Book Reviews

[Bos Mutus]

What are you favorite books?


I'll start:


John Adams by David McCullough.


This book should be required reading for every American. Brings the fight for Independence alive like nothing I've read before. George Washington fought the war for Independence, but John Adams made the case for it. He's not talked about as much as Washington, Jefferson, Franklin or even Madison, but was a central figure in our founding, maybe even the central figure.

Pulitzer Prize winner and was made into an HBO miniseries by the same name. Probably my favorite book ever, but I didn't enjoy the miniseries nearly as much, it did not do the book justice. The book is so thoroughly researched, but the research is woven into a compelling story and reads more like a novel than history. 6 stars out of 5.

[AF sgt]

Sorry to say, but I don't read much. Especially when it comes to non-fiction. I wish I was more interested in history, but it just bores me to death every time I try. I digress. My favorite book of all time is "The Odyssey". We read it as a class in my 5th/6th grade class. It seems like a book that should have been way over our heads at the time, but it wasn't. It was read out loud, with the teacher and students taking turns, over about 3 or 4 months if I remember right. 40 years later, I remember the story as if I read it yesterday.

If you haven't read it, it's simply about a guy taking a journey and running into different challenges along the way. A lot of similarities to Clash of the Titans, but so much better.

[Bos Mutus]

Sorry to say, but I don't read much. Especially when it comes to non-fiction. I wish I was more interested in history, but it just bores me to death every time I try. I digress. My favorite book of all time is "The Odyssey". We read it as a class in my 5th/6th grade class. It seems like a book that should have been way over our heads at the time, but it wasn't. It was read out loud, with the teacher and students taking turns, over about 3 or 4 months if I remember right. 40 years later, I remember the story as if I read it yesterday.

If you haven't read it, it's simply about a guy taking a journey and running into different challenges along the way. A lot of similarities to Clash of the Titans, but so much better.

Thanks for the rec. I don't think I've read The Odyssey all the way through, or if I have I don't recall. I have seen O Brother Where Art Thou, which is supposed to be based on it. I will put this on my list.

I love to read. I got out of the habit oddly enough when I was going to grad school just because of all the required reading I had to do, but made it my New Year's resolution last year to read more and I did. Now, it is a habit where I read pretty much every day. Historical biographies seem to be my favorite, but also read some fiction...I have a couple friends that published novels last year that I've read also which was fun giving them reviews and talking with the authors about different parts of the book.

[LogDog]

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I recommend the unabridged version which is about 1500 pages in paper back. It's the story of Jean Valjean, a convict who is given his paper of leave (parole) from prison and who finds people don't want an ex-con in their town. Through a chance meeting with a local Bishop, Valjean returns the kindness of the Bishop by stealing his silverware and silver candle sticks. After being captured and presented to the Bishop by the police, the Bishop tells the police he gifted the stolen material to Valjean. After the police leave, the Bishop tells Valjean to use the gift for good and give his life to God. Valjean is confused as to why the Bishop would do this but he takes the gifts and leaves reinventing himself in another town where he becomes a respected business man and the mayor. When the new police chief, Javert, arrives and presents himself to Valjean he becomes suspicious of Valjean. Javert was the guard who oversaw Valjean in prison and after Valjean fiaied to register with the local police Javert began hunting for him.

The book addresses a number of social issues such as how women are treated, how children are treated as throwaways, social unrest, and most importantly whether people can change or by their nature they will never change.

The recent movies and stage plays are good but they lack a lot of background for the viewer to understand the significance of Les Miserables. I recommend everyone to read the unabridged version of Les Miserables before or after seeing the movies or plays.

[LogDog]

Thanks for the rec. I don't think I've read The Odyssey all the way through, or if I have I don't recall. I have seen O Brother Where Art Thou, which is supposed to be based on it. I will put this on my list.

I love to read. I got out of the habit oddly enough when I was going to grad school just because of all the required reading I had to do, but made it my New Year's resolution last year to read more and I did. Now, it is a habit where I read pretty much every day. Historical biographies seem to be my favorite, but also read some fiction...I have a couple friends that published novels last year that I've read also which was fun giving them reviews and talking with the authors about different parts of the book.

C.J. Box writes the Joe Pickett series. Joe Pickett is fish and game warden in Saddleback, Wyoming. He live with his wife and daughters in a state provide game warden's cabin and he gets caught up in a number of adventures including murder, kidnapping, as well poaching. Joe isn't the brightest knife in the drawer or a super-sleuth, he's a terrible shot with his pistol, but he does have a way of looking at things that others don't.

John Sandford writes the Lucas Davenport novels. Davenport is an independent investigator for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety investigating many cases at the request of the governor. His wife is a surgeon in a local hospital and they have an adopted daughter, Letty. Davenport is like many detective characters in that he is often a lone wolf who will use unorthodox methods to solve his cases. He also has a number of other detectives he calls-on for help. Two of them are reminiscent of Mafia thugs and the other is like a country-hippie whom everyone refers to as "That Fucking Flowers" but he's a really good detective.

[Rainmaker]

Here's a couple good ones.

Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...UGMAYMKSANQLEX

Boots on the Ground by Dusk:
https://www.amazon.com/Boots-Ground-...orr&ref=sr_1_1

Unbroken:
https://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-Worl...1-2&ref=sr_1_2


More Than a Carpenter:
https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Car...orr&ref=sr_1_1

[LogDog]

The Foundation series by Issac Asimov. These novels began as a series of magazine stories in the 1940s before being condensed into books.

From Wikipedia: The premise of the series is that the mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept of mathematical sociology. Using the laws of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30,000 years before a second great empire arises. Seldon's calculations also show there is a way to limit this interregnum to just one thousand years. To ensure the more favorable outcome and reduce human misery during the intervening period, Seldon creates the Foundation – a group of talented artisans and engineers positioned at the twinned extreme ends of the galaxy – to preserve and expand on humanity's collective knowledge, and thus become the foundation for the accelerated resurgence of this new galactic empire.


The series is easy to read and doesn’t require knowledge of science or mathematics. Asimov touches on a lot of issues like economics, religion, and society in general.

[FLAPS]

The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of Presidents:

As in a play, presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates perform on stage for the public and the media. What the nation’s leaders are really like and what goes on behind the scenes remains hidden. Secret Service agents have a front row seat on their private lives and those of their wives and children.

The Fair Tax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and IRS:

As Boortz and Linder reveal in this first book on the FairTax, this radical but eminently sensible plan would end the annual national nightmare of filing income tax returns, while at the same time enlarging the federal tax base by collecting sales tax from every retail consumer in the country. The FairTax, they argue, would transform the fearsome bureaucracy of the IRS into a more transparent, accountable, and equitable tax collection system.

Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy books, by Bill O'Reilly

Unbroken

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment:

The author introduces readers to enlightenment and its natural enemy, the mind. He awakens readers to their role as a creator of pain and shows them how to have a pain-free identity by living fully in the present.