Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Can't sleep

I got woken up around 3am and wasn't able to go back to sleep so here I am at 4am typing something up. That happens I guess. Well Monday was PSR night so I dropped off the kids and hit the library nearby to check on the for sale books, found 3, none on a WL but still should be good reads. Then I went for a quick 2 mile run at the nearby park. Both miles were around 11:30, so pretty happy with that.

Right now I am reading A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews, a quirky book based in a small town in Canada. Just under 50 pages read and so far so good, not a real page turner but still kind of interesting. Also reading The Brethren by John Grisham, so far a kind of typical Grisham book in a good way. Easy to read and keeps you interested. Kind of funny though that it was written pre 9/11 and some of the political stuff so far seems ahead of its time, will have to see as I get into it more--only 120 pages in. Finally just started The Lace Reader by Brunonia Berry about women that can read lace and see the future or something along those lines. Just started so who knows what I have here.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Ride of a Lifetime--#59 finished

Wow, 59 books read so far this year, that still just shocks me when I see it and actually take a minute to realize what that means. Oh well, I won't type all that up now since it is still Sept & who knows what the final end of the year number will be, I am sure I will wax poetic on it more then.

The Ride of a Lifetime was a book I almost didn't read, it is about the Orange County Choppers that also has a TV show about making Choppers--customized motorcycles. I watched very little of these shows and what I saw was a bunch of arguing by guys with a lot of tattoos. The final end product bikes were neat looking but since I am not a bike guy, I didn't spend much time watching this show. I picked up the book thinking I would just mail it off since it is a very new book, only published in Spring of '09. I eventually though gave in and decided to read it. On page 34, there is one sentenced underlined which makes in unpostable on PBS so it will have to send it with another book to make it go away, oh well that happens.

Kind of funny though because I almost didn't read it and probably would have never caught that underlining, of course the next person that got the book would have been stuck with it or moved it when they shouldn't so ethically it all worked out.

As far as the book itself, not earthshattering and really nothing special at all in the book. It was kind of about his life, but the real focus was on giving advice to business owners based off his life experiences. I really didn't care for this book much at all. His advice that he repeated about a thousand times throughout the book as be passionate about what you do, hire good people, don't sell out and plenty of other cliches that are basically common sense. I would have enjoyed a biography more, his advice was just not very interesting. So why did I keep reading it, well it was only 173 pages and had short chapters and even inside the chapters had short segments. In other words it was a pretty easy read, easy to put down and pickup while doing other things. Unless you are a fan of the show, I don't think you will enjoy this book much. Now it does have some nice photos in the middle of the bikes they made, some are pretty cool so I guess there is that too.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Shadow in the City--#58 finished

This was an unusual book, hard to follow and really hard to understand. It is supposed to be a true story of an undercover drug detective. It talks about deals and arrests but it is put together in a piecemeal type way that makes it hard to follow. Real details seem to be missing. It is almost like you, the reader, are supposed to get an emotional feeling from the reading instead of just a more straight forward understanding like from a normal book. I am not sure about this one. At times I liked it and it seemed to make a lot of sense, but other times it just seemed to fragmented and almost not worth the effort. I guess overall, I would have to say I didn't really like it.

There were some interesting parts, like talking about Viktor Frankl and his book Man's Search For Meaning--a book written about his time in WWII concentration camps. The cop questioning the whole bureaucracy of the drug war and how the drug dealers are harder working and had more in common with the undercover detective. Overall though it was not my cup of tea.

It is one 1 person's WL on PBS. I have already posted it, will have to see if it is accepted though. If not I would think it would move at some point.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Running

I had about a week off from running again. I need to stop that and keep on 2 to 3 or even 4 times a week, but just can't seem to make that happen. I ran Tuesday at the little track at the community center, 11 laps to a mile. I put in 3 miles that night. Tonight, Thursday, I ran 5 miles at a park.

Tuesday's run was somewhere around 13 minute miles, can't really use the Garmin indoors, at least I don't use it then. Thursday was around 12 minute miles until the last one which was just under 13, so pretty happy with that. The park is flat so I really should get out and do some hills but figure just getting the runs in is probably more important at this point.

I can't remember what we have going on this weekend, but it seems like there is a lot of stuff so not sure yet if I will be able to get a weekend run in or not.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Culture Warrior--#57 finished

This is one of Bill O'Reilly's books. Not too bad since I am pretty conservative, many of the things he talked about kind of fit with my beliefs. His dividing the two sides into a Traditionalist vs Secular Progressives was kind of uncomfortable to get used to throughout the book. I am not sure if that is an accurate way to divide things up, but O'Reilly went into his reasons and made his argument.

Overall kind of good but there were some problems that I saw. He kept mentioning how he has been attacked and he certainly has, but that is really part of his business. While he mentions this also, I think he was playing this up too much. Also, I believe that he does take on issues for their possible ratings boost, not just because he believes he is fighting a "cultural war". Let's face it, even if you completely agree with him, you still have to admit that the ratings are his real barometer on how is is doing.

I have posted it on PBS, there were already 6 other copies, but I am the optimistic sort so I am hoping they move kind of quickly. Maybe a month or so I this one could be getting mailed out.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

A Perfect Evil--#56 finished

I really enjoyed this book and it had enough twists & turns to keep the reader guessing throughout. It is about a murder investigation in Platte City, NE where a good looking FBI agent with a haunting past comes in to help the local sheriff, who is a good looking playboy. So maybe not great literature but a good read. This is book one in a series and I have book two somewhere around here also.

I actually found book 2 first at a library sale so ordered book 1 through a PBS deal. The NE connection made it an easy reason to get and the author being from NE is also kind of nice. I have posted this first book and I think there are like 40 some copies already on the system so probably won't be moving anytime soon but that is alright too.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hot and Bothered--#55 finished

Surprisingly this was actually a pretty good book. I enjoyed the characters and liked the funny descriptions of how the lead character sees things. It is a story about a divorced woman trying to get her life together while raising her 2 kids. Her ex is still in the picture and takes his turns with the kids, so as a dad not so bad, but as a husband he failed cheating on her for several years before the marriage was ended. She does not really know who she is or what she should be doing with herself. A situation that seems to be common I would think, but unlike most women, she has her ex paying alimony so money is never a problem in the book.

Again though this book has some serious working through the problem type things going on, but mostly this is light-hearted kind of fun book to read. It has a happy ending and even her kids seem to turn around and like her too. I guess that ending is a little fluffy but was expected. A good read and certainly the best of any of these so called "romance" or "womens" type books I have read this year.

There were already a couple of copies on PBS so it is now on my Posted List, I would guess a couple of months or so. It should move since like I said it is a good clever book.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Climate of Fear--#54 finished

This book was actually a series of lectures by Wole Soyinka and it basically reads like a series of college lectures. Kind of dry and unexciting, but of course it is talking about terrorism both state sponsored and quasi-state terrorism. I really had a hard time concentrating while reading this book. It was unusual for me it seems, that the author mentioned very few names, it was almost like the listeners should have already known many of his stances so naming names wasn't necessary.

He made some very good points regarding a person's dignity and how that kind of ties into the whole terrorism idea. Also in the last chapter talked about fanatics mostly religious that were the most dangerous terrorists today. Again though, he mostly talked in general with little mention of individuals or groups acting today.

This book is a very short read, only 142 pages so it didn't take that long but I don't really think it was worth the time it took me to read anyway. Maybe in a lecture setting it would sound much better but just reading it left much to be desired for me. It is a PBS WL book, but only on 1 WL. That means there is a very good chance it will not be moving anywhere anytime soon if this 1 person out there doesn't want it. Of course it will also be the only copy in the system so maybe it would move eventually. Still waiting on Stolen Innocence to be accepted, 1 more day to wait for this person before it moves to the next.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Stolen Innocence--#53 finished

This book is about the FLDS, the fundamentalist Morman sect that still believes in plural marriage with most or at least many members living on compounds. It is a moving and very hard to comprehend book. I am still basically shocked to have read how these people let themselves be controlled by a few heads or one prophet. The brainwashing that goes on should be a crime in itself. I really cannot understand why there wouldn't be some kind of revolt, but I guess these are people raised from early on to only be thinking about the afterlife and not what this life is about. It is a really sad story, but also uplifting in the sense the author and many in her immediate family were able to get out.

I am still having a hard time understanding how the author's parents got involved in this whole thing, they were practicing Mormans and one of their sets of parents looked into the FLDS and that is what caused them to do so also. I just don't understand how a person with a college degree like their dad was able to be suckered into this organization and stay in it for the rest of his life especially watching all of the bat-shit crazy stuff going on. I just cannot comprehend that. I kind of understand those that are 3rd, 4th, 5th etc, generations of people involved in this, they don't know any other life and are brainwashed into thinking everything outside of FLDS is evil. I just don't understand how someone could join up unless they were sick people looking for plural marriages or underage girls or something along those lines.

It is certainly a moving book or maybe more like shocking in that I just cannot understand the mind sets in the book. I am glad that I am passing it on because more should know about what the reality is within this movement. I remember the news of the raid in Texas, same group FLDS. I also remember being somewhat sympathetic to them because it is their life to live, but now I see it is a brainwashed cult and the leaders deserve no sympathy. Maybe the individuals, like women and children but certainly not the leaders. I will be sure to follow this group in the future.

This is a WL book and I have already posted it, just waiting for it to be accepted. I have also received a request for the Johnny Cash book I had just finished reading too so I will be mailing some books out this week.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Run Thursday & Reading Update

Well, it was over a week but I finally got a run in--does this sentence even make sense, oh well. On Thursday Rose had VB practice and I was able to go to the nearby park to run. I did 5 laps which made a total of 4 miles. My times were pretty consistant as well, I think they were 12:23, 12:22, 12:11 and 12:33. I am very happy with these times. With a 3 day weekend now, I hope to get 2 runs in at least.

Crows Over the Wheatfield timed out on the first person's WL so it went to the 2nd person who immediately accepted it. That person is in Hawaii, my first book going to that state, kind of exciting in a nerdy mapy PBS sense. It was mailed with 2 others books. Once all delivered I will be up to 25 credits. I don't really want to order more books though because I already have so many that I need to read but I will still probably check out the Book Bazaar for deals anyway.

I am still reading Stolen Innocence, a book about a girl raised as a FLDS--the Morman sect that still believes in plural marriages & was forced to marry at age 14. So far this book just makes you sick in the brainwashing going on and you just want to slap the adults until some sense kicks in.

Also reading Climate of Fear a book that is actually published lectures of Wole Soyinka about basically terrorists and other governmental and as he says quasi governmental groups acting in the world. Kind of interesting but also pretty dry, but making my way through it.

Finally I am also reading Hot and Bothered, a kind of funny romantic type of thing. It is one of those books that I am keeping in the basement, don't really want to take upstairs and have everyone see that I am reading it, again kind of embarrassing. So far, and I am only 70 some pages in, it is a much more clever and actually funny book than the other romantic type books I have read earlier this year. I will have to see if this continues through to the end though.