| The Blue Hour by T. Jefferson Parker, 480 pages Mike Gadd 13 March 2004 A good, creepy story. Nice pace with good characters. | Red Light by T. Jefferson Parker, 480 pages Mike Gadd 29 March 2004 This guy writes a lot like Michael Connelly. We get the female version of Harry Bosch in this sequel to 'The Blue Hour'. (Friendly wave to A.B. on the way by.) |
Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker, 388 pages Mike Gadd 07 May 2004 Well done story of an adopted son out for vengence of his murdered father. |
Where Serpents Lie by T. Jefferson Parker, 576 pages Mike Gadd 04 June 2004 One of his earlier works that doesn't hold up to his current style. This one had too many slow points where the plot just didn't do anything. |
Cold Pursuit by T. Jefferson Parker, 416 pages Mike Gadd 18 February 2005 |
The Triggerman's Dance by T. Jefferson Parker, 540 pages Mike Gadd 03 November 2005 Very slow to develop, but eventually pays off. Parker's books tend not to disappoint. |
Thirteen by T. Pines, 330 pages Jeff Gadd 29 July 2002 Thirteen short horror stories this guy like from other author's . |
Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan by Takashi Fujitani, 282 pages James Donahue 21 April 2004 Wonderful analysis of the nationalistic invention of Japanese court ritual in the late nineteenth-century, Very illustrative on the symbolic aspects of rule. |
On Suicide Bombing (2007) by Talal Asad, 96 pages James Donahue 24 July 2007 Asad, a Muslim scholar at NYU, fails to see much difference between suicide bombing and the state-sanctioned violence of the West. (He condemns both equally.) So in this series of lectures he roots out the Western/Christian sources of the horror held especially for the suicide bomber, a path that leads through the modern need to secular redemption, the just war theory, the story of Sampson, and the "suicide that defined the term": Christ's Passion. |
Trickster's Choice (2003) by Tamora Pierce, 423 pages A Bennett 26 January 2004 Utterly charming. My only criticism is that it seems to be the beginning of a series (not everything is resolved, and the Amazing Superhero Reveal is deferred), and as a new release, any follow-ups are, at present, nowhere to be found. |
Song of the Lioness I: Alanna - the first adventure (1983) by Tamora Pierce, 216 pages A Bennett 04 February 2004 Interesting to read her first book (adequately, but clunkily written--sometimes breaking with P.O.V) on the heels of her most-recent. |
Song of the Lioness II: In the Hand of the Goddess (1984) by Tamora Pierce, 209 pages A Bennett 05 February 2004 Many scenes are underwritten (as they must be, to cram four years into two-hundred pages). Still, not bad stuff, though the titles and the cover art cause me to cringe whenever I get a book in this series out in public. |
Song of the Lioness III: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (1986) by Tamora Pierce, 228 pages A Bennett 09 February 2004 If not for the crafty Schrock sneaking home unexpectedly last night, I would have finished this a day earlier. |
Song of the Lioness IV: Lioness Rampant (1988) by Tamora Pierce, 308 pages A Bennett 19 February 2004 |
Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce, 423 pages Julie Gephart 02 July 2004 Finally, a girl who is clever and resourceful and determined and unafraid, all while still being a regular person. |
Trickster's Queen (2004) by Tamora Pierce, 470 pages A Bennett 18 April 2005 So far less than Trickster's Choice that one is left to wonder what on earth could have created such a dearth of interest and quality. |
White as Snow by Tanith Lee, 319 pages Julie Gephart 07 September 2002 A 'dark retelling' of the Snow White story blended with the myth of Persephone. Also, boring. If your main characters spend the whole book in an insane stupor where they don't care about anything that happens to them, I certainly don't care either. |
And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander, 320 pages Micaela Larkin 01 February 2007 This book rocks. I picked it up because I liked the cover at Target. When I flipped it over I realized Ralph McInerny liked it. Opened up the flap to read that author went to ND and her dad taught there, I immediately bought it. It was a great mystery! Luckily, the sequel comes out in a few months! |
A Poisoned Seasons (2007) by Tasha Alexander, 320 pages Micaela Larkin 28 May 2007 |
Starbucked: a double tall tale of caffeine, commerce and culture (2007) by Taylor Clark, 294 pages Jonathan Misirian 27 June 2008 Rare is the book that wants you to send a note of thanks to the author, and for me, Starbucked is one of those books. For a first book, Clark writes with a sharp wit and a with a style that is truly a delight to read. Not a screed, nor an add for the company; but rather a well balanced look at this American and now international company. |
Newjack by Ted Conover, 319 pages Jonathan Misirian 31 March 2006 When the NY State Corrections refused journalist Conover access to write about the inside, Conover became a Corrections Officer. Stationed at the infamous Sing Sing for nearly a year, Newjack richly chronicles life within the prison walls. |
Funnymen by Ted Heller, 410 pages Kristin Schrock 19 April 2006 The story of a comic pair (think Dean and Lewis) told like a documentary with interviews. I didn't think I would like the style, but I found it surprisingly engaging. |
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, 726 pages Julie Gephart 30 December 2003 Christmas gift from a co-worker, first in an apparently popular series. Centuries after humans nearly obliterated themselves and the earth, life continues in small villages. An oral history has been passed down of lost technical information after the last books crumbled, but nobody remembers what it means or how to use it. Now another war is brewing involving races humans didn’t even realize existed until their own population had dwindled (elves, dwarves, the usual suspects), and legend tells of a special sword that will be the key to victory. |
Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, 726 pages Steven Krise 10 October 2004 Why do the bad guys always come out of the North? |
Pop Goes Religion: Faith in Popular Culture by Terry Mattingly, 211 pages Brad Snyder 31 October 2006 The Catholic Archbishop of Denver, a journalist, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top are standing in the elevator lobby of a Denver hotel...sound like the beginning of a joke? No, it's the amusing true tale that Mattingly uses to illustrate the theme of his book. Mattingly writes the syndicated "On Religion" column for the Scripps Howard News Service. This book is an accumulation of those articles, divided into chapters by topic. His articles don't tell you what to think, but leave you thinking. The chapter about movies was nauseatingly Lord of the Rings-, Star Wars-, and Matrix-centric, but the rest of the book is a gem. |
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, 344 pages Steven Krise 28 February 2002 Quirky tale about the origin and demise of gods as well as the power and danger of belief. |
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett, 374 pages Steven Krise 19 September 2003 Commentary on the evils of suburbanization and Wal-Mart culture, I think? Another witty, off-the-wall story by Pratchett complete with the Zombie ringleader of the Undead Rights movement, a shy bogeyman who comes "out of the closet" and a wereman. |
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, 344 pages Steven Krise 24 May 2004 Seems less iconclastic upon the second reading. |
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett, 353 pages Steven Krise 02 April 2005 |
Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, 368 pages Steven Krise 25 September 2005 Rincewind winced. He had always been aware that Someone Up There was doing something on him. He'd never considered it was smiling. |
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett, 373 pages Steven Krise 20 November 2005 A story about Sex, Drugs, and Music with Rocks In. The main character, Imp y Celyn (which is Llamedos-ish for Small Bud of the Holly), brings an unintended musical revolution to Ankh-Morpork. Oh, and death is off gallivanting about the Disc again trying to sort out the meaning of it all, anyways. |
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, 380 pages Steven Krise 20 November 2005 When the hatch closed above him, Autocue sidled over to one of the [Trojan] hores's massive legs and put it to a use for which it wasn't originally intended. And it was while he was staring vaguely ahead, lost in that Zen-like contemplation which occurs at moments like this that there was a faint pop in the air and an entire river valley opened up in front of him. It's not the sort of thing that ought to happen to a thoughtful lad. Especially one who has to wash his own uniform. |
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, 377 pages Steven Krise 12 January 2006 A story of hope set against the backdrop of the competition between two companies in the message delivery industry. Includes a group of phreakers called the Smoking GNU. |
The Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, 265 pages Steven Krise 21 January 2006 Sort of Pratchett's take on Macbeth. |
Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, 378 pages Steven Krise 21 November 2006 Perfect clock traps time and kaos ensues. |
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett, 357 pages Steven Krise 10 December 2006 Pratchett's take on the murder mystery. |
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett, 237 pages Steven Krise 20 December 2006 Eskarina is the 8th son of an 8th son, destining her for a long career as a powerful wizard. There's only one problem (to the world, not to Esk). She's a girl. |
Mort by Terry Pratchett, 243 pages Steven Krise 01 January 2007 Death takes an apprentice, goes on a vacation, and then kicks ass after chaos ensues. |
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, 358 pages Steven Krise 05 April 2007 Pratchett's take on "The Phantom of the Opera". |
Eric by Terry Pratchett, 197 pages Steven Krise 19 July 2007 "If Terry Pratchett is not yet [in] an institution he should be.... Nothing...magical." |
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett, 337 pages Steven Krise 03 August 2007 ? |
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart, 271 pages Steve Gadd 09 January 2002 An American writer in Paris enters a circle of friends who share a common interest in the piano. Thanks Tony for the gift. |
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart, 271 pages Erik Bauer 07 July 2002 An American writer in Paris enters a circle of friends who share a common interest in the piano. I take my piano playing more seriously after having read it. Thanks Steve for the borrow. |
Planning Your Pregnancy & Birth - Third edition by The American College of Obstetricians and Gyneco.., 469 pages A Bennett 28 December 2005 from page 237, "Between feedings, place chilled cabbage leaves around your breast. The leaves of cabbage are soothing and fit nicely around your breast." This quote would probably seem more strange as opposed to funny to me if I hadn't recently read The Penultimate Peril, in which Esme Squalor spent 95% of the book in a bikini made entirely of lettuce leaves. |
Lauren Willig by The Deception of the Emerald Ring, 386 pages Micaela Larkin 16 April 2007 |
J. Clifford Nelson by The Lutherans in North America, 541 pages James Donahue 03 October 2002 Exactly what it sounds like, and as exactly as dry as it sounds like. |
The Downsizing of America by The New York Times, 236 pages Steve Gadd 14 November 2002 As much as I enjoy the newspaper, this "Special Report" left me wanting. It was little more than a touchy-feely portrait of folks who have been adversely affected by America's modern layoff culture. The authors mention economists who describe layoffs as part of an efficient economic system, but do nothing to develop or refute that view. By now most of us can probably look in the mirror to see the face of the layoff economy, leaving no need for this book. |
Waiter's Rant by The Waiter, 302 pages Tony Pisarenkov 25 September 2008 Mostly entertaining, but not without its faults. More comments here |
The Eve of 1914 (1936) by Theodor Wolff, 636 pages James Donahue 02 December 2008 Wolff was the longtime editor of the Berliner Tageblatt. Here he reconstructs the events leading up to WWI, relying not only on research but from his personal interaction with the German elite. If you can suffer through his long-winded, Wilhelmine style, the book reveals lots of quirkly tidbits about a fascinating range of personalities. |
Ishi In Two Worlds (1961) by Theodora Kroeber, 256 pages Jonathan Misirian 19 December 2007 In 1910, a native American wandered out of the northern California wilderness, hungry and near death. Fate brought him to the University of Berkley and two young anthropology professors, who recognized him as the last Indian and the last vestige of a world nearly extinct. For the next 4 years Ishi lived at the museum and provided an invaluable ethno-linguistic resource of the Yana Indians. Written by the wife of one of the professors, this book contains a wealth of information about the closing of the frontier and the effects upon all those who lived there. |
Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple, 261 pages Tony Pisarenkov 03 February 2009 Dalrymple, a doctor in the slums and a prison in Birmingham, gives a chilling account of the moral and cultural decrepitude of the British underclass and traces it to the welfare state's overwhelming culture of victimhood and a complete refusal on society's part to hold people responsible for their choices, fostered by liberal intellectuals. A must-read for anyone raising or planning to raise children, at the very least. Either affirming or controversial for the rest. A few more comments here. |
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas À Kempis, 217 pages Steve Gadd 06 December 1999 A classic meditation on devotion and the ascetic life -- How To Be a Monk. |
Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University (2006) by Thomas Albert Howard, 448 pages James Donahue 04 May 2007 |
Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer by Thomas Dubay, 122 pages Micaela Larkin 21 July 2006 |
Night Train by Thomas F. Monteleone, 337 pages Jeff Gadd 13 May 2002 Scary book I don't want to be down in a subway for awhile. |
The Interrogation by Thomas H. Cook, 288 pages Mike Gadd 08 April 2003 Decent enough premise... Cops have 12 hours to question their murder suspect before they must let him go for lack of evidence. |
Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy, 528 pages Erik Bauer 22 May 2001 This is a sad book with a great story and an ending that leaves a little to be desired. I've have never known a story in which the primary characters make so many bad decisions. |
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy, 468 pages Steve Gadd 22 July 2002 Eustacia Vye, a beautiful, cultured woman, dreams of the passionate lover who will take her away from the desolate landscape of Egdon Heath. But her poetic longing is no match for the cruelness of fate. Bonfires, burial mounds, secret meetings under the eclipsed moon, Eustacia standing on a barrow at twilight, scanning the horizon with her grandfather's spyglass -- memorable images of this gothic tragedy. |
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy, 468 pages Steve Gadd 27 October 2009 |
The Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, 434 pages Steven Krise 31 January 2002 Like it says on the cover, meet Hannibal Lecter for the first time. |
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, 367 pages Jeff Gadd 20 February 2002 Hello! Clarice! |
Hannibal by Thomas Harris, 541 pages Jeff Gadd 27 February 2002 Revenge is never bliss. |
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, 454 pages Jeff Gadd 23 September 2002 Interesting book,some scarry parts in it. A killer who likes Hannibal lecter is crazy. |
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris, 323 pages Steven Krise 14 January 2007 Meet Hannibal Lecter for the first time...again. |
Mosby's Confederacy by Thomas J Evans & James M Moyer, 134 pages Steven Krise 20 December 2002 Walking and automobile tours of Mosby's Confederacy and surrounding areas developed by the authors and Virgil Carrington Jones turned into book form. |
Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil Worshippers Who Became Saints (2006) by Thomas J. Craughwell, 191 pages Brad Snyder 17 November 2007 A collection of short biographies of a handful of Catholic patron saints. Kudos to Craughwell for offering historical context and explaining when the stories are more legend than fact. |
Death and the Afterlife in Modern France by Thomas Kselman, 302 pages James Donahue 02 August 2004 |
Utopia by Thomas More, 197 pages James Donahue 21 January 2003 A traveller from the newfound Americas relates an alternative society to 16th century Englanders. More's vision is an odd amalgamation of socialism (before there was such a thing) and Christianity. Reading this book is like finding a missing link. |
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, 138 pages Kristin Schrock 18 July 2002 Yeah, I have no idea. I understand the basic plot--but then there's all this MEANINGFUL stuff that just goes way over my head. Something about conspiracies and revelations and the post office. Oh, and, of course, the legacy of America. Anybody read this one? Want to give me a few hints? Lots of big words, too: hierophany, nerdigrised, stelliferous, harquebus, philatelist |
Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon, 773 pages James Donahue 27 December 2003 A satirical look at two men who helped conquer the world for orthongonality. Wickedly funny at times, but sometimes devolved into quixotic goofiness. Written in the style of Enlightenment prose: this was its best and worst feature. Often made my brain sparkle but sometimes overworked it for little reward. All in all, an eccentric and good read. |
The Natures of John and William Bartram by Thomas Slaughter, 292 pages James Donahue 28 January 2004 The best biography I've ever read. Hands down. The Bartrams were a father-son botanist team in colonial America with vastly different personalities and stories. The book tells their lives through their troubled relationship and expertly makes one see the forest and untrammeled nature of 18th-century America. But what the makes the book really soar is Slaughter's sympathetic and probing narrative style, written on the heels of his own father's death. |
Native Sources of Japanese Industrialization by Thomas Smith, 270 pages James Donahue 05 November 2003 |
You Can't Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe, 704 pages Kristin Schrock 02 June 2002 This book nearly killed me. I hate this book with the passion of a thousand suns. But somehow I managed to finish it. At page 150, the hero realizes, "You can't go home again." Then he goes on other adventures for the next 450 pages or so, to come to the same conclusion at page 700. And there's something in there about America dying but there still being hope. So, in short, you can't go home again. We. Get. It. |
Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen, 210 pages Brad Snyder 16 May 2006 This is basically an extension of the TV show "Home Improvement", only with his real-life circumstances thrown in. It's my love for the TV show that made me interested in reading the book, and while it was funny at points, I found it needlessly crass at others. |
The Hearse You Came In On by Tim Cockey, 412 pages Mike Gadd 29 August 2002 Lighthearted 'who done it' with an undertaker as the main character. I have a friend in this line of work and it was fun picturing him running around in the book. |
Hearse of a Different Color by Tim Cockey, 382 pages Mike Gadd 01 October 2002 Another go-round with the undertaker who fancies himself as a detective. Many local Baltimore references were the highlight. |
Left Behind by Tim Lahaue J,B. Jenkins, 468 pages Jeff Gadd 21 September 2000 |
Tribulation Force by Tim Lahaue J,B. Jenkins, 450 pages Jeff Gadd 15 November 2000 |
Nicolae by Tim Lahaue J,B. Jenkins, 415 pages Jeff Gadd 10 December 2000 |
Assassins by Tim Lahaue J,B. Jenkins, 412 pages Jeff Gadd 03 October 2002 Assassins,Assassins,Assassins everyone wants to kill each other or someone else. |
The InDwelling by Tim Lahaue J,B. Jenkins, 388 pages Jeff Gadd 07 October 2002 The seventh of the series of Left Behind and I still like them all. |
The Mark by Tim Lahaue J,B. Jenkins, 325 pages Jeff Gadd 27 October 2002 The 8th of the series and the beast of the world want's to leave his mark literally. |
Soul Harvest by Tim LaHaye Jerry Jenkins, 426 pages Jeff Gadd 19 March 2001 |
APOLLYON by Tim LaHaye Jerry Jenkins, 399 pages Jeff Gadd 27 March 2001 |
Apollyon by Tim LaHaye Jerry Jenkins, 399 pages Jeff Gadd 28 August 2002 The fifth in the Left Behind series which is very good to read and is interesting. |
Desecration by Tim LaHaye Jerry Jenkins, 405 pages Jeff Gadd 22 December 2002 The nineth in the series as the AntiChrist takes his throne. People must choise a mark as a believer,or of the AntiChrist, or they will be put to death. The unbelievers are put through more plagues,diseases, and the seas turning to blood. |
Desecration by Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins, 405 pages Mike Gadd 24 September 2002 Book 9 in the ''Left Behind'' series. Concept is still good and the story is interesting enough to keep up through however many more they are going to write. The writing quality is at best adequate and can certainly be distracting. |
The Remnant by Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins, 405 pages Mike Gadd 09 September 2003 Book 10 down and still moving forward. Slowly. The plot keeps thinning out and I find that I don't care about some of the characters anymore. |
Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien, 301 pages Kristin Schrock 18 September 2005 Second National Book Award winner in a row. This one takes it cue from Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse Five--emphasizing the absurdity of war. Here, a Vietnam soldier tries to make sense of war when his company takes off after an AWOL soldier. O'Brien touches on a familiar theme for him--trying to tell a true war story. One of my favorite sentences: "Why, out of all that might have happened, did it lead to a beheading in Tehran? Why not pretty things? Why not a smooth, orderly arc from war to peace?" Why not pretty things, indeed. |
Green River Rising by Tim Willocks, 384 pages Mike Gadd 29 April 2003 Gritty, disturbing, and extremely well done story about a group of prisoners in a Texas state pen trying to survive a riot. Good pace and nice ending. |
Blood Done Sign My Name : A True Story by Timothy B. Tyson, 368 pages Brad Snyder 12 April 2006 This story recounts the civil rights movement as it unfolded in and around Oxford, NC after the sickening murder of a black man at the hands of three whites--a murder for which no one was punished and ultimately led to a small revolution. Tyson is more than a passive historian viewing past events from a safe distance in the present, but was actually a resident of Oxford at the time. His father was the pastor of the United Methodist church and was known and hated by some for being sympathetic toward the plight of African-Americans. This murder is the pivot on which Tyson has related his journey through life, forced him to explore his world view, his own attitudes, and the history of his beloved North Carolina. If you are at all interested in race relations, read this book. |
A Century of Recorded Music: Listening to Musical History by Timothy Day, 306 pages Tony Pisarenkov 18 September 2006 A potentially interesting topic (how sound recording affected the performance and consumption of classical music) covered in an inadequate, disjoint, excessively England-centric and effete fashion. If I see the word demisemiquaver one more time, I will strangle someone. |
Karl Barth: Against Hegemony by Timothy Gorringe, 289 pages James Donahue 03 July 2003 A new and brief summary of Barth's life and work placed within his historical and intellectual context. Decent summary, but devolves too easily into scholastic quarrels that only those within the field can understand. |
The Exceptional Presenter (2007) by Timothy Koegel, 188 pages Jonathan Misirian 25 October 2007 Another recommendation, an excellent college level overview of speaking and presentation skills. |
Contested Christianity by Timothy Larsen, 193 pages James Donahue 29 December 2005 First off - CONGRATULATIONS ALICIA!!!!This book is a compendium of essays covering the cultural history of Victorian Dissenters, ranging from scandels in Jamaica, the first Bible-tourist agencies offering trips to the Holy Land for the bourgeoisie, what happens when Baptist churches lose all their male members, and the reception of German biblical criticism. Larsen is very readable, an admirable historian and a fresh thinker - but, given his extensive use of a Dissenting vocabulary - I often missed enough of the (unexplained) references to feel like an outsider looking in. |
Christabel Pankhurst: Fundamentalism and Feminism in Coalition (2004) by Timothy Larsen, 142 pages James Donahue 31 March 2006 |
Living in the Shadow by Timothy Weber, 210 pages James Donahue 04 December 2002 A helpful exposition of dispensationalism from its genesis in the 1840s through WWII. |
Dark Force Rising (1992) by Timothy Zahn, 439 pages James Donahue 07 January 2008 Did you know that Leia (who drops the "Princess") eventually gets trained the Force? |
The Last Command (1999) by Timothy Zahn, 340 pages James Donahue 15 February 2008 Did you know that Leia has credence on some worlds because she is "spawn of Vader"? |
Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life by Toby Cecchini, 238 pages Tony Pisarenkov 24 December 2005 For once, the blurb on the cover is spot-on: what Bourdain did for chefs, Cecchini did for bartenders. A surprisingly well-written, frequently poetic, yet at the same time brutally realistic first-hand account of bartending and bar owenrship that will make you run to your nearest watering hole while recoiling in horror from any ambition you may be harboring of working behind the bar. |
Car Talk by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, 206 pages Steve Gadd 17 January 1998 Paper version of the radio program. Just as enjoyable, and with plenty of helpful information about buying and keeping a car. "The cheapskate pays the most!" |
Patriot Games by Tom Clancy, 616 pages Jeff Gadd 30 July 2001 |
Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy, 618 pages Steven Krise 05 October 2002 How do you make a spy novel (including the defection of a KGB agent from Russia to America by way of Yugoslavia and England and an assassination attempt on a major world figure) boring? Well, 300+ pages of trite uninteresting ''character development'' is a good first step. Read the rest of the book for all the details. |
Ops Center Line of Control by Tom Clancy, 372 pages Jeff Gadd 10 December 2002 Terrorist from Pakistan bomb a building in India, but the terrorists are blamed for two other explosions they didn't do,by India. But countries want to go to war with each other. Striker compony is call in from USA to stop this war. Can they do it in time? |
Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy, 618 pages James Donahue 26 October 2003 What happened to Tom? I haven't picked up a book of his in some time (maybe eight years). I always admired his sense of pacing and movie-ready episodic prose. However in this book the suspense was gone, the prose was limp, and the characters sounded like unthinking call-ins on Rush Limbaugh. I've read an awful lot of memoirs and accounts by Soviet defectors for my studies (see Wolfgang Leonhard last year for a particularly good one), and none of them sound like his Reaganite defector hero. So disappointing. |
Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy, 897 pages Jonathan Misirian 13 May 2005 You read Clancy for the same reason you catch an Adam Sandler movie: to temporarily put your mind on hold. |
Debt of Honor by Tom Clancy, 990 pages Steven Krise 05 September 2007 |
Executive Orders by Tom Clancy, 1358 pages Steven Krise 29 October 2007 I'm not sure if it's the self-righteous moralism, the fascist politics, the support for the Nuremburg defense or the awful prose that leads me to hate this book. I thought previously that "Red Rabbit" may have been an anomaly but now after slogging thru more than 2000 pages of Clancy I am sure that I simply don't like Clancy's writing. |
Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins, 277 pages Steve Gadd 28 January 1996 |
The Turk by Tom Standage, 247 pages Steve Gadd 30 January 2004 In 1770, Wolfgang von Kempelen produced a life-size mechanical man capable of beating all comers at chess. Even in an age when clockwork marvels were drawing crowds throughout Europe, the Turk (named for its oriental costume) created a huge sensation. Managed by one showman after another, the automaton toured Europe and America, beating Napoleon, Benjamin Franklin, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Babbage, and most of the greatest chess players of the day, while pamphleteers and journalists debated the secret of its mechanism. A great read. |
A History of the World in 6 Glasses (2005) by Tom Standage, 274 pages James Donahue 20 December 2006 The six glasses: Beer (Fertile Crescent), Wine (Greece and Rome), Rum/Brandy/Whiskey (American Colonies), Coffee (Enlightenment), Tea (China in 19th-century), and Coca-Cola (20th-century America). Very Anglophoniccentric, but very entertaining with great trivia on our favorite beverages. |
A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage, 311 pages Tony Pisarenkov 29 September 2007 An enjoyable and surprisingly well-written, albeit brief, examination of the impact six beverages -- beer, wine, distilled spirits, coffee, tea and Coca-Cola -- had on the political and economic history of mankind. Recommended. |
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, 414 pages Steven Krise 07 September 2005 That was fuckin' trippy...hehe. |
The Heartless Stone by Tom Zoellner, 270 pages Micaela Larkin 08 November 2006 Diamonds are a girl's best friend, NOT!!! The real story of how diamond's change cultures. |
Letters to a young evangelical (2006) by Tony Campolo, 280 pages Jonathan Misirian 14 August 2007 As America's Evanglicalism's gadfly, Campolo continues in his famous against-the-grain mode with the writing of this book. Using the conceit of writing to two young Christians, the author gives his 2 cents on every issue from Abortion to Islam. |
Jim the Boy by Tony Earley, 227 pages Julie Gephart 17 November 2002 Scenes from the life of a ten year old boy being raised by his mother and three uncles in depression-era North Carolina. |
Reader's Digest: Select Editions - The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman, 121 pages A Bennett 31 December 2004 |
A Grand Illusion? An Essay on Europe by Tony Judt, 141 pages James Donahue 02 December 2003 This is one of the best and the most compact book on European unification out there. Judt is wise to be a "Euro-skeptic" and points out many substanitive issues standing in the path of total unification. |
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, 233 pages Kristin Schrock 04 November 2002 This was recommended to me by a co-worker (and I think someone on the list read it as well). It is the fictionalized story of the aforementioned girl. It's a quick and enjoyable read. Sometimes I was annoyed by the simple sentences--she is, after all, a maid--and all of the similes: like bees, like dice, like snow. It's not like, it IS. |
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier, 248 pages James Donahue 15 June 2005 Chevalier's book is a fictional reconstruction of the creation of the tapestries of the same name hanging at the Musee de Cluny on the Left Bank. My wife recommened me the book, although I suspect it was solely out of love for the tapestries which fascinated her since she first saw them. I thus began this book in skepticism. The first few chapters almost fulfilled my expectations, especially the salacious devolutions that read more like Playboy letters than literature. (My objection is not one of prudishness, but one that prefers at least a two-dimensional woman in casual sex scenes.) But, to my surprise, the novel really picked up steam. In the end I could not put it down. It turns out that Chevalier can develop characters once they are slightly stained with love. |
I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World (2007) by Trevor Paglen, 136 pages Brad Snyder 15 February 2009 This book was sitting on the library's display of new titles. It looks somewhat unassuming with a patch pasted on the cover of the black book. I opened it and new I had to read it. It contains pictures of patches and emblems used by several of the Pentagon's black ops units with an explanation or suggestion of what the imagery contained on each is. It also explains a little about some of the missions undertaken by each (when known). Hardly heavy reading, and lots of colorful pictures. |
Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote, 160 pages Erik Bauer 03 March 2000 I want to live in New York City for a year. |
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, 343 pages Tony Pisarenkov 30 December 2005 I fully admit that I picked up the book after seeing the film "Capote," but I am glad I did. Very well written, reads much more like a novel than I expected, and, most amazingly, betrays none of Capote's over the top personality. |
Takedown by Tsutomu Shimomura, 494 pages Steve Gadd 01 June 2003 The computer security expert who tracked down notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick really milks his 15 minutes with this tell-all. It's too long by half, with constant updates on the author's irrelevant love life and an overlong autobiography at the beginning. The insider's view of computer crime and security tactics is interesting, but not enough to redeem the clumsy prose. It appears that the New York Times reporter/ghost writer practically transcribed the recorded interviews of the parts of the story he didn't witness. |