19 Books
6996 pages
Again I'm a little surprised at so many. Though a lot of them were 'fluff' books... popular fiction that can be read in an afternoon without much thought or effort.
Laws of the Game 2008/2009
Fifa
ISBN none
133 pages
March 31
Another soccer season approaches. I like to reread the Laws before every season. OSA is having technical difficulties so I haven't been able to register and get my 09/10 laws yet. Only 4 small changes anyway, and of those, only 1 is what I would consider a change rather than clarification or semantics.
A Short History of World War I
James L. Stokesbury
ISBN 0-688-00129-7
336 pages
March 30
Interesting read. It seems like the reasons for going to war were bogus, mostly it was about imperialism, regular guys died while war profiteers became rich, and the military leadership blindly repeated failing tactics and strategies, and in the end, nothing was solved - the whole thing had to be done again i in this case two decades later. Sound familiar? Sounds like every war. Funny, as I finished this during morning nap time, CBC radio was doing a piece on the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan and the similarities and projected similar result of the USA's war in Afghanistan. The arrogance of not heeding the wisdom of those who came before...
One Shot
Lee Child
ISBN 978-0-440-24102-7
466 pages
March 25
Also from Bookmooch, also a nice quick read.
Nothing to Lose
Lee Child
ISBN 978-0-440-24367-0
531 pages
March 24
Another Bookmooch find. Looked it up online to see if it was one I had read & was a little surprised to see it had some pretty bad reviews. I think because it is the first Reacher novel to insert some uncomfortable political opinions. Nothing truly overt or thumping, but the bad guys happen to be fundamentalist christians, injured Iraq veterans are given the shaft, there are army deserters, and there is a great line about Canada being smart enough to stay out of the attack on Iraq. As usual for Lee Child, a nice quick read.
The Darwin Awards 2
Wendy Northcutt
ISBN 0-452-28401-5
221 pages
March 22
Shorter and suckier than the first one. Not worth the 50 cents I paid for it.
Black Echo
Stephen Hunter
ISBN 0-385-48042-3
395 pages
March 21
Another 'Swagger' novel. Also a quick and enjoyable read. I think I've read all of the series now.
Echo Burning
Lee Child
ISBN 0-515-13331-0
420 pages
March 20
Another 'Reacher' novel. Quick and enjoyable read. I think I've read about half the series now, but not in order.
The Darwin Awards
Wendy Northcutt
ISBN 0-452-28344-2
312 pages
March 19
Only a relative few of these are actually hilarious. My favourite remains the guy who kept a loaded .38 beside his bed and shot himself in the head one night while 'answering the phone'. When I want my fix of watching people do stupid things, I much prefer watching the video on liveleak.
The Scarecrow
Michael Connelly
ISBN 044640120X
576 pages
March 16
Many moons ago, when I still used the library, I started going through alphabetically. Not reading every book, but started at the A's looking for books to read rather than just scanning randomly. When I made to to the C's I discovered Michael Connelly & have been reading his stuff ever since. Leaf found this at a thrift store, a nice find, since it only recently came out in paperback. I've mostly stopped reading crime genre, but always make an exception for Connelly. By no means his best novel, but a quick enjoyable read.
The Education of Little Tree
Forrest Carter
ISBN 0-8263-0879-1
216 pages
March 15
I really liked this book. Second time reading. Short and sweet but moving as well. Looking it up just now discovered there is some controversy surrounding it. I can separate the book from the author. Oprah could not... she apparently removed it from her recommended reading list. You like a book... then you find out something about the author... then you don't like the book. Yet the book hasn't changed. As far as I'm concerned, it remains a book to be read.
Ascendancies
D.G. Compton
ISBN 0-441-03088-2
224 pages
March 14
A strange one, that is barely sci-fi. A story more about insurance fraud - getting a death benefit paid out after an alien abduction. "Forty thousand in the bank... the reality of it slowly sank in. He was rich." That made me laugh.
The Genesis Machine
James P. Hogan
ISBN 0-7434-3597-4
338 pages
March 10
I learned a new word. Not necessarily astounding, but surprising that it is one I've never, ever seen before. I'm reasonably literate too. "Persiflage". A noun - 1. light, bantering talk or writing.
2. a frivolous or flippant style of treating a subject.
Heirs of Empire
David Weber
ISBN 0-671-87707-0
544 pages
March 9
Third of the trilogy. Basically the same as Weber's Safehold series I read last month, except shorter. I'm guessing this was the genesis for the idea. "Technologically advanced person stranded or marooned with a more primitive society." Religion is used to suppress technology.
I liked the trilogy.
The Armageddon Inheritance
David Weber
ISBN 0-671-72197-6
344 pages
March 8
Second of the trilogy. Reattaining former technology and defending against alien incursion. I find it interesting how many takes there are on alien species, from friendly to xenocidal. Logical arguments can be presented for either. Xenocidal in this book, but I wonder if reality falls somewhere in between.
Mutineer's Moon
David Weber
ISBN 0-671-72085-6
315 pages
March 8
First of the trilogy. Human beings are actually descendants of an spacecraft that arrived 50,000 years ago and disguised itself as the moon.
The Apocalypse Troll
David Weber
ISBN 0-671-57845-6
398 pages
March 7
Kind of like The Terminator. Alien comes back in time to destroy humans because interstellar war goes badly. Human also comes back to prevent said event happening. Another of the 'technologically advanced in primitive society' sci-fi themes that David Weber writes so much of.
The Blooding of Jack Absolute
C. C. Humphreys
ISBN 1-55278-453-3
307 pages
March 7
Historical novel - I rarely read them - but this looked interesting & had a Canadian connection. Nothing spectacular, but an enjoyable read.
Die Trying
Lee Child
ISBN 0-515-12502-4
422 pages
March 6
A good book for a sick afternoon. I like the 'Reacher' novels.
Dead Headers
James H Jackson
ISBN 0-7472-5771-X
498 pages
March 5
Convoluted at times, confusing at others. A slightly more modern Tom Clancy - the big bad soviet boogieman being no more, the evil Arab terrorists take their place. Not my first choice to read, but Mars woke up from a nap while I was in the basement looking for a good book, so I just grabbed this one instead. There was one line I particularly liked: "Terrify the flock and the sheep gather around the shepherd."
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