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PETER FLOM'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2014
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SEPTEMBER 36.
Lee ChildFinish date: September 12, 2014
Genre: Crime
Rating: B
Review: Jack Reacher is sent off to Europe to try to stop a sniper who is suspected of planning to kill a bunch of world leaders.
OCTOBER 37.
Jordan Ellenberg(no photo)Finish date: October 2, 2014
Genre: Math
Rating: A
Review: Ellenberg shows how people misuse math and how those misuses can be corrected. Great stuff and not very technical
38.
Gary J. Bass(no photo)Finish date: October 4, 2014
Genre: History
Rating: A+
Review: In 1971, Pakistan held an election; the ruler Yahya Khan, did not like the result. He launched an invasion of what was then East Pakistan and is now Bangladesh. The USA aided and abetted him, resulting in 1,000,000 dead and 10,000,000 refugees.
This brilliant book exposes this little known episode. On finishing it, I can conclude that Nixon and Kissinger were sociopaths.
Bryan wrote: "Funny, Peter, I grabbed this book myself and it looks good. by Gary J. Bass (no photo)"Very good. Devastating and detailed. And over 100 pages of notes.
SEPTEMBER 36.
David Gilmour(no photo)Finish date: Sept 2, 2014
Genre: History
Rating: B+
Review: A very good short history of all of Italy, or, rather, the regions that (more or less) became Italy. Gilmour seems unconvinced that Italy is really a country.
OCTOBER 37.
Jordan Ellenberg(no photo)Finish date: October 2, 2014
Genre: Math
Rating: B+
Review: How people abuse mathematics and how to avoid these errors.
38.
Gary J. Bass(no photo)Finish date: October 4, 2014
Genre: History
Rating: A+
Review: In 1971, Pakistan had an election. The rulers didn't like the results. The result was a war and genocide and creation of Bangladesh. The USA (at the express wish of Nixon and Kissinger) sided with the people committing the genocide. Searing, disturbing and brutal. There is a tape of Nixon and Kissinger comparing what was going on to the Holocaust and then continuing to side with the villains.
39.
Fred KaplanFinish date: October 7, 2014
Genre: History/biography
Rating: B
Review: A somewhat too long and too admiring look at JQ Adams, sixth president of the USA. It's a good book and he was a good man, but did we really need to read his adolescent love poetry?
40.
Robert A. HeinleinFinish date: October 20, 2014
Genre: SF
Rating: B
Review: A good old-fashioned young adult novel in which the hero, Thorby, starts off as a slave and rises. Simplistic but fun by a great storyteller.
41.
Carl HiaasenFinish date: October 26, 2014
Genre: Mystery/crime/humor
Rating: B+
Review: Another very funny crime novel set in Florida
NOVEMBER 42.
William GibsonFinish date: November 4, 2014
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B-
Review: Two interacting timelines set in a near and slightly less near future America; fascinating ideas, but Gibson too often dazzles rather than illuminating.
43.
Terry PratchettFinish date: November 4, 2014
Genre: Science fiction
Rating: A
Review: The second in the Tiffany Aching series; Tiffany, an apprentice witch, is now 11. She fights off a hiver with some help from her friends. Tiffany is a heroine for the ages and for all ages. Wonderful.
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I forgot to add a bunch of books at the end, so I will do that now.
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44.
Terry PratchettFinish date: November 10, 2014
Genre: Science fiction
Rating: A
Review: The third in the Tiffany Aching series. Tiffany accidentally dances with the Wintersmith and upsets the cycle of the seasons. Now she has to put it right.
45.
Terry PratchettFinish date: November 18, 2014
Genre: Science fiction
Rating: A
Review: The fourth and final book in the Tiffany Aching series. Tiffany is now a full grown woman and a full fledged witch. A marvelous series.
46.
John VarleyFinish date: November 20, 2014
Genre: Science fiction
Rating B
Review: The continuation of the Thunder and Lightning series, set in a spaceship going 3/4 the speed of light. Varley is always a good read, but this is not his best work.
37.
Jack HigginsFinish date: November 22, 2014
Genre: Thriller
Rating: C
Review: Sean Dillon is back in this thriller about Al Qaeda, loyalty and so on, but this book meanders too much - it doesn't thrill. A good thriller makes you want to stay up late reading and this book did not do it for me. (The quality of Higgins' books varies a lot)
DECEMBER 48.
Douglas PrestonFinish date: December 11, 2014
Genre: Mystery
Rating: B
Review: The first in the Pendergast novels; Pendergast is an FBI agent in the mode of Sherlock Holmes. In this novel, someone or thing is killing people in the American Museum of Natural History. I liked the Pendergast character but am mixed about the book and series as a whole.
49.
Bernard CornwellFinish date: December 13, 2014
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: B+
Review: Historical fiction about the British in India at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. Good fun and very well written. I will read more in the series.
50. A Slip of the Typewriter (not found by Goodreads) by Terry PratchettFinish date: December 11, 2014
Genre: Essays
Rating: B
Review: Pratchett is one of the great fiction writers. This is a collection of his nonfiction. It's OK but not on the level of his fiction.
51.
Bernard CornwellFinish date: December 25, 2014
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: B+
Review: The second in the series. Good fun.
I know I read some others, but I forgot to add them. See you in the 2015 threads
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Books mentioned in this topic
Sharpe's Triumph (other topics)Sharpe's Tiger (other topics)
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Rain on the Dead (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Bernard Cornwell (other topics)Bernard Cornwell (other topics)
Douglas Preston (other topics)
Jack Higgins (other topics)
John Varley (other topics)
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Finish date: September 7, 2014
Genre: History
Rating: A
Review: A very good one volume history of Italy. Gilmour clearly loves Italy, even if he seems to doubt if it really ought to be one country.