bookshelves: best-of-the-best, mathematics, recent
A superb book that I highly recommend. Perhaps second only to Marcus du Sautoy's book on Rieman primes Music of the Primes, this is the story of Andrew Wile's brilliant solution of Fermat's Equation, an equation that for 350 years defied solution by the world's greatest mathematicians. The book also provided the history leading up to Wile's magnificent work, including stories about the great math thinkers of previous years. While we watch the worst in human beings as they destroy and demonstrate the truly horrid elements of their nature, this story shows all that is best in people. Stop destroying and create. ]]>
bookshelves: horror
Justin Collier's TV show on beer is about to be canceled along with his marriage, but he needs one more good beer to complete his book on beer, so he follows up a lead in Gast, a Southern Town filled with memories of the War of Northern Agression, and ghosts of evil deeds done by the man who built the black railroad. This is another good Ed Lee novel filled with sexual overtones and terror. I really love Ed Lee's novel-so hellishly weird. ]]>
Steven
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 174 |
| correct: | 163 (93.7%) |
| skipped: | 25 |
| best streak: | 28 |
| questions added: | 2 |
bookshelves: recent
A good collection of stories although a few had disappointing endings. The stories involve crime, and take place in various Brooklyn neighborhoods, including one of my old neighborhoods. ]]>
Steven
added a quote:
"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you." — Oscar Wilde
"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you." — Oscar Wilde
bookshelves: recent
The book is a collection of short stories and three novellas. The theme of the short stories is crime and suspense. These stories are very good. All of them were enjoyable. Although plot twists were usually predictable, the stories were still enjoyable. The three novellas were detective stories featuring a private detective named Ed London, and these were also very good. Ed always seemed to end up in bed with one of the women in the stories-he was the Captain Kirk of detectives. I highly recommend the book. Lawrence Block is author of the Mathew Scudder series of detective novels as well as several other detective series--he is one of my favorite authors in this genre. ]]>
bookshelves: recent
Some of the pacing was a bit uneven; some parts of the plot were a bit too contrived; and the writing and character development were fair; and yet I enjoyed the characters, the hooks, and the overall plot. I thought it was a good read with a very good central character. My largest criticism is that I never felt I fully understood the motivation behind Ellis' crack-up. ]]>
bookshelves: biography, chess, recent
This was one an excellent story about the author and that part of his life associated with chess. I enjoyed the stories about his relationship with his father, other chess players, and how chess affected his life. While the stories were engrossing, I still felt there was something missing, as if the author missed a final revelation, or central theme but am not sure was missed. Still, it was a really good read and worth reading. ]]>