| 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. | J. Robert Oppenheimer by Peter Goodchild, 288 pages Steve Gadd 04 June 2000 A long-sought biography of the man behind the atomic bomb project. This book, part of a BBC production, is richly illustrated and very readable. |
Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt, 291 pages Julie Gephart 26 January 2002 A cape, a horse, a servant girl taking up the mask of an ancient Zorro character - it sounds much better than it was. |
Jackaroo I: Jackaroo by Cynthia Voigt, 291 pages A Bennett 05 January 2002 Action/Adventure, set in The Kingdom, with a masked hero. |
Jackaroo II: On Fortune's Wheel by Cynthia Voigt, 289 pages A Bennett 15 January 2002 Beriel leaves The Kingdom unwittingly and falls into love and into slavery. The Narrative pulls punches. |
Jackaroo III: The Wings of a Falcon by Cynthia Voigt, 467 pages A Bennett 11 February 2002 Because I didn't know this existed I read it out of order. Voigt kills off her third person exclusive main character (and his POV) on page 397, in one of the shortest sentences in history. Wow. |
Jackaroo IV: Elske by Cynthia Voigt, 245 pages A Bennett 25 January 2002 Wolfer-born Elske is not the first in the series to end up in The Kingdom, rewarded, but she is my favorite. Excellent series capper, Tough grrl. |
James Bryce (1927) by H.A.L. Fisher, 682 pages James Donahue 29 April 2006 Bryce was a mountain-climber, British Lord, and TR's favorite ambassador. I read this since I have always loved Mount Bryce in BC, and was always curious about its name. Interesting life, but written in that pedantic, old-Oxford style. |
Jane Austen in Hollywood by Linda Troost & Sayre Greenfield, Editors, 186 pages Kristin Schrock 24 April 2002 Essays critiquing the Austen film adaptations (there were six just in '95 and '96 alone). Mostly, these essays discuss what was altered and why. On the portrayal of Darcy: in virtually every scene before the Pemberly scenes, he is situated by or walking towards a window or mirror. Also, he's usually in profile. Necessary Vocabulary: intradiegetic, harlequization, romantification |
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, 433 pages Julie Gephart 11 May 2002 You have to admire a novel in which marrying the hideous, one-eyed, one-armed man is considered the "Happy Ending." |
Jane Fairfax (1990) by Joan Aiken, 252 pages A Bennett 24 February 2004 Literary sequel to Austen's 'Emma', it, by its very nature, must present a case for a minor character of Austen's to become the protagonist and titular heroine of her own story. Not comparable to Austen by any means (there's not enough uncaged wit and vigor in the text for that), but an interesting exercise--even if, to pull of its central mission, Austen's heroine Emma, must, in contrast to the newly-imagined Jane, be portrayed in a less favorable light than even her (critical) creator chose for her. |
Japan's Modern Myths: Ideology in Meiji Japan by Carol Gluck, 387 pages James Donahue 25 April 2004 |
Jawbreaker: The attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda- A personal account by the CIA’s key field commander by Gary Berntsen, 325 pages Jonathan Misirian 07 July 2007 Berntsen was the CIA’s lead in-country commander who oversaw the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Hailed by military historians as an unparalleled military success, Berntsen provides a first hand account of the execution of the war in Afghanistan. A rugged country marked by warlords, numerous tribal factions, and impossible terrain, Afghanistan proved successful for the CIA and Special Forces, for the way they waged this unconventional war. Three themes stand out as to the cause of this military campaign: decentralizing key military decisions by field agents, a tremendous amount of cash (used to buy allegiances), and in the field advances in key acquisition and communication technology. |
Jazz Cleopatra: Josephine Baker in Her Time by Phyllis Rose, 321 pages Tony Pisarenkov 24 March 2009 A lot about her time, which is interesting, but less than one might expect about Baker herself. Informative, but didn't really draw me in. |
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 |
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. |
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson, 160 pages Kristin Schrock 08 March 2003 A series of non-sequitir stories. But in a groovy kind of way. Parts actually made me laugh out loud. Like this one: "Are you hearing unusual sounds or voices?" the doctor asked. "Help us, oh God, it hurts," the boxes of cotton screamed. "Not exactly," I said. |
Jim and Casper Go to Church (2007) by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, 170 pages Jonathan Misirian 08 April 2008 An atheist teams up with a former pastor and visit 10 or so famous churches around the country. Excellent anecdotes from some of the bigger pastor names. Great insights and a delightful quick read. |
Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians (2007) by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper, 208 pages Brad Snyder 26 January 2009 Jim (Henderson), a Christian, and (Matt) Casper, an atheist, go on a road trip to see several major evangelical churches and record Casper's impressions. The list of churches is a veritable Who's Who of evangelicalism: Saddleback, Willow Creek, Mars Hill, and even that Osteen church. Casper shares his likes and dislikes with Jim, who urges the Christians reading the book to take heed and make changes so that atheists will want to come to church. It sounded intriguing at first, but it wore on me. I found the whole premise that atheists have an interest in going to church absurd. |
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. |
Job (1930) by Joseph Roth, 192 pages James Donahue 29 October 2008 A beautifully written book about a Russian Jew in the early twentieth century who becomes a plaything of the Lord. |
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. |
John Gardner: Literary Outlaw by Barry Silesky, 358 pages Steven Krise 06 July 2008 I need to stop reading authors' biographies because it seems they all seem to turn out to be loons, but I do have a better understanding of who Gardner is and what his fiction was about. |
John Mott: A Biography by C Howard Hopkins, 772 pages James Donahue 23 January 2004 This fascinating figure deserves a better biography, one that is not so hagiographic and prone to lists. |
John Stueart Curry's "Hoover and the Flood" (2007) by Charles Eldridge, 74 pages James Donahue 17 January 2008 Eldridge uses a 1940 painting of the 1927 Mississippi flood, an event that was, if possible, even worse than Katrina, as a centerpiece to reflect on the iconography of the Deluge in Western art, the failure of Reconstruction to improve the condition of African-American life in the South, the attempt in the 1930s and 1940s to create an "American" art movement, and the depiction of Hoover, who in 1927 was the humanitarian saviour on the scene but by 1940 had turned into a nation's bête noire over the Depression. |
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, 243 pages Steve Gadd 18 January 1999 The absolutely unforgettable horror story of a disfigured veteran. |
Jonathan Edwards: A Life by George Marsden, 600 pages James Donahue 01 September 2003 What a book! George continually impresses me as a scholar who is at once thorough, thoughtful, and readable. The research here is impeccable and built mainly on a decade of recent dissertations and whatnot. This figure, so central to American political and religious life, is portrayed warts and all, but there's still a lot to admire here. |
Jonathan Franzen by How To Be Alone, 278 pages Jonathan Misirian 28 January 2005 A collection of articles by the author of the compelling, The Corrections. |
Jonathan Sperber by Popular Catholicism in the Nineteenth-Century, 267 pages James Donahue 22 September 2003 Sperber paints a portrait of how Catholicism underwent a huge revival in the 1840s-50s and then consolidated that support into a counter-cultural political and religious enclave in the midst of the new German state. Good analysis, but so many statistics. |
Joshua by God ( via Joshua probably), 19 pages Ian Hassell 15 April 2002 Joshua "kicks rear and takes names" as the Israelites establish their territory |
Journey Through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathamatics by William Dunham, 286 pages Steve Gadd 26 February 2005 The maths may not be for everyone, but if you have ever appreciated the beauty of Euclid's ingenious proof of the infinitude of primes, a survey of mathematical history can be very rewarding. This book focuses on twelve theorems, much in the way an art history showcases great masterpieces presented with historical context. The theorems and proofs are selected both for their significance and their accessibility. Beginning with the ancient Greeks, the author describes the groundbreaking work of Hippocrates, Euclid, and Archimedes, whose derivations of volumes and surface areas would not be expanded upon until the arrival of the calculus two thousand years later. The ancient texts were tended in Alexandria and Baghdad for centuries, eventually sparking a resurgence of European development during the Renaissance. Here Newton makes his grand entrance, setting science on a new course with his development of the binomial theorem, the calculus, a theory of colors, and his famous work in gravitation. All this, incredibly, occurred during two years of intense work at Cambridge. Laplace would later describe Newton as "the greatest genius that ever existed, and the most fortunate, for we cannot find more than once a system of the world to establish." Many other famous mathematicians made their mark in the coming years, including Fermat, whose famous Last Theorem was but one of many he posited without proof, most of which were later proved (and some disproved) by the prolific Euler. Dunham does not omit the back story, describing the bitter rivalries and quirky personalities that add human color to science. Johann Bolyai was one of several co-discovers of non-Euclidean geometry, despite having been implored by his father that "You must not attempt this approach to parallels. I know this way to its very end. I have traversed this bottomless night, which extinguished all light and joy of my life.... I entreat you, leave the science of parallels alone." |
Journey to the End of the Night by Lous-Ferdinand Céline, 446 pages Tony Pisarenkov 25 June 2008 I'm glad I read this now, and not fifteen years ago when I first became aware of it. Detailed comments here |
JPod (2006) by Douglas Coupland, 448 pages Brad Snyder 31 January 2007 Amoral 20-something video game programmers and the lives they lead. I can't figure out whether Coupland writing himself into the book as a character is a brilliant act of self-effacing humor, or a stupid stunt that irritates the snot out of me. Oh, I think I finally got the memo...this entry marks my first with the publication year after the title. Bonus. |
Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow, 564 pages A Bennett 25 February 2002 Gwen Bristow knows more about California geography, geology, and history than anybody should really care to know. If the women of 1840 were given bracing cups of hard liquor to strengthen and their nerves them as often as was our heroine, is it is a miracle the territory was ever settled in the first place. Overall, a pale forerunner of Calico Palace, and much dustier. |
Jubilee Trail by Gwen Bristow, 564 pages Julie Gephart 23 March 2002 Recipe for Jubilee Trail: Mix one society girl, one useless husband, and one impossibly hot blonde with 8 parts trail dust. Fold in equal measure of dry historical exposition. Bake under hot California sun until gold appears around the edges. |
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. |
Judges by God (via Unknown), 19 pages Ian Hassell 01 May 2002 Interesting stories of the good, the bad and the judges - Israel was a theocracy but still had the "free will" opportunities that we experience |
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. |
Just One Look by Harlan Coben, 352 pages Mike Gadd 01 July 2004 This writer's stand alone mysteries tend to lose some of their enjoyment because of the 30 pages necessary at the end to sort out the complicated mess. |