drneutron's 75 in 2010 - Thread 3

Time to join the 3-thread club! First two threads are here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/78955
http://www.librarything.com/topic/83721

Reading So Far:

1. Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life after Death by Deborah Blum
2. Triplanetary by E. E. "Doc" Smith
3. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
4. Millard Fillmore by Robert J. Scarry
5. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
6. The Belgariad, Volume Two by David Eddings
7. Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis
8. Soulless by Gail Carriger
9. Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues by Elijah Wald
10. In Tongues of the Dead by Brad Kelln
11. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett
12. The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander
13. First Lensman by E. E. "Doc" Smith
14. The Presidency of Franklin Pierce by Larry Gara
15. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
16. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
17. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
18. To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West by Mark Lee Gardner
19. The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry
20. The Man in the Picture by Susan Hill
21. The Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
22. Galactic Patrol by E. E. Smith
23. The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
24. The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander
25. President James Buchanan by Philip Shriver Klein
26. The City and The City by China Mieville
27. Eye of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland
28. The Vikings: A History by Robert Ferguson
29. The Book of God and Physics: A Novel of the Voynich Mystery by Enrique Joven
30. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
31. Thelonious Monk: The Life and TImes of an American Original by Robin Kelley
32. Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander
33. Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
34. Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski
35. With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen B. Oates
36. The Vampire Archives edited by Otto Penzler
37. The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz
38. Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea by Christine Garwood
39. The High King by Lloyd Alexander
40. Changeless by Gail Carriger
41. Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough
42. Flight of Shadows by Sigmund Brouwer
43. I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells
44. Sabriel by Garth Nix
45. Echo Burning by Lee Child
46. Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
47. Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
48. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
49. Feed by Mira Grant

The Take It or Leave It challenge: will be part of my 75 Books Challenge. Join me.
For January, 2010: I will read an author's debut book.
- Soulless by Gail Carriger -> Done
For April, 2010: I will read a book of short stories
- The Vampire Archives -> Done
For May, 2010: I will read a book whose title is a single word
- Changeless -> Done

Found you again, Jim!

Wow, that was quick!

Yep, caught you just before I am off to cook dinner!

Hey, Jim! Stopping by for a quick note before going to work on a report...

Evenin'. Hope the report writing goes well!

Rockin' list you have there, sir. So many things to add to my TBR mountain...

I just picked up Boneshaker today from the library and was told by the librarian that I was in for a very enjoyable read, (he's a scifi/fantasy addict).

Ha! Gotcha. Starred you. Will not be left behind again...

hmmmm, I haven't heard of many of your books read so far. I'm intrigued.

I was waiting for that last post on your previous thread :-)

Yeah, the last thread was getting pretty shaggy. It was time...

Got you starred. Great reads, as always!

Yay, new thread, now I can be all caught up. :)

Thanks for the link to our group read of Swann's Way.

Also, just wanted to let you know that I loved Boneshaker so much that I bought a copy for my dad for Father's Day! Wish I had bought a copy for me, too.
--BJ

Cool! Hope your dad likes it. :)

I thought it was awfully quiet in your thread....

50. The River Kings' Road by Liane Mercial

Average epic fantasy, but entertaining none-the-less. There's plenty of more creative fantasy out there, but sometimes old school fills the bill and Mercial is able to tell a story. My biggest complaint - at times it felt like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign rewrite. Some of the characters were obvious - paladin, ranger, fighter - but then she throws in non-cartoonish villains and supporting characters. At one point she makes a less than oblique reference to one character's alignment. If you've played D&D, you know what I'm talking about...

Anyway, I'll read the rest of the trilogy and enjoy, but probably won't be waiting on the edge of my seat like I do for other series.

>18 drneutron:: I never played AD&D, but original D&D...

Well, I do have a copies of "Men & Magic", "Monsters & Treasure", "Underworld & Wilderness", "Greyhawk" and "Blackmoor", purchased in 1975, still buried somewhere in the attic. :-)

I've got you starred now! (better late than never!)

51. Under the Dome by Stephen King

Well, as this one and Duma Key shows, he's still got it. Under the Dome is another of those long, completely involving (at least, for me!) stories with great characters. Highly recommended!

Glad to see you liked Under the Dome. I thought it was great. I'm looking forward to reading Duma Key soon.

I have such a long way to get to that King novel.

I had stopped reading him years ago and I am now trying to catch up by reading his novels chronologically from where I left off. I have been chipping away at his short story compilation between other books called Nightmares and Dreamscapes. After that it will be Insomnia. A long way to go indeed.

One of these years, I'm going to tackle going through his novels chronologically. It would be interesting to do some comparing and contrasting, looking at how his work changed over the years. Honestly, he kinda lost me for a while. I just didn't appreciate much of his work in the 90's. I suspect, though, that I've been too harsh and that I've missed some good stuff.

From t he 90's, gotta go back and get Bag of Bones.

52. Andrew Johnson: A Biography by Hans L. Trefousse

Andrew Johnson is one of the more intriguing characters in US history - at least for me. He was a Democrat, albeit a Unionist Democrat, that served as Vice President under Republican Abraham Lincoln. He professed to be concerned for black freedmen to the point of even referring to himself as their "Moses", yet repeated expressed white supremacist views and implemented Reconstruction policies seemingly without regard for the effect on freedmen in the South. He's the first US president to be impeached, with precident-setting results for executive-legislative relations ever since. My hope with Hans Trefousse's Andrew Johnson: A Biography - the first full biography of Johnson I've read - was to better understand this complex man, especially where he impacted post-Civil War events.

Johnson is presented here as the classic self-made man - humble beginnings, self assurance and hard work leading to material success, the desire to excel in politics to validate his success. He presented himself as a populist and Jacksonian Democrat his whole political career, and in fact on many occasions was able to translate that persona into real support from the people, at least some segments of the populace. Yet the same determination that led to his success turned into sheer pig-headedness when the country needed the president and Congress to put the nation back together again after the Civil War. While more than one factor was in play, it's clear that without some compromise, the southern states were given latitude to put a de facto slave culture back in place.

Trefousse's work is a functional biography - it presents the man and attempts to understand him - but it was a bit of a long slog. Frankly, the first half of the book was rather dry and throughout the whole book, I never felt I really got Andrew Johnson in the way other authors have made other presidents come alive. The second half of the book certainly picked up more interest, with all the drama associated with the conflict between Johnson and those with more radical ideas about how to reconstruct the Union. I suppose part of my reaction to the book came from my dislike of the man presented here and the things he stood for. However inappropriate that might be for historical study, it certainly made it hard for me to connect with the work.

Re: D&D

I ... have never played. I'm not much of a gamer. But my partner has been a hardcore gamer of one kind or another since he first discovered RPGs, so I have an interest in gaming culture, once-removed.

Anyway, The Elfish Gene keeps catching my eye in the bookstore, and I think I might have to pick it up this summer. Just thought I'd mention it in case you'd be interested.

Gonna have to look for that one...

#26: Excellent review, Jim!

Jim

I'm placing I am Not a Serial Killer on the tbr pile. I note that Luxx read and recommended this book as well.

Jim -- Would you say overall on your presidential bio project that the majority of the bios are dull? One reason I haven't gotten very far with my own Founding Fathers project is that McCullough's Adams spoiled me rotten!

John Adams by DAvid McCullough is excellent! I agree that it does spoil one for other presidential bios.

Well, I'm certainly a fan of John Adams and it certainly has spoiled me to some extent. But I've found more that were pretty doggone good, even some surprises. The books I read on Polk and Tyler were awesome. Madison, Monroe and Jackson were also very good. Of course, it's pretty easy to find good bios of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.

I've seen a wide variety of books. My message in the ticker thread has a summary of my ratings on the books so far.

53. Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton

A darned fine thriller, Blood Harvest is part thriller, part gothic horror. I loved the setting and the characters, and especially the ending. It certainly kept me up at night to finish the last 100 pages or so, even though I had to get up early the next day!

This one reminded me a lot of Susan Hill's work - especially the Simon Serailler books. Bolton has the same sense of character and the creepiness. While Blood Harvest is a stand-alone book, Bolton has written two previous books and I hear that they're pretty good too. Fortunately, my library has them.

Looking forward to your comments regarding your recent read. I checked the link and it looks really good!

#34: Adding that one to the BlackHole. I do like a good Gothic tale.

#34 I'm adding it to my Ever-Expanding List, too. Sounds like a winner!

54. The Devil and Sherlock Holmes by David Grann

I really, really liked Grann's The Lost City of Z, so was looking forward to more of his work. This one's a collection of articles mainly from the New Yorker, mainly focussing on true crime stories. In reality, the book is mostly about human nature and the foibles and oddities of human behavior. There's the story of a man trying desperately to find a giant squid, thereby justifying a lifelong obsession with these animals. And Ricky Henderson, who can't seem to give up playing baseball - not because he loves baseball so much, but because he can't face no longer being on top of the game. Then there are the crime stiories - an elderly gentleman bank robber; Youngstown, Ohio, and the Mafia; the Aryan Brotherhood in the federal prison system.

As with any collection of writings like this, the quality is somewhat up and down, but all were interesting pictures of people. The chapter about Ricky Henderson was one of the saddest things I've read in a long time. For sure, I'll be keeping an eye out for more by Grann.

I got Under the Dome back from my son so it's now near the top of my pile. There is a group here dedicated to Stephen King, and they are reading all of King's books in order. I started, but work and classes got in the way.

Duma Key and Insomnia are two of my favorite King books. The Stand is way up there on my list of favorites, too.

Blood Harvest is going on my list. I'm sure my library won't have it. I love Interlibrary Loan!

#38: Nice review of The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, Jim. I already have it in the BlackHole and hope to get my hands on a copy soon.

>33 drneutron: I am going to hope to remember where to look when I am ready to tackle another founding father bio! Thanks

Um, one second glance, where and what is the ticker thread?

And -- have you found/read a really good one on Franklin? That is what I would really like most of all. The one I started (don't have author's name handy right this second) is dull and I couldn't get through it.

The Presidential ticker is http://www.librarything.com/topic/51484

I have Benjamin Franklin by Edmund Morgan. It was pretty good.

>38 drneutron:: I loved the story about the tunnels under New York... that and the giant squid adventure were my favorites. Agreed that the Henderson story was incredibly sad!

55. Lirael by Garth Nix

As good as the previous, although I'd agree with the comments by some that Sam whines a bit. But the plot is nicely driven, and the characters are wonderfully realized. Eagerly awaiting the third in the series!

Oh, and no, Stasia, I couldn't wait to finish on pace this time either! 8^}

>43 drneutron: Thanks for the tip -- I can't remember who wrote the one I have in which I got hopelessly mired. The Pres. thread will be very useful I think! Thank you!

#45: You are ahead and I am behind, so things are status quo, Jim!

Bolton sounds interesting :)

#48 I'm certainly recommending it! Especially to those who like Susan Hill's books.

56. Cults, Conspiracies and Secret Societies by Arthur Goldwag

Decent short intro to the big names in cults and secret societies, mainly concentrating on more modern ones. There are a few of the more offbeat groups included as well, bur for the most part, the material is pretty standard stuff if you've read anything in the field. Goldwag's got a dry sense of humor that peeks through every now and then to keep the reader interested.

Not bad, but not Earth-shaking.

I prefer my conspiracies to be sensational, so I think I'll be skipping that one.

#50: That one sounds interesting to me, so I will give it a shot. Thanks, Jim.

57. Aeneid by Virgil

So apparently I'm really bad at group reads. This is the third in a row where I've blown through the reading schedule and finished up ahead of time.

BTW, the Fagels translation is really good!

Hi Jim- This might be my first time dropping by! I like your thread and book choices. I went back to check out your thoughts on Blood Oath and Feed, both of which I'm interested in. Have you heard about Bitter Seeds? That's another one that sounds promising.
I also need to stop by the Presidential Ticker and add my list. I'm a big fan of these bios and have read a good many!

Welcome to the ol' thread! Glad you like the choices. Bitter Seeds promptly went on my wishlist...

Please do join us in the Presidential challenge. I've found it very interesting to read the bios. Up to Grant now!

58. Without Fail by Lee Child

6th Jack Reacher book. In this one, Jack is hired by one of his brother's friends from the Secret Service to help assess security plans for protecting the newly elected Vice President. As usual with Jack, there's more to it than meets the eye.

Child's usual action-filled thriller is here, but I had a hard time getting past the Secret Service hiring Jack to help with security assessment, even with the connection through his brother. And I thought that the book dragged in the middle. Still, Jack's a good read, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

>55 drneutron:: I'm about a quarter of the way through Bitter Seeds. It's an interesting book. I can't say whether I'll love it or not, yet, but I'm enjoying reading it.

Jim- You sure don't mess around! I heard Bitter Seeds is part of a trilogy or a series? I'll be waiting for your final thoughts.

>57 TadAD:: Finished it. Not my best read of the year...also not my worst. I liked it enough that I'll pick up the second when it comes out.

I'll stick a review over on my thread later today.

You blew through The Aeneid, eh? That explains why you never posted anything..... I was sort of wondering what happened to you. Maybe you could write up a little something over there? Some kind of impression. I'd appreciate it.

Hmm. I think I can do that.

Hi! Just popping in to say hello. Lots of good reading here!

I'm adding a few to my list -- Blood Harvest, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes, and perhaps the one on cults.

59. The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

The Secret Speech is Smith's follow-on to Child 44, the fairly popular mystery set in the Stalinist Soviet Russia. This time, Leo is heading up a secret and highly suspect homicide investigation team while trying to patch together a family with Raisa and their adopted daughters. In the chaos surrounding Stalin's death, former agents of the MGB are being murdered and the investigation quickly spills over into his family.

I'm torn about this book.the plot's good and the action is involving. But I just didn't connect with the characters, and Smith's dialog leaves me cold. If you liked the frost one, you probably like this one too. Me, I don't know if I'll be trying the third,which I understand is on the way.

I liked Child 44 a lot and am sorry to hear that The Secret Speech was such a let down for you, Jim. Hopefully, your next read will be better for you!

Hmmm, I may hold off on that series for a bit.

#63 - I'm with you on The Secret Speech. I did think the plot was a little out there, but if everything else adds up I'm usually easy to please.

I have a copy of The Secret Speech in the stacks! I loved Child 44, so due to that fact I'll probably still give it a shot! Have your read Eye of the Red Czar? It's a similar type book but much more low-key.

I got Eye of the Red Czar as an Early Reviewer book and liked it very much. I'm looking forward to the next one.

As far as The Secret Speech goes, if you liked the first, you'll more than likely enjoy the second. It's a very similar style, which happens not to work so well for me.

Hi dr, I'm ashamed to say I rarely check out your thread because our taste in reading material is very different. But I've noticed you have a knack for varying your genres which I seem not able to do.....I'm impressed.....perhaps I'll attempt to do that a little more often.

Thanks! I do read lots of different things, always have. I catch a lot of flak from friends and family about my "weird" reading habits. But my son, who's now 20 and an English major, hasn't fallen far from the tree. When we went camping last weekend, he brought The Aeneid (which he picked up after I got done with it for the group read) and Kierkiegaard's Sickness Unto Death. But in his defense, he's also reading Feed, a zombie/political thriller I finished up not long ago. Maybe it's genetic...8^}

>70 drneutron:: Genes? Just finished The Dragon Factory...hmmm...

Jim: Go here!

What did you think? I got it from the Early Reviewer program earlier this year. I liked it, but in the trashy, over-the-top-thriller sense.

ETA: Saw your review, Tad. It's pretty much in line with mine.

Hey Dr N- I see you've been through the Book Club staple The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - I fear it will turn up in my group as a read and am skeptical! Did you survive it? I couldn't find (didn't look hard enough for) your review!

Hi Jim, like evryone else, I liked Child 44 but I haven't gotten The Secret Speech yet. Hmmm, wonder if I will??

Iread - survived it and actually enjoyed it. The wife talked me into it and I'm glad I did. It's a little too sweet, but forgivable. Just read some Stephen King after - that'll clear the palate!

Brenzi - if you liked Child 44, you'll more than likely enjoy The Secret Speech. give it a try.

60. The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge by Patricia Duncker

The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge is a rather strange little mystery by Patricia Duncker. What started out as a intriguing idea didn't live up to that promise in execution. Almost nothing happens, the pace is slow to the point of plodding, and the characters just aren't that interesting. Worst of all for me, the author kept throwing in bits of French into the dialog in (I think) an attempt to add color. Instead it came of as confusing on one hand - are these characters speaking French, German, or what? - and pretentious on the other. Either way, it didn't work for me at all. It's unlikely that I'll recommend this to others.

On to Chasing Goldman Sachs by someone we all might know...

I hate reading books that have promising premises and yet never really live up to them -- very frustrating.

Tks for the recommendation re the Fagels translation of the Aeniead. That's something I've been meaning to read for a long, long time and never got around to it. Ideally, though I'd love to find a parallel text. My Latin is only rudimentary, but it would still be fun. I have Child 44 sitting on my TBR mountain, waiting impatiently.

#60: Someone else in the group felt pretty much the same was as you did about that one, Jim. I feel safe in giving it a pass.

Hope you enjoy Chasing Goldman Sachs more! (if you don't, I promise not to tell Suz!)

I haven't touched The Aeneid since 7th form Classical Studies but you have inspired me to search out a copy for my own. I remember really enjoying Aristophanes from that class as well.

#78 Suzanne, I managed to find a copy of the Aeneid in the original Latin online somewhere - I've got it bookmarked at home, I'll try to remember to copy it to you when I go home tonight... My Latin is also rudimentary, but I agree, it's nice to check back - particularly as I did bits (that I haven't got to yet) of the Aeneid in Latin at school, so I'm looking forward to the comparison.

61. Chasing Goldman Sachs by Suzanne McGee

The last few years have certainly been interesting, economy-wise. Whether you've been laid off and can't find a job, or like me, still employed but seeing half your retirement savings disappear, it's clear the financial system in the US (and the world!) is in the midst of disaster. And we'll be in recovery for years to come. Chasing Goldman Sachs is Suzanne McGee's account of the conditions that led to the meltdown, the meltdown itself, and discussion of what when wrong and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. I hate to say this book is good - I certainly don't enjoy reading about this kind of thing - but in reality, it was good. It was good to get a pretty clear picture of what happened. It was good to see some discussion of how to prevent future meltdowns of this kind. Chasing Goldman Sachs will likely make you angry, but hopefully, it'll be the kind of angry that drives us to accomplish something. So, yeah, I'll say this is a good book.

McGee has covered the story pretty well. There are a few gaps that I would have liked to see filled. I'm a mathematical/engineering sort of person, so I would like to have seen more technical detail on what some of these financial instruments really are and how risk is defined and modeled in the industry. I do understand though, that material is out of scope for the book. I'm also the kind of person who likes to get other opinions on topics like these that are somewhat subjective, so I'll likely be reading more on the meltdown.

Recommendation: Chasing Goldman Sachs is a good introduction to the meltdown and offers some interesting ideas on future regulation and changes in the industry itself to prevent this sort of thing in the future. It's well worth the time, especially for those not so familiar with the economic and financial landscape of the US.

====
Note: I did feel obligated to put a note in my review that Suzanne is a friend on LT, etc. Didn't think it was necessary here to be so legalese...

#80 & 81KiwiNyx & flissp: parallel text version (in 2 volumes):

volume 1

and

volume 2

best online Latin source is the Latin Library:

The Latin Library

#83 That's the one!

Thank you ;o)

Just stopping by to say Hello!

82 - Nice review of Suzanne's book! It's on my radar to read at some point in the future.

53. Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton sounds good.... I really like Susan Hill

54. The Lost City of Z,I liked, but think I will pass on The Devil :)

and can I just say YAY!!!!! I somehow had not seen a thread for you here in this group, and had been missing "seeing" you .. rd gave me a heads up on where to find you :)

*waves*

Thanks for stopping by, both of you! It's easy to miss individual threads in the crowd. Glad you found me!

Excellent review of Chasing Goldman Sachs Jim. I've already got it on the pile now I just have to read it:)

Glad you enjoyed it, Jim -- and thanks for the review! I would have loved to have included more examples of some of the truly wacko structured products out there, but worried a bit about alienating the non-financially literate (among whom I include myself...) You might want to take a look at Fool's Gold by Gillian Tett, which tackles the credit derivatives industry and the way it morphed into something truly bizarre. (It also features a friend of mine as one of the prime movers in the biz). I think that is either just out in paperback, or due out -- it's a solid read, and because it's specific to that product, you'll get some insight on a more technical level. There are some other books that are technical in nature that I could suggest, if you're interested -- several published by Wiley. You could check out Financial Darwinism by Leo Tilman, or The $2 Trillion Meltdown by Charles Morris. (The latter started out in its first edition as the $1 Trillion Meltdown, and appeared before the September 2008 crisis.) The other good technical book is A Demon of our Own Design by Richard Bookstaber, which was shortlisted for a Loeb award in 2008. There are also some good books out there now about the quants, although that was less of a factor in the crisis than folks want to believe.

Thanks fo the recommendations! I'll look into 'em. As I said in teh review, I know the discussion I mentioned was out of scope and may have derailed the story you were telling. It's just that us rocket scientist geeks need to see the math! :)

Anyway, I've recommended the book to a few friends. We'll see if we can take this thing to the top of the charts!

#82: I liked Suz's book when I read it to, Jim. For someone like me who is financially illiterate, I thought she did a good job of making the Wall Street picture understandable.

62. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

A fine ending to a fine trilogy. Now if only the estate can work out a deal to publish the unfinished manuscript!

#92: I am going to get to that one this year if it kills me! lol

dr newt, I agree the stuff I've heard, gossip mostly I suspect, about the quarrels amongst the heirs is "just like in the books"...in some ways. Weird. It really is nice to know that being rich is not the end of troubles.

I hope they all settle soon.

Jim- Glad to hear you liked Hornet's Nest. I think I'll wait a couple more months, before jumping into it. I figure I might as well prolong the end as much as I can.

Haven't read an of the books but the wife and I went to the dollar theater last weekend and caught the Swedish movie version of the first one. Very cool movie and story. Looking forward to happening on a used copy of these books!

63. Grant by Jean Edward Smith

One of my personal goals lately has been to read a biography of each US president in order. This approach has some distinct advantages - the biggest is the perspective one gets from seeing the overlapping look at events from the point of view of each president. As one might imagine, the quality of biographies varies, both on the scholarship and the interest side of writing. Clearly, the high point has been David McCullough's John Adams. After all, how many presidential biographies have been turned into a major series on HBO? Jean Edward Smith's Grant is easily on par with McCullough's work. The portrait of General Grant is sympathetic without glossing over his faults, interesting reading while keeping a high level of scholarship and analysis, and downright compelling in spots. The chapter on the surrender at Appomattox was one of the best pieces of writing I've read in a while.

There are, I'm sure, dissenting opinions on Grant. His military strategy, for example, is sometimes criticized for the heavy casualties it produced. His handling of relations with the Plains Indians was muddled and too trusting of those on the ground. He was in over his head dealing with business and finance, and was burned many times by less than scrupulous underlings. Smith recognizes these issues, but makes us see Grant's motivations, how that drove him to do the things he did, and the personal cost of these decisions through his life. And I don't think Smith was too easy on Grant - much of the discussion on his Presidency centered around how Grant's military style of leadership really wasn't well suited to the realities of a political office. Yet his popularity enabled him to get past this to succeed in major efforts Reconstruction and foreign policy even as his attempts to deal with Native American issues failed. Sometimes politics is about convincing others to do what you believe is right, not about command, and in many ways Grant didn't get that.

All in all, I highly recommend Smith's biography of Grant. It's good reading, and it's about an interesting person. He's also written a biography of FDR that I'm now going to make sure I read when the time comes!

>97 drneutron:: Jim, that's one I'll try. Having just finished Team of Rivals, I'm interested in "following on" with Grant, who was portrayed very sympathetically. I know Johnson intervened, but my only interest in him at the moment is the impeachment stuff and I can read about that out of order, as it were.

There's a bit of impeachment stuff in Grant as well since he was the general-in-chief of the Army and for a bit was the interim Secretary of War under Johnson when he fired Stanton without the Senate's consent. Kind of interesting to see the story from Grant's side, but you'll need to supplement with other books to get the full story.

Team of Rivals is on my list someday when I get the Presidents challenge done. Smith did a nice job portraying the relationship between Grant and Lincoln without overplaying blame for the failings of the previous leadership of the Army of the Potomac. I'd like to see Goodwin's take on it.

Jim, I think you've caught my eye with your review of the Grant book. It is one corner of U.S. History I've not thought much about, and read even less. Good reason to look at this book you read. Thank you, very much.

Jim, if you are of a mind to read more about Grant, his personal memoirs are well worth the read.

Yeah, Smith's last chapter talks about the writing of the memoirs, and he makes the point several times that Grant was very reliable concerning facts - often to the point of going back to the official War Department records to make sure things were right. Grant's book is definitely going on the wish list.

64. The Serialist by David Gordon

Meh. That's about the best I can do to sum my thoughts on The Serialist. What started out with promising reviews and an interesting blurb on the back became moderately interesting in the end. But frankly, it's just not worth the effort to get to the ending.

The premise is that Harry Bloch, a second-rate writer making a living through sf and vampire porn, is contacted by a serial killer about to be executed. He wants his story told, but first he want Harry to contact a few of his more "interesting" fans. About halfway through the book, this turns into a rather conventional mystery with a couple of twists at the end. Unfortunately we have to wade through some overblown prose to get there. I get that it's supposed to be funny - it wasn't. It's supposed to be literate - it wasn't. At least the ending was good.

Sorry, can't recommend this one.

Oh dear -- as it is sitting on my TBR stack at this moment in time...
I confess that I was seduced by the blurb, which rarely happens.

#64: OK, skipping that one. Thanks for the heads up, Jim.

I hope the next read is better than that one for you!

I've added Grant to my list -- and I second Stasia's recommendation of Grant's memoirs.

Will skip The Serialist!

Too bad for the meh read....hope the next one doesn't disappoint.

65. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

The wife and I have started watching the new cable series with Tess Gerriten's characters. When I found out it was based on her books, I went out and reserved the first one with Jane Rizzoli. Looks like the series and the books are going to be new favorites - for different reasons - but still things we'll continue to watch/read.

The Surgeon is a good mystery, with some interesting characters. The plot doesn't break any new ground, but is very well done. Gerritsen keeps the tension at a nice level and the action is realistic but well done. Recommended for fans of mystery/suspense/serial killer genre. Good for those not so much fans, but there are a few fairly horrific scenes.

that sounds like a fun combo (tv, books and something together as a couple). Nice.

>108 drneutron:: I've been recording the "Rizzoli & Isles" series, but haven't watched any of the episdoes. It's good to know I've got some interesting viewing in store for me -- if I can ever get my nose out of a book!

66. The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd

So my first thought on picking this one up was to wonder just what anybody could do to Frankenstein that would merit a retelling. After all, Shelley's original is one of my favorites and I'm still trying to flush Dean Koontz's take on it out of my head. Peter Ackroyd, though, is well known for his historical fiction, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I'm glad I did. Ackroyd did indeed offer a new perspective on the story. He managed to capture Shelley's essence, even included her as a character. It's a great exploration of man and nature and the consequences when we take things too far. Final verdict: a decently done gothic story I enjoyed very much.

#111: I like Gothic tales, so I will give that one a shot. Thanks for the recommendation, Jim!

#111 - I read Frankenstein for the first time last year and really liked it. Sounds like I'll have to give Ackroyd's a try too.

Had to wishlist that one...any book with tags that say "victorian" and "gothic" always peak my interest!

The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd is now on the get-list. Thanks. :)

I picked up a used copy of this recently so am pleased to hear it's a good read.

Memo to self: read the Peter Ackroyd book! I know he is solid on the period, so I'm willing to give it a shot.

I've grown a bit cooler about Gerritsen's books over the years -- as with many series, the first books are the strongest -- and have only glimpsed a bit of one of the TV episodes, which looks solid enough if not terribly original. (My current faves are The Closer, for the characters, and Dexter, for the deeply twisted narrative.) But the Gerritsen books are decent reads to fill in the time. Just don't read any of her pre-crime days -- they are tedious romantic suspense novels. Yawn.

they are tedious romantic suspense novels

Yeah, I got that impression from the covers. We'll see what happens with this series. I'm getting them from the library, so will bail if things start devolving.

67. Territory by Emma Bull

Thanks to Stasia for sending me a copy of Territory - it was a very good mix of Western and fantasy, and I enjoyed it very much. This one's about a drifter from back East that wanders into Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881 when Wyatt Earp and his brothers were heading to a showdown at the OK Corral with the Clantons and friends over control of the area. Except in this version, the drifter and others in town are able to manipulate the elements in a fashion most of us would call magical. It's all very subtly done, and lends a very interesting back story to the Old West. Plus Emma Bull is one *heck* of a writer!

She is, isn't she? I'm glad you were able to read it, even if you didn't get the thrill of the hunt.

#119: I am glad you enjoyed that one, Jim. I guess it is about time for me to dig out my copy and give it a read :)

I'm adding The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein Jim for the usual reasons. You know, Gothic and Victorian.

68. Abhorsen by Garth Nix

Third and final book in the Abhorsen trilogy. And quite a good wrap-up it is. I'm glad I jumped into the group read on this one!

69. How to Defeat Your Own Clone by Kurpinski and Johnson

How to Defeat Your Own Clone is a decently funny book. After all, where else are you going to read about how to defeat the various types of clones you might encounter - age accelerated clones, enhanced clones, mind-linked clones, etc. But it's also a decent nontechnical intro to biotechnology and all its various applications in cloning and bioengineering. Kurpinski and Johnson make what could be a dry, technical subject fun while lending a sense of realism to what is often an emotionally and politically charged subject.

I liked the Nix series, too. I bought Across the Wall, but have not read it yet.

#123: I still need to finish Abhorsen. I have decided that for me, September is going to be the month to finish up all my group reads! lol

#123 How to Defeat Your Own Clone sounds like a fun read, I've added that to my wishlist.

I saw How to Defeat Your Own Clone at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco last month, alongside How to Survive a Robot Uprising. I almost bought it, but I'll definitely pick it up on my next trip there.

It was definitely a light, fun read. I ripped right through it on a plane ride back home from Denver. Don't expect too much technical info, though. :)

>119 drneutron:: Territory just cries for a sequel but it's been years with nothing in sight. :-(

My first Emma Bull stuff was a shared-world set she did with her husband, Will Shetterley, Liavek. I enjoyed them and her War for the Oaks and Finder (her contribution to the Borderlands shared world). I didn't care for Falcon that much—two disjoint stories forcibly jammed into one; it didn't work.

just catching up ....

Jim, have you ever read Bull's collaboration with Steven Brust (another of my favorite writers), Freedom & Necessity? I remember discussing it with someone quite a while ago--probably Tad.

Haven't read it, but I'm definitely going to be reading more of her stuff!

70. 8077413::Splitters, Squeezes and Steals: The Inside Story of Baseball's Greatest Techniques, Strategies and Plays by derekgentile::Derek Gentile

Nice, light book with lots of trivia like who invented the curveball. If you're a serious baseball fan, there may not be much new here. But it made a quick, fun read for me.

#133: I would probably give it a look just because I am a serious baseball fan. Thanks for the mention, Jim!

Jim- Where do you think is the best place to start with Emma Bull? I remembered the Sherlock Holmes one sounded fun!

Well, Territory is my one and only, so I'd probably defer to Stasia on the subject. Territory was a nice stand-alone work that would probably give a good feel for her style. It's got a fairly unique setting and approach to magic that gets it out of the realm of the ordinary fantasy. I hear good things about War for the Oaks, and it's by far her most popular work on LT. And it's on my list!

>136 drneutron:: so I'd probably defer to Stasia on the subject

?? - I thought Stasia said she hadn't read them, yet. Did you mean Roni (who has read a lot of her stuff)?

My two cents would be: Territory is a western; War for the Oaks is an urban fantasy. I'd start with one of those two based upon your genre preferences. If you're indifferent, I'd start with Territory.

Falcon is not particularly worth reading, imo. Bone Dance is OK, though by no means on my list of favorites of cyberpunkish fiction.

If you like urban punk fantasy, try the Borderlands series (created and edited by Terri Windling). It's a shared-world concept and Bull is a major contributor both in terms of short stories and a stand-alone novel, Finder, which I rather liked. The series has Windling, Bull, Shetterley, de Lint, McKillip and a bunch of others contributing.

I haven't read Freedom and Necessity and—despite liking her stuff and Steven Brust's—cannot summon a real desire to do so; you'll have to go to Roni for an opinion on that one.

Her early work with her husband, Will Shetterley, was another shared-world fantasy series, the Liavek books. I rather liked them, also. Good authors: de Lint, Yolen, Brust, Wrede, et al.

If you really like modern urban fantasy, I can't recommend Terri Windling's The Wood Wife enough. I've talked a bunch of people into reading it and there have been no complaints so far.

No, Stasia has not read any of Bull's books yet, although I do own Territory.

Oops, yeah, meant Roni! That was the jet lag talking...I'm three time zones away from home. Until tomorrow, when I fly back to the East Coast to a hurricane!

That means you're just two hours north of me. Stay here--that hurricane sounds nasty!

Tad- Thanks for the excellent suggestions!

Splitters, Squeezes and Steals sounds interesting; I'm adding it to my wish list.

*waves*

*waves back*

71. Rutherford B. Hayes: and His America by Harry Barnard

Harry Barnard summed up Rutherford B. Hayes' presidency the best, I think: not in the list of best presidents, nor the worst, but in a sort of no-man's land of forgotten ones. Hayes was a bit of a surprise, at least as Barnard presents him. His upbringing and early life left him unusually close to his sister, and with a high moral sense from his mother. He developed into a consensus-builder with high ambition, but with very little of the ruthlessness usually found in machine politics of the day. He found it difficult to see others as less than the gentleman that he aspired to be, which hurt the country later when he ended Reconstruction without forcing the Southern states to live up to their promises to end white supremacy. He seemed to be a genuinely nice person, yet he made some life-long (at least in his political life) enemies in his own party that prevented him from having an effective Presidency.

Barnard's book was originally written in 1954 - I read the 1994 reprint. At times, Barnard is distinctly an author of the 50's. Some of the discussion of Hayes' relationship with his sister smacks of psychoanalysis. There's a constant thread through the first half of the book worrying about Hayes' "manliness" that seems out of place today. But Barnard's very readable, especially when discussing the 1876 election where Hayes won the Presidency through the manipulation of vote counting in Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana. Reading this with the 2000 election in mind, Barnard sounds oddly up to date, even though he wrote 45 years before Bush v. Gore went to the Supreme Court.

All in all, Rutherford B. Hayes: And His America is a good introduction to an interesting man. It's less about the times than about who he was, and that's what I liked about it.

72. The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen

Second in the Rizzoli and Isles series. I got interested in the TV series, so thought I'd check out the books. There are definitely some differences between the series and the books, especially in how Rizzoli and Isles themselves are portrayed. But both are enjoyable as separate works and I'll keep reading - and watching!

roni had me worried with the hurricane stuff. Glad you're back home okay.

It turned out not to even give us any rain...I know there are folks on the coast south of us that got hit, but for the most part, Earl was pretty ineffective.

Good.

your reading reports cause envy...

Nice review of the Hayes biography, Jim.

Hey Doc, I have the Halloween Thread up.....http://www.librarything.com/topic/98082&newpost=1#lastmsg

Just in case you'd like ot link it on the group's home.

Thanks.

Halloween link not working!

Fixing the Halloween link!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/98082

73. Persuader by Lee Child

7th Jack Reacher book. I've enjoyed the series, but this one didn't seem as good to me as the first six. Still enjoyable, but there was something undefinable lacking, some touch that the other books have. Still, I'll keep going!

>155 drneutron: must have been still okay if you're continuing... or is it just that the others are carrying you forward despite the weaknesses of this volume?

Nah, still ok, but just not as good as the previous.

Just passing through, but I put The Wood Wife on my wishlist! I trust your considered recommendations. The review of the Hayes was terrific.

The Wood Wife was one of last year's Halloween favorites for everyone. I'd also encourage a read of soem Charles DeLint, if you end up liking the Windling.

Disclosure: Read and reviewed for LT's Early Reviewer program, so I got a free copy of the book.

74. Bozo Sapiens by Ellen and Michael Kaplan

Bozo Sapiens is a pretty good introduction to decision-making, how it can go wrong, and more importantly, *why* it can go so very wrong. The Kaplans start with basic logic and logical fallacies (don't panic, they don't go very deep!) and through a somewhat wandering approach go through brain physiology and evolutionary arguments to discuss error in thinking, both at the individual and group levels. A dash of humor and a few stories add spice to the discussion and keep us out of the realm of the dry and dusty textbook.

Bozo Sapiens is what I call a "nugget book". The material is presented in short segments that flow from one to the other as a winding almost-conversation on the subject at hand, usually ending up somewhere the reader doesn't expect. They do this reasonably well, but I did feel on occasion that the nuggets could have been a tad deeper - it's ok, after all, to present an overall description of major brain physiology in a book that purports to explain errors in thinking through discussion of brain function. Instead, the authors toss off a short description of, say, the segment of brain they're discussing, and leave the reader to do a bit of research if more is wanted. This isn't a big deal for the book, since they offer a good set of notes for further exploration. There's also surprisingly less discussion in the book of ways to compensate for imperfect decision-making than I thought there would be.

Anyone looking for a decent way to dip into the subject of thought processes and decision-making ought to check out Bozo Sapiens. It's a quick read, but packs a lot of information into such a small package.

#160: Nice review, Jim, although I think I will be skipping that one. I taught logic to the girls for 2 years and I have had all I can stand of that subject for a while :)

75. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places does indeed have some very dark places. It's the intertwined story of Libby Day, the only survivor of the murder of her family, and the story of her brother Ben, the murderer, through that day leading up to the murders. Libby's now in her late 20's some twenty years after the murders and is running out of money, so when offered an opportunity to investigate the murders by a group of conspiracy theorists, she begins talking to people involved and poking into things best left alone. And it turns out that maybe her brother didn't do it after all. Or maybe he's just playing her and he really did it.

Flynn has a way with dark events and flawed people. It's hard to find anybody to like in this book, but in the end, I wound up caring very much how the story came out. It's a pretty grisly tale, and rather violent, so fair warning!

Jim- Good review! I've heard very good things about this book. I have her first book Sharp Objects waiting in the stacks!

Yep, I also have Sharp Objects on the shelves.

Sharp Objects will definitely be going on my list!

160: Bozo Sapiens looks really interesting--thanks for the tip!

Karen O.

Congrats on reaching 75, Jim!!!

Thanks!

Yes, I was so interested in the review I missed the number altogether!! Congratulations on hitting the 75 book mark!

Oh, I wasn't paying attention to the numbers either! Congratulations!

Congratulations on reaching 75, Jim! I also really liked Dark Places (the Missouri Readers group read it last year), and I also have Sharp Objects on my shelf.

Congrats!

congratulations!

Oooh a goal met -- feels good! :)

Congratulations, Jim!

Thanks, everyone!

Congratulations indeed!

Woo-hoo! Great news on reaching 75!

Yes, congratulations! Sharp Objects was very good but I've yet to try Dark Places.

Congrats on reaching 75!!

Congrats Jim.

Congratulations on reaching 75!

Congrats on 75!

Thanks for all the congratifying!

76. Bonk by Mary Roach

I read Spook and Stiff a bit ago, but had never picked this one up. Given she's now Packing for Mars, I thought I'd catch up. It was fun to read about all the sex research and all the odd experiments and equipment. Spooks's still my favorite, but this one's got some great stories in it too...

#184 - I'll have to put Bonk and Spook both on my TBR list. I read Stiff not too long ago and really liked it. And I saw Mary Roach on The Daily Show recently talking about Packing for Mars. She's quite a character!

She and her husband participated in some of the imaging studies being conducted on couples for one of the researchers in Bonk, so I can imagine she's pretty interesting!

Hey Jim. Looks like I chose to visit your thread at the perfect time. Congrats for reading 75 books and hurray for Mary Roach! :)

Thanks!

Jim- Bonk was my first and I'm really looking forward to reading her others. I have the audio of Packing For Mars reserved at the library.

I've never heard of Mary Roach and when I first saw the titles I assumed you were talking about a series of YA books. I can just see a scruffy dog named Bonk running wildly about some neighbourhood... oops, sorry Mary.

Congrats, Dr. Jim, on surpassing the 75 book goal. I usually don't go in for thrillers, especially those of a grisly nature, but I enjoyed both of Gillian Flynn's books. I don't think you'll find any characters to like in Sharp Objects either.

Congrats on reaching your 75 - still 3 1/2 months till the end of the year - how close to 100 (or beyond) can you go?

Congratulations on 75!

congrats on the 75!!!

I'll say it too - Happy 75!

Thanks, all!

sally - last year I hit 111, and 108 the year before. I'm pretty much on target to get somewhere in the 110 range. If business travel continues in the Fall, I might get a bit more.

You met the challenge!!!!

Congratulations on hitting the big 75 book mark!

Woo Hoo on your 75!

Okay...so...what's the next tome up?

I'm about halfway through Hellhound on his Trail about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr, by James Earl Ray and the manhunt that ensued afterward. So far, it's excellent! I'm also about halfway through Last Watch, the last of Sergei Lukyanenko's very good modern fantasy set in Moscow. Next up is probably my ER copy of Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It's an out of the ordinary zombie novel by the author of Let the Right One In, an out of the ordinary vampire novel.

Jim- You are reading some terrific books! I love Hampton Sides and have Hellhound on his Trail waiting nearby. I need to bump it up. I also have his book on Kit Carson too!
BTW- I did not read Let the Right One In but the film version was outstanding!

Cool, Kit Carson. I'll have to get that one.

I really liked Let the Right One In - both book and movie. You should try it!

Sorry to be so late with the bouncy guy!

Yay! THe bouncy guy showed up! Welcome back home, glad you had a good trip...

Thanks, Jim!

Jim, it's really too bad you couldn't come to the party. I think you'd've had a good time. But anyway, I watched a doc on the Sun on the Science Channel, and wondered if that's the one you were talking about...? I think possibly not, since it was kinda old. Do you know what Discovery is calling the new one? What's the name of the spacecraft? I was blown away by the SOHO footage, so I'm guessing that the new one will be equally floor-burn-inducingly amazing.

I'm not sure what they wound up calling the documentary, but the name of the mission is Solar Probe Plus. It's been in the science news here lately since NASA just selected the instruments for us. One of the critical technologies is the heat shield we hide behind, and we put together a demo of the material where we heat the front face to a nice glowing red and ask someone to put their hand on the back side. It's cool since the material is the best thermal insulator known to humankind, but it's always fun to watch folks decide whether they really believe the science or not...The demo was included in the documentary.

Unfortunately, it'll be 2018 before we have neat pictures of the Sun to show. We're still in Phase A of the project where we deal with the basic mission concept and how to do it.

I had hoped to make the party, but it was not to be. As I mentioned, NASA picked the instruments recently and I'm in a flurry of travel to get the different groups kicked off. I sort of expected it to be coming, which is why I was so hesitant with the invitation. I'm a big fan of meetups - last summer the wife and I were able to meet some of the Green Dragon group members in Philly for a day-long bookstore crawl. It was a blast!

SoPro Plus. Got it.

2018 isn't that far away to me anymore...I see seven years as piffle compared to years gone by. I can wait. But I can't wait! (You know what I mean.)

I'd like to ask a really silly question: Wouldn't a solar observatory on the Moon make sense?

Yep, it would if you want to observe the Sun from a distance. We already do that with STEREO, SOHO and several other spacecraft. Remote sensing, though, doesn't solve the biggest mystery about the Sun. The surface temperature of the Sun is about 10,000 C. Particles leaving the Sun (ie, the solar wind) leave the surface with that temperature. By they time they get about 10 solar radii from the surface, they've been accelerated to a temperature of about 1 million degrees, and nobody knows how they get accelerated that much over such a short distance. The point of Solar Probe Plus is to fly into the corona to make in situ measurements of the electric and magnetic fields and solar wind composition to understand the origin of the solar wind and the acceleration processes in that region.

This matters since the major factor driving the climate on Earth isn't man-made. It's the energy input and the variability of the energy input from the Sun. Without understanding how the Sun works and how the solar wind connects up with the Earth's magnetic and electric fields, we can't understand the Earth's climate. And as I'm sure you're aware, that's a big deal these days! :)

>209 drneutron: So 2018 is pretty long to wait...but better to wait and get real, reliable results, I guess.

Fascinating stuff, rocket science.

77. Hellhound on his Trail by Hampton Sides

Based on several good reviews from other 75 Bookers, I snagged this one at the library. Boy, what a good book! Thanks for recommending it, gang.

For those who haven't read it, it's the story of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., by James Earl Ray and the manhunt that ensued to catch him. I was especially interested in the FBI's reaction to the shooting. After all, they spent a lot of time trying to discredit King, but immediately jumped on the case. While this may have largely been motivated by a desire not to be seen biased against him and others like him, the FBI did do what it does best - pound out the evidence by thorough investigation, put the pieces all together through good science and great detective work, and track down the killer to where he's hiding.

I'll definitely be reading more of Hampton Sides, that's for sure.

#211: Glad you enjoyed that one. I did too! The only other of his that I have read is Ghost Soldiers and it was very good. You might give that one a try, Jim.

78. Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Same comment as the previous three. This is one good series of books. Lukyanenko ends the story strongly with a hint that more could come along sometime in the future.

For those who haven't been following along, the series tells of Anton, a magician in the Night Watch, the "police force" of Light Ones keeping an eye on Dark Ones in modern-day Moscow. Of course plots abound, working up to a plot in this book that might end all existence.

Jim- Glad you enjoyed Hellhound. I'm looking forward to that one! I also loved Ghost Soldiers.

>213 drneutron:: I've never read any Lukyanenko. Based on your recommendations, I'll give him a try.

79. Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist

John Ajvide Lindqvist is well known his unique approach to the vampire story. Now, with Handling the Undead, he's done it again with zombies - a genre that's almost as oversaturated as the vampire. In Stockholm, a strange field of some unknown kind has made it impossible to turn off electronics, generated a massive thunderstorm, and raised the recently deceased back to life. But these aren't your typical George Romero brain-eating zombies; something much more mysterious is going on here.

Lindqvist's book is a quiet story. Tension builds gradually as we see how the families of the "reliving" react to their sudden reappearance. The story is more a musing on life, death and the nature of the soul than an out-and-out zombie gorefest. Don't worry though, the tension does build to a satisfying climax in the end.

Ooh, how seasonal! Sounds interesting. :)

Jim- Good review on Handling the Undead. It sounds very good and on the list it goes!

Thanks!

Jim

Sorry to be far behind on the threads. There are 100 plus messages here since I checked last!

Congratulations on reaching the 75 challenge goal!

#216: I would read that one except I do not think I can handle the gore. Nice review though, Jim!

Great review! I'm off to check out John Ajvide Lindqvist.

80. Galilee by Clive Barker

First of the books I've come across from Mac's Halloween reading list, and a fine choice it was. As with lots of Barker's books, it's got a huge scope. And the prose reminds me of a drag queen - big and flowery and dramatic, and a blast to be around.

In Galilee, Barker gives us a dark romance, complete with warring families and ill-fated lovers. Of course, it's Clive Barker, so there's a hefty dose of the supernatural and things aren't what they seem.

Nice start to the Halloween reading!

#223: Not my cuppa, Jim, but glad you enjoyed it!

I'm adding Galilee to my Halloween reading list.

Drag queen prose.......wow. I should start that one this weekend, as I'm almost finished with The Devil in the White City. You really should post this on the Halloween thread, as I think some folks who don't get to your thread might be interessted. Or post a link, like Tad did with his.

Glad you liked it.

It was nice to meet you and the rest of the gang at the National Book Festival yesterday.

Where are the photos of the gang at the National Book Festival?

SqueakyChu's thread has the group pic and all the names...

http://www.librarything.com/topic/96368#2214443

By the way, we managed to squeeze in *both* book fests this weekend. Came home from DC with 2 books that cost $15 total. Came home from Baltimore Book Fest with a backpack and a half filled with books for about $50. All in all, a pretty good weekend. I'll post a list of the new acquisitions when I get a chance.

81. The Fall of the House of Walworth by Geoffrey O'Brien

Early one June morning in 1873, Mansfield Tracy Walworth, a second-rate thriller writer and son of a well-known New York judge, stopped by the Sturtevant House in New York City. His 19 year old son, Frank, was visiting from Saratoga to settle some family business before leaving for Europe with his uncle - specifically to get Mansfield to stop harassing his mother (and Mansfield's ex-wife), Ellen. Somehow in the next few minutes, Frank shot Mansfield four times and calmly turned himself into the police, kicking off a celebrity trial of the first order.

Mansfield Walworth was nuts, everybody in Saratoga agreed. He made his wife's life a living hell before running off to the city after the divorce, which in those days was a heck of a big deal. Frank spent his late teenage years trying to shield his mother from all this, but was largely unsuccessful. But maybe he wasn't nuts; his publishers, for instance, never had any inkling of his violent side. On the other hand, Frank was either a saintly young man who cared for his mother very much or an epileptic with mental illnesses of his own. And Frank either coldly planned to entrap and kill his father or he was innocently defending himself, depending on which newspaper you read. In the end, Frank was found guilty of the new crime of second degree murder and sentenced to life at hard labor. Unfortunately, he was found guilty just as several powerful and rich men managed to get off essentially scotch-free from some big time crimes. So in spite of what appeared to be worsening mental illness, it was some time before he was pardoned from this sentence many thought was extremely out of bed for his crime. The family never recovered from this tragedy.

And really, that's what O'Brien is writing about - the decay from one generation to the next that happens as the sins of the fathers are visited on their children. His allusion to Poe is right on target. In between the history is a tragic family that cannot seem to keep from wounding each other. Madness runs in this family. and Ellen spends her life internally agonizing over the hardships in her life while externally becoming a respected educator and businesswoman, and founding numerous organizations like the Daughters of the American Revolution. It's a fascinating look at the Gilded Age behind the scenes.

Congratulations on the haul from the weekend, Jim!

Adding the O'Brien book to the BlackHole. It sounds very interesting.

82. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Another from bdb's Halloween reading list - and a pretty good choice. The bulk of the book is about the planning, building, and executing the Chicago World's Fair in 1890-1893. While this is, in itself, a fascinating story, Larson weaves into this the story of H. H. Holmes, who built up a small real estate development through mostly fraudulent means, and used that to kill and dispose of an unknown number of victims in parallel with the Fair.

Quite a good book, highly recommended!

Jim- Glad you enjoyed Devil! It was an excellent read. Thunderstruck was pretty good too!

#233: I am a big fan of Erik Larson's books, so I am glad to see you enjoyed that one, Jim. Mark already mentioned Larson's Thunderstruck, but I will put in a plug for his Isaac's Storm as well.

>233 drneutron:: That's one of the ones I hope to get to on Mac's list.

Thunderstruck caught my eye right away. I read a different book about the story a few years ago and would definitely like to see Larson's take on it.

Tad - It was definitely a good choice on Mac's part. I hope you can get to it!

As promised, here's the haul from last week's festivities:

Magician by Raymond Feist
Dreams of Steam - a steampunk short story anthology
The Best of H. P. Lovecraft
My own copy of The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
The Compleat Enchanter by de Camp and Pratt
Wizard War by Hugh Cook
Shadowland by Peter Straub
The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein
Incarnate by Ramsey Campbell
Neverwhere by gaimanneilneilgaiman::Neil Gaiman
The Dead Zone by stephenking::Stephen King
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Hmmm. Seems I hit the scary stuff a little hard this year...

Great haul, Jim! Congratulations!

Very nice list. Neverwhere is up in my top 5 of best books ever read so I hope you enjoy that one.

Magician by Feist was the first fantasy novel that I ever read and I will never forget the experience.

What stasia said in 235.. I am a fan of Erik Larson, and like all of his books, but might just like Isaac's Storm the most.

hmmmm Neverwhere sounds like something I might like to watch, but not sure I would want to read it..

#243: There was a 2-part production of Neverwhere done by the BBC (I think?) and it is available through Netflix if you are interested.

might have to do that....

83. From a Whisper to a Scream by Charles de Lint

Next up from bdb's Halloween list. I'd read it when the book was first published, and it was fun to re-read it after so long. de Lint's Newford stories are early urban fantasy - not the vampire and werewolf stories that crowd the genre today, but stories of a fictional city that's more than just the physical. The stories generally aren't scary horror stories, but every now and then de Lint wrote one that was most definitely a horror story. To help distinguish these from the more fantastic ones, he published these as Samuel M. Key. From a Whisper to a Scream was the best, IMO.

At the beginning of the story, a Native American policeman in Newford shoots and kills what turns out to be a pedophile serial killer. Years later, another serial killer is working in the city, and this policeman is assigned the lead role in catching him. Saying too much more would spoil the book, but suffice it to say that this is one serial killer that won't be easy to catch!

#246: Nope, I do not think I can do that one.

Yeah, I figured as much. :)

#248: Oh well, every reader has to have at least one category of books that do not appeal, right?

#246 I wasn't going to do that one because the library doesn't have it . . . but maybe I'll see about an Inter-Library loan . . . I am very much in a horror mood this month!

From a Whisper to a Scream .. read it years ago. Not my favorite de Lint.
Love Newford though.

84. The Postman by David Brin

From bdb's Halloween reading list. A nice post-apocalyptic story that reminds me of Earth Abides. not particularly scary, but some really bad people doing some bad things. There's a lot to think about with Brin's story - what makes us civilized? Where do our myths come from and does the truth about them really matter? What makes a person become a hero?

Thanks to Mac for this one. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

85. Dying Bites by D. D. Barant

A paranormal fantasy the wife picked up at the library. Vampires, werewolves and golems, oh my! And a heroine that's able to kick ass when needed. It was better than most of this genre than I've come across and I'll read the next couple volumes when she gets 'em from the library. Bonus points for the Lovecraftian plot - it appears that the author has actually read HPL and maybe even Derleth.

#252: Well, I got off easy tonight! I have read both of those.

I haven't read either and they go on the list, too. I picked up The Devil in the White City from the library.

New thread before I get busted by the Thread a police...

http://www.librarything.com/topic/100352