| The Way of All Women by M. Esther Harding, 301 pages Micaela Larkin 21 June 2006 | To Begin Again: Stories and Memoirs, 1908-1929 by M.F.K. Fisher, 179 pages Tony Pisarenkov 29 February 2004 I wish this collection of reminiscences by one of the doyennes of American gastronomy was more about food and less about her childhood which, although remarkable in its own way, does not really deserve a memoir. |
The Halo Effect by M.J. Rose, 371 pages Mike Gadd 03 October 2005 Lousy story; horrible writing. One of the coworkers who I screen books for said her daughter highly recommended this book to her. I had to read it first to see if it's worthy. It took about 5 pages to determine that it wasn't. High school level quality at best. |
Beijing Coma (2008) by Ma Jian, 586 pages James Donahue 29 October 2008 Dai Wei lies in a coma after the student protests of 1989 have been brutally shut down. The narrative combines what he observes now with his memories of his former life, allowing us to contrast the romantic dreams of his youthful friends with the compromised actualities of modern-day China. Highly recommended. |
A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle, 211 pages Jennifer Dear 25 October 2007 |
Short Rations (1917) by Madeleine Zabriskie Doty, 274 pages James Donahue 25 August 2008 A book of Doty's firsthand experiences while traveling back and forth between Britain and Germany from 1914 - 1916 as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Remember when memoirs didn't have to be made up to become a bestseller? |
A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978) by Madeline L'Engle, 1978 pages A Bennett 25 October 2005 I have heard that certain Talmudic writings are slightly less didactic than this hollow, unsatisfying ‘novel’ (if you can even call it that). I did learn a cool new word for a model of the solar system, but I have forgotten it now, and am loathe to re-open the book to find it again. This book may have seemed cutting edge and relevant when it was written, but it now seems slightly hysterical in its nuclear obliteration fear-based narrative. |
Revolutionary France by Malcolm Crook, ed., 237 pages James Donahue 06 October 2002 Standard textbook on 19th-century France that includes separate chapters on often-overlooked subjects, such as religion, nationalism, the pays, and gender. A bit scattered if not accompanying a class. |
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, 288 pages Jonathan Misirian 04 October 2005 Gladwell’s latest is in the same vein as his The Tipping Point, an insightful look into the world of social psychology. Blink reveals that through training our brains can make effective rapid decisions. Gladwell combines a wide variety of experiences to validate his theory of how our brains function. |
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, 460 pages Steve Gadd 20 March 1996 |
The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell, 304 pages Micaela Larkin 01 February 2007 |
The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri, 304 pages Jaqi Ross 01 October 2003 Started as a short story in 1995. Inspired by the death of an actual man named Vishnu who had lived (and died) on the steps of the Bombay apartment building in Suri grew up. |
Catholic Revival in the Age of the Baroque by Marc Forster, 244 pages James Donahue 23 July 2004 |
Family History 101: A Beginner's Guide to Finding Your Ancestors by Marcia Melnyk, 138 pages Steven Krise 09 July 2009 So far, this is the best, most informative and useful guide on doing family history research. |
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, 395 pages Steve Gadd 21 April 1996 |
Wilderness Tips (short stories) by Margaret Atwood, 284 pages Kristin Schrock 08 April 2002 One of the great things about reading Maggie Atwood (or Mags as I like to call her) is that invariably the Mounties show up. And, usually, there's some mention of the war of 1812. I love Canada. |
The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood, 312 pages Kristin Schrock 09 June 2003 All the Atwoodisms are here: intelligent woman, satirical socio-economic observations, profound metaphors. The problem? It's incredibly, incredibly boring. I kept thinking, Mags, what's the haps? I was relieved to discover that this was her first novel. So she got better. Maybe I'll bring it up when I SEE her in Canada: So, Mags, your first book, not so hot. What happened? |
Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood, 374 pages Kristin Schrock 21 July 2003 This is Atwood in sci-fi mode. It's the end of the world, as we know it (and I feel fine). Snowman (our main character) thinks he's the last human on earth. Oryx and Crake (the love of his life and his best friend, respectively) are dead. He's the caretaker of Crake's newly created humanoid beings. He spends a lot of time lost in the past before and after things went terribly, terribly wrong. This one may go to the top of the list of books with frustrating (dare I say, infuriating) endings. What am I supposed to make of the last line: "Zero hour. Time to go." Go where? Do what? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Is this hopeful? Is Snowman about to talk a walk out into the ocean? I have no idea. So, although the writing is quite good (Mags never lets me down, there), I can't really recommend this one. |
Dancing Girls and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood, 240 pages Kristin Schrock 27 March 2004 Oh, Mags, how I love thee. This is a solid collection of short stories with a prevalence of dead babies and crazy women. Also contained this helpful sentence, "It is easier to love a daemon than a man, though less heroic." |
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, 349 pages James Donahue 30 December 2004 When I was a kid I always fantasized about being the last man on earth. Leave it to Atwood to turn those dreams into nightmares. Here the ever-outspoken Atwood opines her way through a Mad Max landscape of genetic horror, pollution, and class wars gone horribly awry. |
Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood, 346 pages Kristin Schrock 08 November 2005 An early novel from one of my favorite authors. A woman tries to start a new life but she can't quite escape the ghosts of her past--isn't that always the way. Atwood revisits similar themes in Cat's Eye with greater success. But it's Margaret Atwood, so it's still pretty good. Also, the Mounties show up and characters sit on chesterfields. |
Fundamentalism and Gender: 1875 to the Present by Margaret Bendroth, 156 pages James Donahue 08 October 2002 |
The Convert by Margaret Culkin Banning, 313 pages Micaela Larkin 08 August 2006 catholic fiction of the fifties-- I'm not sure it would convert me to the one holy true Church as Colbert would say! |
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, 862 pages Julie Gephart 02 November 2002 I've always avoided this movie because it looked like a swoony romance, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. I was hoping for a bit more growth from Scarlett by the end, but hey, who am I to argue with a classic? |
Lugard: The Years of Adventure, 1858-1898 (1956) by Margery Perham, 713 pages James Donahue 31 January 2006 Disgruntled evangelical suffers through British school system, joins the army only to serve in Afghanistan, then goes renegade warrior in Africa, teaming up with abolitionist missionaries to force British power into the center of Africa in a race against the Germans. To say his biography is Kipling-esque is to confuse cause and effect. |
Lugard: The Years of Authority, 1898-1945 (1960) by Margery Perham, 711 pages James Donahue 14 February 2006 Second half from below. From disillusioned adventurer, Lugard becomes a signature British governor of Nigeria and Hong Kong. Fascinating personal portrait of the ambivalencies of the 'white man's burden.' |
Margot Asquith: An Autobiography (1906) by Margot Asquith, 541 pages James Donahue 20 March 2006 Margot, wife of the PM Asquith, socialite of socialites in fin-de-siecle Britain, sums up her life thusly: "A Lot of love-making, a little fame, and even more abuse." |
Madame de Stael by Maria Fairweather, 474 pages James Donahue 28 July 2005 An excellent biography of the famous litteratrix, arch nemesis of Napoleon, matriach of French Romanticism, and general-all-around gender-bender. De Stael, whose homestead lay just outside Geneva, intrigued me because of my upcoming trip to her hometown, but the biography is so well-written and de Stael herself such a hoot, that I cannot but recommend this book to others with a general interest in the period. |
GIs and Frauleins by Maria Hohn, 295 pages James Donahue 31 March 2003 Good discussion of the Americanization of West Germany in the 1950s through examining the relations between American soldiers and German girls. |
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 247 pages Jonathan Misirian 21 February 2005 Fiction writing at its best. Gilead is the account of an elderly man writing to his young son. Gilead struck me as an American version of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons. Robinsons writes with a depth that is sadly missing from other novels. |
Housekeeping (1980) by Marilynne Robinson, 219 pages James Donahue 17 June 2007 Simply one of the most beautiful books I have ever read with that most rare of all quality in modern lit: completely original prose. "And here again a foreshadowing - the world will be made whole. For to wish for a hand on one's hair is all but to feel it. Whatever we may lose, very craving gives it back to us again." |
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, 876 pages Julie Gephart 14 March 2004 Fantasy meets religious philosophy, and fantasy loses. |
Special Topics in Calamity Physics (2006) by Marisha Pessl, 514 pages Brad Snyder 07 March 2007 Story of a girl named Blue and her itinerant professor father. After moving three times a year every year since Kindergarten, after the death of her mother, they settle down in a North Carolina town for her senior year. There, she falls in with a group of students called bluebloods who hang out with the mysterious Hannah Schneider, a teacher who is found hanging from a tree in the woods, prompting Blue to search out the identity of the killer. The resulting discoveries lead her to more questions and a surprising ending. |
Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart, 258 pages Micaela Larkin 18 April 2007 Do you remember the best summer of your life? This is the story of two Iowa girls who spend the summer of 1945 working at TIFFANYS. |
The Garden of Ediacara by Mark A S McMenamin, 295 pages Steven Krise 31 December 2008 For the longest time the Cambrian explosion was fossil evidence of goddiditlettherbelightanditwasgood until we started finding Pre-Cambrian fossils (oh noes). Some of the most perplexing and intriguing Pre-Cambrian fossils are those of the Ediacarans, which are trying their damnedest to defy explication and classification. Dr Mark has cracked the puzzle of the Ediacarans, though, and he shares it in chapter "The Penultimate One" - 12 I think. |
Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham, 432 pages Mike Gadd 17 August 2003 In a variation of the serial killer theme, this bad guy doesn't actually want to kill his victims, just cause a massive stroke that renders them motionless but fully conscious. It was a pretty good story for a first attempt. |
Black Hawk Down [audio] by Mark Bowden, 0 pages Steve Gadd 26 February 2000 The ill-fated American intervention in Somalia, as seen by both sides on the ground. A gruesome and gripping minute-by-minute account of modern urban warfare. |
BLACK HAWK DOWN by Mark Bowden, 427 pages Jeff Gadd 26 April 2002 Just like the movie a great book, hard to put down. Make's you feel like your there. |
Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden, 430 pages Steve Gadd 14 May 2002 Minute-by-minute, bullet-by-bullet account of the peacekeeping mission in Somalia gone awry. |
Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church (2006) by Mark Driscoll, 208 pages Brad Snyder 23 August 2007 Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and the man featured in Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz" as "Mark the cussing pastor". This book chronicles the joys and struggles that faced Driscoll and his church as they grew from a church of three families to over 4000. Mixing humor, frankness, and downright earthiness, Driscoll displays an earnestness for Scripture and theology and beats the drum for the purity of the Church and its mission to reach the world with the Gospel of Christ. |
The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out (2004) by Mark Driscoll, 204 pages Brad Snyder 24 October 2007 Driscoll lays out his philosophy of ministry, which he calls "reformission". |
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon, 226 pages Mike Gadd 30 January 2004 A superb little story written from the point of view of an autistic 15 year old boy. He finds the neighbor's dog has been killed in the front yard and he decides to write a mystery story where he solves the crime. He doesn't understand jokes or emotions and he's not capable of lying. When he gets stressed he counts to 50 while cubing each number in his head. You get a really good feel for what it's like to be autistic. |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, 226 pages Steve Gadd 09 October 2007 |
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, 484 pages Tony Pisarenkov 31 March 2008 Chock-full of fascinating random facts about salt and how it affected commerce and, through it, the rest of history, throughout the ages. Sadly, not very well written and poorly organized. More extensive comments here |
Christianity Made In Japan by Mark Mullins, 323 pages James Donahue 06 April 2004 A survey of indigeneous church movements in Japan that have deliberately cast themselves off from the West. Covers from Uchimura on. Mullins, a sociologist by training, writes and thinks wonderfully well. Some bizarre and intriguing melanges out there. |
America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln by Mark Noll, 568 pages James Donahue 17 October 2002 Noll's latest is a masterpiece. The book details how American Christianity became so unique, tracing its synthesis with republicanism and common-sense philosophy. His argumentation is solid, and his source base incredible. A vital book for anyone wishing to understand the cultural conditionings of their American church. |
The Gospel According to the Simpsons by Mark Pinsky, 164 pages Jonathan Misirian 05 April 2006 Pinsky delivers a compelling study of the spiritual themes that dominate The Simpsons. His commentary is astute and refreshingly honest. A must read for all serious fans of the show. |
The Ambient Century (From Mahler to Trance: the Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age) by Mark Prendergast, 473 pages Tony Pisarenkov 20 March 2005 An expansive survey of ambient and electronic musical styles and the musicians who made it, as well as other styles and influences that can in be connected with the larger idea of sonic ambience. Not particularly well-written, with a few (although not many) glaring omissions, rarely truly fascinating, but never less than interesting and a very useful resource for any fan of modern music, however you define "modern." |
The Early History of God by Mark S Smith, 197 pages Steven Krise 08 July 2003 Circa 1100 BCE, Israelite and Caananite culture are indistinguishable in terms of language and material culture. Smith traces the differentiation of Israelite religion and culture from its Caananite source culminating in the development of Israelite monotheism during the post-exilic period. |
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, 651 pages Steve Gadd 19 August 1997 |
Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps: How the NFL became the most successful sports league in History (2006) by Mark Yost, 250 pages Jonathan Misirian 12 May 2007 Yost, a sports writer, uses mostly-secondary sources for this unoriginal exploration into the fascinating world of the NFL. The NFL’s rise in revenue, market share, and viewership is truly a remarkable story; yet Yost falls victim to familiar techniques for 1st time writers: rehashing material already known, rehashing familiar interviews, and rehashing the same personalities that we are already aware of. |
Time's Arrow by Martin Amis, 165 pages Steve Gadd 19 February 1996 |
The Information by Martin Amis, 376 pages Steve Gadd 01 March 1996 |
London Fields by Martin Amis, 407 pages Kristin Schrock 16 January 2002 A strange story of a murder with a twist: the murder is orchestrated by the murderee. |
Time's Arrow by Martin Amis, 165 pages Steven Krise 21 October 2003 Sort of like "Memento" in book form, but not really. I believe this another of SGadd's many books I have in my possession. |
Time's Arrow by Martin Amis, 165 pages Steven Krise 25 January 2007 Here there is no why. The world is going to start making sense...now. |
Catholic Politics in Europe, 1914-1945 by Martin Conway, 105 pages James Donahue 02 December 2003 This book is good but not all that remarkable. So let me take this chance to say thanks for another year of comments and books. Its always a blast to see what people are reading and what they think of it. Have a merry X-mas. (I'm not a heathen, just a comic book fan.) |
Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith, 365 pages Jonathan Misirian 19 December 2005 The setting is the late 1970’s. A grisly crime occurs in Moscow. The KGB, an American executive, and a Russian detective play the main characters in this tepid novel. The author reveals the protagonist’s –Arkady- thoughts. Here’s a gem: ‘A stripped gun always struck Arkady as a cripple undressed.’ |
The Flight of Peter Fromm by Martin Gardner, 280 pages Steve Gadd 10 April 1996 |
The Night Is Large by Martin Gardner, 565 pages Steve Gadd 05 August 1999 This collection of essays written from 1938 to 1995 demonstrates the versatility of this author, perhaps best known as a purveyor of puzzles. |
Slicky Boys by Martin Limon, 387 pages Mike Gadd 27 May 2003 A soldier is murdered in post-war Korea and the investigator thinks the perp is a 'slicky boy'. Slicky boys are the kids who sneak into the army supply buildings and steal only 4% of the inventory. That's the limit of what's is written off as loss and replaced without question. I almost learned some Korean reading this. |
The Mystery of the Child (2007) by Martin Marty, 246 pages James Donahue 12 May 2008 Marty has been the premier Lutheran historian in the U.S. for decades. Now that he's emeritus, he can about whatever he wants. Hence this intelligent, unscientific, and extraordinarily helpful book on the Christian approach to parenthood. Avoid control, he advises, stop worrying about his future or what the books tell you is the perfect recipe for a 'good child.' Instead sit back and wonder. Let the child unveil himself, and then let the child expose the playful, trusting, awe-ful person in you. Learn from children how to wonder. (Part of me is sad that the modern academic rat race penalizes those of us with children - so much so, that Marty's welcome combination of theological reflection and grandfatherly joy reads to me like something from an age that is no more.) |
Evelyn Waugh: The Early Years, 1903-1939 (1986) by Martin Stannard, 504 pages James Donahue 30 December 2007 |
Old English Literature, Twenty-two Analytical Essays by Martin Stevens & Jerome Mandel (Eds.), 330 pages Steven Krise 08 September 2002 The title seems a bit overbearing but it's accurate for this in-depth and comprehensive set of essays. Detailed analysis of numerous Old English poems which probably gives a good overview of the consensus in the field at the time when the book was published (1968). |
The Jazz Tradition by Martin Williams, 301 pages Tony Pisarenkov 09 April 2007 Advertised as an attempt at a synthesis of history and criticism, this book is much heavier on the latter. Occasionally insightful, though Williams spends most of his time ignoring Duke Ellington prinicple that "if it sounds good, it is good." Thank you, Steve, for the present. |
The Gentle Civilizer of Nations (2001) by Martti Koskenniemi, 517 pages James Donahue 24 October 2007 An excellent history of international law. |
Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural by Marvin Kaye, 613 pages Jeff Gadd 01 November 2002 Mr. Kaye selected from author's he like,he choise his favorite story from them. Some scary and other's plain weird. |
The Oxford Conspirators: A History of the Oxford Movement by Marvin O'Connell, 456 pages James Donahue 24 April 2003 Whenever you ask a professor for a book recommendation he will inevitably recommend his own book on the subject. Having learnt this lesson I picked up Prof O'Connell's book on the subject which is magisterial in scope (read: too much detail.) Still an interesting subject for me. In 1833 a group of Oxford Anglicans centered around John Henry Newman hoped to revive the church through returning to first-century Christianity. Unfortunately they had little idea that the first-century was so darn Catholic and completely unlike their Protestant fantasies. Two decades most had converted to Catholicism and re-established the Church in England. I too often identify with these men, for I also have a passion for historical theology and am also too often stuck with Protestants who believe they are living an ancient faith that is entirely invented. Like Newman I feel the pull. |
German National Identity after the Holocaust by Mary Fulbrook, 248 pages James Donahue 31 July 2002 A magisterial survey of how public and collective memories diverged in the Eastern and Western halves of Germany. An excellent book for people interested in how the Holocaust has been dealt with in its cradle-land, or how national identities are formed and developed through public discourse. |
Piety and Politics by Mary Fulbrook, 189 pages James Donahue 08 September 2003 Fulbrook contends that pietistic religions (Baptist, Puritan, Brethren, Lutheran Pietist) participated in 19th-century revolutions not because of their theology or class, but because certain governments opposed them. Don't read if you're a Elizabeth I fan. (Yes, this is how I spend my time.) |
Good Boys and Dead Girls-- And Other Essays by Mary Gordon, 272 pages Micaela Larkin 23 June 2006 Raiding the Donahue's book shelf. Interesting! |
Dark Horse by Mary H. Herbert, 267 pages Julie Gephart 07 April 2002 This is that rare breed of fantasy novel in which the heroine actually bleeds and sweats and struggles to become a warrior. Of course, magic still rules in the end, but yay for swordplay! |
Lightning's Daughter by Mary H. Herbert, 259 pages Julie Gephart 26 April 2002 Much less compelling sequel to the enjoyable "Dark Horse." Still, you can't go all the way wrong with a breed of huge, noble, telepathic horses. I mean, they whisper wise advice in your head and everything. |
The Group by Mary McCarthy, 397 pages Micaela Larkin 18 May 2006 This 1963 book follows the lives of Vassar graduates through the 1930s-1940s. While the characters humanity in the text is inconstant, the well describe characters illuminate the intellectual and social milieu of the day. I think the best part of the book is the inner monologue of one character on why she can't share her visit to be fitted for a birth control device with her mother (who had ardently fought for such devices in a previous era as a clubwoman), and a later scene when she reveals her loss of virginity to her mother. http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/23/home/mccarthy-group.html |
Bull from the Sea by Mary Renault, 352 pages Micaela Larkin 16 May 2006 I'm taking on classic mid century paperback fiction books this month. This book might be of interest to you if you like Greek mythology, drifting conversations, and a slow pace. Not my cupt of tea! |
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach, 304 pages Jaqi Ross 20 August 2004 Visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. Quick, amusing read - plus it gets you funny looks on the Metro. |
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach, 294 pages Tony Pisarenkov 29 September 2005 So, what would you like to have happen to your body after you die? Dissection? Used for crash testing? Made into dumplings? |
Spook by Mary Roach, 300 pages Jonathan Misirian 21 February 2006 The unfortunately named author pens a witty overview of her search for scientific proof of the afterlife. Roach delves into history as well as modern science and concludes her search with doubt and skepticism. |
Stiff - The Curious Lives of Cadavers by Mary Roach, 303 pages Steven Krise 20 January 2008 After watching another five patients shed similar weight as they died, Macdougbhall moved on to dogs. Fifteen dogs breathed their last without registering a significant drop in weight, which Macdougall took as corroborating evidence, for he assumed, in keeping with his religious doctrine, that animals have no souls. While Macdougall's human subjects were patients of his, there is no explanation of how he came to be in the possession of fifteen dying dogs in so short a span of time. Barring a local outbreak of distemper, one is forced to conjecture that the good doctor calmly poisoned fifteen healthy canines for his little exercise in biological theology. |
The Vanishing Point by Mary Sharratt, 364 pages Micaela Larkin 13 September 2006 |
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, 162 pages Steven Krise 12 November 2003 What is it with Romantic characters, that they're such pansies? Vic could have saved himself a whole pantload of trouble if he'd just had the balls to ACT the moment he created his monstrosity and slaughtered it while it was still too disoriented to do much else than open/close its eyes and bump into things. What did he do instead? He went had himself a bit of a cry and then a good lie down. Oh, and I'm hard pressed to see what bearing this story has on any of the subsequent tales supposedly based on it. |
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, 206 pages Steve Gadd 25 February 2008 Spurned by his creator, all Frankenstein's monster wanted was a friend. Not a bad story for a 19-year-old author (and I just learned where she got her last name). The writing is as literary as you would expect from someone cooped up with master poets during the Year Without a Summer. |
Studies in the Intellectual History of Japan by Maseo Maruyama, 376 pages James Donahue 30 September 2003 In contrast to Bellah, MM provides a nuanced account of the thought of late medieval Japan. Thesis: that as medieval society dissolved, thinkers became aware that society was not natural, rather that it was something to invent, manipulate, and ground in personal authority. Written against the background of WWII, it serves as a lament for the inherently religio-authoritarian aspects of Japanese society. Readable by those with no background in Japanese philosophy (although knowledge of German helps). |
The Making of a Poker Player by Matt Matros, 286 pages Steven Krise 30 August 2009 Matt leads you through his path to a WPT final table-ist, using his experience as a guide to the beginning or novice player. |
Aimee Semple McPherson & the Resurrection of Christian America by Matthew Avery Sutton, 416 pages Micaela Larkin 17 June 2007 A++++ |
The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel (2008) by Matthew Quick, 304 pages Brad Snyder 28 February 2009 A man begins to recover from his mental illness with the help of friends, family, and the Philadelphia Eagles. |
Area 7 by Matthew Reilly, 507 pages Steven Krise 15 May 2003 Come here to stock up on your multi-syllabic-hypenated-descriptive-sounding-adjective-looking-word-like-things. Fairly good action sequences. Would be a much better movie. |
Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer by Maureen Ogle, 422 pages Steven Krise 18 June 2009 An thoroughly engaging, informative, and well-documented history of commercial beer brewing in America. The story begins in the frenetic frontier towns of Milwaukee an St Louis in the 1840s and traces all the important brewers and the events that shaped American brewing up through the early 2000s. |
CSI: Double Dealer by Max Allan Collins, 310 pages Steven Krise 27 August 2003 Man, it's been slow here lately. Barely half a dozen books in two weeks. This was a fun, quick, easy crime drama read based on the CBS series. Noteworthy item, the author also wrote "Road to Perdition". |
Jennifer Government by Max Barry, 320 pages Kristin Schrock 01 October 2004 In a not too distant future, the world is composed of corporation nations--even the Government is a corporation. And one enterprising executive decides to wage war (literally) against his competitors. A breezy satire that hit the spot. |
Jennifer Government (2003) by Max Barry, 321 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber, 292 pages James Donahue 13 April 2002 The classic account that traces the origin of modern deracinated capitalism to the Calvinist need to prove one's election and calling. Thanks for reminding me of this one Gareth. |
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-1905) by Max Weber, 234 pages James Donahue 17 February 2008 I like this book not because it is correct (I don't think it, but is is fecund in being wrong), but because every time I come back to it (this is my what? eighth? twelfth? time) I discover something new. It is an incredibly ambitious and subtle work: a tough combination to pull off. (Don't you love the blissfully unnecessary and rambling things people put into their parenthesis, as if the rules of grammar, logic, and/or taste do not apply within the sanctuary of these blessed half-circles, he said rhapsodically.) |
Syrup by Maxx Barry, 294 pages Kristin Schrock 15 December 2004 Not as biting as Jennifer Government, but still a sharp look at corporate politics. His observations of marketing techniques are eerily accurate. |
Syrup: A Novel (1999) by Maxx Barry, 294 pages A Bennett 03 February 2005 Probably a little more surprising if you haven't first read Jennifer Government. While I still find Barry's style breezy and entertaining, his twice transplanted revenge stories and similar female characterizations that were quite fresh the first time around, do give me pause on a second helping. But that's faint criticism when we live in a world where light entertainment of quality is no easy thing to find. (A-) |
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, 304 pages Julie Gephart 21 January 2004 Hard autobiography of a hard childhood. Here's your trivia: her real name is Marguerite, and her beloved brother gave her the nickname "Maya" for "mine." |
Unknown Destination by Maya Rasker, 214 pages Kristin Schrock 13 June 2003 A woman goes out to buy cigarrettes never to be seen again. Her husband tries to assemble the memories of his life and his marriage that lead up to her disapperance, touching on ideas of memory and truth. There's a creepy distance to the voice of the husband which is compelling, even though I was able to predict the ending. |
Size 12 Is Not Fat: A Heather Wells Mystery by Meg Cabot, 368 pages Micaela Larkin 21 April 2006 The author of the Princess Diaries dynasty takes on mystery. What happens if an ex-teen pop princess has to solve the mysterious deaths of NYU students in the dorm elevators? This cozy is comfortable, smart, and a good mystery. |
Angel Redemption by Mel Odom, 305 pages Jeff Gadd 18 June 2002 |
Buffy Crossings by Mel Odom, 243 pages Jeff Gadd 04 November 2002 |
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks, 274 pages Kristin Schrock 08 November 2003 A surprisingly solid collection of stories with the exception of the title story. This one was a take on the "Rules" on how to get a man. And, what do you know, the main character realizes that the "Rules" don't work, and to land a man she should just really be herself. Quel Surprise! But, of course, she didn't get the ring, so maybe that's not the lesson that we were supposed to learn. |
Hurricane Watch by Melissa Good, 407 pages Julie Gephart 09 June 2002 Hey, it's uber-Xena, set in modern day Miami. Bloodthirsty warlord or ruthless corporate raider, any Xena is a good Xena. |
Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field by Melissa Nathan, 279 pages Kristin Schrock 15 July 2002 Recommended to me by someone at the library when I said that I loved Pride and Prejudice. That, of course, didn't mean that I needed to read the same book by a different author. It's about a bunch of people putting on Pride and Prejudice as a play and what do you know! People start acting like their characters! Quel Surprise! Fun with typos: at the beginning of the book it says that Elizabeth and Darcy will share a song at the end. So I'm expecting them to bust out with, 'Look at us, aren't we a pair!' . No song. They share a SNOG. 'cuz it's British and all. Egret count=0 |
Little House by Boston Bay by Melissa Wiley, 195 pages Julie Gephart 01 September 2002 Heaven preserve me, who knew there were more Little House books? This one, about Laura's grandmother, didn't have quite the same charm, but it was still chock-full-o delightful details of how to sand a floor and make pounded cheese. |
Little House in the Highlands by Melissa Wiley, 271 pages Julie Gephart 26 October 2002 Aye, it's the old Scottish highlands, where the wee bairns play a game of Picts and Scots on the hillside and we all enjoy a fine haggis on Hogmanay. |
The Far Side of the Loch by Melissa Wiley, 250 pages Julie Gephart 22 November 2003 When you’re getting too many beetles in your food, just remember that the solution is as simple as having a live hedgehog come to live in your kitchen. |
Down to the Bonny Glen by Melissa Wiley, 321 pages Julie Gephart 14 March 2004 In this volume, I learned the proper method for harvesting flax, as well as how to permanently set dye using the two-week-old contents of a chamber pot. |
Beyond the Heather Hills by Melissa Wiley, 189 pages Julie Gephart 05 June 2004 It was a wasted book without one single new skill to pass along. |
Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs (2008) by Melody Petersen, 430 pages Jonathan Misirian 08 April 2008 As an investigative reporter for The Times, Petersen presents a scathing indictment of an industry loosely regulated and focused on profits. Petersen digs deeply into the marketing of all sorts of medications and shows that the worst thing that could happen is that a disease could be cured! So to prevent a dramatic loss in profits, many companies are turning towards quality of life issues, turning them into previously unheard-of medical conditions and treating them with medication. Witness the recent ads for ‘restless leg syndrome’ or ‘overactive bladder.’ The strength of this book lies in the evidence of the dramatic increase in medication consumption, especially in children. Maybe ‘psycho’ Tom Cruise isn’t all that crazy? |
The Dictionary of Failed Relationships: 26 Tales of Love Gone Wrong by Meredith Broussard, Editor, 296 pages Jaqi Ross 25 July 2004 Broussard got the inspiration for this collection from having her heart trampled on. The result of that break-up (which she describes in the introduction) is this collection of 26 stories, an A-Z primer on heartbreak by a group of talented young women writers. The focus is on young authors, and unfortunately, their talent doesn't exactly shine. Not recommended. |
The Origin of Language by Merrit Ruhlen, 239 pages Steven Krise 17 November 2003 By offering exercises for the reader to complete, makes a case for linguistic monogenesis. Employs general taxonomic principles known since Darwin and in common practice among the biological sciences, but which (if the author is to be believed) modern linguists are largely unaware. Culminates with a discussion of Renfrew's "Emerging Synthesis", showing how recent genetic studies by Cavalli-Sforza are consistent with Greenberg's classfications in Eurasia, Africa, and the New World. |
A Brother's Blood by Michael C. White, 323 pages Mike Gadd 16 October 2002 This has to be the slowest moving whodunit I've ever read. The subject matter seemed reasonable enough, it just went nowhere and took too long to get there. I did learn that there was a POW camp in Maine that held Germans during WWII. For the story, a prisoner escapes and drowns in a nearby lake. Jump to present day and the prisoner's brother is in town asking questions about what happened. Nobody's talking. Not a good way to move a book along. The story leaked out like it was being leached from a stone. |
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, 636 pages Kristin Schrock 03 September 2003 I picked this one up mainly because of the pretty-pretty cover. The fact that it was a pulitzer winner was secondary. I was pleasantly surprised. The tale of two cousin comic book creators during the Golden Age of Comic Books. Featured World War 2, Antarctica, super heroes, and a whole bunch of angst. What's not to love. Recommended Vocabulary: acromegaly, gelid, chorine, faience, paturition, aetataureate, tergiversations, opprobrium. |
Sphere by Michael Chrichton, 371 pages Steve Gadd 21 December 1995 |
Next: A Novel by Michael Chricton, 423 pages Micaela Larkin 04 May 2007 Do you own your genes? |
City of Bones by Michael Connelly, 394 pages Mike Gadd 25 May 2002 Another in the series of Harry Bosch crime solvers. There must be at least 7 by now. This one falls in the middle of the pack. It's a 25 year old murder case that strikes close to Harry's childhood. It didn't have the suspense of a current case where he's out there chasing the bad guy. His personal life never catches a break either. Still worth reading and I look forward to the next one. |
Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly, 372 pages Mike Gadd 07 November 2002 I've read 11 Connelly books up to now and I've enjoyed them all. Some were better than others but they were all worth reading. Until now. What a dud. It's as if he lent his name out to some high school kid and let him right a story. This book introduced a new main character and I wish he had been killed off at the end. I hope we don't see any more with this guy. In April another book comes out with the previous character and we can get back on track. |
Blood Work by Michael Connelly, 498 pages Steven Krise 15 May 2003 They're hardly divisible, sir - well, I can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and I can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and I can do you all three concurrent or consecutive, but I can't do you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory - they're all blood, you see. |
Lost Light by Michael Connelly, 360 pages Mike Gadd 04 June 2003 Harry Bosch is back. Thank goodness. The last Connelly book was so incredibly awful I'm choosing to forget that he wrote it. This book had a wonderful ending that had nothing to do with the main story. |
Chasing The Dime by Michael Connelly, 436 pages Steven Krise 14 October 2003 Another LA crime drama from the author of Blood Work. Set in the intersection of a cutting edge nanotech computer and an online prostitution ring. |
The Narrows by Michael Connelly, 405 pages Mike Gadd 09 June 2004 Back on track with Harry Bosch. Now we're pulling in characters from past novels that weren't related before. It was fun seeing these characters complain about the roles they played in the 'Bloodwork' movie. |
The Closers by Michael Connelly, 416 pages Mike Gadd 20 August 2005 Harry Bosch is back at the police force working 'open/unsolved' cases. He finally makes it through a whole book without his life falling apart in the process. |
Prey by Michael Crichten, 367 pages Mike Gadd 09 December 2002 Very disappointing. I expected a much better effort. The subject matter seemed so promising too. It wasn't for a lack of research on his part, it just wasn't a very good story. 'Timeline' was so much better. Maybe next time. |
Airframe [audio] by Michael Crichton, 0 pages Steve Gadd 29 March 2000 A thriller set amid the political drama of the aircraft industry, sure to become a movie before long. |
Timeline by Michael Crichton, 444 pages Steve Gadd 17 June 2000 An imaginative and well-paced take on the time travel theme. The detailled and engrossing scenes of medieval life and combat reflect a good deal of research on the author's part. |
Timeline by Michael Crichton, 440 pages Jeff Gadd 13 July 2000 |
The Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, 211 pages Steven Krise 27 July 2002 Crichton''s ''re-telling'' of Beowulf. Working on the premise that led to the discovery of Troy and the Hittites (namely that many myths have some historical event grounding them), Crichton uses a 10th century Arabic text about an encounter an emissary from the Caliph of Baghdad had with Vikings in Russia to construct the 'factual' events that may have been the foundation for ''Beowulf''. Read through to the end for an intriguing hypothesis on who Grendel really was. Should be a treat for any Beowulf fans. |
Prey by Michael Crichton, 363 pages Jeff Gadd 31 December 2002 Not one of my favorite M.C. books, but interesting enough. Of Course I don't Know what Nanotechnology is or what a Nanoparticles were or how they worked them. A book for technologics for sure. |
Travels by Michael Crichton, 416 pages Steve Gadd 29 November 2003 Turns out the guy behind "Jurassic Park" and "ER" is a hardcore globetrotter. He starts off with stories about his days in medical school, when he wrote thrillers to pay school bills. After moving to California and finding success in Hollywood, he began travelling to exotic places in search of new experiences. He climbed Kilimanjaro, dived with sharks, sat around with African gorillas, and sought out jungle headhunters. Meanwhile, he explored the nutty fads of California -- psychics, spoon bending, meditation, auras. His training in science makes these passages interesting. He is open to anything, but remains skeptical even as he has experiences he can't explain. |
Five Patients by Michael Crichton, 228 pages Steve Gadd 05 December 2003 Meandering, dated essays on medical practice in the late 1960's, when he was working at Massachusetts General Hospital. |
Disclosure by Michael Crichton, 497 pages Steve Gadd 27 December 2006 As usual, Crichton has done his homework and includes some interesting factual background on his theme, in this case the legal consequences of sexual harassment in the workplace. The plot was engaging enough to be a quick read, but hardly compelling. The surprise ending was in the postscript revealing that the book is based on a true story, but it has been so obfuscated that it hardly matters. |
Representing Belief: Religion, Art, and Society in 19th-century France by Michael Driskel, 279 pages James Donahue 22 September 2002 Examines the religious art of the period. Argues that avant-gardist art of the 1910s was not unique, but predicated upon the previous art of Catholicism. Themes: Byzantine influence, anti-Romanticism, tensions between Catholicism and Republicanism in France. Could have used some color photos, but too damn expensive. |
Beam Me Up, Scotty by Michael Guinzburg, 243 pages Mike Gadd 02 February 2005 |
A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan (2006) by Michael Kazan, 306 pages James Donahue 05 May 2006 Good terse biography that purports to put Bryan's faith at the center of the story. Yet, to me, Kazan seems religiously tone-deaf, unable to do much with Bryan's faith other than repeatedly point to it. I get the feeling that Kazan is not nostalgic for a time when religion still mattered in presidential debates so much as nostalgic for a time when heartland evangelicals still voted Democratic. Very readable, informative, engaging, but still a bit disappointing to me. |
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis, 299 pages Jonathan Misirian 30 November 2006 Lewis weaves two intersecting stories: the rise in prominence and worth of the NFL’s Left Offensive Tackle and the rise of the most heralded high school player to play left tackle Michael Oher. Oher’s story is inspiring, for very few have survived the depths that were his life. An excellent read. |
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, 288 pages Micaela Larkin 15 January 2007 This book chronicles the personal story of Michael Oher and a engaging account of the rise of the position of left tackle. I loved it. |
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, 288 pages Micaela Larkin 13 February 2007 |
The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans watch Baseball, Football and Basketball, and what they see when they do (2004) by Michael Mandelbaum, 332 pages Jonathan Misirian 01 March 2007 Professor of American foreign policy at John Hopkins University, and an avid sports enthusiast, Michael Mandelbaum follows Toffler’s overview of the three waves of civilization and identifies how our American sports leagues lines up with the agrarian, industrial, and now informational paradigms of society. A great report of the intersection of society and sports. |
Foch (2003) by Michael Neiburg, 117 pages James Donahue 29 January 2006 Its pretty sad when your pleasure reading is so related to your research. Right now I'm reading through the minutes of the Paris Peace Conference (1919), and I kept wondering who this petulant, overbearing, shunted aside world hero was as a person. Winner of the fields of France, not allowed near the peace tables since he kept single-mindedly pushing for an invasion of Bolshevik Russia. |
Haunted America by Michael Norman & Beth Scott, 506 pages Jeff Gadd 17 November 2002 Small story's about ghost in people's home's,building's,and near other structures. Every state has a ghost story of some sort. Do you believe in ghost, Do I? These people do. I guess seeing is BELIEVING. |
Haunted America by Michael Norman& Beth Scott, 506 pages Jeff Gadd 20 March 2003 A book of short stories of legendary ghost stories from across America and Canada. Very interesting if your into ghost. |
A New Generation: Catholic and American by Michael Novak, 205 pages Micaela Larkin 16 July 2006 |
Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje, 307 pages Mike Gadd 07 February 2002 |
Rift in Time by Michael Phillips, 480 pages Mike Gadd 02 May 2002 |
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A natural history of Four Meals by Michael Pollan, 410 pages Jonathan Misirian 16 July 2006 Pollan writes masterfully. He traces the genesis of corn, beef, boar and chicken from the field to the kitchen table. His chapter on Animal Rights is truly exceptional. For those who love to read lucid writing and who enjoy eating a sumptuous meal. |
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, 464 pages Micaela Larkin 29 June 2007 A++++++ Corn is in everything we eat! |
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History in Four Meals by Michael Pollan, 450 pages Tony Pisarenkov 04 November 2007 This book has generated a healthy amount of heated debate, so it's not really my place to offer any sort of critique here. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed it tremendously and heartily recommend it to everyone. |
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, 415 pages Steve Gadd 05 February 2008 It's no surprise that corn finds its way into everything we eat, but the story of how corn became dominant is pretty interesting. Pollan also gives a mercifully brief look at industrial meat processing and makes vegetarianism sound pretty appealing. But a chapter later he has you ready to pick up a gun and go hunting. An engaging look at where modern food comes from. Thanks to Tony for the gift. |
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan, 244 pages Tony Pisarenkov 06 January 2009 Though it lacks the adventure of Pollan's best-seller "The Omnivore's Dilemma," and comes off as far more polemical, I still found it informative and, dare I say, inspirational. You could say I drank the Kool-Aid, though as a processed food with artificial ingredients, it wouldn't qualify. |
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, 360 pages Jeff Gadd 12 September 2002 A book about the famous Gettysburg fight and how both sides saw it at the end. |
Ghoul by Michael Slade, 380 pages Jeff Gadd 15 April 2003 A very nasty killer who comes out of the sewers of London,and starts killing people in different ways to throw off the police. |
X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole, 388 pages James Donahue 26 March 2007 |
X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble (1996) by Michael Stackpole, 357 pages James Donahue 09 April 2007 Did you know that when the Rebel Alliance retook Coruscant, the Empire released a virus into the planet as they left town? Those dastardly bastards! |
X-Wing: The Krytos Trap (1996) by Michael Stackpole, 355 pages James Donahue 15 April 2007 Did you know that Emperor Palpatine kept trophies from Jedi Knights that fell into Rebel hands when they liberated Coruscant? |
X-Wing: The Bacta War (1997) by Michael Stackpole, 349 pages James Donahue 27 April 2007 If it is possible for a sci-fi paperback series to jump the shark, this is it. This book is horrid, abominable. Life oozes out of the reader when he submits to this book. Its like the third season of Alias. I had such low expectations - just a diverting rag to ease my mind after dissertating all day - and yet still. . . My only consolation is that another writer was hired to continue the series on. |
The World's Strangest Aircraft by Michael Taylor, 112 pages Tony Pisarenkov 23 October 2008 Mostly pictures, but if people can get away with Edward Tufte, I can claim credit for this :) |
Astronomy, The Evolving Universe by Michael Zeilik, 568 pages Steven Krise 14 December 2002 Surprisingly, Shannon's astronomy textbook at Cedarville. The astronomy prof must have been a guest lecturer to make use of a textbook that accepts current scientific knowledge on the topic. Anyway, this book took me easily the longest to read of all my books to date (probably 2 months). |
History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault, 684 pages James Donahue 14 April 2003 |
This Is Not A Pipe by Michel Foucault, 66 pages Steven Krise 01 January 2004 As Foucault says, "Magritte knits verbal signs and plastic elements together, but without referring them to a prior isotopism. He skirts the base of affirmative discourse on which resemblence calmly reposes, and he brings pure similitudes and nonaffirmative verbal statements into play within the instability of a disoriented volume and an unmapped space." Yeah, what he said. |
Border-Line Personalities by Michele Herrera Mulligan and Robyn Moreno, 299 pages Micaela Larkin 06 December 2006 |
American Protestants and TV in the 1950s (2007) by Michele Rosenthal, 120 pages James Donahue 21 January 2008 Rosenthal argues that the late twentieth century advancement of evangelicalism over mainline Protestantism is attributable to its relative embrace of TV. She does a great job of showing the National Council of Churches disdain for such a lowbrow art form and suspicion of the effect of TV on a culture - but is that representative of "mainline Protestantism" by the 1960s? She does a good job demonstrating that the nascent NAE did not consider TV as a unique medium, somehow different in its substance from books, but rather as a morally neutral and uncomplicated purveyor of messages. What mattered was the morality and intent of the broadcaster, not the medium itself. Thus evangelicals dove into the redemption of the TV as a tool for influencing culture. But how can we jump from the NAE to the evangelicals who really control the airwaves: Falwell, Roberts, Robertson, etc? Its a dissertation that's long on solid, thought-provoking argument, but a bit short on primary research. (Now why didn't I think of that?) |
Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter by Michelle Mercer, 298 pages Tony Pisarenkov 02 March 2008 The only biography I've read so far that is not only authorized by its subject, but one whose subject actively collaborated with the author. As such, it understandably leaves some things unsaid. Still, it captures both Shorter's personality and, more importantly, his musicianship, quite well, especially later in his career. My more detailed reactions are here |
Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas by Michka Assayas, 323 pages Brad Snyder 11 November 2005 This is the group of interviews that Bono had with Michka Assayas from 2002 to 2004. Assayas, as an interviewer, is excellent: he pulls things out of Bono that Bono admits he would never write himself in a memoir. Bono is a lot deeper and decent than his public persona as a rock star and activist. This book offers glimpses of his home life: his tender affection for his children, his admiration of his wife, his complicated relationship with his late father, and his deep faith in his Heavenly Father. |
Caro's Fundamental Secrets of Winning Poker by Mike Caro, 158 pages Steven Krise 14 July 2009 A sort of book length PowerPoint presentation of Caro's tips for maximizing your profit playing poker. There are general tips on poker strategy, tournament play, gauging starting hands and positional advantage as well as specific tips for Draw Poker, Stud, Razz, Hold 'Em. |
Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by Mike Dash, 220 pages Jennifer Dear 20 June 2006 Imagine spending a fortune on ONE tulip bulb! |
City of Quartz by Mike Davis, 440 pages Tony Pisarenkov 10 May 2003 Billed as a discussion of historical forces that made Los Angeles and its surroundings unique, the book is an extremely detailed but selective study of a variety of of social and economic trends and events at play in Southern California in the last 150 years. It reveals a lot of fascinating and frequently disturbing information, but ultimately fails to synthesize it all into a coherent whole or prove that L.A. is indeed unique among American or world cities. The last chapter, on the history of Fontana and Kaiser Steel, while a very interesting and genuinely sad story, has virtually no relation to the rest of the book. |
City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles by Mike Davis, 435 pages Micaela Larkin 01 February 2006 Part noir, part history, part utopia, part hell.... solid non-fiction for the armchair urban historian |
1848: Year of Revolution (2009) by Mike Rapport, 459 pages James Donahue 14 May 2009 |
SOA Adoption for Dummies (2009) by Miko Matsumura, Bjoern Brauel, Jignesh Shah, 86 pages Brad Snyder 06 May 2009 After sitting in meeting after meeting, reading white papers, technical specs, test plans, and previously produced user documentation, this little book was a welcome reprieve. |
Things My Girlfriend and I Argue About by Mil Millington, 373 pages Kristin Schrock 24 April 2004 A groovy title that, unfortunately, did not make for a groovy novel. In fact, the arguing is secondary with the plot mostly concerned with an absurd (in sort of a good way) "work sucks" mystery. |
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, 314 pages Steve Gadd 28 June 1995 |
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera, 237 pages Steve Gadd 04 October 1997 |
The Joke by Milan Kundera, 317 pages Steve Gadd 08 October 1997 |
Slowness by Milan Kundera, 156 pages Steve Gadd 25 December 1998 |
Immortality by Milan Kundera, 345 pages Steve Gadd 21 March 2002 The author needlessly inserts himself as a character in the story, despite the fact that most of the book is taken up by his ponderous musings on life and love anyway. Some parts are memorable, but I was often wishing for a bit more of the 'dramatic tension' the fictional author disparages. |
Ignorance by Milan Kundera, 195 pages Tony Pisarenkov 09 December 2002 Kundera's take on the question of the possibility of returning to the country from which one emigrated and the life one left behind. Although I was initially skeptical and disappointed at Kundera's decision to treat the topic at all, the delightful inconclusiveness with which he does it made it a sublime experience once again. To the extent that it is possible to choose, this is not his best -- the amputated ear sequence, although sufficiently Kunderian, is a bit contrived to say the least -- but Kundera's "good enough" is still orders of magnitude greater than many other writers today could ever hope for. |
Slowness by Milan Kundera, 156 pages Tony Pisarenkov 03 December 2008 |
Miles: The Autobiography by Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe, 441 pages Tony Pisarenkov 02 January 2009 An interesting book that is not very enjoyable to read. Definitely pops Miles's mystique bubble. My favorite bits were his unpopular at the time, but brutally honest opinions of fellow musicians. |
Dark Night of the Soul/Saint John of the Cross: With a new translation and introduction by Mirabai Starr (2002) by Mirabai Starr , 180 pages Jonathan Misirian 23 January 2007 St. John of the Cross, 16th Century Spanish Mystic popularized the phrase that so many of us use today. Our ‘dark night of the soul’ is that spiritual distance we feel when God seems to have abandoned us. John knew abandonment and torture, being caught up in the counter-reformation, but he also knew the love and depth that are found in the presence of God. |
After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity by Miroslav Volf, 306 pages James Donahue 31 December 2002 Volf contends for an ecclesiology modelled after trinitarian relationality, perichoretical personhood, and social constructionism. By doing so, Volf is able to affirm a Free-Church ecclesiastical reality with Catholic and Orthodox sensibilities. Throughout Volf is in excellent dialogue with Catholic, Orthodox, and Baptist theologians; one could read the book only for the comparative ecclesiologies of these traditions and be well satisfied. Definite influence of Barth and Moltmann on his theology. |
Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf, 310 pages Jonathan Misirian 15 February 2006 Volf, professor at Yale Divinity School, presents the Prodigal Son narrative in Luke 15, as a model of national ethnic reconciliation. Volf writes from the perspective of Croatian caught in the midst of the Bosnian conflict. |
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, 198 pages Mike Gadd 04 December 2003 An interesting concept brought together rather nicely. Joe Regular dies in a work related accident and is surprised to find heaven isn't what he expected. He is introduced to 5 people he impacted during his lifetime who explain to him the meaning and purpose of his life. |
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, 192 pages Mike Gadd 16 March 2004 Very touching account of the author's visits with an old college professor suffering from ALS. |
The Treatment by Mo Hayder, 390 pages Mike Gadd 04 March 2002 |
The Devil of Nanking by Mo Hayder, 363 pages Mike Gadd 06 May 2005 The author of some of the most disturbing material I have ever read takes on a subject matter that doesn't need embellishing to make it horrible. We get a two-sided story here with both present day Japan and historical China represented. The writer weaves a couple of characters through her rendition of this tragic event. |
The Rites of Spring by Modris Eksteins, 362 pages James Donahue 03 June 2003 Simply the best general history of WWI that I've read. Eksteins examines the cultural and intellectual impact of the mass, mechanized devastation of the Great War, seamlessly weaving together pre- and post-war events such as the Russian Ballet, Lindburgh, the Nazi phenomenon, and the Charleston craze. |
Marxism and Revolution: Kautsky and the Russian Marxists by Moira Donald, 289 pages James Donahue 25 February 2003 Details Kautsky's relations with both the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, providing critical background to Kautsky's fallout with Lenin and the dissolution of the Second International infavor of the Third. Extensive archival work but a bit tedious. |
The Devil's Advocate by Morris West, 430 pages Micaela Larkin 26 April 2006 |
Hush by MS. Anne Frasier, 378 pages Mike Gadd 08 August 2004 |
Death from the Woods by MS. Brigitte Aubert, 279 pages Mike Gadd 24 December 2003 The main character is a deaf, mute, parapalegic and she solves the mystery. Major points for originality even though the ending was a little over the top. |
A Child's Book of True Crime by MS. Chloe Hooper, 238 pages Mike Gadd 26 March 2004 This book was lousy. It had potential, but when a parallel storyline kicked in on alternate chapters with talking animals it lost me. Next time leave Kitty Koala and Terence Tiger at home. |
The Deep End of the Ocean by MS. Jacquelyn Mitchard, 434 pages Mike Gadd 02 June 2005 I only read this because it was supposed to be the most favorite book of a friend of mine. She wanted me to read the story of the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy squished her but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I caved on this one. I can happily give it back. Part 2 of this book was better than part one, but not by much. The first half dealt with a family whose 3 year old simply disappears while they are in a hotel lobby. I really don't need to see the depths and levels of depression they all go through. I'll pass on the movie, too. |
A Map of the World by MS. Jane Hamilton, 390 pages Mike Gadd 20 July 2004 Probably the first book I've ever read just because of the title. The 'Oprah' endorsement should have been a warning. Apparently, she likes depressing stories. In this one, a farmer's wife (the local school nurse), has a neighbor's child drown in her pond as she is supposed to be babysitting her. Then she's accused of molesting half the schoolchildren and she's thrown in jail. The husband has to sell the family farm to bail her out and then they leave town after she's aquitted to try to start a new life. There. I just saved you the trouble. |
Kisscut by MS. Karin Slaughter, 359 pages Mike Gadd 06 February 2003 Everybody duck, this book is flying out the window. Ptooey, blech and ugh. What a pile of detritus. The first book by this author was tight, fast-paced, and a nice read. This book goes so far beyond the sophomore slump, it basically killed the series for me. Hopefully this will be the worst book I read this year. |
In a Strange City by MS. Laura Lippman, 376 pages Mike Gadd 25 March 2003 Decent enough story once you got into it. It tended to get a little too descriptive with details that had nothing to do with the story. The author must have been paid by the page. |
The Power of Logical Thinking by MS. Marilyn Vos Savant, 203 pages Mike Gadd 15 May 2003 Not a bad find for a buck at the Dollar Tree store. "Ask Marilyn" covers some of my favorite topics including puzzles and paradoxes and how numbers and statistics can mislead. She includes 2 classic brain teasers I've enjoyed since brother Steve gave them to me years ago. One involves a game show with three curtains, the other one has 3 travelers stopping at a hotel and splitting the cost of a room. The game show puzzle sparked a yearlong and worldwide controversy as college professors, mathematicians, and statisticians refused to accept the answer. Half the book reveals how easy it is to get numbers and statistics to lie. This is especially popular within the political landscape. |
Monkeewrench by MS. P.J. Tracy, 432 pages Mike Gadd 28 February 2005 Nicely written thriller about a killer imitating scenes from an unreleased computer game. |
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed by MS. Patricia Cornwell, 367 pages Mike Gadd 26 January 2004 Whether or not you think she's right Ms. Cornwell put in a fair amount of time trying to prove her point. You get a detailed write-up of each crime scene as well as witness statements and autopsy descriptions. Modern day forensics wouldn't have had too much trouble catching this guy, but back then there wasn't much done. Some of her arguments seem pretty strong, while others are terribly weak. Several times she makes the case that since she can't prove that somebody was not in a particular place then he must have been there. The 'perp' happens to be a famous British painter and I've read that Ms. Cornwell bought quite a few of his original paintings. She even sliced one up hoping to find some evidence underneath the paint. Quite the dedicated one she is. |
Live Bait by Ms. PJ Tracy, 394 pages Mike Gadd 25 April 2005 Enjoyable sequel to Monkeewrench. Not as fast-paced but at least you know you enjoy the characters. |
The Secret Life of Bees by MS. Sue Monk Kidd, 316 pages Mike Gadd 29 February 2004 Not the magical story I had been told. Touching story about an teenage girl who runs away from an abusive dad in the deep south during the 60's. Not for those looking for a pick-me-up. |
The Heartreader by MS. Terri Blackstone, 144 pages Mike Gadd 17 May 2004 Simple but effective story about a lukewarm Christian who is given the ability to 'hear' the unspoken needs and feelings of the people around him. He uses what he hears to share his faith with the people he meets. |