Somnambulist

15. Downsizing the Federal Government

2012-01-30T09:38:00.000-05:00

Downsizing the Federal Government - Chris Edwards

Here is a book full of awesome ideas to fix problems our country is having. I love most of them and have for quite some time. I have voted for people who promoted these ideas for decades now. The problem is that those people wither failed to follow through or were blocked in their efforts. That does not mean I will change. I still vote this way.

Chris Edwards is an economist who works with the Cato Institute. That is a Washington DC think tank along the lines of the Brookings Institute and Heritage Foundation. The big difference is that Cato is not liberal or conservative. They are a mixture of both. They are pro free markets and also anti war with liberty being a huge factor. They are libertarian if you had to put a label on them. You can keep your Democrats and Republican die hard garbage. Neither party is right or does what they say they will do. I will vote with the guy who is closest to doing what Cato stands for every time, and that has been from different parties all my life.

I have been reading articles and content on the website Downsizing the Federal Government for years. The site is an offshoot of the same ideas displayed in the book. You don't have to read the book if you don't want. You can go the website and see the same ideas in a different format. You won't see as much depth or explanation, but maybe it is enough to get you to want to learn more.

There is a free ebook version of this book on that site. I had downloaded it a long time ago. This is exactly why having that free kindle is awesome. I just loaded it on that little gadget and took it with me when I went places. I was never going to sit in front of a computer and read this and I would not spend the money to buy a new print version when I have a stack of other printed books sitting here waiting to be read. So, the kindle allowed me to read this book.

I think it is awesome! I love these ideas. I totally believe that most of what Mr. Edwards say is absolutely the best course of action.

I found it funny when he was busting chops of politicians in the book. He slammed Newt Gingrich and George Bush a few times because they were supposed to be budget watching smaller government proponents and both did exactly the opposite when they got into a position to make a difference. I liked that.

He didn't slam Democrats much. Why? He explains that it is because they don't say they are going to make government smaller and therefore can not fail to live up to that expectation. He just plain old disagrees with their philosophy of what government is and should be doing...just like I do. He did give a few Democrats some props though. He mentioned a few that actually did push a limited government agenda. He mentioned Paul Douglas, an Illinois Senator from 1949-1967, who was a harsh critic of government waste while also a champion for civil rights. Another guy was William Proxmire, Senator from Wisconsin from 1957-1989, the inventor of the "golden fleece" award for the biggest tax-payer ripoffs each month.

Anyway, promoting the ideas are what this book is really about. Stuff like cutting Defense, Education, Energy, HHS, HUD, Transportation, Labor and many other departments where there is wasteful, duplicated or obsolete programs. He is a proponent of privatization of much of what the federal government controls.

He suggests we sell assets; make discretionary spending cuts; make entitlement spending cuts (don't freak out, it is not what you are told by the fear-monger people); make 10 year budget plans; hammer waste and then hammer is some more; attack government fraud and abuse; erase duplicate programs across different agencies; eliminate obsolete, ineffective and chronically mismanaged programs; reform government bureaucracy; enact Congressional term limits; reign in the special interest spending and lobbying; eliminate corporate welfare; deal with economically damaging programs; freedom limiting programs; socially damaging programs; environmentally damaging programs; correct the size and scope of federal grants for all kinds of things; privatizing stand-alone businesses such as postal services and passenger rail services; privatizing infrastructure; tax reform!; budget process reforms; and so on and so on....

Mr. Edwards goes into specific examples of each category he brings up. He explains why he has his opinion and what he would do to fix a problem. If you want to see those details you will undoubtedly have to read the book, or at least the website.

I loved it.

14. The Freakshow

2012-01-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

The Freakshow - Bryan Smith

What possibilities this horror story would have...a bizarre freak show carnival from another dimension sets up shop near a different small town every few years. Everyone gets killed by the freaks and replaced by clones.

The potential is huge. Unfortunately it was not hit out of the park. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book full of horrible atrocities and nastiness, but it could have been much much more. I had such high hopes for this one. It was OK, but didn't go where I would have taken it if I was the author. It kept me interested. It was a real page turner. I just kept waiting for the huge "thing" that made me take a deep breath and say "Dude!" (or something like that.)

I am betting that the author actually wanted to write a lot more in this story but the editor and publisher told him to keep it around 300 pages (324). Many scenes could have been expanded and enhanced the story. To do that would have made the book into a 900 page Stephen Kingish sized horror novel. Is there a market for that these days? Probably not like there was in the 80's. That is a bummer because in my head there was so much more going on.

I hate to harp on that issue. I did have a blast reading this one. I will read more Bryan Smith.

13. Helen's Babies: With Some Account of Their Ways Innocent, Crafty, Angelic, Impish, Witching, and Repulsive, Also, a Partial Record of Their Actions During Ten Days of Their Existence.

2012-01-27T20:44:00.001-05:00

Helen's Babies: With Some Account of Their Ways Innocent, Crafty, Angelic, Impish, Witching, and Repulsive, Also, a Partial Record of Their Actions During Ten Days of Their Existence. - John Habberton

This is a humorous novel published originally in 1876. I like old books sometimes.

It is considered a children's book, but it along the lines of The Jungle Book, Peter Pan or Narnia. Definitely not a child's book as far as reading, but probably pretty entertaining for a child if it is read to them.

This one is about a man who lives in the city who gets a letter from his sister asking if he will spend a few weeks at their country home with her children while she goes on vacation with her husband.

He agrees. The children are five and three year old boys. They are feisty little buggers and get into a bunch of boy trouble. It is quite funny.

Oh, and the uncle falls in love with a country girl and moves to his own little plot and starts a whole new kind of life. Whatever.

It was fun reading this book and living in a different era for a while. The kids had a cart pulled by a goat. What fun that would have been growing up. Darn.

12. Monstrosity

2012-01-26T20:59:00.001-05:00

Monstrosity - Edward Lee

This book was a let down for me. I was hoping for the suspense of Flesh Gothic. I never got it. The ending was a dud. It had some cool parts, but when I read a horror novel I want to feel that spine chilling thing. It was nowhere near that.

I will read more Edward Lee, but I am left feeling short changed by this book.

(I went back and read my review of Flesh Gothic. I didn't like that book either. For the same reason. For some reason I remembered it differently. I guess I will not read more Edward Lee.)

11. Dubliners

2012-01-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

Dubliners - James Joyce

This is some awesome writing. It must be. The stories sure didn't keep me captivated. It was all about making the scene come to life reading this book. That is what kept me interested.

10. Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law In America

2012-01-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law In America - Herman Belz

Probably the dryest read I have ever finished.

9. Orange Crush

2012-01-17T20:30:00.000-05:00

Orange Crush - Tim Dorsey

This book has been on the active reading pile for about a month. I think I started it about that long ago anyway. It is finally finished. I am finally done wrapping up the unfinished business from 2011. :-)

This is a funny book full of humor and satire concerning politics in Florida. The Lt Gov of the state is a shoe in to become the next governor because he tows the party line. In fact...he IS the party line. he has lived it so long that he can't think any other way.

Then, by a fluke, he is sent with the Florida Army Guard to Bosnia. He gets involved in events that change his perspective. Well, it is more like it actually changes who the man is.

When he returns he is suddenly concerned about issues and justice and reform and all that stuff. Not just yakking, but actually doing it.

During the course of his campaign there are many hilarious events and numerous outstanding characters. It is a raucous good time and full of stereotypical political joking.

If I didn't have a to be read pile as high as my house I might go look for more from this author. I do have that pile, so, sorry Mr. Dorsey. Maybe some time in the future if I live a long time.

8. Play Ball: A Tribute to Our National Pastime

2012-01-17T16:08:00.001-05:00

Play Ball: A Tribute to Our National Pastime

This time of year is hard for me. I am a huge baseball fan and I really miss it in January. Football is OK, but it is winding down as the playoffs proceed. Hockey is ongoing, but it is not a huge deal in the south and is tough to follow here. Basketball, well, I don't like it or care about it at all. NASCAR is just beginning to show signs of life with the very first runs at Daytona. Even that is way too early to give it more than a passing glance.

So, I start looking toward baseball and hope that teams will start talking about the upcoming spring training. Who will be playing where? What are the expectations? But, alas, it is still too early. I miss my game.

I tried to give myself a baseball booster shot by listening to this audio book. Maybe it would help me get through these winter baseball doldrums. It failed to do what I hoped it would. I miss the game even more now that I ended up teasing myself. Can you say "backfire"?

The audio book was cool though. Some pretty famous voices read some of the classic baseball writings. Baseball is dramatic to begin with. These guys made it even more so.

Casey at the Bat was written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer and read by Len Cariou.
Jinxes and What They Mean to a Ball-Player was written by Christy Matthewson and read by Charley Steiner.
Shoeless Joe was written by W. P. Kinsella and read by Grover Gardner.
An excerpt from If I Had a Hammer was written and read by Hank Aaron.

These were just a couple of the classics on these discs. They stirred my emotions with stories of the game I love about the legends of that game.

Damn, I miss baseball.

7. The Enlightened Bracketologist: The Final Four of Everything

2012-01-16T13:12:00.000-05:00

The Enlightened Bracketologist: The Final Four of Everything - Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir

This book shows me the most awesome idea I have seen in a long time. What is your favorite movie? What is your favorite restaurant? What is your favorite anything? This book shows a way to reach a definitive, once-and-for-all answer to all of those questions.

"What is enlightenment?

Better question: What is Bracketology?

Bracketology is a way of seeing the world so that we can become more enlightened- about what we like, favor, prefer, abhor, or abjure. It is a system that helps us make clearer and cleaner decisions about what is good, better, best in our world."

"Bracketology- the practice of parsing people, places and things into discrete one-on-one match ups to determine which of the two is superior or preferable- works because it is simple."

I had this book on the counter when friends came over this weekend. We made some brackets to figure out "what sucks the most" just for fun. It really was fun going match up for match up and figuring out why a hangnail sucks more than running out of gas, or vice-versa. Between the tree of us we came up with different answers to what sucks the most. There winners were terrorists, cancer and the IRS freezing your bank accounts. The process of reaching those conclusions from the beginning 32 sucky things was a lot of fun.

Later I took that a step further knowing I was going to be blogging about this book. I created a single elimination bracket of 128 books I liked. What would be my favorite book when they are all pitted in head-to-head?

There were some very tough decisions along the way. There were also some no brainers. It is easy to say "Slaughterhouse 5" beats "Logan's Run". It is not so easy when "The Great Gatsby" and "Into The Wild" meet in the sweet 16. That was one of the hardest decisions. I went with "Into The Wild" after much thought. I still wrestle with that one.

"Darkness At Noon" beat out "Shutter Island" then lost the next round to "The Kite Runner", which in turn lost in the following round to "Lolita". Any one of those four is an outstanding book. It stinks to have to eliminate any of them at all, but something had to win.

I had fun doing this bracket. The overall winner? For me, at this time, it was "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I have no regrets in that book winning. It was great. Along the way it took down two outstanding books about Vietnam. "The Short-Timers" and "The Things They Carried". Both amazing books in themselves.

I am including a copy of this bracket below for your perusal. I am sure yours would be different. Go for it. I would love to see what happens with others doing the same.

You can get your own brackets here? http://www.printyourbrackets.com/

6. The Claims Of Christ

2012-01-16T12:37:00.000-05:00

The Claims Of Christ - Chuck Smith

This was a little book about what Jesus Christ actually claimed to be in the pages of the bible. It eliminates all the extra stuff that people say and just used the words Jesus spoke. "I am....." That kind of thing.

Then Pastor Chuck explains how those claims affect our world and how we live.

Awesomeness in a little tiny package.

5. The Idiot

2012-01-10T20:58:00.000-05:00

The Idiot - John Kendrick Bangs

This was first published in 1895 and was the first in a series of "Idiot" books.

This entire book was conversations between a group of friends who lived in a boarding house and would have discussions over breakfast. The dialog was captivating and fun. I loved the way the book flowed despite jumping around.

The characters included a lawyer, a doctor, a priest, a teacher, a librarian, and a man who worked as a clerk that later became business partners with the owner...that they called "the idiot". I am unsure why they called him the idiot. The man definitely was not ignorant or stupid. Maybe unorthodox or unconventional, but not dumb. Maybe he was an idiot because he did not have a title to identify himself with?

Anyway, I found the conversations fascinating. I also found it interesting that the men would enjoy these conversations so much despite all the disagreement and verbal abuse they heaped upon each other. It kept me engaged, and that is all I ask from a book most of the time.

4. Liberty And Property

2012-01-08T23:13:00.001-05:00

Liberty And Property - Ludwig von Mises

Austrian economics and capitalism duke it out with socialism and statism. I loved this book! This was originally a lecture given by von Mises in October 1958 at Princeton University. Some adjustments of thought must be made in that socialism has progressed far beyond the Soviet model, but it is essentially the same principles as far as economics are concerned.

Some parts I found very interesting:

"...the liquidation of all dissenters is the condition that will bring us what the communists call freedom."

"The admirers of the Soviet system tell us again and again that freedom is not the supreme good. It is "not worth having," if it implies poverty. To sacrifice it in order to attain wealth for the masses, is in their eyes fully justified. But for a few unruly individualsists who cannot adjust themselves to the ways of regular fellows, all people in Russia are perfectly happy. We may leave it undecided whether this happiness was also shared by the millions of Ukrainian peasants who died from starvation, by the inmates of the forced labor camps, and by the Marxian leaders who were purged. But we cannot pass over the fact that the standard of living was incomparably higher in the free countries of the West than the communist East.. In giving away liberty as the price to be paid for the acquisition of prosperity, the Russians made a poor bargain. They now have neither the one nor the other."

"As far as individuals have the opportunity to choose, they are free; if they are forced by violence or threat of violence to surrender to the terms of an exchange, no matter how they feel about it, they lack freedom."

"As regards the social apparatus of repression and coercion, the government, there cannot be any question of freedom. Government is essentially the negation of liberty. It is the recourse to violence or threat of violence in order to make all people obey the orders of the government, whether they like it or not. As far as the government's jurisdiction extends, there is coercion, not freedom. Government is a necessary institution, the means to make a social system of cooperation work smoothly without being disturbed by violent acts on the part of gangsters whether of domestic or of foreign origin. Government is not, as some people say, a necessary evil; it is not an evil, but a means, the only means available to make peaceful human coexistance possible. But it is the opposite of liberty. It is beating, imprisoning, hanging. Whatever a government does it is ultimately supported by the actions of armed constables. If the government operates a school or a hospital, the funds required are collected as taxes, i.e., by payments exacted from the citizens...we may call government the most beneficial human institution. But the fact remains that government is repression not freedom."

"The socialists must admit there cannot be any freedom under a socialist system. But they try to obliterate the difference between the servile state and economic freedom by denying that there is any freedom in the mutual exchange of commodities and services on the market. Every market exchange is, in the words of a school of pro-socialist lawyers, “a coercion over other people’s liberty.” There is, in their eyes, no difference worth mentioning between a man’s paying a tax or a fine imposed by a magistrate, or his buying a newspaper or admission to a movie. In each of these cases the man is subject to governing power. He’s not free, for, as professor Hale says, a man’s freedom means “the absence of any obstacle to his use of material goods.” This means: I am not free, because a woman who has knitted a sweater, perhaps as a birthday present for her husband, puts an obstacle to my using it. I myself am restricting all other people’s freedom because I object to their using my toothbrush. In doing this I am, according to this doctrine, exercising private governing power, which is analogous to public government power, the powers that the government exercises in imprisoning a man in Sing Sing.

Those expounding this amazing doctrine consistently conclude that liberty is nowhere to be found. They assert that what they call economic pressures do not essentially differ from the pressures the masters practice with regard to their slaves. They reject what they call private governmental power, but they don’t object to the restriction of liberty by public government power. They want to concentrate all what they call restrictions of liberty in the hands of the government. They attack the institution of private property and the laws that, as they say, stand “ready to enforce property rights—that is, to deny liberty to anyone to act in a way which violates them.”"

"The self‑styled champions of the common man are still guided by the obsolete idea that a policy that favors the debtors at the expense of the creditors is very beneficial to the majority of the people. Their inability to comprehend the essential characteristics itself also in their failure to see the obvious fact that those whom they feign to aid are creditors in their capacity as savers, policy holders, and owners of bonds"

Kindle

2012-01-06T15:35:00.000-05:00

A friend gave me a Kindle Keyboard with wifi. They got a new Kindle Fire. Now I have another way to read a bunch of stuff that I could not find in a print format. I had many on the computer, but there was never time to sit in front of a monitor and read...now I can carry the little thing with me sometimes.

NO...IT WILL NOT REPLACE PRINT! I love the feel and smell or a real book.

Sometimes though, I can't find printed versions. So, now I can read them anyway. :-)

3. How To Talk To A Liberal (If You Must)

2012-01-05T16:29:00.001-05:00

How To Talk To A Liberal (If You Must): The World According To Ann Coulter - Ann Coulter

I started reading this book quite some time ago. I would read a chapter and do something else. I would pick it up again and read a little every few days. That means it took longer than normal to actually finish this book, but it is finally complete.

The book itself and the specific subjects discussed are dated. This book was published in 2004, before the second Bush election.

What I find with Ms. Coulter is that I agree with what she has to say, but I do not think her method of delivery is going to do anything but make liberals mad and get a select group of conservatives as cheerleaders. I am sure that is the purpose. Maybe she started out hoping to change some minds, but I don't see it working using the tactics she employs.

Who else is in this category? Limbaugh. Matthews. Hannity. Colbert. Beck. Maher. Krugman. Savage. Olbermann. There are so many. Yap yap yap...and the only people listening are the ones that already agree. Ya'll keep on yapping. At least you are worth a chuckle here and there.

2. The Thing In The Attic

2012-01-04T17:15:00.000-05:00

The Thing In The Attic - James Blish

Another 1950s science fiction novel. Here is the plot description I read about it:

"The Thing in the Attic depicts a very successful seeding project. It tells the story of a small group of intellectuals from a primitive culture of modified monkey-like humans living in the trees of their jungle world. Having openly voiced the opinion that the godly giants do not literally exist as put down in the book of laws, they are banished from the treetops for heresy. In their exile on the ground they have to adapt to vastly different circumstances, fight monsters resembling dinosaurs, and finally happen upon the godly giants — who turn out to be human scientists who have just arrived on the world to monitor the progress of the local adapted humans. The protagonists are told by the scientists that their whole race must eventually leave the treetops to conquer their world and that they have become pioneers of some sort for accomplishing survival."

That is exactly what happened. A quick little read that is full of adventure and danger. Fun again.

1. Warlord Of Kor

2012-01-03T20:43:00.000-05:00

Warlord Of Kor - Terry Carr

Humans travel to a distant planet and explore the primitive civilization. Interesting Sci-Fi published in 1963. Nothing special, but it was fun.

Welcome to 2012.

87. The Vig

2011-12-28T17:37:00.000-05:00

The Vig - John Lescroart

Good cops...bad cops...ex-cons gone straight...mafioso on the take...hot girls wanting to be famous...insurance money...understanding ex-wives...bartender buddies that should have an honorary psych degree...not so perfect goons and hitmen...whoopee!

It was OK. More of the same. No thrill. Just another story. Predictable. Even the best plans are doomed to overlook some minute detail that will unravel the entire plan in very convenient ways. Whatever.

86. Whitewash

2011-12-16T16:33:00.001-05:00

Whitewash - Alex Kava

Eh. This was just your average every day run of the mill nothing special but it was entertaining.

The part I found most fascinating was the very idea that organic materials left over from processing plants (chicken heads, etc.) could be turned into oil by accelerating the supposed process by which oil is created naturally. Imagine the potential.

The part I found ridiculous is that they could do the same with hurricane debris (lumber, plastics, metals, etc.).

So, what it came to was that the company producing this new oil was having to pay for the chicken heads and stuff because fertilizer companies wanted that same stuff. There was cost involved. On the other hand, due to numerous hurricanes, the government was paying 50 dollars per ton for someone to haul stuff away. So, the corporation that spent billions on inventing and building this plant and making it work so that the country, and the world, would not be dependent on Middle East oil fields, was suddenly so short minded that they took shortcuts that they knew would put dioxins into a river...just to save a dollar short term.

I think that is ridiculous. A corporation invested billions. Now the author wants us to believe they would not refine the process for what they said would be two more years in order to recycle the debris waste safely? That is insane! No corporation is going to risk billions in order to save a few hundred thousand. Especially when they were just about to be awarded a contract that gave them exclusive rights to supplying the Department of Defense.

They threw away a future. They discarded an awesome invention and MASSIVE profit potential in order to save a dollar right now? Totally ridiculous.

Other than that, it was not bad, except that maybe there were too many characters and different story lines that just happened to all coincide in the end and make a nice neat little package. Yeah yeah yeah.

85. Crisis

2011-12-06T21:34:00.000-05:00

Crisis - Robin Cook

A medical thriller that I listened to making trip to and from work. It kept me interested, but was less than thrilling. I had a suspicion that the cause of death would be from the pills given by the doctor. It sucks when I figure it out so early.

What really bugs me is that the doc had some guys come in and rough up his own kids in their home. What a douche!

84. Bus Stop

2011-12-05T21:19:00.001-05:00

Bus Stop - William Inge

This is a play. I discovered it in an advertisement at the back of the book Rally Round The Flag, Boys! and decided to give it a try. It was written in 1955 and is supposed to be a comedy. I did not find it all that funny. It was also supposed to be a "romance". I did not find it romantic either.

I bus driving through Kansas makes a scheduled stop at a diner only to discover the road ahead is closed due to a winter storm. The play is the interactions between the passengers and the diner workers...oh, and a sheriff.

It was OK, but not funny and definitely dated.

I don't read plays much. The stage direction stuff was disruptive to me. I don't know what all the codes mean and therefore it took away from the flow of the story as I tried to visualize what was happening. I may have enjoyed it more if I knew what all those abbreviations meant. Bah!

83. The Land That Time Forgot

2011-12-05T21:08:00.001-05:00

The Land That Time Forgot - Edgar Rice Burroughs

I loved this book. It mixed modern technology (kind of) with the world of dinosaurs and cavemen. What a riot.

The book was published around 1916. A World War I German U-Boat (submarine) ends up in a fantastical world somewhere in the South Pacific where time has stood still.

It is a fantastic read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I listened to this one on my MP3 player during a recent road trip. It passed the time and kept me awake and alert while driving. Much better than listening to crappy music on the radio. :-)

82. The Machine Stops

2011-12-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

The Machine Stops - E. M. Forster

This was an excellent little science fiction novel first published in 1909. What a crazy world.

People no longer live on the Earths surface. They live in isolated "cells" beneath the surface. They stay within these cells all the time and communicate with each other and interact with the rest of the world through a world-wide network that supplies all their needs. This network is called "The Machine".

Travel is permitted, but is very rare. Usually it is only used to fill vacant cells when people die. But, Vashti (an older woman) gets a call on the machine from Kuno (her son) asking her to make the two day journey to visit him because something magnificent is about to happen. After much convincing she agrees and travels by airship to Kuno's home on the other side of the planet.

During the trip Vashti is forced to actually interact with other people without using the machine. That whole sequence of events is quite interesting.

She arrives at Kuno's place to find that he is some kind of rebel now. He leaves his cell and has visited the surface without permission or authorization from the machine. Vashti is angry that Kuno would go against the machine in this way. Kuno insists that the machine is breaking down and that the world needs to prepare. Vashti calls him a lunatic and returns to her own home/cell.

Needless to say, Kuno is correct. The machine slowly breaks down until there is nothing. No lights. No food. No air circulation. No communication. Vashti must once again open her cell and sees that the outside world has gone crazy. People are dying all around her. Kuno comes to try and save her.

What they realize before they all die is that man must be connected to the natural world.

It sounds stupid, but it is a pretty darned good story.

81. Hostile Fire

2011-11-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

Hostile Fire - Dick Stivers

Utterly unbelievable, but it sure was fun.

The Vietnam War is over. The troops are all home. That doesn't mean they are "over it". This book uses the PTSD and life changing events for many soldiers as a part of the story line.

The Vietnamese refugees are now settled in America. The section of Los Angeles where many settled is now called "Gook Town". There are constant references to the smells and cultural icons that bring soldiers right back to the war.

Anyway, it just so happens that there is a "friendly" General who is pretty important in the community in LA. Trouble is he is now seeking fortune at all costs. He is a staunch anti-communist, but only until the communists can make him money. So, some renegade CIA agents from "back in the shit", the communists and General Trang start smuggling heroine into the good ole USA. Uh ohhhhh.

Since the CIA is involved the Presidents hands are tied (bullshit) so he calls in an elite team of war veterans (Able Team) to do something about the problem (bullshit). They find out that there is another person involved and spearheading the operation. The "White Bitch" (aptly named because she always wears white...representing death in Vietnamese culture.) is a female NVA operative that has tortured and killed numerous POWs in Hanoi. Now she is in LA.

Able Team busts up the drug ring and pisses this killer lady off, but she does get to torture a girl who informed the cops of the pending drug drop. It was pretty nasty. So, she and the rich General run to a secret hideout they built in Oregon that is built just like the tunnels in Vietnam. They also have a bunch of NVA regular forces with them. Now the war is NOT over. It is on our soil. The NVA are taking the war to America.

Able Team is only three guys and an LA policeman who is helping them out on the case. They need more troops to fight this "war", but the government must be able to maintain deniability and all that crap. So, they start recruiting all the guys the "White Bitch" tortured. They have all these dudes come promising them a shot at revenge...if they live.

So, there is a big battle in the Oregon woods...the good guys win...the bad guys die...the girl gets saved...lots of old wounds are healed...lots of super-heroic efforts always succeed...blah blah.

Outrageous!...but fun.

80. The Book Of Fate

2011-11-23T20:36:00.000-05:00

The Book Of Fate - Brad Meltzer

This was a pretty decent suspense thriller. Nothing magical.
The character of Wes Holloway was a big time sissy pants.

The title of the book is stupid. There is no "book of fate". It is some crap the crazy killer dude uses as reasoning for all kinds of things that happen to people.

The use of the Masonic symbols would lead one to believe that there was much more to that being tied into the plot than there really is. Once again, it is all tied in through the mental gymnastics of the lunatic character.

Still, it is an exciting book and would make a pretty decent movie. They may have to do some editing of the part where Lisbeth is getting whooped on by the bad secret service dude. That was not very nice.

The CIA guy seemed kind of clueless and had a lack of intuition at times. I would not think he would be in the position he supposedly held if he was nowhere near as bright as even Wes' lawyer friend.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

79. Rally Round The Flag, Boys!

2011-11-20T15:06:00.000-05:00

Rally Round The Flag, Boys! - Max Shulman

I found this humorous book printed in 1958 and it jumped to the top of the to-be-read stack.

I enjoyed every minute of it. It was a different time. The same book written today could never be pulled off and still be funny.

Imagine it is 1958. We are in a small Connecticut coastal town where the old blue blood Yankee Mayflower descendants and the professional New York City commuters live in the same community, but they are pitted against each other at town meetings for control of everything. The commuters are all lawyers, accountants and Broadway moguls. Now throw in a plan to build a US Army Nike missile base that will defend Bridgeport airspace in that town.

Some of the funniest parts were discussions about how to protect their daughters from the incoming Army soldiers. It was hilarious.

78. God's Politics

2011-11-14T14:53:00.000-05:00

God's Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It

"Since when did believing in God and having moral values make you pro-war, pro-rich, and solely pro-Republican? And since when did promoting and pursuing a progressive social agenda with a concern for economic security, health care, and educational opportunity mean you had to put faith in God aside?

God's Politics offers a clarion call to make both our religious communities and our government more accountable to key values of the prophetic religious tradition -- that is, make them pro-justice, pro-peace, pro-environment, pro-equality, and pro-family (without making scapegoats of single mothers or gays). Our biblical faith and religious traditions simply do not allow us as a nation to continue to ignore the poor and marginalized, deny racial justice, tolerate the ravages of war, or turn away from the human rights of those made in the image of God. These are the values of love and justice, reconciliation, and community that Jesus taught and that are at the core of what many of us believe, Christian or not. Jim Wallis inspires us to hold our political leaders and policies accountable by integrating our deepest moral convictions into our nation's public life."

The author of this book is self-proclaimed as a "progressive" and "prophetic". He discusses many subjects in this book that make total sense. He also falls into many stereotypical fallacies that perpetuate the rhetoric that makes the left-right divide deeper with every passing election.

This book was written after the 2004 Presidential election. Bush just defeated John Kerry. Needless to say, the author was definitely not a Bush fan. This book is a Bush basher from the very start. It bashes him for wars, for neglecting the poor, for trying to kill women, etc etc. Don't get me wrong, I am not a Bush fan. I voted for Kerry in the 2004 election. I just think that the piling on from all leftist fronts was ridiculous, just as the righties did to Clinton in the 90s.

So, despite my agreeing with some of Mr Wallis' suggestions and on how to find bipartisan common ground, I think this book is just a tool. I think Mr. Wallis is a tool. I think both fall into the "useful idiot" category.

Why do I think that? In a 2004 context I would be able to buy into his arguments. In a 2011 context we have seen much more from the "progressives". 2008 was a game changer. The 111th Congress and the Obama administration could have pursed any course of action they wished. They could have checked all the boxes on the progressive wish list. They could have been the progressive fairy godmother. But, they chose not to even address many of the issues discussed by Mr. Wallis in this book. Poverty, racism, and a long list of those holy grail leftist issues could have been addressed...but they were ignored. They were not truly the goals of progressives despite all the smoke blowing rhetoric they love to spew about being so caring. It was and continues to be lies...just like the right is lying.

Next thing...if Mr. Wallis is looking to include faith into the political conversation coming from the left...as he says numerous times (prophetic politics)...then why is the left making efforts at every possible opportunity to eliminate all references to religion, faith, or God from anything public? This contradiction is blatant. Don't tell me. Show me! The progressives do show me, despite what this book is touting as truth.

The next issue...Mr. Wallis likes to say things like the right-GOP-conservatives (whatever) do not care about the poor. I hear this kind of BS a lot. It is stupid. The reason they say this is because the right does not support government programs to care for every aspect of people's lives. That does not mean they want to starve everyones grandmothers. Government is not the solution to everything. Especially when this book is trying to say that Jesus himself would want us to make government programs that care for everyone...and we should do that by following a party of progressives that are openly hostile toward Jesus? Do what Jesus would do, but don't do it BECAUSE Jesus would do it? Do it because it is right, but don't give God the glory...or even a mention. That makes no sense and is nothing more than manipulation.

So, for those reasons, despite my agreement with some of the writer's goals, I think this book SUCKED. It is just more political pandering and manipulation from a different angle. I would not have known that in 2005. Today it is glaringly obvious. Have a nice day.

77. The Resolution For Men

2011-11-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

The Resolution For men - Stephen Kendrick

If you want to know what this book was about you should see the movie "Courageous". This is a companion to that movie.

If you want to know what it meant to me personally while reading, well, you will have to be ready for a long and meaningful discussion. There is no way to blog about such stuff. Not for me anyway.

76. Infected

2011-11-12T21:02:00.000-05:00

Infected - Scott Sigler

Extra-terrestrial parasites grow in human hosts until they hatch to build a portal to bring millions of aliens to Earth for some unknown reason.

The graphic descriptions of the parasitic growth, the crime scenes of the "victims", and the war waged within the body of one "Scary" Perry Dawsey, ex-football linebacker superstar, are outstanding.

I really enjoyed this one and will be looking for the sequel to finish the story.

75. The Ethical Engineer

2011-11-12T20:43:00.000-05:00

The Ethical Engineer - Harry Harrison

Another old sci-fi novel.

As a science fiction book it was pretty good. A couple of space travelers end up stranded on a primitive planet. These guys are light years ahead of the natives as far as knowledge and scientific discoveries go.

The two progress through parts of the primitive civilization beginning with a slave camp that forages for food all day, to a group that inefficiently pumps crude oil from the ground, to a group that is capable of manufacturing very basic steam engines, to a group is capable of generating electricity and using radio communication in Morse code. Eventually they are rescued by the spacemen in orbit awaiting their signal.

Anyway...that was all interesting and a good story.

The problem for me with this book is it wasn't just a science fiction story. It was a propaganda piece. It was riddled with moral relativism being far superior in every possible way to Judeo-Christian morality. The "ethical" engineer was constantly pointing out how different situations called for different actions. The other guy with him had morals based in his religious faith.

First of all...the religious moralist was WAY over the top. Nobody goes as far as this guy. The author took some serious liberties with this character to make his case against faith based morality.

Second...the moral relativist was always shown to be absolutely right in every single instance...but he really wasn't. That was ignored in the book. For instance...he has always said that we are innocent until proven guilty. We, as human beings, should not condemn others for their actions until we understand the entire situation. But, he himself justifies his condemnation of a man based on his own perceptions of what is right and correct within that man's own society. He says that since the dude could be expected to kill because that is what his culture would normally do then he is justified in preemptively killing the man himself. So, what was his proof that the man would be expected to kill? He asked a third party what they thought the man might do...they said he might kill...therefore he is guilty! That is total crap and can be used in a thousand other situations where someone wishes to make their own actions "morally relevant".

One line I did like very much. The two space travelers, Micah and Jason, are arguing about what to do in their current situation. They have become slaves. Micah yells "Live free or die!", or something to that effect. He is prepared to go fight the slave master for his freedom right away. Jason tells him to "shut up!" He says they should wait. They should be slaves until they can make a plan to escape or kill the slave master. He says it is "better to be alive-free than dead-free!" That made a ton of sense and I agree. I liked the quote, but once again, it was an example of the moral Micah taking a ridiculous false position based on morality so Jason could argue it into stupidity.

The book was good if you can look past all the moral relativist argument garbage.

74. Why We Suck

2011-11-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid - Dr. Denis Leary

What a pissa! This dude cracks me up.

This book reminds me of conversations with Billy and Brian Skidmore or many other friends from Long Island.

It is what it is.

73. Long Time Leaving

2011-11-07T13:53:00.000-05:00

Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From Up South - Roy Blount Jr.

A liberal southern democrat who has lived in Massachusetts and New York compares where he came from with where he is. It is kind of funny at times. It rambles on and on at others.

I loved the comparisons of people's viewpoints and ways of life.

Blount lost me about half way through when he started these long dialogue discussions between William Faulkner, Shakespeare and Mark Twain. He didn't get me back when he spoke of Ray Charles or other singers. I totally lost interest for that whole section of the book. It was probably about half.

But, overall he had me chuckling.

I have heard Roy Blount Jr somewhere before. I did this one on audio and read by the author. I know that voice. I wonder from where.

72. L.A. Outlaws

2011-11-02T14:57:00.000-04:00

L.A. Outlaws - T. Jefferson Parker

This is a fun crime novel. Exciting and action packed. An LA County Sheriff with unwavering integrity. A beautiful dark and mysterious modern day Robin Hood type outlaw running around LA. She just happens to really be an award winning history teacher in the LA Unified school district, a single mom, and the last person anyone would suspect...except of course the super duper copper.

The book is no big thrill. The bad guys are bad. There are crooked cops to help them be even badder. There are ties to MS13 which gives things a more vicious feel. The "real" bad guy likes to hack people up with a machete that shoots shotgun shells. Yeah, whatever.

One of the best parts of this book was the cars. Allison Murietta, the "outlaw" bad ass, just happens to love boosting awesome rides. She not only steals them, but is a real car enthusiast. I liked some of her descriptions of the cars.

The ending was terrible. Talk about the worlds longest feel-good do-good wrap up. Everything ended happily. The cops relationship with his dad. The cops traumatic experiences from his Iraq war experiences. The family history. The kids are all cared for. blah blah blah blah... come on... and the option for a sequel was left glaringly open.

Like I said, it is just another crime story. In fact, there is probably nothing new here at all. I still enjoyed it. It required no thought at all. That was nice for a change.

Armageddon's Children

2011-10-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

Armageddon's Children: Genesis of Shannara - Terry Brooks

I hate this book. I hate it so much I can't continue. I made it about a third of the way in and just can't go on. I usually like dystopian stuff. This fits that category in some way. It is a future world that has fallen apart. I like that part. It is all the other junk that makes me want to puke.

For instance...what future world that has cars, flying machines, guns and all kinds of cool gadgets...yet also has magical staffs that can put up a force field type shield that makes you bulletproof? Stupid!

The mixture of future technologies, old world mysticism and native American earth worshipping naturalist crap made me want to puke.

If you ever need to find the direction you need to travel throw these human finger bones on the ground. All five will point to your destiny every time you need them to show the way...blah blah. Hate it!

71. 7: The Mickey Mantle Novel

2011-10-24T20:49:00.000-04:00

7: The Mickey Mantle Novel - Peter Golenbock

Here is a fictional novel about Mickey Mantle doing a tell all about himself from heaven. It is written by a man who actually knew Mickey, and Billy Martin, and Joe Pepitone, and Jim Bouton, and Whitey Ford, and Roger Maris, and so many other real life ball players from the Yankees heyday as well as their families and friends. Golenbock wrote this book as if Mantle say down with a sports reporter from back in the day and was discussing his entire life to "set the record straight" without hiding anything. The truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth.

OK. Mantle was great. He was also an alcoholic. He was also famous for his infidelities. We know all that. This book expanded on those stories in ways that could have been left unsaid forever.

I loved loved loved the parts where Mantle was discussing the baseball seasons or interactions with different managers or relationships with other players on and off the field. I especially liked the Casey Stengel stories. The baseball was great. At the same time the story definitely showed how the alcohol and crazy life were affecting Mantle on the field. What could the man have done if he didn't do all the silly junk he was known for. What could he have been if he did not get injured so much?...which alcohol had a lot to do with in some ways.

But, when Mickey was discussing all his affairs and sexual encounters there was much more than was needed. It bordered on stupid. Some of the stories were funny and all, but it was taken too far. We get it. He had a problem. So did Billy Martin. Also, no secret.

Why write this book when you were "friends" with the guys? I think it is totally in response to another book that was written. Jim Bouton wrote Ball Four, in which he revealed some secrets about the late great Yankee players. I think that made Golenbock mad...and since he needed to make a few bucks he could write a book that revealed even more...fictitiously...and bust Bouton's chops a lot while doing it. I think that is what this book is all about.

It was OK, but if you want to learn anything about Mantle this is not the place to look.

70. Jeremiah: Terrorist Prophet

2011-10-23T08:42:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah: Terrorist Prophet - Michael A. Smith

This was a fast paced thriller about a terrorist disguised as a prophet of God who wants to break America apart into separate countries based on cultural factors such as race and religion. One of those areas just happens to be the north west USA. It is to be named New America, will be a theocracy, and will be run by God's appointed superhero, none other than Jeremiah himself.

Jeremiah is part of a decades old plot set up by his mega-rich German uncle. Following each act of terrorism Jeremiah reveals a new chapter of the Book of Second Jeremiah as revealed to him by God. This is the book that shall be added to the end of the bible according to Jeremiah.

He murders a guy who is a rapist and killer. He murders two boys who have been a blight on society all through their teen years. He poisons the water supply to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. He blows up the New York Stock Exchange. He threatens the use of biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction...and the race is on to catch the bad guy.

While all this is happening he uses a national news television program to get his message out to the masses. Of course, the masses, being crazy fundamentalist Christians looking for any "message from God" they can follow blindly and fanatically, no matter how absurd, insane, or non-biblical it is, they all join in and Jeremiah starts a movement. Yeah, right.

Then the heroic government agents and "enlightened few" (I swear, they used those exact words.) prove that Jeremiah is actually a kid from Minnesota who supposedly died on a ski trip to Europe, has been plotting and planning for years, is associated with all kinds of known terrorist, separatist, and fundamentalist extremest groups, and is blowing smoke up everyones booty.

So, Jeremiah has two nuclear weapons he plans to use to bribe Washington into giving up about a third of it's territory, abandoning military assets in place, and peacefully relinquishing the reigns to him. Sure. That is gonna happen. Oh, it doesn't.

But...Jeremiah gets away (again and again and again, ugh)...and the end of the book is him revealing himself to someone as they begin establishing their "nation" from within...for the sequel...in the trilogy...which I will pass on.

The book was fun and exciting and a real page turner. It was also predictable and full of me guessing correctly about where the author would go next. I enjoyed the read, but there was nothing challenging.

One paragraph I really did enjoy was when the FBI agent was explaining how Jeremiah was able to get such a following to the President's chief-of-staff. Superhero Steve said
"I see a melting pot that no longer makes stew. It has quit boiling and the ingredients are starting to separate out. Not only have we given up on integrating people of different colors, cultures, and religious backgrounds, but we've got thousands of groups that have circled their philosophical wagons around some central belief, whether it's religion, abortions, guns, sexual orientation, whatever, and they don't want anything to do with anyone who believes differently."

Yup.

69. The Iron Heel

2011-10-17T18:11:00.001-04:00

The Iron Heel - Jack London

Before 1984. Before A Brave New World. Before We. There was The Iron Heel. A dystopian novel with a different dystopia than normal. This one covers an America run by an oligarchic tyranny.

It is possible to completely disagree with the premise being promoted by a book and still be in awe of the novel itself. Jack London has written a masterpiece of political dialogue in this dystopian novel.

The book itself is written as if a narrator is reading an ancient manuscript (The Everhard Manuscript written by Avis Everhard) that is a first-person account of the rise of the Socialist movement against the Oligarchy that is running the capitalist America. The manuscript is discovered hidden in a tree and explains so much of what was unknown about that time hundreds of years earlier.

There are also numerous notes within the book that explain the results of actions and expand on subjects touched on in the manuscript. The novel explains more than the author of the manuscript could possibly have known. It was an interesting way to read a story.

The first half of the book is a series of extended conversations between middle class businessmen - clergy members and a working class Socialist with a gift for debate and leadership.

The second half of the book is what happens after they have these numerous discussions about what could and may happen politically. Of course, all the Socialist predictions of enslavement of the workers and abuses from the capitalists came true and caused lots and lots of problems.

This book was like reading current events in 1905. It was all real world stuff...and then it branched off into the future and became dystopian. Being that I am now reading it over 100 years later it is hard to consider it actually dystopian without placing myself back in time. It also feels a lot like an alternative history. Of course, it was not intended that way at all. It feels that way because the book survived so long and is still relevant enough to make sense.

What I found most interesting is that despite my disagreement with London's philosophy and the protagonist's (Ernest Everhard) ranting against capitalism...it was awesome. I loved reading it. I loved cheering for the little guy. I could feel the tension in the rooms as Ernest debated with clergy or with upper middle class businessmen. The dialog in this book was some of the best I have ever read.

The one problem I had with the dialog though was that it was one sided. Earnest would go on and on about the benefits of Socialist society and then the opponents in debates would always stutter or fall into his linguistic traps. They never had real counter-points. It was always a point they would make to lead into Ernest's next rant...but ohhh, how fun those rants were. Really.

That is a credit to an outstanding writer. He took a subject that would normally have me throwing up a little in my mouth, used numerous convenient events (like Shaggy and Scooby always stumbled upon a clue), and still made me love the characters and the book itself.

READ IT! You must.

I did this one as a audio book. I downloaded it for free. The man who read it (Matt Soar) did an outstanding job. I am sure I liked the book more because it was in this format. The long debates would have probably worn me down in a printed version. I suggest you download the MP3 for this novel and listen to it. It fit on 8 CDs (normal CD audio) and played in the car as I drove everywhere.
You can get it here: The Iron Heel by Jack London

Oh, I forgot...in some ways it reminded me a lot of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.

68. Are Women Human?

2011-10-12T17:24:00.000-04:00

Are Women Human? - Dorothy L. Sayers

Like the front cover says, this is a book of: "Penetrating, sensible, and witty essays on the role of women in society". It really was outstanding.

This book is about the rights of women. The essays contained in the book were written in the 1930s. It was a very different world then. It is not about being pro-feminism. It is about the rights of women as human beings. Human beings with exactly the same rights as every other human being, male or female. Ms. Sayers uses common sense to reach her conclusions. She also says a number of times that she does not agree with "aggressive feminism" as a tactic. She thinks the humanization of women is what we should pursue. I love her approach.

She breaks down the fight for women's rights in a way I have not seen before. She fights for the individual. "What is repugnant to every human being is to be reckoned always as a member of a class and not as an individual person"

When discussing why women should be allowed to attend classical universities like Oxford and the resistance she encountered in her own education, she says:

"...the cry went up at once: "Why would women want to know about Aristotle?" The answer is NOT that all women would be the better knowing about Aristotle...but simply: "What women want as a class is irrelevant. I want to know about Aristotle."

Later she discusses another little inequality:

"We are asked: "Why do you want to go around in trousers? They are extremely unbecoming to most of you. You only do it to copy the men." To this we may very properly reply "It is true that they are unbecoming. Even on men they are remarkably unattractive. But, as you men have discovered for yourselves, they are comfortable, they do not get in the way of one's activities like skirts and they protect the wearer from draughts about the ankles. As a human being, I like comfort and dislike draughts. If trousers do not attract you, so much the worse; for the moment I do not want to attract you. I want to enjoy myself as a human being."

And then later she is discussing women in the workplace and how the response is usually that a woman's place, and work, are in the home. She says:

"Let us accept the idea that women should stick to their own jobs- the jobs they did so well in the good old days before they started talking about votes and women's rights. Let us return to the middle ages...It is a formidable list of jobs: the whole of the spinning industry, the whole of the dyeing industry, the whole of the weaving industry. The whole catering industry...the whole of the nation's brewing and distilling. All the preserving, pickling and bolling industry, all the bacon-curing. And (since in those days a man was often absent from the home for months together on war or business) a very large share in the management of landed estates. Here are the women's jobs- and what has become of them? They are all being handled by men. It is all very well to say that a woman's place is in the home- but modern civilization has taken all these pleasant and profitable activities out of the home, where the women looked after them, and handed them over to big industry, to be directed and organized by men at the head of large factories. Even the dairy maid in her simple bonnet has been replaced by a male mechanic in charge of a mechanical milking plant."

She goes on to say that the new way is much more efficient and makes a better product, but that there is no "work" left like it used to be. That, and that the home is now much smaller than the castles and plantations of the past.

Dorothy L. Sayers

67. The Dueling Machine

2011-10-12T16:39:00.000-04:00

The Dueling Machine - Ben Bova

This is another fun science fiction novel that I have wanted to read for quite some time and finally got around to it.

This one is about inter-planetary and societal conflicts being settled using the dueling machine. It is essentially a virtual reality machine that two people enter and fight it out in a "world" of their own making. The duels are used to settle everything from legal problems to treaties between planets.

That is great, though I am still not sure how being a better fighter in any arena makes one more correct than another, but it sure is fun to make a story about such a scheme.

The dueling machine works fabulously until people start getting killed...for real. One faction is using the machine to kill members of another faction so they can take over politically and avoid an actual military assault.

Luckily the super mega ultra hyper genius that invented the machine comes to the rescue. He figures out that the bad guy is a telepathic and the machine is enhancing his abilities and allowing him to bring others into the battle to assist him. All his opponents are so shocked at this ploy that they have strokes and heart attacks and generally faint dead away like fragile 19th century women. Wimps!

It all gets figures out and the good guys use the same tactic against him, but they bring really good fighters and kick hell out of the bad guys in virtual reality and win the duel. Once the duel fails to kill someone the entire evil genius plan falls apart and they retreat back to their galactic hideout to fight another day.

OK, so I described the story in comic book super hero terms. That doesn't mean it was stupid like that. It really was a good book, a fun quick read, and something that didn't take a lot of thought to stay involved or entertained.

66. Hot Rod

2011-10-11T09:10:00.001-04:00

Hot Rod - Henry Gregor Felsen

What an awesome find from a thrift store bookshelf. This book was originally published in 1950. My copy was from 1963. I picked it up for a quarter. You can't lose for only a quarter.

I have been using PaperBackSwap.com a lot to trade books I have for other books I want. I would recommend that site to anyone looking for something they are having trouble finding. Anyway, I added this book to my To Be Read pile and found that there were a lot of folks wishing for this particular book. Then I did an online search for the title and found that it has been selling for 90-100 dollars. Wow! I might try to sell this one rather than swap it. :-)

As for the book...Bud Crayne is a 17 year old phenom driver. He loves speed. He loves to control his car through what others could never handle. He is a legend and the town's big man that everyone looks up to.

He takes a bet that he can run from his home town of Avondale to Trenton in under 30 minutes. If he does it he wins ten dollars! But, the high school driver's education teacher and a state highway patrolman get wind of it and try to convince Bud to pass on the bet.

Needless to say, the ribbing from the guys and the encouragement of his hot girlfriend are too much for Bud. After all, his reputation is far more important than a future or facing jail time, aren't they? He makes the run in 29 minutes. The cops chase him all over the place. They fail to catch him. He has broken so many laws that he knows he will lose his license. He is a hero, for all of about an hour. The teacher and the cop show up while he is prepping to pick up his girlfriend so they can high-tail it to California, a real hot rod place where she can pursue acting dreams. They convince Bud that running is a bad idea. He stays and agrees to take part in a Roadeeo they plan to use to teach kids how to drive. Bud is supposed to be the sacrificial lamb who will do it his way. They want to prove speed and recklessness are no match for safety and defensive driving.

So, while waiting for the Roadeeo to take place some little kids that envy Bud take a joy ride in a car and try to drive like Bud says to do it. They end up crashing and die. Booo! Killing little kids to make a point?

Bud loses the Roadeeo to the driver's ed teacher's prodigy who has only had a license for six months. The lesson? It is easier to teach kids how to drive than it is to teach people that already have bad habits and instincts to change the way they drive.

Bud is now devastated. He goes into a overly dramatic tailspin where his entire life is falling apart and he can no longer even drive a car because he is not the best. He is second best. Even the tires of his car as they touch the stripes in the road are yelling at him..."second best"..."second best". Bud has no reason to live. Please!

After some time goes by and Bud is just a lump, a lot of kids show up at the garage where he works. They decide to go out Rat Racing. It is kind of like a 30 minute game of hide and seek with cars. All his friends go. They end up in a head on collision with each other in the middle of "ninety-mile curve". A high speed wreck with bodies strewn all over the highway.

The highway patrolman is visiting Bud at the time and convinces Bud to give him a ride in his hot rod. They head for the accident and both guys are the first on the scene. Bud is told to go get the doctor because one person (the one who beat him in the Roadeeo) is still barely alive. He also needs to trade the hot rod for the police cruiser. Bud does it. The ambulance is too far away. The boy has less than an hour to live according to the doctor. The patrolman jumps in the back of the cruiser to help the injured boy and makes Bud drive.

Where are they going? The hospital in Trenton! They are in Avondale. The Trenton run reenactment! Of course! How convenient. But Bud is now afraid to drive. The patrolman explains how it is OK now because he is in a police cruiser. Turn on the lights and siren. Go Bud, GO!

Bud makes it to Trenton in 27 minutes! He even ran into a teen driver along the way who was driving like Bud used to. Stupid teens driving aggressively and much too fast! Arrghhhh, they made Bud so mad. Golly, it is so much better and faster to do things the right way!

The book is total cheese. It is utterly preachy about safe driving. This could have been used in a driver's education course back in the 1950s. It probably was. The crash scenes had descriptions of how the bodies were mangled that reminded me of the old "Blood on the Highway" driver's ed movies. Films like this.

But, ya know what? I liked it. A lot.

The author's kids are selling a 60th anniversary version of this book on their website. It says they can be autographed. I am not sure who would be autographing them since the author died in 1995, but you can get someones autograph. :-)

I also just learned that the driver's education course theory is exactly right. In fact, this book was contracted to the author by the Des Moines Safety Council specifically for that purpose after a fatal crash involving teenagers.

65. Planet Of The Damned

2011-10-10T10:25:00.000-04:00

Planet of the Damned - Harry Harrison

1962! The year I was born. I think I turned out better than this novel though. :-)

Harry Harrison is the same guy who wrote the book that the movie Soylent Green was based upon (Make Room! Make Room!). That was a better book than this one. This was good, but that one captured my imagination much more.

This book involved planets that were inhabited by humans from Earth. After many centuries of exploring and colonization something went wrong and the entire system collapsed. The planets were no longer "connected" and they became different over thousands of years.

The story is about an empathetic all around great guy from one planet working with a band of interplanetary super-heroes to prevent the planetary destruction of Dis by a nearby planet they are threatening to destroy themselves.

Anyway, it is pulp sci-fi and does not explore anything really new. Well, maybe it was doing that fifty years ago, but how the heck would I know about that. I didn't read it as soon as I came out of the womb. Today, it is the same old tired story, but is fun because I knew it was as old as me.

FYI...the planets are saved. The people of all planets are spared. The wonderfulness of all people is retained because the aggressive people are all know to be sick with a symbiotic-parasite in their brains that caused them to be violent and unfeeling. The obligatory happy ending was achieved. Blah blah.... but it sure was fun getting there this time.

Enjoyable and fun.

64. Second Variety

2011-10-08T20:57:00.000-04:00

Second Variety - Philip K. Dick

This was a great science fiction story. It was originally published in 1953, but is still a great read today.

The story takes place in a post-nuclear war earth. The war between the Soviet Union and the United Nations was disastrous for the planet. The Soviets took the early advantage and were dominating the planet. The UN government took refuge on a secret base built on the moon. The only folks left on Earth are military forces.

The UN forces have designed killer robots. They also gave the robots the ability to create better robots. They learn and improve and become deadlier as time passes. So much so that the Soviet Union is being defeated and there are talks of surrender.

The story take a twist as the robots "evolve". They learn to alter and eliminate the programming that keeps them from killing UN troops. They also learn to create human looking robots that can fool people. A wounded soldier version is used to enter Soviet bunkers and kill the troops within. A little boy with a teddy bear is designed to take the place of the wounded soldier when the troops catch on.

The second variety is a type of human looking robot and the actual identity of this type is not known or revealed in the novel. That is what makes it so good. The reader is spending the whole time trying to figure out who the second variety is? Think you have it figured out? Something happens to change that or cast doubt upon your prediction. It was a lot of fun to figure it out.

FYI...I did figure it out about half way through.

What was interesting is that the story reminded me a bit of the Terminator movies. Robots hunted people. Robots learned and modified the production of better and better weapons against humans. It was familiar, but very different also.

I like Philip K. Dick a lot. It was a quick read also. Perfect for work. :-)

63. Sleepyhead

2011-10-05T16:14:00.000-04:00

Sleepyhead - Mark Billingham

This is a police-procedural type book. It is the first novel by this author and was a hit. A big enough hit to spawn an entire series of books starring Detective Inspector Tom Thorne.

It was a creepy book. Weird in that it had a person killing people, but his intent was not for them to die. His goal was to put them into a semi-comatose state where they were alive and aware, but unable to move or communicate with the world outside their own minds.

That raised an interesting legal question for me early on. If and when they catch the "killer" would he be tried for first degree pre-meditated murder when the intent was NOT to kill? Would it actually be second degree? Maybe even manslaughter with reckless endangerment if they got a super lawyer?

Another interesting part to this book was the character of Allison. She was a 24 year old woman who was the "killers" first success. She is actually in this semi-comatose state all through the book. That could make for a seriously boring character, but it was the opposite. I found her to be the most interesting person in the book. Every second or third chapter was Allison alone. It was Allison within her head. Her thoughts. Her frustrations. Her desires and triumphs and failures. Rational and irrational. It was fascinating. Allison's character very much reminded me of "Johnny Got His Gun". That one freaked me out.

62. The Ego Machine

2011-10-04T10:56:00.000-04:00

The Ego Machine - Henry Kuttner

This was a science fiction story written in 1952. It is about a writer who is contracted to work for a studio in Hollywood to write movies. There is suddenly a time traveling robot that appears and wants to use him as part of a sociology experiment. The man gets the robot drunk on AC power and twists things around where he can have the brain patterns of Ivan the Terrible or a guy named Mammoth Slayer put into his brain for 12 hours in order to not become a slave to the puppet-master studio owner.

It is a strange book, but it was quick and was fun. I was looking for a copy of this, but I found it in an mp3 format down loadable for free from LibraVox. So, i listened to it and liked it very much. The dude doing the reading was slow and deep. That did not help, but it made me pay attention more to understand what he was saying.

I enjoyed this one. I have a whole line up of old sci-fi books sitting here waiting to be read. The Plague Ship, Star Surgeon, and many more. I hope to get to them sooner rather than later. We shall see.

61. The Ten Things You Can't Say In America

2011-09-27T18:02:00.000-04:00

The Ten Things You Can't Say In America - Larry Elder

Larry Elder wrote this book over ten years ago. He was (and may still be, I don't know) a Libertarian radio talk show host in southern California at the time. The things he says you can't say, well, some of them have and are being said since that time. So, this book is a little dated, but the arguments he made are still valid and very well executed in the text.

What are the ten things that you could not say in America?

Blacks are more racist than whites.
White condescension is more damaging than white racism.
There is no health-care crisis.
We are losing the war on drugs.
Republicans and Democrats are the same beast with different rhetoric.
Gun control advocates have blood on their hands.
Illegitimacy is America's greatest problem.
The welfare state is our national narcotic.
There is no glass ceiling.
There is a real, widespread and destructive left wing media bias.

He made good arguments for each of his points. Granted, they are Libertarian arguments and therefore will blame a lot on government. I don't disagree with him in a lot of those areas.

This was an interesting book that would have been far more interesting ten years ago. Although, at that time I may have looked at it as more of a fringe wacko type book than something more mainstream that it has become today. Libertarians have come a long way since then.

60. Why The Left Hates America

2011-09-27T16:14:00.000-04:00

Why The Left Hates America: Exposing The Lies That Have Obscured Our Nation's Greatness - Daniel J. Flynn

I read the following description of this book and was intrigued. Is the left wing of American politics that jacked? Why? I must know! I must read this book and learn something about the the Left's opposing political beliefs.

""The American flag stands for hatred, warmongering, and imperialism." — "Our free-market system is responsible for killing and oppressing millions of people." — "This country breeds racists and sexists." — Is America really that bad? It is if you accept the lies and propaganda from the anti-American Left in our own country. This dismal, distorted view of the greatest, freest nation in history comes from a Left who would rather idolize Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro than honor George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who burn down businesses and destroy property to protest free markets, and who fight alongside radical terrorists rather than against them. They trample the Constitution while hiding behind the First Amendment, and their idea of displaying the American flag is setting it on fire and parading it through the streets. Yes, this is a Left comprised of people who truly hate their country, and they will stop at nothing to tear her down—smashing our liberty in the process.

Why the Left Hates America punches a hole right through the thin veneer of political correctness that has long protected these anti-Americans—exposing their rotting, vacuous core. Author and commentator Daniel J. Flynn digs deep into the American Left and reveals why they blame every bad deed in the world on the United States, while ignoring her myriad contributions.

This book cogently points out that, of course, all Americans have the right to speak their minds. But, all too often, the actions by the anti-American Left become destructive and anarchistic. You need not look any further than the explosive 1999 World Trade Organization "protests" in Seattle, campus book burnings, or even John Walker Lindh to see that factions on the Left are the worst perpetrators of anti-Americanism. And what may be most shocking is that many of these anti-Americans are at the same time teachers, professors, journalists, news reporters, and even judges and politicians.
Probing and controversial—without devolving into jingoism—this book proves once and for all that what you see in the news and learn in school is often tainted by the anti-American Left, and it shows you what you can do to keep them at bay."

What I learned is that the left this guy is talking about is not the main stream liberal Democrat politician. He is talking about an extreme fringe element. This book is written to have the reader believe that ALL liberals are what he is describing here.

I found this book to be more like pouring gasoline on a fire than teaching. I did not like what he had to say. It was interesting, but not for the reasons that I had wanted to read it in the first place. Disappointing, yet interesting.

59. Understanding The Constitution

2011-09-23T20:55:00.000-04:00

Understanding The Constitution - David Gibbs

Outstanding!

58. The Lords Of Flatbush

2011-09-23T14:23:00.002-04:00

The Lords Of Flatbush - Leonore Fleischer

Remind me not to read novels that were adapted from the screenplay for a movie. Novels make good movies. I have not read a book yet that was a movie first and was any good.

It is a coming of age story about four friends in the 1950's who live in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. What is it really? It was a way for Sylvester Stallone to capitalize on the popularity of Henry Winkler in the mid to late 1970s and to get his own career jump started. It worked, but not as a novel.

57. Blackbox

2011-09-14T21:00:00.000-04:00

Blackbox: A Novel In 840 Chapters - Nick Walker

"Cross a road, take a train, or get on an airplane and you put your life in the hands of a stranger -- every bit as screwed up, every bit as fallible and as human as you are. Then the person turns out not to be a stranger at all, and suddenly it's much worse. In America and Britain and the sky in between, an apparently disparate group of people is connected, whether intimately or by chance, to the tragic death of a stowaway on board flight AF266. As the action veers across countries and time zones, the stowaway's real identity is revealed through stolen black box recordings, answering machine messages, sitcom outtakes, and court transcripts. Told in a shifting, circular narrative, the interwoven lives make up a jolting and layered puzzle that builds to a heart-stopping, chilling climax. An intelligent and invigorating novel with a bizarre menu of dysfunctional characters, Blackbox is the story of an attempt to erase a life on tape."

It was just OK. No big thrill. Not worth searching for. Not a bad book either. It had some interesting characters and a different way of telling the story, but was hard to follow at times as it jumped here and there and everywhere very quickly.

56. America By Heart

2011-09-08T11:22:00.001-04:00

America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag - Sarah Palin

I agree with her. I agree with her about family. I agree with her about faith. I agree with her about American exceptionalism. I agree with her on feminism. I agree with her on the Constitution. I agree with her on liberalism. I agree with her on the role of government in our personal lives. I agree with her on environmentalism. I agree with her on Reagan. I agree with her on Kennedy. I agree with her on many topics she discussed in this book.

I recall disagreeing once when she half-heartedly said something about Bush. I think Bush was far from conservative and think that is indefensible no matter what the circumstances were during his presidency.

The book itself? Well, despite agreeing, it felt like a non-stop cheerleading competition.

I forgot one thing. She said something about how the folks that want to "fundamentally transform" America are trying to take it in a direction that is not where I want to go. I agree with that. I also like the way she put it. To want "fundamental transformation" you must believe there is something seriously wrong with the fundamentals, the basis, on which our country was founded. Why else would someone want to transform it at a fundamental level? I am in 100% agreement with her that this country is totally awesome and does not need to be transformed.

55. View With A Grain Of Sand

2011-09-08T11:07:00.000-04:00

View With A Grain Of Sand - Wislawa Szymborska

Normally poetry is not a big thrill. I find it laborious. I tend to wonder "what did I miss?" because if it is just these words then it is nothing special.

This woman was different. I enjoyed reading these poems despite being totally lost at times.

54. The Remains of the Day

2011-09-08T10:57:00.000-04:00

The Remains of the Day - Kazou Ishiguro

I enjoy Ishiguro's novels a little. I never thought they were fantastic, but they never suck. This one goes right along with the others. No big thrill, but it was not horrible either.

This book took a long time to read. I started and then stopped probably five times. It was good enough to know I wanted to finish, but not good enough to delay beginning something else. This last few weeks I made it a goal to finish a number of "those" books. :-)

53. John's Story

2011-09-08T10:47:00.000-04:00

John's Story: The Last Eyewitness - Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

A novelization of the life of John. The John who authored the Gospel of John and Revelation. It was interesting, but I find it unneeded. The author's made another dollar. That is good, I guess.

52. Your First Year In Network Marketing

2011-09-08T10:43:00.000-04:00

Your First Year In Network Marketing: Overcome Your Fears, Experience Success, and Achieve Your Dreams - Mark Yarnell and Rene Reid Yarnell

Rah Rah! Sell some stuff! Be a millionaire! You can do it!

51. A Damned Fine War

2011-08-27T08:30:00.000-04:00

A Damned Fine War - Bill Yenne

This is an alternate history based in World War II, or immediately after. What if the Russians took a short break and then invaded Europe? What if Patton had not died and was around to fight them?

Interesting concept for a story...but lacking in execution as far as I am concerned. I did not fall in love with the story as I had hoped.

The good guys were too heroic.
The bad guys were too evil.
The technical aspects were inaccurate too often to overlook.
Who cares about romance in a war novel? Not me!
The troop movements were too simplistic and immediate.
Time must have been compressed. I don't know why.
As the book drug on we got less battle and more personal story crap.

Anyway, what I was hoping for would be more of a realistic type of book. One where General Patton and Marshal Zhukov could duke it out in the European theater with much more reality. Both looking over their shoulder for a Nazi resurgence that was non-existent in this book.

That is not what I got.

50. Johnny Got His Gun

2011-08-25T09:41:00.000-04:00

Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo

The only book I can recall reading where every word is written from the thoughts of a single person. No narrator. No additional perspective. Not one single external word. One man's thoughts and memories. That is all. He does not go anywhere or do anything other than attempt to communicate with the world...and think.

I saw this book every time I went to the bookshelf in the last two years to choose which book I would read next. Every time I would pull it down and put it into the "short-list" stack (usually 4-5 books). Every time I would put it back saying "next time".

A few weeks ago I was cranking "One" by Metallica and it reminded me of this book because the music video used a lot of scenes from the original movie starring Timothy Bottoms. I made a decision. I immediately went to the bookshelf and picked out this book. I began reading it right then.

The impact this book made on me was impressive. It made me cry. Literally. It made me shake and want to scream at times when I was being empathetic to what Joe was thinking or feeling. Those types of feelings from some written words do not come often.

I know a lot of military people. I am retired military myself. It took all I had not to put my friends faces, or my own, onto Joe Bonham's body in the novel. The problem was that Joe had no face. My friends had no faces. My friends were in this predicament.

Then, for those that know me, there was the "trapped" factor. One of my fears is being trapped in a cave, or under snow in an avalanche, or in a building after an earthquake...anywhere that I can not escape from and will just be there forever waiting to starve or suffocate. It is even worse if the confines are so tight that I cannot move. It causes sleepless nights when I have those dreams...but that is a different story.

Anyway, this book was like those dreams. This is a man who has no arms and legs. A paraplegic. That sucks, but it is not the end of the world. But, Joe also had head trauma. He lost his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. He lost his hearing, his sight, the ability to smell and taste. He could not speak. He lost the ability to communicate at all. He was stuck in a prison exactly the same size as his own mind and body. Imagine being fully aware of your predicament and being able to do nothing about it...for years on end. Imagine that you really can't be sure if you are awake or asleep and dreaming because it all feels the same. That freaked me out!

One of my favorite parts of the book is where Joe was talking to himself about why he went to war. He was drafted in WWI, but the sales pitch was about words like "liberty", "democracy", "freedom" and "patriotism". These words are used to inspire the little guys into doing their duty. Problem...Joe fought for all of them and has none of them despite still being alive and winning the war. These words are not concrete. They are abstract terms with different meanings to different people at different times. They can be tools used to manipulate.

A memorable quote: "What the hell does liberty mean anyhow? It's just a word like house or table or any other word. Only it's a special kind of word. A guy says house and he can point to a house to prove it. But a guy says come on let's fight for liberty and he can't show you liberty. He can't prove the thing he's talking about so how in the hell can he be telling you to fight for it?"

The book is obviously anti-war and does a great job of making it's point about the brutality and inhumanity or warfare. It also has a bit of class warfare going on. The upper-class ordering wars and the lower-class (little guys) fighting them and dying for the causes of the rich and powerful.

I am very impressed with this book and will be putting it back on the keeper shelf with other books I consider worthy of staying after being read. (Great Gatsby, Mother Night, The Kite Runner, True Grit, One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich, Night, Without Remorse, Into The Wild, etc).

49. God and the State

2011-08-18T17:01:00.000-04:00

God and the State - Mikhail Bakunin

What a miserable fella Bakunin must have been. It seems that everything is either absurd, stupid or is enslaving mankind.

Christianity was especially hated throughout the text, though he made the same old arguments and rationalizations that have been tossed about repeatedly. Whatever dude. You don't want God to exist because you don't get to be omniscient yourself. For a long time I thought he was equating the Roman Catholic church with Christianity. In the end he meant Christianity and all kinds of religion. The eastern religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) did get a slight pass with some footnotes attached. Blah blah.

The thing is, I expected the book to be anti-christian, so none of that surprised me at all. What did surprise me was that Bakunin dislikes schools, governments, historians, scientists, Romans, Greeks, plumbers, carpenters, teachers, priests, anything at all that would be any kind of authority figure in even the minutest fashion.

Anarchy! It is obviously the only way for any reasonable human being to be free to make all his own decisions without external influences and therefore using only his own reasoning. Ban everything immediately! Wait, if I tell you to ban everything and you want it then I am infringing on your ability to choose and am therefore inflicting my own authority over you and must be banned myself.

I guess the only real solution would be to shoot myself dead in the face if I lived in Bakuninland.

I did enjoy hearing a different perspective on many subjects despite my disagreeing with much of it.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

2011-08-16T20:48:00.000-04:00

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain

I can't do it. Despite this being about King Arthur, which is cool, and despite it being Mark Twain...it is like reading Shakespeare or the King James Bible. Too olde englishy for me to even consider continuing this book.

48. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

2011-08-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

It is a classic and is outstanding. You all know the story or Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. I won't review that other than to say, I loved it.

I have not done this for a while, and this is a worthy book...

SAT Word Alert:

INVETERATE: set or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling, or the like

WITHE: a tough, flexible twig or stem suitable for binding things together.

WHILOM: formerly

SUPERNUMERARY: being in excess of the usual, proper, or prescribed number.

PERADVENTURE: chance, doubt or uncertainty

ERUDITION: knowledge acquired by study, research, etc.

PERAMBULATION: a walk, travel, journey, etc.

COQUETTE: a woman who flirts lightheartedly with men to win their admiration and affection; flirt

CHANTICLEER: a rooster

ANDIRONS: one of a pair of metal stands, usually of iron or brass, for holding logs in a fireplace

CAPRICES: sudden unpredictable changes, as of one's mind or the weather

GAINSAY: to deny, contradict or dispute

RANTIPOLE: a wild, romping young person

BREASTWORK: a temporary defensive fortification usually about breast high, a parapet

PILLIONS: a pad or cushion attached behind a saddle, especially as a seat for a woman

SWAINS: a male admirer or lover, a country gallant

PLASHY: marshy, wet

47. Adopted For Life

2011-08-15T20:41:00.000-04:00

Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches - Russell D. Moore

This was an very interesting book about the Christian perspective on adoption. Not only on adopting children into a family, but how it relates to us being adopted as the children of God. It was very interesting to see the parallels.

One thing that kept coming back while reflecting on what I had read was the idea the author had about an adopted child's culture. It is important to keep an adopted child aware of where they came from, isn't it?

We have adopted five children from Ukraine. Keeping them aware of Ukrainian culture has been something we have made half-hearted efforts at over the years. Ukrainian food is really good. We enjoy those meals where we go out of our way to prepare it. As far as the rest of Ukrainian culture, well, we have fallen well short of my own expectations. It seems like it is just a waste of time to keep them in tune with the motherland when they are Hills kids now. Know what I mean?

Well, this author did. He expressed that feeling in a way I had not been able to before. It made perfect sense when I read it. Once we are adopted into God's family and are his children, does he desire for us to keep current in cultural awareness of our previous sinful life? Does he desire to expose us to the way we were before we were adopted? Of course not. In a way that is exactly what I have been feeling about my own kids. They are MY children now. They are living here and are citizens here. If Ukraine was so great then why are they here in the first place? Why would I wish to push a culture on them that has caused them all heart-ache and pain?

Something else that struck me...as Christians we are called to care for orphans and widows...that does not mean we are all called to bring a child into our homes and be their parents. There are many other ways to "care".

46. Biblical Ethics

2011-08-14T23:15:00.000-04:00

Biblical Ethics - Oswald Chambers

How can I do what I ought to do?

Why should I do what I ought to do?

This was very heavy reading, very deep and meaningful. It was quite revealing and I will be thinking of this reading for some time.

45. The Prayer of Jabez

2011-08-08T20:27:00.000-04:00

The Prayer of Jabez - Bruce Wilkinson

My mother and father sent this book to my wife and I in 2007. I finally read it. :-)

I agree that God can do anything. Asking in prayer is great also. I liked the book up to a point, and then it felt like prosperity preaching. I am not into that at all. I agree with much of what the author wrote, but not always to the degree he took it.

I especially liked one section. Part of the prayer was "keep me from evil". The author writes;
"Jabez's last request is a brilliant but little-understood strategy for sustaining a blessed life. After all, as your life transcends the ordinary and starts to encroach on new territory for God, guess whose turf you're invading?"

42. 43. & 44. Cowboy Bebop Vol 1, 2 and 3

2011-08-03T21:43:00.001-04:00

Cowboy Bebop Volumes 1, 2 and 3 - Yutaka Nanten

Manga.

Intergalactic bounty hunters.

Stupid.

Comic books with curses and skimpy clothing. Wow! Who cares?

Why do I even try to give this junk another shot?

41. Altering the Blueprint: The Ethics of Genetics

2011-08-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

Altering the Blueprint: The Ethics of Genetics - Alexander McCall Smith

This is actually a University level course taught by Professor Smith. It is a series of fourteen lectures on various subjects concerning the ethical choices we face in modern day reproduction and medical science.

The topics discussed included:

An Overview of Techniques for Creating Humans
When Does Life Begin?
Cloning
Sex Selection
Abortion?
Surrogacy
Screening for Abnormalities
Genetic Enhancement
Spare-Part Children
Population Control

I found this to be an extremely interesting course.

40. Scavenger Kill

2011-07-29T21:01:00.000-04:00

Scavenger Kill - Ralph Hayes

An interesting book published in 1975 and the first in a series called "The Hunter". It is about a guy who leads safaris in Africa for spolied rich folks. He gets mad one day about a poacher taking tusks from rhinos and decides to go kill the guy. He finds out that the same guy owns a pharmaceutical company marketing a drug that is causing serious birth defects...and it just happens to affect the lives of his best friend and his wife.

Now he has two reasons to kill the guy. He is now hunting a man rather than big game. He justifies all this in some twisted way because his killing is far less "bad" than the other guys actions. Silly way to make a hero if you ask me.

Despite the moral dilema, which really wasn't a big deal since it is just a stupid book, it was pretty decent. Still, I don't feel a need to suggest anyone go looking for it. It was just OK.

39. Pirate Latitudes

2011-07-28T20:22:00.000-04:00

Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton

How many of Michael Crichton's book have a I read? I can't remember. I do know that they were intensely detailed and very high-tech.

Then I saw this one. Pirates? 1665? Port Royal, Jamaica? How in the world would Crichton pull off his story-telling style? If he was not describing the details of DNA manipulation and nano-bots he was writing some super technical medical stuff. This was totally different.

Crichton pulled it off. This is a great swashbuckler of a pirate novel. It was a bit cliche, but was still a ton of fun and very detailed with information about technology of the day.

The story was predictable. Most pirate stories are. Good guys are also bad guys. Depending which side you are on is whether you call it privateering or piracy.

There were many sea battles. There was much drinking of rum and debauchery of all kinds. There was the obligatory battles with cannibals that shoot poison darts, a giant squid they called Kraken, a hurricane to beat all hurricanes, overcoming insurmountable odds while facing an enemy who shows no mercy, etc etc.

It was a good fun story that I am surprised Crichton was able to pull off and still write in his own style. Enjoyable and fun.

38. How Would A Patriot Act

2011-07-16T21:20:00.000-04:00

How Would A Patriot Act: Defending American Values from a President Run Amok - Glenn Greenwald

Published in 2006 and written by a constitutional law attorney who didn't like what he was seeing after 9-11. It is a well written and excellent indictment of the abuses of law perpetrated by the Bush administration in the name of national security.

I have disliked the USA PATRIOT Act from the beginning. Not for the same reasons as some folks. I saw it as a huge door being opened that would greatly expand executive power and be abused by the people in power. That is exactly what this book shows.

Why read it now? Bush is gone. Those abuses don't mean jack any longer. But, that is not true. The law is still on the books and the ability to overreach is made easier.

I liked the book. I liked the plain language and straight-forward explanations of some very complicated issues.

I wish Congress would have let the extension of these powers expire this year. Maybe next time. Power is so hard to give up once they have it. Maybe we can get that changed, somehow, someday.

37. Dr. Faustus

2011-07-16T17:26:00.000-04:00

Dr. Faustus - Christopher Marlowe

Never ever ever sell your soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power!

Marlowe is a tough read. Much like Shakespeare. Read a line and then think about what it means. Read another line. Repeat till end of book.

It was worth the effort.

36. Ender's Game

2011-07-16T13:23:00.000-04:00

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

The best science fiction novel I have read in a long time. Weird enough to definitely be called science fiction. Normal enough to be semi-believable in the future.

I liked it from start to finish and had no idea that it would end the way it did. It was excellent.

35. Boomsday

2011-07-15T21:12:00.000-04:00

Boomsday - Christopher Buckley

Hilarious!

I loved this. It cracked me up. Calling the young generation of today Generation W is funny. It means Generation Whatever. Ha!

This was an audio book I listened to driving to and from work. It was read by Janeane Garofalo. She sounded a lot like an ex-radio talk show host here in Charlotte named Tara Servatius. Every time I turned it on I thought Tara was baclk on the radio, and then I remembered it was a CD.

34. The Journals of Eleanor Druse

2011-07-06T15:29:00.000-04:00

The Journals of Eleanor Druse: My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident - Eleanor Druse

This book is a tie in with a TV show called Kingdom Hospital that was produced by Stephen King.

I found the book boring. It lacked spark. It had nothing but an endless wait to find out who was the bad guy and why was he doing bad stuff. I did not care by the time it got there.

I did not dislike the charachters. They were fine. It was the story that I found wanting.

Yawn.

33. Dear American Airlines

2011-07-01T21:31:00.000-04:00

Dear American Airlines - Jonathan Miles

I did not like it. It bored me and only had a few moments where I was mildly interested in the story. Oh well. Maybe I had too many other things going on. I don't know.

32. No Limits

2011-06-30T20:36:00.000-04:00

No Limits: The Will To Succeed - Michael Phelps

What an outstanding story! I love this guy!

31. Somehow Form A Family

2011-06-25T21:13:00.000-04:00

Somehow Form A Family - Tony Earley

This is a collection of stories and anecdotes from a man who grew up in the 60s and 70s in the mountains of North Carolina. His family was typical country farm small town Appalachian folk. The stories could be told by many people. They were not unique or extraordinary. These were stoiries about average people doing average things.

And...I liked it very much.

"He did not understand weakness because he had never known it."

That line was in one story that for me was very thought provoking. Any book that can make me think about something for a few days is worth mentioning. It was not exciting. I did not "learn" anything. It did not expand my mind or even entertain me in a page turning sense. It made me think. I really like that.

30. Immoral

2011-06-19T16:20:00.000-04:00

Immoral - Brian Freeman

This book ended up being another one of those crime/trial novels.

I did not think that was what this would be when I started reading it. I thought it was going to flip morality on it's head and create a world where immorality was viewed as morality is in our own world. It had none of that. Just today's world with some folks doing bad stuff and cops investigating to solve the crime.

The back of the book compares this author to Dennis Lehane (Shelter Island, Mystic River, etc). Those are some pretty big shoes to fill in regards to plot twists and keeping the reader in suspense. This book failed to fulfill those promises.

I took almost a month to finish this book. I read the last half in the last three days just to get it over with. It got better with the last third, but to get there it felt like I was wading through quicksand. Slow. Infinitely boring at times. The ending did get better as it was "less boring", but it also just seemed like it took so many little twists and tried to tie them together in a way that would be difficult to solve the crime. Too many little twists and conveniences for my tastes. Unlike Lehane, who seems to use one massive twist to throw the entire perspective of the book on it's head.

This book did not live up to my expectations as far as the "immoral world", as a comparison to Lehane, or to keep me awake during the first half. It did end pretty well, though it felt forced. Not awful, but there are better books.

29. Swimsuit

2011-06-19T16:09:00.000-04:00

Swimsuit - James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

This is one of those authors that I have avoided because he has written about 10,000 books. He may be popular, but I can't stand those writers that keep plugging in different names and places in order to tell the same story over and over. I figured this is a book about a bad guy who gets chased by cops and in the end justice is served.

That is essentially what this book was. Just another crime novel. What happened that surprised me was that I actually enjoyed it. Darn! Now I might have to check out another James Patterson book. What happens if I like that one too?

28. A Simple Government

2011-06-13T17:51:00.000-04:00

A Simple Government: Twelve Things We Really Need from Washington (and a Trillion That We Don't!) - Mike Huckabee

I loved most of it.

27. Pictures of the Socialistic Future

2011-05-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

Pictures of the Socialistic Future - Eugene Richter

The "predictions" made in this book, actually a dystopian novel, made me look further to see if it was really written in the early 1890s. It was. Written in 1891 and translated to English in 1893. Written by a man who was alive and politically active in Germany at the same time as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Richter wrote this book like it was a diary. A diary of a man who was living in Germany when the country had a revolution and became Socialist. The writer was pro-socialism. The book starts out with the hopes and dreams of the people...and the reality comes later.

Just as in history, Socialism sounds great, but then economics and human nature come into play. It just does not work. The way this author told this story BEFORE socialist states had started, let alone failed, and predicted so many of the faults of the socialist system, is quite uncanny.

To tell you the truth, I can not write a real blog post that does this book justice. This man has. Click here to read "Looking Hard at "Pictures of the Socialistic Future".

I am still amazed at this one...and you can download a PDF file of the book and read it for free. Click here.

It is time to read something a bit less "involved".

26. Living Water

2011-05-21T23:32:00.001-04:00

Living Water - Chuck Smith

This book we have been using in our home fellowship group this year. I loved the book. I loved the teaching. I loved the fellowship with friends. It was all good.

The book is about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how it all is a part of your life and relationship with God. I have never read anything like it before and it was, what is the word? I guess, "fulfilling" kind of describes how reading this made me feel. I don't know how to describe it.

If you are Christian, I recommend it.
If you are interested in understanding Christianity, read it.
If you have a desire to argue with me about my faith, save it.

Have a lovely day. :-)

25. Rules For Radicals

2011-05-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

Rules For Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals - Saul D. Alinsky

I am supposed to write a scathing anti-liberal, "I hate commies" review for this book, right? I don't think I will. Not entirely anyway. I did not read this for that reason. I read it to try and understand where "students" of Saul Alinsky, including President Obama, are coming from. I read it not to judge the intent or results of the proponents of Alinsky, but to understand the tactics and methods used by those same people.

This reminded me of Sun Tzu's Art of War...but for leftys.

What I read was some very useful information on how to get a group of people to unite for a common purpose and to help guide those people to success. What is in this book would work for exactly that. What was interesting is that Mr. Alinsky's actions focused mostly on the business-worker relationships, but the same ideas have been expanded into the political arena today using his suggestions.

I flagged a lot of things I found interesting in this book for one reason or another. I guess I will just list a few and then discuss my thoughts at the time. First of all, what I found interesting, was that Mr. Alinsky wrote a prologue to the book. That prologue was more enlightening about the purposes and motivations behind the actions described in the book that the book stated itself. The prologue covered the basics of the why. I liked that.

Before I get too far, I think the tactics Alinsky wrote about are usable by any group attempting to alter the behavior of another group. Therefore, though the book was written for pro-union activists and liberals in the Vietnam War era, it is usable by my own conservative self today to fight against the very changes that were made in the last 30 to 40 years. That is pretty cool.

"Let us in the name of radical pragmatism not forget that in our system with all its repressions we can still speak out and denounce the adminstration, attack its policies, work to build an opposition political base. True, there is government harassment, but there still is that relative freedom to fight. I can attack my government, try to organize to change it. Thats more than I can do in Moscow, Peking or Havana."

Absolutely! I will continue to point out every fault I feel like poking at and every issue I take exception to.

"Remember: once you organize people around something as commonly agreed upon as pollution, then an organized people is on the move. From there it's a short and natural step to political pollution, to Pentagon pollution."

That is how people get manipulated by these folks. Rally around one issue and then intertwine it with a bunch of other garbage they would never have organized to support in the first place.

"In this book we are concerned with how to create mass organizations to seize power and give it to the people; to realize the democratic dream of equality, justice, peace, cooperation, equal and full opportunities for education, full and useful employment, health, and the creation of those circumstances in which man can have the chance to live by the values that give meaning to life."

Lots of beautiful words that can be used to describe exactly the same thing from any political perspective. Just because someone says that the way they describe will achieve these goals does not make it true.

Mr. Alinsky states "Today revolution has become synonomous with communism while capitalism in synonomous with status quo." Soon afterward he says "This is a major reason for my attempt to provide a revolutionary handbook not cast in the communist or capitalist mold, but as a manual for the Have-Nots of the world regadless of the color of their skins or their politics."

So, even if Alinsky is trying to separate radical revolution from communism, it is still the basis for what he believes to be better than capitalism. After reading the book it becomes obvious.

"Another example is today's high rise public housing projects. Originally conceived and carried through as major advances in ridding cities of slums, they involved the tearing down of rotting, rat-infested tenements, and the erection of modern apartment buildings. They were acclaimed as America's refusal to permit its people to live in the dirty shambles of the slums. It is common knowledge that they have turned into juungles of horror and now confront us with the problem of how we can either convert or get rid of them. They have become compounds of double segregation- on the basis of economy and race- and a danger for anyone compelled to live in these projets. A beautiful positive dream has grown into a negative nightmare."

Do-gooders failed to see all the consequences of their "help", as usual.

The "grasp of the duality of all phenomena is vital in our understanding of politics. It frees one from the myth that one approach is positive and another negative. There is no such thing in life. One man's positive is another man's negative."

Agreed...but there is such a thing as unconstitutional and anti-american. So, even if something is considered positive by some it does not mean it is American.

"The essence of Lenin's speeches during this period was "They have the guns and therefore we are for peace and for reformation through the ballot. When we have the guns then it will be through the bullet."

Alinsky uses this to justify changing tactics or flip-flopping on whatever decisions were made in the past. It is all about what is needed to accomplish the goal at the moment. He goes on to say....

"Means and ends are so qualitatively interrelated that the true question has never been the proverbial one, "Does the End justify the Means?" but always has been "Does this particular end justify this particular means?"

So, every situation is measured on it's own merits. There are no absolutes. Everything is flexible. Everything changes. I find that to be very very sad. To truly believe this you can have no grounding. There is nothing except that very moment to respond to and then change again in the next moment.

"If you start with nothing, demand 100 percent, then compromise for 30 percent, you're 30 percent ahead."

That make sense all on it's own. The next paragraph states why he mentioned that in the first place...

"A free and open society is an on-going conflict, interuppted periodically by compromises- which then become the start for the continuation of conflict, compromise, and on ad infinitum. Control of power is based on compromise in our Congress and among executive, legislative, and judicial branches. A society devoid of compromise is totalitarian. If I had to define a free and open society in one word, the word would be "compromise.""

That is the entire basis for the way the liberals have whittled away at America. Ask for 100 percent on any issue, settle for a fraction of that in the name of compromise, and then use that settlement for the basis of asking for further advances...ignoring that there was a compromise already to reach the point they were at. As time goes by the advances are tremendous and anyone who says they have a problem with it is labeled as uncompromising, intolerant, and totalitarian. I dare anyone to deny that this has been the tactics used to advance America further and further left during my lifetime.

"All definitions of words, like everything else, are relative. Defintion is to a major degree dependent upon your partisan position."

That depends what your definition of sex is. Exactly!

"There can be no such thing as a "non-controversial" issue. When there is agreement there is no issue; issues only arise when there is disagreement or controversy. An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontent; provide a channel into which the people can angrily pour their frustrations."

Why the sky is always falling, the other side is always trying to "kill grandma" or "hates the poor" etc. That is also why there are so many "agitators" out there stirring shit up every day.

The fifth rule of power tactics..."Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage."

I have seen this tactic used repeatedly in the last three years. The lies have been insane.

And then there was this little tidbit when discussin "ordinary people" using thier proxy votes to force companies to do the bidding of the organizations. "There will even be "fringe benefits." Trips to stock-holders meetings will bring drama and adventure into otherwise colorless and sedentary suburban lives."

What? Suburban lives are colorless and sedentary? Alinsky is going to bring them some adventure? Get out of here with the flowery "we do no wrong" garbage. Sell that junk to someone looking to buy it. That was ridiculous. He even goes on with that scenario to alter the way the Pentagon deals with businesses and makes some HUGE leaps with how businesses and the Generals relate with each other. Ugh.

So, overall I didn't hate the book. Yes, I do completely disagree with the left on numerous issues. I definately despise the tactics they use, especially during the ObamaCare fiasco in Congress...but now I understand where those tactics are coming from. I understand why they are being used and what the goal is in some instances. I also see how I can use them on a smaller scale. Oh yeah! :-)

24. Red America

2011-04-30T16:38:00.000-04:00

Red America - Doomsday Warrior Book 2 - Ryder Stacy

Defiantely not as good as book one, but I enjoy these books. What a ride.

See also Doomsday Warrior.

23. A Field Guide To Left-Wing Wackos

2011-04-30T16:31:00.001-04:00

A Field Guide To Left-Wing Wackos And What To Do About Them - Kfir Alfia and Alan Lipton (Founders of ProtestWarrior)

Kind of like a field guide for bird watchers, but it is for identifying different kinds of left-wing people. Frickin' funny actually.

Each group is discussed in typical field guide format with sections covering the following: identified with a name and description, identifying charachteristics, photos or drawings, the origin of the species, behavior, habitat. call or slogan, the party line, between the lines, in their own words, required reading, best of breed, and handling tips.
Which "wackos" are covered? Anarchists, Communists, Intellectuals, College Students, Hollywood Activists, Blacktivists, Hacktivists, Proud Marys, Granolas, Peace Moms, Self-Hating Vets, Acid freaks, Dylan Wannabees, Performance Artists, Islamothugs, Closet Nazis, Security Goons and Employed White Males.
Anarchist: Someone who advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and anything else that prevents him from feeling good about himself. Like a political two-year old, he will throw a fit if he doesn't get what he wants - or throw bombs instead.

Communist: Anyone who likes the things you have, wants them for his own, and doesn't mind if a totalitarian state is what it takes to make that happen.

Intellectual: The spiritual leaders of the left, Intellectuals give lectures and write arcane tracts on political analysis with the sole purpose of providing protesters with the assurance that the hatred of America is thoroughly justified.

College Students: A product of higher learning eager to emulate superficially the political unrest of the sixties and to express a newfound concern for stolen elections, America's failed capitalist system, and America's history or facist aggression.

Hollywood Activists: A member of the Hollywood community elite who uses the capitalists fruits of wealth and fame to promote a socialist agenda.

etc etc etc...it is funny making fun of stuff sometimes.

22. American Gods

2011-04-10T13:58:00.000-04:00

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

This is another of those books that I added to the list because it got tremendous reviews. Many of those reviews said things such as "the greatest book ever" or "my all-time favorite". As far as my own experience with American Gods...it fell well short of the expectations.

Maybe I just don't get Neil Gaiman? That could be. I enjoyed Good Omens (a collaboration with Terry Pratchett). I have heard that Neverwhere was outstanding. Maybe I will try it out some day.

I did find something interesting early on in the story. When Shadow met a bunch of folks with what sounded like Slavic names. I know some Russian and recognized that the names meant more than just being a name. Well, I thought Mr. Gaiman had a little fun when naming the characters. I did a quick search on the names and found that he did not make it up. They were actual names of "gods" from old Slavic beliefs. So, I didn't find out that Neil Gaiman was a multi-lingual practical joker, but I did find out that the names and what I thought were actual Russian words was dead on. I understand Russian better than I thought. Woohoooo!

Examples:
Russian word for for black: cherny
Russian for god: bog
Man's name: Czernobog (guy just happens to be a bad fellow) (found this Czernobog)

Czernobog has a brother Bielebog
Russian word for white: biele
Bielebog happens to be a good guy (found this Bielebog)

These guys had sisters they called Utrennyaya, Vechernyaya and Polunochnaya. Shadow had some "thoughts" about Zorya Utrennyaya. She just happened to be the youngest and prettiest. Explanation to follow.
Russian words:
Morning: Utra (the youngest sister)
Evening: Vecher (the older sister)
Polunoch: Midnight (the oldest sister)

And then I looked up Zorya, which I thought had something to do with stars. I found this: Zorya. It explains the Slavic mythology associated with the morning star, evening star and midnight star.

So, Gaiman has written a book about "gods" that exist because people believe in them. When immigrants came to America they brought the gods with them. Over time the belief in these gods faded and the gods were no longer gods in the way they were in the past.

There is a buildup to a battle between the new gods and the old gods for supremacy in America. Shadow thwarts the war by explaining to them all that America is not a good place for gods and they should all return to the old countries. Blah blah blah.

It is very interesting in concept. The capabilities of such stories are endless. But, the book seemed to drag on and on and on. It was slow. It took so much time to build in the old mythology into a current American world that it lost excitement and, well, fun.

I didn't hate it. I didn't "like" it either. Fun at times. Boring as all heck at others. I read it because it helps me with two challenge goals this year. This book counts towards the Chunkster Challenge because it is 588 pages. it also counts for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge because Neil Gaiman is from England (not American).

21. America (The Book)

2011-04-02T22:47:00.000-04:00

America (The Book: A Citizen's Guide To Democracy Inaction - Jon Stewart etal

I like Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. I don't agree with him much, but he is a funny fellow and he makes me laugh. I expected this book to be the same kind of humor as displayed on his show. It was. It cracked me up.

The book is set up as a text book. It is a spoof or parody of a high school government or civics class text. It has a zillion little charts, side-bars, graphs, explanations, expository notes, etc etc...just like all the text books have today. Many of them are just down right hilarious.

For instance, there is a full page portrait of George Washington. On the page is printed a quote. It says "Jefferson, you're on the two. Hamilton? You get the ten. I'm calling dibs on the one. That's all me, baby. What's that, Adams? You wanted the one? All right, that's it: You don't get to be on anything. That's right, I'm taking back the quarter. Anyone else want to complain? I didn't think so." George Washington, 1789

There is a history lesson at the beginning. One part I found funny that really made me laugh out loud for quite some time and still makes me chuckle is:

"1492- In fourteen hundred ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue......and discovered America. Now, some have argued that Columbus actually discovered the West indies, or that Norsemen had discovered America centuries earlier, or that you really can't get credit for discovering a land already populated by indigenous people with a developed civilization. Those people are communists. Columbus discovered America."

HA HA HA! THAT is some funny stuff...if you like Jon Stewart humor anyway.

Now we get to the part where the colonists have declared independence and the Revolutionary War is under way. They write The Articles of Confederation. It is ratified in 1781. There is a quote in this area that is funny. It says "The Revolution is over. America has triumphed. Let us continue to solve and and all disputes by using violence." - American General Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Yorktown (1781)." That made me giggle a little until I realized that we do tend to just use violence. Argh...I hate it when I laugh at truth.

I will just type stuff I found funny or interesting now....

"Before the invention of the moral compass in 1907, Presidents had to rely on the crude and unreliable "moral sextant."

"The Oval Office. Because it has no corners, there is nowhere to make the president sit when he has shamed the nation."

"Quoting the President...On The Economy..."The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, March 4, 1933 "Oh, and starvation. We might all starve." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, March 4, 1933"

"Presidential Nicknames: Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon - Richard Nixon was regarded as an agile and "tricky" political opponent. Also, he was a dick."

In the section describing the American Court System, at the very bottom is Mom and Dad. "Arbiter of all curfew, allowance, and homework-completion related matters. Frequently Draconian; often arbitrary, citing legally questionable precedent of "because I said so." Jurisdiction confined to "under their roof." God, you hate them. Hate them, hate them, hate them."

"Landmark Supreme Court Cases: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954): The Court overturned the Plessy ruling, declaring the establishment of separate public schools for black and white students inherently unequal. This landmark verdict paved the way for integration, the Civil Rights Movement and the Beastie Boys." Think about it...it really did...That was funny.

"Election Day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This is because having it on the first Thursday after the second Saturday in November would be silly."

There is so much more, and a ton of it is visual. I could never explain it.

If you are a Jon Stewart fan or like the Daily Show...you will enjoy this book.

20. Running With Scissors

2011-03-22T20:37:00.000-04:00

Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs

HATED IT!

OK, maybe that is a little strong. It had a few humorous moments, but for the most part I felt like I was recounting the whinnings of a bratty little boy.

Go sit on Mommy's lap and suck your thumb you cry-baby.

Didn't get it. Didn't enjoy reading it. Don't understand what the good reviews are about. Don't care what I am missing.

OK, Yes... I hated it! Whatever.

19. Shepherding A Child's Heart

2011-03-22T20:32:00.000-04:00

Shepherding A Child's Heart - Tedd Tripp

A good guide to raising young children biblically.

I think the books ideas were great. I also think the author rambled a bit and made some assumptions concerning the dialog between parents a children, but overall he has good ideas.

At times I felt like I was reading parts of Steven Covey's Seven habits of Highly Effective People. :-)

I wish there was a book like this for raising teenagers adopted from Eastern European institutions or for teenagers with Aspergers.

I'll give it a shot.

18. The Abstinence Teacher

2011-03-21T16:24:00.000-04:00

The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Perrotta

I liked this book very much. It was a very interesting story with some outstanding interaction between the characters. I am also surprised that I liked it considering it was full of stereotypes and flagrant bias.

This is a story about a high school health teacher (includes sex education) and her interactions with members of an evangelical Christian church. Imagine the stereotypical liberated woman facing off against the stereotypical "fundamentalist" Christians.

After writing this blog post I will go see what I can learn about the author on the internet. I will let you know if it is anything interesting. I am expecting a left wing guy who went to liberal schools and embraced the whole deal. I am sure this book is an atheistic political statement masquerading as a fiction novel.

I find that to be annoying, but must admit that it created a desire within me to read on and see how far it would go. I enjoyed predicting, or trying to predict what would happen, and then seeing if I was right. I was correct in general. Probably about 80% of what I thought would happen actually was written into the story in one form or another. What I learned was that there is a pretty good book within the bias writing.

The American "culture war" has been waged in these pages, and the lefties won.
Some of the things I saw that bugged me:

The main character is Ruth, the health teacher who believes "pleasure is good, shame is bad, and knowledge is power." Ruth never compromised her position. She wrangled with everyday issues much like every human being, but she always sided and acted in accordance with her beliefs. She lost her job, friends moved away, lost her own children to Jesus...and all the while she was true to the cause. She is the undaunting liberal warrior. Our hero!?

Her counterpart is Tim. He was a rock and roll band member and fan of the Grateful Dead. He is a recovered addict and alcoholic who, after hitting rock bottom, getting divorced and losing everything that ever meant anything to him, sought out something more in his life. He found Jesus and was saved. He is now a member of the Tabernacle. That is the evangelical church which Ruth has a problem with. Tim just so happens to be Ruth's daughters soccer coach. Uh ohhh!
     The problem with Tim's character? He is constantly wrestling with and at odds with his faith. He is fearful that his beliefs will cost him his job, his relationship with his daughter, his ability to coach the soccer team, his friends, his work relationships. His faith causes nothing but conflict in his life! That is not what real faith is like. That is what a person who has no faith thinks faith is like and wishes others to think also.
     Tim is also constantly wrestling with the past. He still loves his ex-wife. He misses the rock and roll lifestyle, hanging in bars and poker night. he even vandalizes Billy's truck by scratching the name "Jesus" into the paint after getting stoned and then crawls back to Ruth's house to "talk".
     This is what a Christian man does? This is how he thinks and acts? Sure, if you want the character to look like an imbecile who's faith is in something that is not real. If you want to portray him as weak and ungrounded so you can show how much of a loser he is compared to the wonderful Ruth.

Where Ruth succeeds, Tim always fails. So predictable.

There is also a Pastor Dennis. This is the founder and leader of The tabernacle. This is supposedly the new church that is growing rapidly and has massive influence at town board meetings and within the high school. This Pastor is seriously over the top. His way of living would not create a church that grows. It would alienate people. His church would not grow. He is far to involved in his own flock's lives to be anything like the "mentor" and spiritual guide that he is supposed to be. People typically would not willfully flock to follow a theocratic dictator who meddles in the minutia of their private lives.
     Who would follow a man like this? Stupid weak sheep, of course, just like all Christians are accused of being by the atheistic secular-centered people today.

Want more? How about two characters that are not major to the story, but have strong statements about what atheists think about Christians.
    Tim's second and current wife for one. She is a mousy and submissive woman who has no desires of her own. When Tim asks what she wants her only answers are to try and please him and fulfill his needs. She has no life outside of that. I found that to be a ridiculous portrayal of what Christians mean when they say the man is the spiritual leader and that the woman should submit to her husband. This character is written from a point of view that only mocks and belittles someones faith.
    The other guy who is not that big a deal to the story, but really mattered to me, is Jay. Jay met Pastor Dennis at a wedding. Jay was a young loud rude womanizing drunk who punched the Pastor in the eye in the men's room when Dennis tried to stuff Jesus down his throat. Then Jay had a spiritual experience and came to accept Jesus with Pastor Dennis. A few weeks passed and Dennis declares that the Pastor LIED to him about that experience. It was not Jesus at all. Jay decided the experience was just Jay being in touch with his own inner spirit. There is no God...it is just whatever makes you feel good or what fulfills your needs at the moment. So, the Pastor is a liar who tricks people into believing, Jay is his own savior, it is all just stupid.

What causes the controversy between Ruth and Tim? Tim says a prayer after a soccer game where he thanks God. From there we go into all the junk spouted in society today about separation of church and state. Blah blah blah. The coach thanked God that his own daughter was OK after a bad collision on the field and then for the last minute victory against a tough opponent to get into the championship game. Big deal! Unless of course you have a chip on your shoulder and feel it is your duty to strike at Christians at the mere mention of anything related to faith.

Something that was very interesting was an opinion pointed out during a refresher training course Ruth was forced to attend. When health teachers had the curriculum altered to include abstinence in sex education, well, Ruth didn't do it so well. She had to go to a training class to learn how to teach abstinence.
     There were four folks in that class. One was a lesbian. What I found to be interesting was an opinion on why abstinence teaching will not always work. See, if you are gay and are taught to not have a sexual relationship until marriage...but marriage for gays is illegal...well, I understand why they lesson would not make much sense. Again, it worked in another liberal subject of contention by bringing in the whole gay marriage thing. But, if I look at it strictly from the high school curriculum of abstinence teaching then it made sense to me that there is a problem.

At the end of the book Tim is standing in his underwear in Ruth's bedroom staring out the window as his Pastor is outside making a fool of himself and his wife is at home pining away for her man. Tim is afraid to even speak to the pastor...but, of course, Ruth has no fear. She is the strong modern woman taking a stand against the oppressive religious types that are just haters.

So, you would think with all the blatant liberal bias and incessant jabs at Christians I would have hated the book. I didn't. I think Tom Perrotta is a talented writer who told a good story in an excellent manner. I may not like what happened, but what happened was portrayed in an outstanding way. It is good writing.

So now that I finished writing this blog post, I will go see what I can learn about Mr. Perrotta himself. What are his political and religious beliefs? I'll let you know if I find anything credible about that, but I am pretty sure I already know what I will find.

PS...I was right.

17. The Stepford Wives

2011-03-15T14:57:00.000-04:00

The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin

This book is exactly what I expected from it. The darned thing has been sitting on my shelf for longer than I can remember. Actually, longer than I have had a shelf. So, I finally read it.

I got precisely the story I thought it would be. I loved it.

I especially love that there is no happy ending or last minute reprieve. It is what it is...and we really never know exactly what it is anyway.

16. Second Treatise of Government

2011-03-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

Second Treatise of Government - John Locke

Many moons ago I took part in an online discussion about the intent of the founding fathers of The United States of America. What was the reasoning behind some of the institutions they created? Why did they not mention certain things and clearly define others.

What I learned from that discussion was that nobody, not one person who had anything to say, knew anything. It was all opinion and conjecture. All the arguments were formed in order to bolster each persons desire for the "truth" to support the way they wanted it to be.

The biggest arguements, as usual, centered around religion. What exactly was the intent of "seperation of church and state"? Once again, as usual, it was Christian opinion against everyone else. All the non-Christians swear that there was never any intent for God to have any place within our society other than "quietly over there". I didn't agree with that opinion and I still don't.

What I did learn from those conversations is that I needed to go find out what the frame of reference the founding fathers had really was. Where to start? Why not begin with the works that they themselves said were their influences. This book is the first in a long line of them that I will be reading. It will also include works by Plato, Russeau, Kant and the Federalist Papers among numerous others.

I will form my own opinions by reading what they read and then try to empathize with what life was like in thier time.

I will dismiss the politics and social selling points of the modern day manipulators. Where were THIER heads...not where are OUR heads. That is what I want to know.

What did I learn from this book? A TON! This thing is outstanding. It is not easy to read. I had to read many sections more than twice to understand what the intent of the words was.

It is pretty obvious after a while that it is one long line of reason. It starts with an individual and what that actually means. From there the book creates a bigger and bigger snowball of rights and liberties of those individuals and how that relates to small groups, society and governments. It was quite fascinating to read and watch it build upon the foundation layed earlier in the book.

Next book in this little project of mine: The Basic Political Writings - Jean-Jaques Russeau

15. Gunslinger Girl (Vol 1)

2011-03-08T22:04:00.001-05:00

Gunslinger Girl (Volume 1) - Hiroshi Aida

A dude gave me a pile of manga books last year. I ditched most of them. I kept this one because it was volume one in a series. I also kept the first five or six in the Chobits and Cowboy Bebop series books. I finally picked one up to give them a try.

I read what was supposed to be manga two years ago and hated it. I later found out that it was not truly manga but was more of a graphic novel. There is no doubt this one is manga. It is written by a Japanese guy. It uses anime looking art. It reads back to front. My kids even said it was manga and they are some kind of experts in the field, or think they are at least.

So, this series is about a secret government agency that takes crippled children and turns them into cyborgs that are controlled through ingestion of some kind of chemicals. Each child is assigned a "trainer" or fratello (brother) whom they will protect with their lives.

The cyborg kids are super strong and fast and big time weapons experts.

It is all very predictable. The characters are emotionless. The story is pointless. I still don't get it.

Oh, wait, the point is to have cute little school girls drawn wearing cute little uniforms, make them subservient to some dude give them guns and make them fight bad guys a lot... ahhh... yet again... fodder for a teen age boy's wet dream. That is all this garbage is for.

Maybe in Japan manga is used on a broader scale, but here in America it seems to be the sole reason for it's popularity. Perhaps I will find that to be incorrect eventually.

Still not a manga fan.

14. Playing For Pizza

2011-03-08T12:33:00.000-05:00

Playing For Pizza - John Grisham

There I was standing a the bookshelves in the thrift store with my Dad. There were lots of books by the same old authors. We had a discussion about how some authors wrote the same stories over and over with different characters in different locations. Sometimes the stories were good, but how could you know which ones were good and which were just pumped out to put something on the shelves to sell?

There are plenty of authors like this. I pointed to a few on the shelves. John Grisham was one. I know he has written a ton of legal thrillers. The Firm, The Client, The Pelican Brief, Runaway Jury. They are all good, but what about the others of the same ilk? How would I know?

Dad picked up Playing For Pizza and handed it to me. He said it was nothing like the others. If I wanted to read John Grisham and read something different I should read this one.

I did not buy it that day, but I also did not forget that he recommended it. I found the unabridged audio CD version and decided to go with it. I listen to audio books driving to and from work. I found it better for my disposition than listening to talk radio. (Mike will understand)

The book, oh yeah, this is a review of the book. It is not a legal thriller. This is a sports book. Rick Dockery is a third string NFL quarterback who has played for eight teams in his six year career. An unfortunate string of events happen that bring him into the AFC championship game while playing for Cleveland. Rick blows a 17 point lead with only minutes left in the game and then suffers a concussion that hospitalizes him.

He becomes the laughing stock of the league as is run out of town and the NFL. Nobody will hire Rick. All he knows is football. He still wants to play. He thinks he can still contribute, but nobody will give him that chance.

His agent finds him a starting quarterback spot on an Italian team. He is to earn a few thousand euros each month, but most of the team plays because they enjoy the game and make no money. They are judges and bricklayers and policement and teachers and accountants and businessmen and auto mechanics and just regular guys who play American football because they love the game.

The story is interesting. We travel along with Rick as he sheds his self-centered American ways and learns to enjoy the game and become part of a real team. A team that plays to win because they want to win the game, not to make more money or pad their statistics.

The tour of Italy and Italian culture was fun.

Thanks Dad. You were right. The book was different and it was fun.

13. Dead City

2011-03-06T21:35:00.000-05:00

Dead City - Joe McKinney

ZOMBIES! Lots and lots and lots of zombies!

I love a good zombie book. This one was very good. Me like.

There were two things worth mentioning, other than it is a book about ZOMBIES!

1. There was a sentence that said "Nothing is as protean as a woman." I did not know what that meant. I looked it up. Protean means "readily assuming different forms or characters; extremely variable." When read in the context used in this book it is an excellent word. It was not referring to a woman changing from person to zombie. It was referring to how a woman reacted differently to different people in different situations. I will try to remember that word for use later in life.

2. My children will be glad to know that, on page 192, it stated "There are no zombie cows. Haven't you wondered if anything else besides people gets turned into zombies? Apparently, it's a big question in zombie studies."
This is good news because we live in the country. There are cows around. it is very dark at night. When the kids have to go outside for something at night I always remind them to beware of the zombie cows in the woods. It kind of freaks them out a little and gives them the heebie-jeebies.
I showed them the line from this book that said there are no zombie cows. They were very happy. Soon, I will remind them that this book was a work of fiction and that zombie cows are real. Muu ha ha ha ha!

I am sorry that so many of the characters I liked and thought were cool had to die. Especially in such horendous ways. But, alas, it is a zombie story. Many a great person has been defeated by the undead horde.

12. Raditzer

2011-03-01T11:24:00.000-05:00

Raditzer - Peter Mathiessen

This was an interesting novel about a few navy recruits in the Pacific during World War II. They are stationed in Hawaii and none are on sea-duty. They all have goofy jobs doing things like landry detail or working in the mess hall. Nothing glamorous. Nothing important. Definately nothing in a combat role. There is a war going on, but this book is not so much about that war as it is about the relationships between the men.

Raditzer is one of those guys who has been alone all his life and has no sense of worth. He compensates for this by being a jerk. He latches onto one or two others and then uses situations to cause strife between them and others. He has no idea what friendship is and definately will never fit in with a military unit where camaraderie and trust are needed.

Needless to say, Raditzer gets a blanket party. He is lucky that is all he got. He was going to be tossed into the ocean by some combat hardened veterans, but his "friend" managed to keep that from happening.

I spent 21 years in the military. I met two or three guys that I remember that reminded me a little of Raditzer. They just didn't seem to fit. They were always on the fringe never quite trusted to be one of the guys who would have your back. They seemed to try and get along and then would do or say something that would destroy all the headway they had made. None of those guys was anywhere near as bad as the Raditzer character in this novel.

11. The Reader

2011-02-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

Interesting. I disliked the first part of the book. I really liked the middle. I think the ending was pretty darned good. How is that for a summation?

The beginning: Michael Berg is a fifteen year old German boy during WWII. He meets a woman named Hannah Scmidts who is about thirty years old and works as a conducter on a trolley. He is infatuated with her. They end up being lovers. He reads books to her every day. One day she is just gone. Moved away and Michael has no idea where or why.

Years later: WWII is over. The youth of Germany now condemn the actions of their Nazi parents. Michael is doing a project for college and must attend a trial where some people are on trial that worked at a concentration camp. One of the people is hannah Scmidts. Hannah refuses to defend herself on numerous occasions and is sentenced to life in prison. Michael realizes that the reason Hannah took the fall is that she is illiterate and is more ashamed of that than being convicted.

While Hannah is in prison Michael reads book onto cassette tapes and sends them to Hannah. Never a note or anything. Just the books. Over time Hannah learns to read and write using Michael's tapes and the books from the prison library.

Hannah is freed after serving 18 years. Michael is the only person ever to contact Hannah so the warden asks him to help her in the trasnition. He does. The night before she is released she hangs herself.

Thee is much more to the book as far as interpersonal relationships and the effects people had on each others lives. Twice I was taken by surprise. Once when it was revealed that Hannah was illiterate and all the implications that had on why things happened the way they had in the past as she covered her illiteracy. The other was that Hannah kills herself. It was abrupt and unexpected.

I enjoyed the book. Not at first of course. It was like listening to a kid tell a story about Stiffler's mom. Once Hannah left and the physical relationship ended it was much more interesting. Interesting enough for me to recommend it to you? Nah. Probably not.

10. Next

2011-02-21T19:04:00.000-05:00

Next - Michael Crichton

This was not my favorite Crichton novel. It was exciting enough and had all the requisite Crichton tecnical speak, but it was lacking something for me. I am not quite sure exactly what that was.

The story did raise a lot of ethical questions and possibilities for debate on advances in biotechnology and the effects some of the legal and governmental decisions can have on many different levels.

The plot was OK. I think Crichton wrote it because he had not written a novel about biotech yet. He has covered many other scientifica and medical fields quite well. This one seemed a bit forced. like he had a thought and worked very hard to get his ideas across. It was like that was the purpose for the book and not to tell a good story.

I did this one as an unabridged audio. It took a while to get through the whole thing. After the book ended there was a portion where the authors opinions were stated in an interview. He says that patenting genes is stupid. Just as stupid as patenting a nose and then having to license everything that has anything to do with a nose. He is absolutely correct. How can there be a patent on something that you did not invent or design? Just because it was discovered by someone does not make it their property in all shapes and forms. That is why this book was written. I agree with him on that point. I just wish the story worked better while imparting that "wisdom" upon us readers.

I did not hate it. I enjoyed it. Perhaps I am being to hard on the book because it was written by Michael Crichton. I expect a LOT when reading his books.

9. Weapons Of Choice

2011-02-20T20:19:00.001-05:00

Weapons Of Choice - John Birmingham

I thought the idea behind this novel was very interesting and could not wait to read it. I found out it was the first part in a trilogy and got even more excited about it. The other two are already on the shelf and waiting to be read.

This is a story about a multi-national military task force from the year 2021 that is headed on a peacekeeping mission to Indonesia where Islamic extremists have seized Jakarta. Due to some unrest in the region a research vessel working in the area is also being protected by the task force. That vessel is conducting experiments to create small stable worm-holes. The experiment goes awry and the task force is absorbed by a huge worm hole and transported in time.

They arrive in 1942. Pearl Harbor has already been attacked. Admiral Spruance is in charge of his fleet and headed to Midway for an infamous battle with Yamamoto.

That alone was interesting enough to get me to read the book. Imagine what having weapons systems even a decade more advanced that the ones we currently have and using them against an enemy from the 1940s. The advantage would be overwhelming. Rockets, jets, helicopters, radar, computers, communications equipment, stealth, automatic rifles, night-vision technologies, infra-red, hovercraft, laser-guided technology, body armor, etc etc etc. All of these things did not exist at all in the 1940s.

So, I read the book thinking that all these advantages would lead to an easier war for Americans and possibly a Japanese surrender without having to actually using nuclear weapons. I thought it would be a fun little jaunt for our superior forces onto islands that were in real history some bloody and costly battles with tremendous casualties on both sides.

What I got was different. The naval battle at Midway didn't happen after Spruance's fleet ran into the task force that suddenly appeared. The personnel on the task force were all rendered unconscious for a period of time after the "transition". The task force ships recognized this fact with the sensors and computers on the ships and entered an auto-pilot program. While under auto-pilot is when the 1942 folks located the 2021 folks...and they were multi-national...and there were ships flying the flag of Japan. So, needless to say, despite being like "What the heck is that thing?" the 1942 Americans freaked out and attacked the 2021 ships. The 2021 ships on auto-pilot defended themselves. Both sides take a bunch of damage and history is changed in that instance. No more battle at Midway.

What is so different about that? Nothing. It came after that. About 75% of this book had nothing to do with war at all. It had to do with fitting thousands of people from 2021 into a 1942 world and making it work. Imagine the differences. Racial equality was tremendously different. Women's rights...very different. These two social differences were huge parts of the story. Imagine a black lesbian female being the commander of an American aircraft carrier. No big deal today, but it sure would have been in 1942. Any one of those adjectives (black, lesbian or female) would have meant she would not only never command such a ship, but that she would never even serve on one in any capacity at all.

Those kinds of interactions between peoples of both times were very interesting. Then there was some pretty cool stuff that comes with knowing what would happen before it happens.

For instance, there was a meeting where Admiral Kolhammer (2021) was briefing President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other cabinet and military on the capabilities of his forces. Present at the meeting were folks like Admirals Halsey and Nimitz, General MacArthur, and many others. One of them was general Dwight D Eisenhower. Eisenhower was to become President one day. Since the 2021 folks had all this history in their computer libraries President Roosevelt and General Eisenhower both knew that this was to happen in the future. When Eisenhower disagreed with something Roosevelt said at the meeting Roosevelt said to him "You are not president yet!" That was hilarious to me. Those kinds of things were quite funny.

Another quite funny interaction was when Kolhammer was visiting with Albert Einstein. The conversations were pretty cool.

I was also glad to see that despite all this hardware popping into a world that preceeded the technologies by 80 years that the charachters all realized that they would not suddenly start cranking out tons of cruise missles from American factories. They knew that even with the knowledge they suddenly acquired it would take decades for the undustrial aspects of that technology to catch up to the knowledge they now had.

I figured this would be a fun book to read where the technology would be the star. It turned out that the characters stole the show. It was quite good and I am looking forward to reading the second and third books in the series.

Oh, I almost forgot. The biggest baddest aircraft carrier of them all, the flagship of the multi-national task force...it is the USS Hillary Clinton. It is explained that she was President, a champion of the Navy, and brutally assassinated. Before her death the world had learned not to mess with her because she unleashed the military force upon her enemies ruthlessly. That was an interesting little tidbit from the future that tramsmitted to the past. :-)

Something else I found to be very cool was that there was no Bataan Death March. The tens of thousands of American POWs that actually died horrible deaths in Japanese prison camps were rescued by the multi-national task force. That was the one and only mission performed by the task force against the Japanese forces. The 2021 folks knew it was going to happen and it was important that they prevented such suffering.

Next stop...Auschwitz? I can only hope

Fanny Hill

2011-02-12T15:34:00.000-05:00

Fanny Hill - John Cleland

What a waste of time. This is a classic? This is such a great story that movies and sequels were based on it? I quit shortly after starting this book.

What happened? The parents of a naive fifteen year old girl from the English countryside die and leave her with no family or caregivers. A woman from London takes her to the big city and leaves her to fend for herself. A predatory woman lures her into working for her as a "servant". She is then molested by a 25 year old woman....and that is where I am done.

Let's see...we have child molestation...human trafficking...abuse of an orphaned girl...and so much more. All of this within the first chapter.

I am assuming this gets worse and do not wish to waste my time reading this book.

Also, I will never take the recommendations of my coworker again. This is the third book he has mentioned and the third one that I hated. Three strikes- you are out. I read some stupid books, but dude, come on. The things you recommend are just junk.

8. The War Of The Worlds

2011-02-12T11:52:00.000-05:00

The War Of The Worlds - H. G. Wells

Outstanding!

This was so much more than just a sci-fi novel about martians attacking the earth. The movie and the old radio show were more about the actual attack and the response of people to that attack. The book went further than those surface visuals. It was much more than I expected.

If you, like I, have failed to pick this book up during your lifetime...get on it. I loved it.

7. Goat: A Memoir

2011-02-03T20:39:00.000-05:00

Goat: A Memoir - Brad Land

Savage and brutal. Humanity can be down right dehumanizing. A real life story that is disturbing and sad, yet sparks a desire to be nicer to other humans for no other reason than not causing the problems uncovered within the ramblings of this young author.

Brad Land tells the story of how he was attacked and beaten by two other teens at the age of nineteen. The repercussions of that incident carry throughout his life and the lives of those surrounding him.

The assailants are never named or even described much more than rudimentally. Throughout the book they are called "the breath" and "the smile". This line from the book describes how Brad Land feels ALL the time:
"They're gone but they aren't gone. I can see them everywhere. The smile and the breath are out walking. Always just at my back."
That would be horrible, and yet I am sure there are many people who feel that way for numerous reasons.

A year or two after the attack and the conviction of one of the attackers to a 75 year prison sentence (the other fled and was not found), Brad finds himself pledging a fraternity at Clemson University. There he encounters a hazing experience which is similar in many ways to his physical beating. The emotional abuse and heartlessness of those that he is to call "brother" causes him to quit the fraternity and college.

The story is haunting and disturbing. The writing on the other hand I found to be juvenile and annoying. Do we really need to relay the inane conversations of drunken youths word for word?

"She is hot" Jim said.
"Yeah" John said.
"Fuck yeah, man" Jim said.
"Fuckin' hell yeah, dude!" John said as he drolled beer down the front of his shirt.
(This was not an actual quote from the book, but that is exactly what so much of it was like.)

Along the same lines...how many times was a derivitive of the F-word used in this book? It had to be over a thousand. At least four or five times per page on average. I am not kidding. It was ridiculous.

The book has a great subject. The book deals with that subject well. The book also lacks some skill in the writing department. Maybe that is due to it being a first book? Maybe it is because Brad Land was using the book as a release...a type of therapy...I don't know. I liked it, but I also hated it. The rating is a tough call on this one.

6. Son Of Hamas

2011-01-28T14:48:00.000-05:00

Son Of Hamas - Mosab Hassan Yousef

The Green Prince! This is an awesome book that reveals a lot about the Palestinian side of the Arab-Israeli equation. This guy and his story are amazing.

"The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a charismatic founding member of Hamas, Mosab Yousef makes his newfound faith public and risks everything to expose the secrets of the extremist Islamic organization and reveals the amazing double life he lived trying to prevent the killing of innocents by working with Hamas’ enemies."

"Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in Ramallah, in the West Bank in 1978. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a founding leader of Hamas, internationally recognized as a terrorist organization and responsible for countless suicide bombings and other deadly attacks against Israel. Yousef was an integral part of the movement, for which he was imprisoned several times by the Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence service. He withstood torture in prison only to discover Hamas was torturing its own people in a relentless search for collaborators. He began to question who his enemies really were— Israel? Hamas? America? After a chance encounter with a British tourist, Yousef started a six-year quest that jeopardized Hamas, endangered his family and threatened his life. He has since embraced the Christian faith and sought political asylum in America."

Love it. You should read it.

5. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

2011-01-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut

The book is also known as "Pearls Before Swine" and the title page lists both titles. This was definately not my favorite Vonnegut novel. It was good, but not as good as others I have read.

Eliot Rosewater is the main character in this novel. he is the President of the Rosewater Foundation and a millionaire. This position and it's wealth can be transferred to another family member only if Eliot is proven insane. A corrupt and greedy lawyer plans to do just that and make a fortune during the transfer of power and wealth.

We get to know Eliot, his father the Senator, his estranged Parisien wife, the simple people of Rosewater county that he is taking care of, Fred Rosewater and the Rhode Island cousins, and a few other characters.

The story is told as a series of short stories about numerous incidents. Sometimes this feels disconnected, but it does make sense as you read on.

I realize that this book is satire and criticizes the faults in modern day American society, but I did not find it all that humorous or eye-opening. Maybe forty years ago it was more meaningful than it is today.

One thing that really did stand out was when Eliot's father, the obviously capitalistic politician and upper crust rich guy, confronted Eliot for the way he chose to live. At one point the Senator accused Eliot of being a communist. I did not find that correct at all. Dad saw Eliot's giving money to the poor as a communist trait. He saw it as "sharing the wealth". That is not communist. Communist is about taking from the rich and giving to the poor...redistributing through state control. Eliot was giving away his own money to things he found important. I call that charity. So, the Senator was wrong. I understand that Vonnegut was using this as an example of satirizing the rich as snobbish and cruel with no feelings for the poor, but it was not believable in that instance. Maybe when it was written it made more sense. That was much closer to the McCarthy commie hunts. That could be why it was used.

I will read more Vonnegut, but I will not read this one again. He has better novels.