Authors I read more than once: Lee Child (3), Arthur C. Clarke (2), C.S. Forester (10), Malcolm Gladwell (3), John Grisham (2), and Allen Steele (2)
The links below go to Amazon.com (click the title or the book image)
Page Count Grade 0-9 Date I finished Source (FPL: Fargo Public Library)
A story set in the civil war. Each chapter starts with a clipping or do illustrating the problems cause by guerilla action in the border states and how 'women' got caught up in the war. The story is a love story between Adair Colley (wrongly accused of working for the South) and Major William Neumann, her jailer. Actually the love story is between Adair and her horse. 321 pages 5.2 1/3/09 Suzanne
The Aubrey / Maturin series #21
Interesting look at the first draft for the 21st book. It is sloppy in places, but it looked to be a good story. The last chapter the reader is forced to deal with O'Brian's handwritting. It is very hard to make out. I suggest the transcription I found online at: http://wiki.hmssurprise.org/index.php/Transcription_for_21 144 pages 4.0 1/12/09 FPL
City of Golden Shadow
I read 328/770 Before giving up. Suzanne really loved this book (part of a series) and thought I would love it too. I read quite a bit, waiting for the story to get good, but it didn't. I don't care for the characters (and there are quite a few to keep track of). The virtual reality plot doesn't make any sense and elements of fantasy are a turn off for me. Even if I were to make an effort to finish the book there are a couple more Otherland tomes waiting. Time to stop reading and find something better. 0 pages 4.0 1/31/09 Suzanne
Visual Quickstart Guide: Learn InDesign The Quick And Easy Way!
I like the quickstart guide series, the generally do a good job of showing off the program's features and then make for a good reference book once you're done. This book was a little too simple. Even with InDesign's huge learning curve, I thought it was spending too much time on things that were obvious. Still, the writing was clear and I have a good reference. 538 pages 5.0 2/27/09 Craig
Hornblower Series #1
I missed my O'Brian books so much I decided to start the Hornblower series. This is not the first Forester wrote but it is the first in chronology of Hornblower. A fun read and it very similar to O'Brian books although it takes place a couple generations before Captain Aubrey. 310 pages 7.0 3/2/09 MSUM
I learn a few new things, even though I have InDesign CS3 and the current version is CS4. This books has more pictures, which I didn't need. The chapters were very hands on, so I could see how they solve design problems. 189 pages 4.0 3/10/09 MSUM
I read 260/467 Before giving up. When I found out this was the first of three planned books, and Mailer died shortly after completing this book, I felt there was no reason to continue. The premise is interesting. A devil (underling of Satan) is put in charge of the Hitler project. Unfortunately, this devil (Mailer) doesn't write very well, is in desperate need of an editor, and rambles on and on about shit and fucking. I'm not sure he has a point. I hope it's not that the devil made Hitler evil. I did learn the name was spelt Hiedler at one time, I bet that is what happened to the Hilters after the war. 0 pages 3.0 3/17/09 MSUM
Jack Reacher Novel #11
The story is good but not great, not too hard to believe, but not dull either. The writing is good and I was able to keep reading without straining unlike a lot of recent books I've tried to read. The characters, including Jack Reacher are interesting so I'll probably read some more of these novels. 477 pages 5.8 3/20/09 MSUM
It starts out a little slow. Kyle McAvoy isn't the most simpathic charactor and the plot is thin, but then the action starts and the story develops. The book gets better and better until everything is resolved. All Grissom books have weak endings and this one is no different but I still enjoyed it. Nice easy read. 373 pages 5.5 3/23/09 Victor
The Art Of Winning An Unfair Game
Very interesting book. The theme of using math and science to put together a winning baseball team on a budget could also be used in business and politics. The characters are interesting and the stories made it come to life. There is very little math but the concepts might be over some people's heads. The writing could have been better, but on the whole an easy read- I read it in one afternoon. There is some bad language in the book, so I can't recommend it for kids, 'though I would like to. 288 pages 7.5 3/28/09 FPL
The Untold Story Of The Those Who Survived The Great American Dust Bowl
A interesting story of a few men and women who found themselves at ground zero of the dust bowl. The book won a National Book Award, but it isn't written that well. It is interesting that people were will to put up with so much trouble without leaving. 312 pages 5.7 4/4/09 Suzanne
Good little law story about libility, politics, and the law. While I was reading it I slow became a fan of the bad guys, so imagine my surprise when the won, which never happens in a Grisham book. Through much of the book I was having a mental argument with the author. To my mind the bad guy (if there is one) was the government- at every level. 358 pages 6.2 4/11/09 FPL
Hornblower Series #2
Good story that works around Horaito- we see him through the eyes of the other Lieutenants. It appears these Hornblower stories take place only a few years before the Aubrey stories. 306 pages 6.0 4/15/09 MSUM
Espionage, spying, "perception management" and an international incident make for a pot boiler thriller. The hero, Shaw, is similar to Bourne or Bond. Lots of bloodshed, and many twists and turns. A little hard to beleive but overall a fun read. 403 pages 5.2 4/19/09 MSUM
Hornblower Series #3
The story is good, if a little slow, but the writting didn't feel as smooth as previous Hornblower books. I did like how Forester treated the subplot of Spanish Gold. 344 pages 4.7 4/23/09 MSUM
Behing A Very-simplest Introduction To Those Beautiful Methods Of Reckoning, Which Are Generally Called By The Terrifying Names Of Differential Calculus And The Intergral Calculus
This is the 1998 edition. I read 65/325. I had no interest in learning (re-learning) Calculus. I wanted to see their take on the subject. I found I still remembered enough to get through a couple chapters. I also skipped the other chapters just to see if it looked any easier than my college Calculus. It didn't. I was suprised by foreward, which mentioned Calculus has fallen out of favor in the digital/Quantum age. See Preface page 3 http://books.google.com/books?id=Jw651amAdcIC&pg=PA3 0 pages 0.0 4/24/09 MSUM
Thirty Years Of Classic Paradies
George Lucas loved Mad Magazine and so Mad was one of the few entities that got away with using the Star Wars name and likenesses. The statire wasn't very biting but there were a lot of funny bits and I enjoyed the drawing styles. 149 pages 4.7 4/28/09 MSUM
The writing was excellent and the stories were very interesting but picking a single year was a mistake. It would be okay if McCullough were to follow up with 1777-1783 the sequels and 1770-1775 the prequels. The book looks the year through the eyes of the military commands, both the Americans and British, but this is limiting as well. 294 pages 5.0 5/1/09 Suzanne
Hornblower Series #4
This started off very good. It looked to be a spy thriller and sea story much like the Aubrey-Mautrin books. Unfortunately Forester died while writing this book and it was never finished. 162 pages 4.0 5/14/09 FPL
Hornblower Series #5
Hormblower has funeral duty for Lord Nelson, then recovers silver and gold from turkish waters, along with some other adventures. 342 pages 6.0 5/20/09 FPL
Very enjoyable story about a graduate student who accidentally invents a time machine. His life is a mess so he takes off in his time machine. He can't control the machine as it goes a set (but ever increasing) distance into the future. It is a one way trip too. He has interesting adventures and the ending is good too. 278 pages 7.5 5/23/09 FPL
StarTribune
Poorly written for a Newspaper man. Sid is 89 years old so I it may be age related. I didn't think the photos were that interesting either. I read 30/173 of this book before giving up. Sid wrote more about the behind the scenes action than on the field. 0 pages 2.0 5/26/09 FPL
Mrs Ric Ocasek writes an interesting tale about a swedish girls who comes to Paris to be a model. Jirina (Yee-ree-na) Radovanovicova was born in Sweeden to a Czech father. Nothing in her life has gone right, and Paris isn't much better. But this young girl (15) learns over the summer to become a young woman. The story is fiction but I wonder how much of Paulina is in Jirina. An easy read, Paulina doesn't have the best way with words, but the story is interesting. 322 pages 6.9 5/31/09 FPL
A Story of Life and Death in Space
"On February 1, 2003, Ten Astronauts Were Orbiting The Planet. Seven Were Headed Back To Earth On The Space Shuttle Columbia. They Never Made It. And The Three Men Left Behind Found Themselves..." Very interesting story about Donald Pettit, Kenneth Bowersox, and Nikolai. We see the Columbia disintegration through their eyes. We also see the life aboard the International Space Station. As filler, Jones provides a brief history of US and Russian space programs. There is lots of interesting trivia in the box. The writing is so-so: Jones fictionalizes much of the dialog and internal dialog, and the jumping around in story gets old but I enjoyed the story. 280 pages 5.5 6/3/09 FPL
An enjoyable read, a memoir of a jewish kid (non-practicing) growing up in the 1930s Bronx. Too bad it was fiction. It came off like an overly long New Yorker story. I didn't care for the chapters written by his 'brother, mother, and aunt' it added nothing and diluted the kid's story. Doctorow did a good job showing us New York through the kid's eyes. 288 pages 6.1 6/10/09 Suzanne
The Biography
Sort of a rehash of other biographies and articles, but it does draw a portrait of Elton John. He also sort of answered my question, "How Did Elton manage to writes so many good songs in such a short period of time." [An assembly line approach and a vast knowledge of pop music, a great band and even better producer.] I can't say I really would want to be friends with Elton but I would like to meet my childhood musical hero. 381 pages 5.4 6/14/09 FPL
The Story Of Success
The best book I've read in ten years. It is like candy for the intellect. The writing flows and the concepts are fascinating. It shows how culture, luck, and hard work are as important as raw intelligense. I see many of the concepts Gladwell lays out at work in my life. 285 pages 9.0 6/17/09 MSUM
Book One Of A Time Odyssey
Nice little story where the Earth gets sliced up in time and our modern heroes fight alongside Alexander the Great against Genghis Khan. Reminds of Farmer's "Riverworld Series". 337 pages 7.0 6/18/09 FPL
Beat To Quarters, Ship Of The Line, Flying Colours
This collection contains the first three novels of Horatio Hornblower. The first is a little weak but the second and three rip roaring tales of adventure on the high seas and as prisoneers of Napolean. The book also deals with Horatio's insecurities. The ending is very good. A standard happily every after, but with Horatio's insecurities, he finds the rewards were not to his taste. 662 pages 6.5 6/23/09 FPL
A Novel
A nervous read, all the characters are making bad decisions; walking on a tightrope and you know they're going to fall. Unlike "House of Sand and Fog" none of the characters are very sympathetic: April (the stripper), Bassam (the terrorist), AJ (right thing wrong time), and Jean (the babysitter). I thought the book could have been better without the 9-11 storyline. I couldn't buy into Dubus' Bassam characters. I doubt his thoughts were as portrayed. That said Dubus has a real flair for drama. I was nervous the entire time I read the book. 535 pages 6.2 6/25/09 FPL
How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference
A good book, but not as good as Gladwell's "Outliers" it didn't seem to have the tight focus or the as many interesting concepts. Still there were some thought provoking chapters about: "The Law of the Few", "Blue's Clues", "The Magic Number: 150", and "The Unsticky Cigarette". 259 pages 5.8 6/30/09 FPL
Hornblower Series #9
Horatio Hornblower has his own squadron of ships and is headed for the Baltic. He has some adventures fighting Napolean's invasion of Russia. His flagship is the Nonsuch and there are many exciting chapters of fighting. 343 pages 6.3 7/1/09 FPL
An Atlas and Personal Commentary on the Writing of the Hornblower Saga
I got this book for the maps- they show where the action took place in the Horatio Hornblower books. The Forester wrote about writing. A mini biography of myself and his most famous character. It is interesting to hear how Forester came up with the characters and plots, and how he approaches the mechanics of writing; and finally his reaction once the books are complete. This books covers all the Hornblowers books including his last "Hornblower During the Crisis". Forester mentions this idea he has for another book- he won't finish it. It will finish him. 140 pages 6.0 7/3/09 FPL
Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-bending, Celebrating America the Way It's Supposed To Be -- With an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac ... of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn
A collection of funny articles PJ wrote about automobiles for: Car and Driver, Esquire, Forbes FYI, Rolling Stone, Automoblie, and The Sunday Times. It's a great read for anyone that likes automoblies or Republican humor. "Reagan throws pinko politicians out the door of human liberty and they come back down the chimney of climate change. Globalization tosses pinko environmentalist out the window of free-market opportunity and they crawl back through the rat hole of fiscal crisis. Pinko economic reformers will be given the bum's rush in their turn. But they'll be back in yet another guise. It's a battle that won't be won in my lifetime." 258 pages 6.4 7/8/09 Craig
The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking
I liked Gladwell's "Outliers" more, but in some ways this is his best book because it has more practical information for the individual. It isn't a self help book but if you follow what he's saying you can improve yourself by paying attention to what your mind is doing. The chapters on Warren Harding and Coke vs Pepsi are very good. 254 pages 6.8 7/11/09 FPL
Hornblower Series #10
This is a good tale, where Horatio seems to double down, stacking up success after success until he gets in too deep. The ending is a little weak. This books deals with Horatio's relationships with friends and lovers in more depth. 293 pages 5.6 7/15/09 FPL
It could have been called "The (Natural) World With Us" as it is more about man's impact on the environment than on how quickly our artifacts and civilization would last without us to take care of them. The book is more discriptive than proscriptive which I appreciated. From the text it seems there are two problems: way too many humans on Earth and plastic. 275 pages 4.8 7/19/09 FPL
A funny Sci-Fi story about a kid from Sri Lanka and the adventures he gets into while a young man. There are aliens, ray guns and robots! Very enjoyable read. 299 pages 6.8 7/21/09 FPL
Hornblower Series #11
A great book to close out the Hormblower series. A fine collection of adventures fighting pirates, slave ships, storms, governmental red tape, and even his wife Barbara. 329 pages 7.0 7/24/09 MSUM
33-1/3 Series
Although this book is about Pet Sounds, it also deals with history of Brian Wilson and the band. 121 pages 5.5 7/24/09 Audible
The Future Of A Radical Price
Interesting look a price (Free) that can be used as a marketing tool and how it can but integrated into your business. 288 pages 4.0 7/29/09 Audible
Jack Reacher #3
An exciting thriller with a good plot. The bad guy seems like he came out of central casting. And the hot baby was a little weak but the action made up for it. The twists in the plot were clever but not so clever that I couldn't figure it out before hand. 401 pages 6.9 8/4/09 MSUM
Mildly amusing but nowhere near as funny as some of his other books. 208 pages 3.7 8/7/09 MSUM
A Novel
Odd story about a young lady, who plays bass in a band. She's friends with the lead singer, her boss and band supporter is an ex-boyfriend, and she falls in love with the unwitting lyricist. Her sleeping around causes the band to break up just as it hits its peak. And there is a kangaroo involved as well. 224 pages 5.0 8/11/09 FPL
A Comic's Life
An autobiography about learning to be funny by focusing on your craft. Much of it is just dumb luck. Gladwell's "Outliers" talks about being the right age, and in the right place at the right time. This is a good example. 224 pages 0.0 8/23/09 Audible
The book takes us back to the founding of this country and illustrates what made the United States great and how those founding principles are under attack by the forces of socialism and statism. It is well researched and not just some right wing scread. 256 pages 6.7 8/26/09 Audible
I was thinking of reading "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression" by Amity Shlaes. Yesterday Walter E Williams was on radio and talked about this short piece by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. (Also fee.org) It does a great job of laying out what went wrong with Hoover, FDR, and Congress. They took a simple recession and made it much worse. One could argue, it caused WWII. (When goods don't cross frontiers, armies will.") The sad news is Obama and Congress are walking (running) down the same path. 19 pages 7.0 9/5/09 FPL
I enjoyed this book from the first page. Unfortunately externalities got in the way so it took me a long time to finish. It's not a black comedy, but there are funny episodes in the book and serious episode, and lots of 1848 history on top. The characters are excellent and the plot moves along quickly. 620 pages 7.4 9/15/09 FPL
218/521 pages. "Forrest Gump" is one of my favorite movies. But if you didn't know anything about the 1960s or 1970s the movie wouldn't make much sense other than as a love story. Baudolino is like Forrest only he lives in the 1170s. Much of the fun of this book is lost on me. I recognize Fredrick The Great and Pope Alexandria III, but everything else seems to go over my head. I'm too lazy to look up the references and half way through the book I've decided to stop reading. I'm convince this would be a very good book if you're familiar with the world of 1170. 0 pages 6.0 9/19/09 Suzanne
I enjoyed reading this book, it has a real good story about a Minnesota Dentist who struggles to rebuild his 'perfect' life after three personal tragedies occur in the space of one year. I think this would make a good movie if they remove Kate and the President. The core of the story is Grant's relationship with Will and Susan. Most of the action takes place in Walker, Fargo, and Washington. This book received the 'Benjamin Franklin Award', which I find odd because it has some flaws that didn't interfere with my enjoyment but would keep me from giving it any kind of award. Although the male characters are well written, the female characters are rather thin. Nathan writes in the third person too often. His writing style is mechanical and pulp paperback like. The story seems a little forced, as if he wrote it based on what he thought Oprah would like, or what the average housewife might like to recommend to her 'Joe-Six-Pack' husband. Regardless of the subject matter it still reads like a 'chick flick.' This particularly true of Grant, the main character- he is suppose to be a man's man, but I wouldn't want to be his friend. Despite the flaws, it is still a good read, if you want an emotionally driven plot. 492 pages 6.5 9/25/09 Suzanne
My Life With Asperger's
There are two threads running through "Look Me In The Eye". One is a collection of amusing tales as told by the older brother of Augusten Burroughs "Running With Scissors", and another about how John Elder found his place in the world while fighting a 'mild' case of Asperger's. The stories are chilling, but also funny in a black humor vein. Later in life Robinson becomes a guitar tech for Ace Freley in KISS, then a respected engineer, and finally an auto mechanic for European sports and luxury cars. I was amazed (maybe I shouldn't be) that he rose in the ranks of electrical engineering to management as a high school drop out. The second thread in the book deals with Robinson's Asperger's. He grew up when the condition wasn't known. His teachers and psychologists just assume he was a bad kid. Slowly he learned some coping skills and might have 'main streamed' into life if it wasn't for his dysfunctional family. His mother was committed into a mental institute and his father was a raging drunk. Robinson talks about the continuum of Autism and Asperger's- one we are all on. One extreme- the child is complete closed up in their little world, at the other - no sense of self at all. Most of us happily float in a nice balance in the middle. Reading this book I saw myself a little off center on the Asperger's side - not as far off as Robinson, but I recognized my feelings and behaviors. 282 pages 7.8 10/23/09 FPL
Although Dracula (Vlad Tepes) is central to the plot of "The Historian" he makes a surprisingly short appearance. The story revolves around the Historian's (Paul) quest to find his University Advisor. The Advisor, Professor Rossi, was researching Dracula when he disappeared. While looking for Rossi, Paul finds true love (Helen), loses true love. A third generation complicates the story without adding much too it. (Paul & Helen's daughter) The book deals with the hunt for the historic Vlad 'The Impaler" through history, in books, in libraries and monasteries. The book reads like a mystery but the clues are vague- I don't believe the reader is meant to solve the mystery. Events unfold in a rather predictable fashion; yet the story seems to raise more questions than it answers. But by doing so, Kostova leads the reader through the book in search of those answersÉ that never may or may not come. I enjoyed the trip very much: America, England, Netherlands, France, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Kostova says many of the stories came from her own father- and the book has that feel. It might also explain why she felt the need to tell the story from the child's perspective. 676 pages 7.1 10/27/09 Suzanne
A Novel Of Interestellar Exploration
This book is more of a frontier adventure book than a science fiction story. The SciFi just gets them to the new planet. There are elements of political philosophy but they are not well developed. I enjoyed the story and look forward to the sequels. 731 pages 6.0 11/10/09 FPL
The Python Years
The diary entries as read by Michael Palin are fascinating look Monty Python from the inside. Michael seems so down to earth, and such a hard worker you can't help but love him. The entries are short but you do get a feel for his work and family schedules. I wonder how much of the book comes straight from the original diaries and how much is rewritten, or added. In the Audible.com version, John Tomiczek, my brother-in-law, is mentioned three times. 672 pages 7.6 11/10/09 Audible
Very good for a first novel. The writing is crisp and the story interesting. The story of thirteen year old MilesO'Malley is something of a modern tall tale, but that is what makes it interesting. 246 pages 7.4 11/12/09 Suzanne
I got about 42 pages into the book. I decided I didn't care for the writing style. I didn't care for the characters and the plot didn't seem interesting. There appear to be three storylines involving criminals. 0 pages 0.0 11/13/09 FPL
A Novel Of Interestellar Exploration
A sequel to "Coyote" this book also reads like a collection of stories that takes place in the frontier of a new planet. I like the stories but after spending billions if not trillions of dollars to get the pioneers to the planet they are just left to fend for themselves and to fight over resources when they should have more tools and certainly an unlimited amount of power either nuclear or space solar. 382 pages 6.0 11/17/09 FPL
A Thought Experiment
I got this PDF from Scott's website. It is an easy read but because it is a PDF I kept forgetting where I left off, then I would ignore it, then I would start reading over again. This time I didn't stop. It's an odd book but fun. I recognize many of the topics, as Scott writes about them on his excellent blog. The book is designed to mess with your mind, much like the Magus did, but it wasn't unpleasant. I enjoyed the made up religion- I've made up one myself- for fun. I like his advice on relationships, but I'm not sure if Scott didn't make up this too. If there are 'People' and 'Idea' people then I'm am definately one of those boring Idea people. I'm also at level four and can see level five- that I'm sure is made up! 132 pages 7.0 11/19/09 Craig
England, before, during, and after World War II; cultures collide and life gets messy. The story is told through the eyes of Gilbert Joseph and Hortense Roberts (from Jamaica), and Queenie Bligh and Bernard Bligh (London). The book is well written and seems to ring true. The theme of the book seems to go against the thoughts of Gilbert- the smaller the island the better they act. The Jamaicans are the most rational (although still racists), the Americans act badly, leaving the English somewhere in the middle. 438 pages 6.5 11/30/09 Suzanne
A Paul Madriani Novel
A good blend of action and courtroom suspense. I almost read it in one day- it was that engrossing. Paul Madriani is a lawyer who represents a security guard framed for a murder at a large software company. The company is a little shady- working primarily for the Federal Government. The book is an easy read and the action flows at a good pace. 420 pages 6.7 12/8/09 FPL
The book was well written and interesting in places, but I was a little put off by the Soap Opera feel. The characters who were marooned on this moon, seemed a little to involved with themselves and each other. It also seems odd that they would miss some obvious problems with their social set up. I did like the plot point where they were escaping Artificial Intelligence and Nano technology run amuck on Earth, but were force to use it to escape, and then to survive- I just wish this would have been developed more and that Cooper would have kept the mush to a minimum. 400 pages 6.2 12/16/09 FPL
Jack Reacher, #1
The book starts with the hero getting arrested which is a great way to introduce Jack Reacher to the world. The story is good as is the plot. It bogs down a little near the end but wraps up with a great ending. This would make a very good movie. Child should have come up with a logical explaination as to why Jack ends up in the same small town as his brother. It might have been better if it was someone other than his brother that got killed. I look forward to reading the next book in the series. 407 pages 7.0 12/25/09 FPL