2010 Reading Log, 3rd Edition

[Tiger]

gmroz............thanks for your list of 3 top books.......have read Outliers and will certainly look into your other 2 choices.

Just finished "The Quickie" by James Patterson, and I have to agree with Kosar...............not sure why Patterson is held in such high regard in the thriller genre. The plot itself was actually pretty good, but his writing style.............such a 2 page chapters!.......was not for me.
I'll grudgingly give it a 3.5/5 and probably won't be trying another Patterson for while.


Have now started "The Bodies Left Behind" by Jeffery Deaver, and have totally enjoyed the first 100 pages. He is the author of "The Bone Collector" which was made into the movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.

 

[Tiger]

Finished "The Bodies Left Behind" by Jeffery Deaver last night. A small town cop attends a 911 call at a deserted cottage, and finds herself fleeing into the vast forests of Wisconsin to escape the bad guys.

It was a little long winded in the middle as the cop tried to lose them in the woods, but overall a good story with a nice twist at the end. Will most definitely read Deaver again soon.

Give it a 4/5

Next on my list......................."Just One Look" by my favourite, Harlan Coben.

Also picked up these others on the weekend.........

"Gone For Good" by Coben
"Altar of Eden" by James Rollins
"Six Seconds" by Rick Mofina

 

[dunclock]

I have read EVERY book by Harlan Coben:00hour

working on the latest by Tim Dorsey, another Florida writer in the Carl Hiaason mold, very funny crime fiction

another recommended series for all you degenerate gamblers is by James Swain...he is a consultant in the poker industry hired by casinos to catch cheats and all his books are fiction with the main character catching poker cheats and very entertaining

 

[c20916]

gmroz............thanks for your list of 3 top books.......have read Outliers and will certainly look into your other 2 choices.

Just finished "The Quickie" by James Patterson, and I have to agree with Kosar...............not sure why Patterson is held in such high regard in the thriller genre. The plot itself was actually pretty good, but his writing style.............such a 2 page chapters!.......was not for me.
I'll grudgingly give it a 3.5/5 and probably won't be trying another Patterson for while.


Have now started "The Bodies Left Behind" by Jeffery Deaver, and have totally enjoyed the first 100 pages. He is the author of "The Bone Collector" which was made into the movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.

If you've read one Patterson book you've read them all. While I have read quite a few of his, it seems all his plots are very similar. Someone is killed and then story goes along with the mindset that one person is the killer, and then there is mention of one character in the middle of the story and that's it until the end when you find out it was that person who did the killing and not the person you thought it would be all along.

 

[dunclock]

I have read all of Pattersons too, but I still like em:shrug:

 

[Tiger]

Great Super Bowl on Sunday..............didn't have any financial interest in the game.........just a great game to watch.

Time to update my book log in here...........have read 4 books since last clocking in...................again all in the action/thriller genre.

1) "Just One Look" by Harlan Coben. A wife picks up her family photos at the corner store, and there is one very old photo that appears to have her husband in it with 4 other people. She asks him about it, he denies it, but the next morning he is gone. It's typical Coben urban whodunnit, but he's my favourite, so I liked it.

4/5



2) "Terminal Freeze" by Lincoln Child. A scientific research team in Alaska discovers a prehistoric creature frozen in the ice. Against the wishes of the natives, they cut it out, thaw it, and well, all hell breaks loose.
This one wasn't really up my alley, but if you like science fiction, you may want to try it.

2/5




3) "Bad Move" by Linwood Barclay. I had a hard time finding the initial work by this Canadian author, but am glad I finally did locate it. A man moves his family to the suburbs to try and get away from the inner city blight of drugs, prostitution, etc, but soon finds out that "Life in the Suburbs can be Murder". Barclay mixes crime drama and humor perfectly, and kept me guessing to the last page.

4/5




4) "Heartsick" by Chelsea Cain. WOW !!
An author and series I have been wanting to get into for a while now, and I was not disappointed. A little bit of Silence of the Lambs, with some Stockholm syndrome mixed in. Highly recommended. And she has 2 more in this series that I'll be putting into my reading rotation.

4.5/5




Next up is "Gone For Good" by Harlan Coben, and waiting on my book shelf is........

"Six Seconds" by Rick Mofina
"Altar Of Eden" by James Rollins
"The Sleeping Doll" by Jeffery Deaver
"The Last Goodbye" by Reed Arvin
"Invisible Prey" by John Sandford


Two more authors I am looking at adding are Jonathan Kellerman and Brian Freeman. Anyone out there familiar with their work, and recommend a thumbs up or down?

 

[JT]

Just finished Antony Beever's 'D-Day. The Battle For Normandy.' I would give it 5/5. 523 pages. The way he described Omaha made it as harrowing a read as watching 'Saving Private Ryan'.
Making my way thru 'The Next 100 Years' by George Friedman. He founded the intelligence service STRATFOR. A geopolitcal book forecasting the next 100 years. Interesting stuff.
Next on the plate, 'The Death of Conservatism' by Sam Tanenhaus. Happy reading. :dizzy:

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

3rd Book Completed.

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman

5/5 Stars

This guys has become my favorite author. Everyone should read his chapter titled "All I Know is What I Read in the Papers". Great read.

 

[ga_ben]

Reading "One Second After" by William Forstchen and man what a good chilling read.

 

[The Joker]

Currently reading

 

[dawgball]

REWORK- very simple to read book but challenges old school business dogma. Written by the co-founders of 37signals. This book is on par with 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris

4 out of 5 (due to short length; well worth the read)

Three Feet From Gold - this is a spin-off book from Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill. Pass on this book. It's a fluff piece, and you would be much better off spending your time re-reading Think and Grow Rich. One of the greatest books ever written.

1 out of 5

Business Model Generation - simply put, if you are planning on starting a company or tasked with building out a new market for an existing company this book will be invaluable to you. Go get it. It's a fun read if you are geeky about all things business like I happen to be.

5 out of 5

Getting to Plan B - another great reference for business owners or those who are considering starting a business. Basic premise is that your original concept of your business is more than likely not the best one. Utilize the information/feedback from your customers or those who want to be your customers to adjust your business model.

4 out of 5

Jeffrey Gitomer's Collection - if sales is your game, then you probably already know about Gitomer. He's the man.

Little Red Book of Selling and The Sales Bible are cult classics in the sales world.

I'm most intrigued by The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude

4 out of 5 if this is your bag

Crush It! by Gary Vee -- decent book, but if you are already using social media for your business you are not going to learn much. Some good nuggets. If you are wondering how to get started with social media for your business, this is not a bad place to start. From what I have heard, the audio book for this is way better due to his personality.

3 out of 5

Next up:
The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale - comes highly recommended and I'm kind of surprised I had never heard of it.

Four Steps to the Epiphany by Gary Blank -- another one that is probably only for the business geeks. Supposedly, this book is amazing. Looking forward to it arriving!!

 

[The Joker]

Crush It! by Gary Vee -- decent book, but if you are already using social media for your business you are not going to learn much. Some good nuggets. If you are wondering how to get started with social media for your business, this is not a bad place to start. From what I have heard, the audio book for this is way better due to his personality.

3 out of 5

This dude is pretty cool. Love his show. I like the fact that he doesn't give a shit - he is who he is. Have read a few chapters of his book - missed his book signing last October.......

 

[dawgball]

This dude is pretty cool. Love his show. I like the fact that he doesn't give a shit - he is who he is. Have read a few chapters of his book - missed his book signing last October.......

I hear that he goes off-script quite a few times on the audio book. I will probably pick it up once it's a little older and on the cheap.

 

[Tiger]

Time to update my log in here again.............since last checking in, have read the following:

.........3 more Harlan Coben's

1)"Gone for Good"........A guys older brother is accused of murdering the next door neighbour teenage girl and he runs. 8 years later, he shows up again.
3.5/5

2) "The Innocent".......IMO, Coben's weakest effort.
It never grabbed me at all.
2/5

3)"Deal Breaker"..............His very first novel, and it was quite different from his later material. Very funny at times, but with murder and mayhem always right around the corner.
3.5/5


.....................2 more Linwood Barclays:

1)"Bad Guys"..............His second novel from many years ago, followed up his premiere "Bad Move". It kept his hero "Zach Walker" going, but was definitely weaker than his first.
3/5

2)"Never Look Away"..............Just came out the first week of March and is his strongest novel yet.
Young husband and wife take their 5 year old to the county fair, where one of them goes missing. What they find when searching is quite disturbing.
5/5


Also...............

"Sweetheart" by Chelsea Cain.
The second in her series of detective Archie Sheridan. Not as strong as her first book "Heartsick", but the bar was set pretty high with that one. Still have one more to go to catch up....."Evil at Heart"...........in this series.
3.5/5


"Six Seconds" by Rick Mofina.
A vet returns from Iraq, but he doesn't come back to his family the same man that left.
Terrorism woven into the plot a little too thick for my liking.
2.5/5

"The Sleeping Doll" by Jeffery Deaver.
I am fast becoming a big fan of Deaver. His plots are intricate and detailed. In this one, a cult leader escapes from jail, and Deaver keeps you guessing the entire book exactly what it is he is up to.
4/5

"The Watcher" by Brian Freeman.
Creepy !
30 year old unsolved murder with a baseball bat.
A peeping tom.
A drifter who disappeared the night of the murder.
A crooked cop.
Serious twists and turns.
Liked it a lot.
4.5/5

"The Poet" by Michael Connelly.
Another "disturbing" novel. It was a little long winded in the beginning as he set the table, but the second half of the book was great, and left me wanting more.
4/5


Next up is Harlan Coben's brand new one just out today, "Caught" and on the book shelf is:

"Stone Rain" by Linwood Barclay
"Drop Shot" and "Deal Breaker" by Coben (very early works)
"The Scarecrow" by Michael Connelly
"Bones" by Jonathon Kellerman
"Roadside Crosses" by Jeffery Deaver

Happy reading..................

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

Finally finished book #4. 630 pages, blecht.

The Charm School by Nelson Demille

3.5 / 5

Entertaining read. BleedDodgerBlue recommended this author last year so I thought I would give it a shot. I am not crazy about it, but I can't say anything bad about it.

 

[safrank99]

Currently in the middle of:


People's History of The United States
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey
Think and Grow Rich by Hill

And I'm looking to add a fiction book to the group as well

 

[ga_ben]

Finally finished book #4. 630 pages, blecht.

The Charm School by Nelson Demille

3.5 / 5

Entertaining read. BleedDodgerBlue recommended this author last year so I thought I would give it a shot. I am not crazy about it, but I can't say anything bad about it.

Gary, Demille is one of my favorites. Gold Coast is another good read as is the sequel, The Gate House.

 

[EXTRAPOLATER]

cool thread

People's History...RIP Howard Zinn.

Mostly non-fiction here, lately.
Somehow survived Bertrand Russell's Problems of Philosophy (not recommended).
Much better was John Ralston Saul's Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West.

Got 4 going presently, depending on mood:
Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges. Not too bad and easy reading. Nothing overly illuminating.

The Truth About Canada by Mel Hurtig. Ideal for any Canadian who remains exclusively pissed at the United States. Very well documented.

Twilight of the Idols by Nietzsche. Used to love him...got turned off...trying once again but his prose can be a motherf. Likely much lost in the translation.

Quantum Philosophy by Roland Omnes. Way more accessible than his others on physics, what with my swing-and-a-miss at calculus a few hundred years ago.

If you like short stories, the last fiction work I read was a collection entitled You've Got to Read This. Stupid title, perhaps, but there was some great stuff in there.

BTW, some good, older stuff available for download at archive.org. Search under texts.

 

[Tiger]

I am on vacation so was able to finish up Harlan Coben's new book "Caught" in just a couple of days.

Quite a bit darker than most of his. Revolves around a missing teenage girl.........guilt, grief, molestation, forgiveness, and family above all else.

4/5


The New York Times reviewed both this book, and Linwood Barclays latest "Never Look Away" in todays edition.

www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html



Have now started "Roadside Crosses" by Jeffery Deaver.

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

Book #5 Completed.

Just finished this one last night. I find that books by comedians are usually AWFUL, but this one was great!

3.5 out of 5 Stars.