Yes it is about that time where I reserve a spot in the blogosphere for books that I read during the course of the year. While I may still get one finished for the 2009 thread (I am reading two different ones right now) I have four brand new books that are waiting to be cracked open so the potential for additions to this years thread look promising from the outset. As always for those that don't pay attention, new books will be added to the comments section as well as a link to their respective webpages (usually Amazon) where they can be found. I don't do reviews, those are usually done quite well on the linked pages, far better than I could do. I am not one that spends a lot of time wondering about the hidden meaning in texts or the metaphor that a character may or may not represent, if I like it, I read it. That is all the endorsement you will get from me. Unless I specifically say otherwise, like a book really wow-ed me or a book sucked like a vaccuum cleaner it is safe to say that most postings here come with a solid if unspectacular reccommendation from me. Of course my tastes may not be yours, I tend to read roughly equal amounts of fiction and non fiction, which I am sure already makes me different than most.
Anyway consider this spot saved for the coming year, it's my reading material screaming "shotgun" in the travels of my blog. Now time to see just what I can bury my nose in this year.
Finally I get to add this book to a thread. It took me long enough. Actually I was making good progress and then I started reading a second book, which is always a bad mix for me. I had one book in my bag for riding the bus to and from work and a second that was on my bed for when I was about to go to sleep. te rtesult was it kept me from finishing this book, though I am most of the way through the other one now as well. Anyway, out first entry into the list for 2010 is one I started in 2009
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Life-Universe-Walter-Isaacson/dp/B0025VL93O/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263090261&sr=1-5
Don't say I didn't warn you. I was in the process of reading two books at the same time. Hopefully now I can go back to my one book at a time pace that I am more comfortable with. So here is book #2 of the new year
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/More-than-Game-Glorious-Uncertain/dp/1439109184/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263160075&sr=8-1
Third book of the year, well third entry of the year at least and the second one off of my Christmas list, though this one wasn't a Christmas present but was acquired from all of that Swagbucks nonsense that I have cluttering the update thread, as this was the first purchase from Amazon using some of the free cash I had accumulated. And it was the last book in the Burke series, so those of you that realize I am an Andrew Vachss fan had to know it would show up here eventually. Now I believe a link is in order.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Another-Vintage-Crime-Black-Lizard/dp/030739039X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263654510&sr=8-1
Let me say two things, 1) I will not be keeping this pace up for the full year, 4 entries already and 2) this was by far my least favorite of Mick Foley's books but at least it only cost me $3 in hardback (as opposed the the $20 and change Amazon will charge you after the link) Speaking of links
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Hardcore-Diaries-Mick-Foley/dp/1416531572/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264147479&sr=8-1
Another addition to the list by Tim Dorsey. Sadly I think I have read this books all out of order and while they do okay as stand alones, something tells me the story would be much better if read straight through.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Florida-Roadkill-Novel-Tim-Dorsey/dp/006113922X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265673821&sr=8-1
I have been slacking on this thread after an industrious start to the year. Part of that is because I have been reading a book in bits and pieces, it is a collection of baseball history and trivia where most of the entries are just a couple pages long at most, so it is very easy to pick up, read a story or two and put back down, knowing that I am not caught in the middle of some drawn out story that requires most of my attention, You could literally pick this book up at almost any point and just read, knowing you haven't missed anything prior. It is good that way, a nice book to have on the nightstand, but since I haven't finished it yet, that is not the link I will be providing.
ReplyDeleteRather I just finished this http://www.amazon.com/I-Alex-Cross-James-Patterson/dp/0316018783/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269381056&sr=8-1 and let me say, save yourself the time and money. Rarely do I write any reviews on here, and I hope not to start now, but by the same token this book, if not downright awful, was at best, simple. The leaps of logic that need to be made in order to accept this story as having even a slight possibility of being believeable are immense, and the holes in the plot (and this coming from an avowed non writer) you could drive a truck through. There comes a point where one wonders how some authors can continue to grind out novel after novel and for James Patterson the answer seems to be to just write crap.
Well I mentioned this in my last blog entry, though I didn't givve a title or anything, but this is the most recent book I completed so I guess it goes on the list.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Till-Now-Autobiography-William-Shatner/dp/B0031MA8P6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274162871&sr=8-1
I have been slacking this year, I really need to attack the stack of books I have, though on the bright side I did manage to cut down the number of books I am currently reading from 5 to 3 this week after finishing this one off at breakfast this morning. As an added bonus, the last two books on this list I paid nothing for, the previous entry I purchased from the cheap bin at Barnes and Noble with some leftover Christmas gift card cash, this entry was paid for with my freebie gift cards on Amazon. As for what this entry actually is, well here you go...http://www.amazon.com/Daring-Spectacle-Adventures-Deviant-Journalism/dp/098429970X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274621836&sr=8-1
ReplyDeleteI guess the reading pace has picked up a bit, what with this being my third entry on this thread in the last month. Some of you may have already seen it, I provided a link in a previous blog entry, but for those that didn't this is the most recently added to the completed pile
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Night-Gun-reporter-investigates-darkest/dp/B003E7ET76/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275286087&sr=8-1
This book didn't last long in my hands, but then it was something I was interested in, that being all of the background goings on after Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show, and stories from all of the players involved. While really a small niche in the grand scheme of television history, it was still a fascinating piece to read more about. http://www.amazon.com/Late-Shift-Letterman-Network-Battle/dp/0786880899/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275688782&sr=8-1
ReplyDelete18 days since I have visited here, partly because I was out of reading material, and partly because I got new reading material but had to wait for it to arrive via snail mail. In any event, I did get a couple of books and polished off the first one,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Open-Autobiography-Andre-Agassi/dp/0307268195/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277268270&sr=8-1
For the record, I checked my purchase and I ordered it on the 11th, so in twelve days it has went from warehouse to being another book on this list, not as bad as i thought.
Well, as I posted earlier, I have been in between books, starting one, losing it, then buying another, then finding the first book again. Finally I can say that I finished one of them. Avid readers of the blog will remember I stole part of this book as a description a few days back without giving away the requisite linkage, only because I hadn't finished it yet. Well that is no longer a problem so I guess a link is indeed in the offing
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Path-Between-Seas-Creation-1870-1914/dp/0671244094/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284336599&sr=1-4
After playing hide and seek with this book on three different occasions, and reading another book after starting it I finally managed to finish this entry into the thread. Here's hoping the next three I ordered from Amazon go faster than this did.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Hitch-22-Memoir-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/0446540331/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286657579&sr=8-1
Woohoo, another add to the thread. Actually I had to wait a bit, I ordered three books off of Amazon, just because I had some free cash stockpiled there and since I was in need of reading material. I could have stopped with one book, but then I would have had to pay shipping and handling, so it was just easier to bump up the order to three books and save myself the fee. Besides, this book of the three I bought I was quite sure wouldn't last all that long, it was a Robert Parker after all, and I tend to read his books in a couple of days and this was no exception.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Now-Then-Spenser-Robert-Parker/dp/0425224147/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287231081&sr=8-1-fkmr1
I think I am starting to get back into a more regular reading pattern anyway. Much like my blogging, I had taken some time off but now I am more into reading again, but I am already suffering from a potaential lack of material after finishing the second of my three books I most recently ordered, though I saved the one that I had the highest hopes for for last. In the meantime, I did complete this one, which was good and it was a subject that I was interested in, so worst case scenario I made two good purchases out of three with a chance to go 3 for 3.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Where-Men-Win-Glory-Odyssey/dp/030738604X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287950829&sr=1-1
Finally finished the last of the three books I purchased. Well, not finally, I have been done with it for probably two weeks now but have been slow to add it because I think I want to save more of it for my next blog entry, so I will just add a link and move along
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Every-Dies-Alone-Hans-Fallada/dp/1935554271/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290965979&sr=1-1