On Gold Mountain
by Lisa See
(I have to come back and write something here) Finished reading this book end of March, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Chicago Lightning
Chicago Lightning: The Collected Nathan Heller Short Stories
by Max Allan Collins
(I have to come back and write something here) I finished this book mid January, 2012.
by Max Allan Collins
(I have to come back and write something here) I finished this book mid January, 2012.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Mill River Recluse
The Mill River Recluse: [I will not copy the description of the novel from any other source. Doing that would only give away the story. If you like, follow the link to Amazon page and read the "Product Description" but it will tell you a lot of the plot.]
Author: Darcie Chan
Genre: Fiction / Literary
I selected this book simply because it was available on the kindle daily deals page for 99 cents and it had good reviews. The character development is very good. The author has decided to tell the story from two ends, the past and present, switching back and forth in alternating chapters. No big deal there, but usually when writers do that, there's a mystery or a "present nicely tied with a bow" at the end, but this book's ending was quite weak. The development of just a few characters, out of a town of 400, intertwined in rather plain (and easy) ways is all that is at the end. I enjoyed the easy reading, but it was sort of like peeling an onion; at the end, there's nothing there. Specially so, since I didn't learn anything new from the historical perspective either. I would not recommend this book, but I've noticed that people have given this book 5/5 stars in quite a few places. Perhaps, those who like reading for the sake of reading may find this appealing.
Author: Darcie Chan
Genre: Fiction / Literary
I selected this book simply because it was available on the kindle daily deals page for 99 cents and it had good reviews. The character development is very good. The author has decided to tell the story from two ends, the past and present, switching back and forth in alternating chapters. No big deal there, but usually when writers do that, there's a mystery or a "present nicely tied with a bow" at the end, but this book's ending was quite weak. The development of just a few characters, out of a town of 400, intertwined in rather plain (and easy) ways is all that is at the end. I enjoyed the easy reading, but it was sort of like peeling an onion; at the end, there's nothing there. Specially so, since I didn't learn anything new from the historical perspective either. I would not recommend this book, but I've noticed that people have given this book 5/5 stars in quite a few places. Perhaps, those who like reading for the sake of reading may find this appealing.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Dirty Parts of the Bible
The Dirty Parts of the Bible: A Novel: It's 1936 and 19-year-old Tobias Henry is stuck in the frozen hinterlands of Michigan. Tobias is obsessed with two things: God and girls. Mostly girls. But being a Baptist preacher's son, he can't escape God. When his father is blinded in a bizarre accident, Tobias rides the rails to Texas in search of a lost fortune. Along the way, he is initiated into the hobo brotherhood by Craw, a ribald yet wise black man. Obstacles arise in the form of a saucy prostitute, a giant catfish, and a flaming boxcar. But when he meets Sarah, a tough farm girl under a dark curse, he finds out that the greatest challenge of all is love.
Author: Sammy Conner
Genre: Humor
The title is misleading; this books is not so much about the bible, but it is about a boy growing up and becoming a man. It is sort of like Tom Sawyer meets the railroads kind of deal with a bit of religion thrown in. The religion is, most of the time, the butt of the jokes, so if that's not your cup of tea, don't read this one. A quick read. The language and the subject matter makes is not suitable for the young reader but what do I know, these days, the middle-schoolers can make an old sailor blush. No, I didn't learn a great deal about the 1930's Michigan or Texas or hobos or anything; but just enough to get the feel for it. I liked it. Wouldn't "very highly" recommend it, but if you like old-time stories and a bit of humor, this could be a fast read on a plane ride or something.
Author: Sammy Conner
Genre: Humor
The title is misleading; this books is not so much about the bible, but it is about a boy growing up and becoming a man. It is sort of like Tom Sawyer meets the railroads kind of deal with a bit of religion thrown in. The religion is, most of the time, the butt of the jokes, so if that's not your cup of tea, don't read this one. A quick read. The language and the subject matter makes is not suitable for the young reader but what do I know, these days, the middle-schoolers can make an old sailor blush. No, I didn't learn a great deal about the 1930's Michigan or Texas or hobos or anything; but just enough to get the feel for it. I liked it. Wouldn't "very highly" recommend it, but if you like old-time stories and a bit of humor, this could be a fast read on a plane ride or something.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The Mote in God's Eye
The Mote in God's Eye: The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species.
Authors: Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Series: CoDominium
Genre: Science fiction novel
With the reference to a bible phrase in its title, I didn't have high hopes going into it. The early chapters, sort of, confirmed my preconceptions that the religion would be used quite heavily. Then there were the characteristics attributed to the aliens that I didn't think were feasible or well-thought-out. Reading more into the novel, I came around both of those concerns and saw how the authors used them. This is actually a very well thought out, hard science fiction novel. A lot of attention to the details of science is given. At the end everything sort of fits together to form a cohesive story that is in the realm of "quite possible" and yet it is based on imagined scientific inventions. One of the best sci-fi novels I've read and I'm a big fan of Clarke and Asimov.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who's yearning for pure, hard sci-fi over fantasy novels. (BTW, the above linked Wikipedia article and most other reports about the book contain many spoilers. You've been warned.)
Authors: Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Series: CoDominium
Genre: Science fiction novel
With the reference to a bible phrase in its title, I didn't have high hopes going into it. The early chapters, sort of, confirmed my preconceptions that the religion would be used quite heavily. Then there were the characteristics attributed to the aliens that I didn't think were feasible or well-thought-out. Reading more into the novel, I came around both of those concerns and saw how the authors used them. This is actually a very well thought out, hard science fiction novel. A lot of attention to the details of science is given. At the end everything sort of fits together to form a cohesive story that is in the realm of "quite possible" and yet it is based on imagined scientific inventions. One of the best sci-fi novels I've read and I'm a big fan of Clarke and Asimov.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who's yearning for pure, hard sci-fi over fantasy novels. (BTW, the above linked Wikipedia article and most other reports about the book contain many spoilers. You've been warned.)
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory: Part of the review on Amazon says "Superstring theory has been called "a part of 21st-century physics that fell by chance into the 20th century." In other words, it isn't all worked out yet. Despite the uncertainties--"string theorists work to find approximate solutions to approximate equations"--Greene gives a tour of string theory solid enough to satisfy the scientifically literate."
Author: Brian Greene
Subject: String theory
Genre: Non-fiction
This is a book on theoretical physics. But the target audience is the general public. The author tries very hard, and beautifully succeeds as well, to give a layman's explanation of relativity, quantum physics and the evolution of string/m theory. I'd studied quantum and relativity in college, so I had a leg up on the early chapters. That actually prepared me to the author's way of explaining things w/o complex equations. No, you don't end up understanding all the theories and concepts completely. The understanding you get is that how the smart people in our civilization try to fit the jig-saw puzzle together to comprehend it all.
This book and Stephan Hawking's The Grand Design try to explain what's it all made of. Perhaps, evolving intelligent life that can ask how and why questions is the universe's way of trying to understand itself.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to take that first step towards theoretical physics.
Author: Brian Greene
Subject: String theory
Genre: Non-fiction
This is a book on theoretical physics. But the target audience is the general public. The author tries very hard, and beautifully succeeds as well, to give a layman's explanation of relativity, quantum physics and the evolution of string/m theory. I'd studied quantum and relativity in college, so I had a leg up on the early chapters. That actually prepared me to the author's way of explaining things w/o complex equations. No, you don't end up understanding all the theories and concepts completely. The understanding you get is that how the smart people in our civilization try to fit the jig-saw puzzle together to comprehend it all.
This book and Stephan Hawking's The Grand Design try to explain what's it all made of. Perhaps, evolving intelligent life that can ask how and why questions is the universe's way of trying to understand itself.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to take that first step towards theoretical physics.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Lethal People
This is the first book in the Lethal Series or the Donovan Creed series by the author John Locke (no, not that John Locke the 17th century English philosopher).
Okay, so the wikipedia entry for the author says that "Donovan Creed, the main character of the Lethal Series, is a former CIA assassin and a smart-aleck tough guy with a heart of bronze. Locke's characters are particularly known for their witty dialogue." After reading the first of the series, all I can say is that that's some effing bullshit.
The dialogue isn't particularly witty or funny. Yeah, there might have been about three or four funny lines, and that's about it. All the rest were some attempts at humor but didn't come even close. The Creed character is supposed to be a tough guy. The author tries really hard, artificially so, to make the character a really tough dude. Then he sprinkles in throw-up quality (there's no other way of saying it nicely, really) sentimental and romantic scenes tied to the same tough guy. At times, I found the reading it really difficult with my mind saying "this is 9th or 10th grade level writing."
I've been pleasantly surprised by a couple of Michael Connelly detective/thriller novels which I came across by accident. If Connelly is close to a 10, this Locke guy comes close to 1.5. Don't get me wrong; it is an easy read, easy to follow, and there's a definite storyline. But, the story doesn't have any reality basis, or a real mystery. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are good. The winner camp ends up with all the loot and then-some. Because of the language and the subject matter, I can't say the novel is for the young adult. Like they say, it is a book to kill time, for those who like it better dead. I don't think I'll be wasting my valuable time on other books by this author.
[This was the first book I read off my smart-phone.]
Okay, so the wikipedia entry for the author says that "Donovan Creed, the main character of the Lethal Series, is a former CIA assassin and a smart-aleck tough guy with a heart of bronze. Locke's characters are particularly known for their witty dialogue." After reading the first of the series, all I can say is that that's some effing bullshit.
The dialogue isn't particularly witty or funny. Yeah, there might have been about three or four funny lines, and that's about it. All the rest were some attempts at humor but didn't come even close. The Creed character is supposed to be a tough guy. The author tries really hard, artificially so, to make the character a really tough dude. Then he sprinkles in throw-up quality (there's no other way of saying it nicely, really) sentimental and romantic scenes tied to the same tough guy. At times, I found the reading it really difficult with my mind saying "this is 9th or 10th grade level writing."
I've been pleasantly surprised by a couple of Michael Connelly detective/thriller novels which I came across by accident. If Connelly is close to a 10, this Locke guy comes close to 1.5. Don't get me wrong; it is an easy read, easy to follow, and there's a definite storyline. But, the story doesn't have any reality basis, or a real mystery. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are good. The winner camp ends up with all the loot and then-some. Because of the language and the subject matter, I can't say the novel is for the young adult. Like they say, it is a book to kill time, for those who like it better dead. I don't think I'll be wasting my valuable time on other books by this author.
[This was the first book I read off my smart-phone.]
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