1.- The Windup Girlby 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 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...[/quote]
16.- El Asedio by Arturo Perez-Reverte It is always a pleasure to read Pérez-Reverte, one of my favorite Spanish authors. His writing, his stories and his characters are always amazing. It is a safe bet to buy his books. Always good. In this case, it is a 800 pages story that takes place with the background of the siege of Cadiz in 1809-1812. A corrupt policeman obsessed by a serial killer, a businesswoman who tries to keep his family company afloat, and a privateer who falls in love with her more than it is good for him. A French officer calculating paraboles for the bombs. It is a very good book, although I didn't like so much the way that each thread is concluded.
17.-The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie I bought this book out of the extraordinary good critics and it began with a feeling of a "Conan" with good sense. But along the book, the monodimensional characters, the studid names, the lack of imagination or story made me angry. I have read better fanfics in the internet than that!
18.-The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett Final book of Bangkok8, I started it believing that it was going to be bad, as the previous one disappointed me, and it happened that it was really good. The author has take a 180º turn into the style and it became an amazing one!!
19.- The Book Thiefi] by Markus Zusak Very, very enjoyable. The style is very nice (not in vain it is rated as an excellent book for children), but the theme is startling: The story of a refugee child during Nazi Germany, told by Death... It is a vision of the madness of humans, both to great good and great evil, it is a tale of guilt, but it is deprived of hate, despite the topic. This book is a must have and leave it available for children at the house, but I think it requires the right mood to read it.
But now I have a rant: I am trying to start reading Vietnamese domestic literature. It will take me time to go through my first book, and maybe I put it down momentarily, but the thing is that now I visit the Vietnamese libraries. How come that here a hardcover is just 3USD??? I have checked: All rights have been properly paid, it is translated, and it comes with a quality of paper and cover that would make any western book jealous. WTF is happenning to the western publishers' market?? Seriously, when an ebook is more expensive than a real one (and no materials, no stocks, no transport!!!), and I see that a perfectly legal book here is just 3 dollars a hard cover and 2 dollars a pocket book, then I have to wonder. What do the publishers try to tell us? that there are thousands of workers printing page by page Guttemberg print style, and it makes books expensive in develoopped economies and cheap in countries with low labopur costs???
Oh, and parents: There is no school book in Vietnam more expensive than 1USD!!!!
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
11. The Science of Fear- Daniel Gardner
12. Unweaving the Rainbow- Richard Dawkins
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America by Chris Hedges
The Predator State by J Galbraith
American Gods by Gaiman
Changing Places by David Lodge
half way through half a dozen
can't think of any others
it's not bad for someone who is just recovered and a few years ago didn't have the stamina to even watch telly
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. ~ Marx
Do you really think it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations which it requires strength, strength and courage to yield to. ~ Oscar Wilde
About me: Twoflower is the optimistic-but-naive tourist. He often runs into danger, being certain that nothing bad will happen to him since he is not involved. He also believes in the fundamental goodness of human nature and that all problems can be resolved, if all parties show good will and cooperate.
Haven't updated in a while
1. The Secret Holocaust Diaries.
2. I Sold my Soul to Ebay
3. I Shall Wear Midnight
4. Skipping Towards Gomorra.
5. Savage Love: Straight Answers from America's Most Popular Sex Columnist.
6. A Study in Scarlet.
7. The Sign of Four
8. Unionists & Separatists; The Vagaries of Ethio-Eritrean Relation 1941-1991
9. The Jungle Book
10. Unseen Academicals
11. The Fifth Elephant
12. A Hat Full of Sky
13. Thud!
14. Islam, Sectarianism and Politics In Sudan Since The Mahdiyya
15. Jingo
16. Guards! Guards!
17. Trio of Horror: Three Tales From the Holocaust
18. Men at Arms
I'm wild just like a rock, a stone, a tree
And I'm free, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I flow, just like a brook, a stream, the rain
And I fly, just like a bird up in the sky
And I'll surely die, just like a flower plucked
And dragged away and thrown away
And then one day it turns to clay
It blows away, it finds a ray, it finds its way
And there it lays until the rain and sun
Then I breathe, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I grow, just like a baby breastfeeding
And it's beautiful, that's life
About me: Twoflower is the optimistic-but-naive tourist. He often runs into danger, being certain that nothing bad will happen to him since he is not involved. He also believes in the fundamental goodness of human nature and that all problems can be resolved, if all parties show good will and cooperate.
1. The Secret Holocaust Diaries.
2. I Sold my Soul to Ebay
3. I Shall Wear Midnight
4. Skipping Towards Gomorra.
5. Savage Love: Straight Answers from America's Most Popular Sex Columnist.
6. A Study in Scarlet.
7. The Sign of Four
8. Unionists & Separatists; The Vagaries of Ethio-Eritrean Relation 1941-1991
9. The Jungle Book
10. Unseen Academicals
11. The Fifth Elephant
12. A Hat Full of Sky
13. Thud!
14. Islam, Sectarianism and Politics In Sudan Since The Mahdiyya
15. Jingo
16. Guards! Guards!
17. Trio of Horror: Three Tales From the Holocaust
18. Men at Arms
19. The Wyrd Sisters
20. Lords and Ladies
21. The Truth
I'm wild just like a rock, a stone, a tree
And I'm free, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I flow, just like a brook, a stream, the rain
And I fly, just like a bird up in the sky
And I'll surely die, just like a flower plucked
And dragged away and thrown away
And then one day it turns to clay
It blows away, it finds a ray, it finds its way
And there it lays until the rain and sun
Then I breathe, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I grow, just like a baby breastfeeding
And it's beautiful, that's life
About me: Being your slave, what should I do but tend Upon the hours and times of your desire? I have no precious time at all to spend, Nor services to do, till you require.
Bella Fortuna wrote:1. Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry
2. The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry
3. Good Omens - Gaiman/Pratchett
4. Earth vs. Everybody - John Swartzwelder
5. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
Just finished "WCFL: CHICAGO'S VOICE OF LABOR, 1926-78" by Godfried, Nathan
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. ~ Marx
Do you really think it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations which it requires strength, strength and courage to yield to. ~ Oscar Wilde
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
11. The Science of Fear- Daniel Gardner
12. Unweaving the Rainbow- Richard Dawkins
13. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors- Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
anna09 wrote: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
11. The Science of Fear- Daniel Gardner
12. Unweaving the Rainbow- Richard Dawkins
13. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors- Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
So how do you find # 11? From the Amazon review, it seems to me to be rehashing what I read nearly a decade ago, in "The Gift of Fear"... though if it is more about how the average Citizen reacts to all the Fear Mongering put out on a daily basis by the government and the media, than about how the average person does and should react to stimuli in their own environment.... an interesting side Question would be, How do Men and Women react differently, to potentially Threatening aspects of their day-to-day environment(s)?
anna09 wrote: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
11. The Science of Fear- Daniel Gardner
12. Unweaving the Rainbow- Richard Dawkins
13. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors- Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
So how do you find # 11? From the Amazon review, it seems to me to be rehashing what I read nearly a decade ago, in "The Gift of Fear"... though if it is more about how the average Citizen reacts to all the Fear Mongering put out on a daily basis by the government and the media, than about how the average person does and should react to stimuli in their own environment.... an interesting side Question would be, How do Men and Women react differently, to potentially Threatening aspects of their day-to-day environment(s)?
I actually found it in the clearance section at B&N for $5 so I thought I'd give it a shot. I enjoyed the book but instead of "The Science of Fear" I think "The Economics of Fear" would've been a more appropriate title. The title caught my eye cause I love reading psychology and neuroscience books but he's an economist and a journalist, not a scientist. It was about how the general public's misunderstanding of statistics and scientific studies ultimately feed fear and panic. (So I guess it would be similar to what you had read.) I would still recommend the book though.
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
11. The Science of Fear- Daniel Gardner
12. Unweaving the Rainbow- Richard Dawkins
13. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors- Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
14. Animal Farm- George Orwell
About me: Twoflower is the optimistic-but-naive tourist. He often runs into danger, being certain that nothing bad will happen to him since he is not involved. He also believes in the fundamental goodness of human nature and that all problems can be resolved, if all parties show good will and cooperate.
1. The Secret Holocaust Diaries.
2. I Sold my Soul to Ebay
3. I Shall Wear Midnight
4. Skipping Towards Gomorra.
5. Savage Love: Straight Answers from America's Most Popular Sex Columnist.
6. A Study in Scarlet.
7. The Sign of Four
8. Unionists & Separatists; The Vagaries of Ethio-Eritrean Relation 1941-1991
9. The Jungle Book
10. Unseen Academicals
11. The Fifth Elephant
12. A Hat Full of Sky
13. Thud!
14. Islam, Sectarianism and Politics In Sudan Since The Mahdiyya
15. Jingo
16. Guards! Guards!
17. Trio of Horror: Three Tales From the Holocaust
18. Men at Arms
19. The Wyrd Sisters
20. Lords and Ladies
21. The Truth
22. The Kid; What happened my when my boyfriend and I decided to get pregnant.
I'm wild just like a rock, a stone, a tree
And I'm free, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I flow, just like a brook, a stream, the rain
And I fly, just like a bird up in the sky
And I'll surely die, just like a flower plucked
And dragged away and thrown away
And then one day it turns to clay
It blows away, it finds a ray, it finds its way
And there it lays until the rain and sun
Then I breathe, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I grow, just like a baby breastfeeding
And it's beautiful, that's life
Twoflower wrote:1. The Secret Holocaust Diaries.
2. I Sold my Soul to Ebay
3. I Shall Wear Midnight
4. Skipping Towards Gomorra.
5. Savage Love: Straight Answers from America's Most Popular Sex Columnist.
6. A Study in Scarlet.
7. The Sign of Four
8. Unionists & Separatists; The Vagaries of Ethio-Eritrean Relation 1941-1991
9. The Jungle Book
10. Unseen Academicals
11. The Fifth Elephant
12. A Hat Full of Sky
13. Thud!
14. Islam, Sectarianism and Politics In Sudan Since The Mahdiyya
15. Jingo
16. Guards! Guards!
17. Trio of Horror: Three Tales From the Holocaust
18. Men at Arms
19. The Wyrd Sisters
20. Lords and Ladies
21. The Truth
22. The Kid; What happened my when my boyfriend and I decided to get pregnant.
Is #22 that Dan Savage book? How was it?
The green careening planet
spins blindly in the dark
so close to annihilation.
About me: Twoflower is the optimistic-but-naive tourist. He often runs into danger, being certain that nothing bad will happen to him since he is not involved. He also believes in the fundamental goodness of human nature and that all problems can be resolved, if all parties show good will and cooperate.
Yeah it's the Savage one. I love that book. It is really funny and insightful, I strongly recommend it to everyone.
I'm wild just like a rock, a stone, a tree
And I'm free, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I flow, just like a brook, a stream, the rain
And I fly, just like a bird up in the sky
And I'll surely die, just like a flower plucked
And dragged away and thrown away
And then one day it turns to clay
It blows away, it finds a ray, it finds its way
And there it lays until the rain and sun
Then I breathe, just like the wind the breeze that blows
And I grow, just like a baby breastfeeding
And it's beautiful, that's life
About me: Being your slave, what should I do but tend Upon the hours and times of your desire? I have no precious time at all to spend, Nor services to do, till you require.
Bella Fortuna wrote:1. Moab is My Washpot - Stephen Fry
2. The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry
3. Good Omens - Gaiman/Pratchett
4. Earth vs. Everybody - John Swartzwelder
5. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
6. The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters
7. At Home - Bill Bryson
8. The Man With the Getaway Face - Richard Stark
