Easily an all-time favorite book of mine. Horwitz spends time with Civil War reenactors on the Southern side - a great look at reenactment culture an...moreEasily an all-time favorite book of mine. Horwitz spends time with Civil War reenactors on the Southern side - a great look at reenactment culture and even some of the Southern "the South will rise again" types with a really keen eye for what makes them really fascinating.
I can't say enough good things about this book, to be honest. Tickles that social psychology nerve just as well as the historian side, and gives some attention to a often-misunderstood and maligned group of people with an offbeat interest.(less)
Barely worth being called a book or even short-length piece - more like a magazine article in free Kindle essay form. It's a standard Domino Project ...moreBarely worth being called a book or even short-length piece - more like a magazine article in free Kindle essay form. It's a standard Domino Project piece about plowing through fears to get things done - really, something that's covered in at least two other Domino titles already. If I had read this before, say, Poke the Box, I likely would have responded to it better.(less)
This is a flawed book if only that it really only applies to either small groups/companies or top-level people where meetings can actually do somethin...moreThis is a flawed book if only that it really only applies to either small groups/companies or top-level people where meetings can actually do something if done right. As someone who has to try very hard to find any good, productive meetings he's been involved with on a whole, as opposed to being things that could be figured out in an email chain or even independently, I was hoping for this to be something different. So while it's unfair of me to rate a short book based on it not being what I wanted it to be, it's focus on one type of organization/structure, in my mind, is a fairly fatal flaw. The ideas in here are common sense, but need to be expanded out to be truly as influential as the books surrounded by it via Domino.(less)
Rarely does a book leave me quite as conflicted as this one did. I kept asking myself why this even exists, which is never a good sign.
To...moreRarely does a book leave me quite as conflicted as this one did. I kept asking myself why this even exists, which is never a good sign.
To get it out of the way, it's essentially pornography. We can make the argument that it's artistic erotica, but at the end of the day...yeah. With that said, it's...mostly tasteful, I guess, and succeeded in making me feel like more of a prude than I think I really am.
With that out of the way, it is a unique conceptualization of the three storybook characters in question, and there's something to be said for that. The artwork is also well done - much of it reminded me of Alan Moore's Promethea in a lot of ways, actually.
So if you're able to get your hands on this, well, I don't know. If this is your thing, more power to you. If you're more like me, and wanted to read it because you find Alan Moore interesting, it might be more worth your time to skip it entirely.(less)
There's a subgenre of children's books I derisively call the "cash grabs." They're your celebrity books, your knockoffs, your derivative st...moreThere's a subgenre of children's books I derisively call the "cash grabs." They're your celebrity books, your knockoffs, your derivative stuff. I know Big Nate has been a daily comic for some time, so it's not so much a "cash grab" type book like so many Wimpy Kid clones, but the chapter books...well, they sure feel like it.
This is the first chapter book installment of Big Nate. Nate's a bit disorganized, a bit of a troublemaker, a bit of a clown. This book follows him through one school day as he does something no one else has done before him. It's a pretty standard story, no real twists or surprises, nothing too scandalous.
I think that might be what bothers me the most. Where Wimpy Kid felt new and fresh, this feels like a bit of a retread, and one that stays well within the margins to boot. It's serviceable, and I can see quite clearly why it's as popular as it is, but it doesn't give me that good feeling inside about it. Maybe the comic is more subversive? Maybe this really is a cash grab and my cynicism isn't really doing what it's supposed to.
There are two more out with one more getting published shortly. These are very quick reads, so I'll probably at least give the next one a shot and see if it finds its own legs. Considering the hype, though, this was a disappointment.(less)
Embarassingly, I had gotten some interest in this thinking, based solely on title and buzz, that this was sort of a reverse Bond book. Sort of like a...moreEmbarassingly, I had gotten some interest in this thinking, based solely on title and buzz, that this was sort of a reverse Bond book. Sort of like a chick-lit-spy-thriller.
It's not.
A better comparison, as made more or less everywhere else at this point, is The Devil Wears Prada on Wall Street. It's really not a great comparison - Prada was better, and it simply boils the idea down to "female protagonist in male-dominated field novel," which really tells us more about those who are making the comparison than the book itself.
With that said, the book follows a woman fresh out of school taking a job at a busy brokerage firm on Wall Street. There, she has a typical cast of characters, all pretty clear stereotypes, hits the predictable sexism, has a relationship, perseveres through it all, and reaches a fairly expected climax and ending. There's nothing groundbreaking here.
What it does do is tell a quick-paced, fun story. There are a number of fine moments, the lead character is frustratingly endearing, and, while the book is not unique, it does succeed quite well in what it set out to be and do, and there's something great about that, at least to me. I can handle derivative if it's good derivative.
So if you're into this thing, don't ignore it. If you're typically offended/annoyed by the existence of books like this, skip it. Chances are, you'll like it about as much as you think you will.(less)
* This book took forever to get going. There is SO MUCH leadup to the parts that anyone tr...moreRandom thoughts on We Need to Talk About Kevin:
* This book took forever to get going. There is SO MUCH leadup to the parts that anyone truly cares about that I very nearly threw in the towel early and often. I don't need a book to necessarily dive in right away, but I'd like to get to some semblance of the point before I hit a third of the way through.
* My chief issue with this book, however, is how unrealistic so much of it felt compared to the super-real-feeling character of Kevin. Not that I have much of any background in psychology or personality disorders, Kevin felt like a true psychopath in every sense of the word, and I could definitely picture where he was going. Comparing him with those around him, though - the father in particular - and they looked like absolute unrealistic caricatures of human beings as opposed to realistic, believable people. It really hampered my enjoyment of this overall.
* With all that said, once the story actually gets to the story, the book became rather riveting. The road to where the plot ends up is engaging, and it hits a lot of the right notes. I hate how long it took to get there, but that's that.
Overall, this is one of those books that I think might actually work better as a movie. The story moves along as a series of letters in the book, and probably would have benefited from a more sober characterization with a more linear structure overall. Closer to a 3.5 overall.(less)
Giving the writing a 2, but the sheer amount of fun I had reading this a 4.5, I think a 4 is fair.
Paul is getting fired from his job tomor...moreGiving the writing a 2, but the sheer amount of fun I had reading this a 4.5, I think a 4 is fair.
Paul is getting fired from his job tomorrow. His job is being the creative force behind a pretty big deal of a video game, and the rest of the top-level guys want him out. Paul ends up meeting Chloe at the Mexican restaurant he's hiding out in, and suddenly Paul is in the middle of a massive con to try and get what he's truly owed from the company.
Thus begins the wild ride that is Geek Mafia. The plot is strung together by a bunch of fun, tech-heavy heists, the characters are fun and fascinating, and the book reads like a really freewheeling action movie - this means there's not a ton of depth going on, but it really doesn't matter much in the end because you're enjoying yourself so much.
If I have any complaints, it may be that the author is clearly seeing himself in the main role here. Not a big problem - write what you know. However, a lot of less-than-necessary opinionating along the way kind of throws things out of whack a bit. If you dislike that sort of thing in your fiction, this may be fun enough for you to be able to let it slide, but that might be my only issue. I'm really, really looking forward to the sequel (which I already have on my Kindle). Highly recommended if you're a nerd into something different.(less)
I'll say this much - it takes some effort to make Captain Underpants look highbrow, but there you have it. Yuck is, well, grosser than gross. He's d...moreI'll say this much - it takes some effort to make Captain Underpants look highbrow, but there you have it. Yuck is, well, grosser than gross. He's dirty, he plays with slugs and eats worms, he has underwear that is so dirty it becomes sentient...
I don't know. I love Captain Underpants. I really enjoyed The Day My Butt Went Psycho. This just seems like it's gross for gross's sake, and maybe I'm becoming too much of an old man these days, but this really didn't work for me.(less)
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