false 31 535 437 true 5662459 read 4 true 1113124 currently-reading 94 true 1113123 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80850146 Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America's Pastime (Hardcover) by Mark Frost
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80440112 to: Heart-Shaped Box (Mass Market Paperback) by Joe Hill
this is one of the best ghost stories that i have ever read. the action starts from the first pages and rolls at a fast pace all the way through. i'm not a bit horror fan, but i really liked this one, except for the times i had to stop reading it because i was alone in a hotel room and i was starting to get a little freaked out. the reviews for the book are what got me interested, along with the author's own story...it turns out that Joe Hill is Stephen King's son. i guess weirdness is in the genes or in the water up there in Maine. whatever the cause, Hill has written a book that ranks right up there with his father's early books like Salem's Lot and Pet Semetary. highly recommended for those who like a good shiver. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79249532 to: Killing Rommel: A Novel (Hardcover) by Steven Pressfield
having read a couple of other books by Pressfield, i was very surprised by "Killing Rommel". this book takes the form of a novelization of a memoir written by a member of the "Desert Rats" group in the British Army that went after Rommel in North Africa. the story is very focused on a the purported author of the memoir and follows his heroic although ancillary actions during the reversal of fortunes that sees Rommel's Afrika Korps thrown back from Alexandria to Tunisia. the writing is excellent and full of action. the author details as everyday events acts that would qualify for the Medal of Honor today, but i guess that's just the way that WWII was. it's a rather short book and a quick read, very enjoyable. excellent for military or history buffs.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12910588 to: Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure (Hardcover) by Michael Chabon
while Michael Chabon is one of my favorite authors, i cannot recommend this book highly. the story is short enough that it probably would have been a novella in a story collection for any lesser known author. as Chabon confesses in his afterword (which alone was probably entertaining enough to justify buying the book), the author set out to write a book about "Jews with swords"... the underlying story was obviously not that important. on the bright side, Chabon's trademark beautiful prose is still amply in evidence. so, even though the story is somewhat limited, it is still quite pleasurable to read. if you are a die hard Chabon fan like me, check it out... it's short enough that you can knock it off in an hour or two. if you have not read Chabon before, don't make this your introduction. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76571251 to: Wooden on Leadership (Hardcover) by John Wooden
John Wooden is a college basketball coaching legend, so i was interested in his leadership methods. over his many years of coaching, he developed an extremely detailed system for molding young men into championship teams. clearly he put a lot of work and thought into the system, but in the end i did not sense that this approach was very applicable to business world situations. the coach's many examples of dealing with great players and outsized personalities were instructive as were his basic principles on how to be a good person...but, in the end i learned a lot about dealing with college kids, but not that much about leadership in complex business organizations. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77026563 to: Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration (Hardcover) by Keith Sawyer
this book was a bit uneven for me... it starts strong with lots of insight into how creativity works, especially focusing on the power of informed brainstorming and the key role of conversation in creativity. i found the anecdotes about how famous inventions really happened to be very interesting. later in the book, the author starts to give prescriptions about how companies can organize for improved productivity and i found this part much less useful. still a good book on creativity. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/76571144 to: The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership (Hardcover) by Steve Farber
this is another of those tiny little books that go by the term "leadership fables". the story is better than most, but the leadership content did not do much for me. not recommended.
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74969891 to: Cemetery Dance (Pendergast, #9) by Douglas Preston
yet another in the long series of Agent Pendergast novels by Preston and Child...this one brings back some characters from earlier in the series and starts with a bang...then never lets up. great action, just enough mystical mumbo jumbo to keep it interesting and a fun unexpected twist for the finale. if you liked any of the authors' previous books, you'll really enjoy this one. lots of fun and a quick read. ]]>