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So Many Books, So Little Time
Read In Order To Live
Title: The Other Queen
Author: Philippa Gregory
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 03.08.10
Date Ended: 03.15.10
Number of Pages: 440
Grade: C+
Summary: In 1568, after fleeing rebellious Scottish lords, Mary is placed into the custody of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. This turns their Derbyshire estate into a hotbed of intrigue and possible treason. George, normally loyal to a fault, falls in love with Mary; Bess secretly reports to William Cecil, Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, while fretting about her foolish husband and the continual draining of their funds; Mary plays them against one another while plotting to escape, with Cecil noting her every move. Gregory skillfully evokes the suspenseful atmosphere—it was never certain that the 1569 Rising of the North in favor of Catholic Mary would fail.
Comments: It was fiction, therefore understandable that it doesn’t go too much in depth. That being said, the three main characters; George, Bess, and Mary Queen of Scots were very one dimensional.
Author: Philippa Gregory
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 03.08.10
Date Ended: 03.15.10
Number of Pages: 440
Grade: C+
Summary: In 1568, after fleeing rebellious Scottish lords, Mary is placed into the custody of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. This turns their Derbyshire estate into a hotbed of intrigue and possible treason. George, normally loyal to a fault, falls in love with Mary; Bess secretly reports to William Cecil, Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, while fretting about her foolish husband and the continual draining of their funds; Mary plays them against one another while plotting to escape, with Cecil noting her every move. Gregory skillfully evokes the suspenseful atmosphere—it was never certain that the 1569 Rising of the North in favor of Catholic Mary would fail.
Comments: It was fiction, therefore understandable that it doesn’t go too much in depth. That being said, the three main characters; George, Bess, and Mary Queen of Scots were very one dimensional.
Title: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Author: Doris Kearn Goodman
Format: Paperback
Date Started:
Date Ended: March 5, 2010
Number of Pages: 754
Grade: A
Summary: The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals, esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods.
Comments: Holy fucking hell. Talk about a mamonth book. But absolutely brilliant. She talked a bit too much about the rivals, particularly their families, but still brilliantly woven.
Author: Doris Kearn Goodman
Format: Paperback
Date Started:
Date Ended: March 5, 2010
Number of Pages: 754
Grade: A
Summary: The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals, esteemed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates. These men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods.
Comments: Holy fucking hell. Talk about a mamonth book. But absolutely brilliant. She talked a bit too much about the rivals, particularly their families, but still brilliantly woven.
Title: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Author: Katherine Howe
Read By: Katherine Kellgren
Format: Audiobook
Date Started: 01.18.10
Date Ended: 02.03.10
Number of Hours: 13
Grade: B+
Summary: Harvard Graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmother’s abandoned home near Salem, she can’t refuse. There, Connie discovers an ancient key secreted within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest to find out who this woman was, and to unearth a rare colonial artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge of herbs and other, stranger things. As pieces of Deliverance’s harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long ago, witch trials, and begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem’s dark past than she could have ever imagined.
Comments: Although it is a gripping story, she loses points for characters that are two-dimensional. The main character, Connie, is a pretentious young woman, yet somehow you get sucked into the story and can’t turn it off. It did get preachy about religion at the end, but overall religiosity was minimal and to the point throughout.
Author: Katherine Howe
Read By: Katherine Kellgren
Format: Audiobook
Date Started: 01.18.10
Date Ended: 02.03.10
Number of Hours: 13
Grade: B+
Summary: Harvard Graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmother’s abandoned home near Salem, she can’t refuse. There, Connie discovers an ancient key secreted within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest to find out who this woman was, and to unearth a rare colonial artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge of herbs and other, stranger things. As pieces of Deliverance’s harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long ago, witch trials, and begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem’s dark past than she could have ever imagined.
Comments: Although it is a gripping story, she loses points for characters that are two-dimensional. The main character, Connie, is a pretentious young woman, yet somehow you get sucked into the story and can’t turn it off. It did get preachy about religion at the end, but overall religiosity was minimal and to the point throughout.
Title: V for Vendetta
Author: Steve Moore
Read By: Simon Vance
Format: Audiobook
Date Started: 12.19.09
Date Ended: 01.13.10
Number of Hours: 9.5
Grade: A
Summary: Imagine a Britain stripped of democracy, a world of the not-too-distant future, in which freedom was not lost but surrendered willingly to a totalitarian regime that rose to power by exploiting the people’s worst fears and most damning weaknesses. This is the setting for the parable of Evey, a young woman saved from death by a masked man calling himself V. Beguiling and dangerous, V ignites the fuse of revolution when he urges his fellow citizens to shed the blanket of tyranny and oppression they have permitted themselves to be cloaked in. While those in power take steps to neutralize the threat, police pursue the mystery of V, unaware of the terrible truth that awaits them. But it is Evey, who, with V as her enigmatic guide, sets out on the painful path of deception and self-discovery, deconstruction and recreation, vindication and vengeance.
Comments: I saw the movie before I read this, and as usual, the book is better than the movie. Which is saying something, 'cause the movie was kickass. The last disc was the best. It was philosophical in nature, as if the first 7 discs were a scenario, and the last disc was a professor saying, "See? You really do understand this stuff."
Author: Steve Moore
Read By: Simon Vance
Format: Audiobook
Date Started: 12.19.09
Date Ended: 01.13.10
Number of Hours: 9.5
Grade: A
Summary: Imagine a Britain stripped of democracy, a world of the not-too-distant future, in which freedom was not lost but surrendered willingly to a totalitarian regime that rose to power by exploiting the people’s worst fears and most damning weaknesses. This is the setting for the parable of Evey, a young woman saved from death by a masked man calling himself V. Beguiling and dangerous, V ignites the fuse of revolution when he urges his fellow citizens to shed the blanket of tyranny and oppression they have permitted themselves to be cloaked in. While those in power take steps to neutralize the threat, police pursue the mystery of V, unaware of the terrible truth that awaits them. But it is Evey, who, with V as her enigmatic guide, sets out on the painful path of deception and self-discovery, deconstruction and recreation, vindication and vengeance.
Comments: I saw the movie before I read this, and as usual, the book is better than the movie. Which is saying something, 'cause the movie was kickass. The last disc was the best. It was philosophical in nature, as if the first 7 discs were a scenario, and the last disc was a professor saying, "See? You really do understand this stuff."
Title: In The Wake Of The Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made
Author: Norman F. Cantor
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 01.06.10
Date Ended: 01.04.10
Number of Pages: 220
Grade: B
Summary: The Black Death was the fourteenth century’s equivalent of a nuclear war. It wiped out one-third of Europe’s population, taking some 20 million lives. And yet, most of what we know about it is wrong. The details of the Plague etched in the minds of terrified schoolchildren- the hideous black welts, the high fever, and the awful end by respiratory failure- are more or less accurate. But what the Plague really was and how it made history remain shrouded in a haze of myths. Now, Norman Cantor, the premier historian of the Middle Ages, draws together the most recent scientific discoveries and groundbreaking historical research to pierce the mist and tell the story of the Black Death as a gripping, intimate narrative.
Comments: 220 pages, and the only thing I got out of it was it set intellectual history back, yet allowed the Renaissance to happen.
Author: Norman F. Cantor
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 01.06.10
Date Ended: 01.04.10
Number of Pages: 220
Grade: B
Summary: The Black Death was the fourteenth century’s equivalent of a nuclear war. It wiped out one-third of Europe’s population, taking some 20 million lives. And yet, most of what we know about it is wrong. The details of the Plague etched in the minds of terrified schoolchildren- the hideous black welts, the high fever, and the awful end by respiratory failure- are more or less accurate. But what the Plague really was and how it made history remain shrouded in a haze of myths. Now, Norman Cantor, the premier historian of the Middle Ages, draws together the most recent scientific discoveries and groundbreaking historical research to pierce the mist and tell the story of the Black Death as a gripping, intimate narrative.
Comments: 220 pages, and the only thing I got out of it was it set intellectual history back, yet allowed the Renaissance to happen.
Title: Without You: A Memoir Of Love, Loss, and the Musical RENT
Author: Anthony Rapp
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 01.03.10
Date Ended: 01.0.10
Number of Pages: 306
Grade: B
Summary: Anthony Rapp had a special feeling about Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent as early as his first audition, which won him a starring role as the video artist Mark Cohen. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent opened to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway -- but even as friends and family were celebrating the show's first success, they were also mourning Jonathan Larson's sudden death from an aortic aneurysm. And when Anthony's mom began to lose her battle with cancer, Anthony found himself struggling to balance his life in the theater with his responsibility to his family.
In Without You, Anthony tells of his exhilarating journey with the cast and crew of Rent as well as the intimacies of his personal life behind the curtain. Marked by fledgling love and devastating loss, Without You is an exceptional memoir of the world of theater, the love of a son for his mother, and maturity won far too early.
Comments: I thought it was going to be more about the musical, and his career, and less about his mother and his relationships. Although it was interested and well written, I was really disappointed.
Author: Anthony Rapp
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 01.03.10
Date Ended: 01.0.10
Number of Pages: 306
Grade: B
Summary: Anthony Rapp had a special feeling about Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent as early as his first audition, which won him a starring role as the video artist Mark Cohen. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent opened to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway -- but even as friends and family were celebrating the show's first success, they were also mourning Jonathan Larson's sudden death from an aortic aneurysm. And when Anthony's mom began to lose her battle with cancer, Anthony found himself struggling to balance his life in the theater with his responsibility to his family.
In Without You, Anthony tells of his exhilarating journey with the cast and crew of Rent as well as the intimacies of his personal life behind the curtain. Marked by fledgling love and devastating loss, Without You is an exceptional memoir of the world of theater, the love of a son for his mother, and maturity won far too early.
Comments: I thought it was going to be more about the musical, and his career, and less about his mother and his relationships. Although it was interested and well written, I was really disappointed.
Title: Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More
Author: Peter Walsh
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 01.01.10
Date Ended: 01.01.10
Number of Pages: 227
Grade: B
Summary:
Comments: Definitely like no weight loss advice book I’ve ever seen before. Takes the philosophy of “less is more” and draws a correlation between clutter around your home and overeating. Sounds a little far fetched, but the way he writes, it makes sense.
Author: Peter Walsh
Format: Paperback
Date Started: 01.01.10
Date Ended: 01.01.10
Number of Pages: 227
Grade: B
Summary:
Comments: Definitely like no weight loss advice book I’ve ever seen before. Takes the philosophy of “less is more” and draws a correlation between clutter around your home and overeating. Sounds a little far fetched, but the way he writes, it makes sense.
Title: Scarpetta
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Read By: Kate Reading
Format: Audiobook
Date Started: 10.03.09
Date Ended: 10.20.09
Number of Hours:
Grade: B
Summary: Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, and when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk—and the story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard.
Comments: For some reason, her books are much better as an audiobook than as a regular book.
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Read By: Kate Reading
Format: Audiobook
Date Started: 10.03.09
Date Ended: 10.20.09
Number of Hours:
Grade: B
Summary: Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, and when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk—and the story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard.
Comments: For some reason, her books are much better as an audiobook than as a regular book.
