Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones & Einstein's Brain--#39 finished

A fun book that looked into the history of different objects that have been preserved over time. Lots of different or plain old weird stuff, we the history behind the item and the history of what happened to item or how it was saved to where it is today. A fun read altogether. Not sure if I will be posting this one or not, lots of good information in the book & I might want to keep a hold of it.

I think there is one or two copies already posted on PBS and with it being a hardcover with no dust cover, might as well just not try sending it. Like I said it is a probable keeper for me.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Home School--#38 finished

This is the long awaited sequel to The Graduate, or at least that is what it says on the cover. It is really just not a very good book. The characters are irritating and really make no sense at all. I am almost sorry this book was ever written. I never read The Graduate, only have seen the movie a few times--a very good movie, kind of quirky but with a great soundtrack. This book tried to be quirky but really was just bad.

It was a quick read, so I guess I can give it that, of course if it was longer than 229 pages, I would have been very tempted to quit reading it early on. Oh well, what can I say, not every book I read I am going to like. I also want to say that I came into this book with low expectations also, since I figured I would have heard about it at some point since it only came out a couple of years ago, if it was good. So I kind of figured it was not too much & I was still disappointed. Well that is the way it goes.

I will be adding it to my bookshelf on PBS within minutes and will probably feel sorry for whoever I mail it to as well. Right now there is no WL for it but I also think there are no copies on the system so there is a chance it could move if not quickly than at some point.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Last Juror--#37 finished

This is a John Grisham book, a good vacation read. It is actually about a kind of journalist or maybe more accurately a guy who ends up buying a small town weekly newspaper. The focus of the book is about a rape and murder and the trail that follows. It then goes beyond this into the incarnation and the early parole of the murderer followed by some murders of the jury. Like I said a good vacation read, a page turner that was easy to follow. A basic Grisham novel. I think they are kind of fun to read once in a while but I think too many at once would get a little boring.

I am sure there are many copies already on PBS but I might add it to my list as well. I could also just donate it to the library or somewhere else too I guess. Maybe I will wait a couple days to decide.

I am still reading Lucy's Bones, Sacred Stones, & Einstein's Brain, a book that does a short write up about interesting items that have been saved for history. I also just started reading The Third Secret by Steve Berry, it was brought along on vacation with a couple of others to step up when & if I was to finish one of the other books--which I did in The Last Juror.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Grab on to Me Tightly as if I Knew the Way--#36 finished

An interesting, coming of age book for a boy just graduating high school and not knowing what is next in life. A deep thinker, in a band kid, that is also still working out the whole sex thing--not sure I really buy all of this but well that was it. A lot of teenage angst in this book as well as just plain old confusion of life in general. Not a book I enjoyed but figured it is good to be reminded that those late teen years & into the early 20s are not easy years and many kids at these ages don't have it figured out, even if their front says they do.

The book only really worked on the main character Vim but there were some other kind of interesting minor characters floating about as well that might have been interesting to develop more. Trudy, the college girl that takes Vim's virginity--maybe, kind of unclear on this whole point, the weirdo concert guy who I can't remember the name, Nelson in the doughnut shop up north and others. Not my kind of book, but I think the author showed enough that if he does a 2nd book, it might be worth checking out.

I have posted it on PBS, there is 1 copy ahead of it. I figure it will move at some point but might take some time. I was on a little run of mailing books out & have too many credits already, will be at 51 once all books delivered. So I am good for now with not mailing any more and waiting for some of my WL books to come up.

What has become

This blog has turned into my reading list basically. I am just not feeling inspired to type up much else. Still running but only once or twice a week--have gotten out of shape too so the runs are also slow, slow, slow. Been busy but nothing I really want to put out there on the internet I guess.

I do appreciate the notes that people have been leaving, even if I am unable to actually read what they said. I guess it is kind of nice to know that someone out there has found this place, as uninteresting as it is.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Big Trouble--#35 finished

This is a novel from Dave Berry, the funny columnist from a few years back. He might still be writing columns, it is just that he is not as big I guess anymore. For a while there he was actually pretty hot, with his books, this being his first(maybe only fiction novel) and even a TV show loosely based on him. Not sure where he is at now though, I guess a trip to wikipedia after this is in order.

It is a fun, easy, quick read. No surprises, some plain old weird stuff and certainly not thought provoking but it was entertaining. It only took me 3 days of reading to finish it and I was also reading my other books too. It says it was a soon to be released movie and the cast is on the cover, with Tim Allen and Rene Russo playing the leads and plenty of other familiar faces, but I really don't remember seeing this movie, either out in the theater, video stores or on cable. I guess this is another thing I will have to check & see if this movie was actually made.

I have posted it on PBS, but there are 74 copies ahead of it, so it is going no where. I will probably let it sit for a while but will probably pull it at some point. I need to see if the library would take some of my not moving books for a donation--since I buy enough there I could give some back as well. Just a thought I will have to pursue.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Kipligat's Chance--#34 finished

Not too bad. It is a more of a coming of age book about a boy and his family and the problems they are going through. The are originally from Kenya but had to flee the country and ended up in Canada. They are now living in basically slum like conditions and everyone in the family goes through very rough parts along with his older brother missing still in Kenya. Through all of this as well as having a screwup friend that gets them in trouble often, John is able to concentrate and excel in his running.

There are parts there where it seems too much is happening, where I really doubt the story. The poor characters are just being piled on and rational thought is not present--although everyone has their struggles. I actually kind of liked the reality of some characters just disappearing or leaving midway through and not being brought back to wrap up at the end--they were gone. A kind of nice touch of reality that doesn't always happen in books, it seems every author wants to let you catch up on everyone at the end.

I really kind of enjoyed it, not as anything great but as a change of pace as well as one touching on running. There is 1 copy already on PBS so this will be copy 2, not expecting it to move very fast but then again don't really know either.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Epic--#33 finished

This is a futuristic novel about humans now at a new planet, or maybe the old earth after civilization collapsed. It mentioned how earth was too violent so they moved away. Now the whole of society is ruled on how well people do at a computer game. Towns and regions are supplied based on not just production but on their activity and money earning in the computer game Epic. Not a bad premise at all, especially for a futuristic thing. It is move of a teenager or young adult book so it probably sells better for them. I did enjoy it though overall. Parts were a little kidish but nothing too bad. Had some good characters and some good action and while some ideas of country building came up toward the end, it didn't get bogged down in that either. Not a bad read.

I will be holding onto this one, thinking my oldest Rose, will be interested in it. It has 1 WL but like I said I am in no hurry to move it.

I got a couple of books on the way to me and I have been sorting through my books looking for vacation reads. I am reading 2 books now Kiplat's Chance or something like that and started Lucy's Bones--a book that goes through the history of many interesting things--each item is it's own chapter. Kind of good so far, easy to pick up and put a few minutes into. I might grab a 3rd book later today, not sure though yet.