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I just finished The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin. The Russian version of Catch-22, I think it's extremely well written and very funny. Voinovich was able to make me laugh more than I ever have for a book, which is awesome. Every single part of it was good, and now I want to read the sequel.
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Nov 16, 2006 00:01
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I just finished Now I Can Die In Peace by Bill Simmons, and later tonight, I will have finished Live and Remember by Valentin Rasputin. The Bill Simmons was a really funny sports book, so it doesn't count as a real book. The Rasputin one is pretty good, but I don't really know where it's headed. It's kind of sitting in one place, but other than that, it has been an enjoyable read.
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Nov 28, 2006 00:11
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Well, now I finished Live and Remember by Valentin Rasputin. The story really didn't move for almost the entire book, but the ending was really good. The last 30 or 40 pages moved very quickly, and surprisingly, I finished the last 80 or so pages in one sitting. I felt terrible for Mikheyich, the main characters' father/-in law. He was really in the novel just to be the character who saw through all the bullshit, but he was a sad character, and probably the one I most connected with. I don't know how many other people have read this, but the story offers a fairly good view on love and village life in the Soviet Union during WWII. It's a fairly good novel, and I recommend it to everybody who likes Russian Lit, WWII lit, or a good read. And it's not that long, so go ahead and read it.
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Nov 28, 2006 03:50
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First Counsel by Brad Meltzer. Probably my favorite thriller writer, which means he's not a real author. It was really good, and it had me turning pages. Read for three hours until the light of a new day is seen through my window. Okay.
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Dec 4, 2006 04:24
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Well, I finished another Brad Meltzer book the other day. Tenth Justice was the name, and it was another fantastic read. I think he's a good writer for thrillers and the such. I also like his books because they have to do with law and politics, so there is some neato stuff. Good reads again. Now I have to figure out a new book to read. 
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Dec 10, 2006 03:25
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I know it's not a real book, but I just finished Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. It was okay as far as thriller books go, and now I get to work on The DaVinci Code. I don't really like his style of writing as much as Brad Meltzer or some other people (Yes... I know they're all bad  ), but he's okay and he puts together a good read. I also finished Deception Point, another Dan Brown book in the past month or so, so I've been a Dan Brownaholic recently.I swear I'll read a good book after The DaVinci Code. I need to read The Great Gatsby and Heartbreaking blah blah blah of staggering blah, so I will, for once read a good book. 
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Jan 30, 2007 09:02
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I just finished The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.  It was okay as far as thrillers and mainstream novels go. I didn't think it was that good, and I really don't see why everybody went crazy about it. Really, just an okay thriller, which translates into a pretty terrible book.
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Feb 17, 2007 22:22
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I just finished The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. I picked this up after seeing some good reviews, and it sounded fairly funny. After reading it, I would have to agree on the most part. It was very funny and uplifting at the same time. It was interesting too, and it talked about a time in history that is often immortalized in American culture. I liked reading about the parts of his life that seem to fit right in with the stereotypical 50s household, as I think he did a wonderful job of talking about the childhood. My only complaints would be that he rushed the end. The first 200 or so pages are about 11 years of his life, while the last 50 pages are on the next 8. Two of the characters he talked most about were introduced in those pages, so I didn't get the whole story. This person he talks about, Stephen Katz, is the most wonderful person he's ever met, and then he goes on to talk about him stealing things, being an alcoholic, and then becoming an opium addict. It didn't really fit the story and it didn't make much sense. Overall, I thought it was a good read, as well as a funny read. Not the marvelous book that it is getting attention for, as I seem to see and hear the name Bill Bryson far too often. It's not a difficult read, and it's a good 250 pages to read, enjoy, and laugh at.
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Mar 5, 2007 10:50
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I just finished James Patterson's Honeymoon. I enjoy these types of books, and though they're not classics or anything like that, thrillers are fun for me to read. I want to read real books, but these are just so much easier. I thought it was a really good read. Had me on my toes, brought out suprises and secrets every 30 pages or so, and was a pretty well laid out story. Some parts of it didn't make sense and didn't flow well, but I had fun and will probably read another one of his fairly soon. Now I'm off to start The Great Gatsby!
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Mar 8, 2007 17:12
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This morning, I finished The Baseball Economist by J.C. Bradbury. Bradbury is the economist and statistician who coined the term Sabernomics, which looks at baseball stats from an economics standpoint. It is based on Sabermetrics, which is a more advanced form of baseball statistics. Combining these two, the book was amazing complex. I'm not an economist, but I do have a pretty great understanding of sabermetrics, so the book wasn't as difficult a book as it could have been. At the beginning, Bradbury says that the book is not for the lighthearted, and he was right on. Some of the parts of the book that I really enjoyed were when he gave a dollar value to players and teams, and noted which teams had been making the most money off of the players over the last few years. Instead of looking at which team was the best team, as in just looking at the records of the team, he looked at the teams as the businesses they are, which consisted of him determining how much value each player has and comparing it to the amount of money spent by the teams. He also examines myths in baseball such as "protecting" a hitter, or the effect of the sacrifice bunt and why giving up an out for a base is not always best. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I do have an interest in economics, and I have always had an interest in baseball, so this book fueled both of my interests. I think I will be picking up more books that relate to this topic, but for now, it's time to read a relaxing, terrible, James Patterson book or another basic thriller. :/
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Jul 22, 2007 06:27
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I just finished 4th of July by James Patterson. Over the summer, I read good book then bad book, and this was my bad, cheesy, simple thriller book. I've been reading the Women's Murder Club books by Patterson over the summer, and, as I enjoy his work, I found this one to be pretty good. The best part in it was the court case, as I find trials, and law as a whole, fairly fascinating. The whole murder part of the book was pretty terrible, and a huge letdown from the other ones. I cannot say that these are excellent books for someone who is interested in reading good writing, but they do a good job at portraying the thriller genre. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good as the first 3 in the series. Now on to a Baseball Economics book. Yay!
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Jul 26, 2007 04:13
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russia is HERE posted:Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the book on which the TV series was based. Hugely different than the show, in a lot of ways. The events are very different, and Dexter is characterized differently, as are most of the other characters. Still, pretty good. Up next: Allende's The Infinite Plan. I read that book over the summer and absolutely hated it. He's such a stupid character and has no value whatsoever. Not a fan. I just finished The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. I had read the book my Sophomore year of high school and pretty much hated it, since reading books for school pretty much destroys the value. But having just read it again for fun, I can say that I certainly loved this book. Every character is amazingly thought out and so well written for. The book is humorous, eloquent, and superbly well written. Having read the notes on it at the end, I want to find an older copy that is more similar to the original work. I also just finished The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. This, too, was an amazing book. He did a great job of writing out his points and backing them up. There were abundant examples and statistics where there needed to be statistics. I loved the book and have been recommending it to everybody around me. Now I just need to read Blink.
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Sep 2, 2007 10:48
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russia is HERE posted:I liked it. It wasn't quite American Psycho, but I thought it was an interesting examination of a sociopath. But he was such a terrible person and not one bit realistic.
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Sep 2, 2007 19:49
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russia is HERE posted:Who, Dexter? He's a sociopath, and a relatively realistic portrayal of one. He's got a complete and total disconnect from regular human emotions. You've never heard of sociopaths? I'm confused. He's a sociopath who is also the best serial killer ever, as well as being funny, sarcastic, a trickster, and perfect in every sense of the word. I didn't like reading about his character as it was a foregone conclusion that he did everything superbly well and had no issues doing anything. He was the man.
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Sep 3, 2007 00:14
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russia is HERE posted:He's not the best serial killer ever, he's good at sneaking up on people and not getting caught. He's also not perfect, as shown when he kills the child rapist. He's lucky sometimes. I think what might be confusing you is that he tends to remain relatively calm in situations that would bother most people. Just me I guess.
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Sep 3, 2007 02:47
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I just finished The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos, who is a writer and producer for the HBO show The Wire. I decided to read this book because it had gotten some great reviews. I was not at all disappointed. Every character is so well thought out and the reader gets a great sense of who each character is. The plot is also well put together. About a third of the way through the book, two new plots are introduced to go along with the main plot. One of them hooked up with the main plot fairly quickly, but the other took some time to see how it was connected. Once it did come to fruition, though, it was amazing. Pelecanos weaved plots, characters, and emotions together into a wonderful story. I will definitely be picking up more of his work.
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Sep 26, 2007 02:47
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I just finished In The Country of Men by Hisham Matar. I loved this entire book and thought it was an amazing read. It tells the story of 9 year old Suleiman growing up in 1979 in Libya, during the trials and tribulations of a country going through revolution. The story is told from his point of view, and it is great to see this implemented. His mother drinks throughout the book, but he only sees it as her "medicine." His youthful ignorance is great, and it makes for an enjoyable read. Another feature of the book for Suleiman is his relationships with those around him. Through most of the book, his dad is not to be seen. Suleiman does not understand exactly what his father does, and in his absence, his relationship with his mother grows. Her emotions throughout the book change so rapidly, and Suleiman does not understand exactly what is happening. He also loses his friends and grows farther and farther apart from everybody around him. It is heartbreaking to see him deal with situations that he doesn't understand. I enjoyed the book greatly, and think it does a great job of talking about how relationships change and grow through turmoil. It also gives great insight into Libya and the customs of the country. It is difficult to understand why these customs happen, but by reading the story, one can learn why and where some of these come from. Great read, and fairly short, at 240 pages.
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Oct 3, 2007 06:13
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Guy LeDouche posted:The Life & Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin by Vladimir Voinovich. This is one of my favorite books ever. You'll have a lot of fun reading it.
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Oct 3, 2007 06:50
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I just finished Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov. I enjoy his writing, but I hadn't read this one yet. Over the past few days, while stationed away in a log cabin in Tennessee, I finally spent the time to read it, although it should have been a book I read earlier than that. It's only 120 pages, and goes by very quickly. All of Bulgakov's works are very funny to me, and this one was no different. The writing is witty and expertly conveys the story. One thing I like about his stories is that he focuses on a few characters instead of having too many. Almost the entire book takes place in one apartment and follows the three main characters. This isn't difficult to do in 120 pages, but he didn't try to do too much with the space. Each character will get a different reaction from the reader, as it depends who you feel pity for, the doctor, or the dog. The ending is absolutely perfect, and fits the story well. It's not forced, and it fits in perfectly with how the dog was described earlier in the story. He hasn't changed a bit even in his time of change, and everything for the doctor is back to normal. Wonderful in ever sense of the word.
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Jan 4, 2008 18:21
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I just finished Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription, a collection of anecdotes, letters, and memos by the founder and long time editor of National Review, William H Buckley. He is a crazy fundamentalist Republican who counts Thatcher, Reagen, and other prominent conservatives as friends. But, he is a brilliant man who puts other writers to shame in his use of language. His vocabulary is beyond that of any other person who I have ever seen. Many people think he hides behind his "big" words to get his point across better. I think he does this a bit, but not as much as other people do. I couldn't understand much of what he says, which is disappointing, because I think he has a lot to say. He is also funny and witty. Many of his responses are quick, humorous, and generally funny. Obviously, the book has most of his better letters, but it also includes great letters from other people, some of who wrote letters that Buckley has no response to. The best parts of the book for me were his letters from Art Buchwald about their special Hertz connection. There conversations are funny and over the top, and it's nice to say that they keep up the correspondence for many years, even though they disagree completely when it comes to politics. I was a tad turned off by his craziness, as he is seemingly a Republican radical. I rolled my eyes at much of what was said, but I laughed too. I recommend this book to people that want to learn about Buckley and his magazine, as well as enjoy a funny book. It might be hard for some people to get past the obvious agenda he is pushing (He helped Communism in the USSR?!), but if one does, it is an enjoyable read. It also moves pretty quickly and is roughly 280 pages in length, which is nice. I don't think I could have handled his verbiage much longer.
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Jan 6, 2008 07:59
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Yesterday, I finished Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I loved the book, but more than just that, I love Gladwell. I think he is a wonderful author who knows exactly how to best get his point across or explain what he has researched. The book is about the ability for humans to make great decision in the blink of an eye. That trusting your gut ability. Each chapter talks about a different example of it, like how that quick thought is often good, or how when we try to think and explain our reasons, we usually have a hard time and are worse at choosing better things. He does this superbly, with nice thought experiments and ideas, but the best thing he does is provide many anecdotes. Each chapter usually is focused on one major story and then expanded to more smaller stories. At the end, he brings it back to the original one. The stories, though, are wonderful, humorous, and do an amazing job of explaining his point. They are mostly about social experiments done, such as the Pepsi Taste Challenge, or an experiment about people falling back on stereotypes when relating guns/wrenches with whites/blacks. These make the book outstanding. I loved The Tipping Point, the first book by Gladwell, so I was pumped to read this one. I was not let down at all.
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Jan 14, 2008 05:43
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The other day, I finished The Known World by Edward P. Jones. It was a fantastic read and wonderfully written. The story follows the exploits of the citizens and slaves of Manchester County, Virginia, and is a mix of fiction and fact. Each character has a colorful history and the way those stories are told is amazing. Each chapter continues the main story, but there are anecdotes from previous parts in time or from the future that are intertwined with the main path that the reader is following. We find out about the future of many lesser characters far before the story is finished. I loved when he would be talking about the main characters and a random character would be mentioned. That small character would then get a bit of attention and we would find everything out about that character in the span of a paragraph or two. We never see that character again, but we have learned about that person. The knowledge the reader then gains from every character mentioned leads to a better understanding of the entire county instead of just the main characters. The book was sad for me also, although I felt pity and sadness for the main character. He is a bit polarizing, but I liked him, even though another reader could go the entire opposite way in liking or disliking him. I loved the book and I really recommend it. Absolutely wonderful storytelling.
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Feb 11, 2008 06:46
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I too finished The Road by McCarthy these past few days. I generally thought it was pretty good, but I wasn't blown away by it like others seem to have been. The writing style McCarthy employs just didn't do it for me, and in a book that should be emotional, his style left me feeling as far away from the characters as I possibly could have been. To me, it felt like somebody was just reading about what was happening in the world with no emotion, so if it was on me to create the emotion, I just didn't do that. I enjoyed it, as I wouldn't have stayed up way too late the other night reading it if I didn't, but I have read better recently. I may read more McCarthy later, but if his style of writing is always the same, I most likely will pass.
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Feb 12, 2008 20:49
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kizeesh posted:The Road by Cormac McArthy, pretty drat bleak even by my shallow standards. I couldn't believe how drat depressing it gets. That part in spoilers should have been more freaky, but with his writing style, I was so detached from what happened. It was more like he was just relaying events to us, so I don't think I was affected like other people.
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Feb 16, 2008 02:34
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Ozma posted:I'm so glad you read it and liked it! I recommend this book to anyone I know because I think it's absolutely loving AMAZING. It is so incredibly well done---- if I could write like that I'd die happy. Nice! Somebody else has read this book. I really did love it and I want people to read it, as I too recommend it to nearly everybody I know that reads, but I don't think anybody will. It's a shame too, because I have an extra copy I would give somebody to read.
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Feb 20, 2008 01:52
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Ozma posted:I gave my one and only copy to my sister, who is a book black hole. You give her books and she never reads them. Ya, it's a tad tougher of a read, and at some parts, it gets a little bit complicated, but I didn't really have trouble with it. Also, the way the book was split up into individual stories, in a way, helped make it easier to read as I could pick it up every few days and read it. Towards the end, I really wanted to find out what happened, but I could read it at my own pace and not feel bad about going a few days without it.
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Feb 20, 2008 02:04
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I just finished Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, some psychology professor at Harvard. The book is about our views on happiness and the psychology that surrounds it. In reality, he focuses a lot more on predicting our happiness or predicting the future. That's the main topic he talks about, and while it relates to happiness, the book is not just about what makes us happy and how the brain works. It was fairly good, but I didn't like it as much as some other books I've read that are similar in topic. I really enjoyed Blink and Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, and he wrote a glowing review of this book, but I found them to be much better than Stumbling on Happiness. He seems to very caught up in himself and thinks he is funny, which detracted me from the book a tad bit. In the Gladwell books, he uses real world examples to explain everything, but Gilbert did not do this as much as I would have liked. He talks and talks and talks but there is no direction in his words. It's similar to a person extending a paper by writing and rewriting the same sentence over and over again for the sake of adding length. I feel the book could have been 100 pages smaller, and it was only 250 pages. This made it annoying to constantly reread the exact same sentence or read about the exact same theme. It was good and was certainly and interesting read that relates well to the psychology class I'm taking. If the subject interests you at all, check it out.
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Feb 25, 2008 06:32
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frasierdog posted:Naked Lunch From your bold words about this book, I imagine you loved it.
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Apr 1, 2008 04:42
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Today in my biology class, instead of listening to the lecture, I finally finished Number: The Language of Science by Tobias Dantzig. I think I found out about this book a while ago here in TBB, as it is one of the easier to access books on mathematics and also one of the more famous ones. I had tried to read it when I first got it about a year and half ago, but I could only muster my way through 3 of the 12 chapters. I actually finished it this time, but it took me a around 3 to 4 weeks, as I've been doing other stuff at night instead of reading, much to my chagrin. The book was still pretty difficult for me to understand. Parts of it were really simple, but the book was written over 100 years ago, so the language and vocabulary were sometimes difficult to wade through. I did enjoy the parts of it I really understood and the historical parts, although Dantzig talked about the famous mathematicians as though their lives are common knowledge. When he talked about the theoretical stuff, it was difficult to follow, but he does an adequate job of explaining everything. I think I'll have to come back to this book later to read it again, especially over a shorter amount of time. The chapters build on each other, so spreading out my reading over a 3 week period was probably not the best thing to do. While it is said that this book is easier for not math people to get into, I had some trouble with it and I'm a math major at university. It's not particularly easy to read, but I do suggest it if you are interested in mathematical history and theory.
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Apr 3, 2008 19:10
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I finished two books this past week. The first one I finished was The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, who is more known for his book Moneyball. I loved Moneyball, and this book was excellent as well. The book talks about how the NFL has changed over the past 20 years towards defenses that have fast defensive ends or linebackers who blitz the quarterbacks backside. He chronicles this with many stories about Lawrence Taylor and Bill Walsh, and just talks about the history of this change. Although this is part of the book, the main focus is on Michael Oher, a poor black student from Memphis who is perfect as a person to protect the blindside as a left tackle. He's never played football before and is a brute, but his life changes when he is adopted by a family of white Christians who live a very well off life. My favorite part is the character focus in the book, that of Oher. I felt such pity for him, and such a connection to him. Lewis did this wonderfully in Moneyball, focusing on many different players, but this was a specific player he focused more time on, and it paid off, as I felt he did a wonderful job. The flow is great too, as the chapters about history and Michael Oher are split up very well. Wonderful in every sense. The other book I finished was Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. This is the book that the new movie 21 is based on, and I wanted to read the book because I'm generally interested in the ideas of card counting and gambling. I really liked the book, as I stayed up way too late and missed class to read the book. It was paced well and had some interesting stories. Although much of the story focused on the blackjack being played, I think that some of the blackjack stories were cut short. Yes, Jeff Ha's life is interesting enough as the main character, but I didn't really care about some of his personal stuff. I would have liked to have heard more about defeating Vegas. Also, the way the book and movie make it seem is that these kids absolutely ransacked Vegas, which they didn't do, as they came away with a few million over a few years, which was then split up among many people. Ya, they made a nice living, but the writing and scripting make it seem like they were the baddest asses in the world. Ha, the main character, is still barred from many a casino though, so I guess he did enough. It was a fun read, and I did enjoy it.
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Apr 9, 2008 07:20
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The other day, I finished I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max. The story is a compilation of his posts on his website, https://tuckermax.com, about his partying, drinking, and sexual adventures. He's a funny fellow, although he's a giant rear end in a top hat, and the stories were interesting to read. After a while of reading, the book started to grate on me just a bit. I can only take so much writing about getting drunk and loving bitches. The way he writes is also a bit terrible, and I found it funny how he talked about how he was a writer, since he's not especially good at it. Yes, these are meant to be read online and they're not meant to be poetic, but the way he writes is less than spectacular. The other thing about the book that annoyed me was how he thought he was the best. It is understandable, since he is very good at what he did, and I had no problem when he said stuff along the lines of I'm good at picking up girls or I'm good at drinking. But I hated how he used his name as an adjective. Tucker Max Drunk, Tucker Max weird... seriously shut the gently caress up and stop using your name to describe things. It means nothing to me, and I just read your entire book. That all being said, I did enjoy many of his stories and thought the book was generally entertaining. I envy some of what he can do, but at the same time, I would hate myself if I ever resembled him in any way.
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May 10, 2008 01:23
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The most recent book I finished a few days ago was State of Fear by Michael Crichton. Although the book came out a few years ago, the book is still still relevant, as it discusses global warming. The book argues against Global Warming, but as any book or article can do, information can be skewed. The book makes global warming look like a total non event and makes it seem like everything related to it is retarded. I cannot say I know enough about global warming, so reading all this information that shows it isn't happening is a bit persuasive. I did take it with a grain of salt, because it isn't a very balanced book. The global warming lectures aside, the book was your run-of-the-mill thriller. Extremely predictable and not especially good when it comes to the story. I read it in one day, all 640 pages or so, which means it must have been okay. It was a fine book, and if one is looking for a pretty basic thriller that's more about a political issue facing the world today, then it can get that job done.
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May 17, 2008 07:36
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I finished two books recently. The first I finished was Blindness by Jose Saramago. I figured I had to read this since so many other people had read it, so there really isn't much need for me to go into too much depth about the story. I thought it was fantastic and was a great read. I love the style the book was written in. Saramago is a beautiful writer, and I was completely taken by how he conducted dialogue. Instead of following a single character, the entire conversation just happens. I enjoyed the fact that it's more like a giant block of text instead of broken parts that are said by individual characters. Blindness was a wonderful read and I'm happy I finally had a chance to read it. The second book I just finished was Why My Wife Thinks I'm An Idiot by Mike Greenberg, one of the hosts of the sports radio show Mike and Mike. I didn't expect much going into the book, and it made sure I didn't leave with any either. It was a look into Greenberg's diary that he kept for his counselor. So instead of him talking about sports, I got to read about how he is a metrosexual, why he cried, why his wife is so much better than he is, and why his kids are pretty chill. He's not a very good writer, and this is especially noticeable when they are entries into a journal for his own use. I don't think I've ever rolled my eyes more often at a book than I did at this one. Much of what he wrote were complete generalizations about how life should be spent, whether they relate to how we should treat kids or how we should deal with wives. He doesn't seem to do much right, so I don't understand why he feels he should make statements that he think are right every few pages. I ended up sitting back, rolling my eyes, and saying "Why couldn't this just be about sports." I guess I didn't really think it would be good, but I did expect more talk about sports. Whatever. Don't read it.
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May 28, 2008 08:03
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Kirby_AF posted:I recently finished Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, Slaughterhouse-Five by Vonnegut and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Wow, your description of each one really makes me want to read them. I was hesitant before, but now I'm definitely reading each one... tomorrow.
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Jun 4, 2008 00:16
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Epileptic Raver posted:Read these both fast; Feynman's Rainbow by Leonard Mlodinow, and A Wild Sheep Chase, by Haruki Murakami. People, is there any chance we can have some analysis of what we read. This isn't PYF. Almost everybody posts some description of what they read and whether or not they liked it. It's nice when there is some discussion about the books instead of a list. We can do this!
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Jun 7, 2008 06:36
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I recently finished Playing For Pizza by John Grisham. The book is about a crappy NFL quarterback who starts playing football in Italy for pizza... It wasn't very good. I don't read in the summer like I do at university, but at work the other day, I was bored and picked up this book randomly and read it cover to cover. It was intriguing, but it really wasn't very good. It did make me want to go to Italy though, so that was a plus.
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Jun 20, 2008 22:42
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Magic Hate Ball posted:I think I said this elsewhere, but it's a shame that most people have The Great Gatsby hosed up for them by high school teachers. On its own, it's actually a pretty funny drama with some interesting metaphors about America, but teachers latch onto the metaphors and spend all the book beating it into the students. It's almost to the point where it's practically looked down upon because of reading it high school. I had read it sophomore year in high school, but picked it up my sophomore year of university and loved every second of it. I agree with you that most books read in high school almost always get a bad rap. I have tried to go back and read most of the book I read in high school. They're always better the second time through. I need to post the books I have read recently. 
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Aug 3, 2008 22:21
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I've finished three books these last two weeks. The first is Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich, who also wrote Bringing Down the House. He is not a very good writer, and the book is written for adaptation, but the theme and material is interesting enough for me, so I enjoyed it. The second book I read was The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions by Michael Konik. This one was really similar to the two Mezrich books in that it's about gambling, but this one focuses on sports gambling. It too wasn't amazingly written, but the material was super interesting. It was a fun read and I had a good time reading about his betting. The only problem was that the games he bet on were from around 10 years ago, so it was a bit outdated. The third book I finished was Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. He's a popular guy on these forums, and I enjoyed the book. My brother is also a big fan, so I figured I needed to pick up one of his books. He's very funny, but sometimes I feel he's a bit too arrogant, which made me roll my eyes while reading. I know that this is a Sedaris thing, so I should expect it, but it's never been something that I've enjoyed in books.
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Aug 5, 2008 03:06
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Two nights ago I finished Prey by Michael Crighton. I picked it up at work and came home and finished it. This book was really similar to State of Fear in that he tried to teach more than he tried to write a good novel. It was really basic as far as thrillers go, so it was a simple page turner, but it did teach me something about nanotechnology and the like. Basic new Crighton book - tries to teach the reader something while not being a good novel.
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Aug 7, 2008 04:19
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 01:51 |
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I too recently finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I enjoyed the story, and repeatedly thought that this must actually be part real. He framed the entire story very well in both America and Afghanistan, and his knowledge seemed great, although knowing just the most basic knowledge of Afghanistan would impress me considering I know nothing of the country. I thought the writing was nice too, but some of what Hosseini did annoyed me. Instead of naturally building tension, which he could have done easily, he often prepared a new section by just saying "And this would be blah blah blah..." I didn't really like that, especially with how often it happened. It was also a pretty basic style of writing. He did it wonderfully, but there wasn't too much depth to it, although I can't analyze writing very well. Some of the stuff seemed a tad bit cliche. I enjoyed it. I would recommend the book.
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Aug 14, 2008 03:33
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