Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

January

1. Terry Pratchett

Finish date: January 19, 2013
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: B+

Review: Another satisfying entry in the long-running Discworld series, this one focusing on the Christmas-like Hogswatch holiday and the Hogfather. (you know him - guy in a big red suit who delivers presents across the globe to good little boys and girls) With the Hogfather out of commission, DEATH (need to put him in all caps in my review since that's how he talks in all of Pratchett's Discworld books) steps in and takes over the role of Santa, er the Hogfather. And, of course, there are many other subplots involving some of the bizarre and always fascinating characters of Discworld.

One of my favorite characters in Discworld is Susan (DEATH's granddaughter) and she has a big role in this book so I enjoyed that part of the book. Some other parts fell a little flat for me, and like much of Pratchett's writing, I finished the book thinking I didn't understand everything that just happened, but overall, it was still a good 450-page diversion.

February

2. Alan Bradley

Finish date: February 3, 2013
Genre: Mystery
Rating: A-

Review: Amusing debut novel introducing readers to 11-year-old heroine Flavia de Luce, certainly one of the more memorable new detectives in recent years.

I'm not a huge personal fan of British-style "locked room" mysteries and prefer the more hard-boiled American style of mysteries (not like I've been reading many mysteries lately as my limited reading time has been more concentrated on history and other social science non-fiction works), but this series (which I learned about from a History Book Club entry, by the way) was a very nice diversion.

It definitely wants me to learn more about little Flavia and the Cold War-era Britain in which she lives. It does seem like her post-War England is more like I picture it back in the 1920s, but this book again was a delightful mixture of strong prose, a plucky heroine, interesting villains, chemistry experiments and country life.

Craig wrote: "February

2. Alan Bradley

Finish date: February 3, 2013
Genre: Mystery
Rating: A-

Review: Amusing debut nove..."

Craig, I think you will love the remaining books in the series - I certainly have. What an interesting character Flavia is, and I love the quirky secondary characters also.

3. byDouglas Michael

finish date: February 7, 2013
Genre: Economics
Rating: C

Review: I read the first book in this cartoon guide to economics series (it focused on microeconomics) and followed up with this entry on macroeconomics. While book one was okay, this one was not the best introduction to macroeconomics. I was hoping for more from this series - either for myself or as a teaching tool, but this cartoon guide didn't meet my expectations.

Craig, when there's no cover photo, you should put in the link to the book title, followed by "(no cover photo)".

Thanks Vicki for helping Craig.

4. by Tom Butler-Bowdon

Finish Date: February 27, 2013
Genre: Psychology
Rating: B+

Review: Offered nice summaries of some of the more influential psychologists and works in the history of the field. While it doesn't go into deep detail on any of these men and women and their contributions to the field of psychology, it does provide a solid introduction to the various fields and sub-fields of the science of human behavior and I found it helpful. There were at least three or four authors and works, in particular, that I definitely want to add to my list of psychologists I'd like to continue reading.

March

by Jeff Probst (no picture although you can probably Google him and find tens of thousands...)

Finish Date: March 12, 2013
Genre: Children's Fiction
Rating: B-

Review: Targeted to 8-12 year-olds, this was something we obtained as a family just because we got to meet the author (Jeff Probst) and he told us about the book before it was published. The book itself was fairly forgettable, but he's a great guy and I hope the series does well. I'd say the book is very average (a C rating?), but I bumped it up a bit because of its back-story for us.

It's about a "blended family" collection of four teenagers who are (not surprisingly) stranded on some island in the Pacific Ocean by themselves. So it's the Survivor TV show without the adult drama, immunity and reward challenges, tribal councils and tattooed contestants. I wish I could tell you what my kids thought of this one, but they haven't read it yet...

6. by Tony DiTerlizzi

Finish Date: March 15, 2013
Genre: Children's Fiction
Rating: C

Review: Beautifully illustrated, this lengthy children's novel drags through much of its narrative with characters that never really fully develop or mature. My family did make it through the whole book (reading a chapter a night took us months!) but the kids didn't like it and neither really did I. It was a shame because the illustrations are really top-notch and I'm now following the author on Facebook. Wond-la has a sequel which supposedly is better and clears up some loose ends, but we're going to pass on it.

You are off to a great start

7. by Barbara W. Tuchman

Finish Date: March 29, 2013
Genre: Military History
Rating: B

Review: A classic look at the first 30 days of World War One that serves as a good resource for anyone looking to study about the major events of the beginning of the "Great War." I had read the beginning of this book before and was fascinated by the opening descriptions of the death of King Edward VII in 1910 and how it led to the end of a brief period of peace in Europe and helped trigger the specific events that ultimately transformed into World War I.

So as I begin a personal quest to learn more about World War I over the next year on the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war, I thought I would start with this book. But the stories and captivated interest from the opening chapter of this book weren't sustainable as Tuchman's classic work became more of a military textbook about numerous battles in Belgium and France that aren't familiar to me.

The book is certainly a must-read for military historians and those who are particularly interested in World War I, but I'm hoping it's not the best book I read on the war in the next year. One final point on this book - it's interesting to me that it was written 50 years ago, so about a half-century after the war was set into motion and at the midpoint of a century of global changes that have been unparalleled. Included in those changes are a greater emphasis on historical narrative and new styles of history books. Tuchman's book is probably more readable than some history works dating from the early 1960's-or-earlier, but I am eager to read some World War I books that might incorporate more modern historical research strategies.

Barbara Tuchman is one of the great historians and I love her books. I would recommend that you read all of them that you can.

Barbara W. Tuchman

Craig wrote: "7. by Barbara W. Tuchman

Finish Date: March 29, 2013
Genre: Military History
Rating: B

This is the book that JFK recommended to his staff as they were dealing with the Cuban missile crisis. He was very much concerned with the influence of the military over decisions to be made by the civil authorities. He worried about the overly aggressive stance of Lemay and other top generals, some of whom who later recommended using tactical nuclear weapons in Vietnam. Einsenhower had warned Kennedy about the military industrial complex. Looking at debates over contemporary US foreign policy there is no doubt that it is still a force to be reckoned with.

8. by Mitch Albom

Finish date: March 30, 2013
Genre: Inspirational Fiction
Rating: B

Review: Very easy read and a departure of sorts for me as I tried this thin novel which weaves intersecting stories of how time affects all of us. The message of the book was valuable, but the style of the book (beginning very short chapters with bolded text which sometimes represented the words of Father Time and other times (no pun intended) were just inserted as a literary trick of sorts) was a little annoying.

Albom has a huge following and I enjoyed his amazingly well-selling Tuesdays with Morrie non-fiction memoir which was written back in 1997. This doesn't compare to that inspirational work. I admire Albom for his non-profit work and ability to inspire others. I'm just not sure if I can highly recommend this latest novel.

9. April

by Ernest Hemingway

Finish date: April 2, 2013
Genre: Fiction
Rating: A-

Review: Although I need to read this book again to try to figure out what I missed, my first Hemingway novel read from start to finish was a rewarding experience. I'm trying to spend the next few months boning up on World War One history and literature and although this novel certainly doesn't take place directly during the Great War, the horrors and disillusionment of WWI plays out dramatically in the experiences of Jake Barnes and others in France and Spain in Hemingway's prose.

Hemingway's style of writing may be simple and clean but this novel certainly has many shades of complexity and deep symbolism. Although it predates the official designation of PTSD (I guess it was more of a Shell Shock in WWI), that's one of the more prevalent conditions we see evident in Barnes and his friends. Hemingway is masterful at showing how the Lost Generation left WWI with a loss of their innocence.

10 by Adam Hochschild

Finish date: April 22, 2013
Genre: WW I History
Rating: A-

Review: Very well-written summary of the "second war" in England during World War I, the battle in England between anti-war and pro-war factions. Some great personal stories and families that I wasn't too familiar with and a nice supplemental book that could be added to any WW I library.

Craig wrote: "10 by Adam Hochschild

Finish date: April 22, 2013
Genre: WW I History
Rating: A-

Rev..."

I also enjoyed this book Craig with some little known facts to add to our WWI memory banks!!!

May
11. by Jon Meacham
Finish date: May 7, 2013
Genre: Presidential Biography
Rating: B

Review: First off, I'd like to thank the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ History Book Club and Random House book publishers for sending me a copy of this book to participate in the ongoing discussion of this book these past six months.

While I greatly enjoy presidential biographies and have always appreciated Meacham's knowledge of American history, reading The Art of Power as an advance reading company detracted a little bit the overall reading experience for me. Perhaps some ARC's are true duplicates of the final released books, but this version for me left me with a feeling that I was reading an unfinished book.

And while I love Meacham's story-telling skills, I'm still not sure what the ultimate purpose of this bio was. He mentions in the book's afterword that it wasn't to write a comprehensive one-volume biography of Jefferson (and based on the shortened versions of such major Jeffersonian moments as Marbury v. Madison, the Louisiana Purchase, heck, even the authoring of the Declaration of Independence, it certainly isn't a complete look at Jefferson). It does obviously focus on Jefferson's quest for power and skills in wielding that power. I just don't know what new information I really learned about Jefferson from this book and that's what I hope to achieve every time I read a biography. It took me awhile to work my way through the book (although to be honest, my 2013 reading pace has been slower than I'd like), but I guess I am happy I did finally finish the bio.

Thank you for completing your end of the bargain and posting the review. You are welcome and we are glad that you enjoyed the book despite it being an ARC.

Normally ARCs are well received because you get the jump on others who are waiting for the book to be released; it sort of places you in the inner circle and that in and of itself is exciting for some.

But for others they like more the look and the feel and the completeness of the finished article. So bear that in mind for future ARCs.

12. by Douglas T. Kenrick (no author photo available)

Finish date: May 11, 2013
Genre: Psychology
Rating: B+

Review: Entertaining mix of theory and personal stories of rebel rouser growing up in New York in the 60s who went on to become one of academia's leading social psychologists. There's nothing too heavy in this fairly thin tome, which at times is a plus and perhaps at other times a minus as I wouldn't have minded hearing more technical definitions as opposed to stories about the author's many failed romances and infatuations.

But it did give me fodder for thought which is one of the things I want to have happen when reading books on psychology, especially this particular field of that science.

13. by Barbara W. Tuchman

Finish date: May 25, 2013
Genre: World War One History
Rating: A

Review: A classic, yet still timely, study of how the British Intelligence breaking of the German diplomatic code used to send messages during World War One led to the deciphering of the calamitous Zimmermann Telegram that spearheaded the United States' entry into the war. Tuchman succinctly profiles the major German, British, American and Mexican players in global affairs in the pre- and early-war years and paints a rich summary of just how global-changing the Zimmermann Telegram was and its ongoing importance.

Among the many things this book did for me was open my eyes to what was going on in Mexico in the first half of the 20th century (some of which I certainly was familiar with), but specifically how important it was for American relations with Germany and Japan and other belligerents during either of the 20th Century world wars.

Craig.....I just finished the book cited below which explored the work of the top-secret Room 40 of British Naval Intelligence where the Zimmerman Telegram was decoded. It might be of interest to you although it is not easy to find.

(No image)Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914 18 by Patrick Beesly(no photo)

Cool. Thanks for the tip. I'm a coach of an Academic Decathlon team for the high school I teach at and my goal is to read up over the next year as much WWI history as I can (the theme of AcDec competition for 2013-14 is World War One.)

June

14. by Philipp Blom (no photo available)

Finish date: June 2, 2013
Genre: European History
Rating: B+

Review: Effective look at the events in Europe leading up to the start of World War One and a book that stays true to its elected approach - by picking a topic in each of the first 14 years of the 20th century that focuses on the cultural, economic, and intellectual changes affecting Europe and how they interrelated to political happenings that set the stage for the global conflict that engulfed the world from 1914-18.

Some of the chapters work better than others. In particular, I liked the chapter on eugenics and the arts and literature. Not as informative for me were the ones on the women's suffrage movement (because I've read other books that were more detailed) and some of the philosophical movements of the era. And the closing chapter was somewhat disappointing to me as I would have loved to have seen Blom's take on the actual terrorist acts that led to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, something the author didn't write about in this otherwise solid book. Overall, however, I did enjoy learning more about the events that helped set the stage for WWI.

Craig wrote: "June

14. by Philipp Blom (no photo available)

Finish date: June 2, 2013
Genre: European History
Rating: B+

Review: Effective look at the ..."

I read that book, Craig, and enjoyed it immensely.

15


by Dennis Lehane

Finish date: June 20, 2013
Rating: A-
Genre: Fiction

Review: Compelling tale about life in the United States in the challenging years immediately following World War One in a slightly violent story that somehow mixes in Babe Ruth, J. Edgar Hoover, the rise of labor unions and anarchists, and some compelling characters representing the Boston Police force of the early 20th century and African-Americans fighting for equality.

Lehane is a dialogue master and while I believe this is his first book I've read from start to finish, I am a big fan of his novels that have been made into movies such as Mystic River and Shutter Island. This one may not have the pure drama of each of those stories, but it does come close.

July

16. by Roald Dahl

Finish date: July 2, 2013
Rating: B+
Genre: Children's Fiction

Review: Roald Dahl's first book written for children and still a classic at the half-century mark. Interesting to see that he borrowed themes, plot lines, style and even phrases (vernicious knid, for example) in this early book and would return to the tried and true in some of his later books.

Reading this book in 2013 shows me again that Dahl had a mastering of the English language that few modern children's authors can touch and that you can't go wrong reading a Dahl book with your children. Dahl would go on to craft deeper and more complex stories as he matured as a children's book author, but this story beats any dystopian society book out there that I've tried to read to my children as a bedtime story, in my humble opinion.

17. by Edward Rutherfurd

Finish date: July 13, 2013
Rating: A-
Genre: Historical Fiction

Review: Pleasant summer "guilty pleasure" type of read (at least for me) although I guess this 850-page+ historical fiction novel might not appeal to all.

Rutherfurd has this genre down pat and this several century guide through the intertwining lives of some fictional New York-based families does a great job of mixing together stories of people readers care about along with real-life events, people, and places that help define the texture of New York City.

When you meet and then see the departure of characters in the novel on a chapter-by-chapter basis, it sometimes can be a little disconcerting (a general problem in my view of this type of novel), but there are way more rewards than disappointments in this book. It has quite a few things going for it that can be recommended (much like the city itself which serves as its setting) and I might have to add another of Rutherfurd's books to my to-be-read shelf.

Craig wrote: "17. by Edward Rutherfurd

Finish date: July 13, 2013
Rating: A-
Genre: Historical Fiction

Review: Pleasant summer "guilty pleasure" ty..."

I like Rutherfurd, too. I've seen some favorable reviews of his new book about Paris.


by Edward Rutherfurd

18. by Nicholas G. Carr

Finish date: July 21, 2013
Rating: B+
Genre: General Non-Fiction

Review: Fascinating look at the rapid changes in technology over the past decade as computing in society has progressed from applications to a utility-type of business. I read the 2013 update of this book which has a 15-page afterward outlining changes in the computing world since its original publication in 2007. Although the book stands well as a historical look at innovation (Edison, Insull, earlier pioneers in industrialism) and showing how computing was making historical switches in the first decade of the 21st century, the sheer speed of technological changes almost makes much of the book outdated, save for the afterward which now almost has to be a brand new book.

So I really enjoyed the book, but hoped the afterward would have been longer since so much of the first 200 pages of the book is now almost outdated. Which, in a way, backs up Carr's thesis about rapid technological change forcing society to readdress typical approaches to media and computing.

19. by Roald Dahl

Finish date: July 24, 2013
Rating: B
Genre: Children's Fiction

Review: My children have been on a bit of a Roald Dahl kick as of late (in general, not a bad children's author to have your children interested in reading) and this 1982 offering was interesting to me because of its timeliness this past week. The tale of the Big Friendly Giant (although you sometimes wonder with Dahl's morbid sense of humor if he had another word in mind when naming it the BFG) and how he and the heroine Sophie rid England of nine horribly mean giants is harmless and innocent enough. But completing this book this week allowed me to interject some current events into the narrative as one of the main characters in the children's fictional book is the very real Queen of England who quite obviously was based on Queen Elizabeth II.

At the end of the book when the Queen starts talking about her grandchildren I was able to share the news that one of those grandchildren was born the same year the book was published and now has a new son who could become the King of England himself one day. A teachable moment, so to speak.

Anyway, this isn't Dahl's greatest book, but isn't his worst either. It's probably somewhere in the middle. And the combination of Dahl's inventive writing and Quentin Blake's great illustrations made for a few weeks of enjoyable bedtime reading to my sons.

August
20 by Joseph E. Persico

Finish date: August 2, 2013
Rating: A
Genre: World War II history

Review: Received as a free book through the History Club at Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, this thorough look at FDR and his team of military leadership in World War II (as well as other international military players in WWII) delivered on its premise of examining Roosevelt's skills as Commander-in-Chief.

The author does a very nice job of introducing each military leader with a brief biographical sketch and then fleshing out the relationship they had with Roosevelt. It also serves well as a chronological military history of WWII which obviously has been done well in the past, but by using FDR as the central figure in his narrative, Persico allows his readers to really see when the United States began to take a leading role in military plotting around 1944 and shaped the last 12 months of military action before victory was achieved in both the European and Pacific fronts. Ultimately, the book shows that FDR possessed one of the keenest military minds of any American President and certainly should be at the top of that list or near it of those who were not generals themselves before becoming the Chief Executive. A great addition to the bookshelf of any World War II buff.

Craig, great to have you along for Centurions and glad you enjoyed it. Please feel free to continue participating in the weekly discussions. As well, when you get a chance please share your thoughts on the book as a whole thread: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Thanks so much.
by Joseph E. Persico

Gladly. I did try to just read the chapters as assigned but that's really tough for me to stick with such a specific schedule. So I just went on a splurge this past week and finished it before summer ended...

No problem, everyone reads at their own pace. We space out the reading and commenting pace to give folks a chance to work it into their otherwise busy lives.

21 by Richard Restak (no author's photo available)

Finish date: August 7, 2013
Rating: C
Genre: Psychology

Review: Good title but fairly drab presentation of activities to help improve your brain power. The book was only written about a decade ago but based on its presentation of technology as a tool to stimulate your brain, it's already fairly outdated.

There were some pages and ideas I highlighted and would like to employ in daily usage, but for the most part, the book was fairly forgettable. (Hmmm. Maybe I do need more memory to ensure books like this isn't forgettable?)

22 by Barbara W. Tuchman

Finish date: August 16, 2013
Rating: B-
Genre: World War One History

Review: At times, this in-depth nation-by-nation study of life before the Great War showcased historian Barbara Tuchman's skills in portraying the events, people, and reasons global changes helped create an atmosphere which led to horrible consequences. But for me, many chapters in The Proud Tower were tough to read and reminded me that this book was written more than 50 years ago.

It just didn't always feel like one of the more modern-sounding historical books that I've experienced in many of Tuchman's other great history books.

There were enough good stories and historical profiles in here, however, that still made this a worthwhile addition to my recent World War One readings.

23 by Christopher S. Stewart

Finish date: August 21, 2013
Rating: C+
Genre: General Non-Fiction?

Review: This is another one of those books that sounds great when you first hear the story, but then fails to deliver at the level of initial expectation. So this one is part World War II spy story (a very small part - I wish there had been more of this part of the story in Jungleland), part historical search for lost treasures story, part travelogue to the remote jungles of Honduras, and part author leaves home to learn how much he really misses his family.

The subtitle of the book hints at the first three parts listed above, but the final product delivers a lot more of the author's coming-of-age confession. How uncomfortable he is during his recreation of the original search for gold. How he misses his daughter's birthday. How his wife is dealing with his absence back home. Stories that might work in a different type of book.

But all those confessions take what could have been a memorable book to something I can't really recommend.

September
24 by Rodney P. Carlisle (no author photo available)

Finish date: September 2, 2013
Rating: B+
Genre: Colonial and Revolutionary War History

Review: Nice resource that offers a lot of specific information about what life was like in the early Colonial and Revolutionary Eras in America. Easily-accessible by all, this is a good resource for the classroom when needing specific material.

25. by Roald Dahl

Finish date: September 2, 2013
Rating: B-
Genre: Children's Fiction

Review: Sentimental Dahl story about a boy and his father and the little English town in which they live. There's really not much of a plot to this children's book, especially when compared to some of the wilder Roald Dahl stories he wrote, but this one certainly has more family values in it than most of his other great works. Basically, the story revolves around a plot to poach pheasants from a farmer's property.

But it's mostly a love story from a son to his father. Dahl probably didn't have many memories of his father who died when he was just three so perhaps this book was written more for his children.

I personally didn't find this to be one of his more compelling books, but my boys all liked it and that's really all that matters.

26 by Logan Beirne

Finish date: September 19, 2013
Rating: A-
Genre: Colonial History

Review: Very entertaining and well-written debut book from young historian who is probably destined for greater books in his future. Full of interesting stories and riveting narrative; for me, the fact that its thesis tended to disappear at times is what kept it from being a pure 'A' review.

Perhaps another thing which kept me from rating it higher is the fact that I'm simultaneously reading a more thorough biography of George Washington, something this book doesn't pretend to be. So it works well as a supplemental book, but I'm just not sure if it taught me a ton - just the fact that some of the military actions of early patriots and loyalists were less than ideal. Another conclusion to draw from the book is that Washington himself had his faults but not too many in the big picture.

I received this book for free as part of a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ giveaway.

October

27. by Edmund S. Morgan

Finish date: October 10, 2013
Rating: B+
Genre: Colonial History

Review: Okay, so I should announce here and now that there's no way I'll get to 50 books this year, but at least I'm still working my way through some books that have been on my to-be-read shelf for awhile.

Included on that list was this book which was one of historian Edmund S. Morgan's final books and is structured as a series of essays he wrote from the 1940s to the early 21st century. Collectively, they showed why Morgan was such a preeminent expert on the Colonial and Revolutionary War time periods. This book spans 200 years or so of American history so it may not go into the depth you'd find in more focused history books, but it does contain some great observations and analysis of a crucial era.

You may not make the 50 books but you certainly have read some good ones. I enjoy your reviews.

28. by Graham Salisbury (no author image available)

Finish date: October 26, 2013
Rating: B-
Genre: Children's Fiction

Review: Another kid's book that started with promise but one that ultimately never delivered at the level I was hoping to see. For a book that was based on the events of Pearl Harbor with a 1941 setting in Hawaii, I really wanted more history and less drama.

I guess the book's audience (children age 9-13?) might shy away from the true historical accuracy and want more of a coming-of-age type story, but that part of this book wasn't very interesting for me. (many children's books have handled this them terrifically; this one didn't.)

The style of the book was just okay as well with a confusing narrative and lots of authentic Hawaiian dialect which made it tough to read it out loud to my sons. When I first found this author and saw his children's book titles, I was intrigued, but this will be a one-and-done author for me when it comes to reading any more of his works.

November
29. by Walter R. Borneman

Finish date: November 1, 2013
Rating: C+
Genre: Military History

Review: A short one-volume history of the War of 1812 that lost some credibility with me due to its "can you believe this?" type of writing style. I've had two War of 1812 history books on my TBR shelf for years and picked this one. If I ever get to the other one, I hope it's better-written.