Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Title: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Author: Hunter S. Thompson

Pages: 14 discs

Genre: Politics

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was the political reporter for Rolling Stone Magazine during the 1972 presidential election.  I believe that this book is a collection of articles about the campaign that were published in the magazine as well as Thompson's other musings on the campaigns. The book starts long before the democratic nomination has been locked up, starting with the primaries in New Hampshire, Iowa and other states, then on through the Democratic National Convention in Miami and onto the general election.  Richard Nixon as the incumbent President had the Republican nomination locked up, but based on what was happening in Viet Nam and back home with Watergate he should have been very beatable if the democrats had been able to settle on a strong candidate who they all supported.

My Review:  Although this election took place nearly a decade before my birth, I really enjoyed this book about it and learned far more than I ever needed to know about George McGovern, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, Edmund Muskie and others. There were a lot of mistakes made by the candidates and the Democratic Party that essentially gave the election away to Nixon (who ended up winning with more than 60% of the popular vote for a huge victory).

Disclaimer: This book is chock full of foul language on nearly every page.  Thompson is known for his language and glorification of drug use and there is plenty of both.

Moonwalking with Einstein

Title: Moonwalking with Einstein

Author: Joshua Foer

Pages: 8 discs?

Genre: Non-Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Joshua Foer has been a reporter for Slate Magazine and others covering the World Memory Championships for a few years, when he gets the idea that with some focused training he could compete at the US and World Memory Championships. Throughout the book as he documents his training regiment, he also explores the history of memory, what has been done in the past to help improve memory and other related topics.

My Review: This book is in the same vein as The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically, both by A.J. Jacobs. My memory is absolutely terrible, and while the book focused on what it takes to become a memory champion, I didn't find a while lot of tips that would be helpful for remembering things and occurrences from everyday life.  Memory champions focus on memorizing decks of cards, strings of random numbers and similar things.  Not the type of things that I encounter in a typical day.

Mother

Title: Mother

Author: Maxim Gorky

Pages: 389

Genre: Russian Classic, Socialist Realism

Grade: B

Synopsis: This book was published in Russia in 1906, ushering in the era of socialist realism and pushing the citizens of Russia towards the Russian Revolution.  Pavel is a disenchanted factory worker who is working hard to publish and distribute literature against the bourgeois class. After many secret meetings held late into the night in her house, she begins to gain passion in her son's cause although she doesn't understand everything about it. She begins secretly helping the cause whenever she can.

My Review:  This is a famous Revolutionary book in Russia (in fact, the famous Gorky Park in Moscow is named after the author).  I would compare it to an Uncle Tom's Cabin or Common Sense type publication here in the states that ushered in revolutions of their own.

From the Book: "(p. 125) Life flowed on swiftly. The days were diversified and full of color. Each one brought with it something new, and the new ceased to alarm the mother. Strangers came to the house in the evening more and more frequently, and they talked with Andrey in subdued voices with an engrossed air. Late at night they went out into the darkness, their collars up, their hats thrust low over their faces, noiselessly, cautiously.  All seemed to feel a feverish excitement, which they kept under restraint, and had the air of wanting to sing and laugh if they only had the time. They were all in a perpetual hurry. All of them--the mocking and the serious, the frank, jovial youth with effervescing strength, the thoughtful and quiet--all of them in the eyes of the mother were identical in the persistent faith that characterized them; and although each had his own peculiar cast of countenance, for her all their faces blended into one thin, composed, resolute face with a profound expression in its dark eyes, kind yet stern, like the look in Christ's eyes on his way to Emmaus."

"(p. 332) Family life always diminishes the energy of a revolutionist. Children must be maintained in security ,and there's the need to work a great deal for one's break. The revolutionist ought without cease to develop every iota of his energy; he must deepen and broaden it; but this demands time. He must always be at the head, because we--the workingmen--are called by the logic of history to destroy the old world, to create the new life; and if we stop, if we yield to exhaustion, or are attracted by the possibility of a little immediate conquest, it's bad--it's almost treachery to the cause. No revolutionist can adhere closely to an individual--walk thorough life side by side with another individual--without distorting his faith; and we must never forget that our aim is not little conquests, but only complete victory!"

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Title: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millenium #3)

Author: Stieg Larsson

Pages: 576

Genre: Thriller

Grade: A

Synopsis: This book picks up where the last one (The Girl Who Played With Fire) left off .  Lisbeth Salander is recovering from gunshot wounds to the head and shoulder in a hospital.  The police are keeping a close eye on her as they're expecting to charge her with the murder of three individuals.  Mikael Blomkvist is still convinced of Lisbeth's innocence and has put his heart and soul into proving her innocence and uncovering the story behind it.

My Review: After spending 9 or 10 weeks reading The Infinite Atonement, I was looking for a book that would be a quick read and hard to put down.  This one certainly fit the bill.  Just as with the previous two books, this one is well-written and full of unexpected twists and turns.

Disclaimer: There is a lot of language, violence and discussions that are sexual in nature.  This is certainly not a book for children.

Made to Stick

Title: Made to Stick

Author(s): Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Pages: 6 discs?

Genre: Non-Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Urban legends are memorable and often times believable simply because they are so oft-repeated.  This book explores why some ideas are easily memorable, while other ideas (often the ideas that we are trying to convey) are so easily forgotten.  Some ideas are more inherently sticky, while other ideas lack the qualities that make other ideas sticky.

My Review: This was a pretty interesting book.  In general, my job does not hinge on making my ideas stick.  Having good ideas is important, but in my current role I am not often teaching others or trying to convince them that my way is the best way, so while I found the book enlightening, I didn't pull a lot out of the book for me to use in my daily work.

The Infinite Atonement

Title: The Infinite Atonement

Author: Tad R. Callister

Pages: 356

Genre: Religion

Grade: B

Synopsis: The Infinite Atonement is obviously all about Christ's atonement.  The book explores the atonement from all sides, including why it was necessary and important, why only Jesus Christ could provide this sacrifice and why the atonement is infinite, eternal and all-encompassing.

My Review: This book certainly helped me understand the atonement better.  However, I found it to be more of a chore to pick up.  It's certainly not a page-turner and it took me more than 2 months to read (not typical for me). I think that I would have enjoyed the book more had I actually studied it and followed the numerous scriptural references in the book.  While I'm not giving the book high praise at the moment, I do plan on studying this book some future day.

The Count of Monte Cristo

Title: The Count of Monte Cristo

Author: Alexandre Dumas

Pages: 35 dics

Genre: Classic, Fiction

Grade: A

Synopsis: Edmond Dantes is betrayed by his friends and falsely accused of trying to help Napoleon escape from Elba.  He is arrested and sent to prison by an unjust judge where he spends many years confined alone in a dungeon of the prison.  After many years he escapes and find a fortune which he believes God has provided to allow him to extract revenge upon those who have wronged him.

My Review: I was a little nervous getting into the book.  I wasn't interested in reading a book with long unnecessary tangents (ala Les Miserables).  This book was published in the same time period and was absolutely fantastic.  Sometimes you read a classic and think to yourself, "How in the world is this book considered a classic?" (Obviously because of English teachers who are out to get the students).  Other times, after reading a book, it is obvious why it has stood the test of time. This is one of the latter.  A fantastic book!

Slaughterhouse Five

Title: Slaughterhouse-Five

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

Pages: 215

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Billy Pilgrim is a time traveler, who was abducted by aliens and forced to live on exhibit in an alien zoo.  Throughout the book there are flashbacks of Billy's time as a soldier in World War II.  The aliens who have abducted Billy Pilgrim do not experience time in a linear fashion as we do, and the book is written along these lines.

My Review: There are lots of well-known books that you hear about and wonder what they're about.  I knew very little aside from the title of this book and found the story and content to be a complete surprise.  It wasn't a bad book, in fact I quite enjoyed it.  It was just a little bit on the strange side, but what else is expected from Kurt Vonnegut? And so it goes.

On the Road

Title: On the Road

Author: Jack Kerouac

Pages: 9 discs

Genre: Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: This novel takes place in post-war America, in the late 1940's and early 1950's.  It is the story of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty who crisscross the country hitchhiking, in borrowed cars, on buses or in less-than-legally obtained cars of their own. They go from New York to San Francisco, Los Angeles to Chicago, Virginia to Colorado and New York to Mexico, among other trips.  All along their way them make friends, meet up with old friends and pick up the ladies.

My Review: This book is known as one of the most popular books of the beat generation or similarly, a quintessential American novel.  I didn't really know what to expect when I picked it up (it had been on my list of books to read for probably 6 or 7 years), but I really enjoyed it. It's a bit like a travelogue, but most enjoyable was Kerouac's prose and descriptions. I found that I could really lose myself in the story.

A Confederacy of Dunces

Title: A Confederacy of Dunces

Author: John Kennedy Toole

Pages: 13 discs

Genre: Humor, Fiction

Grade: A

Synopsis: This book is a Picaresque novel (I had no idea what that was) that was published 11 years after the author's suicide.  The protagonist is Ignatius J. Reilly, an overweight, eccentric, clever and lazy 30-year-old man who lives with his mother Irene Reilly who is an alcoholic that has coddled Ignatius for years.  After an accident where Irene damages a building with her car, Ignatius is forced to get a job, first at Levy pants, then as a hot dog vendor in New Orleans, where he lived.

My Review: This book was awarded the 1981 Pulitzer Prize and a statue of Ignatius J. Reilly stands in the French Quarter in New Orleans.  It took me a while to get into this book, but once I had a feel for the author's style of humor, then I really, really started enjoying it.  The book is a bit irreverent and frankly quite hilarious at parts.

Disclaimer: There is some swearing, and discussions that are sexual in nature, although not vulgar.  As wikipedia puts it: "his masturbatory fantasies lead in strange directions. His mockery of obscene images is portrayed as a defensive posture to hide their titillating effect on him."

Quotes:
"I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip."
--Ignatius J. Reilly

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Title: For Whom the Bell Tolls

Author: Ernest Hemingway

Pages: 16 discs

Genre: Classic

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Robert Jordan is an American in the International Brigades and is in the mountains of Spain working with an antifascist guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930's. Robert Jordan is an explosives technician and needs to put together a team of guerrilla fighters that he can trust to help him blow up a critical bridge at the start of a battle. While entrenched in the mountains, Jordan falls in love with the beautiful Maria, a young Spanish girl.

My Review: I love to be pleasantly surprised by a classic novel that I end up really enjoying. I love Hemingway's honest writing that seems to expose the characters. In this book, I really liked the Spanish phrases interspersed with the English writing, even though I don't speak Spanish.  It helped to remind me about where this book what set.

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Title: The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium #2)

Author: Stieg Larsson

Pages: 630

Genre: Thriller

Grade: A

Synopsis: Mikael Blomkvist, the publisher of the Swedish magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story about sex trafficking in Sweden and through the Baltics which will expose a number of high-profile individuals involved. Just before the story and an accompanying book are to be published the two reporters writing the stories are murdered in their apartment. The murder weapon is found in the building with Lisbeth Salander's fingerprints on it, who is Blomkvist's genius hacker friend. Blomkvist embarks on a journey to try and prove Salander's innocence.

My Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was certainly one that I couldn't put down or get out of my mind while I was reading it. Larsson's books are typically more complicated and deeper than many other books in this same genre, which I find to be quite satisfying.

Disclaimer: There is a lot of hard language and violence in this book. Not really and sex, but it is referred to often.

Blackmoore

Title: Blackmoore

Author: Julianne Donaldson

Pages: 320

Genre: Romance

Grade: A-

Synopsis: Kate Worthington has told her closest friends for years that she will never marry. Her best friend Henry Delafield is a very eligible bachelor, but he has his sights set on somebody else, of whom his mother approves.  Kate's mother is pushing her to accept a marriage proposal that she has helped to obtain, but Kate consistently refuses.  When Kate asks her mother if she can visit Blackmoore, a large estate on the edge of the moors, they strike a deal where Kate must obtain and reject three marriage proposals from the  men at Blackmoore or else she will be bound to follow her mother's wishes.

My Review: I really enjoyed this book.  I found myself sitting in my car a little longer when I arrived at my destination and looking forward to my drives in the anticipation of the book.  There were parts that were funny, sad and frustrating and I enjoyed the picture the book painted in my mind.

The Dark Frigate

Title: The Dark Frigate

Author: Charles Boardman Hawes

Pages: 246

Genre: Historical Fiction, Newbery Medal

Grade: C

Synopsis: A terrible accident in a pub forces young Philip Marsham to run away afraid for his life. More than anything he wants to be on the sea, and ends up signing on with the Rose of Devon, a dark frigate sailing for Newfoundland. After a terrible storm, the Rose of Devon is "Captured by a band of murderous pirates!" as the cover suggests.

My Review: A few things stood out to me about this book. It is an early Newbery Award Medal winner, but I have a hard time believing that children in the 1920's were able to understand this book. It is written in seventeenth century sailor's English and the book was quite difficult for me to understand, which made it a challenge for me to make it through. Of the Newbery Award winners that I've read so far, this one is at the bottom.

Getting Things Done

Title: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Author: David Allen

Pages: 6 discs?

Genre: Self-help

Grade: C+

Synopsis: This book is a productivity manual, with instructions and ideas of ways to help increase your productivity.  Setting goals, email strategies, prioritizing are all topics that are addressed.

My Review: I've heard so much about this book over the years (it was published in 2002), that I was excited to read this book.  However, it didn't really sit well with me for a few reasons: I didn't feel like many of the ideas would work or be beneficial in my situation, The book is outdated. The email organization strategies were great circa 2002, but a lot has changed since then. The author actually read the audiobook version that I listened to and I felt that he often came across as condescending. I'm not sure if it was because of his tone, or the tone of the book, or if I'm just too hard-headed to put my heart into his suggestions.  Either way, I was disappointed with this one.