JEFFREY'S 50 B00KS READ IN 2016

[Jill]

Jeffrey, here is your new thread in 2016. Happy reading in the new year.

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2016
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

[Jeffrey]

JANUARY

1. by Marilynne Robinson
Finish date: January 2016
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A
Review: Gilead is the story of three generations of Congregationalist preachers in Iowa and Kansas. It is told through a letter from John Ames, the latest generation preacher, who is dying to his young son.

I found the incorporated history very interesting. The abolitionist grandfather moved from Maine to Kansas to affect the new state's decision on slavery.

While I enjoyed the interior monologues of Ames regarding life and religion, I would have liked more about the characters. The characters of Ames, his grandfather, and his best friend, Boughton really got me invested.

I believe the characters are revisited in Robinson's Home and Lila. Will definitely be reading those as well.

Favorite line:

To be useful was the best thing the old men ever hoped for themselves, and to be aimless was their worst fear.

by Marilynne Robinson

[Jane]

I found this book a bit puzzling. I know it is highly praised but -- spoiler alert (I don't want to give away any of the story)--but the transformation of one character did not seem believable to me.

[Jeffrey]

(view spoiler)[I'm guessing you are referring to John Ames namesake?

That is an interesting point.

I didn't think he transformed so much as the Rev Ames just worried excessively.

(hide spoiler)]

[Jeffrey]

2. by Cormac McCarthy
Finish date: January 2016
Genre: Fiction
Rating: B
Review: I prefer McCarthy's western novels, but The Orchard Keeper has the beginnings of his beautiful prose style.

It is nominally a coming of age tale set in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. A fatherless boy is influenced by two men. One is an older, recluse and the other a bootlegger.

The description of the mountains is absolutely beautiful, but with the exception of a couple scenes the story did not impress me.

I recommend Suttree and/or Blood Meridian instead.

by Cormac McCarthy

[Jeffrey]

FEBRUARY


3. by Mark Edmundson (no photo)
Finish date: February 2016
Genre: Philosophy
Rating: C
Review: Three desirable ideals are presented - courage, contemplation, and compassion. A "pure" example of each would be Achilles, Plato, and Buddha, respectively.

It is an interesting subject, but I felt it would have been better as longish essay, not a 200 plus page book.

[Jeffrey]

4. by Frank Pasquale (no photo)
Finish date: February 2016
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: C
Review: In my opinion, the title was deceptive. Since 'algorithms' was emphasized in the title, I expected a discussion of the same. Unfortunately, what I found was many questions and speculation about Big Data and technology, but few answers.

[Jeffrey]

5. by Alain de Botton
Finish date: February 2016
Genre: Philosophy
Rating: B
Review: The author takes several questions of life such as "How to be a good friend", "How to read for yourself", "How to be happy in love", etc. and uses anecdotes from Proust's life and from In Search of lost time to answer them.
It is an interesting and humorous little book that made me want to read In Search of lost time.

by Marcel Proust

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Good job Jeffrey