1998 Reading Record Comments
  "Complexity" was one of the most influencial books I've ever read, but I didn't quite understand it until weeks after I read it, hence the low grade. Every where I looked I started to see what they were talking about.
I was reading a lot of Winston Churchill's books- I guess I love history. If you want more information about a book, click the title or the book image for links to Amazon.
Page Count Grade 0-9 Date I finished Source (FPL: Fargo Public Library)
Joystick Nation Joystick Nation
How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts, And Rewired Our Minds
by: Herz, J.C. Interesting look at the history of videogames. I still didn't read about any game I would want to play. 225 pages 5.0 1/14/98 FPL
Billions & Billions Billions & Billions
Thoughts On Life And Death At The Brink Of The Millennium
by: Sagan, Carl Carl died while finishing this book. It's mostly made up from odds and ends like articles from Parade. He convinced me(?) that the Ozone hole might have been a problem but hasn't convinced me about global warming. The best chapter was "Rules of The Game." The Tit-for-Tat rule: "Cooperate with others first, then do unto them as they do unto you." -has the best payoff. 230 pages 7.0 1/14/98 FPL
Watching My Language Watching My Language
Adventures In The Word Trade
by: Safire, William This book was in alphabetical order. Each chapter was only a few paragraphs long. Some were interesting words and phrases but most were not. It took longer than I hoped. 295 pages 4.5 1/24/98 FPL
Timequake Timequake
by: Vonnegut, Kurt I saw this book in the seven day loan at the library. I couldn't resist. An easy book to read- Vonnegut seems to prefer simple sentences. This book is a mash of the aborted Timequake I novel and some stories and misc. peices. Yet, I enjoyed reading it. He says he's going to retire, that he's run out of ideas. I hope not. 219 pages 7.0 2/1/98 FPL
Pagemill For Macintosh Pagemill For Macintosh
by: Langer, Maria This looks like it would be a better program than Homepage, maybe when version 3 comes out I'll get it. But for the Mac or Win95? The book was well thought out and easy to read. "Teach yourself PageMill the quick and easy way! This Visual Quick Start Guide uses pictures rather than lengthy explanations. You'll be up a nd running in no time!" 195 pages 6.0 3/1/98 FPL
Who Concert File, The Who Concert File, The
by: McMichael, Joe and Lyons, 'Irish' Jack I special ordered this book. It wasn't out in America yet. At first I thought it was more a reference book and not worthwhile to read, but I started paging through. Then I started from the front and found it was an enjoyable read. 207 pages 7.0 3/3/98 Craig
Complexity Complexity
Life At The Edge Of Chaos
by: Lewin, Roger The subject of Complexity was very interesting but the style of writing sometimes made it hard to keep reading. 196 pages 5.0 3/7/98 FPL
Runaway Jury, The Runaway Jury, The
by: Grisham, John Grisham writes a good book, this was one of the better ones. However they're begining to all sound the same. The ending was disappointing. They gave back the tobacco money, but after screwing the shareholders. 401 pages 6.0 4/3/98 FPL
Early Ayn Rand, The Early Ayn Rand, The
A Selection From Her Unpublished Fiction
by: Rand, Ayn Some of the stories were good some weren't. The added pieces from "The Fountainhead" made me wonder if I wouldn't find her pretentious if I were to reread her masterworks. The earliest works were actually pretty good considering English wasn't her native language. 434 pages 5.0 5/8/98 FPL
Whole Shebang, The Whole Shebang, The
A State Of The Universe(2) Report
by: Ferris, Timothy The writting was good and the science fascinating. It got a little difficult near the end but it's still a good book. 312 pages 7.0 5/24/98 FPL
Get Back Get Back
The Unauthorized Chronicle Of The Beatles Let It Be Disaster
by: Sulpy, Doug and Schweighardt, Ray I knew Paul was the peace maker, but from the book- from the tapes it's obvious John was drugged out and was jealous of George. George couldn't take it and walked out. The difference between Linda and Yoko was interesting too. They should have sent John out to write songs and practiced as a threesome, of course they were practicing for a concert that didn't happen. I also wonder if the early work schedule and strange location didn't cause problems too. 318 pages 6.0 5/28/98 FPL
In Council Rooms Apart In Council Rooms Apart
by: Craig, John Victor picked this book out- at random? I finished the Beatles book right away so I decided to read the book. It was written very well and the plot was juvenel. The ending picked up so it wasn't a total lost. 223 pages 4.0 5/31/98 FPL
History Of The American People, An History Of The American People, An
by: Johnson, Paul This book was even better than "Modern Times". Paul is a genius at writing about the big picture. It can't be easy to tackle such a big subject and yet he does it so well. It isn't an easy read but well worth the effort. 976 pages 9.0 6/19/98 FPL
Night Train Night Train
by: Amis, Martin This book was in the 7 day load shelf. It only took me one evening to read it. All the other books I picked up were terrible, this one made up for it. Martin's writing sucked me right in. The ending was a little unsure. I think she committed suicide because of the pardise syndrome, although her life was perfect, the little flaws made her think it was terrible? 175 pages 8.0 6/29/98 FPL
Greetings From The Lincoln Bedroom Greetings From The Lincoln Bedroom
by: Huffington, Arianna A cute "Alice (Arianna) in Wonderland (The Whitehouse)" story. 275 pages 4.0 7/6/98 FPL
Foundation's Fear Foundation's Fear
The Second Foundation Trilogy Authorized By The Estate Of Isaac Asimov
by: Benford, Gregory Usually I like Benford's work. His writing is strong, but I it seems he had all these ideas he forced into the story. I gave Asimov's story a strange feeling. 425 pages 5.0 7/23/98 FPL
Runner's World Complete Book Of Running Runner's World Complete Book Of Running
Everything You Need To Know To Run For Fun, Fitness, And Competition
by: Burfoot, Amby I didn't plan to read the book but it was interesting. I have no plans to run in a marathon but it was interesting to read what it would take. I can't feel good about my 2-3 miles per week when they're talking about a minimum of 10 miles per week and even that is pussy. 287 pages 4.0 7/27/98 FPL
Behind Blue Eyes Behind Blue Eyes
A Life Of Pete Townshend
by: Giuliano, Geoffrey As soon as I saw this book on sale at Barnes and Noble I knew I had to pick it up. I was kind of wimpy and I didn't learn anything earth shaking. Pete cames across as an asshole but he's learning. Geoffery met Pete as an Baba employee but got caught being a busy body and that was the end of that. 332 pages 5.0 7/31/98 Craig
Autobiography Of Andrew Carnegie, The Autobiography Of Andrew Carnegie, The
by: Carnegie, Andrew The book was good. Andy seems like a nice guy who worked hard and was in the right place at the right time. He wrote simply so it wasn't too hard to right. Some times he would string a dozen prepresitional phrases together. 360 pages 4.5 8/4/98 FPL
My Early Life My Early Life
by: Churchill, Winston S. His early life reads like Indiana Jones. I didn't know he had all those adventures. The writing was pretty good. The book was bound to close to the print so it was physically hard to read. I was only going to read about the Battle of Omdurman, but kept going. It took awhile because I was reading three other books at the time. 378 pages 6.9 8/16/98 FPL
Mac & Power Mac Secrets Mac & Power Mac Secrets
3rd Edition
by: Pogue, David and Schoor, Joseph Victor was borrowing this book from Pee Wee. I was paging through it and saw some interesting things. I'm surprised by how much I already now. I did get excited about using a RAM disk on my 1400c. I have enough memory to take advantage of it. 939 pages 6.0 8/31/98 Victor
Making Of A Coen Brothers Film, The Making Of A Coen Brothers Film, The
The Big Lebrowski
by: Robertson, William Preston I was surprised by the detail. William is a friend of the Coen brothers. William talked to the cinematographer, production manager, story board artist, custome designer- which told how the movie was put together. 182 pages 7.0 10/15/98 FPL
Microsoft Office98 At A Glance Microsoft Office98 At A Glance
Macintosh Edition
by: Johnson, Steven M. Office 98 for the Mac is the same as Office97. I intend to get it but I think I'll wait a bit. It was better to read about the program than lay out the money for the program and learn over time there was no hurry. 234 pages 5.0 10/16/98 FPL
Tales Of The Dark Knight Tales Of The Dark Knight
Batman's First Fifty Years: 1939-1989
by: Vaz, Mark Cotta The book was sitting out in the stacks at the library. It caught my eye. It was interesting but it could have been better. I would have kept to a more chronilogical look. 205 pages 5.2 10/19/98 FPL
Dave Barry Is From Mars And Venus Dave Barry Is From Mars And Venus
by: Barry, Dave I was waiting for Clancey's book, I was next on the list. (She said I was next on the list- little did I know that was the same day.) The book was easy to read, it only took a day to read. The story about poetry and the following about hospital made me laugh so had I to stop reading. 269 pages 6.2 10/23/98 FPL
ClarisWorks Office Bible ClarisWorks Office Bible
by: Schwartz, Steven A. Everytime I look in the FPL's computer section I see more interesting books. They have managed to keep on top of these reference books. I learn a couple of interesting tips. I'm still debating working in Clarisworks or moving to Office. At the least I'm thinking of getting Excel 5.0 for pivot tables. 670 pages 6.0 10/29/98 FPL
Rainbow Six Rainbow Six
by: Clancy, Tom It started out good. The 'Earth First' plot was kind of stupid and unbelievable. The near end was good, but leaving them naked in the jungle was stupid. 740 pages 6.3 10/30/98 FPL
Disraeli Disraeli
by: Davis, Richard W. I didn't have any books, so I started combing the Biography section. I wanted to read about Disraeli. I picked the shortest book. It wasn't that good, Davis assumes you know a lot about 19th Century England and 19th Century English politics. Disraeli comes across as a Bill Clinton like charactor: no ideals, what ever is politically expedient. Disraeli had a good statement against Liberalism: "We represent progress, which is essentially practical, against mere Liberal opinions, which are fruitless. We are prepared to do all which the requirements of the State and the thought and feeling of the country will sanction: anything beyond that is mere doctrinaire gossip, which we should studiously avoid." p132 223 pages 2.9 11/1/98 FPL
Gathering Storm, The Gathering Storm, The
#1
by: Churchill, Winston S. I was wondering around the library looking for a book. I decided to look in the history section. I didn't think the FPL had any (many) Churchill books, but they did have his WWII series. I thought if I started I would want to finish. Many volumes, which one to start with? I started at the beginninig. He writes well and the subject is interesting. 667 pages 7.0 11/18/98 FPL
Their Finest Hour Their Finest Hour
#2
by: Churchill, Winston S. This story keeps getting better and better. It's well written and inforative. 630 pages 7.0 12/2/98 FPL
Cosm Cosm
by: Benford, Gregory I like Benford, but I was so into Churchill I didn't want to read it. But once I started it was a real page turner. 344 pages 7.0 12/5/98 FPL
Grand Alliance, The Grand Alliance, The
#3
by: Churchill, Winston S. These volumes on the "Second World War" keep getting more and more intereting. 711 pages 7.0 12/16/98 FPL
Hinge Of Fate, The Hinge Of Fate, The
#5
by: Churchill, Winston S. The first book of this volume was hard to read. Every thing for the Allies went wrong, but the second book started the turn. 831 pages 7.0 12/28/98 FPL
Light My Fire Light My Fire
My Life With The Doors
by: Manzarek, Ray Ray rambles on, someone must have stuck a mic in front of him and didn't edit the transcript. There were some interesting details in the begining but it quickly accelerated toward the end. I read most of it in one sitting. 352 pages 3.9 12/31/98 FPL
  35 Books / 13,460 Total Pages