Member: IslandDave

CollectionsYour library (3,135), Currently reading (3), Read in 2013 (21), Read in 2012 (66), Read in 2011 (57), Read in 2010 (20), Read in 2009 (113), Read in 2008 (14), Read (453), Comic Books (5), All collections (3,140)

Reviews126 reviews

TagsNon-Fiction (2,261), History (1,287), Fiction (860), Science (515), War (463), Military History (455), 20th Century (452), Military (435), US History (402), Fantasy (368) — see all tags

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Recommendations18 recommendations

About meI'm a self-employed software consultant. I enjoy skepticism, traveling, kayaking, debate, music, college basketball, science, history, philosophy, comparative religion, and reading (duh).

About my libraryMy interests are generally non-fiction, centered around physics/astronomy, biology, religion, skepticism, history, military history, history of science, philosophy, mind, and mathematics. When I read fiction, it is nearly always military fiction, classic literature, fantasy, or sci-fi.

All the books in my LT library I (and my wife) own personally.

An outline of my ratings:

No Stars: Means nothing, haven't entered it yet.

1/2 Star: Terrible. The worst of the worst. Not enjoyable, poorly written, poorly sourced, and/or just plain sucks. Waste of time to even consider reading. Avoid.

1 Star: Very Bad. Almost certainly not worth the time to read. Avoid.

1 1/2 Stars: Bad. On the whole not worth reading, though possibly of some interest if the author/subject matter are important enough. For non-fiction, there may be highly flawed theories or logic, misleading narrative, or other such sins. Avoid.

2 stars: Fair. Generally not worth the time to read, and suffers some serious problems of narrative, sourcing, argument, and/or just plain bland and uninteresting. Not recommended.

2 1/2 stars: OK. Not a positive experience for the time spent, but has some minor value and may offer some interesting reading if the author/subject are sought after. Not recommended.

3 stars: Average. Nothing terribly wrong with an average book. Generally worth the time to read, but temper expectations. Suffers from some minor problems such as narrative, misleading info, construction, but not enough to avoid reading the book. Recommended to specific readers.

3 1/2: Above average. Worth the time spent reading, and despite having some minor flaws (or being somewhat bland and/or underwhelming), offers enough value/enjoyment for most readers. Some books may have 4-5 star ratings but suffer from problems that keep the rating lower. Recommended to most.

4 stars: Very Good. Well worth the time to read and (for non-fiction) an excellent source of information. It takes something special to get above 4 stars from me, so this is the top of the line for 'normal' books. Recommended to all.

4 1/2 stars: Outstanding. Book offers more value than just being a good read. Narrative is excellent and sourcing/argument (for non-fiction) are well above-average. Subject matter of great interest to me, or subject matter became interesting as a result of reading this book. Highly Recommended.

5 stars: Favorites. The very best of the best. Very Highly Recommended, you can't go wrong with these.

Groups75 Books Challenge for 2012, 75 Books Challenge for 2013, 999 Challenge, American History, Ancient History, Atheists review books, Author and venue pictures, Banned Books, Bug Collectors, Build the Open Shelves Classification —show all groups, Combiners!, Common Knowledge, WikiThing, HelpThing, Evolution, Evolve!, Faith and Reason, FantasyFans, Freethought History, Hacking LibraryThing, Happy Heathens, History: On learning from and writing history, Medieval Europe, Military History, Non-Fiction Readers, Philosophy and Theory, Progressive & Liberal!, Science Fiction Fans, Science!, Skeptic's book club, Spam Fighters!, Suncoast Skeptics Book Club, The Green Dragon, Travel and Exploration literature

Favorite authorsDouglas Adams, Stephen E. Ambrose, Rick Atkinson, Terry Brooks, Sean B. Carroll, Jerry A. Coyne, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Hans Delbrück, Daniel C. Dennett, Jared Diamond, Bart D. Ehrman, Timothy Ferris, Richard Feynman, Brian Greene, David H. Hackworth, David Halberstam, Sam Harris, Robert A. Heinlein, Robin Hobb, Susan Jacoby, Robert Jordan, Michio Kaku, John Keegan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Naomi Klein, David McCullough, Steven Pinker, Philip Plait, Carl Sagan, Brandon Sanderson, Lee Smolin, Hunter S. Thompson, Henry David Thoreau, J. R. R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Carl Zimmer, Howard Zinn, Phil Zuckerman (Shared favorites)

VenuesFavorites

Favorite bookstoresA. Parker's Books Inc., Book Exchange, Book Shop New & Used, Emerald Isle Books & Toys, Goodwill Bookstore at Centergate

Favorite librariesCraven-Pamlico-Carteret Public Library System - Western Carteret Public Library, Sarasota County Libraries - Selby Library

Other favoritesHem of His Garment, Goodwill - Honore and 17th

Homepagehttp://freesampleforager.com

Also onAIM, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

LocationSarasota, FL, USA

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/IslandDave (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/IslandDave (library)

Member sinceDec 12, 2008

Currently readingWashington: A Life by Ron Chernow
Into the Darkness by Harry Turtledove
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson