David is a former co-worker, who when I first started this year's reading challenge said 'you should read Nick Hornby...all of Nick Hornby.' He also insisted that I'd be able to read one a day. :) So here we go!
Fiction
1. High Fidelity
2. A Long Way Down
3. About a Boy
4. How To Be Good
Non-Fiction
5. Fever Pitch
6. 31 Songs
7. The Polysyllabic Spree
Thursday, June 29, 2006
49. Second Foundation
by Isaac Asimov (304 pgs)
Rating: 4
After the empire of the Mule, the people of the foundation begin to suspect that Seldon's plan has gone horribly awry and some believe that the Second Foundation (if it exists) will cruise in and save them no matter what. However, the Second Foundation are fabled to have super human mental abilities much as the Mule did and this cause a fair bit of paranoid speculation.
Picking up only a few years after the end of the previous book,Second Foundation is perhaps the best of the first three. Unlike the first two, the same plot line persists through the entire book. While the shorter plots were not bad, they were a bit jarring. Second Foundation, in contrast, had very smooth transitions and very interesting plot twists. The end was reminiscent of the movie Clue...in a good way. I really enjoyed the convoluted plot; it was complex without being difficult to follow. In some ways it was more like a psychological thriller than a science fiction novel.
While it's not a light read, I would recommend this to anyone who even had a passing interest in science fiction.
Rating: 4
After the empire of the Mule, the people of the foundation begin to suspect that Seldon's plan has gone horribly awry and some believe that the Second Foundation (if it exists) will cruise in and save them no matter what. However, the Second Foundation are fabled to have super human mental abilities much as the Mule did and this cause a fair bit of paranoid speculation.
Picking up only a few years after the end of the previous book,Second Foundation is perhaps the best of the first three. Unlike the first two, the same plot line persists through the entire book. While the shorter plots were not bad, they were a bit jarring. Second Foundation, in contrast, had very smooth transitions and very interesting plot twists. The end was reminiscent of the movie Clue...in a good way. I really enjoyed the convoluted plot; it was complex without being difficult to follow. In some ways it was more like a psychological thriller than a science fiction novel.
While it's not a light read, I would recommend this to anyone who even had a passing interest in science fiction.
48. Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card (384 pages)
Rating: 4
Ender is an above average kid. To say he was bright would be like accusing light bulbs of being dim. So suffice it to say the kid gots the smarts and the temperament to be a genius...the only trick is manufacturing enough emotional angst to produce one. That's where the military comes in. Before we come down on the evil adults too hard let's admit that when you are fighting an intergalactic war against an alien species of intelligent insects, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Ender's Game is considered a classic of science fiction by many and justifiably so. It is a fairly accessible work that is well written, and, aside from a couple very small plot holes,is well conceived. The characters are a tad two dimensional although forgivably so and the end, while not predictable, holds no surprises for sci fi fans. One wonders about the sequels since the end fairly well wraps it all up, but I guess I will find out about those.
I recommend this to new comers to the genre and to those who wish to read the sci fi classics. I do not recommend this to nit pickers.
Rating: 4
Ender is an above average kid. To say he was bright would be like accusing light bulbs of being dim. So suffice it to say the kid gots the smarts and the temperament to be a genius...the only trick is manufacturing enough emotional angst to produce one. That's where the military comes in. Before we come down on the evil adults too hard let's admit that when you are fighting an intergalactic war against an alien species of intelligent insects, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Ender's Game is considered a classic of science fiction by many and justifiably so. It is a fairly accessible work that is well written, and, aside from a couple very small plot holes,is well conceived. The characters are a tad two dimensional although forgivably so and the end, while not predictable, holds no surprises for sci fi fans. One wonders about the sequels since the end fairly well wraps it all up, but I guess I will find out about those.
I recommend this to new comers to the genre and to those who wish to read the sci fi classics. I do not recommend this to nit pickers.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
47. Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too
by Melissa Kelly and Eve Adamson (336 pgs)
Rating: 3
Americans are the most diet crazed people out there. So why is it that we are also some of the heaviest out there. Partially it's reflective, we as a society obsess about food and about weight so we also obsess about weight loss. Part of it is a reflection of our work-aholic expectations...who has time to eat, let alone eat well. So the premise of this book, much like French Women Don't Get Fat, is that we wouldn't have such problems if we slowed down, listened to our bodies, and applied some common sense. Be a food snob, it says, better to put good food in the body than junk.
While not as good as French Women Don't Get Fat, Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too is a good read promoting common sense and rejecting extreme fad diets and unrealistic body expectations. The text isn't nearly as empowering to me but there is a lot of good information and many good looking recipes.
Recommended to all of us who struggle against dieting fads. rawr!!
Rating: 3
Americans are the most diet crazed people out there. So why is it that we are also some of the heaviest out there. Partially it's reflective, we as a society obsess about food and about weight so we also obsess about weight loss. Part of it is a reflection of our work-aholic expectations...who has time to eat, let alone eat well. So the premise of this book, much like French Women Don't Get Fat, is that we wouldn't have such problems if we slowed down, listened to our bodies, and applied some common sense. Be a food snob, it says, better to put good food in the body than junk.
While not as good as French Women Don't Get Fat, Mediterranean Women Stay Slim, Too is a good read promoting common sense and rejecting extreme fad diets and unrealistic body expectations. The text isn't nearly as empowering to me but there is a lot of good information and many good looking recipes.
Recommended to all of us who struggle against dieting fads. rawr!!
46. Spellsinger
by Alan Dean Foster (352 pgs)
Rating: 3.5
Jonathan-Thomas Meriweather, a.k.a. JonTom, is plucked from his stoned out college student existence and dumped in a world where the animals have evolved into much larger and much more talkative versions than we are accustomed to. Understandably, at first he is very disoriented but a conversation with a talking turtle (and also one of the most powerful magicians in the land) clears up a great many of his questions.
Despite its somewhat ridiculous premise, Spellsinger is actually an enjoyable, if not terribly intellectual, book. The high-points are it's characterization, handling of the setting, and use of details to create a sense of verisimilitude. Downsides... it suffers a little from deus ex machina (although I admit that's a debatable point) and it's pure unadulterated fluff. However, it was fun and it was an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours on a plane.
Recommended for kids 8 and up (depending on reading level) and as a quick read to fantasy fans. Rule of thumb, if you like Piers Anthony or Douglas Adams you probably will have fun with this.
Rating: 3.5
Jonathan-Thomas Meriweather, a.k.a. JonTom, is plucked from his stoned out college student existence and dumped in a world where the animals have evolved into much larger and much more talkative versions than we are accustomed to. Understandably, at first he is very disoriented but a conversation with a talking turtle (and also one of the most powerful magicians in the land) clears up a great many of his questions.
Despite its somewhat ridiculous premise, Spellsinger is actually an enjoyable, if not terribly intellectual, book. The high-points are it's characterization, handling of the setting, and use of details to create a sense of verisimilitude. Downsides... it suffers a little from deus ex machina (although I admit that's a debatable point) and it's pure unadulterated fluff. However, it was fun and it was an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours on a plane.
Recommended for kids 8 and up (depending on reading level) and as a quick read to fantasy fans. Rule of thumb, if you like Piers Anthony or Douglas Adams you probably will have fun with this.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
45. The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster (272 pages)
Rating: 5
Milo, an apathetic youth in need of a good shaking up, comes home one day to find a large package in his room. Because he didn't have anything better to do he unpacks and sets up his very own tollbooth.
Ok so why does The Phantom Tollbooth get a five? 1. It's a well written piece of fiction with good characterization and a fun sense of humor and plot. 2. It is, obliquely, about the importance of education. And 3. It is, less obliquely about the relative importance of mathematics and the literary arts (in that they are equally important.) In a society of specialists where education is left more and more to the will of the child and the involvement of the parent I think this is a stellar work that explains the importance to the child gently and without the preachy overtones of so much of the available children's lit.
It is essentially a well rounded work that is a parable demonstrating many of the values (over used concept that it is right now) that the uber conservative elements in this country really ought to be concerned with as opposed to legislating morality for ourselves and the rest of the world. If you taught children appropriately to their abilities and not to some misguided concept of fairness, then issues of morality are something they can very well take care of themselves. I shall now step down from my soap box.
*ahem*
So, read the book. Whether you are adult or child I'm sure you will find amusement in it.
Rating: 5
Milo, an apathetic youth in need of a good shaking up, comes home one day to find a large package in his room. Because he didn't have anything better to do he unpacks and sets up his very own tollbooth.
Ok so why does The Phantom Tollbooth get a five? 1. It's a well written piece of fiction with good characterization and a fun sense of humor and plot. 2. It is, obliquely, about the importance of education. And 3. It is, less obliquely about the relative importance of mathematics and the literary arts (in that they are equally important.) In a society of specialists where education is left more and more to the will of the child and the involvement of the parent I think this is a stellar work that explains the importance to the child gently and without the preachy overtones of so much of the available children's lit.
It is essentially a well rounded work that is a parable demonstrating many of the values (over used concept that it is right now) that the uber conservative elements in this country really ought to be concerned with as opposed to legislating morality for ourselves and the rest of the world. If you taught children appropriately to their abilities and not to some misguided concept of fairness, then issues of morality are something they can very well take care of themselves. I shall now step down from my soap box.
*ahem*
So, read the book. Whether you are adult or child I'm sure you will find amusement in it.
Monday, June 12, 2006
44. The Forever War
by Joe Haldeman (288 pgs)
Rating: 5
War in space involves logistics that we never think of or worry about here. For example, if there were war in space at all, it would mean that we had vehicles capable of much faster travel than we do now. When approaching light speed, there are issues of time dilation where in the people on the vehicle are still 20 some odd years old and the planet they left behind is suddenly hundreds of years ago.
Classic science fiction of the best sort. Written in the early 70's, The Forever War is as much about the political and social climate of the time in which it was written as it is about space ships and mysterious alien foes. The themes explore why we go to war and some of the conclusions that Haldeman came to were not flattering to our species. At odd moments Haldeman takes digs at the sexual revolution, issues of homosexuality, and communism. I think I would like to read a book that overviews the political and social scene of the late 60's and the 70's. I think if I could find such a book and read it side by side with The Forever War, I would find Haldeman's book to be an interesting critique on the times.
Recommended for everyone who is interested in why we humans make the same mistakes over and over, the liberal dissatisfied, the complacent conservative, and my own people: the cynics.
Rating: 5
War in space involves logistics that we never think of or worry about here. For example, if there were war in space at all, it would mean that we had vehicles capable of much faster travel than we do now. When approaching light speed, there are issues of time dilation where in the people on the vehicle are still 20 some odd years old and the planet they left behind is suddenly hundreds of years ago.
Classic science fiction of the best sort. Written in the early 70's, The Forever War is as much about the political and social climate of the time in which it was written as it is about space ships and mysterious alien foes. The themes explore why we go to war and some of the conclusions that Haldeman came to were not flattering to our species. At odd moments Haldeman takes digs at the sexual revolution, issues of homosexuality, and communism. I think I would like to read a book that overviews the political and social scene of the late 60's and the 70's. I think if I could find such a book and read it side by side with The Forever War, I would find Haldeman's book to be an interesting critique on the times.
Recommended for everyone who is interested in why we humans make the same mistakes over and over, the liberal dissatisfied, the complacent conservative, and my own people: the cynics.
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