Books Read: 2011

[saturnfan]

1. Disquisition of Government - John C. Calhoun
2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
3. Breaking the Backcountry: Seven Year's War in Virgina and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765 -Matthew C. Ward
4. Christianity in Latin America: A History - Ondina and Justo Gonzalez
5. The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America - Walter R. Borneman
6. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570
7. John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union - John Niven
8. Hall of Mirrors - Laura A. Lewis
9. Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ - Carolyn Dean (half read)
10. Texas Revolution - William C. Binkley
11. Wild Yankees - Paul B. Moyer
12. Fries's Rebellion: The Enduring Struggle for the American Revolution - Paul Douglas Newman
13. Taming Democracy - Terry Bouton
14. Dimity Convictions - Barbara Welter
15. The Faces of the Gods - Leslie G. Desmangles
16. The Presidency of James K. Polk - Paul H. Bergeron
17. Colonization After Emancipation: Lincoln and the Movement for Black Resettlement - Phillip W. Magness and Sebastian N. Page
18. Freedom Under Siege - Ron Paul (New)

I remain optimistic that Ron Paul can somehow win the Republican nomination, so I decided to read one of his books. This is one of his earlier books, printed in 1988, and is fairly easy to read. Paul is incredibly consistent for a politician, as everything he is talking about today, he has advocated for his entire political career, and this book is evidence of that. In the book he discusses his normal talking points: the Fed, gold, inflation, debt, interventionism, limited government, etc. It is just interesting to me that his rhetoric is completely unchanged and it felt like I reading a book about today's political climate, and not one of the 1980's. Several of the things he warns about in the book are starting to come true and people should have taken him more seriously then (and now while we at it).

As for the merits of the book, I felt several of his points could have been better developed, although I am sure his later books are more detailed.

Anyone can read the book at this link: http://mises.org/books/freedomsiege.pdf

[Ack]

B is for Bad Poetry, by Pamela August Russell
The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction, Edited by Isaac Asimov
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen King
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein
Kull, Exile of Atlantis, by Robert E. Howard
The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty
The Great Train Robbery, by Michael Crichton
Von Ryan's Express, by David Westheimer
Sphere, by Michael Crichton
The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
Hondo, by Louis L'Amour
The Prince, by Niccolò Machiavelli
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam, by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore (Ret.)
Mao Tse-Tung and China, by C.P. FitzGerald
Farmer in the Sky, by Robert A. Heinlein
In Gallant Company, by Alexander Kent

TOTAL: 16

Well, I read two more. Farmer in the Sky was originally a serial Heinlein had put together for the magazine Boy's Life, but was later condensed into a nice little novel. It focuses on a boy named Bill who becomes a farmer on Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons. The book proves to be an entertaining adventure tale of a boy facing a new frontier and the hardships he must endure while taming it, though Heinlein also managed to mix in a little commentary about resource-based wars and parenting.

In Gallant Company was a very different book, taking a piece from the life of Richard Bolitho, a fictional British sailor who fought in the wars against the United States, France, and the Napoleonic Wars. I'm not very adept at boating terms, so there were places where the action lost me during descriptions of battles and the like, but I feel I managed to follow the book ok. I liked it more than I expected to.

[MrPopo]

I suppose I should toss in what I've gotten through so far this year:

Battletech: Decision at Thunder Rift
Battletech: The Price of Glory
Battletech: Mercenarie's Star
Battletech: Wolves on the Border
Battletech: Heir to the Dragon
Ouran High School Host Club 15
Skip-Beat 23
Maria Holic 6
K-ON! 2
Lucky Star 7
Star Wars: Knight Errant
Religion Explained

And I'm fairly certain I'm missing some. I'll keep this updated as I finish books in more real time with a little blurb to go with it.

Oh, I also found a Backloggery for books. You can have a book be in several collections, which include things like "To be read" and "Currently reading" as well as the general library (and any custom collections you want).

http://www.librarything.com/

[saturnfan]

1. Disquisition of Government - John C. Calhoun
2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
3. Breaking the Backcountry: Seven Year's War in Virgina and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765 -Matthew C. Ward
4. Christianity in Latin America: A History - Ondina and Justo Gonzalez
5. The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America - Walter R. Borneman
6. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570
7. John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union - John Niven
8. Hall of Mirrors - Laura A. Lewis
9. Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ - Carolyn Dean (half read)
10. Texas Revolution - William C. Binkley
11. Wild Yankees - Paul B. Moyer
12. Fries's Rebellion: The Enduring Struggle for the American Revolution - Paul Douglas Newman
13. Taming Democracy - Terry Bouton
14. Dimity Convictions - Barbara Welter
15. The Faces of the Gods - Leslie G. Desmangles
16. The Presidency of James K. Polk - Paul H. Bergeron
17. Colonization After Emancipation: Lincoln and the Movement for Black Resettlement - Phillip W. Magness and Sebastian N. Page
18. Freedom Under Siege - Ron Paul
19. Might Stonewall - Frank E. Vandiver (New)
20. The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience - Emory M. Thomas (New)

Mighty Stonewall is the second full length biography I have read on the incredible Thomas J. Jackson (the first being the excellent, 1898 classic, Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War). Written in the 50's, Vandiver's work is still in print and considered one of the more balanced analysis's of Stonewalls life. Vandiver's work is also great since he focuses as much as possible on Stonewall himself, without drowning the reader in the minute details of the battles he participated in. And while it is impossible to divorce military history from a biography on Stonewall, the book does a great job of emphasizing what was important and leaving the rest out. Highly recommended.

The second book I read was very interesting. It details how the Confederacy and the war transformed Southern society, sometimes in very positive ways, only to have it destroyed and forgotten during the reconstruction period. Thomas draws parallels to the American Revolution and also shows how time honored traditions in the South were being sacrificed in order to become independent. For example, the years of 1861-1865 where anything but a state's right paradise, if anything, the South transitioned into a socialist state to meet the demands of the war (confiscation of supplies, price fixing, nationalizing all industry, etc.). Overall interesting and a quick read.

[weasels]

As i don't give myself much room to read, i only have a few things that i bought and one book i have read.

i have picked up:
dune messiah
children of dune
20,000 leagues under the sea (i have read an abridged version when i was young and loved it to no end, so i felt i should give the real thing a try).

of those books i have only finished dune messiah. and have started 20,000 Leagues under the sea.

[saturnfan]

1. Disquisition of Government - John C. Calhoun
2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
3. Breaking the Backcountry: Seven Year's War in Virgina and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765 -Matthew C. Ward
4. Christianity in Latin America: A History - Ondina and Justo Gonzalez
5. The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America - Walter R. Borneman
6. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570
7. John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union - John Niven
8. Hall of Mirrors - Laura A. Lewis
9. Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ - Carolyn Dean (half read)
10. Texas Revolution - William C. Binkley
11. Wild Yankees - Paul B. Moyer
12. Fries's Rebellion: The Enduring Struggle for the American Revolution - Paul Douglas Newman
13. Taming Democracy - Terry Bouton
14. Dimity Convictions - Barbara Welter
15. The Faces of the Gods - Leslie G. Desmangles
16. The Presidency of James K. Polk - Paul H. Bergeron
17. Colonization After Emancipation: Lincoln and the Movement for Black Resettlement - Phillip W. Magness and Sebastian N. Page
18. Freedom Under Siege - Ron Paul
19. Might Stonewall - Frank E. Vandiver
20. The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience - Emory M. Thomas
21. The Dawn of a New Era, 1250 -1453 - Edward P. Cheyney (New)

Written in the 1930's and reprinted up until the 1960's (to the best of my knowledge), this is a rather obscure book which was volume 1 of "The Rise of Modern Europe" series, which was a collection of books designed to give a brief overview of Europe from 1250-1950 (in 20 volumes).

The reason for me reading this, other than the fact that I wanted to read about this time period, is that I had previously read another book in The Rise of Modern Europe series for a class and was impressed with it. So I figured I would give another one a go. Because I am not an expert in the historiographical development of European history, its hard for me to know whether or not this book still holds academic weight. My inclination would be no, assuming there must be newer and better survey studies available. However, I still felt the book gave a good, broad overview of Europe, detailing the new trends of economic development, a growing middle class, the permanent formation of nation states, a declining church and the slow rise of popular participation in government. Noticeably missing from the book was a worthwhile discussion on the Black Death. Also, the chapter on contemporary art and literature seemed a littler superficial, mostly focusing on Dante and a few people who were inspired by him.

Overall not bad, although it is hard for me to recommend a book this old since survey works are written quite frequently and you could probably find a more recent one.

[Ack]

B is for Bad Poetry, by Pamela August Russell
The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction, Edited by Isaac Asimov
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen King
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein
Kull, Exile of Atlantis, by Robert E. Howard
The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty
The Great Train Robbery, by Michael Crichton
Von Ryan's Express, by David Westheimer
Sphere, by Michael Crichton
The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
Hondo, by Louis L'Amour
The Prince, by Niccolò Machiavelli
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam, by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore (Ret.)
Mao Tse-Tung and China, by C.P. FitzGerald
Farmer in the Sky, by Robert A. Heinlein
In Gallant Company, by Alexander Kent
Korea, by Patricia K. Kummer
The Koreans, by Russell Warren Howe
Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob, by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill

TOTAL: 19

Kummer's Korea was actually a children's book geared towards 5th graders with some interesting information in it. I included it as a sort of proxy because I read all of the children's books in the public library about the country. It was actually a fairly interesting read, as children's books present a lot of basic information in a direct and simple fashion. I appreciated it mainly because it included equal information on both South and North Korea, such as natural resources, geography, and lists of major landmarks in their respective capitol cities.

The Koreans is a mixture of journalist Russell Howe's views on the past and present of Korean society and culture. The book is a little out of date, considering it was published about twenty years ago, but the past history of the nation, the description of the character of some of its territories, and the information on the evolution of the culture was quite enjoyable. Topics range from Korean views on government, religion, attitudes regarding foreign nations, gender differences, and so on. I can say that some of the information has helped with my tutoring experiences, as I now have more examples to relate to my pupils and have a better understanding of how they learn and behave towards adults.

Black Mass on the other hand concerns the corruption within the FBI in relation to notorious Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, who was coincidentally arrested this week after having been on the run for over 15 years. Basically Bulger and his partner Stephen Flemmi served as FBI informants from about 1975-onwards (Flemmi actually had started before that, in the late 1960s), but over the course of the years they managed to bribe and befriend their FBI handlers into tipping them off about investigations, informing them about other informants, and messing with investigations from other agencies. Following several investigations in the mid-1990s and the retirement of their direct handler, John Connolly, Flemmi was arrested and subsequently talked. Since then, Connolly has been sent to prison, a multitude of other FBI agents either experienced jail time, were fired, or reprimanded for their conduct, and many of Bulger's associates have been put away for good. Bulger may potentially even face the death penalty for his crimes.

[MrPopo]

Battletech: Decision at Thunder Rift
Battletech: The Price of Glory
Battletech: Mercenarie's Star
Battletech: Wolves on the Border
Battletech: Heir to the Dragon
Ouran High School Host Club 15
Skip-Beat 23
Maria Holic 6
K-ON! 2
Lucky Star 7
Star Wars: Knight Errant
Religion Explained
Ouran High School Host Club 16
Stalkers and Shooters: A History of Snipers
The Hidden Reality

Not much to say about the latest volume of Host Club. There's only two volumes left so the drama is turned up. Right now it's looking like Tamaki is about to noob out entirely, but given that I'm familiar with the genre I'm expecting a crowning moment of awesome where Haruhi completely owns his grandmother.

Stalkers and Shooters is by a guy who also did a three book series on the Navy SEALs, from inception to the modern day. Based on this book I'm seriously considering picking up those three. He presents the history of the sniper as a military asset from the beginning of what could be considered an analog of the modern sniper (crossbowman) to the modern age. He intersparces a few stories of a sniper of various eras practicing his deadly craft. It's very clear from the history that the modern sniper took a long time to really be a part of the military because he was hampered by the standard military technology. Additionally, many commanders simply aren't used to thinking about how to employ this unique asset. The author also goes in to the role of police snipers, and at the end has several military and police snipers giving their own views on the subject, including their personal stories of shots they've taken or almost taken. If you're interested in military books I'd recommend this.

The Hidden Reality is a third in a series of books about the current state of science with regards to how the universe works on a fundamental level. The author, Brian Greene, is a physicist currently working to probe the intricacies of string theory, and he has a knack for taking these very abstract concepts and bringing them down to a level a layman can understand. He is also very good at making sure you follow all the steps to get to the end state, so the only hand waving ends up being "the math says that these are equal" or similar things involving not forcing us to do insane calculations. While his previous two books focused on explaining the world of quantum mechanics and the intial showings of string theory, this book describes the possibilities of parallel universes. The majority of them arise from the consequences of current scientific theory, though he does include a couple that are more fanciful. Another great read if you like science.

[REPO Man]

Jane Goes Batty, in which Jane Austin is a vampire living in modern-day upstate New York, still working as a writer, learning about her vampire powers from Lord Byron, dealing with a film adaptation of her new book, dealing with her boyfriend's mother thinking Jane's converting to Judaism, and dealing with the possibility of a strike from an undead Charlotte Bronte.

I loved it, but halfway through, I found out that JGB is actually the SECOND in a trilogy, so now I gotta read the first one (Jane Bites Back). This isn't the first time I read the second book BEFORE I read the first book... the first time was Infernal Angel by Edward Lee.

Oh, and this was the first book I ever bought from the Kindle Store (got the iPod Touch app), and the first eBook I've ever read in its entirety (not counting reading The Hellbound Heart in the form of a PDF that I DL'ed off the internet ages ago, before I bought a paperback copy).

And at the end of JGB, they have a preview for the next book.

So, I can honestly say... SUCK IT STEPHANIE MEYER, YOU CHEAP, Z-GRADE, TEEN-PANDERING, ANNE RICE WANNABE!

[BoringSupreez]

I finished reading The Short-Timers recently. It was quite good, although it could be rather gross at times. Even though it's only about 150-170 pages, it seems like a longer book than it really is for some reason.