The 50 book Challenge 2011

[hadespussercats]

hadespussercats wrote:
1. Her Fearful Symmetry- Audrey Niffeneggar
A good read, if a touch derivative. Not as good as The Time-Traveler's Wife, but then, few books are.

2. Solaris- Stanislaw Lem
A fascinating scholarly review of books and studies that never existed. Borges in the future. Thoughtfully and convincingly written, though the dialogue suffers in translation.

3. Sleepwalker- John Toomey
Meh. Gen-X blankness from an Irish perspective. Preachy towards the end.

4. Orlando- Virginia Woolfe
Delightful use of language, though plodding/dense at times. Sumptuous. Thoughts on gender, identity, sexual politics still fresh after the better part of a century.

5. Pale Blue Dot- Carl Sagan
Beautiful language, lucid and educational. Message still current, particularly considering recent commentary on the state of the Earth/space travel by Stephen Hawking.

6. An Object of Beauty- Steve Martin
A history of modern and contemporary art, set in fiction, spun by someone who knows and loves it well. A quick, interesting, but emotionally reserved read.

7. The Book of Joe- Jonathan Tropper
Augusten Burroughs loves this novel-- wishes he´d written it himself. It´s not hard to understand why he´d say that. Synopsis: a writer with a wildly successful first novel under his belt has to go back to the small New England town where he grew up, and face the townspeople he outraged with his thinly-veiled autobiographical depiction of them. Hilarity and life affirmation ensue.

Solid, enjoyable. Not great literature.

8. The Mismeasure of Man- Stephen Jay Gould
I want to give my dad, the I.Q.-respecting, devoted genetic determinist, a copy of this history of intelligence studies. Gould explores how racial, social, gender, and class bias can influence scientific findings-- even, perhaps especially, in the absence of conscious fraud. He provides a compelling account of the disastrous results of applying such biased studies to social policy, and does much to debunk the very notion of ranking people according to perceived intelligence.

9. Devil's Cub- Georgette Heyer
This is a re-read-- I can't resist Heyer's giddy re-creation of the life of the haut ton in Regency England, and she's been a favorite of mine since childhood. This particular one is a sequel of my all-time favorite Heyer, These Old Shades, and features sword fights, dueling with pistols, abductions, French elopements, and romance. Heyer's novels are well-researched and great for anyone who loves a sensuous description of sprigged muslin dresses and Hessian boots. Light reading. A real treat.

10. On Beauty- Zadie Smith
This is my first venture into Zadie Smith's writing-- I was irrationally turned off by the ubiquity of her earlier White Teeth, which I'm now thinking I should give a go, since I enjoyed On Beauty quite a bit. A tale of binaries: two families, England/America, academia/street life, black/white, representational/abstract, etc., etc., told with great humor, an enviable ear for the gamut of English speech, and warm sympathy for her characters.

11. The Ascent of Money- Niall Ferguson
I was somewhat familiar with this book before I read it-- saw some of the television programs developed concurrently with the writing, as well as some articles in Newsweek, comments for the LongNow Foundation, etc. So I didn't get the pleasure of encountering some of his big ideas for the first time. I definitely have a far better understanding of the history of finance-- but then, since i went in with a knowledge base of close to zero, that wouldn't have taken much. Ferguson is a lively writer, entertaining on a subject that could be deadly dull in the hands of someone less passionate. However, his frequent footnotes and parenthetical comments, though elucidating, really harm the flow of the narrative-- I often had to read pages several times through to get their whole intent. And the closer his history came to the current time, the less effort he spent explaining technical terms so the layperson could understand (What do these percentages MEAN? What the hell is a credit spread? etc.)
A bit of a slog at times, but worth it.

[Sisifo]

1.- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. I was attracted by the definition of the novel as "biopunk", and the setting in a postapocalyptic Bangkok, and it surpassed my expectations. I enjoyed the genetic race against the plagues and the idea of a bioengineered retro world. The Thai and Japanese mentality of the characters was the cherry on top. I hope it starts a saga.

2.- Perdido Street Station by China Mieville Mieville defines his books as "weird fiction" and they are very impredictable. I must confess that his use of the language loses me sometimes, and I have to reread paragraphs, which makes it less enjoyable. His books remind me to Phillip Jose Farmer, with a big difference. I have the impression that China Mieville hates his characters and loves to make them suffer and die.

3.- Bangkok 8 by John Burdett It is a detective novel taking place in Bangkok. The detective is a Former Buddhist Monk (Hello FBM!!) who as penance for his sins, has to work in the Bangkok Police AND not taking bribes. It is a book gives a friendly look at the world, a sympathetic smile to corruption, mobsters, prostitutes, mama-sans and transexuals. Just a detective novel, very entertaining and lets itsself to be read very fast.

4.- Bangkok Tattoo the second book of the series. Pushed a little bit further from the first one.

5.- In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan it is an excellent book, very apropos of the McDonalds and Obesity threads. The whole book is an expansion of a single sentence: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." and food is only what our grand-grandmas would recognize.

6.- Containment by Christian Cantrell Very promising in the beginning, it lost my enthusiasm by two triple sommersaults in the story. A pity.

7.- The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein It is nothing more than a dramatic story/recalling of a guy (a racing cars pilot), fighting with her wife's brain tumor, and trying to get the custody of his daughter. The story is told by the memories of his old dog, who believes that when he dies he will come back as a human, and will be a racing pilot. Truthfully, it is a meh story, with a not so original plot of a conscious dog who tries to fix things around. But it must have something, because I could not put the book down. I was even hiding at work to read it. And at the end, I found myself crying hysterically, and my employees looking to my red watery eyes and wondering what the hell is going on. I guess it is one of those books or movies that you have to accept that it's bad, but you love it, and becomes a shameful secret.

8.- Wolf Totem, by Jiang Rong (it's a pseudonym). Although I had to struggle with the style of the book, it hit my mind with amazing images of inner Mongolia. The story is writen as the old memories of a chinese who was sent during Mao's Cultural Revolution to live with the nomads shepherds in the Grasslands of Mongolia. There he gets fascinated by the relationship between humans, wolves and grass. He makes some hard criticism of policies, and the book it's a tearful memory of an ecosystem now lost for the benefit of industrial monoculture. I loved the book, and it is a book worth to keep hard cover in the library and to introduce it to others.

9.- The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Very, very interesting research on the family of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells are the HeLa immortal cell line that has been the backbone of most of the medical -and freak- research for the past 60 years. Many topics linked: morals of research on tissue without consent of the donor, the medical situation of poor black population in the 50s, the "progress" of the research work, pro bono in the 50s-60s, to patent-crazy and money moved currently.

10.- A dictionary of Maqiao by Han Shaogong. Named one of the best literary works of China in the XX century, it is a very strange book that I believe it had to be very challenging for the author. The book is shaped as a dictionary: the chapters are just word entries. The words, are especial terms, or different uses of normal words that take place in a tiny village in the South of China, and the story behind, or wrapping those terms. It's by those stories that the general picture of the life and drama of that Village is painted, but in a non linear way. Out of the box. Very good.

[zmonsterz]

I'm so far failing epically at this challenge!

So far.
The Fiery Cross - Diana Gabaldon
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo - Stieg Larsson

And currently reading 3 books simultaneously. The eye of the world - Robert Jordan, The Hobbit - J.R.R.Tolkien, To kill a mockingbird - Harper Lee (Mockingbird is for english class and I've read it before, bout two years ago)

[anna09]

1. A Devil's Chaplain- Richard Dawkins
2. The Anatomy of Evil- Michael H. Stone
3. God: The Failed Hypothesis- Victor J. Stenger
4. Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism- Michelle Goldberg
5. Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are- Joseph LeDoux
6. The Pluto Files- Neil Degrasse Tyson
7. Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know- Alexandria Herowitz
8. Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind- Robert Kurzban
9. The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa- Neil Peart

[Taryn]

Currently reading An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. A romance novel really but I love the historical references and info about the icky bits of life in the 18th century.

I'm reading the same series! I'm still on The Fiery Cross but I can't wait to get to an Echo in the Bone. Still gotta read A breath of Snow and Ashes. Since reading Cross stitch I've sort of fallen in love with Claire and her families story and wanna see it to the end

I love Jamie Fraser. He´s my book boyfriend. But I guess I can share...

Methinks the series is fizzling a little. Echo was, as ever, a good read, but I didn´t feel the same compulsion to sit and read all 1000 pages or so in a single weekend sitting.

Still, I´d love to know what yall think of it when you finish.

Same here, zmonsterz...but I do like Jamie Fraser.

I'm so glad you're willing to share him hadespussercats, he is a bit yummy isn't he. I do agree with you that the series is slowing down a bit but I still enjoyed it and stayed up far too late reading it.

A lot of series do that, drag the story out a bit to make you buy more books. I think they do it too much sometimes, there are a few that I have got bored with and given up on after a while. I hope that doesn't happen to the Outlander series though.

[Rob]

Trigger Warning!!!1! :

1. Hitch-22 - Christopher Hitchens

2. Misquoting Jesus - Bart Ehrman: Interesting read, though I disagree with his conclusion stating the importance bible and its potency in today's world.

[Sisifo]

1.- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. I was attracted by the definition of the novel as "biopunk", and the setting in a postapocalyptic Bangkok, and it surpassed my expectations. I enjoyed the genetic race against the plagues and the idea of a bioengineered retro world. The Thai and Japanese mentality of the characters was the cherry on top. I hope it starts a saga.

2.- Perdido Street Station by China Mieville Mieville defines his books as "weird fiction" and they are very impredictable. I must confess that his use of the language loses me sometimes, and I have to reread paragraphs, which makes it less enjoyable. His books remind me to Phillip Jose Farmer, with a big difference. I have the impression that China Mieville hates his characters and loves to make them suffer and die.

3.- Bangkok 8 by John Burdett It is a detective novel taking place in Bangkok. The detective is a Former Buddhist Monk (Hello FBM!!) who as penance for his sins, has to work in the Bangkok Police AND not taking bribes. It is a book gives a friendly look at the world, a sympathetic smile to corruption, mobsters, prostitutes, mama-sans and transexuals. Just a detective novel, very entertaining and lets itsself to be read very fast.

4.- Bangkok Tattoo the second book of the series. Pushed a little bit further from the first one.

5.- In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan it is an excellent book, very apropos of the McDonalds and Obesity threads. The whole book is an expansion of a single sentence: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." and food is only what our grand-grandmas would recognize.

6.- Containment by Christian Cantrell Very promising in the beginning, it lost my enthusiasm by two triple sommersaults in the story. A pity.

7.- The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein It is nothing more than a dramatic story/recalling of a guy (a racing cars pilot), fighting with her wife's brain tumor, and trying to get the custody of his daughter. The story is told by the memories of his old dog, who believes that when he dies he will come back as a human, and will be a racing pilot. Truthfully, it is a meh story, with a not so original plot of a conscious dog who tries to fix things around. But it must have something, because I could not put the book down. I was even hiding at work to read it. And at the end, I found myself crying hysterically, and my employees looking to my red watery eyes and wondering what the hell is going on. I guess it is one of those books or movies that you have to accept that it's bad, but you love it, and becomes a shameful secret.

8.- Wolf Totem, by Jiang Rong (it's a pseudonym). Although I had to struggle with the style of the book, it hit my mind with amazing images of inner Mongolia. The story is writen as the old memories of a chinese who was sent during Mao's Cultural Revolution to live with the nomads shepherds in the Grasslands of Mongolia. There he gets fascinated by the relationship between humans, wolves and grass. He makes some hard criticism of policies, and the book it's a tearful memory of an ecosystem now lost for the benefit of industrial monoculture. I loved the book, and it is a book worth to keep hard cover in the library and to introduce it to others.[/quote]

9.- The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Very, very interesting research on the family of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells are the HeLa immortal cell line that has been the backbone of most of the medical -and freak- research for the past 60 years. Many topics linked: morals of research on tissue without consent of the donor, the medical situation of poor black population in the 50s, the "progress" of the research work, pro bono in the 50s-60s, to patent-crazy and money moved currently.

10.- A dictionary of Maqiao by Han Shaogong. Named one of the best literary works of China in the XX century, it is a very strange book that I believe it had to be very challenging for the author. The book is shaped as a dictionary: the chapters are just word entries. The words, are especial terms, or different uses of normal words that take place in a tiny village in the South of China, and the story behind, or wrapping those terms. It's by those stories that the general picture of the life and drama of that Village is painted, but in a non linear way. Out of the box. Very good.

11.- The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordan. A children book initiating the saga "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". With a disticnt Harry Potter flavour. I enjoyed it. I started it as an escapement and it really provided me so. It is consistent, very fast reading and with plenty of action. It feels like reading a comic, so it's perfect if you read it in that frame of mind.

12.- The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. Second book on the Percy Jackson Series. It gains a better definition of the characters and the plot learns to add emotive moments and cliffhangers, to its good rythm.

13.- Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. This book has been a surprise. It is an excellent "what if" exercise. The writing style of the author is good. Far better than the kind of writers that the book mocks. I found myself, who have never had even the slightest liking for zombie movies, actually doing internal thinking at the words, to agree or disagree if a certain weapon or strategy would be good or could be made better. And thinking about watching one of those movies tonight. This book must be fun to read in a group, and discuss it. If the group is in any state of intoxication, it must be exceptionally lol.

[JOZeldenrust]

13.- Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. This book has been a surprise. It is an excellent "what if" exercise. The writing style of the author is good. Far better than the kind of writers that the book mocks. I found myself, who have never had even the slightest liking for zombie movies, actually doing internal thinking at the words, to agree or disagree if a certain weapon or strategy would be good or could be made better. And thinking about watching one of those movies tonight. This book must be fun to read in a group, and discuss it. If the group is in any state of intoxication, it must be exceptionally lol.

Fun indeed, but some of the things he suggests are really stupid, like his suggestion that a silenced firearm is good for stealth killing of zombies, but if you don't have one handy, bow and arrow, a crossbow or throwing knives can be a reasonable alternative. First, learning to throw knives as an effective weapon takes years of practice, and even then it's not really reliable. Second, silenced firearms aren't exactly quiet. They're just considerably less loud then non-silenced firearms. Only very few specially designed weapons actually make that Hollywood "fwip" sound.

Some other things were quite stupid as well, like the suggestion that a katana is the most effective melee weapon if decapitation is your aim. The mythical qualities of the katana are mainly ideas deseminated through popular culture. They are works of great craftsmanship, but traditional katana's were constructed from inferior steel - the iron ore deposits in Japan aren't very good - so they were folded many times to make the blade a bit less brittle. They still had a tendency to shatter on steel armor. A katana is also a bit light for chopping off heads, and the center of gravity is too close to the handle. In practised hands, katana's are great all round swords, very much on par with quality renaissance sords from Europe, but for beheading a machete or some models of scimitar would be more appropriate.

Otherwise the book is a great way of making you think about your environment, and a cracking read at that.

[Sisifo]

Fun indeed, but some of the things he suggests are really stupid, like his suggestion that a silenced firearm is good for stealth killing of zombies, but if you don't have one handy, bow and arrow, a crossbow or throwing knives can be a reasonable alternative. First, learning to throw knives as an effective weapon takes years of practice, and even then it's not really reliable. Second, silenced firearms aren't exactly quiet. They're just considerably less loud then non-silenced firearms. Only very few specially designed weapons actually make that Hollywood "fwip" sound.

Some other things were quite stupid as well, like the suggestion that a katana is the most effective melee weapon if decapitation is your aim. The mythical qualities of the katana are mainly ideas deseminated through popular culture. They are works of great craftsmanship, but traditional katana's were constructed from inferior steel - the iron ore deposits in Japan aren't very good - so they were folded many times to make the blade a bit less brittle. They still had a tendency to shatter on steel armor. A katana is also a bit light for chopping off heads, and the center of gravity is too close to the handle. In practised hands, katana's are great all round swords, very much on par with quality renaissance sords from Europe, but for beheading a machete or some models of scimitar would be more appropriate.

Otherwise the book is a great way of making you think about your environment, and a cracking read at that.

The fact that stimulates this kind of debate, it's what makes it funny to me

Some parts are very, very silly. The trench-spike as best short range arm... I also disagreed about the katana, (but I don't agree about your review of the katana). It's just because the M'ai of a sword is very specific. As soon as the enemy gets closer than one meter and a half, a sword puts you in disadvantage even to an unarmed adversary. For me the perfect weapon for that range was a long spiked club. And for the beheading part, I would go for a falcata or kukris, which are more closer range weapons, but I would certainly not contemplate beheading as my option. I would always go around a polished ice axe

But it is true that the exercise "what would I do, where would I go" it is very entertaining.

[hadespussercats]

1. Her Fearful Symmetry- Audrey Niffeneggar
A good read, if a touch derivative. Not as good as The Time-Traveler's Wife, but then, few books are.

2. Solaris- Stanislaw Lem
A fascinating scholarly review of books and studies that never existed. Borges in the future. Thoughtfully and convincingly written, though the dialogue suffers in translation.

3. Sleepwalker- John Toomey
Meh. Gen-X blankness from an Irish perspective. Preachy towards the end.

4. Orlando- Virginia Woolfe
Delightful use of language, though plodding/dense at times. Sumptuous. Thoughts on gender, identity, sexual politics still fresh after the better part of a century.

5. Pale Blue Dot- Carl Sagan
Beautiful language, lucid and educational. Message still current, particularly considering recent commentary on the state of the Earth/space travel by Stephen Hawking.

6. An Object of Beauty- Steve Martin
A history of modern and contemporary art, set in fiction, spun by someone who knows and loves it well. A quick, interesting, but emotionally reserved read.

7. The Book of Joe- Jonathan Tropper
Augusten Burroughs loves this novel-- wishes he´d written it himself. It´s not hard to understand why he´d say that. Synopsis: a writer with a wildly successful first novel under his belt has to go back to the small New England town where he grew up, and face the townspeople he outraged with his thinly-veiled autobiographical depiction of them. Hilarity and life affirmation ensue.

Solid, enjoyable. Not great literature.

8. The Mismeasure of Man- Stephen Jay Gould
I want to give my dad, the I.Q.-respecting, devoted genetic determinist, a copy of this history of intelligence studies. Gould explores how racial, social, gender, and class bias can influence scientific findings-- even, perhaps especially, in the absence of conscious fraud. He provides a compelling account of the disastrous results of applying such biased studies to social policy, and does much to debunk the very notion of ranking people according to perceived intelligence.

9. Devil's Cub- Georgette Heyer
This is a re-read-- I can't resist Heyer's giddy re-creation of the life of the haut ton in Regency England, and she's been a favorite of mine since childhood. This particular one is a sequel of my all-time favorite Heyer, These Old Shades, and features sword fights, dueling with pistols, abductions, French elopements, and romance. Heyer's novels are well-researched and great for anyone who loves a sensuous description of sprigged muslin dresses and Hessian boots. Light reading. A real treat.

10. On Beauty- Zadie Smith
This is my first venture into Zadie Smith's writing-- I was irrationally turned off by the ubiquity of her earlier White Teeth, which I'm now thinking I should give a go, since I enjoyed On Beauty quite a bit. A tale of binaries: two families, England/America, academia/street life, black/white, representational/abstract, etc., etc., told with great humor, an enviable ear for the gamut of English speech, and warm sympathy for her characters.

11. The Ascent of Money- Niall Ferguson
I was somewhat familiar with this book before I read it-- saw some of the television programs developed concurrently with the writing, as well as some articles in Newsweek, comments for the LongNow Foundation, etc. So I didn't get the pleasure of encountering some of his big ideas for the first time. I definitely have a far better understanding of the history of finance-- but then, since i went in with a knowledge base of close to zero, that wouldn't have taken much. Ferguson is a lively writer, entertaining on a subject that could be deadly dull in the hands of someone less passionate. However, his frequent footnotes and parenthetical comments, though elucidating, really harm the flow of the narrative-- I often had to read pages several times through to get their whole intent. And the closer his history came to the current time, the less effort he spent explaining technical terms so the layperson could understand (What do these percentages MEAN? What the hell is a credit spread? etc.)
A bit of a slog at times, but worth it.

12. Exposure- Kathryn Harrison
Not surprising this author is able to write with utter credibility about a creepily sexualized relationship between a father and a daughter. Three generations of photographers, two generations of mental illness-- a downward spiral of character portraiture that is compelling, subtly drawn, and, as I've noted, entirely believable. Well done.

13. Black Elk Speaks-- as told through John G. Neihardt
Joseph Campbell notes this book as one of his most important reads-- an autobiography of a Lakota warrior/medicine man, which tells the story of his people, from the days of Custer to the tragedy at Wounded Knee. A heartbreaking first-hand account of one of the most shameful aspects of United States history, and a useful resource for those interested in understanding totemic imagery. The chapter describing Black Elk's great vision was, for me, a bit of a slog-- but the book as a whole was well worth reading.

[Clinton Huxley]

1) The Lying Stones of Marrakech by Stephen Jay Gould.
2) Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.
3) In Search of Shakespeare by Michael Wood
4) Surface Detail by Iain Banks.

[hadespussercats]

1. Her Fearful Symmetry- Audrey Niffeneggar
A good read, if a touch derivative. Not as good as The Time-Traveler's Wife, but then, few books are.

2. Solaris- Stanislaw Lem
A fascinating scholarly review of books and studies that never existed. Borges in the future. Thoughtfully and convincingly written, though the dialogue suffers in translation.

3. Sleepwalker- John Toomey
Meh. Gen-X blankness from an Irish perspective. Preachy towards the end.

4. Orlando- Virginia Woolfe
Delightful use of language, though plodding/dense at times. Sumptuous. Thoughts on gender, identity, sexual politics still fresh after the better part of a century.

5. Pale Blue Dot- Carl Sagan
Beautiful language, lucid and educational. Message still current, particularly considering recent commentary on the state of the Earth/space travel by Stephen Hawking.

6. An Object of Beauty- Steve Martin
A history of modern and contemporary art, set in fiction, spun by someone who knows and loves it well. A quick, interesting, but emotionally reserved read.

7. The Book of Joe- Jonathan Tropper
Augusten Burroughs loves this novel-- wishes he´d written it himself. It´s not hard to understand why he´d say that. Synopsis: a writer with a wildly successful first novel under his belt has to go back to the small New England town where he grew up, and face the townspeople he outraged with his thinly-veiled autobiographical depiction of them. Hilarity and life affirmation ensue.

Solid, enjoyable. Not great literature.

8. The Mismeasure of Man- Stephen Jay Gould
I want to give my dad, the I.Q.-respecting, devoted genetic determinist, a copy of this history of intelligence studies. Gould explores how racial, social, gender, and class bias can influence scientific findings-- even, perhaps especially, in the absence of conscious fraud. He provides a compelling account of the disastrous results of applying such biased studies to social policy, and does much to debunk the very notion of ranking people according to perceived intelligence.

9. Devil's Cub- Georgette Heyer
This is a re-read-- I can't resist Heyer's giddy re-creation of the life of the haut ton in Regency England, and she's been a favorite of mine since childhood. This particular one is a sequel of my all-time favorite Heyer, These Old Shades, and features sword fights, dueling with pistols, abductions, French elopements, and romance. Heyer's novels are well-researched and great for anyone who loves a sensuous description of sprigged muslin dresses and Hessian boots. Light reading. A real treat.

10. On Beauty- Zadie Smith
This is my first venture into Zadie Smith's writing-- I was irrationally turned off by the ubiquity of her earlier White Teeth, which I'm now thinking I should give a go, since I enjoyed On Beauty quite a bit. A tale of binaries: two families, England/America, academia/street life, black/white, representational/abstract, etc., etc., told with great humor, an enviable ear for the gamut of English speech, and warm sympathy for her characters.

11. The Ascent of Money- Niall Ferguson
I was somewhat familiar with this book before I read it-- saw some of the television programs developed concurrently with the writing, as well as some articles in Newsweek, comments for the LongNow Foundation, etc. So I didn't get the pleasure of encountering some of his big ideas for the first time. I definitely have a far better understanding of the history of finance-- but then, since i went in with a knowledge base of close to zero, that wouldn't have taken much. Ferguson is a lively writer, entertaining on a subject that could be deadly dull in the hands of someone less passionate. However, his frequent footnotes and parenthetical comments, though elucidating, really harm the flow of the narrative-- I often had to read pages several times through to get their whole intent. And the closer his history came to the current time, the less effort he spent explaining technical terms so the layperson could understand (What do these percentages MEAN? What the hell is a credit spread? etc.)
A bit of a slog at times, but worth it.

12. Exposure- Kathryn Harrison
Not surprising this author is able to write with utter credibility about a creepily sexualized relationship between a father and a daughter. Three generations of photographers, two generations of mental illness-- a downward spiral of character portraiture that is compelling, subtly drawn, and, as I've noted, entirely believable. Well done.

13. Black Elk Speaks-- as told through John G. Neihardt
Joseph Campbell notes this book as one of his most important reads-- an autobiography of a Lakota warrior/medicine man, which tells the story of his people, from the days of Custer to the tragedy at Wounded Knee. A heartbreaking first-hand account of one of the most shameful aspects of United States history, and a useful resource for those interested in understanding totemic imagery. The chapter describing Black Elk's great vision was, for me, a bit of a slog-- but the book as a whole was well worth reading.

14. The Children's Book-- A.S. Byatt
Hm. Hm.
Not sure what to say. Enjoyed it. Lots of great details about Art Nouveau, English pastorale, Liberty dresses, anarchy, socialism, Fabianism, women's suffrage, uber-puppets, the Aesthetic Movement at large, and late-Victorian/Edwardian sexuality. But after 500 or so pages, I'm left with soup.

I like soup. But it was a bit of a narrative let-down.

[Sisifo]

1.- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. I was attracted by the definition of the novel as "biopunk", and the setting in a postapocalyptic Bangkok, and it surpassed my expectations. I enjoyed the genetic race against the plagues and the idea of a bioengineered retro world. The Thai and Japanese mentality of the characters was the cherry on top. I hope it starts a saga.

2.- Perdido Street Station by China Mieville Mieville defines his books as "weird fiction" and they are very impredictable. I must confess that his use of the language loses me sometimes, and I have to reread paragraphs, which makes it less enjoyable. His books remind me to Phillip Jose Farmer, with a big difference. I have the impression that China Mieville hates his characters and loves to make them suffer and die.

3.- Bangkok 8 by John Burdett It is a detective novel taking place in Bangkok. The detective is a Former Buddhist Monk (Hello FBM!!) who as penance for his sins, has to work in the Bangkok Police AND not taking bribes. It is a book gives a friendly look at the world, a sympathetic smile to corruption, mobsters, prostitutes, mama-sans and transexuals. Just a detective novel, very entertaining and lets itsself to be read very fast.

4.- Bangkok Tattoo the second book of the series. Pushed a little bit further from the first one.

5.- In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan it is an excellent book, very apropos of the McDonalds and Obesity threads. The whole book is an expansion of a single sentence: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." and food is only what our grand-grandmas would recognize.

6.- Containment by Christian Cantrell Very promising in the beginning, it lost my enthusiasm by two triple sommersaults in the story. A pity.

7.- The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein It is nothing more than a dramatic story/recalling of a guy (a racing cars pilot), fighting with her wife's brain tumor, and trying to get the custody of his daughter. The story is told by the memories of his old dog, who believes that when he dies he will come back as a human, and will be a racing pilot. Truthfully, it is a meh story, with a not so original plot of a conscious dog who tries to fix things around. But it must have something, because I could not put the book down. I was even hiding at work to read it. And at the end, I found myself crying hysterically, and my employees looking to my red watery eyes and wondering what the hell is going on. I guess it is one of those books or movies that you have to accept that it's bad, but you love it, and becomes a shameful secret.

8.- Wolf Totem, by Jiang Rong (it's a pseudonym). Although I had to struggle with the style of the book, it hit my mind with amazing images of inner Mongolia. The story is writen as the old memories of a chinese who was sent during Mao's Cultural Revolution to live with the nomads shepherds in the Grasslands of Mongolia. There he gets fascinated by the relationship between humans, wolves and grass. He makes some hard criticism of policies, and the book it's a tearful memory of an ecosystem now lost for the benefit of industrial monoculture. I loved the book, and it is a book worth to keep hard cover in the library and to introduce it to others.[/quote]

9.- The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Very, very interesting research on the family of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells are the HeLa immortal cell line that has been the backbone of most of the medical -and freak- research for the past 60 years. Many topics linked: morals of research on tissue without consent of the donor, the medical situation of poor black population in the 50s, the "progress" of the research work, pro bono in the 50s-60s, to patent-crazy and money moved currently.

10.- A dictionary of Maqiao by Han Shaogong. Named one of the best literary works of China in the XX century, it is a very strange book that I believe it had to be very challenging for the author. The book is shaped as a dictionary: the chapters are just word entries. The words, are especial terms, or different uses of normal words that take place in a tiny village in the South of China, and the story behind, or wrapping those terms. It's by those stories that the general picture of the life and drama of that Village is painted, but in a non linear way. Out of the box. Very good.

11.- The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordan. A children book initiating the saga "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". With a disticnt Harry Potter flavour. I enjoyed it. I started it as an escapement and it really provided me so. It is consistent, very fast reading and with plenty of action. It feels like reading a comic, so it's perfect if you read it in that frame of mind.

12.- The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. Second book on the Percy Jackson Series. It gains a better definition of the characters and the plot learns to add emotive moments and cliffhangers, to its good rythm.

13.- Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. This book has been a surprise. It is an excellent "what if" exercise. The writing style of the author is good. Far better than the kind of writers that the book mocks. I found myself, who have never had even the slightest liking for zombie movies, actually doing internal thinking at the words, to agree or disagree if a certain weapon or strategy would be good or could be made better. And thinking about watching one of those movies tonight. This book must be fun to read in a group, and discuss it. If the group is in any state of intoxication, it must be exceptionally lol.

14.- A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. The style of the book reminded me a lot to The Pillars of the Earth. Dozens of characters that follow their own agenda eventually helping or damaging each other. In that sense it is realistic and strange among the fantasy books, as there is no sense of determinism, of destiny or any kind of direction. There is not a single plot, dozens of them. In truth the writing is good and solid, but felt too long and often boring. I felt that whole chapters could have been erased with no loss of the whole work, but that's me. I will read the following books, eventually.

15.- Bangkok Haunt[/b] by John Burdett Third book of the former monk detective. I felt that the author was losing the freshness of the style. The plots are becoming too repetitive and the characters are losing the bold characteristics that made it different in the first book. Aw, well...

[hadespussercats]

1.- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. I was attracted by the definition of the novel as "biopunk", and the setting in a postapocalyptic Bangkok, and it surpassed my expectations. I enjoyed the genetic race against the plagues and the idea of a bioengineered retro world. The Thai and Japanese mentality of the characters was the cherry on top. I hope it starts a saga.

2.- Perdido Street Station by China Mieville Mieville defines his books as "weird fiction" and they are very impredictable. I must confess that his use of the language loses me sometimes, and I have to reread paragraphs, which makes it less enjoyable. His books remind me to Phillip Jose Farmer, with a big difference. I have the impression that China Mieville hates his characters and loves to make them suffer and die.

3.- Bangkok 8 by John Burdett It is a detective novel taking place in Bangkok. The detective is a Former Buddhist Monk (Hello FBM!!) who as penance for his sins, has to work in the Bangkok Police AND not taking bribes. It is a book gives a friendly look at the world, a sympathetic smile to corruption, mobsters, prostitutes, mama-sans and transexuals. Just a detective novel, very entertaining and lets itsself to be read very fast.

4.- Bangkok Tattoo the second book of the series. Pushed a little bit further from the first one.

5.- In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan it is an excellent book, very apropos of the McDonalds and Obesity threads. The whole book is an expansion of a single sentence: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." and food is only what our grand-grandmas would recognize.

6.- Containment by Christian Cantrell Very promising in the beginning, it lost my enthusiasm by two triple sommersaults in the story. A pity.

7.- The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein It is nothing more than a dramatic story/recalling of a guy (a racing cars pilot), fighting with her wife's brain tumor, and trying to get the custody of his daughter. The story is told by the memories of his old dog, who believes that when he dies he will come back as a human, and will be a racing pilot. Truthfully, it is a meh story, with a not so original plot of a conscious dog who tries to fix things around. But it must have something, because I could not put the book down. I was even hiding at work to read it. And at the end, I found myself crying hysterically, and my employees looking to my red watery eyes and wondering what the hell is going on. I guess it is one of those books or movies that you have to accept that it's bad, but you love it, and becomes a shameful secret.

8.- Wolf Totem, by Jiang Rong (it's a pseudonym). Although I had to struggle with the style of the book, it hit my mind with amazing images of inner Mongolia. The story is writen as the old memories of a chinese who was sent during Mao's Cultural Revolution to live with the nomads shepherds in the Grasslands of Mongolia. There he gets fascinated by the relationship between humans, wolves and grass. He makes some hard criticism of policies, and the book it's a tearful memory of an ecosystem now lost for the benefit of industrial monoculture. I loved the book, and it is a book worth to keep hard cover in the library and to introduce it to others.

9.- The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Very, very interesting research on the family of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells are the HeLa immortal cell line that has been the backbone of most of the medical -and freak- research for the past 60 years. Many topics linked: morals of research on tissue without consent of the donor, the medical situation of poor black population in the 50s, the "progress" of the research work, pro bono in the 50s-60s, to patent-crazy and money moved currently.

10.- A dictionary of Maqiao by Han Shaogong. Named one of the best literary works of China in the XX century, it is a very strange book that I believe it had to be very challenging for the author. The book is shaped as a dictionary: the chapters are just word entries. The words, are especial terms, or different uses of normal words that take place in a tiny village in the South of China, and the story behind, or wrapping those terms. It's by those stories that the general picture of the life and drama of that Village is painted, but in a non linear way. Out of the box. Very good.[/spoiler]
11.- The Lighting Thief by Rick Riordan. A children book initiating the saga "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". With a disticnt Harry Potter flavour. I enjoyed it. I started it as an escapement and it really provided me so. It is consistent, very fast reading and with plenty of action. It feels like reading a comic, so it's perfect if you read it in that frame of mind.

12.- The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan. Second book on the Percy Jackson Series. It gains a better definition of the characters and the plot learns to add emotive moments and cliffhangers, to its good rythm.

13.- Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. This book has been a surprise. It is an excellent "what if" exercise. The writing style of the author is good. Far better than the kind of writers that the book mocks. I found myself, who have never had even the slightest liking for zombie movies, actually doing internal thinking at the words, to agree or disagree if a certain weapon or strategy would be good or could be made better. And thinking about watching one of those movies tonight. This book must be fun to read in a group, and discuss it. If the group is in any state of intoxication, it must be exceptionally lol.

14.- A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. The style of the book reminded me a lot to The Pillars of the Earth. Dozens of characters that follow their own agenda eventually helping or damaging each other. In that sense it is realistic and strange among the fantasy books, as there is no sense of determinism, of destiny or any kind of direction. There is not a single plot, dozens of them. In truth the writing is good and solid, but felt too long and often boring. I felt that whole chapters could have been erased with no loss of the whole work, but that's me. I will read the following books, eventually.

15.- Bangkok Haunt[/b] by John Burdett Third book of the former monk detective. I felt that the author was losing the freshness of the style. The plots are becoming too repetitive and the characters are losing the bold characteristics that made it different in the first book. Aw, well...

I keep hearing good things about Zombie Survival Guide-- I'm getting curious to check it out...

[anna09]

1. A Devil's Chaplain- Richard Dawkins
2. The Anatomy of Evil- Michael H. Stone
3. God: The Failed Hypothesis- Victor J. Stenger
4. Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism- Michelle Goldberg
5. Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are- Joseph LeDoux
6. The Pluto Files- Neil Degrasse Tyson
7. Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know- Alexandria Herowitz
8. Why Everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite: Evolution and the Modular Mind- Robert Kurzban
9. The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa- Neil Peart
10. Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind- V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee