http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/595788 en-US Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:58:12 -0700 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 26826480 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:58:12 -0700
author: Patricia Cornwell
name: Alex
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/23/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 27315989 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:05:52 -0700
author: Brian Murphy
name: Alex
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/21/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 27420647 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:58:54 -0700
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Alex
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/16/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 27420570 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:58:10 -0700
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: Alex
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 07/16/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 24417298 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:20:08 -0700
author: Eric Clapton
name: Alex
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/14/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 24417238 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:20:00 -0700
author: Howard Zinn
name: Alex
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/14/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 24619159 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:37:54 -0700
author: Dan Simmons
name: Alex
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/09/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 23603760 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:58:14 -0700
author: William, Shakespeare
name: Alex
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/06/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 24417254 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:58:01 -0700
author: Kathleen O'Neal Gear
name: Alex
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 07/08
date added: 07/06/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 22893630 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:28:48 -0700
author: Rosemary Sutcliff
name: Alex
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/25/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 24417265 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:28:39 -0700
author: Richard Preston
name: Alex
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/25/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 17787543 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:01:03 -0700
author: Dan Simmons
name: Alex
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/20/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 23101769 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:00:58 -0700
author: Naomi Novik
name: Alex
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/20/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 24147501 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:00:16 -0700
author: Fareed Zakaria
name: Alex
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/20/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 23896410 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:32:47 -0700
author: Amy Goodman
name: Alex
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 06/08
date added: 06/10/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 23312795 Fri, 30 May 2008 10:45:34 -0700
author: Steve Niles
name: Alex
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 05/30/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 22562985 Tue, 27 May 2008 22:19:52 -0700
author: Barack Obama
name: Alex
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/27/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 22833897 Sat, 24 May 2008 18:16:18 -0700
author: Neil Shubin
name: Alex
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/24/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 19532055 Mon, 19 May 2008 12:25:54 -0700
author: Betty Smith
name: Alex
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1943
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/19/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 8568428 Sun, 18 May 2008 22:37:43 -0700
In this world, the War for Independence never happened, and at the turn of the twentieth century, Britain still controls the colonies. Hethor Jacques is a sixteen year old boy and a clockmaker’s apprentice. He is visited by the Archangel Gabriel and told that the Mainspring is not running well and requires the Key Perilous to set it in correct motion again. This is necessary once over many generations and the time has come again and it is up to Hethor to perform this task. With lots of problems and obstructions along the way, Hethor makes his treacherous journey to Boston where he is press ganged in the British navy on Her Majesty’s Ship of the Air Bassett: an ordinary ship that is attached to a great air balloon sending the ship high into the sky. Commissioned to aid Her Majesty’s ships at the Wall, the Bassett travels over the Atlantic to the great iron curtain where they come face to face with horrors and monsters never imagined. The Wall is a place of legend and story, of fabled cities filled with jewels and ghosts.

It is in a town on the Wall that Hethor meets the Jade Priest who aids him in his quest to cross the Wall and enter the southern hemisphere. He must travel to the South Pole where he will find the entrance to the Mainspring and attempt to carry out his duty. It is here, in the last third of the book, that the plot of Mainspring devolves and becomes quite dreadful, much like the devolved and chaotic world of this hemisphere. Jay Lake takes an uncertain direction in pushing forth the religion that has been secondary to the incredible steampunk world so far, making Hethor into a messiah like character and therefore able to survive every devastating attack and tragedy that befalls him. It is here also that Hethor becomes a leader of this simian race that are between monkey and human on an evolutionary scale, known as the “correct people.” With Hethor leading the correct people south, it recalls the plight of Moses and the Israelites. Naturally there is a female in this group who has the incredibly developed and humanistic name of Arellya that Hethor becomes closer and closer to, eventually leading to a copulation scene that can only be described as bestiality: “He rubbed at her hairy back, enjoying the silky smooth feel, like petting a giant cat.”

With this severe downward turn to the novel, Mainspring was hard to finish. The failing of the book was in going from a complex and fantastic world of air ships and machinery and exotic places to a religious dogma coupled with a fascination for an ape-like race. Nevertheless, Mainspring possesses many facets of the cyberpunk novel making it a classic in some ways, along with amazing cover artwork of the Bassett at the Wall.]]>
author: Jay Lake
name: Alex
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 08/07
date added: 05/18/08
shelves:
review:
MAINSPRING BY JAY LAKE: Mainspring is your classic steampunk novel: the world is run by machinery. The Mainspring is at the center of the world, constantly turning and working, making every other cog, wheel and spring turn and work. The world is split between the two hemispheres by a giant metal wall that reaches into space. The planet turns, and runs on an orbiting track around the sun and at midnight the wall connects with this track for one moment, obliterating everything on top of the Wall and starting anew. All this was created and set in motion by God: the Mainspring is the heart of the world and is also the heart of God.

In this world, the War for Independence never happened, and at the turn of the twentieth century, Britain still controls the colonies. Hethor Jacques is a sixteen year old boy and a clockmaker’s apprentice. He is visited by the Archangel Gabriel and told that the Mainspring is not running well and requires the Key Perilous to set it in correct motion again. This is necessary once over many generations and the time has come again and it is up to Hethor to perform this task. With lots of problems and obstructions along the way, Hethor makes his treacherous journey to Boston where he is press ganged in the British navy on Her Majesty’s Ship of the Air Bassett: an ordinary ship that is attached to a great air balloon sending the ship high into the sky. Commissioned to aid Her Majesty’s ships at the Wall, the Bassett travels over the Atlantic to the great iron curtain where they come face to face with horrors and monsters never imagined. The Wall is a place of legend and story, of fabled cities filled with jewels and ghosts.

It is in a town on the Wall that Hethor meets the Jade Priest who aids him in his quest to cross the Wall and enter the southern hemisphere. He must travel to the South Pole where he will find the entrance to the Mainspring and attempt to carry out his duty. It is here, in the last third of the book, that the plot of Mainspring devolves and becomes quite dreadful, much like the devolved and chaotic world of this hemisphere. Jay Lake takes an uncertain direction in pushing forth the religion that has been secondary to the incredible steampunk world so far, making Hethor into a messiah like character and therefore able to survive every devastating attack and tragedy that befalls him. It is here also that Hethor becomes a leader of this simian race that are between monkey and human on an evolutionary scale, known as the “correct people.” With Hethor leading the correct people south, it recalls the plight of Moses and the Israelites. Naturally there is a female in this group who has the incredibly developed and humanistic name of Arellya that Hethor becomes closer and closer to, eventually leading to a copulation scene that can only be described as bestiality: “He rubbed at her hairy back, enjoying the silky smooth feel, like petting a giant cat.”

With this severe downward turn to the novel, Mainspring was hard to finish. The failing of the book was in going from a complex and fantastic world of air ships and machinery and exotic places to a religious dogma coupled with a fascination for an ape-like race. Nevertheless, Mainspring possesses many facets of the cyberpunk novel making it a classic in some ways, along with amazing cover artwork of the Bassett at the Wall.
]]> 19302740 Fri, 16 May 2008 10:20:47 -0700
author: Martin Carver
name: Alex
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 05/16/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 17787532 Fri, 16 May 2008 10:20:07 -0700
author: Dan Simmons
name: Alex
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/16/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 21995534 Fri, 16 May 2008 10:20:02 -0700
author: Susan Crimp
name: Alex
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/16/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 21573796 Sat, 10 May 2008 16:15:44 -0700
author: William Shakespeare
name: Alex
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1623
rating: 4
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/10/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 19623070 Thu, 01 May 2008 19:07:55 -0700
author: Christopher Golden
name: Alex
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/01/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 21431262 Thu, 01 May 2008 19:07:36 -0700
author: Jeff Smith
name: Alex
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 05/01/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 21331309 Thu, 01 May 2008 14:15:23 -0700
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Alex
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 05/08
date added: 05/01/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 20382573 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:31:23 -0700
author: McSweeney's
name: Alex
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/17/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 19658653 Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:47:41 -0700
author: Philip Pullman
name: Alex
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/07/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 19532086 Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:19:46 -0700
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Alex
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/05/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 19460819 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:59:22 -0700
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Alex
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460806 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:59:11 -0700
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Alex
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1932
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460797 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:59:01 -0700
author: Dan Brown
name: Alex
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460794 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:55 -0700
author: Mark Twain
name: Alex
average rating: 3.81
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460786 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:49 -0700
author: Alice Sebold
name: Alex
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460782 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:42 -0700
author: George Orwell
name: Alex
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1945
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460777 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:37 -0700
author: William Golding
name: Alex
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460773 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:33 -0700
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Alex
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460771 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:26 -0700
author: Jane Austen
name: Alex
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1813
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460767 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:21 -0700
author: George Orwell
name: Alex
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1949
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460763 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:15 -0700
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Alex
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1925
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460758 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:58:11 -0700
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Alex
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2003
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460726 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:37 -0700
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Alex
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460721 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:35 -0700
author: Dan Brown
name: Alex
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460715 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:32 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Alex
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460709 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:29 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Alex
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460702 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:25 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Alex
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460699 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:23 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Alex
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460695 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:20 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Alex
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460684 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:12 -0700
author: Harper Lee
name: Alex
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460666 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:57:01 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Alex
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19460662 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:56:58 -0700
author: Audrey Niffenegger
name: Alex
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 04/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19302717 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:45:34 -0700
author: Ellen Datlow
name: Alex
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/02/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:

]]> 19302622 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:44:47 -0700
author: Mary Roach
name: Alex
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 04/08
date added: 04/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 19126628 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:37:28 -0700
author: Arthur Conan Doyle
name: Alex
average rating: 0.00
book published: 1892
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 03/31/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 18537254 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:03:54 -0700
Ian Tattersall, a curator in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, begins the book with an introduction and explanation of evolutionary processes - what exactly Charles Darwin was talking about, with a clear and precise definition of natural selection. This serves as a foundation for subsequent chapters, which cover fossils and paleontology, when humanity began walking on two feet, as well as the history (as we know it, according to evidence) of the Homo genus. It is at this point that our ancestors are clearly defined as being separate, different, more intelligent than other life on the planet, and Tattersall explains why that was and what it meant to us as a species.

In the final chapter, leading up to the prehistoric-approaching-historic date of 4000BCE, Tattersall discusses the beginning of settlement and the inception of towns and eventual cities in Mesopotamia, in what is today Iraq. Tattersall doesn't let his writing just speak for itself, but uses pictures, graphs, and charts to present and support facts and evidence. The World From Beginnings to 4000BCE is an ideal reference book, or layman's history book for those interested in this crucial defining period in our ancestry.

For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com.]]>
author: Ian Tattersall
name: Alex
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 03/24/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:
The World From Beginnings to 4000 BCE marks the first in a brilliant new series from Oxford University Press, bringing a short but thorough history of the world - The New Oxford World History. The series will be split into three sections: Chronological Volumes, Thematic and Topical Volumes, and Geographical Volumes, with The World From Beginnings to 4000BCE launching the Chronological Volumes.

Ian Tattersall, a curator in the Division of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, begins the book with an introduction and explanation of evolutionary processes - what exactly Charles Darwin was talking about, with a clear and precise definition of natural selection. This serves as a foundation for subsequent chapters, which cover fossils and paleontology, when humanity began walking on two feet, as well as the history (as we know it, according to evidence) of the Homo genus. It is at this point that our ancestors are clearly defined as being separate, different, more intelligent than other life on the planet, and Tattersall explains why that was and what it meant to us as a species.

In the final chapter, leading up to the prehistoric-approaching-historic date of 4000BCE, Tattersall discusses the beginning of settlement and the inception of towns and eventual cities in Mesopotamia, in what is today Iraq. Tattersall doesn't let his writing just speak for itself, but uses pictures, graphs, and charts to present and support facts and evidence. The World From Beginnings to 4000BCE is an ideal reference book, or layman's history book for those interested in this crucial defining period in our ancestry.

For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com.
]]> 17893737 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:02:37 -0700
Lewis begins with the fall and breakup of the Roman Empire, explaining how the western known world devolved from a seemingly unstoppable empire to crumbling and divided countries. Lewis sets the stage with the western chunk of the Roman Empire being overrun by invading barbarian hordes, and the more successful eastern part consisting of Byzantium and nearby Persia. At a time of growing interest in Christian and Jewish beliefs, along with the less popular Zoroastrian faith, as well as other smaller cults, the Middle East seemed ready for a new prophet. In the beginning prophets are rarely seen as the great, world-altering people that they are, and Lewis points out that such was the case with Muhammad. He gives us a fascinating look into a religion and culture that has captivated and converted the hearts and minds of a considerable portion of the world population.

Along with the development of the growing faith of Islam, Lewis goes into detail on the genesis of the Muslim Empire, as it swept across the western world country by country, converting and conquering, ruthless in its unstoppable pace. Lewis does a good job of providing a quick history lesson of each people that the Muslim army faced in its conquest, but fails somewhat in going into depth on the complex culture of the Muslim Empire as it grew and developed over the centuries, focusing more on the important battles, winners and losers. Nevertheless, God's Crucible is a very important book to the modern world, one that at the very least gives some context to the status quo.


For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com.]]>
author: David Levering Lewis
name: Alex
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 03/24/08
shelves: books-of-2008
review:
In a time when Western involvement in the Middle East seems almost certain to last for the rest of this generation's lives, it is more important than ever to understand why. The Middle East is still a very misunderstood place, of whose deep and complex history most have little inkling; a history without which the development of disciplines like medicine, mathematics and astronomy would be severely retarded. God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215 by David Levering Lewis, a professor at New York University, is a book that takes readers back to the very beginning of Islam, and the specific instances that led to its creation.

Lewis begins with the fall and breakup of the Roman Empire, explaining how the western known world devolved from a seemingly unstoppable empire to crumbling and divided countries. Lewis sets the stage with the western chunk of the Roman Empire being overrun by invading barbarian hordes, and the more successful eastern part consisting of Byzantium and nearby Persia. At a time of growing interest in Christian and Jewish beliefs, along with the less popular Zoroastrian faith, as well as other smaller cults, the Middle East seemed ready for a new prophet. In the beginning prophets are rarely seen as the great, world-altering people that they are, and Lewis points out that such was the case with Muhammad. He gives us a fascinating look into a religion and culture that has captivated and converted the hearts and minds of a considerable portion of the world population.

Along with the development of the growing faith of Islam, Lewis goes into detail on the genesis of the Muslim Empire, as it swept across the western world country by country, converting and conquering, ruthless in its unstoppable pace. Lewis does a good job of providing a quick history lesson of each people that the Muslim army faced in its conquest, but fails somewhat in going into depth on the complex culture of the Muslim Empire as it grew and developed over the centuries, focusing more on the important battles, winners and losers. Nevertheless, God's Crucible is a very important book to the modern world, one that at the very least gives some context to the status quo.


For more reviews, and writings, or to buy yourself a copy, please visit www.alexctelander.com.
]]> 17893827 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 15:02:26 -0700