A Rainy Monday Morning Blogging About Books
09/29/08 09:35
As my readers (all 4 of them) may have noticed, I
added a list to my sidebar of books I am currently
reading. Though I aspire to be a writer, I am first
and foremost a reader. It is a lifelong passion. And
even though a lot of what I read now is via the
intertoobz, I still much prefer the dead-tree version
and I generally have several books lying about in
various stages of completion. Hence the list.
My plan (laziness permitting) is to occasionally write a brief review and/or recommendation of books I complete and deem worthy as I work through them and update the list. I’m not going to bother with all the trashy, lightweight fiction I read just for fun, but rather concentrate on the stuff I originally picked up thinking it might provide me a little knowledge or personal growth. I’ll begin with the four books listed as I write this:
Simon Singh’s engrossing Big Bang relates the history of development of the Big Bang Theory of our universe’s origin, from the earliest attempts to shrug off mythology, replace the supernatural with the natural through naked-eyed observation of the heavens right up through modern satellite spectroscopy and the search for dark matter and dark energy. Singh’s ability to reveal the personalities behind the science makes for a very good read.
I’ve always found a combination of brains and beauty in women attractive, and it’s not often I get to use the term “physicist/babe”, but Lisa Randall fills the bill. Sadly, her book is not as stimulating. Warped Passages; Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions is as dry as a popcorn fart. It’s been on my nightstand for over a year and I’ve still not managed to slog halfway through it.
It’s just the opposite for Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winner, The Road. I read it in two sittings, hoping in vain for a happy ending. It’s a gripping, post-apocalyptic treatise on despair.
Lastly, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, is one of the best novels I’ve read in quite some time. It’s a memorable story that takes place against the backdrop of a radically changing Afghanistan. I’m probably going to see the movie, but I expect to be disappointed.
As our Congress prepares today to give away hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars we can’t spare, I’m off to the library while it’s still there.
My plan (laziness permitting) is to occasionally write a brief review and/or recommendation of books I complete and deem worthy as I work through them and update the list. I’m not going to bother with all the trashy, lightweight fiction I read just for fun, but rather concentrate on the stuff I originally picked up thinking it might provide me a little knowledge or personal growth. I’ll begin with the four books listed as I write this:
Simon Singh’s engrossing Big Bang relates the history of development of the Big Bang Theory of our universe’s origin, from the earliest attempts to shrug off mythology, replace the supernatural with the natural through naked-eyed observation of the heavens right up through modern satellite spectroscopy and the search for dark matter and dark energy. Singh’s ability to reveal the personalities behind the science makes for a very good read.
I’ve always found a combination of brains and beauty in women attractive, and it’s not often I get to use the term “physicist/babe”, but Lisa Randall fills the bill. Sadly, her book is not as stimulating. Warped Passages; Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe’s Hidden Dimensions is as dry as a popcorn fart. It’s been on my nightstand for over a year and I’ve still not managed to slog halfway through it.
It’s just the opposite for Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winner, The Road. I read it in two sittings, hoping in vain for a happy ending. It’s a gripping, post-apocalyptic treatise on despair.
Lastly, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, is one of the best novels I’ve read in quite some time. It’s a memorable story that takes place against the backdrop of a radically changing Afghanistan. I’m probably going to see the movie, but I expect to be disappointed.
As our Congress prepares today to give away hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars we can’t spare, I’m off to the library while it’s still there.
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