Matt's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 16 Oct 2023 12:05:23 -0700 60 Matt's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4)]]> 8130423 In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.]]> 361 Rick Riordan Matt 3 4.44 2008 The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/10/16
shelves:
review:
Fun story involving many mythical creatures, although the way the main characters travel around the labyrinth seemed a bit too easy.
]]> <![CDATA[To Darkness Fled (Blood of Kings, #2)]]> 7882217 681 Jill Williamson 098259870X Matt 3 4.24 2010 To Darkness Fled (Blood of Kings, #2)
author: Jill Williamson
name: Matt
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/02/10
date added: 2014/08/31
shelves:
review:
I found the general plot much more interesting than the first book. I really liked the characters and really wanted to see how they matured and how the storyline progressed. But, I found the overtly parallel "Christianity" a bit...odd. I have loved fantasy stories with Christianity woven in (Narnia pops to mind), but instead of using Christian symbolism or incorporating some Christian ideas, the author of this series takes everything about evangelical Christianity (e.g., they way they talk, the way they pray, the trinity, the atonement, etc.), changes names of God and Christ, and plops it in this fantasy world otherwise unchanged. I found this mixture of the familiar and fantasy...weird. But that is just me. I definitely liked it enough to read the last in the series.
]]> <![CDATA[Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation]]> 15798235 WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE •Ě�Winner of The New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award •Ěý“A new classic of science reporting.”â€�The New York Times

The riveting true story of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution, Toms River melds hard-hitting investigative reporting, a fascinating scientific detective story, and an unforgettable cast of characters into a sweeping narrative in the tradition of A Civil Action, The Emperor of All Maladies, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

One of New Jersey’s seemingly innumerable quiet seaside towns, Toms River became the unlikely setting for a decades-long drama that culminated in 2001 with one of the largest legal settlements in the annals of toxic dumping. A town that would rather have been known for its Little League World Series champions ended up making history for an entirely different reason: a notorious cluster of childhood cancers scientifically linked to local air and water pollution. For years, large chemical companies had been using Toms River as their private dumping ground, burying tens of thousands of leaky drums in open pits and discharging billions of gallons of acid-laced wastewater into the town’s namesake river.

In an astonishing feat of investigative reporting, prize-winning journalist Dan Fagin recounts the sixty-year saga of rampant pollution and inadequate oversight that made Toms River a cautionary example for fast-growing industrial towns from South Jersey to South China. He tells the stories of the pioneering scientists and physicians who first identified pollutants as a cause of cancer, and brings to life the everyday heroes in Toms River who struggled for justice: a young boy whose cherubic smile belied the fast-growing tumors that had decimated his body from birth; a nurse who fought to bring the alarming incidence of childhood cancers to the attention of authorities who didn’t want to listen; and a mother whose love for her stricken child transformed her into a tenacious advocate for change.

A gripping human drama rooted in a centuries-old scientific quest, Toms River is a tale of dumpers at midnight and deceptions in broad daylight, of corporate avarice and government neglect, and of a few brave individuals who refused to keep silent until the truth was exposed.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR ANDĚýKIRKUS REVIEWS

“A thrilling journey full of twists and turns, Toms River is essential reading for our times. Dan Fagin handles topics of great complexity with the dexterity of a scholar, the honesty of a journalist, and the dramatic skill of a novelist.�—Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Emperor of All Maladies
Ěý
“A complex tale of powerful industry, local politics, water rights, epidemiology, public health and cancer in a gripping, page-turning environmental thriller.â€�—N±Ę¸é

“Unstoppable reading.��The Philadelphia Inquirer
Ěý
“Meticulously researched and compellingly recounted . . . It’s every bit as important—and as well-written—as A Civil Action and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.��The Star-Ledger
Ěý
“Fascinating . . . a gripping environmental thriller.��Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Ěý
“An honest, thoroughly researched, intelligently written book.��Slate
Ěý
“[A] hard-hitting account . . . a triumph.��Nature
Ěý
“Absorbing and thoughtful.��USA Today


From the Hardcover edition.]]> Dan Fagin 0385360312 Matt 0 to-read 3.79 2013 Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation
author: Dan Fagin
name: Matt
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/05/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fires of Heaven (The Wheel of Time, #5)]]> 13895
In The Fires of Heaven, the fifth novel in Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, four of the most powerful Forsaken band together against the Champion of Light, Rand al’Thor.

Prophesized to defeat the Dark One, Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, has upset the balance of power across the land. Shaido Aiel are on the march, ravaging everything in their path. The White Tower's Amyrlin has been deposed, turning the Aes Sedai against one another. The forbidden city of Rhuidean is overrun by Shadowspawn.

Despite the chaos swirling around him, Rand continues to learn how to harness his abilities, determined to wield the One Power--and ignoring the counsel of Moiraine Damodred at great cost.

Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. The last six books in series were all instant #1 New York Times bestsellers, and The Eye of the World was named one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read.

The Wheel of Time®
New Spring: The Novel
#1 The Eye of the World
#2 The Great Hunt
#3 The Dragon Reborn
#4 The Shadow Rising
#5 The Fires of Heaven
#6 Lord of Chaos
#7 A Crown of Swords
#8 The Path of Daggers
#9 Winter's Heart
#10 Crossroads of Twilight
#11 Knife of Dreams

By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
#12 The Gathering Storm
#13 Towers of Midnight
#14 A Memory of Light]]> 912 Robert Jordan 1857232097 Matt 3 4.19 1993 The Fires of Heaven (The Wheel of Time, #5)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, #4)]]> 9539
In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn.....]]> 1007 Robert Jordan 0812513738 Matt 3 4.27 1992 The Shadow Rising (The Wheel of Time, #4)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time, #3)]]> 34897 The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.

Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al'Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?

Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?

Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?

Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits...

Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn....
]]> 624 Robert Jordan 0765305119 Matt 4 4.27 1991 The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time, #3)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, #2)]]> 233649
Rand cannot run for ever. With every passing day the Dark One grows in strength and strives to shatter his ancient prison, to break the Wheel, to bring an end to Time and sunder the weave of the Pattern.

And the Pattern demands the Dragon.]]> 705 Robert Jordan 0812517725 Matt 4 4.25 1990 The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, #2)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1)]]> 228665
Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction. When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the village seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.]]> 800 Robert Jordan 0812511816 Matt 5 4.19 1990 The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln]]> 2199 Winner of the Lincoln Prize

Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals of national reputation to become president.

On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry.

Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was the result of a character that had been forged by experiences that raised him above his more privileged and accomplished rivals. He won because he possessed an extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires.

It was this capacity that enabled Lincoln as president to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union and winning the war.

We view the long, horrifying struggle from the vantage of the White House as Lincoln copes with incompetent generals, hostile congressmen, and his raucous cabinet. He overcomes these obstacles by winning the respect of his former competitors, and in the case of Seward, finds a loyal and crucial friend to see him through.

This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.]]> 916 Doris Kearns Goodwin Matt 5 4.27 2005 Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
author: Doris Kearns Goodwin
name: Matt
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/23
date added: 2014/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Shadow Divers 9530
For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep wreck diving was more than a sport. Testing themselves against treacherous currents, braving depths that induced hallucinatory effects, navigating through wreckage as perilous as a minefield, they pushed themselves to their limits and beyond, brushing against death more than once in the rusting hulks of sunken ships.

But in the fall of 1991, not even these courageous divers were prepared for what they found 230 feet below the surface, in the frigid Atlantic waters sixty miles off the coast of New Jersey: a World War II German U-boat, its ruined interior a macabre wasteland of twisted metal, tangled wires, and human bones–all buried under decades of accumulated sediment.

No identifying marks were visible on the submarine or the few artifacts brought to the surface. No historian, expert, or government had a clue as to which U-boat the men had found. In fact, the official records all agreed that there simply could not be a sunken U-boat and crew at that location.

Over the next six years, an elite team of divers embarked on a quest to solve the mystery. Some of them would not live to see its end. Chatterton and Kohler, at first bitter rivals, would be drawn into a friendship that deepened to an almost mystical sense of brotherhood with each other and with the drowned U-boat sailors–former enemies of their country. As the men’s marriages frayed under the pressure of a shared obsession, their dives grew more daring, and each realized that he was hunting more than the identities of a lost U-boat and its nameless crew.

Author Robert Kurson’s account of this quest is at once thrilling and emotionally complex, and it is written with a vivid sense of what divers actually experience when they meet the dangers of the ocean’s underworld. The story of Shadow Divers often seems too amazing to be true, but it all happened, two hundred thirty feet down, in the deep blue sea.]]> 335 Robert Kurson Matt 4 4.34 2004 Shadow Divers
author: Robert Kurson
name: Matt
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2012/12/27
date added: 2013/05/05
shelves:
review:
A detailed and interesting glimpse into the world of deep-sea diving and a intriguing mystery as well.
]]> <![CDATA[Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption]]> 8664353
The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.]]> 475 Laura Hillenbrand 1400064163 Matt 5 4.38 2010 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
author: Laura Hillenbrand
name: Matt
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2013/01/06
date added: 2013/05/05
shelves:
review:
And extremely engaging and well-written story of survival, redemption, and forgiveness during WWII
]]> Into the Wild 1845 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.]]> 207 Jon Krakauer 0385486804 Matt 4
The strongest message I got from this story, although not the main intent of the author, is that extreme sports and extreme outdoor adventures are ultimately extremely selfish acts, with little positive contribution to society, family or friends.]]> 4.01 1996 Into the Wild
author: Jon Krakauer
name: Matt
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2012/09/13
date added: 2013/05/05
shelves:
review:
An extremely interesting and engaging read. Well written and hard to put down.

The strongest message I got from this story, although not the main intent of the author, is that extreme sports and extreme outdoor adventures are ultimately extremely selfish acts, with little positive contribution to society, family or friends.
]]> <![CDATA[The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1)]]> 2118745
But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?]]> 479 Patrick Ness 1406310255 Matt 2
So why 2 stars?

I enjoy some dystopia stories, such as the Hunger Games series, but not this one.

The two main characters in this story go from one bad situation to another to another to another. I have enjoyed other books where this occurs, but those books at least instilled a sense of hope in the characters. This book didn't. It got so bad that the characters themselves have convince each other that something good will happen (which it doesn't) that they need to have hope.

I looked up the two sequels and they appear to be more of the same. Not my cup of tea.]]> 3.95 2008 The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking, #1)
author: Patrick Ness
name: Matt
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 2010/11/10
date added: 2013/05/05
shelves:
review:
Wonderfully written, unique storyline, rich world, gripping read. I could not put this book down.

So why 2 stars?

I enjoy some dystopia stories, such as the Hunger Games series, but not this one.

The two main characters in this story go from one bad situation to another to another to another. I have enjoyed other books where this occurs, but those books at least instilled a sense of hope in the characters. This book didn't. It got so bad that the characters themselves have convince each other that something good will happen (which it doesn't) that they need to have hope.

I looked up the two sequels and they appear to be more of the same. Not my cup of tea.
]]> <![CDATA[Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages]]> 1967472
Written by one of the world’s foremost experts on dinosaurs, this award-winning title—honored by the NSTA and the AAAS—is an essential addition to any dinophile’s library, regardless of age! Using casual language aimed at young people and non-scientists, it'sĚýa guide to all aspects ofĚýdinosaur Ěýhow we figure out what dinosaurs looked like, how they lived, how they evolved, how they continue to live among us as birds, and much, much more.Ěý

It also includes brief entries on all 800+ "named" species of Mesozoic dinosaurs, as well as sidebars by 33 world-famous paleontologists—among them Robert T. Bakker, Jack Horner, Mark Norell, Scott Sampson, and Philip Currie. With 428-pages of lavish, museum-quality illustrations, and an exhaustive Web site maintained by the author of supplemental chapter updates, this the perfect gift that will educate AND entertain for many, many, MANY hours! (And if that isn’t enough, the jacket has a spectacular poster printed on the inside.)
Ěý
“Written in a casual language both young and adult paleo-nerds will find readable and enjoyable, this volume is seen as the "Dinosaur Bible" by many enthusiasts of the subject, for its sheer completeness andĚýscienciness.â€� —tvtropes.org]]> 432 Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. 0375824197 Matt 5
The only minor thing that bugged me was the artist's interpretation of some dinosaurs. It is generally understood that most, if not all, small theropods had some sort of feathers or proto-feathers, but the artist's effort to make the non-avian theropods look like birds is a bit overboard. For example, he gave turkey wattles to Deinonychus, the dinosaur that the velociraptors in the movie Jurassic Park are modeled after (imagine Alan Grant being attacked by giant turkeys!)

But, that is a minor beef. Overall a great read. ]]> 4.53 2007 Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages
author: Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
name: Matt
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2011/05/03
date added: 2013/05/05
shelves:
review:
If I could, I would give this book 4 1/2 stars. My kids have been really into dinosaurs lately and I wanted to find a book that adequately explains the evolution of dinosaurs (i.e., how all the different groups of dinosaurs are related) and what characteristics make them distinct from each other. The author does an excellent job describing these groups and describing dinosaur paleontology in general. The book is written at about a junior high level, but is very engaging. The art work is gorgeous and really brings the dinosaurs alive.

The only minor thing that bugged me was the artist's interpretation of some dinosaurs. It is generally understood that most, if not all, small theropods had some sort of feathers or proto-feathers, but the artist's effort to make the non-avian theropods look like birds is a bit overboard. For example, he gave turkey wattles to Deinonychus, the dinosaur that the velociraptors in the movie Jurassic Park are modeled after (imagine Alan Grant being attacked by giant turkeys!)

But, that is a minor beef. Overall a great read.
]]> <![CDATA[The National Parks: America's Best Idea]]> 6519311
America’s national parks spring from an idea as radical as the Declaration of Independence: that the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. In this evocative and lavishly illustrated narrative, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan delve into the history of the park idea, from the first sighting by white men in 1851 of the valley that would become Yosemite and the creation of the world’s first national park at Yellowstone in 1872, through the most recent additions to a system that now encompasses nearly four hundred sites and 84 million acres.

The authors recount the adventures, mythmaking, and intense political battles behind the evolution of the park system, and the enduring ideals that fostered its growth. They capture the importance and splendors of the individual parks: from Haleakala in Hawaii to Acadia in Maine, from Denali in Alaska to the Everglades in Florida, from Glacier in Montana to Big Bend in Texas. And they introduce us to a diverse cast of compelling characters—both unsung heroes and famous figures such as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ansel Adams—who have been transformed by these special places and committed themselves to saving them from destruction so that the rest of us could be transformed as well.

The National Parks is a glorious celebration of an essential expression of American democracy.]]> 432 Dayton Duncan 0307268969 Matt 0 to-read 4.34 2009 The National Parks: America's Best Idea
author: Dayton Duncan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/05/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> JFK 1716222 Herbert S. Parmet 0140070540 Matt 0 to-read 4.17 1983 JFK
author: Herbert S. Parmet
name: Matt
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway]]> 126022
Understanding the urgent need for a deeply thoughtful balanced book to explain our national political process, Dave Barry has not even come close. Though he himself has covered many campaigns, run for President several times, and run for cover at the rainy inauguration of George W. Bush (the man will spare nothing for his art) Barry has instead outdone himself.

Below the Beltway includes Barry's stirring account of how the United States was born, including his version of a properly rewritten Declaration ( When in the course of human events it behooves us, the people, not to ask "What can our country do for us, anyway?" but rather whether we have anything to fear except fear itself...) and a revised Constitution ( Section The House of Representatives shall be composed of people who own at least two dark suits and have not been indicted recently.) .

Dave also cracks the income tax code, explains the growth(s) of government, congressional hearing difficulties, and the persistent rumors of the influence of capital in the Capitol. Among other civic contributions, his tour of Washington, D.C., should end school class trips forever.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 224 Dave Barry 0345459199 Matt 5 3.77 2001 Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2012/03/30
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
I found Barry's columns about politics funny, but necessarily spectacular...until I hit the section of the book describing Miami politics. I was laughing so hard I was crying.
]]> <![CDATA[Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down]]> 126031
� The slower-than-deceased-livestock left-lane drivers who apparently believe that the right lane is sacred and must never come in direct contact with tires
� The parent-misery quotient of last-minute school science fair projects
� Day trading and other careers that never require you to take off your bathrobe
� The plague of the low-flow toilets, which is so bad that even in Miami, where you can buy drugs just by opening your front door and yelling “Hey! I want some crack,� you can’t even sell your first born to get a normal-flushing toilet

Dave Barry is not taking any of this sitting down. He’s going to stand up for the rights of all Americans against ridiculously named specialty “–chino� coffees and the IRS. Just as soon as he gets the darn toilet flushed.


From the Trade Paperback edition.]]> 288 Dave Barry 0345444094 Matt 3 Funny columns by Dave Barry 3.86 2000 Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2012/04/07
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
Funny columns by Dave Barry
]]> <![CDATA[Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers, #1)]]> 34262 Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatchers is brimming with richly developed characters, from the scary but somehow familiar Black Stache and ferocious Mister Grin to the sweet but sophisticated Molly and fearless Peter. Page after page of riveting adventures take readers of all ages on a voyage from a filthy, crime-ridden port in old England across the turbulent sea. Aboard the Neverland is a trunk that hold the “greatest treasure on earth� —but is it gold, jewels, or something far more mysterious and dangerous?

Roiling waves and raging storms; skullduggery and pirate treachery provide the backdrop for battles at sea. Bone-crushing breakers eventually land our characters on Mollusk Island—where the action really heats up.

This impossible-to-put-down tale leads readers on an unforgettable journey—fraught with danger yet filled with mystical and magical moments.]]> 452 Dave Barry 078684907X Matt 4 4.05 2004 Peter and the Starcatchers (Peter and the Starcatchers, #1)
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/17
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
Fast read and fun read. Great re-imagining of Peter Pan
]]> <![CDATA[Boogers Are My Beat: More Lies, But Some Actual Journalism!]]> 131162
In Boogers Are My Beat , Dave gives us the real scoop

� The scientific search for the world’s funniest joke (you can bet it includes the word “weasel�)
� RV camping in the Wal-Mart parking lot
� Outwitting “smart� kitchen appliances and service contracts
â€� Elections in Florida (“You can’t spell Florida without â€duh’â€�)
� The Olympics, where people from all over the world come together to accuse each other of cheating
� The truth about the Dakotas, the Lone Ranger, and feng shui
� The choice between death and taxes
And much, much more—including some truths about journalism and serious thoughts about 9/11.

Dave Barry won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1988, and his columns are syndicated in more than 500 newspapers. His most recent books, Dave Barry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down and the novels Big Trouble and Tricky Business , were national bestsellers. He lives in Miami, Floriduh.

Also available as an eBook]]> 256 Dave Barry 1400080762 Matt 4 3.83 2003 Boogers Are My Beat: More Lies, But Some Actual Journalism!
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2012/04/18
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
Classic Barry, even with two serious and poignant columns about 9/11
]]> <![CDATA[The Lost World (Jurassic Park, #2)]]> 8650
There are rumors that something has survived....]]> 448 Michael Crichton 0752224417 Matt 2 3.85 1995 The Lost World (Jurassic Park, #2)
author: Michael Crichton
name: Matt
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1995
rating: 2
read at: 2011/12/31
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
With how much I loved Jurassic Park, this was a disappointment. There was some fun scenes, but there seemed to be a lot of talking, with an overemphasis on the characters' hypotheses and arguments with each other. I also wasn't too fond of how Crichton portrays scientists and their dogmatic adherence to...well...themselves and their own ideas.
]]> <![CDATA[Peter and the Shadow Thieves (Peter and the Starcatchers, #2)]]> 9531 New York Times bestseller Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter leaves the relative safety of Mollusk Island - along with his trusted companion, Tinker Bell - for the dark and dangerous streets of London. On a difficult journey across the sea, he and Tink discover the mysterious and deadly Lord Ombra, who is intent on recovering the missing starstuff - celestial dust that contains unimagined powers. In London, Peter attempts to track down the indomitable Molly, hoping that together they can combat Ombra's determined forces. But London is not Mollusk Island; Peter is not the boy he used to be; and Lord Ombra - the Shadow Master - is unlike anything Peter, or the world, has ever seen.

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have done it again - written a compulsively readable, magical, impossible-to-put-down tale that will delight readers of all ages.]]> 557 Dave Barry 078683787X Matt 4 4.17 2006 Peter and the Shadow Thieves (Peter and the Starcatchers, #2)
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2012/03/15
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
The beginning was a little slow, but overall a very read in this re-imagining of the Peter Pan origin
]]> <![CDATA[I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1)]]> 7747374
Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.]]> 440 Pittacus Lore 0061969559 Matt 3 a fun read 3.94 2010 I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1)
author: Pittacus Lore
name: Matt
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2011/10/30
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
a fun read
]]> <![CDATA[The Prisoner of Cell 25 (Michael Vey, #1)]]> 11337912 My name is Michael Vey, and the story I’m about to tell you is strange. Very strange. It’s my story.

To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary fourteen-year-old. In fact, the only thing that seems to set him apart is the fact that he has Tourette’s syndrome. But Michael is anything but ordinary. Michael has special powers. Electric powers.

Michael thinks he's unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor also has special powers. With the help of Michael’s friend, Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up this way, but their investigation brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric children � and through them the world. Michael will have to rely on his wits, powers, and friends if he’s to survive.]]> 336 Richard Paul Evans 1451656505 Matt 2 4.23 2011 The Prisoner of Cell 25 (Michael Vey, #1)
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Matt
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/09/17
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
The plot of this book had great potential. I found this world and these concepts fun. But, the dialog just bogged me down. What these teenagers said and how they reacted to their situations did not feel real at all.
]]> A Train to Potevka 459255 345 Mike Ramsdell 1598720309 Matt 2 3.41 2005 A Train to Potevka
author: Mike Ramsdell
name: Matt
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at: 2011/11/30
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
Written as a personal memoir to the author's family, the book provided some fun insights into a dying USSR, but it failed to really capture my attention
]]> Clementine (Clementine, #1) 517344 چاپ ۱۳۹۰
9789642220878]]> 144 Sara Pennypacker 0786838825 Matt 5 3.94 2006 Clementine (Clementine, #1)
author: Sara Pennypacker
name: Matt
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2011/12/14
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
One of funniest children's books I have ever read.
]]> Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, & Poet 1314548 Book by Ludlow, Victor L. 578 Victor L. Ludlow Matt 5 4.11 1982 Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, & Poet
author: Victor L. Ludlow
name: Matt
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at: 2011/10/06
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
Excellent insights into the the historical context, language structure, and cultural underpinnings of Isaiah's writings
]]> <![CDATA[The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature]]> 150469
From tales of vegetarian piranha fish and voiceless dogs to the scientific search for the genes that threaten to destroy the cheetah, Quammen captures the natural world with precision. Throughout, he illuminates the surprising intricacies of the natural world, and our human attitudes towards those intricacies. A distinguished essayist, Quammen’s reporting is masterful and thought provoking and his curiosity and fascination with the world of living things is infectious.]]> 320 David Quammen 0684836262 Matt 4 4.18 1988 The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature
author: David Quammen
name: Matt
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/06
date added: 2012/05/06
shelves:
review:
I found Quammen's essays very engaging and entertaining, probably in part because I am a biologist. Some essays are rather dated, particularly the ones on illegal immigration, but I was surprised how relevant they still are.
]]> <![CDATA[Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart]]> 2184798
Ever since Stanley first charted its mighty river in the 1870s, the Congo has epitomized the dark and turbulent history of a failed continent. However, its troubles only served to increase the interest of Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher, who was sent to cover Africa in 2000. Before long he became obsessed with the idea of recreating Stanley’s original expedition � but travelling alone.

Despite warnings Butcher spent years poring over colonial-era maps and wooing rebel leaders before making his will and venturing to the Congo’s eastern border. He passed through once thriving cities of this country and saw the marks left behind by years of abuse and misrule. Almost, 2,500 harrowing miles later, he reached the Atlantic Ocean, a thinner and a wiser man.

Butcher’s journey was a remarkable feat. But the story of the Congo, vividly told in Blood River, is more remarkable still.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 363 Tim Butcher 0099494280 Matt 0 to-read 3.97 2007 Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart
author: Tim Butcher
name: Matt
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks]]> 6493208
Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored� ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia � a land of wooden quarters for enslaved people, faith healings, and voodoo � to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality� until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family � past and present � is inextricably connected to the history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.]]> 370 Rebecca Skloot 1400052173 Matt 5 4.12 2010 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
author: Rebecca Skloot
name: Matt
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2011/08/08
date added: 2011/08/08
shelves:
review:
This book covers so many things and covers them so well. It was part history of medical research using cell lines, part commentary on the ethics of taking tissue for medicine, and part history of Henrietta Lacks' family, a family whose mother's cells brought about many advances and profits in medicine, but could not afford their own health insurance to take advantage of those advances. I felt The book did an excellent job staying objective telling the story of scientists that took advantage of Henrietta's immortal cells and the family that felt abused and deceived by them.
]]> Escape from Alcatraz 534279 256 J. Campbell Bruce 1580086780 Matt 0 to-read 3.57 1963 Escape from Alcatraz
author: J. Campbell Bruce
name: Matt
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/08/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The 5000 Year Leap 1217881
The nation the Founders built is now in the throes of a political, economic, social, and spiritual crisis that has driven many to an almost frantic search for modern solutions. The truth is that the solutions have been available for a long time -- in the writings of our Founding Fathers -- carefully set forth in this timely book.

In The 5000 Year A Miracle That Changed the World , Discover the 28 Principles of Freedom our Founding Fathers said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desire peace, prosperity, and freedom. Learn how adherence to these beliefs during the past 200 years has brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5000 years. These 28 Principles include The Genius of Natural Law, Virtuous and Moral Leaders, Equal Rights--Not Equal Things, and Avoiding the Burden of Debt.]]> 337 W. Cleon Skousen 0880801484 Matt 2
The Founding Fathers were diverse group of individuals that had very different opinions on how the Constitution should be interpreted and how the government run. This diversity and disagreement led to ruined relationships (Madison-Hamilton, Washington-Jefferson, Adams-Jefferson, Adams-Hamilton) and, ultimately, the death of a founder (Hamilton). But, the diversity also led to compromise, including compromises that were needed to establish the Constitution in the first place. This book completely ignores that diversity and paints a picture of unity between these individuals.

For each principle, the author gives his interpretation, gives a few cherry-picked quotes that supports his view-point and states that the "Founders agreed/believed/thought this". In a couple principles (1st and 9th), he ignores the founders completely, exclusively quotes from philosophers or historians and then states at the end of the chapter some version of "and the Founder's believed this."

I also found that many of his ideas ignored historical context of an issue and were often overly simplistic, such as his patronizing plan for integrating minorities (learn English and our culture and work hard and in a generation you will be integrated) or his argument that if the U.S. had stayed out of WWII the world would have been "much happier, more peaceful, and more prosperous".

2 stars is probably nice, I give it 1.5 stars]]> 4.27 1981 The 5000 Year Leap
author: W. Cleon Skousen
name: Matt
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1981
rating: 2
read at: 2011/07/31
date added: 2011/08/02
shelves:
review:
When I first flipped through this book and read the title of each of the 28 principles, I essentially agreed with each principle as stated and as I read, I did find some insights interesting. But, I found serious fault with the book's central premise, that the 'Founding Fathers' (the author uses the term as a single entity) had very specific ideas concerning government and all those ideas apply in today's world.

The Founding Fathers were diverse group of individuals that had very different opinions on how the Constitution should be interpreted and how the government run. This diversity and disagreement led to ruined relationships (Madison-Hamilton, Washington-Jefferson, Adams-Jefferson, Adams-Hamilton) and, ultimately, the death of a founder (Hamilton). But, the diversity also led to compromise, including compromises that were needed to establish the Constitution in the first place. This book completely ignores that diversity and paints a picture of unity between these individuals.

For each principle, the author gives his interpretation, gives a few cherry-picked quotes that supports his view-point and states that the "Founders agreed/believed/thought this". In a couple principles (1st and 9th), he ignores the founders completely, exclusively quotes from philosophers or historians and then states at the end of the chapter some version of "and the Founder's believed this."

I also found that many of his ideas ignored historical context of an issue and were often overly simplistic, such as his patronizing plan for integrating minorities (learn English and our culture and work hard and in a generation you will be integrated) or his argument that if the U.S. had stayed out of WWII the world would have been "much happier, more peaceful, and more prosperous".

2 stars is probably nice, I give it 1.5 stars
]]> The Devil in the White City 21996
Erik Larson's gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America's rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair's brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country's most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his "World's Fair Hotel" just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake.

The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. In this book the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before.]]> 496 Erik Larson 0739303406 Matt 0 currently-reading 3.99 2003 The Devil in the White City
author: Erik Larson
name: Matt
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/08/01
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1)]]> 249747 Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.]]> 396 Eoin Colfer Matt 2
Artemis Fowl comes off as a spoiled little brat committing assault and aggravated kidnapping. The fantasy elements of the story were entertaining, but I could not get past the main character.

Maybe if I was 12, I would think differently. ]]> 3.86 2001 Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Matt
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2001
rating: 2
read at: 2011/04/09
date added: 2011/08/01
shelves:
review:
If the main characters are to be criminals, I need to find a reason to like them. This works if they have likable, entertaining personalities, are committing crimes against more nefarious bad guys, or have some noble purpose. The main characters of this story have none of these traits.

Artemis Fowl comes off as a spoiled little brat committing assault and aggravated kidnapping. The fantasy elements of the story were entertaining, but I could not get past the main character.

Maybe if I was 12, I would think differently.
]]> <![CDATA[The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time When America Helped Save Europe]]> 1495978 464 Greg Behrman 0743282639 Matt 3 3.90 2007 The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time When America Helped Save Europe
author: Greg Behrman
name: Matt
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/01
date added: 2011/08/01
shelves:
review:
This book does an excellent job discussing the both the national altruism and strategic self-interest behind the Marshall Plan. The author makes a very good effort in describing the positive and negative aspects of the plan, but firmly believes that the Marshall Plan helped save post-WWII Europe from economic and political disaster. I found the beginning part of the book (development and implementation of the plan) the most interesting, but got bored with some of the bureaucratic details that followed.
]]> <![CDATA[The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn]]> 7907515
The bestselling author of "Mayflower" sheds new light on one of the iconic stories of the American West

Little Bighorn and Custer are names synonymous in the American imagination with unmatched bravery and spectacular defeat. Mythologized as Custer's Last Stand, the June 1876 battle has been equated with other famous last stands, from the Spartans' defeat at Thermopylae to Davy Crockett at the Alamo.

In his tightly structured narrative, Nathaniel Philbrick brilliantly sketches the two larger-than-life antagonists: Sitting Bull, whose charisma and political savvy earned him the position of leader of the Plains Indians, and George Armstrong Custer, one of the Union's greatest cavalry officers and a man with a reputation for fearless and often reckless courage. Philbrick reminds readers that the Battle of the Little Bighorn was also, even in victory, the last stand for the Sioux and Cheyenne Indian nations. Increasingly outraged by the government's Indian policies, the Plains tribes allied themselves and held their ground in southern Montana. Within a few years of Little Bighorn, however, all the major tribal leaders would be confined to Indian reservations.

Throughout, Philbrick beautifully evokes the history and geography of the Great Plains with his characteristic grace and sense of drama. "The Last Stand" is a mesmerizing account of the archetypal story of the American West, one that continues to haunt our collective imagination.]]> 12 Nathaniel Philbrick 0142427691 Matt 0 to-read 3.78 2010 The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
author: Nathaniel Philbrick
name: Matt
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/07/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery]]> 8753495 From a master historian, the story of Lincoln's—and the nation's—transformation through the crucible of slavery and emancipation.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the Lincoln Prize

In this landmark work of deep scholarship and insight, Eric Foner gives us the definitive history of Lincoln and the end of slavery in America. Foner begins with Lincoln's youth in Indiana and Illinois and follows the trajectory of his career across an increasingly tense and shifting political terrain from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Although “naturally anti-slavery� for as long as he can remember, Lincoln scrupulously holds to the position that the Constitution protects the institution in the original slave states. But the political landscape is transformed in 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska Act makes the expansion of slavery a national issue.

A man of considered words and deliberate actions, Lincoln navigates the dynamic politics deftly, taking measured steps, often along a path forged by abolitionists and radicals in his party. Lincoln rises to leadership in the new Republican Party by calibrating his politics to the broadest possible antislavery coalition. As president of a divided nation and commander in chief at war, displaying a similar compound of pragmatism and principle, Lincoln finally embraces what he calls the Civil War's “fundamental and astounding� result: the immediate, uncompensated abolition of slavery and recognition of blacks as American citizens.

Foner's Lincoln emerges as a leader, one whose greatness lies in his capacity for moral and political growth through real engagement with allies and critics alike. This powerful work will transform our understanding of the nation's greatest president and the issue that mattered most.]]> 336 Eric Foner 0393066185 Matt 0 to-read 4.17 2010 The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery
author: Eric Foner
name: Matt
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/07/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Basic Essentials; Edible Wild Plants and Useful Herbs]]> 2467818 87 Jim Meuninck 0762740868 Matt 0 to-read 3.57 1988 Basic Essentials; Edible Wild Plants and Useful Herbs
author: Jim Meuninck
name: Matt
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/07/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Virginian (Scribner Classics)]]> 169751 352 Owen Wister 0743238028 Matt 0 to-read 3.88 1902 The Virginian (Scribner Classics)
author: Owen Wister
name: Matt
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1902
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/06/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)]]> 4502507
While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy's sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.]]> 11 Rick Riordan Matt 3 4.48 2009 The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2011/04/24
date added: 2011/06/12
shelves:
review:
An appropriate and fun ending to a young adult series that skillfully incorporates Greek mythology
]]> <![CDATA[The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4)]]> 2120932
In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.]]> 361 Rick Riordan 1423101464 Matt 3 4.41 2008 The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/04/19
date added: 2011/06/12
shelves:
review:
Fun story involving many mythical creatures, although the way the main characters travel around the labyrinth seemed a bit too easy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #3)]]> 561456
But when you're the son of a Greek god, it happens. And now my friend Annabeth is missing, a goddess is in chains and only five half-blood heroes can join the quest to defeat the doomsday monster.

Oh, and guess what? The Oracle has predicted that not all of us will survive...]]> 352 Rick Riordan Matt 3 4.37 2007 The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #3)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Matt
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2011/04/15
date added: 2011/06/12
shelves:
review:
My least favorite of the series. It takes about half of the book to get going on the quest, while the quest was fairly entertaining.
]]> <![CDATA[Night Over the Solomons: Stories]]> 699694 Ěý
They’re freelance pilots and full-time troubleshooters for democracy. They’re men like Steven Cowan, Mike Thorne, and Turk Madden who face danger every day of their lives and fight like tigers for what they believe in. With the world on the brink of war, they’re on the front lines or wherever there’s action. From the dangerous South Sea islands, to steaming South American jungles, to the islands of Japan, you’ll find these men ready to fight the enemies of freedom—in a battle to the death.]]> 208 Louis L'Amour Matt 4 3.75 1986 Night Over the Solomons: Stories
author: Louis L'Amour
name: Matt
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1986
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/05
date added: 2011/06/12
shelves:
review:
Imagine if Indiana Jones was a pilot. I found these short stories of pilot-adventurers all taking place during or shortly after WWII highly entertaining.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mormon Doctrine of Deity: The Roberts-Van Der Donckt Discussion (Signature Mormon Classics, No 3.)]]> 237475 296 B.H. Roberts 1560851112 Matt 0 to-read 4.34 1975 The Mormon Doctrine of Deity: The Roberts-Van Der Donckt Discussion (Signature Mormon Classics, No 3.)
author: B.H. Roberts
name: Matt
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Okay for Now 9165406 Midwesterner Gary D. Schmidt won Newbery Honor awards for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boys and The Wednesday Wars, two coming-of-age novels about unlikely friends finding a bond. Okay For Now, his latest novel, explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challenging assistance, Doug discovers new sides of himself. Along the way, he also readjusts his relationship with his abusive father, his school peers, and his older brother, a newly returned war victim of Vietnam.

]]> 360 Gary D. Schmidt 0547152604 Matt 0 to-read 4.23 2011 Okay for Now
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: Matt
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle, #1)]]> 6294 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.]]> 329 Diana Wynne Jones 006441034X Matt 0 to-read 4.30 1986 Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle, #1)
author: Diana Wynne Jones
name: Matt
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/05/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Hiroshima 27323 152 John Hersey 0679721037 Matt 0 to-read 4.02 1946 Hiroshima
author: John Hersey
name: Matt
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1946
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/05/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Search for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #1)]]> 7327327 484 Tony DiTerlizzi 1416983104 Matt 2 4.11 2009 The Search for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #1)
author: Tony DiTerlizzi
name: Matt
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2011/04/25
date added: 2011/05/04
shelves:
review:
Part of the problem is that we listened to this book on tape and the main character came off as whiny more than anything else. The plot was interesting enough, but the conclusion was not very exciting and rather predictable.
]]> <![CDATA[Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945]]> 106317
The Depression was both a disaster and an opportunity. As David Kennedy vividly demonstrates, the economic crisis of the 1930s was far more than a simple reaction to the alleged excesses of the 1920s. For more than a century before 1929, America's unbridled industrial revolution had gyrated through repeated boom and bust cycles, wastefully consuming capital and inflicting untold misery on city and countryside alike.

Freedom From Fear explores how the nation agonized over its role in World War II, how it fought the war, why the United States won, and why the consequences of victory were sometimes sweet, sometimes ironic. In a compelling narrative, Kennedy analyzes the determinants of American strategy, the painful choices faced by commanders and statesmen, and the agonies inflicted on the millions of ordinary Americans who were compelled to swallow their fears and face battle as best they could.

Both comprehensive and colorful, this account of the most convulsive period in American history, excepting only the Civil War, reveals a period that formed the crucible in which modern America was formed.]]> 936 David M. Kennedy 0195144031 Matt 4
The book is basically divided into 2 halves, the depression and WWII. I felt that the author did a really good job summarizing the important events of WWII and providing interesting insights into the conflict.

For the depression, this book does an excellent job covering the political, economic and some demographic and social aspects of the depression. I felt that the author was fairly objective in describing such controversial topics as The New Deal, Herbert Hoover, FDR, etc.

The problem was that I was expecting a book to inform me more about some of the important societal, demographic and technological events that occurred during the Depression Era (such as to rise of motion pictures, the Lindbergh baby, or Amelia Earhart). This book did not cover such aspects, but makes an excellent first read for a volatile and interesting era in American History.]]> 4.19 1999 Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945
author: David M. Kennedy
name: Matt
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2009/12/23
date added: 2011/05/04
shelves:
review:
This is part of the Oxford History of the United States. The book was very well written and very engaging and I would have given 5 stars, but I was expecting something slightly different.

The book is basically divided into 2 halves, the depression and WWII. I felt that the author did a really good job summarizing the important events of WWII and providing interesting insights into the conflict.

For the depression, this book does an excellent job covering the political, economic and some demographic and social aspects of the depression. I felt that the author was fairly objective in describing such controversial topics as The New Deal, Herbert Hoover, FDR, etc.

The problem was that I was expecting a book to inform me more about some of the important societal, demographic and technological events that occurred during the Depression Era (such as to rise of motion pictures, the Lindbergh baby, or Amelia Earhart). This book did not cover such aspects, but makes an excellent first read for a volatile and interesting era in American History.
]]> <![CDATA[Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week]]> 126036
* "A good resume is more than just a piece of paper. It can mean the difference between not getting a job and not even coming close."

* "Can you get a job in business? Heck yes! Don't you listen to those Negative Nellies who tell you there aren't any good jobs anymore, just because the steel, automobile, shoe, clothing, railroad, and agricultural industries have all collapsed!"

* "I don't mean to suggest for a moment that all it takes to be a top executive is a custom-tailored European suit. You also need the correct shirt and tie."

* "Remember, your subordinates are not machines. They are human beings with the same dreams as you. OK, maybe not all the same dreams. Probably they don't have the one where you're naked in a vat of Yoo-Hoo with the Soviet gymnastics team."

* "Ask any business school professor, and he'll tell you a good memo is clear, concise, and well-organized. Now ask him what his annual salary is. It's probably less than most top executives spend in a month on shoe maintenance."]]> 96 Dave Barry 0878576525 Matt 4
Very funny and warped look at work and business practices in corporate America]]> 3.60 1987 Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2011/03/31
date added: 2011/05/04
shelves:
review:
Read it as part of the book Dave Barry's Guide to Life.

Very funny and warped look at work and business practices in corporate America
]]> <![CDATA[Babies and Other Hazards of Sex]]> 126024 In this classic crack-up of a book, Dave Barry gives his wacky perspective on sex, childbirth, parenting and other forms of slow, cruel torture.

In Babies and Other Hazards of Sex, Dave exposes natural childbirth for what it is: a pop phenomenon of the 1960s that, along with paisley bell-bottoms and creative sideburns, deserves a rest. He examines the new federal law requiring prospective fathers to free themselves from their self-made macho prisons--to laugh, cry, love and just generally behave like certified wimps.

Dave also reveals, for the first time in print, the secret chant for painless childbirth.

Then learn why no secret chant could possibly take a woman's mind off the fact that she is in such pain that she wants a gigantic comet to crash into the earth and kill her and her husband and the dotor and the nurses and everyone else in the world.
]]> 100 Dave Barry 0878575103 Matt 1 did-not-finish
While parts were funny, it was too crude for my tastes.]]> 3.99 1984 Babies and Other Hazards of Sex
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1984
rating: 1
read at: 2011/03/28
date added: 2011/05/04
shelves: did-not-finish
review:
Read it as part of the book Dave Barry's Guide to Life.

While parts were funny, it was too crude for my tastes.
]]> <![CDATA[Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex]]> 113017
Dating. "These are nonstereotypical times we live in, by which I mean that it is the responsibility of the woman to think up excuses that get progressively more obvious until the man figures out that the woman would rather chew on a rat pancreas."

Sex. "I'm afraid that we must talk here about sex in a very explicit manner, because we want to expand the Frontiers of Human Understanding, and also we want to sell as many books as possible to adolescent boys."

Marriage. "Most squabbles start with money. For example, you want to buy food, while your spouse wants to buy a thoroughbred racehorse. It's important, in these situations, for both of you to be willing to sit down and try to achieve a workable compromise. In this case, you could buy a thoroughbred racehorse and eat it."]]> 96 Dave Barry 0878577254 Matt 1 did-not-finish
While parts were funny, it was too crude for my tastes.]]> 3.81 1990 Dave Barry's Guide to Marriage and/or Sex
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1990
rating: 1
read at: 2011/03/07
date added: 2011/05/04
shelves: did-not-finish
review:
Read it as part of the book Dave Barry's Guide to Life.

While parts were funny, it was too crude for my tastes.
]]> <![CDATA[Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far)]]> 955446 Dave Barry 1423340868 Matt 5 3.55 2007 Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far)
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2010/08/07
date added: 2011/05/04
shelves:
review:
Dave's yearly recaps are probably my favorite of his writing. Found it hilarious.
]]> <![CDATA[Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up]]> 113016
So get up-close with Dave as he swears to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth . . . so God help you!]]> 244 Dave Barry 0345440641 Matt 4
This book was written over 20 years ago, so it is also interesting to read his insights into topics such as mainland China and compare it to what I see today.]]> 3.92 1994 Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up
author: Dave Barry
name: Matt
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2011/02/14
date added: 2011/05/04
shelves:
review:
Loved the way Dave Barry can take a mundane thing like driving a boat to an island and turn it into a hilarious experience.

This book was written over 20 years ago, so it is also interesting to read his insights into topics such as mainland China and compare it to what I see today.
]]> <![CDATA[A collector's guide to rock, mineral, & fossil localities of Utah (Miscellaneous publication / Utah Geological Survey)]]> 9857385 148 James R Wilson 1557913366 Matt 0 to-read 5.00 A collector's guide to rock, mineral, & fossil localities of Utah (Miscellaneous publication / Utah Geological Survey)
author: James R Wilson
name: Matt
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blackout (All Clear, #1) 6506307 491 Connie Willis 0553803190 Matt 0 to-read 3.85 2010 Blackout (All Clear, #1)
author: Connie Willis
name: Matt
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid--America's First World War II Victory]]> 1095868 464 Craig Nelson 0142003417 Matt 0 to-read 4.29 2002 The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid--America's First World War II Victory
author: Craig Nelson
name: Matt
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Say Nothing of the Dog (Oxford Time Travel, #2)]]> 77773 From Connie Willis, winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, comes a comedic romp through an unpredictable world of mystery, love, and time travel.

Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He’s been shuttling between the twenty-first century and the 1940s in search of a hideous Victorian vase called “the bishop’s bird stump� as part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi air raid.

But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right—not only to save the project but also to prevent altering history itself.]]> 493 Connie Willis 0553575384 Matt 0 to-read 4.11 1997 To Say Nothing of the Dog (Oxford Time Travel, #2)
author: Connie Willis
name: Matt
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Out of the Dust: Utah's Lost Mines and Treasures Stephen B. Shaffer]]> 481531 216 Stephen B. Shaffer 1555178936 Matt 0 to-read 3.73 2006 Out of the Dust: Utah's Lost Mines and Treasures Stephen B. Shaffer
author: Stephen B. Shaffer
name: Matt
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[By Darkness Hid (Blood of Kings, #1)]]> 6320247 490 Jill Williamson 0982104952 Matt 3 4.21 2009 By Darkness Hid (Blood of Kings, #1)
author: Jill Williamson
name: Matt
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2011/02/03
date added: 2011/02/12
shelves:
review:
A fun and fast read, but nothing really distinguished this book form many other fantasy series that I have read. The author does add a few snippets of Christian theology in this book that almost felt like after-thoughts.
]]> <![CDATA[The Exiled Queen (Seven Realms, #2)]]> 7801229
Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden's Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen.

Everything changes when Han and Raisa’s paths cross, in this epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction.]]> 586 Cinda Williams Chima 1423118243 Matt 4 4.32 2010 The Exiled Queen (Seven Realms, #2)
author: Cinda Williams Chima
name: Matt
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2011/01/19
date added: 2011/02/12
shelves:
review:
Very fun fantasy series. I liked this much more than the first book. The main female character is much more complex than she was in the first book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action (Darwin Awards, #1)]]> 63803 -Albert Einstein

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, The Darwin Awards vividly portrays the finest examples of evolution in action, and shows us just how uncommon common sense can be.

Marvel at the thief who steals electrical wires without shutting off the current. Gape at the lawnchair jockey who floats to a height of 16,000 feet suspended by helium balloons. Learn from the man who peers into a gasoline can using a cigarette lighter. All three -- and many more -- contend for Darwin Awards when their choices culminate in magnificent misadventures.

These tales of trial and awe-inspiring error--verified by the author and endorsed by website readers--illustrate the ongoing saga of survival of the fittest in all its selective glory.

]]> 352 Wendy Northcutt 0452283442 Matt 0 to-read 3.63 2000 The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action (Darwin Awards, #1)
author: Wendy Northcutt
name: Matt
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/02/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Pathfinder (Pathfinder, #1) 8100267 Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg's strange talent for seeing the paths of people's pasts. But when his father dies, Rigg is stunned to learn just how many secrets Father had kept from him--secrets about Rigg's own past, his identity, and his destiny. And when Rigg discovers that he has the power not only to see the past, but also to change it, his future suddenly becomes anything but certain.

Rigg’s birthright sets him on a path that leaves him caught between two factions, one that wants him crowned and one that wants him dead. He will be forced to question everything he thinks he knows, choose who to trust, and push the limits of his talent…or forfeit control of his destiny.

]]> 657 Orson Scott Card 141699176X Matt 0 to-read 4.00 2010 Pathfinder (Pathfinder, #1)
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Matt
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2011/01/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Demon King (Seven Realms, #1)]]> 6342491
One day, Han and his clan friend, Dancer, confront three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to keep him from using it against them. Soon Han learns that the amulet has an evil history—it once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world a millennium ago. With a magical piece that powerful at stake, Han knows that the Bayars will stop at nothing to get it back.

Meanwhile, Raisa ana'Marianna, princess heir of the Fells, has her own battles to fight. She's just returned to court after three years of freedom in the mountains—riding, hunting, and working the famous clan markets. Raisa wants to be more than an ornament in a glittering cage. She aspires to be like Hanalea—the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But her mother has other plans for her...

The Seven Realms tremble when the lives of Hans and Raisa collide, fanning the flames of the smoldering war between clans and wizards.]]> 506 Cinda Williams Chima 1423118235 Matt 3 4.16 2009 The Demon King (Seven Realms, #1)
author: Cinda Williams Chima
name: Matt
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2011/01/06
date added: 2011/01/15
shelves:
review:
I found that this book series has a lot of potential. This book does a very good job establishing the world and story, but I also felt that not a lot happened in the first half of the book. I also found the lead female character very one-sided and shallow (all she worried about are kissing boys and going to parties). With that said, however, I finished this book excited about continuing this series and I think it did a good job setting up the series.
]]> <![CDATA[City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)]]> 3777732 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

To save her mother's life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters - never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family's past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he's willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City - whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of the New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments.]]> 541 Cassandra Clare 1416914307 Matt 3 4.27 2009 City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Matt
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/12/28
date added: 2011/01/15
shelves:
review:
My favorite of the first three books. I really enjoyed the ending, but was able to guess some of twists in the story.
]]> <![CDATA[City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2)]]> 1582996 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go � especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil � and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings � and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.]]> 453 Cassandra Clare 1416914293 Matt 3 4.12 2008 City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Matt
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2010/12/17
date added: 2011/01/15
shelves:
review:
Fun story, but found some characters rather unlikable.
]]> <![CDATA[City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)]]> 256683
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...]]> 485 Cassandra Clare 1416914285 Matt 3
Overall, I liked the fantasy world Clare created, but found the main male character obnoxious (I am not fond of the 'rebellious jerk yet sensitive soul' personality) and found the way the characters reacted to some situations in the book not very believable.]]> 4.08 2007 City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Matt
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2010/12/11
date added: 2011/01/15
shelves:
review:
My wife suggested that I would like this fantasy series. My response was, "Let me get this straight, you want me to read a book with a bare-chested man on the cover."

Overall, I liked the fantasy world Clare created, but found the main male character obnoxious (I am not fond of the 'rebellious jerk yet sensitive soul' personality) and found the way the characters reacted to some situations in the book not very believable.
]]> <![CDATA[Freaks of the Storm: From Flying Cows to Stealing Thunder: The World's Strangest True Weather Stories]]> 8971 371 Randy Cerveny 1560258012 Matt 0 to-read 3.23 2006 Freaks of the Storm: From Flying Cows to Stealing Thunder: The World's Strangest True Weather Stories
author: Randy Cerveny
name: Matt
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty]]> 335795 More than two centuries have passed since Fletcher Christian mutinied against Lt. Bligh on a small armed transport vessel called Bounty. Why the details of this obscure adventure at the end of the world remain vivid and enthralling is as intriguing as the truth behind the legend. Caroline Alexander focusses on the court martial of the ten mutineers captured in Tahiti and brought to justice in Portsmouth. Each figure emerges as a richly drawn character caught up in a drama that may well end on the gallows. With enormous scholarship and exquisitely drawn characters, The Bounty is a tour de force.]]> 552 Caroline Alexander 0006532462 Matt 0 to-read 3.96 2003 The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty
author: Caroline Alexander
name: Matt
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/12/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> In the Heart of the Sea 2564187 10 Nathaniel Philbrick 0753110334 Matt 0 to-read 3.97 2000 In the Heart of the Sea
author: Nathaniel Philbrick
name: Matt
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/12/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Search: The Continuing Story of The Tracker]]> 1945282 219 Tom Brown Jr. 0425053466 Matt 0 to-read 4.13 1980 The Search: The Continuing Story of The Tracker
author: Tom Brown Jr.
name: Matt
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Pirate Latitudes 6428887
Word in port is that the Spanish treasure galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is stalled in nearby Matanceros harbor awaiting repairs. Heavily fortified, the impregnable Spanish outpost is guarded by the blood-swiller Cazalla, a favorite commander of King Philip IV himself. With the governor′s backing, Hunter assembles a roughneck crew to infiltrate the enemy island and commandeer the galleon, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloody legends of Matanceros suggest, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he finds himself on the island′s shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry are all that stand between him and the treasure.

With the help of his cunning crew, Hunter hijacks El Trinidad and escapes the deadly clutches of Cazalla, leaving plenty of carnage in his wake. But his troubles have just begun. . . .]]> 312 Michael Crichton 0061929379 Matt 1 did-not-finish 3.46 2009 Pirate Latitudes
author: Michael Crichton
name: Matt
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2009
rating: 1
read at: 2010/12/05
date added: 2010/12/05
shelves: did-not-finish
review:
I wanted to read a fun pirate story, but after reading about one of the 'good guys' casually raping a 14-year-old girl, I decided that this book was not for me.
]]> <![CDATA[A Conspiracy of Kings (The Queen's Thief, #4)]]> 6527841
In Attolia, Eugenides, the new and unlikely king, has never stopped wondering what happened to Sophos. Nor has the Queen of Eddis. They send spies. They pay informants. They appeal to the gods. But as time goes by, it becomes less and less certain that they will ever see their friend alive again.

Across the small peninsula battles are fought, bribes are offered, and conspiracies are set in motion. Darkening the horizon, the Mede Empire threatens, always, from across the sea. And Sophos, anonymous and alone, bides his time. Sophos, drawing on his memories of Gen, Pol, the Magus and Eddis, sets out on an adventure that will change all of their lives forever.]]> 316 Megan Whalen Turner 0061870935 Matt 0 to-read 4.10 2010 A Conspiracy of Kings (The Queen's Thief, #4)
author: Megan Whalen Turner
name: Matt
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/12/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3)]]> 40159
Then he drags a naive young guard into the center of the political maelstrom. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king's caprice, but his contempt for Eugenides slowly turns to grudging respect. Though struggling against his fate, the newly crowned king is much more than he appears. Soon the corrupt Attolian court will learn that its subtle and dangerous intrigue is no match for Eugenides.]]> 387 Megan Whalen Turner 006083577X Matt 4 4.38 2006 The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #3)
author: Megan Whalen Turner
name: Matt
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2010/11/30
date added: 2010/12/05
shelves:
review:
The entertaining and devious Eugenides character from the first book is back (he seemed to be somebody completely different in the second book). Very fun story about palace intrigue, with some great twists.
]]> <![CDATA[The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)]]> 448873 Instead of Three Wishes, the first book by Megan Whalen Turner. Her second book more than fulfills that promise.

The king's scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king's prison. The magus is interested only in the thief's abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone's guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

Megan Whalen Turner weaves Gen's stories and Gen's story together with style and verve in a novel that is filled with intrigue, adventure, and surprise.]]> 280 Megan Whalen Turner 0060824972 Matt 4 3.86 1996 The Thief (The Queen's Thief, #1)
author: Megan Whalen Turner
name: Matt
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2010/11/10
date added: 2010/12/05
shelves:
review:
Fun story. Interesting world. Very likable main character.
]]> <![CDATA[The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #2)]]> 40158 Revenge

When Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eugenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered... she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge.

...but

Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times.

…at what price?

When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph—and his greatest loss—comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago...

Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL) and Bulletin Blue Ribbon Best of 2000 Award.]]> 362 Megan Whalen Turner 0060841826 Matt 2 4.17 2000 The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief, #2)
author: Megan Whalen Turner
name: Matt
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2000
rating: 2
read at: 2010/11/20
date added: 2010/12/05
shelves:
review:
OK story, but felt rather disconnected from the first story, The Thief. The Eugenides in this story does not seem be the same person as the devious thief in the first story.
]]> <![CDATA[Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34]]> 57882 Public Enemies, bestselling author Bryan Burrough strips away the thick layer of myths put out by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI to tell the full story—for the first time—of the most spectacular crime wave in American history, the two-year battle between the young Hoover and the assortment of criminals who became national icons: John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barkers. In an epic feat of storytelling and drawing on a remarkable amount of newly available material on all the major figures involved, Burrough reveals a web of interconnections within the vast American underworld and demonstrates how Hoover’s G-men overcame their early fumbles to secure the FBI’s rise to power.]]> 640 Bryan Burrough 0143035371 Matt 0 to-read 3.97 2004 Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34
author: Bryan Burrough
name: Matt
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Extraordinary (Impossible, #2)]]> 7456034 For fans of Beautiful Creatures and Wicked Lovely, New York Times Bestselling author Nancy Werlin delivers a captivating novel of friendship and trust, where the past determines the future and a generations-old curse requires the ultimate sacrifice.

Phoebe is drawn to Mallory, the strange and secretive new girl at school. Soon the two become as close as sisters . . . until Mallory’s magnetic older brother, Ryland, arrives. Ryland has an immediate hold on Phoebe � but it turns into something dangerous, as she begins to question her feelings about her best friend and, worse, about herself. Soon Phoebe discovers the shocking, fantastical truth about Ryland and Mallory, and about an age-old debt she’s meant to pay. Will she be strong enough to save herself from the curse?]]> 393 Nancy Werlin 0803733720 Matt 0 to-read 3.27 2010 Extraordinary (Impossible, #2)
author: Nancy Werlin
name: Matt
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)]]> 3112850
Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey.]]> 325 Maggie Stiefvater 0738713708 Matt 0 to-read 3.69 2008 Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Matt
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon]]> 6498652 A richly detailed and dramatic account of one of the greatest achievements of humankind

At 9:32 A.M. on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 rocket launched in the presence of more than a million spectators who had gathered to witness a truly historic event. It carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins to the last frontier of human imagination: the moon.

Rocket Men is the thrilling story of the moon mission, and it restores the mystery and majesty to an event that may have become too familiar for most people to realize what a stunning achievement it represented in planning, technology, and execution.

Through interviews, twenty-three thousand pages of NASA oral histories, and declassified CIA documents on the space race, Craig Nelson re-creates a vivid and detailed account of the Apollo 11 mission. From the quotidian to the scientific to the magical, readers are taken right into the cockpit with Aldrin and Armstrong and behind the scenes at Mission Control.

Rocket Men is the story of a twentieth-century pilgrimage; a voyage into the unknown motivated by politics, faith, science, and wonder that changed the course of history.]]> 1 Craig Nelson 0143144790 Matt 0 to-read 4.42 2009 Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon
author: Craig Nelson
name: Matt
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History]]> 46724
Over the course of history, yellow fever has paralyzed governments, halted commerce, quarantined cities, moved the U.S. capital, and altered the outcome of wars. During a single summer in Memphis alone, it cost more lives than the Chicago fire, the San Francisco earthquake, and the Johnstown flood combined.

In 1900, the U.S. sent three doctors to Cuba to discover how yellow fever was spread. There, they launched one of history's most controversial human studies. Compelling and terrifying, The American Plague depicts the story of yellow fever and its reign in this country-and in Africa, where even today it strikes thousands every year. With "arresting tales of heroism,"** it is a story as much about the nature of human beings as it is about the nature of disease.

]]> 308 Molly Caldwell Crosby 0425212025 Matt 0 to-read 3.90 2006 The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History
author: Molly Caldwell Crosby
name: Matt
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Endurance 222202 360 Caroline Alexander 1565114183 Matt 0 to-read 4.30 1998 The Endurance
author: Caroline Alexander
name: Matt
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Big Daddy from the Pedernales: Lyndon Baines Johnson]]> 1218612 324 Paul K. Conkin 0805777725 Matt 0 to-read 4.00 1986 Big Daddy from the Pedernales: Lyndon Baines Johnson
author: Paul K. Conkin
name: Matt
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dragon Heir (The Heir Chronicles, #3)]]> 2866413
Madison Moss can hears the seductive call of the Dragonheart also, but she has other things on her mind. Maddie's been leaking dark magic ever since absorbing the blow that was meant to kill her boyfriend, Seph. If anyone finds out, she'll be banished from the sanctuary - and Seph - forever. Meanwhile, Trinity's enemies mean to win the war with the help of the Dragonheart, and they know that Madison Moss is the only one who can get it for them.

Moral compasses spin out of control as a final battle storms through a town that was meant to be a refuge. With so much to lose, what will Jason and Maddie be willing to fight for - and what will they sacrifice? It's everyone for himself in this thrilling conclusion to the Heir trilogy.]]> 499 Cinda Williams Chima 1423110706 Matt 3
The other 400 pages...well, not so much.

If it were not for the last pages this book would have received a lower rating.

Almost all the 'drama' in the story comes from the fact that the main characters are hiding from each other essential information that could help everyone because they feel like they might get in trouble or they won't be loved anymore. These are the same characters who have been through many life-threatening experiences together in the previous two books and should trust each other. Come on. I find this so-called plot device to be a sign of lazy writing and found it rather annoying.]]> 4.14 2008 The Dragon Heir (The Heir Chronicles, #3)
author: Cinda Williams Chima
name: Matt
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2010/11/01
date added: 2010/11/02
shelves:
review:
I couldn't put down the the last 100 pages of this book. I found that part to be very engaging and really fun story.

The other 400 pages...well, not so much.

If it were not for the last pages this book would have received a lower rating.

Almost all the 'drama' in the story comes from the fact that the main characters are hiding from each other essential information that could help everyone because they feel like they might get in trouble or they won't be loved anymore. These are the same characters who have been through many life-threatening experiences together in the previous two books and should trust each other. Come on. I find this so-called plot device to be a sign of lazy writing and found it rather annoying.
]]> <![CDATA[No Less Than Victory (World War II: 1939-1945, #3)]]> 6441706
No Less Than Victory is the crowning achievement in master storyteller Jeff Shaara’s soaring World War II trilogy, revealing the European war’s unforgettable and harrowing final act.
After the success of the Normandy invasion, the Allied commanders are buoyantly confident that the war in Europe will be over in a matter of weeks, that Hitler and his battered army have no other option than surrender. But despite the advice of his best military minds, Hitler will hear no talk of defeat. In mid-December 1944, the Germans launch a desperate and ruthless counteroffensive in the Ardennes forest, utterly surprising the unprepared Americans who stand in their way. Through the frigid snows of the mountainous terrain, German tanks and infantry struggle to realize Hitler’s goal: divide the Allied armies and capture the vital port at Antwerp. The attack succeeds in opening up a wide gap in the American lines, and for days chaos reigns in the Allied command. Thus begins the Battle of the Bulge, the last gasp by Hitler’s forces that becomes a horrific slugging match, some of the most brutal fighting of the war. As American commanders respond to the stunning challenge, the German spear is finally blunted.

Though some in the Nazi inner circle continue the fight to secure Germany’s postwar future, the Führer makes it clear that he is fighting to the end. He will spare nothing–not even German lives–to preserve his twisted vision of a “Thousand Year Reich.� But in May 1945, the German army collapses, and with Russian troops closing in, Hitler commits suicide. As the Americans sweep through the German countryside, they unexpectedly encounter the worst of Hitler’s crimes, the concentration camps, and young GIs find themselves absorbing firsthand the horrors of the Holocaust.

Presenting his riveting account through the eyes of Eisenhower and Patton and the young GIs who struggle face-to-face with their enemy, and through the eyes of Germany’s old soldier, Gerd von Rundstedt, and Hitler’s golden boy, Albert Speer, Jeff Shaara carries the reader on a journey that defines the spirit of the soldier and the horror of a madman’s dreams.

]]> 449 Jeff Shaara 0345497929 Matt 4 4.26 2009 No Less Than Victory (World War II: 1939-1945, #3)
author: Jeff Shaara
name: Matt
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/10/15
date added: 2010/11/02
shelves:
review:
Good ending to a satisfyingly series about WWII in Europe that incorporates the larger-than-life characters (Eisenhower, Patton, etc) and the common private.
]]> <![CDATA[The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy]]> 3044
In The Vision of the Anointed , ThomasĚýSowell presents a devastating critique of the mind-set behind the failed social policies of the past thirty years. Sowell sees what has happened during that time not as a series of isolated mistakes but as a logical consequence of a tainted vision whose defects have led to crises in education, crime, and family dynamics, and to other social pathologies. In this book, he describes how elites—the anointed—have replaced facts and rational thinking with rhetorical assertions, thereby altering the course of our social policy.]]> 320 Thomas Sowell 046508995X Matt 0 to-read 4.38 1995 The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Matt
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Matt 5 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Matt
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2010/10/13
date added: 2010/10/13
shelves:
review:
An excellent, gripping, and sad conclusion to an amazing series. I am impressed by Collins' exploration into the intense emotional consequences of such a world.
]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Matt 4 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Matt
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2009/11/28
date added: 2010/10/12
shelves:
review:
Just as intense and suspenseful as the previous book, but some of the self-absorption of the main character got to me a bit in this book, while it did not in the previous book. Great read.
]]> <![CDATA[Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815]]> 550931 New York Times bestsellers, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. Now, in the newest volume in the series, one of America's most esteemed historians, Gordon S. Wood, offers a brilliant account of the early American Republic, ranging from 1789 and the beginning of the national government to the end of the War of 1812.
As Wood reveals, the period was marked by tumultuous change in all aspects of American life--in politics, society, economy, and culture. The men who founded the new government had high hopes for the future, but few of their hopes and dreams worked out quite as they expected. They hated political parties but parties nonetheless emerged. Some wanted the United States to become a great fiscal-military state like those of Britain and France; others wanted the country to remain a rural agricultural state very different from the European states. Instead, by 1815 the United States became something neither group anticipated. Many leaders expected American culture to flourish and surpass that of Europe; instead it became popularized and vulgarized. The leaders also hope to see the end of slavery; instead, despite the release of many slaves and the end of slavery in the North, slavery was stronger in 1815 than it had been in 1789. Many wanted to avoid entanglements with Europe, but instead the country became involved in Europe's wars and ended up waging another war with the former mother country. Still, with a new generation emerging by 1815, most Americans were confident and optimistic about the future of their country.
Named a New York Times Notable Book, Empire of Liberty offers a marvelous account of this pivotal era when America took its first unsteady steps as a new and rapidly expanding nation.
]]> 778 Gordon S. Wood 0195039149 Matt 4
The chapters in the book are essentially series of essays about some aspect of that era which incorporate examples from all over the 25 years covered in this book. At the beginning of the book, the chapters are essentially linear, but as the book progresses, they become less so. The positive aspect of this technique is that it allows for a more thorough discussion of the topic at hand (such as religion, the judiciary, or the arts). A negative aspect is that I felt like I missed large chunks of history. For example, all I got out of Adam's presidency was the Alien and Sedition Acts and the treaty with France and all I got out of Jefferson's first term was the Louisiana Purchase and its exploration.

But still, this was a great read about a very volatile time in US history.]]> 4.13 2009 Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815
author: Gordon S. Wood
name: Matt
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2010/08/20
date added: 2010/10/12
shelves:
review:
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Even though the author was slightly biased towards Republicanism and very biased towards Jefferson vs the Federalist founding fathers (all you need to do is compare the adjectives he uses for Jefferson vs Washington, Adams or Hamilton), I felt that he did an excellent job of comparing the positive and negative aspects of the two dominant politcal ideologies of the era (e.g. the economic and political stability of Federalism vs. populist anarchy of Jeffersonian Republicanism and the freedom and rights of Jeffersonian Republicanism vs. the monarchism and elitism of Federalism).

The chapters in the book are essentially series of essays about some aspect of that era which incorporate examples from all over the 25 years covered in this book. At the beginning of the book, the chapters are essentially linear, but as the book progresses, they become less so. The positive aspect of this technique is that it allows for a more thorough discussion of the topic at hand (such as religion, the judiciary, or the arts). A negative aspect is that I felt like I missed large chunks of history. For example, all I got out of Adam's presidency was the Alien and Sedition Acts and the treaty with France and all I got out of Jefferson's first term was the Louisiana Purchase and its exploration.

But still, this was a great read about a very volatile time in US history.
]]> <![CDATA[Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974]]> 71636
At one point, in the late 1940s, American workers produced 57 percent of the planet's steel, 62 percent of the oil, 80 percent of the automobiles. The U.S. then had three-fourths of the world's gold supplies. English Prime Minister Edward Heath later said that the United States in the post-War era enjoyed "the greatest prosperity the world has ever known." It was a boom that produced a national euphoria, a buoyant time of grand expectations and an unprecedented faith in our government, in our leaders, and in the American dream--an optimistic spirit which would be shaken by events in the '60s and '70s, and particularly by the Vietnam War.

Now, in Grand Expectations, James T. Patterson has written a highly readable and balanced work that weaves the major political, cultural, and economic events of the period into a superb portrait of America from 1945 through Watergate. Here is an era teeming with memorable events--from the bloody campaigns in Korea and the bitterness surrounding McCarthyism to the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, to the Vietnam War, Watergate, and Nixon's resignation. Patterson excels at portraying the amazing growth after World War II--the great building boom epitomized by Levittown (the largest such development in history) and the baby boom (which exploded literally nine months after V-J Day)--as well as the resultant buoyancy of spirit reflected in everything from streamlined toasters, to big, flashy cars, to the soaring, butterfly roof of TWA's airline terminal in New York. And he shows how this upbeat, can-do mood spurred grander and grander expectations as the era progressed.

Of course, not all Americans shared in this economic growth, and an important thread running through the book is an informed and gripping depiction of the civil rights movement--from the electrifying Brown v. Board of Education decision, to the violent confrontations in Little Rock, Birmingham, and Selma, to the landmark civil rights acts of 1964 and 1965. Patterson also shows how the Vietnam War--which provoked LBJ's growing credibility gap, vast defense spending that dangerously unsettled the economy, and increasingly angry protests--and a growing rights revolution (including demands by women, Hispanics, the poor, Native Americans, and gays) triggered a backlash that widened hidden rifts in our society, rifts that divided along racial, class, and generational lines. And by Nixon's resignation, we find a national mood in stark contrast to the grand expectations of ten years earlier, one in which faith in our leaders and in the attainability of the American dream was greatly shaken.

The Oxford History of the United States
The Oxford History of the United States is the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a New York Times bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. The Atlantic Monthly has praised it as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book."

Conceived under the general editorship of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, and now under the editorship of David M. Kennedy, this renowned series blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.
]]> 880 James T. Patterson 0195117972 Matt 4
As for objectivity, the author does an excellent job in analyzing and explaining the important and controversial events in this time period. For a given event, he would usually describe the event, then describe arguments by critics (both contemporary and modern)that are both critical and in favor of the event. He would then give his own criticism of the event, which I felt was very objective. If this was all that he had done, I would have easily given this book 5 stars.

The problem is how he wrote the book. As you learn quickly in the first chapter, the book is written from the perspective of liberals. To be specific, I don't think he put a liberal slant on each event or interpretation, but instead it came across as "how the liberals felt about FDR's death, how liberals felt about Truman's election, etc." Obviously, the liberal mindset became very important in the 60's, but this perspective seemed a bit one-sided.

The other problem I had was with the permissive use of the terms 'liberal' and 'conservative' in the book. While the author does attempt a few times to further define the term in the context of what he is writing about, usually he just uses these terms with abandon. Because of this, you get the impression in the first 3rd of the book that every "conservative" is a racist McCarthyist and every "liberal" was a fervent disciple of FDR's New Deal.

These two things bothered me quite a bit, but if you want a good analysis of the 30 years after WWII and the two criticisms above don't bother you, I highly recommend this book. ]]> 4.09 1996 Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974
author: James T. Patterson
name: Matt
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2010/09/23
date added: 2010/10/12
shelves:
review:
I found this a fast and interesting read. I also found it to be both very objective and not very objective, depending how you read it.

As for objectivity, the author does an excellent job in analyzing and explaining the important and controversial events in this time period. For a given event, he would usually describe the event, then describe arguments by critics (both contemporary and modern)that are both critical and in favor of the event. He would then give his own criticism of the event, which I felt was very objective. If this was all that he had done, I would have easily given this book 5 stars.

The problem is how he wrote the book. As you learn quickly in the first chapter, the book is written from the perspective of liberals. To be specific, I don't think he put a liberal slant on each event or interpretation, but instead it came across as "how the liberals felt about FDR's death, how liberals felt about Truman's election, etc." Obviously, the liberal mindset became very important in the 60's, but this perspective seemed a bit one-sided.

The other problem I had was with the permissive use of the terms 'liberal' and 'conservative' in the book. While the author does attempt a few times to further define the term in the context of what he is writing about, usually he just uses these terms with abandon. Because of this, you get the impression in the first 3rd of the book that every "conservative" is a racist McCarthyist and every "liberal" was a fervent disciple of FDR's New Deal.

These two things bothered me quite a bit, but if you want a good analysis of the 30 years after WWII and the two criticisms above don't bother you, I highly recommend this book.
]]> <![CDATA[Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush V. Gore]]> 1584233 Restless Giant, acclaimed historical author James Patterson provides a crisp, concise assessment of the twenty-seven years between the resignation of Richard Nixon and the election of George W. Bush in a sweeping narrative that seamlessly weaves together social, cultural, political, economic, and international developments. We meet the era's many memorable figures and explore the "culture wars" between liberals and conservatives that appeared to split the country in two.

Patterson describes how America began facing bewildering developments in places such as Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, and Iraq, and discovered that it was far from easy to direct the outcome of global events, and at times even harder for political parties to reach a consensus over what attempts should be made. At the same time, domestic issues such as the persistence of racial tensions, high divorce rates, alarm over crime, and urban decay led many in the media to portray the era as one of decline. Patterson offers a more positive perspective, arguing that, despite our often unmet expectations, we were in many ways better off than we thought. By 2000, most Americans lived more comfortably than they had in the 1970s, and though bigotry and discrimination were far from extinct, a powerful rights consciousness insured that these were less pervasive in American life than at any time in the past.

With insightful analyses and engaging prose, Restless Giant captures this period of American history in a way that no other book has, illuminating the road that the United States traveled from the dismal days of the mid-1970s through the hotly contested election of 2000.

The Oxford History of the United States
The Oxford History of the United States is the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a New York Times bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. The Atlantic Monthly has praised it as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book." Conceived under the general editorship of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, and now under the editorship of David M. Kennedy, this renowned series blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.
]]> 448 James T. Patterson 019512216X Matt 4 3.76 2005 Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush V. Gore
author: James T. Patterson
name: Matt
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2010/10/07
date added: 2010/10/12
shelves:
review:
This was the sequel to Patterson's Grand Expectations. The point-of-view issues I had with his previous work were absent or greatly reduced in this book, but at half the size of Grand Expectations, so was a lot of the detailed analysis I enjoyed in his previous work. This may be due to the fact that this is such recent history. I very much enjoyed it.
]]> <![CDATA[Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda]]> 1116151
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Coalition forces quickly toppled the Taliban regime from the seat of government. But, believing the war to be all but over, the Pentagon and US Central Command refused to commit the forces required to achieve total victory in Afghanistan. Instead, they delegated responsibility for fighting the war's biggest battle to a tangle of untested units thrown together at the last moment.

Then the world watched as Anaconda seemed to unravel.

Denied the extra infantry, artillery and close air support with which they trained to go to war, the soldiers of this airborne assault fought for survival in brutal high-altitude combat. Backed up by a small, but crucial, team of special forces, they were all that stood between the Coalition and a military disaster.]]> 425 Sean Naylor 0425207870 Matt 0 to-read 4.14 2005 Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda
author: Sean Naylor
name: Matt
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/09/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Wizard Heir (The Heir Chronicles, #2)]]> 500743
After causing a tragic fire at an after-hours party, Seph is sent to the Havens, a secluded boys' school on the coast of Maine. Gregory Leicester, the headmaster, promises to train Seph in magic and initiate him into his mysterious order of wizards. But Seph's enthusiasm dampens when he learns that training comes at a steep cost, and that Leicester plans to use his students' powers to serve his own mysterious agenda.]]> 458 Cinda Williams Chima 1423104870 Matt 4 4.14 2007 The Wizard Heir (The Heir Chronicles, #2)
author: Cinda Williams Chima
name: Matt
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2010/09/04
date added: 2010/09/07
shelves:
review:
As with the first book in the series and fast, fun read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Warrior Heir (The Heir Chronicles, #1)]]> 213647 An epic battle between good and evil...

Before he knew about the Roses, 16-year-old Jack lived an unremarkable life in the small Ohio town of Trinity. Only the medicine he has to take daily and the thick scar above his heart set him apart from the other high schoolers. Then one day Jack skips his medicine. Suddenly, he is stronger, fiercer, and more confident than ever before. And it feels great—until he loses control of his own strength and nearly kills another player during soccer team tryouts.

Soon, Jack learns the startling truth about himself: he is Weirlind, part of an underground society of magical people who live among us. At their helm sits the feuding houses of the Red Rose and the White Rose, whose power is determined by playing The Game—a magical tournament in which each house sponsors a warrior to fight to the death. The winning house rules the Weir.

As if his bizarre heritage isn't enough, Jack finds out that he's not just another member of Weirlind—he's one of the last of the warriors—at a time when both houses are scouting for a player.]]> 426 Cinda Williams Chima 0786839171 Matt 3 3.94 2006 The Warrior Heir (The Heir Chronicles, #1)
author: Cinda Williams Chima
name: Matt
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2010/08/30
date added: 2010/09/07
shelves:
review:
Very fun and fast read. There were some logic gaps and the end wrapped up a little too easily, but I read it in two days, so I definitely enjoyed it.
]]> <![CDATA[Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II]]> 273197 Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the 1999 National Book Award for Nonfiction, finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, Embracing Defeat is John W. Dower's brilliant examination of Japan in the immediate, shattering aftermath of World War II.

Drawing on a vast range of Japanese sources and illustrated with dozens of astonishing documentary photographs, Embracing Defeat is the fullest and most important history of the more than six years of American occupation, which affected every level of Japanese society, often in ways neither side could anticipate. Dower, whom Stephen E. Ambrose has called "America's foremost historian of the Second World War in the Pacific," gives us the rich and turbulent interplay between West and East, the victor and the vanquished, in a way never before attempted, from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes and fears of men and women in every walk of life. Already regarded as the benchmark in its field, Embracing Defeat is a work of colossal scholarship and history of the very first order.]]> 676 John W. Dower 0393320278 Matt 0 to-read 4.14 1999 Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
author: John W. Dower
name: Matt
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory]]> 771
Today, physicists and mathematicians throughout the world are feverishly working on one of the most ambitious theories ever proposed: superstring theory. String theory, as it is often called, is the key to the Unified Field Theory that eluded Einstein for more than thirty years. Finally, the century-old antagonism between the large and the small--General Relativity and Quantum Theory--is resolved. String theory proclaims that all of the wondrous happenings in the universe, from the frantic dancing of subatomic quarks to the majestic swirling of heavenly galaxies, are reflections of one grand physical principle and manifestations of one single entity: microscopically tiny vibrating loops of energy, a billionth of a billionth the size of an atom. In this brilliantly articulated and refreshingly clear book, Greene relates the scientific story and the human struggle behind twentieth-century physics' search for a theory of everything.

Through the masterful use of metaphor and analogy, The Elegant Universe makes some of the most sophisticated concepts ever contemplated viscerally accessible and thoroughly entertaining, bringing us closer than ever to understanding how the universe works.]]> 425 Brian Greene 0375708111 Matt 0 to-read 4.06 1999 The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
author: Brian Greene
name: Matt
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2010/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere With Migratory Birds]]> 696116
Bird migration is the world's only true unifying natural phenomenon, stitching the continents together in a way that even the great weather systems fail to do. Scott Weidensaul follows awesome kettles of hawks over the Mexican coastal plains, bar-tailed godwits that hitchhike on gale winds 7,000 miles nonstop across the Pacific from Alaska to New Zealand, and myriad songbirds whose numbers have dwindled so dramatically in recent decades. Migration paths form an elaborate global web that shows serious signs of fraying, and Weidensaul delves into the tragedies of habitat degradation and deforestation with an urgency that brings to life the vast problems these miraculous migrants now face.]]> 420 Scott Weidensaul 0865475911 Matt 0 to-read 4.42 1999 Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere With Migratory Birds
author: Scott Weidensaul
name: Matt
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation]]> 7493
An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic--John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.

During the 1790s, which Ellis calls the most decisive decade in our nation's history, the greatest statesmen of their generation--and perhaps any--came together to define the new republic and direct its course for the coming centuries. Ellis focuses on six discrete moments that exemplify the most crucial issues facing the fragile new nation: Burr and Hamilton's deadly duel, and what may have really happened; Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison's secret dinner, during which the seat of the permanent capital was determined in exchange for passage of Hamilton's financial plan; Franklin's petition to end the "peculiar institution" of slavery--his last public act--and Madison's efforts to quash it; Washington's precedent-setting Farewell Address, announcing his retirement from public office and offering his country some final advice; Adams's difficult term as Washington's successor and his alleged scheme to pass the presidency on to his son; and finally, Adams and Jefferson's renewed correspondence at the end of their lives, in which they compared their different views of the Revolution and its legacy.

In a lively and engaging narrative, Ellis recounts the sometimes collaborative, sometimes archly antagonistic interactions between these men, and shows us the private characters behind the public personas: Adams, the ever-combative iconoclast, whose closest political collaborator was his wife, Abigail; Burr, crafty, smooth, and one of the most despised public figures of his time; Hamilton, whose audacious manner and deep economic savvy masked his humble origins; Jefferson, renowned for his eloquence, but so reclusive and taciturn that he rarely spoke more than a few sentences in public; Madison, small, sickly, and paralyzingly shy, yet one of the most effective debaters of his generation; and the stiffly formal Washington, the ultimate realist, larger-than-life, and America's only truly indispensable figure.

Ellis argues that the checks and balances that permitted the infant American republic to endure were not primarily legal, constitutional, or institutional, but intensely personal, rooted in the dynamic interaction of leaders with quite different visions and values. Revisiting the old-fashioned idea that character matters, Founding Brothers informs our understanding of American politics--then and now--and gives us a new perspective on the unpredictable forces that shape history.]]> 288 Joseph J. Ellis 0375705244 Matt 5
I found these arguments well reasoned and poignant in our own era of hyper-partisanship.

I am usually wary of history books that include a lot of exposition by the author, but I felt that Ellis was very forthright in his interpretations (one of my favorite quotes from the book: "...history is an inherently enigmatic and endlessly negotiable bundle of free-floating perceptions").]]> 3.94 2000 Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
author: Joseph J. Ellis
name: Matt
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2010/08/18
date added: 2010/08/18
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This book was a fast and thoroughly enjoyable read about 6 defining events involving the Founding Fathers. The book focuses the political turmoil that occurred in and around the 1790s and how the Founding Fathers navigated through an era that could have easily torn the nation apart. Ellis asks, "why did the nation stay together?", proposes four reasons why, and then uses these 6 stories to emphasize his arguments.

I found these arguments well reasoned and poignant in our own era of hyper-partisanship.

I am usually wary of history books that include a lot of exposition by the author, but I felt that Ellis was very forthright in his interpretations (one of my favorite quotes from the book: "...history is an inherently enigmatic and endlessly negotiable bundle of free-floating perceptions").
]]> <![CDATA[Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love]]> 18646
Inspired by a long fascination with Galileo, and by the remarkable surviving letters of Galileo's daughter, a cloistered nun, Dava Sobel has written a biography unlike any other of the man Albert Einstein called "the father of modern physics--indeed of modern science altogether." Galileo's Daughter also presents a stunning portrait of a person hitherto lost to history, described by her father as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me."

The son of a musician, Galileo Gahlei (1564-1642) tried at first to enter a monastery before engaging the skills that made him the foremost scientist of his day. Though he never left Italy, his inventions and discoveries were heralded around the world. Most sensationally, his telescopes allowed him to reveal a new reality in the heavens and to reinforce the astounding argument that the Earth moves around the Sun. For this belief, he was brought before the Holy Office of the Inquisition, accused of heresy, and forced to spend his last years under house arrest.

Of Galileo's three illegitimate children, the eldest best mirrored his own brilliance, industry, and sensibility, and by virtue of these qualities became his confidante. Born Virginia in 1600, she was thirteen when Galileo placed her in a convent near him in Florence, where she took the most appropriate name of Suor Maria Celeste. Her loving support, which Galileo repaid in kind, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength throughout his most productive and tumultuous years. Her presence, through letters which Sobel has translated from their original Italian and masterfully woven into the narrative, graces her father's life now as it did then.

Galileo's Daughter dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose seventeenth-century clash with Catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion. Moving between Galileo's grand public life and Maria Celeste's sequestered world, Sobel illuminates the Florence of the Medicis and the papal court in Rome during the pivotal era when humanity's perception of its place in the cosmos was being overturned. In that same time, while the bubonic plague wreaked its terrible devastation and the Thirty Years' War tipped fortunes across Europe, one man sought to reconcile the Heaven he revered as a good Catholic with the heavens he revealed through his telescope.

With all the human drama and scientific adventure that distinguished Longitude, Galileo's Daughter is an unforgettable story.]]> 420 Dava Sobel 0140280553 Matt 0 to-read 3.75 1999 Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love
author: Dava Sobel
name: Matt
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1999
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]]> <![CDATA[The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin]]> 147602
"The authoritative Franklin biography for our time.� —Joseph J. Ellis, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers

Wit, diplomat, scientist, philosopher, businessman, inventor, and bon vivant, Benjamin Franklin's "life is one every American should know well, and it has not been told better than by Mr. Brands" ( The Dallas Morning News ). From penniless runaway to highly successful printer, from ardently loyal subject of Britain to architect of an alliance with France that ensured America’s independence, Franklin went from obscurity to become one of the world’s most admired figures, whose circle included the likes of Voltaire, Hume, Burke, and Kant.

Drawing on previously unpublished letters and a host of other sources, acclaimed historian H. W. Brands has written a thoroughly engaging biography of the eighteenth-century genius. A much needed reminder of Franklin’s greatness and humanity, The First American is a work of meticulous scholarship that provides a magnificent tour of a legendary historical figure, a vital era in American life, and the countless arenas in which the protean Franklin left his legacy.

Look for H.W. Brands's other ANDREW JACKSON, THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNION (Ulysses S. Grant), TRAITOR TO HIS CLASS (Franklin Roosevelt) and REAGAN.]]> 765 H.W. Brands 0385495404 Matt 0 to-read 4.10 2000 The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
author: H.W. Brands
name: Matt
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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