October 2000

Silent Prey   by John Sandford, 374 pages Jeff Gadd   14 April 2001

Secret Prey   by John Sandford, 384 pages Jeff Gadd   20 April 2001

Sudden Prey   by John Sandford, 390 pages Jeff Gadd   18 May 2001

Eyes of Prey   by John Sandford, 358 pages Jeff Gadd   30 May 2001

Winter Prey   by John Sandford, 343 pages Jeff Gadd   07 June 2001

Night Prey   by John Sandford, 384 pages Jeff Gadd   17 November 2001

The Grapes Of Wrath   by John Steinbeck, 440 pages Erik Bauer   23 August 1999 The story of an Oklahoma family migrating to California in the 1930's. I read it when I moved from Ohio to California, I was more fortunate than the Joads.

The Log from the Sea of Cortez   by John Steinbeck, 288 pages Erik Bauer   17 August 2001 I wanted to read this before I took a trip down the peninsula of Baja California with my friend Joe, but alas, I ended up finishing the book after the trip. Regardless, the book was still great and is a unique blend of science, philosophy, and social commentary that is pure Steinbeck. I've read half of his books, and it was nice to read something more personal and humorous.

The Moon Is Down   by John Steinbeck, 118 pages Erik Bauer   18 November 2001 WW2 propaganda book like no other. Steinbeck's examination of the effects of war on both the aggressor and the occupied is possibly the best example of his understanding of human nature.

Of Mice and Men   by John Steinbeck, 107 pages Jeff Gadd   11 May 2002 Another Great Short Story.

East of Eden   by John Steinbeck, 601 pages Kristin Schrock   12 August 2002 Alternative title: Sympathy for Cain. I was expecting to have to slog through this, but it was surprisingly good. There are essentially two women characters: one is an evil whore (literally) and the other a good virgin. I think the evil whore is supposed to be Eve. Also, Steinbeck wrote his own house in Salinas, CA into the story. As in, 'Past the Steinbeck house.'

Cannery Row   by John Steinbeck, 123 pages Tony Pisarenkov   19 June 2006 Observation of the mundane taken to the level of high art. Amazing how enjoyable a book about nothing in particular can be.

Travels with Charley in Search of America   by John Steinbeck, 224 pages Steve Gadd   18 October 2009

Considerations on Representative Government   by John Stuart Mill, 270 pages James Donahue   19 February 2003

The Church and the Secular Order in Reformation Thought   by John Tonkin, 219 pages James Donahue   17 August 2002 An excellent summary on Reformation ecclesiology. Tonkin is especially interested in questions of corporativity/individualism and formalism/anti-institutionalism. The bulk of the analysis centers on Luther, Calvin, and Simons.

Terrorist   by John Updike, 320 pages Jonathan Misirian   28 September 2006 Updike revels in the different shades of grey that exist in our post 9/11 morally relevant society. His novel unites the lives and themes of radical Islamic cleric’s and their followers, the department of Homeland Security, a struggling painter, and an ethically bankrupt school guidance counselor… all of which leaves the reader to wonder if Updike’s didactic purpose goes too far.

Poker Night - Winning At Home, At the Casino, and Beyond   by John Vorhaus, 275 pages Steven Krise   05 April 2009 Suggestions, guidelines, and ideas about setting up and hosting your own poker home game. Includes discussion of poker variants, tournaments, and how to alter your strategy as you step out from the home game to public poker venues.

The Everything Poker Strategy Book   by John Wenzel, 289 pages Steven Krise   06 April 2008

The Everything Texas Hold 'Em Book: Tips And Tricks You Need to Take the Pot   by John Wenzel, 271 pages Steven Krise   30 March 2009

Cash: The Autobiography   by Johnny Cash, 320 pages Brad Snyder   07 November 2005 Cash is one of the most fascinating figures in modern music. He's a man that fought many demons, winning some battles and confessing his inability to win others. He battled drugs several times, only to face them again. His memories of his home life growing up, anecdotes about fellow musicians and movie stars, politicians, and Billy Graham are lucid and reveal much about Cash and those featured in the stories. Truly a complex man, and a great read.

Eiger Dreams   by Jon Krakauer, 186 pages Steve Gadd   22 May 2003 I wish I could find a hundred books like this one, a collection of 12 magazine articles, mostly from Outside and Smithsonian. Each one profiles a mountaineering adventure or disaster. Interesting note: K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, is regarded as the most difficult ascent. The is partly because it is so remote that no permanent human settlement is close enough to see it.

Into the Wild   by Jon Krakauer, 207 pages Steve Gadd   13 November 2007

American Gospel: God, The Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation.   by Jon Meacham, 399 pages Jonathan Misirian   14 August 2006 American Gospel is a gift to the polarizing debate regarding the historicity of religion’s role within America. Meacham deftly shows the failure of both the Right and the Left’s view of America’s religious roots. While both sides of the debate view the past through their skewed lenses, Meacham proposed a compelling argument for the role of religion w/n American politics. Expertly written, well documented, and truly fascinating!

America (the book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction   by Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, David Javerbaum, 227 pages Kristin Schrock   23 January 2005 Astute and funny primer on the U.S. Government. It successfully combines the respect for the system in place and the frustration of the system gone awry. I laughed and I learned some stuff--which, really, is not a bad way to spend your time.

Dry Heat   by Jon Talton, 224 pages Micaela Larkin   08 September 2005 The main character is a cop turned academic historian turned cold case detective in his native hometown of Phoenix. The author is the only insightful columnist in the local paper, and his books provide a nice overview of the nation's largest unknown city. :)

The Land of Laughs   by Jonathan Carroll, 253 pages Julie Gephart   27 December 2003 A loaner from my brother, so you know it was more Literary than my usual selections. Biographer researches the life of a cherished childhood author and finds out just how powerful the author’s writing really was. After moving to the (deceased) author’s home town, biographer eventually comes to realize that the entire town is populated by characters that the author literally wrote into existence. Everyone has the book that tells the whole story of each person’s life and death, and everybody feels that is a fine and grand way to live.

How to Be Alone (Essays)   by Jonathan Franzen, 278 pages Tony Pisarenkov   04 December 2002 A collection of essays on a variety of topics, loosely centered around the theme of conflict between today's hyper-technological society and the art of fiction writing. Although reactionary and whiny at times, this book will have a profound impact on how you define yourself and your role in society, assuming you define it in any way at all.

How to Be Alone   by Jonathan Franzen, 288 pages Steve Gadd   18 January 2003 It seems that about half the essays in this collection amount to an indictment of the dulling effects of pop culture and technology, especially in the way they have affected reading. Other essays cover on a variety of topics -- government at work in the post office and supermax prisons, his father's struggle with Alzheimer's, and his amusing encounter with Oprah. Thanks Tony for the gift.

The Corrections   by Jonathan Franzen, 568 pages Tony Pisarenkov   17 February 2005 Postmodern dysfunctional family novel par excellence, and so much more. Franzen is a brilliant social observer, and leaves no corner of our existence unturned. So emotinally vivid that it's difficult to read at times, but on balance, very powerful and well worth the effort. Thank you, Steve, for the gift.

The Corrections   by Jonathan Franzen, 566 pages Steve Gadd   16 March 2005 A powerful novel that manages to live up to its considerable hype. Franzen's knack for prose makes the character-driven story engrossing without needing much of a plot engine.

The Corrections   by Jonathan Franzen, 568 pages Kristin Schrock   24 August 2005 Boo, Jonathan Franzen for your bloated novel and for your pretentious back flap photo. It's a multi-P.O.V. novel--but only two of the four are interesting--and even then we're distracted by seemingly non-sequitir plot interruptions (Lithuania and stocks?). And doesn't help that the book is riddled with sentences like this: "....did the extent of the correction she was undergoing reveal itself."--we have a title! Amazon.com Stats: 8th grade reading level, the word "corrections" is used 293 times (that's about once every two pages)! Back to the shelf, Franzen!

Motherless Brooklyn   by Jonathan Lethem, 311 pages Kristin Schrock   29 July 2003 From the title, I was expecting a very heartfelt, deeply pretentious book. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a sort of noir detective story. With a twist. The main character has Tourrette's. A compelling story that only fell apart towards the end when we sort of lose touch with the main character and the story is chiefly driven by tying up loose ends. Maybe that's the problem with detective stories in general. But here's a line I dug: "Guilt never tires, learns nothing."

The Enlightenment Bible   by Jonathan Sheehan, 260 pages James Donahue   14 July 2005 An excellent history of the Bible as a translation project, a object of reverance, a weapon against theology, and a builder of moral virtue. Sheehan is primarily interested in how the Bible came to be seen as a fount of Western culture, and roots his analysis in both the English and the German traditions. Excellent read; very interesting.

Why Switzerland?   by Jonathan Steinberg, 192 pages James Donahue   22 August 2005 Excellent introduction to Swiss peculiarites. Historian wonders why Switzerland ended up so differently from the other European states -- no uniform national culture, no 20th-c wars, no centralized state, specialized economy. Very readable, even if the 1970s pessimism makes it seem a little bit dated.

The Grasshopper King   by Jordan Ellenberg, 200 pages Micaela Larkin   08 September 2005

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie   by Jordan Sonnenblick, 273 pages Brad Snyder   23 February 2008 A book my daughter loved and recommended. An eighth-grade boy comes of age through his brother's battle with leukemia.

Blindness   by Jose Saramago, 326 pages Jaqi Ross   10 September 2004 A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Death with Interruptions (2008)   by José Saramago, 238 pages James Donahue   02 January 2009 A beautiful novel that I cannot recommend highly enough.

Watermark   by Joseph Brodsky, 135 pages Tony Pisarenkov   28 January 2004 A collection of charming, whimsical, poetic, and occasionally self-absorbed vignettes about the author's peculiar relationship and love affair with the city of Venice.

The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness   by Joseph Conrad, 158 pages Steven Krise   17 March 2005 Conrad plays around a lot with the concept of duality. Interesting to see the little tidbits that made it verbatim into "Apocalypse Now".

Heart of Darkness   by Joseph Conrad, 132 pages Tony Pisarenkov   12 December 2008 Not too shabby for someone who didn't speak a word of English until age twenty-one.

Beowulf - The Donaldson Translation, Backgrounds, & Sources Criticism   by Joseph F Tuso (Ed.), 205 pages Steven Krise   02 September 2002 The Donaldson Translation is a more literal translation of the OE Beowulf manuscript and is interesting in that you get to see the kennings and metaphors of OE right before your eyes. Followed by a number of essays and essay excerpts advancing the myriad (and often contradictory) interpretations and analyses of the longest of Old English poems.

Dostoevsky: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849 (1976)   by Joseph Frank, 392 pages James Donahue   10 January 2007 After a decade of reading Dostoevsky, it occurred to me that I know little to nothing of his life. Frank’s series of biographies are said to be the best, and there’s nothing here to prove ‘them’ wrong. Frank is reacting against tendencies of critics to read Dostoevsky as a prophet, as an anti-bolshevik, or as a existentialist. In other words, Frank presents F-Dos as a 19th-century figure, not a 20th-century anachronism. This is a great history which situates Dostoevsky in the middle of the Russian liberals and literati up until his arrest and mock execution in 1849. (Read at John's apartment in Providence)

Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859 (1983)   by Joseph Frank, 304 pages James Donahue   15 January 2007 After his faked execution, Dostoevsky spent four years in the Siberian gulag and five years as a conscript. During this time Tolstoi, Goncharov, and Turgenev rose to the to of Russian culture while Dostoevsky traded in his romanticized view of the people for real-life, gritty experience with the Russian lower classes. F-Dos refers to this time as the "regeneration of my convictions." He emerged from his exile convinced of the importance of moral personality, the redeeming role for Russian culture in the future of the West, and the centrality of Christ for both of the above. In other words, he became the ‘Johnny Cash’ of the the Russian intelligentsia: cool, experienced, rebellious, and yet oddly old-fashioned. Special kudos to Frank who takes F-Dos' conversion and convictions seriously (no Freud or leftist conspiracy theories here), even though he does not share his subject's sensibilities.

Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation, 1860-1865 (1986)   by Joseph Frank, 375 pages James Donahue   26 January 2007 During these years Dostoevsky reestablished in Russian letters as an editor and critic of one of the premier journals of his time. He also lost his wife (after travelling to Europe to pursue a mistress who had run off with a Spaniard) and his brother (after travelling to Europe to gamble and write leaving his brother with the sole burden of running the journal.) Most of his works from this time are satires against the other literary journals that espoused the antihumanist socialism that he came to despise. Frank's reading of his most famous work from this time -- Notes of an Underground Man -- as a satire of his socialist rivals (rather than as the birth of existentialism or modernist interiority) brings out aspects of the book I had never considered before.

Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865 - 1871 (1995)   by Joseph Frank, 501 pages James Donahue   22 May 2007 The 'miracle' for Frank here is that F-Dos actually manages to get his life on track. He finally founds a stable wife (half-Russian, half-Swedish), rediscovers his faith in the Russian Christ (after an encounter with Holbein's portrait of a dessicated Christ), stops gambling (after blowing lots of money in Baden-Baden), and manages to produce three masterpieces in a reltively short time (Crime and Punishment, Idiot, Devils) that finally turn his literary potential into a literary career. The downside of this to me, the reader, was reading a much less interesting biography, half of which was literary analysis of his major works.

The Diaries of Joseph Goebbels (1939-1945)   by Joseph Goebbels, 1489 pages James Donahue   28 July 2003 Goebbels was third in command of the Third Reich, and in control of all media and film. (Also the subject of my next research paper for school.) These diaries are exquisitely detailed, giving one an excellent window into Hitler's regime. Three bizarre facts: 1) Goebbels had a severely clubbed foot, yet never mentions it even once in his diaries, although he does discount several other people as "genetically inferior" for being handicapped; 2) He loved and admired the movie "Gone With the Wind"; 3) This quote: "The greatest propaganda of any state is the news; this is always the case no matter what state."

Closing Time   by Joseph Heller, 468 pages Steven Krise   03 March 2003 I think it's supposed to be absurd and pointless so my characterization of it as luke-warm owl droppings may be a bit naive.

Following Christ   by Joseph M. Stowell, 223 pages Ian Hassell   24 February 2002 Excellent book - turns traditional "spiritual leadership" on its head. The emphasis of our lives should be Followership, not Leadership. Great contrast to my last book.

Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam (2006)   by Joseph Ratzinger and Marcello Pera, 135 pages James Donahue   30 January 2007

Job (1930)   by Joseph Roth, 192 pages James Donahue   29 October 2008 A beautifully written book about a Russian Jew in the early twentieth century who becomes a plaything of the Lord.

Gods in Alabama   by Joshilyn Jackson , 275 pages Mike Gadd   24 October 2005 This was the book I thought 'Secret Life of Bees' was going to be. Touching and humorous, it also wrapped up well.

TR: Preacher of Righteousness (2008)   by Joshua David Hadley, 320 pages James Donahue   22 August 2008 Hawley's justification for writing yet another biography of TR is that he intends to look behind his celebrity-style persona and his rough rider image and examine the intellectual foundations of his life. He treats TR more as a political philosopher (sometimes exposing rather painful conceptions and placing them in the context of Edwardian America) than as a political actor. When Hawley does do this, his biography is second to none. When he laspes instead into TR's political slugfests and the socio-economic characteristics of the Gilded Age, the biography loses its zip and becomes a bit more rote. Still, I think it is the most useful biography of TR for the scholar, or for anyone interested in religious ideas translated into political action, but at times it may not be the most interesting one.

Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison   by Joshua M. Greene, 320 pages Brad Snyder   17 July 2006 I saw this and checked it out of the library because the author of the Beatles book I read earlier this year said that George had embraced more traditional Christianity in his later years. I had never heard that, and quickly learned that I apparently knew more than that particuluar biographer about the subject. This book had more gurus and long Indian names than you can shake a stick at. Interesting in that this book illumined so much of what made this Beatle tick, and some of the stories about the music and musicians he ran with were fun to read, but over all, kind of "eh".

Sophie's World   by Jostein Gaarder, 513 pages Steve Gadd   04 May 2002 "Ladies and gentlemen, we're floating in space!" This would have been just a cute and clever novel about a Norwegian girl. Add an unpretentious history of philosophy and it's a European bestseller. A pleasant introduction or review of philosophy.

See Jane Run   by Joy Fielding, 404 pages Kristin Schrock   30 November 2002 This book asks the question: What if Notorious were a lifetime original movie? We've got a wife with amnesia, a Bad Husband who drugs her, and a terrible, terrible secret that threatens everyone (I said, Everyone)! Mindless and a quick read, and for some reason I'm a big fan of the amnesia plot (except on 24, that was no good).

The Tattooed Girl   by Joyce Carol Oates, 307 pages Jaqi Ross   16 August 2004 A disappointing read by one of my favorite authors. "Alma," the main character, is evasive and unsympathetic, while her Jewish/non-Jewish employer is equally unlikeable. Not a recommended read, despite my love of Oates.

Poker Face   by Judi James, 256 pages Steven Krise   24 July 2009 Sort of like "Lie to Me" meets "Poker After Dark". The key is to practicing studying people's behavior so you can learn to compare the performed gestures with the unconscious leakage and microexpressions to see if the two classes of behaviours are congruent. Incongruent signals = bluffing.

Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex   by Judith Butler, 284 pages James Donahue   19 April 2003 Its the day before Easter, a beautiful day, and I am sitting here in my office reading about the politics of drag, the limits of the Lacanian real, and the subversiveness inherent in the (re)iterability of performative gender-naming. How did it come to this? Thank God my semester is almost over and that vacation is almost here. Perhaps then I will not be cluttering up this board so much.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing   by Judy Blume, 120 pages Brad Snyder   12 June 2006 You know you're getting old when you go to the library with your kids and check out a book that you just "know they'll love" because you loved it when you were their age. I presented it to them in the same way my fourth-grade teacher at Gaithersburg Elementary did to me, by reading it out loud. They loved it.

Superfudge   by Judy Blume, 178 pages Brad Snyder   19 June 2006 Another book from my childhood that I read to my kids. The sequel to "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". Being a dad is the coolest...

Fudge-A-Mania   by Judy Blume, 147 pages Brad Snyder   02 July 2006 Fudge rides again in part three of the "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" series. Not nearly as funny as the first two, but the kids liked it.

Double Fudge   by Judy Blume, 213 pages Brad Snyder   30 July 2006 More out-loud reading to my kids. This is the final book in the "Tales Fourth Grade Nothing" series. Better than the last one.

Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great   by Judy Blume, 138 pages Brad Snyder   20 November 2006 The one book of the "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" series that deals with the precocious, know-it-all Sheila Tubman. Actually rather boring, but my youngest daughter appreciated it.

Summer Friends   by Judy Blume, 399 pages Micaela Larkin   26 June 2007 Dumbest book ever. I should not have picked it up!!

La vuelta al mundo en ochenta días   by Jules Verne, 326 pages Steve Gadd   01 October 2008 Cuando dije que apuesto- respondió Stuart : es en formalidad. Aceptado -dijo Fogg: y luego, volviéndose hacia sus compañeros, añadió : Tengo veinte mil libras depositadas en casa de Baring hermanos. De buena gana las arriesgaría. ¡Veinte mil libras!- Exclamó John Suilivan-. ¡Veinte mil libras, que cualquier tardanza imprevista os puede hacer perder! No existe lo imprevisto- respondió sencillamente Phileas Fogg. ¡Pero, Míster Fogg, ese transcurso de ochenta días sólo está calculado como mínimo! Un mínimo bien empleado basta para todo. ¡Pero a fin de- aprovecharlo, es necesario saltar matemáticamente de los ferrocarriles a los vapores y de los vapores a los ferrocarriles! Saltaré matemáticamente.

In the Time of Butterflies   by Julia Alvarez, 352 pages Micaela Larkin   10 July 2006 Dorm group-read, this is a lively book that fades in the last one hundred pages.

The Bird Yard   by Julia Wallis Martin, 340 pages Mike Gadd   09 October 2002 What a treat it is to get a book that's this good when you're not expecting much of anything. Rather creepy and extremely British. I almost needed an english/american dictionary to figure out what they were talking about.

A Likeness in Stone   by Julia Wallis Martin, 280 pages Mike Gadd   30 December 2002 This story went a different direction from what I was expecting. You don't get too deep with the characters but the story is strong. I liked where it ended up.

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters   by Julian Barnes, 307 pages Steve Gadd   31 May 1997

A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters   by Julian Barnes, 307 pages Steve Gadd   03 October 2000 This is a wonderful book. It reads like a 'best-of' collection of short stories, but they are all more or less directly linked to a central recurring image. Sort of a Milan Kundera with a self-effacing British sense of humor.

The Face In the Mirror   by Julian Paul Keenan, 278 pages Steven Krise   11 March 2008 Thus, based on these numerous intriguing studies, we can reasonable argue that the right hemisphere, once thought to be the "minor" hemisphere, may be a key player in self-awareness and mental state attribution. Our original definition of consciousness, we remember, invalved awareness of one's own thoughts as well as an awareness of another individual's thoughts. Thus, by means of a significant number of studies, the right hemisphere appears to be quite important for the formulation of higher-order consciousness.

The Ultimate Resource 2   by Julian Simon, 616 pages Steve Gadd   19 September 2005 In this relentlessly optimistic book, economist Julian Simon presents a wide body of data supporting the idea that practically all measures of human quality of life are improving. This includes health, environment, natural resources, energy, farmland, and waste disposal. The theory he presents to explain these historical trends should continue to apply in the future: rising incomes increase demand, causing temporary scarcity and price rises. Inventors and entrepreneurs search for solutions to these problems. Some fail and lose, but in a free society solutions are found that leave us better off than if the problem had not occurred. While Simon has been criticized as a "cornucopian" for describing a rosy future of ever-cheaper resources, his presentation of historical data is compelling and a nice antidote to popular doom and gloom prognosticators.

Child of the Prophecy   by Juliet Marillier, 528 pages Julie Gephart   28 May 2002 Give me some ancient Celtic lore and I'm happy every time. Third book in a trilogy.

Daughter of the Forest   by Juliet Marillier, 454 pages Julie Gephart   03 April 2004 It's a bad idea for me to start a Saturday afternoon television marathon with a special entitled "Secrets of the Celts," because then poor TiVo gets abandoned as I go dig out this old favorite book again. A familiar fairy tale is fleshed out wonderfully in ancient Ireland.

In Praise of Shadows   by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, 48 pages James Donahue   29 March 2004 A cranky old Japanese nationalist writes a beautiful and moving paean to the darkness, the simplicity of silence, and the mysteriousness of the hidden alcove. All to counter the garishness of the electric light bulb, the wastefulness of trying to alter one's environment, and the inanity of enlightenment.