drneutron's 2011 List - Part the Second

Time for a new thread! Here's Part the First

The list so far:
1. Atlantic: The Biography of an Ocean by Simon Winchester (3.5)
2. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (4)
3. The Shimmer by David Morrell (3.5)
4. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney (4)
5. An Honest President: The Life and Presidencies of Grover Cleveland by H. P. Jeffers (3)
6. On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
(4.5)
7. Very Bad Deaths by Spider Robinson (3.5)
8. The Zen of Zombie by Scott Kenemore (2.5)
9. The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman (4)
10. Blameless by Gail Carriger
(3.5)
11. Michael Jackson's Beer Companion by Michael Jackson (2.5)
12. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (5)
13. Touched with Fire: Five Presidents and the Civil War Battles That Made Them by James M. Perry (3)
14. The Hard Way by Lee Child (4)
15. Red on Red by Edward Conlon (1.5)
16. The Magicians and Mrs Quent by Galen Beckett (4)
17. The Summer of Shadows: a Murder, a Pennant Race, and the Twilight of the Best Location in the Nation by Jonathan Knight (4)
18. The Walking Dead: Days Gone By (3)
19. The House on Durrow Street by Galen Beckett (4)

Apparently I'm the straw that broke the thread's back for your last one...

You earn another star, dr newt.

Oh yay, I'm third in line to visit your new digs!

Welcome, everyone! Luxx - I' ve been meaning to start a new one since I hit 250 messages, but put it off until I got back from Louisiana. :)

ETA - went back and looked at the end of my last thread. Wow, it was brusque, wasn't it. Sorry about that!

20. William McKinley by Kevin Phillips

William McKinley is usually considered a middling US President - not in the top tier of presidents, but not at the bottom either. As one of the later Gilded Age administrations, McKinley and his cabinet are mostly remembered for events like the Spanish-American War in Cuba and the Philippines and for arguments over tariffs and the gold standard. He's considered by most historians to be fairly passive in leading by public opinion and to be the first president to use a modern approach to the press. And his assassination opened the door to Teddy Roosevelt and the Progressives.

In this volume of the American Presidents series, Kevin Phillips makes the case that McKinley should be considered a much stronger leader who began many of the initiatives later completed by Roosevelt and later Progressive administrations, and should be included in the second tier of presidents, well above where he usually falls in rankings today. If true, there's a disconnect in understanding McKinley, and I'm not sure I buy Phillips' reasoning. McKinley left very little in the way of personal papers and items normally considered direct sources. Phillips instead relies on writings by others around McKinley and some rather speculative interpretation of McKinley's words and deeds. Part of what most bothered me about Phillips' discussion is his speculation on what McKinley "would have done" had he not been assassinated in 1901. I suppose it's ok to do that, but it's a stretch.

Is McKinley the passive placeholder that Phillips put forth as other historians' opinions? Probably not. He was very popular, and did indeed seem to do some things that show a Progressive bent. Would he have brought about the kind of change that Roosevelt did? Should we view Teddy as a continuation of work begun by McKinley? Probably not. Teddy put his own mark on things and did things his own way. But the real McKinley is somewhere in the middle there as a mix of all these aspects. And almost certainly deserving of more respect than he often gets.

I'm just surprised Sir Richard didn't get on your case before that. ;) Glad to have you back, sir.

When at the B&N on Friday evening I spotted a table of books for Presidents...strange, I thought that was February. In any case, I did note that there were multiple books about Teddy. I wonder if he is getting a modern "make over" and being more popular today. Maybe his attitude towards Big Business could be picked up...

But he was also quite the racist and I am very wary about making him too much of a hero. His attitudes toward Cuba and the Philippines leaves me quite disgusted.

My high school was named after him so I've been curious about him for years. I'll be interested to see what you decide to read.

Very nice review of the McKinley book.
--BJ

Thanks! I've really been enjoying the Presidents Challenge, so it's easy to write decent reviews... :)

Maggie - I have mixed opinions of TR for the reasons you mention. On the one hand, I admire his spirit and energy, on the other, he was indeed very ready to go to war and he was indeed racist. So I'll have to do some work to find a balanced view of him. Maybe it'll take more than one book!

Dang! Reading your thread and thinking about this...I decided to go ahead and buy the Teddy Roosevelt book I saw at B&N. I bought the Kindle version of The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey which deals with his, nearly fatal, trip on the Amazon River.

Does the president's challenge mean reading a book based on every president? Sounds interesting and I imagine you've settled in for the long haul, there have been just a few over the years hasn't there..

The USPC started out as one biography a month, so would have been finished by the next election. Since we've started, the challenge has been extended to 2016. I'm still mostly on track for one a month, although I've skipped 2 or 3 months over the last 2 years to take a break every now and then. I'm finding that it's a great way to learn more about US history!

I've read River of Doubt - it was a pretty good Amazonian exploration book, but not as good as The Lost City of Z (which also mentions TR's trip). The story's classic TR: get a crazy idea, jump in without proper planning and prep, bull through at high personal cost. :)

Sorry to hear you lost your grandma. I am glad to hear that you had a safe trip and good connects. Your family's in my prayers.

Sorry for your loss but I 'm happy that you were able to connect with family and friends.

Thanks! I definitely appreciate your prayers for my family.

My belated condolances on the loss of your grandmother. I'm glad the time with family was positive for you. I'll keep you all in my prayers. (And it's marvelous about the poetry!)

Belated condolences on the loss of your grandmother. I am glad that you were able to connect with friends and family and have positive memories to mitigate the loss. How wonderful to discover that your grandmother wrote poetry!

21. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens

The Informationist is Taylor Stevens' first novel - a thriller with a kick-butt and interesting lead. Stevens has invented a complicated character in Vanessa Michael Munroe with a damaged past and a sold ethical code, even as it's a bit different from most people. Munroe is, of course, a typical action hero - she's superhumanly capable, survives immanent death in unlikely ways, and generally can kick any butt any place, any time. But this why we read action thriller. Realism need not apply...There will be inevitable comparisons with Stieg Larrson's Salander. Rest assured, the similarity is mostly superficial and Munroe is her own person. In fact, a better comparison would be Lee Child's Jack Reacher, although based on a sample of this one book, Stevens' work looks to be twistier than a typical Reacher book.

Thriller fans? Oh yeah, The Informationist works nicely. Others? If you don't mind a bit of violence and some vigilante justice in your stories, give it a try.

Sounds quite good, I don't think I'm a thriller fan but I'm pretty sure I've not read enough thriller to know for sure.

nice

22. 71264661::Vegas Knights by Matt Forbeck

Matt Forbeck's Vegas Knights purports to be "Ocean's Eleven meets Harry Potter". Um, no. Ok, it's got magic, except it's really some sort of quantum rearrangement that's only half-explained. If you're going to explain magic, explain it. Otherwise, treat it as magic. And one would think Ocean's Eleven would imply some sort of caper or con, but there's not much of that here.

Instead, Forbeck's written a middling young adult story of two naive college kids who go to Vegas on Spring Break to cheat the casinos using magic. Of course, the town is really run by magicians, not the Mob, so they fail miserably and wind up deep in a plot that might just end the world. It's a clever idea that turned out only mildly interesting, mainly because it was so very predictable. I can't really recommend it since there's so much other good stuff out there, but I imagine some would find it a good way to kill time on an airplane.

#22 Sounds like one I can skip!

Yeah, i'd say so. It was a promising looking ER book that didn't pan out. So far I've gotten almost 30 books and have only had about 5 that were disappointments and one that was truly awful. So I guess I can't complain! :)

And it occurs to me it does our reputation good that we do not love every free book we are given but you probably know that, too. Just saying...

I've been very lucky with my ER books too. Out of 23, I've had 4 that were just OK and no terrible ones, so far. Now if only the Member Giveaway books were that good. Out of the 4 so far, 1 was horrible, 1 was so-so, 1 was really good and the last is currently being read (and it's nothing to write home about).

Back on the previous thread, we got into a bit of conversation on the BBC Neverwhere broadcast. The wife and I finally got both discs from Netflix and watched 'em. It was pretty good. Production was on a par with earlier Dr Who (ie, not a lot of special effects, character and dialog driven, etc.), and the story was as good as one would expect from Gaiman. If you've read the book, there won't be any surprises - what I expected given he wrote the script first. The wife's not much of a fantasy fan and she got interested, liked it.

Interesting that you bring up the Neverhwere broadcast again Jim. I finally watched the first episode maybe two weeks ago and while I was happy to see some of the characters 'in the flesh' so to speak, the extremely low budget quality of the production sort of turned me off. I've always been visually driven and have a hard time enjoying productions that don't at least live up to a certain standard. All that to say that I doubt I'll watch the other episodes, but I'm still glad I saw the first part. As for the rest, I'd rather let the characters and scenes live on in my imagination for now. Maybe they'll eventually bring it back in a new and improved version? One can always hope at least!

eta: touchstone troubles

March is always a crazy month for my family, so I fell way behind. So sorry to hear about your grandmother. Sounds like you have good memories. McKinley book looks interesting. Visiting your thread is like attending a college class that was an elective you couldn't wait to take.

23. The Baseball Codes by Jason Turbow

So there are the rules of baseball to tell us how to play the game - anybody who wants to play needs to know the rules. But if you want to play professionally, you also need to know the unwritten rules, like never talk about a no-hitter in progress or you'll jinx it. Players get to learn the unwritten rules by trial and error as they're coming up through the ranks. You and I get to read The Baseball Code to find out the same thing.

Turbow's book is more than just the unwritten rules, though. The reality is that Major League Baseball is a closed organization where the players are expected to behave in certain ways driven by respect for their team mates, their opponents and the game itself. Those who don't are subject to correction - pitchers hit batters who showboat, infielders use hard tags against runners who bend the rules, and more. The point is to rein in someone who has crossed the line before the situation escalates and someone really gets hurt. So it turns out that The Baseball Code is also an interesting socialogical study of a self-policing group.

The Baseball Code will likely be of interest to baseball fans. It's got some great stories of brawls and cheating, tit-for-tat and all-out feuding. For the non-fan, i suspect it's more mildly interesting.

#30 That one sounds interesting!

#30 - I've been going back and forth on whether or not to read The Baseball Codes, but based on your review it seems worthy of a chance. On to the TBR list it goes! Thanks!

Sounds like a cool book; Bouton's Ball Four had a lot of that unwritten stuff.

I've been on a business trip, so was able to knock out two between last weekend and my flights on Monday. I *love* having an iPad when I travel!

24. Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child

11th Reacher book. This one's better than average for Child. I liked getting to see Reacher reunite with his team from the Army. I hope there's more of this in later books!

25. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

This one's a carry-over from Fantasy February that I didn't get to start. It's some pretty good steampunk! The whole Clankers/Darwinist split was nicely done, and I really liked the interplay between Alek and Deryn. The artwork was great as well!

https://songcontest.nasa.gov/topOrig.aspx Did you see this? Figured you were probably in the loop. The Plunkett's are friends of mine -- a homeschooling and truly caring family, great folk. The boy's room who is the space nut has his room decorated like it's in outer space. Mary (the mom) is super creative. You have to search for the bed! Same goes for the other room, but his is a castle theme.

Hi Darryl, leviathan is also on my tbr list. List gets piled up but reading done is finite.

Just checking in after having been away for a while, Jim!

Glad you're back!

My daughter keeps telling me I just have to read Leviathan. I read the Pretties's etc series and thought they were reasonable YA -- but she says this one is much better??

Haven't read the other series, but Leviathan was my pick for fiction book of the month on the March thread.

I'm not sure I'd say better (I thought the Uglies series was fantastic) but it's certainly on par. It's hard to compare the two, though, because they're so different.

Well Leviathan is at my library so I've wishlisted it there :) Thx!

#38: Thanks!

26. Running the Books by Avi Steinberg

Steinberg is an Ivy League grad recently let go from a gig writing obituaries for the Boston Globe when he stumbles into a job running the library at a maximum-security prison in Boston. Running the Books is his memoir of the two years he spent at the job. His opening lines: "Pimps make the best librarians. Psycho killers, the worst."

Steinberg certainly talks about the dehumanizing aspects of prison and the lives that got these people there. But he's also honest about the prisoners themselves - both when they're trying to con him and also when when they're trying to better themselves. The most interesting part of the story for me was in how Steinberg came to view even seemingly innocuous interactions with the inmates in terms of picking a side, even when the interaction happened with those who had been released, outside the context of prison.

Sounds like an interesting book and the opener certainly is intriguing.

#44 - That does sound like a very interesting book! I've already added the book to be my TBR list.

I like the sound of that one, nice write-up.

That one is already on the TBR list due to my interest in his experiences in the library. Glad to see a good review.

I already have Running the Books in the BlackHole or I would add it there again.

Running the Books is another one I want to read. Glad to hear you liked it!

ETA trying to fix touchstone . . . no go

27. Progeny: The Children of the White Lions by R T Kaelin

Kaelin's Progeny isn't ground-breaking fantasy. Most of the elements pulled together to make the story are familiar from other authors. For me, that's the appeal of Progeny - it's familiar territory done really well. Kaelin's obviously got a background in epic fantasy, and reminds me of both Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series and Raymond Feist's Magician: Apprentice/Master. His world is well-thought out and avoids one of my bugaboos with fantasy - there's a whole world here, not just a little corner where world-shaking events take place. The characters are well-fleshed out and quite solid, and Kaelin's got a decent sense of pacing and plot. He drew the threads of this widespread story together for a nicely dramatic conclusion. I just hope the sequel doesn't take too long to appear!

Highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy a la 1980s and 90s.

fans of epic fantasy a la 1980s and 90s.

Hmmm... not sure whether that applies to me or not. All I know is that if it makes me think of D&D in any way, then I probably don't want to have anything to do with it. Now, if my step-brothers hadn't kept me out of their daily tournaments back in the 80s, it might have been a different story... ;-)

There's a bit of a d&d feel to it, especially at the beginning. Yeah, I played. My college years in the early 80's, I was quite the geek. Wait, i'm a rocket scientist, so I guess I still am... :) if you'd been in Louisiana, we'd have let you play!

Kaelin's a new indy author trying to get noticed and so I took a bit of a chance on maggie1944's recommendation. Glad I did.

That's sweet, the intention is nice for sure. I was a teenager in the early 80s and very, VERY concerned about being perceived as a *cool chick*, so D&D was definitely NOT an acceptable activity for me. Also, discovering it mid-80s via my step-brothers who would hole themselves in for days at a time without ever leaving their room (I can't describe how gross it smelled in there) would probably have turned off most gals.

Of course, you'd have to be a geek to be a rocket scientist, but that places you at the tippy top of the geek pyramid, which makes you cool by definition. Besides, the revenge of the nerds happened long ago.

eta: that being said, I stand by what I said in #52.

Just so you know, I know nothing about D&D (other than knowing what D&D stands for) and have no interest in it. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the book and think it is worth the reading.

I found Running the Books really interesting too.

28. The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

Second in the Kingkiller Chronicles. It's as lush and captivating as the first. Waited a long time for this one, hope we don't have to wait as long for the next. But really - 1000 pages? Really?

29. American Zombie Gothic by Kyle William Bishop

American Zombie Gothic was born out of Kyle Bishop's doctoral thesis work attempting to understand the appeal of successive waves of zombie films and what they say about us. It's an interesting, if somewhat repetitive, look at our culture and how zombie movies both reflect that culture and act as an outlet for anxiety and fear of what our culture and the world does to us.

Bishop clearly knows his zombie movies, and I appreciated both the early history he provides of voodoo-based zombie movies and his in-depth discussion Romero's zombie story arc - especially the discussion of Romero's inspiration, which I hadn't thought about much. His Freudian psychoanalytic discussion? Not so much. Honestly, I don't buy into it, nor did the Hegelian or Marxist dialectic do much for me.

Nonetheless, American Gothic Zombie is a decent resource for zombie movies, and fans of Romero's work will probably enjoy thinking about his movies on a bit deeper level.

Running the Books sounds interesting. I'll have see if my library has that one. I definitely will have let my friend know about American Zombie Gothic! She is obsessed with zombies and it sounds right up her alley.

oh dear... trying to catch up

Me too, Kath! (and failing miserably at it)

I will check out Progeny. I was an aspiring D&D player, but never could play since I had no one to play with. *sigh*

You have reminded me that I have to get on and read The Wise Man's Fear very soon. I just love Kvothe's story, even 1000 pages of it.

30. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Lehane's one of my favorite mystery writers, but his stuff is so much more than mystery. Mystic River is no exception. The book's an exploration of how a singular event can drive the rest of a life, what it means to be a community, what happens when we marginalize someone, so much more.

The movie's not bad either!

I can't read is books.. I have tried more than once.. and I wanted to like them since I lived up in that area for a time, but he just didn't click with me?
I am sure it is me.. I must like softer reads?

#62 I purchased the movie version of Mystic River when it was being practically given away on iTunes, but decided I should read the book before viewing it. The book is still on my shelf, waiting for it's turn. I look forward to getting to both versions!

Smiler, definitely read the book first....but you'll enjoy the movie, too.

Yup, I completely agree.

Hi Jim, Mystic River goes to the tbr list. Thanks.

No prob!

#65 I'll be sure to follow that suggestion Mac, thanks!

Hi, Jim! You missed me with that "book bullet" -- because Mystic River is already on my list! :)

31. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

So for my US Presidents Challenge, I'm up to Teddy Roosevelt - one of my favorite Presidents. I thought I knew a bit about him. Turns out, I had so much to learn! The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt is the first in a three volume set by Edmund Morris that gives us Teddy's story to the moment McKinley died and he became President. This is such good stuff I've decided to spend a little more time than usual on TR to finish out the three volumes!

Morris' biography rivals McCullough's work on John Adams, although perhaps that should be the other way around since this was originally published in 1979. Highly recommended for his portrait of TR as a person while nicely interweaving the political issues of the day.

Jim, I have both the John Adams book and this biography trilogy on my TBR list. I may need to move them up!

I loved that McCullough book -- so the TR is going right onto the list.

The TR book sounds bully!

:) glad to hear that you porch, too.. your porching sounds lovely....

32. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Saw this one at the bookstore, read some friends' reviews on this and other groups, decided to pick it up. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. I was hoping for a mix of thriller, action-adventure, fantasy, some romance. What I got was pretty much all romance and not much else. I wouldn't have minded that so much if the writing hadn't been so...well, average.

I've heard A Discovery of Witches described as Twilight for adults. Yeah, I get that vibe too. It also felt a bit like The Historian, except slower, if that's possible. Bottom line, I suspect I'm not the target audience, and others obviously like it, so read the reviews and make up your own mind instead of listening to me. :)

33. Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

12th in the Reacher series. I needed this one to clear the palate. So much so that I'm following up with Gone Tomorrow, the 13th!

feels like I dodged a bullet, I kept eyeballing A Discovery of Witches and feel relieved I didn't pick it up.

I was intrigued by A Discovery of Witches when it came out, but reading the description and a review or two made me suspicious. And I HATED The Historian (though mildly enjoyed the armchair travelling). Besides which, romance is DEFINITELY not a genre I'm inclined to waste any time with, and combined with just average writing... ugh. So thanks for the heads up.

I'd probably need to read something much more violent than Lee Child after that, but good choice all the same! ;-)

Well, that's one I hadn't heard of and one I won't go looking for now. Even though it wasn't your cup of tea, you're doing a service by letting us all know.

Skipping A Discovery of Witches, but pushing Mystic River up the stack a bit :)

34. Gone Tomorrow by LeeChild

13th in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, and one of the best so far in the series. Reacher stumbles across a woman who commits suicide on a New York subway train. And with Reacher it's never simple - this is no ordinary suicide. The usual mayhem results...

Hi Jim

Late to your thread, but now adding Running the Books by Avi Steinberg to my tbr pile.

#81 awesome. I really need to get to that 2nd Lee Child book already...

#81: Yet another series to which I need return some day!

Ditto what beeg said about Discovery of Witches!

*lurking*

By the way, our DC meetup on Saturday made the LT blog...

http://www.librarything.com/blogs/librarything/2011/05/lters-meet-eat-buy-books/

I saw some photographs on Flickr, too.

Oh how wonderful! Thanks for posting the link. Everyone looks so happy. These meet ups are great!

#87: Woot for the 75ers!

Thanks for posting that link, Jim!

Uh Oh Jim I have Discovery of Witches on my wish list :( but I was so so about The Historian, have no desire to read that Twilight series so ....think I will give Witches a try anyway just not so soon :)

thanks for the link, it is nice to see us Lt'ers in action so to speak ;)

Looks like you guys had fun at the meetup. Thanks for posting the link, Jim.

Hi Jim- I remember earlier in the year, you reading and NOT liking "Red on Red". I gave up after 50 pages, which is pretty rare for me. I was just not enjoying the writing and could not face nearly 400 more pages. And I like cop books. I love Wambaugh and this guy is no Wambaugh.

Yeah, that summarizes my thoughts as well. I slogged through since it was an ER and I felt obligated to do so. But it was a slog!

Catching up on reading finished while on my latest business trip:

35. The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman

A very good history of the events leading up to and through the first month of World War I, August 1914. It's a tragic story where an immense human cost was paid because of national pride, hubris and naive military strategic thinking. Tuchman's got a great sense of phrase-turning; some of her pithy descriptions are delights. But ultimately, I wound up shaking my head over and over at the sheer stupidity of the leaders involved. Recommended, but the need to refer to military movements and Roman-numeralled unit identifiers may turn off some readers.

36. Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity by Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor

From at least the days of the ancient Greek philosophers, mathematical and philosophical inquiry has gone hand in hand, especially where the infinite is involved. And infinities have always involved paradox. For instance, Zeno gave us the example of a fast runner trying to catch a tortoise. First the runner gets halfway to the tortoise, then gets halfway from that point to the tortoise, and so on. The runner can never catch the tortoise because he must make an infinite number of these "half-steps" to get to the tortoise. And yet in real life, runners catch tortoises quite easily. Trying to understand the nature of reality is a major effort in mathematical research - and set theory was developed in part to try to answer these questions. Georg Cantor developed an approach to explore the nature of mathematical infinities that was extended by the French mathematical community, but the reality-based nature of the French approach to mathematics prevented them from getting to what we would consider modern set theory. The French approach to philosophical thinking in the late 19th and early 20th century also struggled with the nature of the infinite in consistent ways; is infinity an ideal or can an infinity be made actual?

But in Moscow, a small group of young mathematicians discovered Cantor's work and came at it from an approach informed by their religious thinking. All were strongly aligned with the Russian Orthodox Church and a mystical approach known as "Name Worship" (sometimes even considered heretical by the church hierarchy). Name Worshipers recite prayers that recognize the names of God, and they consider that the prayers by naming God in some sense bring God into actuality. This difference in outlook from the French mathematical community led this group that became the Moscow School of Mathematics to develop descriptive set theory, an early version of modern set theory.

Naming Infinity is a nicely done history of this process of mathematical research. The set theory and Cantor's approach to infinities is well described at a level appropriate for a general audience. But the majority of the book isn't about the math. It's about the people doing the math. These are some fascinating people who lived through some difficult times, especially after the Soviet Union was established and through Stalin's reign. It's the story of competition between mathematical communities, between individuals within the Moscow School and the Soviet system, even between the Soviet government and the Russian Orthodox Church. It's a short book - about 200 pages of text - but there's a great history in it.

I have the same reaction to the military leaders involved with WW1 or WW2 when I read books on the subject. So many decisions were so wrong and cost so many lives.

>96 drneutron:. Into the Someday Swamp goes "Naming Infinity." Thanks for the recommendation!

Thanks, Jim, for hosting such a fun Meet-up this past weekend. Can't wait for your next one!

The meet-up looks like it was so nice.

37. The Way of the Wolf by E. E. Knight

Decent post-apocalyptic action-adventure featuring a genetically engineered guerilla fighter battling vampire aliens who have taken over the Earth. Yeah, it sounds cheesy, and in fact, it has its cheesy moments. But mostly it's a fun adventure useful for killing a coast-to-coast airplane ride.

I would have liked it better, though, if the basic premise wasn't so Stargate-like.

#96: I think Tuchman's book on WWI remains one of the best. I am adding Naming Infinity to the BlackHole. Thanks for that recommendation, Jim!

38. Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

Also known as Rivers of London, it's one of the better urban fantasies I've read recently. Aaronovitch has a wry sense of humor, a great main character and quite a sense of world building. Recommended - now I need to get my hands on the sequel.

I just read Rivers of London and really enjoyed it also, the sequel is on a separate sequel TBR list that is starting to get a bit worryingly out of control!

I went looking for that one on Amazon.. and the cover nearly sent me off without reading more.

terrible when that happens. I did put it on my WL in the end, though .. looks good.

Yeah, I don't get why the US version had such a dramatic redesign of the cover and title, and thought the British version was much better. I would almost certainly have passed this one by if one of our 75'ers hadn't posted on it.

#103: Dodged that BB as I know it is already in the BlackHole. Glad to see you enjoyed it, Jim!

I think I'll put it on my Amazon WL, too. Not that I need to visit that site! Gah, I almost always end up buying something.

Thanks for mentioning the U.S. title for Rivers of London - it looks as though my library system is getting it as Midnight Riot. I agree about the cover -- it's very off putting....

No problem! I thought others might have trouble finding it. :)

I've just read Rivers of London too and already requested the sequel, Moon over Soho from the library. Such a good read, I loved the rivers.

Vis a vis Naming Infinity have you read Pynchon's Against the Day? That period between late 19th and 1914 is the focus -- lots of ref. to the 'mad' russian mathematicians, the french, and germans and all their exciting new-fangled theories. Terrific review, so lucid.

Hmmm. Didn't realize that Against the Day made that connection. Another for the wishlist!

Grr. I just went to Amazon to add Naming Infinity to my perpetual list, and now it seems there are other books I must have...

Hello! Just stumbled over your thread and wanted to say it was great to meet you at the DC meetup and thanks so much for organizing it!

I enjoyed it too! Hopefully we can do it again sometime.

I had to go and look up the US cover for Rivers of London on amazon and you guys are so right, it is terrible. One of the things I loved about the book I read was the amazing cover art. Why do they change design and book title for different regions? Oh, it's probably a different publisher I guess..

39. Ancient History: Evidence and Models by M. I. Finley

I'm not a historian - especially of ancient Greek or Roman eras - but I've got an amateur's interest in the subject. Finley's short book is a very nice discussion of the problems resulting from trying to present "the past as it really was", especially when most of our historical information comes from the surviving writings of ancient historians with a very different outlook on how do to history than modern historians. His discussion of the limitations of evidence, the inherent biases that creep into historical work no matter how hard we try not to let that happen, and the intersection between history and other disciplines led to a description of model-based research that I hadn't really thought about before. As an engineer, the idea of "testable" models, even if qualitative rather than quantitative, appeals to me. I'd like to see more of how this works.

Guardedly recommended. This is a technical work, and nonexperts may not follow everything that's said. Still, the ideas were interesting to think about.

My local library does not have that one by Finley, but does have several others. Like you, I have an amateur's interest in the subject.

40. Jerusalem 1913 by Amy Dockser Marcus

Jerusalem is one of those few places on Earth that seems never to be able to be at peace. Of course, it's not true - there have been plenty of times when there wasn't. But the times of conflict fill the histories of continents and at least three religions. Over the last hundred years, the modern Arab-Israeli conflict has become the latest of these. Amy Dockser Marcus, profoundly affected by her experiences in Jerusalem, examines how we got to the current state of affairs in Palestine by showing vignettes of the city in 1898 through the beginning of World War I.

Jerusalem 1913 isn't so much an depth study of the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict as it is a series of studies of the people and decisions made during the period of interest. Of special note is Dockser Marcus' ability to present how opportunities for peace were missed and how that decision-making both mirrored and led to today's situation.

Highly recommended.

#120: Thanks for the recommendation of that one, Jim. I will see if I can find it.

*waves* I used to read a lot of ancient histoy, back in the days when my brain was younger..
That one sounds good..

I'm putting the Jerusalem book on my wishlist. Thanks!

41. Choice of the Cat by E. E. Knight

Second in the Vampire Earth series, sequel to Way of the Wolf. As with the first, it's a rather pedestrian sf/alien vampire story that owes a lot to Stargate, but still manages to be a nice check-your-brain military post-apocalyptic story. There won't be any surprises here; the plot's completely predictable. But the action is well done, and the world-building is good enough to keep me interested.

#124: Well since my local library does not have any of Knight's books, I guess there is no danger of my reading them any time soon. I know nothing about Stargate, so I would have nothing to compare the books too.

Knew you had been way too quiet. I don't know what happened--I read all the way through your first thread. Maybe I came to this thread early on and forgot to star it. Oh well, I'm here now, and here to stay!

Cool! Welcome back!!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Happy Birthday, drnewt!

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Jim! Hope you have a wonderful day :)

Thanks!

Birthday greetings, Jim!

Happy Birthday Jim!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Hey, Jim, hope you have the happiest of birthdays!

Thanks for the good wishes! The family took me for brunch at a local grill, then gave me a hitch-mounted carrier for my truck for when we go camping or biking. All in all, not a bad day! :)

Sounds like a great birthday, is the carrier also planned to deliver home bags of books from book sales?

Hmmm. Dual purpose! :)

Happy birthday, Jim!

Happy Birthday. Glad you had a great day.

Sorry I missed your birthday, Jim. I'm glad it was a good one!

A belated Happy Birthday Jim. Sounds like it was good fun.

I'm glad you had such a fun birthday. Happy belated birthday to you.

42. Blood Oath and
43. The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth

Nathaniel Cade is a vampire bound to serve the President of the United States. Zach Barrows, a former White House staffer, is his new liaison after being caught in a rather compromising position with the President's daughter. Together, they fight to protect the US against paranormal and occult threats.

Farnsworth's books are pretty good. He's got a decent sense of plot, and his characters are interesting. Best of all for me, he likes to tie his stories to traditional horror - Frankenstein's monster and Lovecraftian weird feature prominently in these two.

Highly recommended!

ETA - Note that the references to horror classics is more of a nod than a pastiche. Jasper Fforde does something similar in his Thursday Next series, except here the stories are action/adventure and political thriller, not comedy adventure.

#146: I already have the Farnsworth series in the BlackHole. I am just waiting for my local library to get the books!

Strangely intriguing so I will add it to the list and give it a try one day. Another new name for me to watch out for.

44. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

There are a large number of reviews of this book on LT, and a bunch of folks in the 75 Books Challenge group have read it. I'm not going to be able to add much to the discussion beside saying I loved it like so many others did! One of the best books of the year for me.

I'm so glad you liked it!

149: That was one of your DC meetup books, wasn't it? I ordered it this week.

Yep, it was a DC meetup book!

149 I'm glad you enjoyed it, Jim. I certainly did. What an amazing story! It's true what they say, that truth is often stranger than fiction.

#149: Count me in as one of those who enjoyed the book. Glad to see you did as well, Jim.

I've heard so many good things about The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I'm going to have to check the library for this one.

Don't know if you can still access it, but Bob Edwards had a great interview with the author on his NPR radio show. It's informative about the book and also about the writing life.

Found a link! Haven't listened to it yet, but here it is from Rebecca Skloot's website.

http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/press/

My whole office (I work in human research ethics) got to go to a conference last December at which Rebecca Skloot was a guest speaker. I, however, had to stay home and answer the phones. Blast being the youngest person in the office!

And the conference was in San Diego!! In December!!!

I'm glad you liked The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It sounds so interesting, and it's getting so much positive feedback that I'll have to break down eventually and get it. I was just now complaining about how hard it is for me to read books off the shelf since I joined this group... here's a prime example! :-)

Yep, loved it so much I've bugged the wife into reading it!

45. Scott Pilgrim Boxed Set by Bryan Lee O'Malley

The son got me to read the set - these were pretty good. I guess since he's an English major I should learn to listen to him! The artwork is good, the plot interesting. I laughed at the gaming references, and I liked the coming-of-age story. I'm counting 'em as 1 book since I blew through them so fast.

46. Tale of the Thunderbolt by E. E. Knight

Third in the Vampire Earth series. In this one, David Valentine goes naval to find a secret weapon to use against the alien vampires. Ok, that sounds really cheesy, and it kinda is. But these have been pretty decent as far as vapid brain candy goes.

Yay for Scott Pilgrim! I really enjoyed all of them and they get extra cheers for all the Canadian content. The film adaptation is really good and pretty faithful to the source material.

#160: I knew there was no chance that my local library had the Scott Pilgrim books but I checked any way. I was right. Rats.

47. 61 Hours by Lee Child

Next-to-latest Jack Reacher book. As usual, its improbable, wildly over the top plot is nearly un-put-downable. In this one, Reacher stumbles across an international drug ring in a small town in South Dakota in the middle of winter. Loved it. Gulped it down.

I guess by this time, it's no surprise I'm a Reacher Creature. :)

Improbable?? If I were the head of an International Drug Ring - small town America would be exactly where I would set up shop. Maybe somewhere a tad warmer though. Thanks for the review. :) I know many Reacher Creatures but have never "met" the man, so I'll be adding Lee Child to my authors to read list.

#163: I am a 'Reacher Creature' too, but I have not read 61 Hours yet. I will have to remedy that!

I was going to tell you all that I am getting Child 44 in the mail any day now - but just realised it is a different author. Seniors moment. ...anyway, hope Child 44 is good - even if not by Lee Child - and I have seen a lot of positive things about it.

166: Child 44 is good. Enjoy!

just trying to be social :) Child 44 sounds pretty intense..

Drop by anytime! :)

I have to say I wasn't that impressed with Child 44 or the sequel. Nothing too wrong with it, I just didn't connect with the characters, I think. Obviously, many liked it, so give it a try!

I'm late to the party, but The President's Vampire sounds quite amusing. Into 'The Swamp' it goes!

"The Swamp". I like it! Read Blood Oath first if you haven't already.

Just now catching up with your thread. Many of your reviews are enticing, especially The Informationist. Sorry Vegas Knights was a disappointment. I ordinarily enjoy books about Vegas since I'm nearby. I also love Barbara Tuchman's books. Running the Books, Naming Infinity and Ancient History: Evidence and Models are all going on my wishlist.

Cool! Glad I could add to the wish list!

48. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris

Second in Morris' three-volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt - easily the most interesting US President for me. Theodore Rex concentrates on TR's presidency (in 550 pages, no less) and is pretty detailed. That's fine since he's discussing some really important topics like the intrigue leading up to the Panama Canal Treaty, TR's trust-busting and capital/labor relations, and the buildup of the US Navy to counter German and British influence in the Western Hemisphere, among others. Morris doesn't just talk about issues and politics, though. Roosevelt the man is the focus: his family, friends, political allies and enemies, his reaching pretty much the pinnacle of power and influence in the US, his walking away from it in 1908. We see TR as less the uber-man and more the man as he ages and mellows a bit.

Morris' writing is top-notch. I'm highly recommending the trilogy - even though I haven't gotten to the third yet, it's hard for me to imagine it fails after the first two succeed so well!

Oh, and yeah, the teddy bear story shows up in this volume. :)

49. The Last Gunfight by Jeff Guinn

Jeff Guinn, in The Last Gunfight, cuts through the myth-making to tell the true story of the fight between the Earps and Clantons that became to be known as the Gunfight at the OK Corral. In October 1881, Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, and friend Doc Holliday met Ike and Billy Clanton and two friends in one of the classic gunfights of the Old West. Modern myth - driven by spin-doctoring by survivors and the desire to sell an image of the Wild West - paints the conflict as upright lawmen against rustlers and outlaws. The reality is, of course, more complicated, and Guinn does a nice job of presenting it.

The Earps, especially Wyatt, used law enforcement as a way to get the respect he thought he deserved. He served time as Deputy Sheriff, with an eye on election in the top job. Virgil was Deputy Marshall and Tombstone police chief. But they weren't the upstanding citizens Wyatt wanted to be remembered as - gamblers and saloon keepers, even running a brothel at one point. The Clantons weren't the outlaws they've been portrayed either. Yes, they helped rustlers sell cattle stolen from ranchers in Mexico, and yes, Ike Clanton was a drunk and was looking to pick a fight. But mostly he was a poor farmer trying to get by, and the famous gunfight was really more an over-reaction by the Earps to a loud drunk who was on his way out of town. Oh, and the fight didn't even happen at the OK Corral - it was more an ambush in an alley behind the corral.

Guinn's book is pretty well written, and the story's fascinating. His concentration on the people involved really made the story come to life. Recommended!

#174 - The Teddy Roosevelt trilogy has been on my TBR list for a while, I just keep wondering when I will actually get to it! It's sounds so fascinating!

175> Have you considered reading Doc?

Yup. It's on the list in my head, but hasn't made it to the wish list yet. Stasia also sent me Emma Bull's Territory last year. It's a fantasy take on Earp and the OK Corral that was awfully good.

@weejane - it's really good. TR is such a fascinating guy, and Morris really captures his life well.

I'll have to get to the TR trilogy at some point; thanks for bringing it to our attention, Jim.

LOL I see!

Doc, Since you seem interested in Earp and the gunfight, you should try I Married Wyatt Earp by Josephine Marcus. It is an interesting first person account of these personalities, especially Earp.

Guinn talks about her book a bit in the last chapter. Apparently she was a real pain to work with and only two family members were able to actually finish the material for her book since they were willing to basically write what she wanted with no fact checking.

I'd like to read hers and Wyatt Earp's story essentially dictated to ...hm, I forget his name, Stuart something. It would be interesting to see their point of view on things.

5. The Devil Colony by James Rollins

Latest in the Sigma Force series, and I think, the best yet. Rollins has a decently inventive conspiracy theory driving the plot, he's continuing to play with interesting characters, and appears to be leading up to a major conflict in the overarching storyline.

For those new to the series, Sigma Force is a group of scientist/soldiers working as the covert arm of DARPA, the US Defense Department's research branch. Having worked with DARPA folks in the past, it at first seemed silly to have a "covert arm" of this agency. But Rollins is pretty good at the scientist-saving-the-world adventure/thriller and the series has been consistently readable. Not that it's in any way believable, mind you, but that's part of the fun!

Recommended, but start from the beginning of the series.

51. Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill

Joe Hill's Heart-Shaped Box was an outstanding first novel and a favorite when I read it a few years ago. He's got a heckuva way with the novel and short story. And now he's added the graphic novel to his bag of tricks with Locke & Key - the story of a family and the aftermath of the brutal murder of a father and husband. Of course, with Hill there's always more than a simple story, and so there's a seriously creepy house and an unearthly presence involved in what promises to be a really fine story line through the subsequent volumes.

Highly recommended for horror fans. Others, fair warning - it's violent and it's graphic.

184> I must say I'm intrigued by this one. I am normally not the biggest fan of graphic novels, but I thoroughly enjoyed Heart-Shaped Box and would like to read more by Mr. Joe Hill. Thanks for the recommendation, I will keep my eyes open for a copy of this one.

Jim, there's an interesting numbers book in the new ER list, Man of Numbers by Keith Devlin. Thought you might be interested.

186: Ooh, I'm interested too.

Yeah, I saw it and requested it! :)

I didn't get much reading done yesterday, but I am enjoying the Rollins book..

*Whew* caught up at last! You've read some interesting books recently. I'll have to look for the Joe Hill. That one sounds intriguing!

I follow Joe Hill's website and Locke and Key has won several awards in the genre of late. It must be well-done-that said, not a fan of the genre, really. The only ones I have are the ones from The Dark Tower series that have popped up lately.

#183: I had not heard about the new Sigma Force book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Jim!

52. To the End of the Earth by Tom Avery

In 1909, Robert Peary led an expedition to the Arctic with the goal of becoming the first to reach the North Pole. After developing a system of resupply that allowed him to get a fresh team and dogs to a base camp with 100 miles of the Pole, he and Matthew Henson, along with four Inuit, did it. Of course, as soon as Peary got back, questions about Peary's record-keeping popped up and over the years, the belief that Peary cheated became conventional wisdom - mainly based on the idea that Peary just couldn't have covered territory as fast as he reported. Roll forward to 2005. Tom Avery, after a successful trek on foot to the South Pole, got the idea to duplicate Peary's trip to show that travel as fast as he reported is, in fact, possible. To The End of the Earth is the story of their expedition.

Avery's trip was certainly eventful, and at times downright horrifying. Avery and his team of four other explorers, 16 dogs and two sleds managed to beat Peary's time to the pole by 4 hours, lending credence to the idea that Peary did indeed make the journey he said he did - though not without a bit of controversy himself. It's an exciting story, one I was eager to read. Unfortunately, Avery's a much better explorer than writer. It's not that the book was bad, it's just that the main thing I got out of it was a sense of the size of Avery's ego. I know that it takes a strong personality to do the things explorers do, but it got to be a bit much. Avery adds a bit about Peary and the history of polar exploration. With more of this and a bit of toning down, To the End of the Earth could have been outstanding instead of just average.

I know that it takes a strong personality to do the things explorers do, but it got to be a bit much Very cool premise, but I think this is one I'll pass by.

Nice review, drnoot.

Good review, but I too, will pass :)

I like reading good reviews of books I don't have to add to my list!!!

The explorers who can also write well are the exception.

Yeah, I suspect that's the case. One of the things I liked about The Lost City of Z was that Grann started as a writer first, then moved to exploration.

agree >197 sibylline:!

liked The Lost City of Z :)

#198: Jim, since you like this kind of stuff, I can recommend Clint Willis' Epic: Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks, which features some of the best adventure writing (including an excerpt from Jon Krakauer.)

Sounds good! I'll see if I can get my hands on it.

Let me know if you can't and I will let you borrow my copy, Jim.

Turns out my library doesn't have Epic: Stories of Survival from the World's Highest Peaks, but but it *does* have 10 other books by him. Most are similar subject matter, including one on polar exploration. I'll try some of these and if I can't find Epic, I'll buzz you.

Oh, and apparently he wrote one with stories about the Mob. *That* one I want to get my hands on... :)

#203: I did not know about the mob book. You will have to let me know how it is! (as well as the other titles by him)

Just dropping by for a quick hi Jim. Looking forward to our GR of Watership Down!

Looks like I did a bit of reading over the last week or so... :)

53. Worth Dying For by Lee Child
Ok, so now I'm up to date on the Jack Reacher books, can't wait for the next! By now, it should be obvious that I'm a fan. :)

54. Locke & Key: Head Games by Joe Hill
Really good second volume to the graphic novel series by Joe Hill. It's got some very interesting artwork and the storyline keeps getting better and better.

55. Hotwire by Alex Kava
Deep in rural Nebraska, cows are turning up mutilated and teenagers are turning up dead, and Maggie O'Dell, FBI profiler, is dropped into the mystery. At the same time, kids in two different schools are turning up sick, and Maggie's new love interest is pulled into the investigation into the cause. Are these two mysteries related?

Hotwire, the ninth in Kava's Maggie O'Dell series, is a decent, but not great, mystery. The plot depends on some amazing coincidences and while we learn who's responsible, we never learn why. But it won't matter all that much to fans of the series - what's more of interest here are the characters and their lives. If you like this sort of story with an arc that extends across the series, I'd say there's a good chance you'd like Hotwire. But I also suspect that you'd want to start from the beginning of the series.

56. Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill
Third volume in the series - and as good as ever!

57. Heartless by Gail Carriger

Fourth in the Parasol Protectorate series. As with many others here on LT, I enjoyed the wit, the story, the characters. Highly recommended series, but start with the first, Soulless.

184>@drneutron, Just wanted to drop by and say thanks for recommending Locke and Key. I just finished up the first and enjoyed it quite a bit. The Locke kids were extremely well written and the artwork fits the story perfectly. I am looking forward to purchasing the next few in the series.

#207: I cannot wait to get my hands on that one. I just finished Blameless the other day.

You had me me going with the mutilated cows, but then...disappointment. Darn!

Sorry about that! :)

It's a reference to UFO conspiracy theory, no cows get mutilated on screen (so to speak), but the lead character investigates one incident at the beginning of the book. In comparison to other books, it's pretty tame.

58. High Bloods by John Farris

Sometime after World War II, a virus emerged out of southeast Asia that once a month changes the infected into a werewolf-like creature. Fast forward to modern day, Rawson is a detective in the ILC - an agency dealing with Lycan enforcement - and society is much different from our world. Now suddenly, a few werewolves have begun to change out of phase with the Moon, and the authorities are worried.

On the surface, this looks like a horror/urban fantasy book. In reality, it's not. It's a noir detective story and owes a lot to Chandler and Spillane. The werewolves lend a different spin on the basic structure, but all the classic elements are there: hard-bitten detective, beautiful women with a dangerous side, conspiracy among the powerful. Good stuff!

#212: I will have to give that one a try! Thanks for the recommendation, Jim.

I started Watership Down today Jim. Seven chapters in, I just know I'm going to love this one, but there'll be plenty of rough patches I'm sure...

I started yesterday evening. I'm at chapter 5, so they're just leaving. I'm paying more attention to the quotes at the beginning of the chapters this time around. I didn't pick up on how they fit into the story when I was younger.

Starting today!

Jim, that's one thing I love about re-reading books at different periods in my life. You inevitably pick up on different things.

You inevitably pick up on different things.

I love that, too, although occasionally it comes back to bite me. I've read Lovely Bones three times, and disliked it more with each reading. Not picking that one up again... ;)

I can't imagine reading TLB again. I barely made it through once!

So I have to ask Luxx, why would you pick it up the third time? The only books I ever read more than twice are those that I keep liking MORE, or at least discovering things that make it worthwhile... but yeah, The Lovely Bones... haven't read it yet, it's on my TBR and I'm not that keen on it at this point.

I barely made it once through TLB -- had to put it down several times and literally leave the room.

goes on my Bleck list as well

I've never been tempted. Definitely not after hearing from all of you... :)

Now, I really like TLB..

I confess, I'm glad I read TLB. Notice that I didn't say that I enjoyed it. But it was well-written, had a unique voice and plot. It was an interesting read.

But I completely understand when you say that you don't want to read it/stopped reading it. It's like The Road--sometimes a very difficult read.

Karen O.

Chiming in on The Lovely Bones: I really liked it up until the end, where I thought it went really really stupid. I agree with Karen O. - worth a first read for the style, but not worth another one.

I'll have to agree with you. It was the end that ruined it for me.

59. Watership Down by Richard Adams

Finished up this one for the group read. I haven't read it for years, and it was as good as the first time. More comments on the spoiler thread for the group read.

60. The Man of Numbers by Keith Devlin

Back in the 70s and early 80s, computers were these mysterious machines tended by a select few specialists. Then along came engineers who invented a much more efficient way to use computers through keyboards and mice and graphical user interfaces. But until people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs came along to introduce this better way of computing to the masses, all these great improvements didn't make much difference.

So what does this have to do with Leonardo of Pisa, a mathematician also known as Fibonacci who lived at the beginning of the 13th century? Well, at the time, pretty much everybody in Europe used Roman numerals, crude techniques for calculation, and counting tables for business, engineering, navigation, and everyday life. The Arabs used an adaptation of an Indian system using ten numerals and arithmetic essentially that of modern day. It was a much more efficient system, but only those European scholars who knew Arabic or had access to a Latin translation of Arabic works knew anything about it. Leonardo, though, spent time in his youth with his father as representatives of the Pisano business community in north Africa, and while there learned about the Arabic system. He was quite a talented mathematician, and wrote a text codifying and explaining this new system that became a widely regarded work and led to the eventual growth of mathematical education in Europe.

A Man of Numbers is a small book, but one packed nicely with the delightful story of Leonardo and his time. Devlin spends time discussing the fascinating ramifications of the adoption of the Arabic system on commerce and education, nearly every aspect of life. He also takes on the question of Leonardo's influence on later writers of arithmetical and algebraic works. Of course, Devlin discusses the Fibonacci sequence as well, the one thing Leonardo is remembered for today, in spite of his wide ranging influence in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Highly recommended, even for non-mathematical people. There's a bit of math here, but it's all very well explained!

Guess I'll make my way to the spoiler thread sometime real soon.

Well, I haven't quite gotten there yet... :)

Yeah, I realized that when I saw you'd literally just posted that message above... :-)

The Man of Numbers looks like one I would enjoy but wouldn't you know it? My local library has several of Devlin's books, but not that one. *sigh*

Excellent review of The Man of Numbers, Jim. I've requested an LT ER copy, and I've added it to my Kindle wish list in case I don't get it.

BTW, the hyperlink in your review goes to Beyond Numeracy by John Allen Paulos instead of Devlin's book.

60. A Man of Numbers by Keith Devlin looks good to me ...

Gah! I'll fix it...

Darryl - I signed up for it as well, but about a day later my library picked it up as a new book. So I thought I'd take advantage and try to snag something else. :)

228: Onto the wishlist!
233: Grr, touchstones. Ah, it's A vs The. You might hope for touchstones to make the match, but it's not even an option.

Got it fixed!

61. Horns by Joe Hill

Well, there's 87 reviews on LT, so I'm not going to add much to the discussion. :) I really liked it, but didn't *love* it, and I'm trying to figure out why. On the one hand, it's a really inventive story with engaging characters. I liked Hill's nonlinear plotting and certainly didn't have a problem following the flashbacks. And I was really impressed by how the characters mostly weren't defined by the initial impressions Hill put out there, but wound up being deeper and more human than the somewhat stereotyped view he gave at the beginning. On the other hand, I didn't like as much his view of people as presented here. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think many people aren't as dark as Hill wrote the characters in Horns.

It's most definitely a book worth reading. I highly recommend it.

Hey Jim! Just dropping by to say Hi. I like your selection of books and the concise way you present your reviews so just by reading a few sentences, I can decide whether I'd want to check out the book or not. :) Hope you are having a great day.

Thanks! I'm in day 3 of an avionics review for a spacecraft system, and am ever so thankful for a laptop and wifi. :)

Thanks for the review on Horns. DH read it earlier this year but didn't like it, so I haven't picked it up. Will probably get to it sooner now.

I do not think Horns is a book for me, but nice review, Jim.

Interesting. Horns is my favorite of Joe Hill's novels to date. I loved the characters and the comic feel of it. The initial scenes between him and his girlfriend were highly entertaining. I don't think I have ever read anything quite like it.

I think you were the one who recommended the Jack Reacher books to me, Jim. I just finished Killing Floor and really had a good time in a pulp fiction sort of way. I'll be looking for the next when I get back to civilization. Thanks!

62. Dead Iron: Age of Steam by Devon Monk

Those who've read my threads a bit might have noticed I'm a bit of a steampunk fan. Dead Iron fits the bill pretty well, although it's not *just* steampunk - there's magic, lycanthropy, witchcraft and a bit of the Fey too. Oh, and it's a Western too!

I'm struggling with what to say that won't spoil things. Let's leave it with...

Highly recommended!

I'm hoping to get Dead Iron through my library system but the one branch that has it isn't letting it circulate yet. Maybe I'll have to break down and buy it since you liked it so much....

#245: I will have to see if I can find a copy of that one. Thanks for the recommendation, Jim!

I'm approaching the cutoff, so there's a new thread in town: http://www.librarything.com/topic/121837

Come over and see my thoughts on WikiLeaks