Showing posts with label 52bks52wks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 52bks52wks. Show all posts

Saturday, May 05, 2012

Books 11-14, 52bks52wks

11/52: The Long Walk by Rawicz, 2.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Med / Made Me Think: Med

It's a true story about a man's walk from a prison camp in Siberia and back into civilization. And, although I enjoyed it, I would have rather it been written in the style of Life of Pi, for it seemed like some of it might have been written in that style already... or he was just one really lucky man.


Cover of
Cover via Amazon
12/52: The Power of Who! by Beaudine, 3.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Med / Made Me Think: High

I'm never one for anything that looks or smells like a self-help book, but Beaudine does a great job of teaching through telling his stories, which is far from lecturing, and which is how people tend to remember what they have learned. Basically, the book states that you already know everyone you need to know in order to accomplish the things you want to accomplish--reading it gave me a few ideas that I'm going to implement ASAP.

13/52: Tribal Leadership by Logan, King, Fischer-Wright, 3.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Med / Made Me Think: Med

The co-founders in one of my new ventures swear by this as a bible of workplace culture. It took me a few chapters to see what they're talking about, but I'm beginning to look at organizations with the "I, We, World" glasses... and working for the good of the world is definitely the place I want to be.

14/52: The Thank You Economy by Vaynerchuk, 4/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: High

I had to remind myself a few times that this book was just written last year because I feel like I've been doing the things that he mentions for many years... and I have, so the validation of my inherent techniques when it comes to the personal and professional ways I operate was wonderful. If you deal with people everyday, you should read this book, and start treating them like you care, care, care.

READ MORE! (Start with this list of my favorite books!)
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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Books 8-10, 52 Books 52 Weeks

8/52: Ender's Game by Card, 3.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

Great, fun, quick read about a boy who saves the world. Oddly enough, my Dad just told me the other day that he's tired of reading books about children saving the world. In this economy, at least someone is saving the world, right?


9/52: The Unthinkable--Who Survives When Disaster Strikes by Ripley, 3/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

In a nutshell, if ever you find yourself in a diaster... don't just sit there, do something!

10/52: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundera, 2.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Med / Made Me Think: Med

Pulled some memorable quotes from the story, but wasn't too fond of it otherwise:

"We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare if with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come." 
"It is wrong then, to chide the novel for being fascinated by mysterious coincidences, but it is right to chide man for being blind to such coincidences in his daily life. For he thereby deprives his life of a dimension of beauty." 
"Love begins at the point when a woman enters her first word into our poetic memory."

READ MORE! (Start with this list of my favorite books!)
Follow us at the Twitter hashtag #52bks52wks!


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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

went a lil crazy on the library reservations, i guess

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Monday, January 16, 2012

Books 1-7 of 52: 2012's Goal

The Hunger Games
Image via Wikipedia
1/52: The Hunger Games by Collins, 4/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

This book reminds me of a cross between Stephen King's The Running Man and a short story that Richard Bachman (Stephen King) wrote called The Long Walk. I wonder if Collins is/was a Stephen King fan? Anyway, The Hunger Games was a quick ride that I thoroughly enjoyed. Read it in about 24 hours.


2/52: Catching Fire by Collins, 3.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

Not quite as good, for me, as the first book, but loved it when they had to return to the arena. I just want Katniss to speak about her feelings; to air them out and figure them out in the open! You don't have to know before you speak. Good read.

3/52: Mockingjay by Collins, 3.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

Glad that Collins didn't go back to the arena for a 3rd time. Her books would have started to feel like Harry Potter stories with the same template over and over again. Tough ending, especially when you think about how the entire story takes place over the course of 4 years from age 14 to 18, I believe. Another great story and good read.

4/52: Mercury Falls by Kroese, 3/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

Kroese has great wit and I'm not a big fan of religion, so to learn that the gods and angels really have no idea what they're doing aside from battling each other... well, that's good entertainment to me. NOTE: It's not as much fun when our U.S. Congress is doing the same thing.

5/52: Mercury Swings byKroese, 2/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

This is simply a short story between the two novels.

6/52: Mercury Rises by Kroese, 3/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med

Back into the fray with Mercury goes Christine, and it's just as fun as it was the first time around with several of the same heavenly characters. Fun read.

7/52: We Are All Weird by Godin, 3/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Med / Made Me Think: Med

Truth, as usual, from Seth Godin. I do believe what he says in this book, which is basically about dis-aggregation. More flavors. More colors. More choices. We're all weird because we can all have the weird things that we want, or build the weird things that others want. The masses are done. The more I read, the more I thought, "If you really wanna know what I'm made of, then this would be a good book for you to read." Since I can remember, people have called me weird or crazy (in a good way), because my mind just kinda works differently than most.
"The new normal (the weird) is also the new moral.” 
“The fact is, some days I don’t care about marketing. I don’t care so much about whether or not Nike sells another sneaker or Marlboro sells another cigarette. What I care a great deal about, through, is each human’s ability to express her art, to develop into the person she is able to become. I care about the connections between people and our ability to challenge and support each other as we create our own versions of art. And I care about freedom, the ability to express yourself until it impinges on someone else’s happiness.”


READ MORE! (Start with this list of my favorite books!)
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My Favorite Books

The following is a list of my favorite books. I'll keep it up to date as I add new ones or reread the old ones. Enjoy!


(Click here to see what I've recently read.)


5.0 STARS


4.5 STARS


4.0 STARS
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Saturday, November 05, 2011

64/64 Goal Complete!

Cover of Cover of The Sparrow64/64: The Sparrow by Russell, 1/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Low / Made Me Think: Low

Just couldn't get into this book... took me a couple of weeks to read it, which is not a rate that would have allowed me to reach this goal. So, I suppose I ended on a whimper--damn, a 3-in-a-row whimper. However, I have a couple of enjoyable books on my Kindle that I'm reading in the gym, so you just might see another entry or two on this year's list.




63/64: Fast Food Nation by Schlosser, 1/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Low / Made Me Think: Low

I read this book purely to attend a book discussion group at the local university. It had some interesting points, but it was written a decade ago which made much of the employment context historical (especially given today's economy).

READ MORE!

Book #36 = The Dead Town by Koontz, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #35 = Lost Souls by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #34 = Dead and Alive by Koontz, 2/5 Stars
Book #33 = City of Night by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #30 = The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #29 = The Fisher King by LaGravenese, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #28 = The Passage by Justin Cronin, 2/5 Stars
Book #27 = I Hope They Have Beer in Hell by Tucker Max, 0/5 Stars
Book #26 = Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, 3/5 Stars
Book #25 = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #24 = Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Rowling, 4/5 Stars
Book #22 = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling, 2/5 Stars
Book #21 = Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #20 = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #19 = Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = For an Architecture of Reality by Michael Benedikt, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #16 = Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, 5/5 Stars
Book #14 = This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, 4/5 Stars
Book #13 = After Dark by Haruki Murakami, 1.5/5 Stars
Book #12 = Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster, 1/5 Stars
Book #10 = American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #08 = The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, 3/5 Stars
Book #07 = The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #06 = What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = Existentialism by Steven Earnshaw, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, 1/5 Stars
Book #03 = The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani, 2/5 Stars
Book #01 = Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, 3/5 Stars

See 2010's list of 40 books.
See 2009's list of 53 books.

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Monday, October 24, 2011

62/64: Aleph by Coelho

62/64: Aleph by Coelho, 1/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Low / Made Me Think: Low

Paulo CoelhoImage via WikipediaI don't think I've enjoyed a Coelho book since The Alchemist, which inspired me to tell my own story... and to correct what I believe to be the real power of the elements in our lives. I suppose I can also give some love to Brida as an entertaining read. Reading Aleph, I constantly felt bombarded by the seemingly pompous nature of the author; as much as he is a "believer" in the religious and spiritual mysteries of the world, he sure negates them a lot. Perhaps he gets bombarded by every person in the world who feels a connection, but dude... you wrote the popular fucking books about it, accept the role that you've been given and stop being such as ass.

I did love this passage you wrote, however:
“I love you because all the loves in the world are like different rivers flowing into the same lake, where they meet and are transformed into a single love that becomes rain and blesses the earth.”
2 BOOKS TO GO!

Book #36 = The Dead Town by Koontz, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #35 = Lost Souls by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #34 = Dead and Alive by Koontz, 2/5 Stars
Book #33 = City of Night by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #30 = The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #29 = The Fisher King by LaGravenese, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #28 = The Passage by Justin Cronin, 2/5 Stars
Book #27 = I Hope They Have Beer in Hell by Tucker Max, 0/5 Stars
Book #26 = Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, 3/5 Stars
Book #25 = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #24 = Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Rowling, 4/5 Stars
Book #22 = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling, 2/5 Stars
Book #21 = Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #20 = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #19 = Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = For an Architecture of Reality by Michael Benedikt, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #16 = Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, 5/5 Stars
Book #14 = This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, 4/5 Stars
Book #13 = After Dark by Haruki Murakami, 1.5/5 Stars
Book #12 = Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster, 1/5 Stars
Book #10 = American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #08 = The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, 3/5 Stars
Book #07 = The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #06 = What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = Existentialism by Steven Earnshaw, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, 1/5 Stars
Book #03 = The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani, 2/5 Stars
Book #01 = Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, 3/5 Stars

See 2010's list of 40 books.
See 2009's list of 53 books.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Books 60 & 61 of 2011's goal of 64

61/64: The Havana Room by Harrison, 3/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Med / Made Me Think: Low

Harrison is probably one of the most detailed writers that I read. I can see where his vocabulary and attention to detail could ward off those that typically read authors that write at the 6th-grade level (like Grisham or Patterson). Over the years I tended more toward Koontz than King because his vocabulary was much more enjoyable. For those that don't know, most of what we read each day--the stuff like advertising that's posed to the masses--should be written at an 8th-grade reading level: the average reading level of the U.S. Okay, enough about writing stuff, this book was a fun ride, though I did see what was coming fairly early on, but still, it was a good way to kill an afternoon or two.
60/64: The Book of Joe by Tropper, 3/5 Stars
Entertained Me: Med / Made Me Think: Med

Best thing I liked about this book: the protagonist (if you could call him that) was a writer. Three cheers, three beers and a heartfelt poem of love for the writer! (Sorry.) Unfortunately, he was also an asshole. I enjoyed the tale because I enjoy Tropper's style, but it definitely was not on the order of Everything Changes, my favorite of his books.

3 BOOKS TO GO!

Book #36 = The Dead Town by Koontz, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #35 = Lost Souls by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #34 = Dead and Alive by Koontz, 2/5 Stars
Book #33 = City of Night by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #30 = The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #29 = The Fisher King by LaGravenese, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #28 = The Passage by Justin Cronin, 2/5 Stars
Book #27 = I Hope They Have Beer in Hell by Tucker Max, 0/5 Stars
Book #26 = Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, 3/5 Stars
Book #25 = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #24 = Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Rowling, 4/5 Stars
Book #22 = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling, 2/5 Stars
Book #21 = Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #20 = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #19 = Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = For an Architecture of Reality by Michael Benedikt, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #16 = Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, 5/5 Stars
Book #14 = This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, 4/5 Stars
Book #13 = After Dark by Haruki Murakami, 1.5/5 Stars
Book #12 = Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster, 1/5 Stars
Book #10 = American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #08 = The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, 3/5 Stars
Book #07 = The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #06 = What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = Existentialism by Steven Earnshaw, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, 1/5 Stars
Book #03 = The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani, 2/5 Stars
Book #01 = Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, 3/5 Stars

See 2010's list of 40 books.
See 2009's list of 53 books.
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Thursday, October 06, 2011

59/64: The Summerhouse

59/64: The Summerhouse by Deveraux, 3.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: Med


On the recommendation of a great friend and fellow avid reader, I picked up The Summerhouse at the library. A different friend saw it on my nightstand and said, "Isn't she a romance writer?" I had no idea, so I said so, then remembered when my roommate's girlfriend gave him crap when she saw Sex & the City 2 on the DVR. "It's Bob," he said, "and his research." Yes, research. I write about love, so I like to see how others tell their stories.

I really enjoyed this book aside from a few chapters here and there that were too sappy for my taste. Why did I like it? Probably because it was a nice mix of reality and fantasy, which is what we bounce between when we think of love anyway.

5 BOOKS TO GO!


Book #36 = The Dead Town by Koontz, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #35 = Lost Souls by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #34 = Dead and Alive by Koontz, 2/5 Stars
Book #33 = City of Night by Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #30 = The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #29 = The Fisher King by LaGravenese, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #28 = The Passage by Justin Cronin, 2/5 Stars
Book #27 = I Hope They Have Beer in Hell by Tucker Max, 0/5 Stars
Book #26 = Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, 3/5 Stars
Book #25 = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #24 = Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Rowling, 4/5 Stars
Book #22 = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling, 2/5 Stars
Book #21 = Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #20 = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #19 = Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = For an Architecture of Reality by Michael Benedikt, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #16 = Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, 5/5 Stars
Book #14 = This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, 4/5 Stars
Book #13 = After Dark by Haruki Murakami, 1.5/5 Stars
Book #12 = Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster, 1/5 Stars
Book #10 = American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #08 = The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, 3/5 Stars
Book #07 = The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #06 = What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = Existentialism by Steven Earnshaw, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, 1/5 Stars
Book #03 = The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani, 2/5 Stars
Book #01 = Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, 3/5 Stars

See 2010's list of 40 books.
See 2009's list of 53 books.
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