Rate the last Book you read

[bigken117]

books >>> movies

[Mookie4ever]

read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo during vacation. Saw it for $5 at Wal-Mart and figured what I'd see what all the buzz was about.

5/10

I don't get it. It was ok, nothing spectacular.

Weird. My sister just gave me this book today. She said that it starts off slow but if you stick with it it gets really good halfway through.

[bigken117]

read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo during vacation. Saw it for $5 at Wal-Mart and figured what I'd see what all the buzz was about.

5/10

I don't get it. It was ok, nothing spectacular.

Weird. My sister just gave me this book today. She said that it starts off slow but if you stick with it it gets really good halfway through.

We await your review

Without trying to give too much away, in good crime/mystery novels there are moments where you have to reread to be sure you got it right. Not sure this book had it.

And I guess it is good in the second quarter of the middle, but the second half just didn't so it for me. I won't be getting the other books.

Making my way through Outliers and How To Make Love Like A Porn Star now....guess which one gets more attention

[Inukchuk]

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Apparently, this book was discovered among his things after he passed away. While it's not the usual Crichton techno thriller stuff, I liked it quite a bit. Just a swashbuckling adventure story with his usual attention to historic detail (much like Eaters of the Dead, but totally fictional). It would definitely translate into a pretty sweet movie, as well.

8.5/10

[Mugrila]

read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo during vacation. Saw it for $5 at Wal-Mart and figured what I'd see what all the buzz was about.

5/10

I don't get it. It was ok, nothing spectacular.

Weird. My sister just gave me this book today. She said that it starts off slow but if you stick with it it gets really good halfway through.

We await your review

Without trying to give too much away, in good crime/mystery novels there are moments where you have to reread to be sure you got it right. Not sure this book had it.

And I guess it is good in the second quarter of the middle, but the second half just didn't so it for me. I won't be getting the other books.

Making my way through Outliers and How To Make Love Like A Porn Star now....guess which one gets more attention

I enjoyed it. Not overly difficult reading other than keeping the characters straight in the beginning.

What crime/mystery novels would you recommend instead?

[jake_twothousandfive]

Wealth of Experience: Real Investors on What Works and What Doesn't
by Andrew S. Clarke and The Vanguard Group

Obviously this book is extremely biased towards index funds and Vanguard financial products in general. But it really drives home the importance of living below your means, saving and investing regularly, and the power of compounding interest over a long period of time. There's nothing groundbreaking here but it covers the basics well. The quotes from ordinary investors sprinkled throughout the book were interesting and fun to read.

7/10

[RugbyD]

Skunk Works - 8/10
by Ben Rich

Book about the secret projects division of Lockheed from the 60's to the 90's. It's a very cool read that details the development of various top secret planes like the U-2, the stealth bomber, and other projects. Definitely worth my time.

[j24jags]

Read two books this vacation...

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis-8/10
This book tells the story of Salomon Brothers' prominence and fall from prominence as well as the larger picture of Wall Street in the 1980's. If you're interested in finance, I'd recommend it. Some interesting anecdotes and a look at the inside of the firm (Lewis worked there before becoming an author). If you guys have read Panic, The Big Short, Moneyball, you know Lewis' writing style. I'm a fan

Running for My Life by Warrick Dunn and Don Yeager
Dunn's story was very interesting. Growing up in a single-parent home, he tragically lost his mother in January of his senior year in high school (She was a police officer and was killed in the line of duty). Warrick was the oldest of six siblings and he contemplated not going away to college/not playing football in college in order to stay home and take care of his family. His grandmother moved in with him and after speaking with her and his high school football coach (who served as his father figure), they decided his mother would have wanted him to follow his dream and he went on to have a great career at FSU. He also has been one of the most active philanthropists in the NFL and has overcome a tremendous amount of adversity. The writing style wasn't great, a little redundant and a little elementary, but I definitely have a newfound respect for Warrick Dunn after reading it.

[scottaa1]

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Apparently, this book was discovered among his things after he passed away. While it's not the usual Crichton techno thriller stuff, I liked it quite a bit. Just a swashbuckling adventure story with his usual attention to historic detail (much like Eaters of the Dead, but totally fictional). It would definitely translate into a pretty sweet movie, as well.

8.5/10

I hadn't heard of this one. I've enjoyed many of Crichton's books. I'll look this one up at the library.

[Tis]

The Name of the Wind - By Patrick Rothfuss

If you like Epic Fantasy at all - 10/10
If you Don't like Fantasy - 7/10

Rothfuss created a masterpiece here (and book two of the three book series is due out in March '11). It has the scope and depth of Martin or Robert Jordan, but its not nearly so open ended so he isn't going to get lost like Jordan (and to an extent Martin) did/has. And the narrative is confined to a single point of view, unlike either of those, so you really really get to know and sympathize with the character.

And it is better writing than either of those authors. An old teacher once described Poe as an author who's prose just begged to be read out loud. This is the same. Beautiful, evocative, poetic, even musical writing. I'm reminded of some of Willa Cather's work. The best Fantasy novel I have read in years, and I probably average a Sci-Fi/Fantasy book every two weeks and you would be hard-pressed to find something of a non-pulp nature that I haven't looked into. Frankly, I am amazed it took me a few years to find this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone.