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Books as Furniture
A record of where time has been lost, spent, or restructured.
Currently reading
Black Fire: The True Story of the Original Tom Sawyer--and of the Mysterious Fires That Baptized Gold Rush-Era San Francisco
Designing Networks and Services for the Cloud: Delivering business-grade cloud applications and services (Networking Technology)
Write Good or Die
Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them
booklikes experience is disappointing so far
When booklikes imported my information from goodreads I found that it associated several of my reviews with books that weren't even on my shelf and were unread by me. Humor was discovered in the situation where a review of a zombie apocalypse book was associated with a lurid romance novel.
I deleted the posts that were in error and will monitor the forward progress.
1
Invisible Man
I'll have to agree with the people that put this book in their 'must-read' and 'best books of 20th century' lists. I listened to Invisible Man as an Audiobook narrated by Joe Morton. The performance was nothing short of amazing.
Fish Whistle: Little Short Essays by Daniel Pinkwater
Not only did I laugh out loud at several points in this collection of essays, I also picked up tidbits of advice that I deemed worthy enough to add to my list of words that should change my life. As far as I know, I have never read a Pinkwater book. I think I need to read more of his work.
VoIP Deployment For Dummies
A typical "for Dummies" book. This was my first reading about VoIP so I don't know enough yet to judge if the information is extremely helpful from a technology perspective. I did appreciate the introduction to the jargon. The constant reference to non-technical and political aspects of troubleshooting may have been just a bit too much.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
There were so few places (ok, maybe one) where I, in my arrogance, would have attempted to communicate a thought differently. After sticking with this memoir for the entire length of the trail I was struck with the craftmanship that inhabits this work. I appreciate the time and effort that must have required. I was emotionally involved from the first chapter and continued to invest my feelings into the journey and sorrows of the author. As a man, I appreciate the insights into the unique griefs that may befall a woman. Well done. I think my daughters should read this book.
Rule of the Bone: Novel, a
I found pages of pure genius in this novel. So much better than 'Catcher in the Rye' that I would recommend choosing this work over the earlier one if reading time is scarce. My only complaint is the writing in dialect that gets tiresome over time and serves to confuse more than enhance. I found that I would be sounding out the phrases in attempts to understand the narrative.
Approaches to Literature (The Modern Scholar: Way with Words, Vol. 2)
Drout brings to mind many things that I apparently missed along my journey towards my English degree. New, to me, ideas and perspectives made this a particularly fulfilling series of lectures. I also felt a bit of freedom when released from the burden of reading every piece of literature ever canonized.
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden
Long on narrative, shorter on description. This is a straightforward series of recollections of what it may have been like to be a SEAL on a high profile mission like the one that eliminated bin Laden.
Heart of Darkness and the Congo Diary
Always knew it was supposed to be great. I wasn't disappointed.
Aftermath (Remaining, #2)
Acceptable zombie apocalypse thriller. Sometimes the writing just goes 'thud!' and I wondered why there wasn't a bit more effort at smoothing out some of the rough edges. Good enough that I will read the third book in the series.
 - D.J. Molles)
Cutting for Stone
When I began to read this book, I made the remark to someone that I was so happy, so comfortable with the writing that I would keep reading regardless of the book's place in my target genres. Fortunately, the storyline was strong and kept me interested. I'll rank this as one of the best books I've ever read. I felt educated, comforted, drawn in as a confidant, as a family member, and rarely a disinterested observer.
Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World
How can the discussion of algorithms be made interesting to the masses? Of course, one way is to talk about how algorithms affect finances. And sports. And health. There seemed to be so much left unsaid and only hinted at. I wanted more than recursions into Wall Street and biographical snippets of the uses and creators of algorithms. I wanted more discussion on non-financial applications. For what it is, this book is interesting and believable. It whetted my appetite but never really satisfied. That may be because of my technical background, which won't be the case of all readers.
 - Christopher Steiner, Walter Dixon)
Quitter: Turning Your Job into a Dream and Your Dream into a Job
There are good take-aways from this book. Not much that seemed like new information and the self-deprecating style seems a bit contrived at times, Acuff does assemble a boatload of common-sense advice in one volume. I was personally motivated to follow through on doing a job that I don't like with excellence and hustle until I can manage to live my dream.
Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry
Reading this, as I hoped, prompted me to read more poetry, right away. I liked the appetite for poetry that the author creates, intentionally I presume. What I didn't really care for was the digression into the struggles of the modern poet with other modern poets and the documentation of the drama. A good and interesting read but not great, not a must-read. If you want to read about modern poetry, you could do much worse.
Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking
Information here, if it is true, and it feels true based on observations of myself, could change the way I approach my work, structure my days, and get life accomplished. I'm planning to gift copies to my children.
