| The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, 260 pages gareth 18 April 2002 plus proustian que le proust! | The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke, 260 pages gareth 18 April 2002 plus proustian que le proust! |
Goebbels by Ralf Georg Reuth, 434 pages James Donahue 10 July 2003 A good solid biography that incorporates much of the post-Iron Curtain evidence on the Third Reich. However Goebbels' political activities overshadow the person in this work, in part, I suspect, because they did so in real life. |
Modoc by Ralph Helfer, 325 pages Jeff Gadd 16 December 1998 |
Tuva Or Bust by Ralph Leighton, 245 pages Steve Gadd 20 September 1998 The saga of Richard Feynman and friends trying to visit a remote Soviet territory, basically because they have cool postage stamps and a capital named Kyzyl. |
Lack of the Irish by Ralph McInerey, 210 pages James Donahue 24 July 2002 A murder occurs right before Notre Dame's big game against Baylor on Reformation Day. The suspects include a anti-Catholic woman preacher ('still protesting'), the Baptist quarterback of the Irish, and an obsessive husband. Only the philosophy professor Phillip Knight can solve this one. Satirically written with a love for ND. |
I Alone Have Escaped to Tell You by Ralph McInerny, 167 pages Micaela Larkin 23 June 2006 Ralph surveys his life, Notre Dame, and academics. I think the best part is his accounts of a little summer loving in between seminary stays. |
The Priest by Ralph McInerny, 563 pages Micaela Larkin 28 May 2007 1968 religious melodrama |
Emerald Aisle by Ralph McInery, 226 pages James Donahue 05 August 2002 More murder at Notre Dame. A sophmore couple in love books a reservation at Sacred Heart six years in advance, and soon break up. When the boy finds love again years later, he attempts to cash in on his previous reservation only to find that his previous girlfriend has preempted his deviousness. When he tracks her down to Minnesota to try and win back the reservation, mischief arises involving some missing Cardinal Newman documents and a estranged wive's murder. Sounds like a case fo Roger Knight philosophy professor. |
Irish Tenure by Ralph McInery, 246 pages James Donahue 20 August 2002 Nothing is bloodier than tenure at Notre Dame. Thus, given the controversial style of philosophy candidate Amanda Pick, it is no surprise when she turns up dead. Throw in a missing GK Chesterton story and all hell breaks loose. Thank goodness that Professor Roger Knight continues to solve crimes in his spare time. |
The Book of Kills by Ralph McInery, 275 pages James Donahue 29 August 2002 I'm not sure if I liked this latest installment in the series, as a ND history student is killed. |
Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament (2006) by Randall Balmer, 300 pages Jennifer Dear 04 December 2006 An outrageous look at the Religious Right and what makes them tick. While I'm apt to believe him, he seemed to mischaracterize George Marsden, for one, and this makes me a little skeptical. I recommend this to anyone who wonders why the current administration continues to enjoy the seemingly unquestioning support of many Evangelicals. |
Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament (2006) by Randall Balmer, 206 pages James Donahue 09 December 2006 An excellent primer for thinking through some the bizarre alliances between the Republican Party and evangelicalism. Less good when it comes to any helpful suggestions; Balmer, like most evangelicals, finds he is most right when he is a prophet cursing both houses, unallied with any institutions, ready for a good fight more than anything else. The book is pugnacious and takes no quarter. Its hits its target and then takes a few more swings (even against some evangelicals who don't deserve to be targeted in a polemic on Republicanism, such as George Marsden or Wheaton College). I've given the book to some of my Republican friends and it has challenged them (which is good), but it has also infuriated them with its occassionally-over-the-top spin. Balmer will never be blamed for not having said something about the coercion of the Religious Right in some immoral politics. He has saved his own soul; the question is: will he take anyone with him?? |
Julius Streicher by Randall Bytwerk, 196 pages James Donahue 03 February 2003 Standard bio of the infamous anti-Semite, with an eye out for the effectivesness of propaganda. Last chapter provocative. |
BraveHeart by Randall Wallace, 277 pages Jeff Gadd 08 April 2002 Great book,Great movie too. One word FREEEEE--DOMMMMMM |
A Beginner's Guide to the World Economy by Randy Charles Epping, 232 pages Tony Pisarenkov 10 December 2003 Truly a beginner's guide, so much so that any semi-regular reader of the New York Times, the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal will have little, if anything, to learn from it. I had hoped that it would discuss the social implications of globalization at greater length, but in fact the entire book is dedicated to defining basic concepts. The most useful section is the glossary of terms in the back. |
The Connecting Church by Randy Frazie, 248 pages Jonathan Misirian 29 March 2006 Presenting evidence from anthropology along with a pop-sociological bashing of suburbia, Frazie shows how the Church, through intentional small groups, can change the isolating trends affecting many today. |
Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher, 350 pages Steven Krise 27 February 2006 With this survey of history's forgotten and fringe brews (and the processes to create them), Mosher seeks to ignite the reader with his same passionate zeal for homebrewing. In the process, he elevates the hobby from quaint craft to an act of protest against bland corporate homogenization and a mystical means of communing with long dead brewing ancestors. |
Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher, 350 pages Steven Krise 13 February 2007 I need to get out to the library more often. |
The Everything Knots Book by Randy Penn, 273 pages Steven Krise 22 October 2009 A fairly standard introduction to knots. It tries to go beyond just having diagrams showing you how to tie knots by having chapters on rope management, teaching knot tying, your continuing knot journey, but the author didn't really have enough material to support these additional chapters. So +5 for the idea, but -7 for the implementation. |
The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury, 532 pages Steven Krise 08 January 2009 Starting with a dramatic robbery of a Templar rotary encoder from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, our heroes pursue the villains and eventually uncover the secret of the Templars - a Gnostic manuscript written in Aramaic by Jeshua of Nazareth, which "proves" that Jesus was just a man, not god. The hard-nosed agnostic archaeologist and the devout Catholic FBI agent eventually throw the manuscript into the ocean because they don't want to topple the Church or disillusion millions of Christians. The book had pleasant enough action sequences but the premise is so absurd I had a hard time enjoying it. There's already plenty of evidence available that Jesus, if he existed, was just a man and yet the Church and Christians continue believing without a problem. One more manuscript would not have any devastating effects. |
The Gilded Chamber (2004) by Rebecca Kohn, 353 pages Jennifer Dear 10 March 2007 Book jacket says: "A must-read for fans of the Red Tent"; Jen says: "I got nothing to say." |
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee: A Novel (2008) by Rebecca Miller, 239 pages Brad Snyder 23 February 2009 I read about a movie based on this book. I wish I had never read it. I will definitely not watch the movie. |
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West, 1158 pages Tony Pisarenkov 10 February 2004 "The answer is too long, as long indeed, as this book, which hardly anybody will read by reason of its length." (p. 773). The longest book I have read to date, and the only one that took me over a year to complete, "Black Lamb..." is razor-sharp political history thinly disguised as a brilliant travelogue. Writing in an age when members of a certain slice of society could travel and write without constraint, and regularly overwhelmed by an excess of enthusiasm, West is still, to me, the only way to understand Bosnia, Kosovo, and everything that happened in the Balkans in the last hundred... no, make it thousand, years. Without West, Robert Kaplan, Warren Zimmerman, Richard Holbrooke and many others could not have done what they did or written what they wrote. |
One Hundred Years of Solitude: Modes of Reading by Regina Janes, 132 pages Steve Gadd 27 July 1998 Very accessable lit-crit on my favorite novel. |
The Irony of American History (1952) by Reinhold Niebuhr, 174 pages James Donahue 15 November 2008 "Our moral perils are not those of conscious malice or the explicit lust for power. They are the perils which can be understood only if we realize the ironic tendency of virtues to turn into vices when too complacently relied upon; and of power to become vexatious if the wisdom which directs it is trusted too confidently. The ironic element in American history can be overcome, in short, only if American idealism comes to terms with the limits of all human striving, the fragmentatiness of all human wisdom, the precariousness of all historic configurations of power, and the mixture of good and evil in all human virtue. America's moral and spiritual success in relating itself creatively to a world community requires, not so much a guard against the gross vices, about which the idealists warn us, as a reorientation of the whole structure of our idealism. . . .[That idealism] is too certain that there is a straight path to power toward the goal of human happiness; too confident of the wisdom and idealism which prompt men and nations toward that goal; and too blind to the curious compounds of good and evil in which the actions of the best men and nations abound." (133) |
The Catholic Marriage Manual (1958) by Rev. George A. Kelley, 223 pages Micaela Larkin 28 May 2007 prior to his battles for the Church |
No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by Reza Aslan, 310 pages Jonathan Misirian 06 February 2006 Aslan details the history of Islam and provides the reader with a great overview of this religion. After reading this book, you are able to see the success and failure of Islam as it continues to develop. Aslan's approach counters Huntington's Clash of Civilization's view of Islam, and in my opinion greatly enhances the debate. |
Talk of the Devil by Riccardo Orizio, 199 pages Steve Gadd 26 December 2003 Interviews with seven of the world's most notorious one-time dictators. The common thread among them is a complete lack of remorse and a variety of excuses for mass death and suffering. An interesting Where Are They Now for the rich and infamous. |
Defenders of the Faith: A Guidebook to Clerics and Paladins by Rich Redman & James Wyatt, 96 pages Steven Krise 05 February 2003 I feel kind of stupid entering D&D manuals, but that's what I'm reading right now to keep up my pages/day since I've stalled on this piece of shit by Joseph Heller I've been working on since December. |
Citizen More and his Utopia by Richard Ames, 218 pages James Donahue 21 January 2003 Good historical exegsis of More. |
The Dobe !Kung by Richard B. Lee, 157 pages Steve Gadd 30 August 1998 Guess what: the hunter-gatherer people of the Kalahari desert have more free time than we do in the 'developed' world. This fascinating anthropology study is an easy read, and a good temporary escape from industrialized life. |
Fragile Glory: A Portrait of France and the French by Richard Bernstein, 349 pages Tony Pisarenkov 03 August 2008 A now outdated, and occasionally short-sighted, but largely perceptive and nuanced evaluation of the French national character by a long-time Paris correspondent for the New York Times. Enjoyable. More comments here |
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, 358 pages Kristin Schrock 24 October 2004 The distant narrator--presented like a history--elevate the suspense and creepiness of this 1960's thriller. An enjoyable read that often led to scary dreams--which is a good, I think. Recommended vocabulary: caparisoned, luctic, lyssophobia, lanugo. |
Poker for Dummies by Richard D Harroch & Lou Krieger, 80 pages Steven Krise 30 April 2005 A reference for the rest of us. |
The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins, 453 pages Steve Gadd 28 November 2007 Dawkins' answer to William Paley's argument that complexity in nature requires the existence of a designer begins by making a stronger case than Paley. He describes the intricately fine-tuned echolocation used by bats, employing sophisticated techniques developed for sonar and radar. How could such a wonderful system appear by chance? The answer, of course, is by degrees. Chance plays an essential but minor role; selection is the primary force. To the classical objection of a complex organ like the eye having to appear all at once to be useful, he presents a parade of animals -- single-celled organism, worm, mollusk, squid -- that in fact do have eyes of progressing levels of complexity and acuity. He tends to belabor his points, often writing a whole paragraph where a "vice versa" would do, but many examples of plants and animals keep the writing colorful. |
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, 406 pages Steven Krise 10 March 2008 Fundamentalist religion is hell-bent on ruining the scientific education of countless thousands of innocent, well-meaning, eager young minds. Non-fundamentalist, 'sensible' religion may not be doing that. But it is making the world safe for fundamentalism by teaching children, from their earliest years, that unquestioning faith is a virtue. |
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman, 317 pages Steve Gadd 15 October 1995 |
What Do You Care What Other People Think? by Richard Feynman, 248 pages Steve Gadd 25 October 1995 |
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman, 317 pages Steve Gadd 26 January 1997 |
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard Feynman, 257 pages Steve Gadd 11 May 2000 This collection of essays and lectures includes much material found elsewhere with some additional material. |
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman, 317 pages Steve Gadd 16 June 2000 The great anecdotes, adventures, and experiments, always worth another read. |
Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman, 138 pages Steve Gadd 21 March 2004 Feynman's Lectures on Physics are widely recognized as paragons of instruction. These selections were taken from his freshman-level course. Feynman brings the science to life, introducing atomic theory and showing how it is behind everyday phenomena such as cooling by evaporation. Frequent asides illustrate principles and add flair to the lectures: Cavendish's famous experiment which weighed the Earth, and the indirect discovery of Neptune by mathematicians studying the orbits of nearer planets. Even quantum behavior in the last chapter is presented simply, making this a very readable review of introductory physics. |
The Cross and the Crescent: Christianity and Islam from Muhammad to the Reformation by Richard Fletcher, 183 pages Tony Pisarenkov 18 July 2007 Informative, but not very well written. |
Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth by Richard Fortey, 344 pages Steven Krise 23 June 2009 A biography of sorts of life on earth, starting with biogenesis and finishing up (predictably) with Homo sapiens. The greatest amount of detail was given to the 3 billion years from biogenesis to the Cambrian "explosion". |
Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey, 284 pages Steven Krise 19 September 2009 Fortey tells the vast story of what we know about trilobites and how we've come to know it and through that story shows how the minutiae about trilobites has informed all manner larger topics (including shedding light on rates of evolution, the nature of speciation, and reconstructing the Ordovician globe). |
Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey, 425 pages Steven Krise 13 October 2009 Fortey's thesis is (to paraphrase Dobzhansky) that nothing in geology makes sense except in light of plate tectonics. He then takes the reader on a tour of a dozen or so locations around the globe with various geological formations that either were pivotal in providing evidence for the theory or which finally made sense when explicated tectonically. |
Pietism and the Making of Prussia by Richard Gawthorp, 284 pages James Donahue 06 June 2004 |
Battlestar Galactica: Resurrection by Richard Hatch and Stan Timmons, 278 pages A Bennett 04 November 2003 "There are those who believe that life *here* began out there, far across the universe, with tribes of humans who may have been the forefathers of the Egyptians, or the Toltecs, or the Mayans. Some believe that there may yet be brothers of man who, even now, fight to survive, somewhere beyond the heavens..." And then there are those who, like me, believe that this novel--poorly written for even a fanfiction--is not worth the paper it's printed on, much less the webspace it would have occupied had its putrescence been posted (as all fanfiction should be) free, online. |
The World's Parliament of Religions: The East/West Encounter in Chicago, 1893 by Richard Hughes Seager, 198 pages James Donahue 21 August 2004 |
Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport : Making Connections in Today's World by Richard J. Mouw, 144 pages Brad Snyder 06 January 2006 When I first fully embraced my latent Presbyterianism in its fullness about three years ago, I was immediately confronted with questions from friends and family about the particulars of my Calvinist-tinted faith. In researching for more eloquent answers, I found most Calvinists to be a bit on the gruff side. In contrast, this book is refreshing. It was written to offer a softer explanation of Calvinism for both the uninitiated and fully convinced. Mouw is conversational, generous, compassionate, and even funny. There were a few weak moments, but the wheat definitely outweighs the chaff. |
Seducing the French by Richard Kuisel, 285 pages James Donahue 22 October 2002 A brief history of French ambivalency towards America. Some great snippets in here that both amuse and illuminate. |
Culture Shock! Germany by Richard Lord, 287 pages Erik Bauer 05 March 2002 How to understand why Germans can be so weird. |
Thomas More by Richard Marius, 543 pages James Donahue 20 January 2003 A biography of a saint which aims to steer clear of hagiography and anti-hagiography. Well done. Highly readable. |
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, 312 pages Steven Krise 19 January 2009 A collection of various stories by Matheson with the eponymous story being the first in the collection (and really the only one worth reading). In the subsequent stories, the author tries to create a surreal atmosphere like the later PK Dick novels or the Twilight Zone, but executes the narrative with such a heavy hand that he fails. |
Degree of Guilt by Richard North Patterson, 531 pages Jeff Gadd 26 November 2000 |
"What Do You Care What Other People Think?" by Richard P. Feynman, 248 pages Steve Gadd 21 March 2006 Early anecdotes, some travel stories, and the Challenger investigation. |
The Teacher's Funeral : A Comedy in Three Parts (2004) by Richard Peck, 190 pages Brad Snyder 30 September 2007 My son read this book based on his teacher's recommendation and devoured it in three days--not bad for a fifth grader. I found it to be charming, too. Told from the perspective of a 15 year-old in 1904 in rural Indiana, it's the story of what happens when the teacher of the one-room school dies and is replaced by his older sister and how that changes his life. |
A Concise History of the Russian Revolution by Richard Pipes, 432 pages James Donahue 02 October 2004 I have to confess that I wish I were not studying for Comps, so that I could read the books that Jaqi is reading. Nevertheless I am stuck skimming through umpteen books on the Russian Revolution, mostly based not on archival sources (Soviet archives were and are closed), but on emigre memoirs and polemics written by non-Stalnist socialists like Trotsky. Because of the limited source base, most of the histories simply repeat themselves. Pipes is however the best of this class. His analysis is very conservative and very cynical of the regime, which gives his work a honed edge and intellectual value too often lacking in other, more sympathetic accounts of the most brutal government in modern history |
Cobra Event by Richard Preston, 420 pages Jeff Gadd 04 April 2001 |
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, 422 pages Steve Gadd 17 November 2002 Remember the Ebola scare? A mysterious new breed of virus -- deadlier than AIDS, possibly as contagious as influenza -- has been ravaging towns in central Africa. Then one day it appears in a group of lab monkeys just outside Washington, D.C. The gripping story reads like science fiction, but hits close to home. The "monkey house" was less than two miles from my house. |
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, 928 pages Steve Gadd 29 July 2006 With its epic sweep and extensive quotes from the characters involved, this sweeping history is not only fascinating for the technical details but also for the human drama. Side stories added color: the sabotage of a Norwegian heavy water plant, the parallel research into atomic secrets in Germany, Russia, and Japan, and the clash of personalities on the Manhattan Project. Fittingly awarded with the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. |
Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb by Richard Rhodes, 588 pages Steve Gadd 28 December 2008 |
Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo, 549 pages Kristin Schrock 30 June 2003 My second omniscient narrator in a row. And I thought that had gone out of style. Our main character, however, is Sully and it's not quite as interesting when Russo decides to roam into the mind's of other characters. It's especially entertaining when you hear the gruff voice of Paul Newman talking to you (he played Sully in the movie). It was a good movie; it's an even better book. |
Blind Faith by Richard Sloan, 295 pages Jonathan Misirian 11 January 2007 Sloan attempts to show the disastrous results when Faith and Medicine collide. Sadly, the weaknesses of the book outweigh the strengths… Sloan refers to the same two or three studies that back his point, and relies too heavily on anecdotal accounts for his main thesis. |
The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919 - 1945 by Richard Steigmann-Gall, 267 pages James Donahue 27 June 2003 |
Chicano: A Novel by Richard Vasquez, 464 pages Micaela Larkin 26 April 2006 Vasquez's classic has been reprinted after thirty five years. Think Grapes of Wrath without the moral hope at the end. Drawing on his tenure as a journalist, Vasquez takes readers through the trials and disentegration of a Mexican American family from 1910 to the late 1960s. |
Jesus in the Margins: Finding God in the Places We Ignore by Rick McKinley, 191 pages Brad Snyder 22 August 2006 This is a primer on Christianity written to people that feel marginalized in life--which covers basically all of humanity since we all have issues with which we struggle and that separate us from fellowship with God. Each chapter is an invitation into a loving relationship with God through Christ, written towards a different angle in the journey--from why we are here, to a description of what sin is and how it affects us. Not what I thought, but I'm glad I read it. |
The Whole Gospel for the Whole World by Rick Nutt, 351 pages James Donahue 08 February 2004 Sherwood Eddy (this is his biography) was a YMCA head and Asian missionary from the 1890s to the 1950s. Fascinating travel and life that became increasingly radical and disillusioned with "American fascism" (his word to describe the racism and McCarthyism of 1950s America) as he got older. The book is defensive about Eddy's religious liberalism and attempts to defend him from charges from fundamentalists. Hence the grandiose title. Nutt is only partially sucessful here. Eddy was one of the most radical, but he was also one of the most successful missionaries of all time and deserves a larger place in the religious consciousness of America, even if as a conundrum. |
The Purpose-Driven Church by Rick Warren, 400 pages Brad Snyder 27 February 2006 This is a classic example of my judging a book by its cover... I was encouraged to read this book several years ago, but was recently forced to do so for a course I'm taking. I must admit that my protests before reading it were based solely on caricature rather than substance, and I was totally wrong in my assumptions. This is a thought-provoking book, even if I think Warren goes a little overboard in some places. There are many things in it that I would be excited to see implemented at my own quiet, traditional, Presbyterian church that would probably open the doors to more encounters with the changing demographics of our neighborhood. |
Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women by Ricky Jay, 313 pages Steve Gadd 23 November 2003 Ricky Jay, an accomplished sleight-of-hand artist and card thrower, describes in fascinating detail a variety of sideshow attractions and show business oddities. Arthur Lloyd carried thousands of cards and documents in his pockets and could present any document an audience member requested instantly. Performers with every variety of missing limbs entertained with their musical and acrobatic skills. Others ate stones and poisons, baked themselves in ovens, or dove from great heights into shallow pools. The book ends with the story of Joseph Pujol, a fartiste known as Le Pétomane whose act consisted of breaking wind with the sound of animals or musical numbers. |
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, 178 pages A Bennett 11 August 2005 Simply delightful. And with pictures. |
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, 155 pages James Donahue 13 August 2005 Simply with pictures. And a delight! |
Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, 198 pages Jonathan Misirian 25 July 2006 Velvet Elvis is a Blue Like Jazz for the Church. A fresh look at what following Jesus means for the Church today. Bell is a gifted story teller, able to link complex themes with everyday life. |
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith by Rob Bell, 208 pages Brad Snyder 08 September 2006 Another post-modern take on Christianity written in that hipster style I'm becoming so accustomed to. I'm starting to wonder what this movement is going to look like in ten or twenty years when the children of the po-mos grow up to reject the churches their parents took them to, calling them unhip and monolithic just as the current po-mos have done with the corporately-modeled churches they attended as children. Bell makes some nice observations (I especially like the attention he pays to the Jewishness of Christianity), but overall I found his theological musings too vague for a book format: they would be better discussed over a beer. |
Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time (2007) by Rob Sheffield, 240 pages Brad Snyder 19 July 2008 Sheffield uses the medium of mix tapes to chronicle his marriage that was cut short by his wife's sudden death. Sweet story, but disjointed at times. |
Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein, 439 pages Steve Gadd 17 October 2000 A fanciful novel by the sci-fi veteran based on the wormhole motif. Thanks to Ayda for the loan. |
The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker, 188 pages Mike Gadd 11 March 2002 |
Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker, 328 pages Mike Gadd 14 March 2002 |
Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker, 221 pages Mike Gadd 18 April 2002 |
Pastime by Robert B. Parker, 330 pages Mike Gadd 22 April 2002 |
See No Evil by Robert Baer, 320 pages Erik Bauer 02 June 2003 Book written by former CIA middle east agent. Wonderful insight into workings of CIA within a very interesting context of the Middle East in the 80s and 90s. The book definitely gave me a different view of mideast and islamic problems, but as a full blown government employee, I already figured the CIA was screwed up like the rest of the federal bureaucracy. |
See No Evil by Robert Baer, 274 pages Jonathan Misirian 14 December 2005 Published a few months after 9/11, Baer’s first hand account of his career in the CIA reads both like Allen Dulles and Inspector Clueso. While, See No Evil would have benefited from a better editor, Baer’s story reveals the faults w/n the American Intelligence System, while offering slight hope for an improved future. |
Tokugawa Religion by Robert Bellah, 197 pages James Donahue 30 September 2003 Bellah has found the functional equivalent of the Protestant work ethic in medieval Japan. So this explains why Japan is so advanced as a society and as an economy -- due to a religion of collectivism, duty, and selflessness. (Obviously this book is a little dated.) |
Love Among the Ruins (Novel) by Robert Clarkin, 333 pages Micaela Larkin 28 May 2007 |
Stalin by Robert Conquest, 312 pages James Donahue 03 November 2004 Decent biography heavy on the (just) condemnation. |
Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community by Robert E. Webber, 224 pages Brad Snyder 07 December 2005 Webber draws a connection between the pluralism in which we currently find ourselves culturally, and that of the first century church. He proposes adopting into our own worship and Christian lives some of the language, styles, and liturgy employed by the early church. |
Richistan: A Journey through the American wealth boom and the lives of the new rich (2007) by Robert Frank, 276 pages Jonathan Misirian 09 October 2007 I read the other day that 30% of the wealth is controlled by 1% of the people. This book details the lives of the 1%. Frank, the wealth reporter for the Wall Street Journal, takes the readers on a tour of the lives of the American Wealthy. We see their kids cringing at a $10m inheritance, 200ft Yacht owners leering in jealously at larger boats, and a couple not knowing how many people their homes employ (105). |
Observing America (2007) by Robert Frankel, 324 pages James Donahue 07 June 2007 A history of books by Brits on the U.S. from 1900 to 1945. Frankel focuses on four very different writers: H. G. Wells, W. T. Stead (one of the more prominent Moody allies in Chicago), Harold Laski, and G. K. Chesterton (who spent a few semesters teaching at Notre Dame). Very good, though what intrigues is more the comment of the Brits than Frankel's analysis. (Read in Calgary and Banff on family vacation) |
Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins by Robert Hazen, 339 pages Steven Krise 06 May 2009 A comprehensive review of the people and science of origins of life. Fascinating. |
Lord of the World (1906) by Robert Hugh Benson, 338 pages Micaela Larkin 21 June 2007 Catholic apocalyptic fiction at its best (according to Fulton Sheen). You judge: "He had talked to him of inner life again and again, in which verities are seen to be true, and acts of faith are ratified; he had urgent prayer and humility till he was almost weary of the naes; and had been met by the retort that this was to advise sheer self-hyptonism; and he ahd despaired of making clear to one who did not see it for himself that while love and Faith may be called self-hypnotism from one angle, yet from another they are as much realities as, for example, artistic faculties, and need similar cultivation; that they produce a conviction that they are convictions, that they handle and taste things which when handled and tasted are overwhelmingly more real and objective than the things of sense. Evidences seemed to mean nothing to this man. |
Come Rack! Come Rope! by Robert Hugh Benson, 377 pages Micaela Larkin 02 July 2007 DJ: "Edmund Campion's defiant cry, "Come Rack! Come Rope!" was taken up as the rallying cry of the hunted priests in Elizabethean England. The story of these priests and of the people who surrounded and helped them has never been told more graphically..." |
The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller, 171 pages Steve Gadd 02 March 1997 |
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, 702 pages Julie Gephart 01 December 2002 First in the much-lauded Wheel of Time series. I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. Classic fantasy, three young men on a journey, grand scope of Good vs Evil, the usual - but still a good read, and I'll continue the series. |
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan, 577 pages Julie Gephart 13 April 2003 Free at last! I started this book at Christmas, and right now the only opinion I can muster is an overwhelming relief at finally being rid of it. |
The Return of History and the End of Dreams (2008) by Robert Kagan, 105 pages James Donahue 28 May 2008 Everything you wanted to know about geopolitics in forty-five minutes. (ahem) |
Eastward to Tartary by Robert Kaplan, 347 pages Tony Pisarenkov 20 May 2003 Covering a bit of the Balkans but primarily Turkey, the Middle East and formerly Soviet Caucusus and Central Asia, this is a worthy follow-up to Kaplan's now classic "Balkan Ghosts." A tad less incisive, perhaps, than the earlier volume, and, sadly, lacking the fascinating photography of "Ghosts," it is still a brilliant synthesis of ancient and recent history with a shrewd political, social and cultural analysis of the current situations in the places he covers, all written with great flair and ending with a note of caution about the West's mishandling of many of the unstable parts of the world -- a warning especially relevant today. Essential reading. |
Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground by Robert Kaplan, 421 pages Jonathan Misirian 12 November 2005 The first of planned series of books, Kaplan provides a masterful account of the fighting life of the American military. Living with Special Forces in Columbia, Philippines, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq afforded Kaplan unparalleled access from which he wrote a honest and gripping insiders-look at the American military in action. |
Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts (2007) by Robert Kaplan, 406 pages Jonathan Misirian 20 September 2007 Atlantic correspondent Kaplan, pens his second volume about the American Military. Following in the style of his highly acclaimed Imperial Grunts, Kaplan tours with the Navy and Air Force around the Pacific Rim. More then just provide a first-hand account of the US military, Kaplan delves into history and into future planning, providing the reader with a truly one of a kind look at the role of the military in the 21st Century. |
The Hipster Handbook (2002) by Robert Lanham, 176 pages Brad Snyder 25 June 2007 It's deck to be fin. |
Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson, 202 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
The Parsifal Mosaic by Robert Ludlum, 596 pages Jeff Gadd 24 July 1999 |
The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum, 590 pages Jeff Gadd 04 August 1999 |
The Aquitaine Progression by Robert Ludlum, 644 pages Jeff Gadd 12 September 1999 |
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, 535 pages Steven Krise 03 May 2003 Despite the paucity of similarities between this book and the movie of the same name, I couldn't help picturing "Jason Bourne" as Matt Damon...good thing it wasn't Carrot Top that got the part for the movie. |
The Osterman Weekend by Robert Ludlum, 336 pages Steve Gadd 05 April 2006 A weak early effort by the author of the Bourne trilogy. |
The Outlaw Years: The History of the Land Pirates of the Natchez Trace by Robert M. Coates, 308 pages Brad Snyder 24 January 2006 My father gave me this book a few years ago. I'm not sure where he got it, but this copy was published in 1930, which added to the charm. The book has that flair of language and tone common to most good stories of the West from that bygone era. The book centers on the Natchez Trace wilderness trail that started in what is now Natchez, Mississippi and wrapped on through to Nashville, Tennessee. It even mentions points north--even Yellow Springs, Ohio gets a paragraph's-worth of mention! But, the real strength of the book is the story. It isn't written like most books of history, and the author spared no detail, which kept me thoroughly intrigued. And, it's about pirates to boot! Well, they're technically highwaymen, but who's gonna quibble with that? |
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, 418 pages Steve Gadd 06 July 1998 Hard to summarize; definitely worth a look. |
Harry Emerson Fosdick: Preacher, Pastor, Prophet (1985) by Robert Moats Miller, 570 pages James Donahue 26 February 2006 Fosdick was the most popular Baptist preacher of his age, and the lightening rod that sparked off the GARBC walk-out of the Northern Baptist Conference. Miller is a wonderful biographer, absorbed by his subject to the point of obsession, but as a result a questionable historian, all too often pulling miscellaneous (undocumented) quotes out of his ass to prove a point, focusing more on (undocumented) oral histories over the written word, and losing the bigger religious picture. |
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck, 132 pages Jeff Gadd 01 November 2002 A boy who get's a pet pig and who's dad is a butcher has to choise between loveing his pig or dad at the end. As sad as Old Yeller. |
From Liberalism to Fascism by Robert Passmore, 314 pages James Donahue 05 December 2002 Another book on French fascism. Sense a term paper coming up? |
French Peasant Fascism by Robert Paxton, 239 pages James Donahue 29 November 2002 Militant peasants don green shirts and wage militant strikes to protest an uncaring Republic during the Depression. |
The Anatomy of Fascism (2004) by Robert Paxton, 249 pages James Donahue 06 June 2006 Paxton is at the end of a long career as the primary American expert on French fascism. This is his take on the general phenomenon, with an incredible amount of wisdom on the subject, but also perhaps forgetting how to talk to people outside of the field. More historiographical than historical, but still maintains that difficult balance between provocative and considered. |
The Life of David (2005) by Robert Pinsky, 209 pages James Donahue 26 March 2006 Pinsky, one of my favorite poets, has written an eye-opening, wonderful literary analysis of the life of the David. Never has the most fallible of the patriarchs seemed more human. |
Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, 464 pages Erik Bauer 09 September 1999 This booked helped me think more like an engineer than many of my engineering classes. The first half of the book was fantastic, but later it seems to get bogged down and cumbersome to read. Still a great read. |
The Dominion of the Dead by Robert Pogue Harrison, 159 pages James Donahue 15 July 2004 Harrison is a fascinating writer interested in the cultural archeology of words and concepts. In this book he examines the way in which the dead shape us, have claims on us (both psychologically and culturally) and how culture drifts awry when it has no room for its dead, when it separates the living from the dead, and when the dead can no longer speak through us. Highly recommended. |
A History of Twentieth-Century Russia by Robert Service, 589 pages James Donahue 07 January 2004 Despite the mundanest of titles, Service writes a fairly readable textbook that tells the facts and provides some anecdotes. Lack of pictures is somewhat damning however (as it would be for any history book). Boning up for my class this Spring. |
Russia: Experiment with a People by Robert Service, 351 pages James Donahue 26 February 2004 Excellent history of Russia from 1991 onwards. Could be read by someone with no background. Only problem: too optimistic. (And he's not even all that optimistic). |
Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker, 256 pages Jeff Gadd 27 December 2001 Great dino book makes a interesting read for a book. |
Eraser by Robert Tine, 228 pages Jeff Gadd 19 January 2002 If u like the movie u will like the book too. |
The Raft by Robert Trumbull, 128 pages Steve Gadd 02 February 1996 |
Keeping the Republic: Ideology and Early American Diplomacy by Robert W. Smith, 142 pages James Donahue 08 December 2005 A published dissertation, this book succintly describes the foreign policies of Washington/Hamiliton, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison against the backdrop of their differing views of republicanism, revolution, civil society, and virtue. Suprisingly relevant to our current foreign policy dilemmas. |
Ancient Future Faith: rethinking evangelicalism for a postmodern world by Robert Weber, 256 pages Jonathan Misirian 01 June 2006 Weber’s premesis is this: the church today is faced with a post-mdoern culture. The way to effectively combat postmodernity is to return to our ecclestiacal roots. Weber explores the ancient rites and practices of the church showing their relevance and promise for today. |
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, 272 pages A Bennett 30 December 2003 A time-worn favorite, victim of many reads and re-reads. This book reads like a list of ingredients for (nearly) everything I want from a novel. Adventure and 'the great superhero reveal' not the least among them. Why don't the men on this list read anything written by women? Is it some sort of taboo? Why not, in 2004, a new resolution/challenge? At least three books by women authors? We, the XX contingent of gaddsbookz!, often enough read cross-genderedly; male authors and protagonists. |
Sunshine by Robin McKinley, 389 pages Julie Gephart 12 June 2004 Vampire book on loan from A Bennett. Contrary to what the song would have you believe, they did not, in fact, sing in the sunshine, nor did they laugh every day. |
Sunshine (2003) by Robin McKinley & possibly an incubus, 389 pages A Bennett 22 January 2004 What a grave task: to read an entire novel to find that it has been written in the entirely wrong point of view. This first person narrative is repetetive, rambling and fails to conform to any sort of narrative arc, making the experience a bit TOO much like being flooded with a befuddling stream-of-consciousness narrative from a very messy mind. It doesn't get any easier when the narrator starts tripping the light fantastic on the astral plane and trying to communicate such abstractions to readers--with even more abstractions. A great disappointment from an author better than her work on this manuscript. The first novel I've bought as a new hardcover since--well, since her last book, I guess. Make that a big "O" Oops. Had two endorsements by Neil Gaiman on the dustcover. |
Visual Basic 6 Business Objects by Rockford Lhotka, 735 pages Steven Krise 12 May 2004 I'm sick of reading code as text. Anyway, Rocky should be beat about the head and shoulders for his smug cover photo. |
Visual Basic .NET Database Programming by Rod Stephens, 405 pages Steven Krise 30 October 2006 ¿Programming database applications with Visual Basic .NET? |
Rebellion and Democracy in Meiji Japan by Roger Bowen, 313 pages James Donahue 27 April 2004 |
Imperial Germany and the Great War (2002) by Roger Chickering, 211 pages James Donahue 14 November 2006 |
Experiments Against Reality: The Fate of Culture in the Postmodern Age by Roger Kimball, 359 pages Tony Pisarenkov 30 November 2008 Thought-provoking, controversial, occasionally infuriating, usually engaging. Not recommended to cultural liberals unprepared to question their assumptions. More on the blog in a few days. |
Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey by Roger Scruton, 495 pages Tony Pisarenkov 25 March 2006 A sweeping and refreshingly lucid survey of Western philosophy from Descartes onwards. Scruton mostly delivers on the promise of making philosophy applicable to daily life, at least in the sections on political philosophy and aestehtic experience. His critique of deconstructionist and "liberationist" philosophies, while effective, is a bit heavy on religious language for my taste. |
Shackleton (a biography) by Roland Huntford, 697 pages Kristin Schrock 19 March 2002 He was loved because he was a bohemian, fond of the ladies, and extravagant with taxis. He may have been a bit of a bungler, but no one died on his watch. |
U2: The Rolling Stone Files by Rolling Stone editors, 323 pages Steve Gadd 09 May 1998 |
Five Skies (2007) by Ron Carlson, 256 pages Jonathan Misirian 03 June 2007 Carlson constructs a novel that deals with the true depths of the human soul. Three men working on a construction project in the Idaho summer, come to grips with their pasts and with each other. Carlson writes with an accuracy and simplicity that is sorely missing from most modern fiction. The splendid descriptions of the mountain and rivers are matched only by the themes of redemption and atonement. An excellent read! |
To Be Free! by Ron Martin, 212 pages Jeff Gadd 09 January 1999 |
Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like The Rest Of The World? by Ronald J. Sider, 144 pages Brad Snyder 16 February 2005 This is very different than Sider's better known "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger", but no less provocative. The book is based on statistics gathered by George Barna that show that evangelicals act just like non-Christians in every category surveyed except for one: it seems that the divorce rate among evangelicals is worse! Recommended for those praying for renewal of hearts and minds in the American church. |
The Scandal of Evangelical Politics (2008) by Ronald J. Sider, 275 pages Jonathan Misirian 08 April 2008 Sider, author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, wrote this treaty in light of the crumbling of the religious right’s old guard. The strength of ‘Scandal’ is its first half, where he convincingly lays out a political philosophy that is grounded in scripture, but is absent from most of the current Christian political discourse. |
Eccentric Neighborhoods by Rosario Ferre, 352 pages Jaqi Ross 28 June 2004 Not recommended! |
The Warslayer by Rosemary Edghill, 312 pages Julie Gephart 08 September 2002 A delightful romp in the vein of Galaxy Quest meets Xena: Warrior Princess. A third-rate Aussie actress is spirited away to a world in desperate need of a hero. |
Privilege: Harvard and Educating the Ruling Class by Ross Douthat, 288 pages Micaela Larkin 15 September 2006 |
The Empty Throne by Ru Emerson, 231 pages Jeff Gadd 27 February 2002 |
Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography by Rudiger Safranski, 371 pages James Donahue 17 April 2003 An excellent biography that concentrates on his ideas and not on his moral worth, sexual issues, or creeping insanity. Safranski places Nietzsche within his historical and social world while explaining what made him unique. The final chapter, which assesses his influence on twentieth-century scholarship, is alone worth the read. |
Martin Heidegger: Between Good and Evil by Rudiger Safranski, 452 pages James Donahue 07 June 2003 Another wonderful biography by Safranksi. This book is recent enough to include the recent connections to Nazism that have surfaced while level-headed enough to make coherent sense of such findings. In this book Safranksi actually makes Heidegger understandable and human, two nearly impossible tasks. |
The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine by Rudolph Chelminski, 344 pages Tony Pisarenkov 26 October 2005 A thoroughly engaging biography of Bernard Loiseau, a three-star French chef who committed suicde while at the height of his success in 2003. On the surface, this is a subject that might not warrant an entire book, but Chelminski not only paints an extremely compelling portrait of this loveable, generous but deeply flawed man, but also gives us a fascinating look into the history and inner workings of French gastronomy. Highly recommended. |
Lourdes: Body and Mind in the Secular Age by Ruth Harris, 431 pages James Donahue 01 October 2002 A compelling account of the miraculous grotto in southern France. As a historian Harris does an excellent job combining respect for the site with a critical eye. She traces the story of the grotte from Mary''s appearance to Ste. Bernadette through the current pilgrimages and healing. Compelling reading that requires no background knowledge of French or Church history. |
A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell, 188 pages Mike Gadd 18 December 2002 Drab, dull, dry and certainly not worth the 188 pages. To think, I could have been standing in line at the WalMart having a great time. But no- I had to finish the book. |
The Soccer War by Ryszard Kapuscinski, 234 pages Steve Gadd 10 September 2000 Great travel writing and war reportage. Kapuscinski went where few foreigners dared, into the tumult of Africa and into Central America. The title refers to a full-scale conflict between El Salvador and Honduras sparked by a World Cup qualifying match. |