Books Read 2015

[Kasey Chang]

Finished "Noble Beginnings" and "Deadly Distance" by L. T. Ryan

The book is sort of your typical lone wolf thriller where your good guy is powerful, but fighting someone really sinister that they seem to have unlimited resources.

In Noble Beginnings, Jack Noble, former marine, on TDY to CIA special program, was suddenly accused of murdering an Iraqi family, sent back to the US with his partner Bear, dumped into the brig in Camp Lejeune, then busted out. Someone with a lot of pull wanted him silenced... or dead. Someone with pull got them out, and sent them after an insider called Delaney... only to have Delaney killed by a sniper, and Bear is wounded. But they were able to obtain documents... which lead to a surprise revelation... who is friend, and who is foe? As trained killers converge, Noble has a plan that will clear his name once and for all...

In Dead Distance, Jack Noble was recruited into a secret agency that deals with threats proactively. He nabbed a bad guy "Pablo" who was involved in some sort of child kidnapping plot... human trafficking. In a daring rescue operation, Noble was able to rescue all the kids, but two of his team perished in an ambush, and the house burned down. Then the nightmare began... one of the kids he just rescued was kidnapped by powers unknown, and the mother put into hospital with serious injuries. Noble was forced to play along by someone who seem to know the agency that does not exist, and may have even more children held hostage. Forced to fly to Miami without backup, Nobel just summon all his strength to stay alive and save other lives... and serve justice the only way he can...

The good guy gets wounded, beat up, and so on, but give as much as he get. The bad guys are just a bit TOO sinister and are not ideologically based, which makes them just plain "evil", and kinda boring, IMHO. But the tension is not bad. Right now this bundle of two books are free as they serve as prequel to the Noble series. They are okay for reading.

[rshetts2]

Thanks for the heads up on the free books. Ive read a Noble book and while they are not going to win a pulitzer, they are entertaining reads.

[tgb]

How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life

Anyone who ever heard or saw John Fahey the amazing guitarist has also come into contact with John Fahey, the amazing oddball.

This collection of semi-fictional, semi-autographical musings at times reads like an extended version of his self-penned liner notes from the 60's.

Weird and wonderful, as only Fahey can be.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished "Off Armageddon Reef" by David Weber, part 1 of his Safehold series.

The setup is quite unique, as it managed to combine medievalism along with quite a bit of science fiction. It's somewhat similar to a lot of other setups, such as his collaboration with John Ringo for "Empire of Men" series, but this one is unique enough.

Earth Federation is being hunted down by an implacable enemy and in a move of desperation, "Operation Ark" was formed... a special group of colony ships, along with decoys were launched and ventured far, far, from Earth, to restart on a planet rename Safehold. And the administrators, hoping not to attract the attention of the aliens, who were out after wholesale extermination, went a step further than ever expected: they brainwashed every cryoslept colonist into believing that the original colony leaders were Gods, the top level admins are archangels and angels, and deliberate steps were taken to DESTROY technology so it can NEVER rise out of medieval tech... barely gunpowder. And in a surprise move, the dissenters had their part of colony wiped out by orbital bombardment, and covered up as "God's Wrath".

But the dissenters had a plan... 800 years later, an android awakened under a mountain. The dissenters had uploaded her with all of the current knowledge, and to sabotage the planet and reintroduce technology so one day the planet can thrive and hopefully, take on the alien destroyers. To fulfill her task, she reinvented herself as a warrior monk by the name of Merlin Athrawes, and aligned himself with the Kingdom of Charis. He had a lot of help... with technology, such as high-tech surveillance drones, advanced metallurgy, and so on, but he is but one man. However, Charis is not a normal kingdom, but one on the cusp of greatness. However, Charis has attracted attention of many enemies... and when the "innovations" started piling up from Charis, the church acted, by pulling the navy from five separate nations to invade Charis. Even with the advances in naval combat the odds are not looking good for Charis, but they had not counted on the fighting spirit of the Charisian marines, the navy, of the King and Crown Prince. And certainly, they didn't count on "Merlin". And the fate of the kingdom, will depend on the combat off Armageddon Reef.

A lot of this will read rather familiar to David Weber fans, as the machinations reads much like the Honor Harrington series, or the Empire of Men series where a prince is forced to grow up while leaking advanced technology and such to improve their odds of making it out alive. On the other hand, the setup is certainly fresh and interesting.

The problem is these books never seem to go on discount and I am not sure I want to pay $8 per book for these. And it's up to volume 6.

[Jeff V]

Bloodletting by William D. Prystauk

Bloodletting is a thriller that takes place in the kinky world of BSDM fetishes; including vivid depictions of gay and cross-dressing sex. If a voyeuristic look into this world offends you, don't read the rest of this review and certainly don't bother with this book.

Denny Bowie is a young private investigator living in Chicago when he hears of the death of a good friend of his, a fetish photographer in NYC. This case is actually part of a rash of murders where victims are found drained of blood and posed at their places of work. The NYPD is struggling to get anywhere on the case, and the chief allows his daughter, Penny, to recruit Denny for insight into what they consider a perverted underground world.

The strength of this book is the character development -- both of the living and the dead. As the plot develops, suspicion moves from character to character (including Penny at one point), and knowing what Denny, whose POV the story is told, knows the working conclusions do seem plausible. In the end, though, it doesn't quite pan out that way and characters who should have been incidental to advancing the plot are knee-deep in it.

The term "bloodletting" is used in multiple ways in this book. One group of suspects engaged in vampirism, drinking the blood of a bound (usually willing) participant. That the victims were found drained of all blood suggests this group was taking things too far. And Denny uses it himself to describe the release he felt killing someone.

Throughout the story, Denny is involved with Penny (a crush from way back), and Erin, a 19-year old lady boy club dancer with whom Denny has his first gay experience with (and goes back again and again and again). The sexual tension and frequency of sex in this book is closer to porno levels than what one would expect in the throes of a murder investigation. There are a few plot holes as well, and the assumption in some cases that NYPD is thoroughly incompetent and can be relied on to miss obvious elements in the investigation.

Bloodletting certainly isn't for everyone -- if you're not squeamish and want some insight into some exotic fetishes, give it a try. I personally have never been involved in this scene (although I used to know some people who had been); I'd be interested though in reading a review from someone who has.

[Jeff V]

Dead Wake by Erik Larson

I was really spoiled by the superb "The Devil in the White City." Since then, I've read all of Larson's other books, and none have come close to the same balance of drama and historical narrative. I guess knowing the ship sinks in the end sort of spoils the drama, but while this book told me everything I needed to know about the sinking of the luxury liner and the people involved; it wasn't nearly the page turn as some of Larson's other books.

Submarine warfare became a large part of the German arsenal in World War I. They couldn't hope to match England's surface fleet, so these deadly, silent killers were a way they could exert influence on the seas and leverage Great Britain's dependency on foreign trade. And while conventions of war might dictate civilian craft be excluded as targets, the fact was, the Lusitania was carrying munitions supplies earmarked for the ground war in Europe.

Larson spends a lot of time talking about some of the passengers, particularly more illustrious folks or those with a survival story to tell at the end. More interesting, however, was war-room discussions involving Churchill and others that indicate the British naval command was aware of the threat to the Lusitania and failed to communicate it to the captain. Furthermore, after an earlier disaster when a ship was sunk by a U-boat, then two other sunk by the same sub when they came to help resulted in a decree that no naval ships were to come to the aid of any ship torpedoed by a submarine. In the case of the Lusitania, a nearby cruiser was ordered back to port, undoubtedly adding to the death toll.

The sinking of the Lusitania would harden US attitudes toward Germany, a course that ultimately would lead to US intervention, but in of itself it did not cause the US to declare war. It took a complete disregard for commercial and civilian shipping to bring that about. Dead Wake is a thorough look at a small piece of a massive conflict -- and not many do this better than Erik Larson. But I still keep hoping Larson delivers another Devil in the White City.

[Kasey Chang]

Re-read "In Fury Born" the expanded version of an old novel: Path of the Fury by David Weber.

Currently reading "There Will Be War" anthology Vol 1 and 2 edited by Jerry Pournelle. Originally issued in the 1980's, There will be War was issued in paperback for 9 volumes. I actually had a couple of those and I never did find enough of the originals, so I snapped up the reissues on Kindle right away. Some of the tech stuff is outdated, but overall analysis are still pertinent, and the stories and commentaries never got old, only more poignant.

[Bad Demographic]

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman - I have finally gotten around to reading this and thought it was quite good. Oddly enough, we got this out of the local library (it has a foreword by John Scalzi). I say "oddly enough" because when I looked at my bookshelf last night for another book to read I noticed that I have an old copy of it. I'm glad I didn't read it earlier because way back when I bought it - my ability to appreciate writing has improved quite a bit since then.

In the foreword, Scalzi mentions that Old Man's War had a lot of similarities, enough that many SF fans felt he ripped off Joe Haldeman's book. It's been quite a while since I read Old Man's War so I don't recall many details, but it does seem to me to have a similar feel.
In the author's note of the edition from the library, Haldeman says he added back in a section the publisher had him remove in the original publication. Maybe I'll do a quick chapter by chapter comparison to see if my old copy of the book is missing that part. If so, then I'm glad I read the library's copy - the part that I think was originally left out really adds to the sense of how much things on Earth changed while the soldiers were away.

[Kasey Chang]

Forever War was basically written as a reactionary piece and social commentary about the Vietnam War, but I think Haldeman has since grown to be a better writer. I'd recommended reading the sequels.

[Bad Demographic]

Forever War was basically written as a reactionary piece and social commentary about the Vietnam War, but I think Haldeman has since grown to be a better writer. I'd recommended reading the sequels.

Are there any particular ones you'd recommend?

[El Guapo]

This thread always makes me feel so inadequate given my comparatively few books I read. Anyhow:

All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis.

As you may have guessed, it's a history book about the financial crisis, and part of my "history of financial products" book list for this year. It gets into great and interesting detail about how the various financial products that ultimately blew up in 2007-2008 were created, why they were created, and how everyone fooled themselves into taking on these insane risks while not even realizing to themselves that they were doing it. There is a lot of important detail on the huge role that the ratings agencies played in creating the mass delusion that was a critical component of the resulting crisis, and how the ratings agencies got to the point where they played that role. Also covers the political history of the 90s and 2000s on how both regulators and elected officials failed to do anything to stop the incipient crisis.

The book was also highly readable, which is not a sure thing when you are getting into the details of financial products. It's a different style from Michael Lewis' books, insofar as Lewis largely picks a few individuals and follows them through the events in question (as quasi-protagonists) whereas this is largely a traditional disembodied narrator history book.

Definitely recommended. There are a number of well written books on the history of the financial crisis really, and I think just about everyone should read at least one of them.

Anyway, taking a break from my financial products book series to read the GoT Hedge Knight prequel comic books.

[Isgrimnur]

We're all silently judging you about your lack of contributions.

[El Guapo]

We're all silently judging you about your lack of contributions.

I know! I'm going to try getting in with the cool kids by making fun of the people who haven't posted in this thread at all, though.

So, guys, how about that...GreenGoo...who isn't participating here? Pretty illiterate, amirite?

[Isgrimnur]

You've blown it. The key element is silently. Now we have reason to question your reading comprehension.

[El Guapo]

You've blown it. The key element is silently. Now we have reason to question your reading comprehension.

Dammit!

I'll just go have lunch at this table over here, by myself...

[Jaymann]

[silence]
[/silence]

[coopasonic]

[silence]
[/silence]

<silence />

[Kasey Chang]

Forever War was basically written as a reactionary piece and social commentary about the Vietnam War, but I think Haldeman has since grown to be a better writer. I'd recommended reading the sequels.

Are there any particular ones you'd recommend?

Forever Peace sounds boring, but is more... philosophical.

You can almost FEEL the sarcasm in Forever War, the fundamental disconnect between the military, never aging due to relativistic travel, but still under the thumbs of civilians at home who have changed beyond recognition by living in real time. It's meant to be political, with some hard scifi as background.

[Bad Demographic]

Thanks, I'll add that to my list.
Sadly (not really sad), I just got back from the library, picked up two books and a requested book has also just come in. I'll have to go pick that up tomorrow. Perhaps the other "in transit" book will also show up by then.

[Kasey Chang]

There's one more book in the series: Forever Free.

[Kasey Chang]

Finished "The Dead Key" by D.M. Pulley

In the year 1998, young engineer Iris Latch was assigned to survey the old First Bank of Cleveland, which had sat abandoned, perfectly preserved, for 20 years, after a scandal that shook the city. Amidst staff disappearances, allegations of fraud, and scandals involving the highest echelons of Cleveland elite and the bank itself, the panicked owners sold the bank and suddenly Feds locked the bank up from customers AND employees, and the master keys to the safe deposit boxes were lost in the shuffle. Until they were found by Iris Latch... and found a conspiracy that spanned two decades, and may be ready to claim yet more victims as some secrets should be left buried...

Found this eBook on sale a couple weeks ago for cheap, and it was a good book. It sets up two parallel timelines... In the present, we follow Iris Latch, young civil engineer, as she discovers pieces of the clue that leads her to a grand revelation that may destroy her. And to put some context of the clues she found, the author switches to Beatrice Baker, who was working in the Bank 20 years prior, as she started on a new job as secretary, only to stumble into a conspiracy that she later realized she was already deeply involved, along with her friend Maxine. As the author deftly switches back and forth between the two timelines, the mystery is revealed piece by piece, and it reached the final conclusion with multiple surprises and a bitter-sweet ending.

The lead characters are not ass-kicking girls, but they are strong nonetheless, as they learned to "stick it to the Man!" through their own unique ways and while the leads were hardly paragons of virtue (Iris drinks rather heavily, was tardy, and slept with a coworker, while Beatrice was actually underage and had a really bad relation with her mother and had been raped and gotten pregnant before having an abortion and "kicked out" of the house) Doing the right thing wasn't always possible, esp. when the bad guys seem to be able to control the government, the courts, and sometimes, even the police. However, they found their way to fight back, and they had help from unexpected quarters.

I'm usually not a fan of mystery novels, but this one was quite good, and I've give this one 7 out 8 tentacles.

[El Guapo]

The Hedge Knight, by George RR Martin et al.

The Sworn Sword, by George RR Martin et al.

Just finished the two available "Dunk and Egg" Game of Thrones prequel graphic novels. They're pretty great - both stories are pretty interesting, and it's great to get to see a bit of the Targaeryan dynasty world (and to get to see Aemon's brother Egg).

Unfortunately while there is a third story that completes the Dunk and Egg series, from what I can tell it's not widely available - I believe it was originally published in a magazine, and that they are putting together a complete Dunk and Egg novel, but it won't be out until October (and presumably a third graphic novel at some point after that). So the series will have to be put on hold at least, though each of the two stories in the series so far has been a self-contained story, so there's no real cliffhanger at the moment.

[Rumpy]

Finished reading The Casual Vacancy by Rowling. It was Ok, I guess. There were a couple of points, especially in the beginning where I felt she was being crass to make a point, but eventually that particular character settled into her own and it became effective.

[Jaymann]

Just finished Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence. First book in a new series. Story of a true rogue, who, in a tight spot can sometimes be "heroic" if there is nowhere to run. And the vikings are almost Abercrombian.

[Delraich]

Just finished Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence. First book in a new series. Story of a true rogue, who, in a tight spot can sometimes be "heroic" if there is nowhere to run. And the vikings are almost Abercrombian.

Really good series. I thought I could not get into a book with a borderline psychopath as a hero, but I could not put it down. Rest of the series is just as good.

Finished the audiobook of the Upright thinkers by Leonard Mlodinow, read by the author himself. Really good basic science book. It is basically a chronological summary of all major (technical) breakthroughs of the human race. But it not only focuses on the technical aspects, but also on the human aspects. Mlodinow is an excellent author (but perhaps not the best narrator...) and strikes a good balance between the technical details, the lives of the scientists behind the breakthoughs and his personal take on everything. Highly recommended.

[WYBaugh]

Just finished Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence. First book in a new series. Story of a true rogue, who, in a tight spot can sometimes be "heroic" if there is nowhere to run. And the vikings are almost Abercrombian.

Just started The Liar's Key and so far so good. Really enjoy Mark's works.

[WYBaugh]

I haven't posted in quite a while but here's my finished list since last post:

Fool's Errand Robin Hobb - I made a mistake and started with this book which is obviously not the beginning of her series but, and I may be flogged, I really did not like the book or her writing.
Iron Axe: The Books of Blood and Iron Steven Harper - It was alright. It's like a troll coming of age story.
Circle of Reign - The Dying Lands Chronicle - Awesome reviews on Amazon/Audible and even Michael Kramer narrated it but it's horrible. Stay away.
The Autumn Republic Brian McClellan - Last book in the Powder Mage trilogy and it is an awesome finish to the series.
Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds Brian Daley - Re-read from my yout
Clash of Iron Angus Watson - Second book in the series about iron age England and the Roman Empire.
Unwelcome Quest Scott Meyer - Third book in the series and was ok. The guys are stuck in an MMO like world. It's slightly repetitive.
The Cult of Yex Saga Jason F. Smith - While the store was ok they authors beat you over the head with detail. Rather than handle past events by expose they take you back to the events in staggering detail. Also the slowest happening earthquake ever.
Sword of the North: Grim Company Book 2 Luke Scull - Solid book but main problem I had is I could not for the life of me remember what went on in the first book. Read too many of these types of books.

[McNutt]

I can't remember when I posted last in this, so there might be a few repeats:

Pronto by Elmore Leonard - First book of the Raylan Givens series that was made into the TV show Justified. The crime story itself wasn't that special. The real draw is the main character who won't back down from anybody. Good book.
Paladin's Redemption by Kade Derricks - This was a cheap book with good reviews on Amazon. Apparently Derricks has a lot of friends willing to write false reviews on Amazon. This book was terrible. Paladin who is unstoppable falls in love with an Elf and helps defend her village. Extremely simple and a by-the-numbers approach.
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian - Good introduction to the characters in the Master and Commander series. The book wasn't bad. I don't think I liked the writing well enough to go deeper into the series though.
Magic Casement by Dave Duncan - I did not care for this book at all. I honestly can't remember enough about the plot to tell you what it was about. This is part of a series that I will not continue.
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - The book covers the lives of several families from America, England, Germany and Russia before and during World War I. This is first of the Century trilogy by Follett and I will definitely continue the series. Follett is a very talented writer whose books are extremely hard to put down. If you haven't read his Kingsbridge books (Pillars of Heaven and World Without End) then you are in for a treat.
Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb - I thought this trilogy started off great and finished just okay. I was all set to grab more of Hobb's stories, but after finishing the trilogy I'm going to give her a rest.
The Martian by Andy Weir - Good story but I really got tired of Andy's log. That made up over half the book and it wasn't fun to read. The parts of the book where people interacted with each other were great though so it made up for it.

I'm currently reading Shogun by James Clavell (the source for the excellent 1980 TV miniseries). It's a long ass book and I'm only 15% through it, however it has me hooked.

Soon I'm going to finish the Powder Mage trilogy. The first two books were fantastic. I'll also need to get around to the other Raven's Shadow books and the new trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.

[Carpet_pissr]

Fool's Errand Robin Hobb - I made a mistake and started with this book which is obviously not the beginning of her series but, and I may be flogged, I really did not like the book or her writing.

I need to read that series, but I definitely had to take a break, psychologically, after reading the Farseer trilogy. Soooo dark, but excellent IMO.

I can't imagine just picking up Tawny Man without having read Farseer first though (but hey, if you don't like the writing style, you don't like it...).

[Archinerd]

I just finished reading Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks. I enjoyed it very much and recommend it to any of you dweebs that like to know things 'just because'. Not only is it informative, it's actually surprisingly funny at times too.

[Bad Demographic]

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian - Good introduction to the characters in the Master and Commander series. The book wasn't bad. I don't think I liked the writing well enough to go deeper into the series though.

Try the next one and see if you get more into it. I didn't like the writing style so much at first, either, but ended up getting hooked. I had the good fortune of having a friend with the entire series.

[Bad Demographic]

The Mapmaker's War by Ronlyn Domingue

Just didn't care for this. Partly because it's written in 2nd person, so I felt the writer was straining to fullfill a creative writing assignment. Also, the early part of the book (the first half?) had things happening so it was interesting despite the writing style. The rest of the book was the main character's feelings. I'm not sure why I continued reading, I guess I just thought something might happen.

[Max Peck]

You can almost FEEL the sarcasm in Forever War, the fundamental disconnect between the military, never aging due to relativistic travel, but still under the thumbs of civilians at home who have changed beyond recognition by living in real time. It's meant to be political, with some hard scifi as background.

The "Autobiographical Ramble" on Haldeman's website doesn't specifically focus on his Viet Nam experience, but he does go into it at several points. It's a good read, with a sort of non-linear flow that makes it feel like you're listening to a really good storyteller (duh).

[Kasey Chang]

Current reading some hardback books...

Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering by Robert L. Shaw, the virtual 'textbook' of dogfight tactics. Bought a used one off Amazon. It's virtually new except an inscription in the inside jacket. Just started, it may be a while.

Also got

How to win Every Argument by Madsen Pirie, a small trade paperback that lists a bunch of fallacies, with emphasis on how to MISapply them (and how to spot such bad arguments), which is what one of my blogs was about.

[Jeff V]

Detained and Deported: Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire by Margaret Regan

This is the second book in the past year I've read that ought to convince any thinking person that our immigration system is seriously broken and out of control. This book is about sanctioned atrocities against immigrants and their families - including incarceration in privately-run "detention centers" that don't even meet the humanitarian standards of our regular prisons. Often these people are "detained" for years as they wait for the glacial court system to finally get around to reviewing their case.

One of the common themes is one frequently in the news of late: undocumented parents with US citizen children. The desire for a safe, unified family is greater than whatever threats we can make to personal liberty -- many of these people come right back to this country as soon as possible. Except now we've fully criminalized them, making them more desperate to avoid detection -- and driving them to support organized crime by paying large sums of money to "coyotes" who get them across the border.

Another problem is the crackdown at urban crossing areas, forcing immigrants to take dangerous, sometimes fatal. journeys into the desert. Sometimes these people are picked up by border patrol agents who have to then deal with medical emergencies while at the same time trying to incarcerate them.

Margaret Regan interviews a wide range of displaced immigrants in various private and public institutions, as well as support groups that exist to provide aid for these unfortunate people. It seems incredible that in spite of what these people endure, here is still where they want to be. And some of the stories are so horrifying that we should be ashamed as a nation: One young lady's crime was having been brought to this country when she was 3 months old. After excelling as a student in high school, she had to take a job at a Subway restaurant when her mother became ill with leukemia. She was a perfect employee, and her employer even went out of the way to testify on her behalf. Yet she was forced to plead guilty of a felony charge of working while being ineligible to do so, and it took 2 more years of living in detention centers while her attorney pursued every avenue of opportunity to keep her here, eventually succeeding although she still can't work.

Private prisons, overzealous border patrol police, and laws authorizing inhumane treatment of human beings (Arizona by far the worst) all require immediate fixing. Politicians who don't think of their housekeepers and gardeners as being people are to blame -- Hispanics have a poor record of participation in government -- they need to organize replace those responsible if anything is ever going to change.

[Jeff V]

Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-Tale Endings by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

The war against fairytale princesses is real. Linda Rodriguez McRobbie apparently had enough of Disney-style portrays of a life of luxury and entitlement, and put together this collection of women (many princesses, but some queens, empresses, and other lofty regal titles tossed in for good measure) whose lives didn't fit the stereotype.

The product is an uneven collection of stories, many little more than Wikipedia blurbs, but with a few lengthy stories tossed in as well. I've heard of most of the women discussed, but not all. Whether or not I really know any more about these women is unclear -- when she referred to the "victory at Agincourt by Henry IV," I knew the research behind this book wasn't going to be more than random web surfing.

I'd say if you had a daughter who is already skeptical regarding the fairytale princess trope and you wish to push her to the dark side, this book will help. If you're trying to make a case of bad things happening when women are in power -- well, I suppose there's some of that here. I can't really recommend it for much else.

[Jeff V]

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven D. Levitt

The third volume in their delightful Freakonomics series, Levitt and Dubner are back at it again, this time with a twist. The focus of this book is using "outside of the box" thinking to achieve a goal, however daunting or mundane. We are entertained with case studies such as young Kobiyashi deciding he would be the world champion hot dog eater -- and how he breaks down the challenge and comes up with an overall strategy that obliterates the competition.

One of my favorite anecdotes from this book involves the rock band Van Halen and their eccentric lead singer, David Lee Roth. I head the first part of this story before: the band demanded a bowl of M&Ms in their room, but there could be no brown M&Ms. When this story got out, I, like most people, considered it to be self-indulgent rock stars going over the top. There was, however, method behind this madness. The facility requirements for the lavish stage show were quite complex, much more so than other bands. Buried in the 56 page document was the comment about the M&Ms. If the band found this requirement was ignored, they would suspect the rest of the document wasn't followed very closely and had to carefully inspect the set for safety reasons.

The audiobook version concludes with an hour or so of Freakonomics podcasts from their website; a nice extra that might drive me to the website to subscribe some day. It doesn't appear the authors are tired of writing these books, and I look forward to reading the next.

[Jeff V]

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever by Christopher Hitchens

In "God is Not Great", Hitchens gives ready ammunition for Atheists doing battle with the delusional. In The Portable Atheist. he provides documentation for these little sound bites, culled from some of the great minds in human history. Make no mistake: the odds of getting a your average religious drone to read, much less comprehend the fairly dense material in this book is near zero, but it provides citable reference when necessary.

Hitchens calls on philosophers from throughout our history, political leaders, and even humorists such as Mark Twain. Omar Khayyam and Thomas Aquinas are cited, as are scientists ranging from Einstein to Copernicus. Many of the passages here are just plain difficult to read, encumbered with run-on sentences and flowery vocabulary. But as far as a selection of "Essential Readings", Hitchens does a fine job assembling texts that validate what we already know.

[Jeff V]

Invisible by James Patterson

Lately it seems I've been reading a lot of books featuring women doing dumb things that ought to get them killed. This is another such book -- Ellie, a FBI research analyst who is on suspension for refusing to give in to her boss's sexual advances recently suffered the death of her sister in a house fire ruled as accidental. A few things didn't sit quite right -- the fire was caused by a candle, yet her sister kept no candles. And bedroom where the fire started was rearranged from the way it had been for a long time before. With nothing better to do, Ellie spends her idle time searching -- and starts to compile a rash of accidental fires claiming single victims over a one year span. Her ex-fiancé, "Books" a former FBI special agent and now proprietor of a book store, agrees there might be a pattern. He appeals to a director, who agrees to allow an investigation provided Books leads it, and Books subsequently requests reinstatement of Ellie.

Meanwhile, every few chapters we have the arsonist/killer creating his "Graham Sessions". audio recording describing the methods in his madness.

Graham turns out to be very good at what he does, so good that even when told there might be reason to believe the fires aren't accidental, inspectors are still unable to find evidence. It takes a FBI forensic superstar to discover a reason to believe Ellie just might be right.

As the investigation goes on, theories are created, conclusions reached that turn out to be wrong or misinterpreted. At one point, the investigation is nearly shut down and Ellie put back on suspension when her boss is caught acting inappropriately. Eventually, they ID Graham, figure our where he ought to be, and it's just a matter of time until...

Well, until another big plot twist. But I said enough. This isn't a cerebral thriller by any stretch, but a fine tale if you can get past Ellie.

[Jeff V]

Confessions: The Private School Murders by James Patterson

Tandi Angel is your typical private school girl. Attending an exclusive institution in NYC, she seems to be a good student and well liked. Except there's a whole lot of death around her. In the previous book in the series, Tandi helped solve the murder of her wealthy parents. This time, her brother, the football phenom, is accused of murdering his celebrity girlfriend. And then a fellow student turns up shot dead in the park. It seems she was the 4th in recent weeks. And then there are the mysterious infestations of deadly snakes, spiders, and lizards in her posh condominium building. Now if only she could find James, the love of her life whose father was sworn enemy of her parents...parents whom when they found out, had her abducted and brainwashed to remove memories of him from her mind...

Yeah, it's rather over-the-top far-fetched. Of course, everything wraps up nicely in the end. Just be sure to shut off your brain before reading.