"Custer" is Larry McMurtry's latest. It was, like all of his recent nonfiction (well, and to be honest, fiction too) kind of disappointing. Without all the pictures (which were lovely) there was maybe 30 pages of solid story. I just didn't feel like I learned anything new about George Custer at all, and I didn't know that much about him to begin with. I miss the Larry McMurtry of old, who really fleshed out characters and brought them to life.
"Finding Ultra" by Rich Roll was incredibly inspiring. On the eve of his 40th birthday, Rich finds himself out of shape, overweight, and winded walking up a flight of stairs. It's a wake up call for the former college athlete, who fears an early death. He completely turns his life around, goes vegan, and becomes an endurance athlete, training for and competing in Ultraman triathlons. All I can say after reading this book is WOW. What an inspiration.
"Burned" by Sara Shepard is the 12th Pretty Little Liars book and it was supposed to be the last one, but it looks like she's continuing. I'm kind of disappointed: I was looking forward to finally finding out who A is. At any rate, the girls are on Spring Break in Bermuda on a cruise ship, and it looks like A is also on board, causing problems. The girls are convinced A is actually a team, consisting of Graham, who was in love with Madison (the girl they killed the year before in Jamaica) and Naomi, who was real Ali's best friend before Courtney took over her life. The girls have to evacuate the cruise ship and narrowly escape death when their life raft sinks. Back in Rosewood, they've decided to turn themselves in to the authorities regarding Madison's death when they hear on the news that she actually died not from being pushed from the tower but from blunt force trauma to the head. Looks like A is trying to frame them for Madison's murder. Okay then!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Storm of Swords; Longest Way Home; Where'd You Go, Bernadette?
Book three of George R. R. Martin's Ice and Fire series, "Storm of Swords" took a nasty turn. There were some deaths I wasn't happy about at all. And it looks bad for Tyrion, who has become my favorite character. First he was married to Sansa Stark, and then he was falsely accused of murder and sentenced to die. On the eve of his execution, Jaime rescues him and Tyrion kills his father before leaving town. Good for him! King Stannis made it to the Wall to lend his help with the Wildlings, and Jon Snow was named Commander of the Watch. Arya's been kidnapped by the Hound. Dany discovered Ser Jorah was a spy and sent him packing. And Bran has managed to make it past the Wall in search of the three eyed crow who will teach him about his skinwalking abilities.
"The Longest Way Home" by Andrew McCarthy was pretty lame. It recounted his pathetic attempts to avoid marriage and family by traveling. He really wants the solitary life, but tries to pretend he's okay with finally settling down with the woman he claims to love so much that he's been engaged to for four years. He calls "Pretty in Pink": "...a silly movie about a girl who wanted to go to a dance" (p. 12). EXCUSE ME? Whatever. This is why Andie should have ended up with Ducky. *Ducky* would never say "Pretty in Pink" is silly. Ducky knows better.
"Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" by Maria Semple has been pretty popular with good word of mouth, and I can see why. It was a very cute and very quick read, and the characters are great. Bernadette ran away from her life 20 years earlier, moving with her husband, Elgin, to Seattle, where she became a recluse. Now their 15 year old daughter, Bee, wants the family to go on a trip to Antarctica. A series of events lead up to Bernadette running away from life again, only this time Bee is determined to find her. It was really sweet.
"The Longest Way Home" by Andrew McCarthy was pretty lame. It recounted his pathetic attempts to avoid marriage and family by traveling. He really wants the solitary life, but tries to pretend he's okay with finally settling down with the woman he claims to love so much that he's been engaged to for four years. He calls "Pretty in Pink": "...a silly movie about a girl who wanted to go to a dance" (p. 12). EXCUSE ME? Whatever. This is why Andie should have ended up with Ducky. *Ducky* would never say "Pretty in Pink" is silly. Ducky knows better.
"Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" by Maria Semple has been pretty popular with good word of mouth, and I can see why. It was a very cute and very quick read, and the characters are great. Bernadette ran away from her life 20 years earlier, moving with her husband, Elgin, to Seattle, where she became a recluse. Now their 15 year old daughter, Bee, wants the family to go on a trip to Antarctica. A series of events lead up to Bernadette running away from life again, only this time Bee is determined to find her. It was really sweet.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Far From the Tree; How to Look Expensive; Cinderella: Fables are Forever; Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes vs. Zombies; Ten Big Ones; Clash of Kings; Cathy's Book: Lonesome Dove
"Far From the Tree" by Andrew Solomon was very interesting. It's an intense and in depth, well researched look at children who are different from their parents for a myriad number of reasons. He looked at deaf culture, dwarf culture, prodigies, other disabilities, children who become criminals, and more. He made a very interesting point early on in the book, about how as we mature and become teenagers and young adults we take pride in how different we are from our parents, but then as we become parents ourselves we mourn when our children aren't like us. It's amazing to me that despite all the things that could go wrong with pregnancy and childbirth, the human race keeps on procreating anyway.
"How to Look Expensive" by Andrea Pomerantz Lustig could have been called "How to look well put together", which was really more what I was interested in. It was very helpful, and she had a lot of good tips on hair, makeup, and facial care that I've tried to incorporate into my own routine.
"Cinderella: Fables Are Forever" by Bill Willingham was a fun graphic novel looking at the hidden life of Cinderella, Fabletown's most infamous spy. She's been in a decades long quest to best Dorothy Gale of Wizard of Oz fame, surprisingly enough.
"Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes vs. Zombies" by Ian Edginton is another graphic novel featuring Sherlock Holmes in Victorian England, fighting a herd of zombies created by none other than Moriarty.
"Ten Big Ones" by Janet Evanovich is a reread of a pretty decent Stephanie Plum book, where she stays at Ranger's safe house because the gang has hired a hit man to take her out. I like how Sally Sweet saves her in the end rather than Joe or Ranger, it was a nice change.
"Clash of Kings" by George R. R. Martin is the second in the Ice and Fire series. I really enjoyed the first one, and this one was just as good. I'm actually up to date on the HBO series now, too, taking advantage of HBO On Demand. The story continues in this book with Dany and her newly born dragons traveling to find a way to cross the sea so she can retake the Iron Throne. Jon Snow and the rest of the Night's Watch on the Wall are dealing with all kinds of ugliness, in the form of giants, wildlings, and free people who are out to take down the Wall. Tyrion is busy in his new role as the King's Hand hatching schemes and plots to save King's Landing for when Stannis Baratheon comes to claim the throne. Robb Stark is still unbeaten on the field, heading south for King's Landing when terrible news from north in Winterfell makes him pause to consider his options.
"Cathy's Book" by Sean Stuart was a YA book I've wanted to read for awhile now. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, though, as it took an odd turn. It started out normally enough: Cathy is 17 and has been dumped by her much older boyfriend Victor without reason. Cathy and her friend Emma think he might have been cheating on her with a woman he worked with. Cathy sets out to find out why Victor left her, and resorts to some shady things, like stalking and spying. That's all normal enough, but then it turns out that the reason Victor left her is because he's immortal. Huh? So there's a guy after Victor trying to learn the secrets of immortality. And Victor worried for her safety. Okay. It was a neat book: it's styled like a journal, so there's drawings and artwork throughout, and there was an attached clear envelope in the front with all the "proof" Cathy has gathered against Victor. It's just the storyline that threw me for a loop.
And finally, I closed out 2012 with a reread of one of my favorites: "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry. I managed to make 200 this year--I ended up reading 219. On to 2013!
"How to Look Expensive" by Andrea Pomerantz Lustig could have been called "How to look well put together", which was really more what I was interested in. It was very helpful, and she had a lot of good tips on hair, makeup, and facial care that I've tried to incorporate into my own routine.
"Cinderella: Fables Are Forever" by Bill Willingham was a fun graphic novel looking at the hidden life of Cinderella, Fabletown's most infamous spy. She's been in a decades long quest to best Dorothy Gale of Wizard of Oz fame, surprisingly enough.
"Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes vs. Zombies" by Ian Edginton is another graphic novel featuring Sherlock Holmes in Victorian England, fighting a herd of zombies created by none other than Moriarty.
"Ten Big Ones" by Janet Evanovich is a reread of a pretty decent Stephanie Plum book, where she stays at Ranger's safe house because the gang has hired a hit man to take her out. I like how Sally Sweet saves her in the end rather than Joe or Ranger, it was a nice change.
"Clash of Kings" by George R. R. Martin is the second in the Ice and Fire series. I really enjoyed the first one, and this one was just as good. I'm actually up to date on the HBO series now, too, taking advantage of HBO On Demand. The story continues in this book with Dany and her newly born dragons traveling to find a way to cross the sea so she can retake the Iron Throne. Jon Snow and the rest of the Night's Watch on the Wall are dealing with all kinds of ugliness, in the form of giants, wildlings, and free people who are out to take down the Wall. Tyrion is busy in his new role as the King's Hand hatching schemes and plots to save King's Landing for when Stannis Baratheon comes to claim the throne. Robb Stark is still unbeaten on the field, heading south for King's Landing when terrible news from north in Winterfell makes him pause to consider his options.
"Cathy's Book" by Sean Stuart was a YA book I've wanted to read for awhile now. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it, though, as it took an odd turn. It started out normally enough: Cathy is 17 and has been dumped by her much older boyfriend Victor without reason. Cathy and her friend Emma think he might have been cheating on her with a woman he worked with. Cathy sets out to find out why Victor left her, and resorts to some shady things, like stalking and spying. That's all normal enough, but then it turns out that the reason Victor left her is because he's immortal. Huh? So there's a guy after Victor trying to learn the secrets of immortality. And Victor worried for her safety. Okay. It was a neat book: it's styled like a journal, so there's drawings and artwork throughout, and there was an attached clear envelope in the front with all the "proof" Cathy has gathered against Victor. It's just the storyline that threw me for a loop.
And finally, I closed out 2012 with a reread of one of my favorites: "Lonesome Dove" by Larry McMurtry. I managed to make 200 this year--I ended up reading 219. On to 2013!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Cemetery John
I read everything I can get my hands on about the Lindbergh kidnapping. "Cemetery John" by Robert E. Zorn is a new one that has an interesting take on the crime. Zorn's father, Eugene, grew up in the Bronx, and as a child he knew a man named John Knoll, who he believed he saw conspiring with Bruno Richard Hauptmann one day. Eugene passed away, but his son was determined to continue his father's search for the truth. He researched Knoll, and discusses his theory on how he and his brother and Hauptmann worked together to kidnap Charles Lindbergh Jr. In the beginning, everyone thought the crime was the work of a gang, and only after the authorities arrested Hauptmann did they decide it was a one man operation. Zorn makes a lot of good points, like how John Condon (Jafsie) first identified the man who took the ransom money in the cemetery as having an odd growth near his left thumb. Hauptmann had no such mark, but Knoll did. While I'd like to believe Hauptmann was innocent, Zorn makes a strong case for him at least having a part in the crime. I still think the ladder coming from a piece of wood from Hauptmann's attic is ridiculous, though.
Family Fang
"Family Fang" by Kevin Wilson was pretty interesting. Annie and Buster, known as Children A and B, have been part of their parents' performance art since they were born. As adults, they are less inclined to want to have anything to do with their parents' unique way of creating art out of chaos, until Caleb and Camille go missing and are presumed dead. Annie and Buster know their parents must have set it up, planning on making some grand reentry into the world, and they try to think like them and figure out what to do next in order to force their parents to reveal themselves. It was definitely different.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Notorious Nineteen; The Casual Vacancy
Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum book, "Notorious Nineteen", was pretty good. Ranger hires Stephanie to be a bodyguard for the fiancee of a friends of his from when he was in the war in Afghanistan. It looks like one of the guys in their group faked his own death and is bent of revenge, coming after Ranger and his friend. Meanwhile, Steph is also trying to catch a skip and ends up in a nasty body harvesting ring.
I must admit, I had mixed feelings about J.K. Rowling's latest, "The Casual Vacancy". I read some reviews that said it was good, some said it was bad, some were in between. I felt that it was in between. I admit, I was probably harder on her because she *is* J.K. freakin' Rowling after all. If it had been published anonymously, I might have enjoyed it more. The main problem I had was the sheer number of characters she introduced. I spent at least 2/3 of the book wondering who these people were because I couldn't keep them straight. The plot was interesting, about what happens in a small village when one of the council members die and his seat is up for election. Everyone in town seemed to have an agenda they wanted to push. Mostly, this book made me want to reread Harry Potter.
I must admit, I had mixed feelings about J.K. Rowling's latest, "The Casual Vacancy". I read some reviews that said it was good, some said it was bad, some were in between. I felt that it was in between. I admit, I was probably harder on her because she *is* J.K. freakin' Rowling after all. If it had been published anonymously, I might have enjoyed it more. The main problem I had was the sheer number of characters she introduced. I spent at least 2/3 of the book wondering who these people were because I couldn't keep them straight. The plot was interesting, about what happens in a small village when one of the council members die and his seat is up for election. Everyone in town seemed to have an agenda they wanted to push. Mostly, this book made me want to reread Harry Potter.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Killing Kennedy; Rasputin; Thomas Becket; A Dangerous Inheritance; Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone; The ABCs of Gold Investing
"Killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Reilly was pretty good. Not a whole lot of new information, even for me (I don't read a lot about the Kennedy assassination, for all my true crime loving tendencies, this one never really appealed to me, but when I went to Dallas several years ago I did visit the Texas Book Depository and the JFK museum there). It was a quick read that definitely wasn't boring.
"Rasputin" by Joseph T. Fuhrmann was a very interesting account of the Mad Monk of Russia that tried to dispel myths built up around him, and I think he did an excellent job of doing that. He explained how his influence over Tsar Nicholas II ultimately helped lead to the downfall of the aristocracy. Russia has always fascinated me, I hope to be able to read more about it in the future.
"Thomas Becket" by John Guy was sort of disappointing. I enjoy reading about Becket, and his relationship with King Henry II, but this one couldn't hold my attention.
"A Dangerous Inheritance" by Alison Weir follows the dual stories of Katherine Plantagenet, the illegitimate daughter of King Richard III, and a hundred years later, Katherine Grey, sister to doomed Queen Jane and cousin to Elizabeth I. Both died young, and in Grey's case rather tragically (not one of Elizabeth's shining moments, the way she treated poor Katherine). I enjoyed it, even if I don't agree with Weir that Richard murdered his nephews in the Tower.
"Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone" by Stefan Kiesbye was a disturbing and very creepy fictional book about a village in Germany where everyone is really horrendous to each other. A group of boys murder their friend by convincing him to dive into a frozen lake, another girl blames her friend for a mistake she made, causing her friend a much needed scholarship, etc. It was pretty good, but damn, these people are cold-hearted.
And finally, "The ABCs of Gold Investing" by Michael J. Kosares. I read so many books for fun, I thought it would be a good idea if I started educating myself about important things, like investing, real estate, and finance, so I'm making an effort to read more of those sort of books. This was a good introductory guide to investing in precious metals that wasn't too far over my head.
"Rasputin" by Joseph T. Fuhrmann was a very interesting account of the Mad Monk of Russia that tried to dispel myths built up around him, and I think he did an excellent job of doing that. He explained how his influence over Tsar Nicholas II ultimately helped lead to the downfall of the aristocracy. Russia has always fascinated me, I hope to be able to read more about it in the future.
"Thomas Becket" by John Guy was sort of disappointing. I enjoy reading about Becket, and his relationship with King Henry II, but this one couldn't hold my attention.
"A Dangerous Inheritance" by Alison Weir follows the dual stories of Katherine Plantagenet, the illegitimate daughter of King Richard III, and a hundred years later, Katherine Grey, sister to doomed Queen Jane and cousin to Elizabeth I. Both died young, and in Grey's case rather tragically (not one of Elizabeth's shining moments, the way she treated poor Katherine). I enjoyed it, even if I don't agree with Weir that Richard murdered his nephews in the Tower.
"Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone" by Stefan Kiesbye was a disturbing and very creepy fictional book about a village in Germany where everyone is really horrendous to each other. A group of boys murder their friend by convincing him to dive into a frozen lake, another girl blames her friend for a mistake she made, causing her friend a much needed scholarship, etc. It was pretty good, but damn, these people are cold-hearted.
And finally, "The ABCs of Gold Investing" by Michael J. Kosares. I read so many books for fun, I thought it would be a good idea if I started educating myself about important things, like investing, real estate, and finance, so I'm making an effort to read more of those sort of books. This was a good introductory guide to investing in precious metals that wasn't too far over my head.
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