LostBlackBook
- Name: "G."
- Gender: Male
- Location: LA US
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Recent Books List:
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The Innocent - Harlan Coben
08/31/09 22:19:30 | 0 Comments
"Thank you" to my friend who pointed me toward this author.
Harlan Coben believes that life is complicated. This thread underlies the fabric of his work. It is reflected in the characters and situations in The Innocent. Karma is suspended here in this world of Harlan Coben's. As in our own, it rains on the just and the unjust alike and to make sense of it is often wished for, but elusive. If you like realism and don't require clichés, this material is for you. I highly recommend Coben's Innocent. -
Worldwar: Striking the Balance - Harry Turtledove
07/23/09 19:55:21 | 0 Comments
Worldwar: Striking the Balance by Harry Turtledove is worth mentioning because of a quality found in all of his work. In the middle of a batch of speculative fiction, it is impossible not to notice the realism, detailed character development and dialogue that requires no suspension of disbelief from the reader. This is good stuff. Striking the Balance is the culmination of one series and a lead-in to another. Any Harry Turtledove work comes highly recommended. Just be sure if it's part of a series, you're buying them in order. -
The World of Words: An Illustrated History of Western Languages - Victor Stevenson
06/24/09 00:50:00 | 1 Comments
During my little hiatus from internet activity, one of the books I was fortunate enough to read was The World of Words by Victor Stevenson. The book is highly informative and thoroughly enjoyable. Stevenson has insight and writing skills that transform what might seem like dry textbook material into entertainment. World of Words is full of maps, charts, diagrams, and pictures that allow us to trace the evolution and the relationships between languages. If you've read it already, you know what I'm talking about. If not, I highly recommend buying this one. -
Angels & Demons - Dan Brown
05/10/09 22:18:14 | 0 Comments
If you liked Da Vinci Code, you will like Angels & Demons. I remember continuously looking up all sorts of historical places, buildings, battles, people, sculptures, paintings and whatnot while reading Da Code. Literally every 3-5 minutes I stopped reading to look up some obscure aspect of European Historical Trivia. Later I found out that Dan Brown -during his plagarism trial- blamed his wife for all of the massive research poured wholesale into his work. This time around, I resisted my normal impulse to delve into cross references and this book was much more entertaining than the other. When you don't bother looking up things you don't know about in Dan Brown's novels, it's a lot less like being a college professor's research assistant and more like someone reading for enjoyment. -
The Prodigal Spy - Joseph Kanon
04/13/09 02:04:29 | 0 Comments
It is hard to imagine a book that comes across as drearier in setting than this. As someone who puts a lesser importance on scenery, I can say that this one makes me rethink the error of my ways. The book is about several things. More than anything it is the story of a cold war spy who oddly enough defects to the east and the impact it has on the lives of his family members. It is told from the viewpoint of his son, both as a child and an adult. Buy it only if you're gung-ho on intrigue novels and don't ever read anything else. (The short version: This book is no fun at all.) -
Relic - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
03/31/09 00:39:51 | 1 Comments
Relic takes place at the New York Museum of Natural History, which offers the opportunity for the authors to toss in many interesting historical facts, but very little in the way of an unpredictabe storyline. Many aspects of the story are entirely cookie-cutter in nature. Despite this, Relic still manages to be semi-frightening and entertaining. -
The Plains of Passage - Jean Auel
01/22/09 06:56:24 | 0 Comments
A continuation of the neverending saga of Ayla and Jondalar, those suprisingly unprimitive folks originally introduced in Clan of the Cave Bear and seen in other episodes of the same saga, Plains of Passage is more of the same. If you liked the previous books, you'll like this. If not, don't bother. I like the work, despite the extremely microscopic descriptions of scenery and settings to the Nth degree. If you can handle needless in-depth descriptions of unimportant minutia, you've got a useful skill here. I too must have the ability, since I liked the book. -
A Painted House - John Grisham
01/05/09 02:23:06 | 0 Comments
Grisham diverges from his somewhat formulaic courtroom or legal system drama with this very different novel set in our grandfather's (or for some of us possibly our great-grandfather's) generation. Grisham puts us down right in the middle of the Dust Bowl during possibly some of the hardest of social and economic times. While I found the book refreshingly unusual for Grisham, the friend who loaned it to me hated A Painted House. The answer - when I asked why - was that the dismal scenery and hard luck characters were depressing. Some of you will like it; some of you won't. I liked it. -
On Wings of Eagles - Ken Follett
12/31/08 20:54:58 | 0 Comments
On Wings of Eagles reads like one big advertisement for EDS (Ross Perot's data processing company). As far as novels go, this one is not all that entertaining, even if it is based directly on factual information and real events. (I feel like I retroactively helped pay for someone's P.R. campaign by purchasing this book.) If I wanted an advertisement, I could get that any time on television or the radio. All of the other Ken Follett work I've read in the past was satisfying. This one is disappointing. -
Winter - Len Deighton
12/24/08 01:17:55 | 0 Comments
One of the best books I've ever read, Winter by Len Deighton incorporates real-world settings and timelines into the storyline, causing pre- and post-World War II Germany to come to life. The story is about the choices made by two brothers, leading to paths in life that result in extremely different experiences for them. It is about character that can make the world a better place and the lack of character that can ruin lives. -
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
12/13/08 16:56:05 | 0 Comments
If you thought the movie "I Am Legend" was bad, you should read the book to get an idea of what bad really is. The main character in I Am Legend (the book and maybe the movie too, actually) has extremely juvenile thought processes in addition to thowing unproductive temper tantrums - repeatedly. I never did figure out what the point of including these tantrums was, other than to alienate the reader from the material. The writer has a very 1950's pulp magazine style of writing. Plus, in several places, the author annoyingly does not distinguish between past and present and leaves it belatedly up to the reader to figure out that he's reading a flashback to previous events in the life of the main character. If you enjoy wasting time, this book is exactly what you're looking for. Enjoy. -
Smoke Jumper - Nicholas Evans
12/09/08 07:40:06 | 0 Comments
Smoke Jumper was written by Nicholas Evans, the guy who also wrote Horse Whisperer, which I didn't read - But I bet it's a good book, judging by his writing style and story telling abilities in Smoke Jumper. This moving piece of work provides insight into the motivations behind wildfire rescue team members and their willingness to give everything to save others. It's more meaningful than most of the novels I've read. -
Survival of the Fittest - Jonathan Kellerman
12/03/08 15:42:34 | 0 Comments
This one is worth buying. Survival of the Fittest includes some original concepts and some unusual plot twists. It's about a police psychologist who does some investigative work that takes the storyline in an unexpected direction. -
Executive Orders - Tom Clancy
11/11/08 20:47:47 | 0 Comments
Exectuvive Orders is a book by Tom Clancy that has been out for over 10 years, but I just finished reading it. The book is the thickness of 2 or 3 average-sized books, so if you don't have a lot of spare reading time, it can be quite intimidating, plus it can take a long time to read. The book is very fast-paced, has extremely short chapters, and has literally hundreds of characters. It is an intensely fun book to read, however it is a good idea to keep a note pad handy to write down a few of the details as you go, since by the time you see a character again, it may be difficult to recall what importance he played in the book. [Note: Don't plan on trading this one in at the used book store. Because the binding is so wide, it will split along the seam before you finish it. Most trade-in places don't take books held together with... -
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11/11/08 20:46:48 | 0 Comments
State of Fear - Michael Crichton
The latest book I read was State of Fear by Michael Crichton. Truisms are sometimes wrong. For years I have said that you can't go wrong purchasing a Michael Crichton novel. This does not apply to State of Fear. From now on, I will tell people, "Buy any Crichton books from pre-2000 and you can't go wrong. After that, who knows?"
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silverstreaks
11/23/09
Original comment »
Carja
11/21/09
Carja
11/11/09
Carja
11/02/09
Psychedelic Will
11/01/09
Nice...VERY nice...
Have a psychedelic Sunday!!
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