tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59595102842764011882024-03-13T01:22:07.980-04:00A Somnambulist is Reading on the Group W Bench"You tell me who told these ants how to make water."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger364125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-32101099630716727232012-07-02T08:52:00.000-04:002012-07-02T08:52:31.063-04:00Finished blogging for a whileI am going to quit blogging about the books I read. It is not as much fun as it used to be and I have lost interest in it. Blogging has become more of a chore than a joy. It has become something I feel "obliged" to do without even having a reason for the obligation.<br />
<br />
Weird, huh?<br />
<br />
Maybe I will pick it back up some day. Maybe I will pop in and blog if a book is particularly blog-worthy. No matter what, I will continue to read...and read some more.<br />
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Thanks to all those who followed along. I hope your lives will not be turned upside down if I fail to post regularly.<br />
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It has been quite a run. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-56755991723318697662012-07-02T08:47:00.001-04:002012-07-02T08:47:47.327-04:0052. The Book of Dragons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Book of Dragons - Edith Nesbit<br />
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A book of classic dragon tales.<br />
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Too immature for me to enjoy.<br />
<br />
Too mature for my little girls to enjoy.<br />
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Probably well suited to 10-12 year old boys who really like to read.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-58745256526375305602012-06-27T20:23:00.001-04:002012-06-27T20:23:47.727-04:0051. Fair Ball<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Fair Ball - Bob Costas<br />
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I had to take a short road trip a few days ago and threw this book into the CD player for the ride. I am glad I did. Bob Costas would get my vote for Major League Baseball commissioner. I like the way he thinks.<br />
<br />
This book was not a bunch of baseball stories turning ballplayers into larger than life heros. This book discussed what Bob would do to fix some of the problems with MLB as he sees it. Well, as he saw it in 2000 anyway.<br />
<br />
I liked it. I think his ideas for revenue sharing were sound, though the owners will never go for it without twisting their arms. I think his ideas concerning salary caps were sound, though the players union will never go for it without twisting their arms. Maybe if, like he says, both sides thought of the game rather than themselves it would work.<br />
<br />
His comments about realignment were great. Some of the crackpot ideas are just ridiculous. Especially the radical realignment into strict geographical regions. I hate it. I am glad he sees it the same way. Realign into two fifteen team leagues with five per division...Houston moves to the AL West. I get it. I like it.<br />
<br />
I love his comments on the wild card playoff spot. I hate it too. It takes so much away from the pennant races in each division. I love the idea of winning each of the three divisions to get into the playoffs with the number one team getting a bye in the first series. All the teams would be busting butt to be that number one team all year long.<br />
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As far as the DH? Yeah, there was a time for it. That time has passed. Lose the chump and make the pitchers hit. It adds so much to the strategy of the games. That is what baseball is all about.<br />
<br />
He also said something that made a lot of sense concerning a great team compared to a crappy team. It comes down to the same result of a seven game series ending 4-3. If a crappy team adds all the wins after splitting 4-3 all year long you will end up with 60 something wins. Bad teams do that. If a great team does the opposite and wins 4 of each 7 game series it will end up with 60 something losses. Prescisely what a great team ends up with, 90-100 wins. So, the difference in the best and worst teams comes down to winning or losing ONE game in each series all year long....and that is why the baseball season needs so many games to figure out who really is the best. That is also why the wild card should be eliminated. It allows chump teams a second chance with no risk. Silliness.<br />
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I love baseball!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-10985071192395941132012-06-25T16:20:00.002-04:002012-06-25T16:20:59.963-04:0050. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream<br />
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My wife gave me this one. I put it to the top of the list for a number of reasons. 1. It happened to be on the same subject we were discussing at church. 2. My wife got it for me. ;-)<br />
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The author is correct. Using Matthew 10 as the example of what discipleship is supposed to be he points out how culture, prosperity and materialism have given Americans an "excuse" to avoid being a real biblical disciple. It was fascinating, and I agree.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-42384329606210701242012-06-19T19:55:00.000-04:002012-06-19T19:55:13.757-04:0049. 100 Quotations To Make You Think<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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100 Quotations to Make You Think - Wolfgang Riebe<br />
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Really, it is. It is 100 quotes. Did they all make me think? No. Have I heard them before? A few. Mostly they are new to me.<br />
<br />
One that I liked and it made me think...<br />
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<em><strong>"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."</strong></em><br />
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That one made me think. It was also one of the shortest in the little book, but it made me think more than any of the others.<br />
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What did I conclude at the end of the massive pondering I undertook? Well, it really depends on what kind of tree they are planting as to whether I agree with the quote or not. There, think about that. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-46543407983082691862012-06-19T19:47:00.001-04:002012-06-19T19:47:16.061-04:0048. Rules For Patriots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Rules For Patriots - Matt Kibbe<br />
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Supposed to be modeled as a response to Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals...put out by Freedomworks...a Tea Party group.<br />
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Eh. It left a lot to be desired and has taken a good idea and made it into a political organization that becomes so big that it means nothing any longer. Too many differing opinions and compromises to bring in others lead to watering down the message.<br />
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I used to agree with Freedomworks much more than I do now. Not because I have changed my views, because they have changed themselves to include more "issues" and then I have more to disagree with than I did before.<br />
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What makes a patriot? When did patriot become synonymous with falling in line with all the political agenda crap of a single party? Puhleeeeaase.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-17508558485019871942012-06-17T16:40:00.000-04:002012-06-17T16:40:34.920-04:0047. The Highest Treason<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Highest Treason - Randall Garrett <br />
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I read this description and was intrigued...<br />
<br />
<em>"Set in a future in which humanity’s dream of total equality is fully realized and poverty in terms of material wealth has been eliminated, humanity has straight-jacketed itself into the only social system which could make this possible. Class differentiation is entirely horizontal rather than vertical and no matter what one’s chosen field, all advancement is based solely on seniority rather than ability. What is an intelligent and ambitious man to do when enslaved by a culture that forbids him from utilizing his God-given talents? If he’s a military officer in time of war, he might just decide to switch sides. If said officer is a true believer in the principles that enslave him and every bit as loyal as he is ambitious, that’s tantamount to breaking a universal law of physics, but Colonel Sebastian MacMaine has what it takes to meet the challenge."</em><br />
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It turned out to be a great little sci-fi story that damned socialism and also a severely patriarchal society where women are considered property. It was fascinating to read along as the author pushed further and further into the extremes of the doctrines of the two societies.<br />
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I loved it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-58221487382134919672012-06-14T21:38:00.001-04:002012-06-14T21:38:55.424-04:0046. From October to Brest-Litovsk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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From October to Brest-Litovsk - Leon Trotsky<br />
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Trotsky was a Russian Marxist revolutionary who was instrumental in the Russian Revolution and afterward. He was a Soviet politician and the first leader of the Red Army.<br />
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He wrote this book about the Russian Revolution. It was very interesting to hear the story from the point of view of the revolutionary.<br />
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It was not exciting. It was downright boring at times, but those periods were fleeting. Overall it was a decent read that added a little understanding to my history database hidden deep in my brain. :-)<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-43180980786293805712012-06-12T10:08:00.001-04:002012-06-12T10:08:55.257-04:0045. Frenzy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Frenzy - Jonathan Craig<br />
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This was a foray into an old pulp fiction crime novel. It was kind of fun. An enjoyable plot with characters that were interesting and full of the expected stereotypes. The book was originally published under the name "Junkie!".<br />
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Steve is a trumpet player in a jazz ensemble. The chics really dig him. Kathy is an ex-heroine addict that he has fallen in love with. She is being framed for murder...by Lois, who is in love with Steve but married to Mel. Lois and Donna also happens to run a call girl service disguised as a secretarial pool. Hey, if Lois can get Kathy to work for her then maybe she can get her hooked on drugs again and Steve will be free again... Wait, Donna is also a nymphomaniac? Wow! There is a real twist. <br />
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Poor Loreen. All she wanted to do was go to work as a secretary. She did some work at the Pentagon and then embezzled a grand from Lois thinking it would be OK because Lois would not want to make noise. I will bet Loreen's dying body sure made a noise as she was run down by that huge Chrysler! <br />
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Steve needs to be taught a lesson. Ahh...let's frame him for the murder of Mel. If Lois can't have him then NOBODY WILL! Lois and Donna will run off to Mexico with the profits from the call girl business and start a new life... but the double-cross happens and Lois kills Donna and tries to force Steve to go on the run with her... Oh, the tangled webs that get woven.<br />
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It was great fun.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-29715273376641216472012-06-10T16:43:00.000-04:002012-06-10T16:43:30.259-04:0044. The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki - US Army Corps of Engineers, Manhattan District<br />
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I wish I could call this science fiction or dystopian or even an alternate history. Sadly, the events were real.<br />
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This book was an assessment of the effects of the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It reads much like a battle damage assessment. It is very "scientific" in the way things are reported and how the findings are translated.<br />
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Then, at the end of the book, is a great first hand account of a man who witnessed the bombing and the aftermath. Talk about a change of direction. Wow. It went from statistics and distances from x....to emotion and opinion. It changed from the effects on concrete or metal frame buildings at carrying distances from ground zero to how people were in a dazed and bewildered state of confusion and unable to gather themselves together to for any kind of rescue efforts.<br />
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As for myself...I hate nuclear weapons and find them useless. I hope this type of assessment never needs to be done again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-42214363493146839572012-06-05T19:51:00.000-04:002012-06-05T19:51:35.883-04:0043. On Loving God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Loving God - St. Bernard of Clairvaux<br />
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Another one of those outstanding Christian classics that get lost in all the horse poop interpretations and modernizations of modern writing. <br />
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I enjoyed it. Not as much as All Of Grace, but more than The Practice of the Presence of God. Worth a read.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-22199606678446677342012-06-02T22:11:00.000-04:002012-06-02T22:11:37.980-04:0042. The Adventures of Pinocchio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi<br />
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This is definitely not your Disney Pinocchio! Yes, Disney adapted the story, so, technically this is the Disney Pinocchio. What I mean is that the story is much different. It is not so kid friendly. It is dark and mean and full of stuff that would never be in a Disney flick.<br />
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Pinocchio is hung from an oak tree until he dies so a gang of deviant con-man animals can steal his money.<br />
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Pinocchio is sold as a donkey to a circus trainer that abuses him until he is lame. He is then sold to a man who tries to drown him in the ocean so he can use his hide to make a drum.<br />
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Gepetto is abusive, jailed, and eaten by a huge shark.<br />
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The talking cricket (Jimeny in the movie) is killed by Pinocchio when he throws a hammer at the little fella.<br />
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Pinocchio is purchased as a slave by a farmer. He is tied to a dog chain outside and is told to bark if some weasels come and try to steal the chickens.<br />
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Lampwick is sold as a donkey and works very hard until he dies.<br />
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A serpent laughs at Pinocchio's misfortunes in some mud. He laughs so hard his heart bursts and he dies.<br />
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Pinocchio finds Gepetto inside a giant shark...which just happens to be asthmatic and has a weak heart so it has to sleep with it's mouth open.<br />
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These kinds of things made the story great for me. They are definitely not Disney. There are many similarities and some common story lines, but the book is much much better...for an adult.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-9317545636121710472012-05-29T18:49:00.000-04:002012-05-29T18:49:37.131-04:0041. The Little Red (Sox) Book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Little Red (Sox) Book: A Revisionist Red Sox History - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Lee_(left-handed_pitcher)">Bill "Spaceman" Lee</a><br />
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Bill Lee was one of those larger than life baseball players who were my heros in the mid 70's. He is one of the stars that helped me become a Red Sox fan. Fred Lynn, Rick Burleson, Yaz, Dewey, Jim Rice, Louis Tiant, Eck, Fisk, Denny Doyle, Butch Hobson, Rico Petrocelli, Bernie Carbo, Bob Stanley, etc etc. I loved those guys...they thrilled me...and they broke my heart (along with a million other fans over many many decades.)<br />
<br />
So, Bill Lee rewrote history in this book. It is full of what-ifs. What if Babe Ruth never left Boston? What if Jackie Robinson was signed by Boston? What if Ted Williams didn't go off to war? What if Bucky Dent was a pianist rather than a baseball player? What if Buckner wasn't on the field in '86? What if the Green Monster was in right field? What if Conigliaro didn't get beaned in '67? What if the Rocket stayed in Boston? What if, what if, what if?<br />
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Lee has written history the way Boston fans would prefer things happened. New York ending up a cesspool with a team that struggles to even maintain itself in MLB. Boston winning again, and again...and it is awesome!<br />
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What fun. Especially now that the Red Sox have actually won a few World Series and it makes the whole thing easier to laugh about. ;-)<br />
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The stories of the perpetually hapless Yankees are funny. The rewrites of the story lines for the '75 Reds, '78 Yankees and '86 Mets are especially touching to me. <br />
<br />
The funniest "revision" was how Ted Williams killed Hitler with a line drive and thereby prevented World War II (at least in Europe).<br />
<br />
The Spaceman cracks me up.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-27560616606399955252012-05-29T09:47:00.001-04:002012-05-29T09:47:10.109-04:0040. The Practice of the Presence of God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Practice of the Presence of God - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence">Brother Lawrence</a><br />
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This is a collection of letters written by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmelites">Carmelite monk</a> and the recollections of some of his speakings in the 1600's. It is a bit repetitive, but I guess the idea was important to him.<br />
<br />
How do you get and stay in the presence of God? Practice, of course. How do you practice? Think about God. Read about God. Talk about God. Pray to God. Constantly strive to include God in everything. His presence in your life will become habit. :-)<br />
<br />
This is no "All of Grace". OK, but no revelation from this one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-27188652244504226002012-05-24T20:24:00.002-04:002012-05-24T20:24:58.218-04:0039. All Of Grace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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All Of Grace - Charles H. Spurgeon<br />
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One of the best books I have ever read. I loved this one. I will read it again...right now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-318568858067844562012-05-21T18:21:00.000-04:002012-05-21T18:21:27.042-04:0038. The Mystery Of The Yellow Room<table class="itemtable" id="item-2">
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The Mystery of the Yellow Room: Extraordinary Adventures of Joseph Rouletabille, Reporter - Gaston Leroux</div>
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An old mystery novel first published in 1908. Think Agatha Christie who-dun-it detective novel and you will be dead on.</div>
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This one is about a crime committed that is impossible to solve, but it does get solved eventually. There is the massive explanation in a court of law to save the day and prevent the conviction of an innocent man...all in the nick of time. Whew!</div>
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It was a good story and a decent who-dun-it. I could not figure it out at all.</div>
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Once again though, a detraction for me was all the French words and name pronunciations. French really bothers me for some reason. It is probably due to bad memories from Miss Roberts class in Junior High School and not actually caused by anything with a rational explanation. :-)</div>
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The Diary of a Nobody - George and Weedon Grossmith<br />
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Originally published in 1892. Funny. Nothing really happens other than the normal day to day grind of an average guy. Still, it is funny.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-47449348756127695992012-05-04T20:22:00.000-04:002012-05-04T20:22:11.700-04:0036. Black<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Black - Christopher Whitcomb<br />
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Run of the mill thriller. I expected more. I read the book because of the helicopter on the front. I maintained those beautiful machines. They were never used int he book. Stupid book. LOL<br />
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I expected more of a military techno thriller from the cover and the description. It was not. It was more of a crime novel with some politics and a bit of terrorism. Whoop-de-doo.<br />
<br />
It did not suck, but it was a waste of time compared to other books I have read.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-54053328983310419612012-04-30T20:41:00.001-04:002012-04-30T20:41:56.644-04:0035. The Cossacks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Cossacks - Leo Tolstoy<br />
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Bah. It bored me. Too much soap opera drama garbage to keep me interested. Good writing, but not interesting. Maybe I was looking for something else.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-43937108431268139832012-04-18T21:34:00.002-04:002012-04-18T21:34:52.120-04:0034. Dracula<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dracula - Bram Stoker<br />
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Outstanding!<br />
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Although, after loving the buildup...and the chase...and the total suspense of the final showdown... what a bummer that it ended so fast and so easily.<br />
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I loved this story, except that poor Lucy got screwed. Other than that it was great. I can't believe I spent 49.5 years having not read this book. Silly me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-29099297684207139822012-04-06T18:09:00.001-04:002012-04-06T18:09:53.023-04:0033. The Glow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Glow - Brooks Stanwood<br />
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A suspense novel written in the mid seventies. Supposedly along the lines of Rosemary's Baby. I hate to say it, but this is definitely not Rosemary's Baby, nor is it even close.<br />
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There is this group of mid-fifties folks who are health nuts and spend a lot of time jogging and working out. They welcome a young couple into a very exclusive upper east side apartment (Manhattan, of course). The couple joins them in the ultra-healthy lifestyle. Weird stuff happens. People disappear.<br />
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Come to find out...and I will spoil this one because I doubt anyone will go find it or read it if they did...the old folks stumbled upon a secret tribe of cannibals in the Amazon and discovered a secret to staying youthful forever. The problem is that it requires the blood of super healthy young people mixed with the roots of very special trees.<br />
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So, to stay alive the oldies (which are actually around 90 years old) must occasionally drink the blood-root juice mixture in order to stay young. They devised this entire lifestyle and plan to maintain the illusion and the trap into which they lure young couples over and over again.<br />
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It was alright. No big thrill and definitely not worth searching for.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-25306062800771277052012-03-28T18:51:00.000-04:002012-03-28T18:51:28.672-04:0032. The Three Musketeers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas<br />
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This was a great book. I loved it. I thought it got a little soap-operaish at times, but other than that it was fantastic. BIG, and fantastic. All the French words made me mad.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-56804596235471265152012-03-22T09:03:00.000-04:002012-03-22T09:03:48.719-04:0031. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse - Robert Rankin<br />
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Very different. Very fun. Made me laugh a lot and was still interested enough to keep wondering what would happen next.<br />
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I am not sure how to categorize this book. Science Fiction using nursery rhymes and toys? It is odd. Then again, why does it need a category at all. Let it be outside the main stream.<br />
<br />
The story is about a guy named Jack who sets out to the big city to seek his fortune. When he gets to the city he finds that it is a Toy City...yes, actually populated by living breathing toys. He also finds that there is a serial killer on the loose who is killing all the old rich and famous nursery rhyme characters (Humpty Dumpty, Mother Goose, Little Boy Blue, etc.)<br />
<br />
Jack falls in with Eddie Bear, who is a private detective who works with the recently "disappeared" Bill Winkie. Jack and Eddie embark on an adventure to solve the crimes and catch the killer. Along the way there is much debauchery, car chases, gratuitous sex and violence, heavy drinking, bad behavior and much more.<br />
<br />
There is also some really interesting use of language and "linguistic trickery" used by the author that makes it even more fun to read. This is a crime novel in a fantasy world and written in a nursery rhymey happy-happy joy-joy way at times. I really enjoyed it.<br />
<br />
As I was reading I tagged a bunch of areas with post-it-notes to use in this blog. That is the only way I can explain what I mean by the author's writing style was fun. Robert Rankin is a strange fellow.<br />
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FYI...that stupid Read Like a Professor book did make me see things differently. That bastard! Like Jack falling into a hole, and then falling some more...and then things got weird. Much like Alice.<br />
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I found one of the most interesting character flaws in all of fiction to be an idiosyncrasy of Eddie. Eddie was unable to use corroborative nouns. It was hilarious at times and was used over and over in the book. So much in fact that Jack even picked up on speaking that way toward the end of the book. It became "normal". <em>"But I can't do corroborative nouns. None of us are perfect, are we? I can get started. As big as, as foul as, as obscene as. But I can't get any further. But that's life for you again. As unfair as.... Listen, wouldn't you rather go to a bar and have a drink?"</em><br />
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I read the following paragraphs many times. There is a lot of truth to it and much more than just from the perspective of a silly novel. I loved this... <em>"We really can only truly know what we personally experience. And when we experience something entirely new, something that we have never experienced before, it can come as something of a shock. And it can be hard at first to fully comprehend.</em><br />
<em> Jack, for instance, had never before heard a really big, expensive silkwood apartment door being smashed from its hinges. And so the sounds of its smashing were alien to his ears.</em><br />
<em> The frabious grametting of the lock against its keep was positively malagrous in its percundity. The greebing and snattering was starkly blark.</em><br />
<em> And as for the spondabulous carapany that the broken door made as it struck the vestibule floor...</em><br />
<em> ....the word phnargacious is hardly sufficient.</em><br />
<em> Rapantaderely phnargacious would be more accurate.</em><br />
<em> And as for what happened after this, it is probably all for the best that Jack neither heard nor saw any of it."</em><br />
<br />
Rankin even used a form of somnambulist..."<em>For those who are unacquainted with the career of Little boy Blue subsequent to his period of employment as a somnambulant shepherd...."</em><br />
<br />
Beautiful quote..."<em>And, as every successful dictator knows, it's far easier to convince a thousand people en masse of a bad idea, than it is to convince a single individual. It's a herd thing."</em><br />
<br />
Rankin would use this little ditty repeatedly when he wanted the reader to understand something. "<em>Now it is a fact, well known to those who know it well...." </em>followed by what he wanted the reader to know. That cracked me up every time.<br />
<br />
Every once in a while the writing would just go off on a wild ride for no apparent reason. Like this...<em>"It was a suspicious affair, with man sized chairs and tables. These were all of pink plastic and pale pitch-pine. The walls were pleasantly painted with pastel portraits or portly personages, pigging out on prodigious portions of pie - which, considering the alliterative nature of the breakfast served by the toymaker, may or may not have been some kind of culinary running gag."</em><br />
<br />
Humor abounds..."<em>You're not supposed to be drunk when you get involved with matters such as this: Big Matters, Matters of an Apocalyptic Nature. You're supposed to be coldly sober. And you just can't be coldly sober when you're drunk. But then, if you really did find yourself involved in Matters of an Apocalyptic Nature, you'd need a few stiff ones under your belt before you got going with saving the world."</em><br />
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More humor..."'<em>Some other pretext then. We'll engage him in casual conversation and subtly draw him into a theoretical discussion. Then you could put your theory to him in a hypothetical manner, which will not imply any implicit knowledge on our part as to his potential status as a deity.'</em><br />
<em> "Say all that again", said Eddie</em><br />
<em> "Don't be absurd,' said Jack, 'I don't know how I managed it the first time. Somebody help me."</em><br />
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One last example... <em>"We all know who is doing this to us. We dare not wait for the inevitable to occur. We have to take steps. Do something about it.'</em><br />
<em> 'I don't agree.' said Mary Mary.</em><br />
<em> 'Well, you wouldn't, would you dear? You being so contrary and everything."</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-41220170257132260102012-03-22T08:12:00.000-04:002012-03-22T08:12:45.178-04:0030. The Turn of the Screw<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Turn of the Screw - Henry James<br />
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Henry James was definitely a guy who liked words. He uses a lot of them. A thought that could be conveyed with ten words takes James thirty. That being said, it is my only "complaint" with this book.<br />
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It was suspenseful and interesting....and old.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5959510284276401188.post-63692796976204648172012-03-07T18:35:00.003-05:002012-03-07T18:35:51.213-05:0029. The Hunger Games<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins<br />
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A friend wrote this synopsis and little review a while ago.<br />
<em>"Twenty-four children: twelve boys, twelve girls, tributes selected by random lottery every year and sent to the capitol city of Panem to compete in a brutal, bloodthirsty fight for survival, with the last participant standing declared champion.</em><br />
<em>Welcome to the Hunger Games, a grim reminder to those living in the twelve districts comprising what was once the United States of their place as virtual slaves to the gleaming Capitol at their center.</em><br />
<em>Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen is this year's female representative for District 12, having volunteered to take her younger sister Prim's place. Sent to the arena with the baker's son and classmate, Peeta Mellark -- a boy who, several years prior, saved Kat and her family from the ravages of starvation after her father's death in a coal mining accident -- neither competitor from the final district seem to be contenders.</em><em></em><em>But Peeta's good nature and Kat's small stature belie the former's cunning intelligence and the latter's experience as a hunter; while a revelation from Peeta during the introductory ceremonies sends Katniss into the first day of competition more than a little off-kilter.</em><em><br /></em><em>The stage is set, the tributes have arrived, and the cameras are watching...let the games begin.</em><em><br /></em><em>It is no exaggeration to call THE HUNGER GAMES a pulse-pounding page-turner. Collins grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go. While Katniss isn't always the most likable character (in fact, there were plenty of times I much preferred the affable Peeta, or even sweet, birdlike little Ruth), she is always compelling, thanks to her rational approach to every challenge and her dogged determination.</em><em></em><em>While THE HUNGER GAMES is a plot-driven novel, the characters and their relationships are the heart of the story. Ms. Collins has created a dystopian tale of Orwellian caliber for young adults."</em> <br />
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I agree with that assessment. It is a great read and is exciting. It is definitely not difficult. It is Young Adult fiction. How difficult can it be? <br />
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I saw reviews for the movie coming out soon. I will go see it and hope they stick to the book. Will I read the rest of the trilogy? Probably not. There are so many other books to read. I did pass this one off to my teens. Two of them are "already reading something", one has no interest in the book but will watch the movie, and one grabbed it hoping it didn't suck. She will probably be happy with the read. <br />
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The ruthlessness of some of the children really threw me, but it is supposed to be a different time and their society has changed a lot. <br />
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The character of Rue fascinated me and I felt genuinely sad when she died. Poor kid.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0