Brian » Review: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This could have been a snoozer, but Joshua Foer actually takes an interesting historical look at memory, doesn't delve into too much silliness about Google replacing our memory, and even makes memory competitions sound more interesting than they deserve to be. Fun read for non-fiction.
Brian » Review: The Leopard
The Leopard by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another fine thriller by Nesbo. Poor Harry Hole is probably wishing he would stop writing about him by now, and this one definitely takes him to his limit and beyond.
Brian » Review: The Night Eternal
The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Toro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fitting end to this series. Sure, it was kind of predictable to see where it was going, but I thought it was pretty well executed, all in all.
Brian » Review: 1Q84
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It took me a while to get through this one, it's just long. And yet, it's still Murakami at his most simple and spare. Some people might complain about the lack of resolution for the supernatural elements of the story, or the sometimes clunky language, but the most important thing was to resolve Tengo and Aomame's stories, which I ultimately thought he did quite well.
Brian » Review: Zone One
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's so human for a zombie book. I can't find the words to describe it well enough. Whitehead is one of my favorite authors, and he wrote a zombie book. You should probably just go read it.
Brian » Review: The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True
The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True by Richard Dawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It amuses me that this book reads as if Richard Dawkins has given up talking to his foes as adults, and instead decided to talk to them as children. And somehow, it totally works and is probably far more effective than any of his recent books.
Brian » Review: Ready Player One
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ernest Cline took my childhood, threw it into a blender, turned it on high, and spit out the most awesomest book ever written. Video games, quoting Monty Python word for word, pop culture trivia: these are all important PLOT POINTS. And it works too! The whole thing is just amazing, and if you are any kind of child of the 80s, you will go read this book right now. I mean, I get all my books from the library, so I don't buy hardly any books ever. But this book is getting purchased and is going on the shelf in a place of honor.
Brian » Megabus review
With airfares getting really high lately, and the only good fares in this area belonging to the remote outpost of BWI, I decided to try out the Megabus to get myself home from Michigan.
My father-in-law dropped me off at the Rosa Parks Transit Center in downtown Detroit around 11:30pm on Saturday night. The crowd there was about what you would expect: mostly minority, some clearly homeless, and a few hipster types. They were all well behaved, and there was a security guy there trying to make sure that people were actually waiting for buses and not just loitering. On the other side of the building was the Megabus stop, not the most clearly marked, but the map inside the building did show where it was. After a short wait, the bus arrived, my ticket was checked, and I hopped on with 4 other people for the trip to Pittsburgh. The ride was uneventful, though interestingly there were two drivers on the bus. I guess they staff with two during the red eye runs? It was somewhat annoying that the guy got on the loudspeaker and turned on the overhead lights when we stopped at a rest area, but otherwise it was a quick trip, even for me and my utter inability to sleep on buses/planes/etc.
Once in Pittsburgh, I had a little over an hour to kill before the next bus, so I set off in search of food. FYI, not much open at 6am on Sunday in downtown Pittsburgh! But, I did eventually find a McDonald's that had just opened and grabbed breakfast.
The Megabus reps were helping out at the Pittsburgh bus stop, getting people in the correct line for their destination. Once the bus arrived, it was smooth loading, and fairly full this time, with only one or two empty seats for the trip to DC. The actual ride was fine as well, except that the rest stops seemed excessively long, especially the 25 minute one in Frederick, a mere hour from our final destination anyway!
In DC, the Megabus lot had clearly marked signs for each line, and they even had tents up to shield waiting patrons from the hot sun. I hopped off the bus and took a quick walk to the Metro, and got home 45 minutes later.
Overall, it was a long trip (I left Detroit at 12:15am and got to DC at 12:30pm, and got home at 1:30pm), but for about $30 one way, it may have been worth the money (and security hassle) I saved over flying. The one glitch so far is that the return trip may be even longer due to a schedule change that leaves me with a four hour layover in Pittsburgh. At least this time it will be on a Friday morning, so there should be more things actually open.
Brian » Decoded
Decoded by Jay-Z
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Truly fascinating and beautifully presented book. It's worth the read if only to remind yourself that rap and hip-hop songs, while often reality-based, do not necessarily reflect real life, and the performers do not necessarily share the views of their subjects. Jay-Z writes about his life coming up in the projects, escaping the doomed life of the hustler, and becoming a recording star and mogul. And the best part is the way he breaks down the lyrics of a number of his songs to explain why they aren't what they appear to be on the surface. I read to learn, and this book definitely taught me a lot.
Brian » Review: Sapphique
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finally a sequel that lives up to the original. Sapphique takes us back into the worlds of Incarceron and the Realm, to find out what happens to our friends Finn and Claudia, Keiro and Attia. Poor Attia gets neglected a bit near the end, but the other characters all find some sense of closure, at least. Lots of magical fantasy went in to this book, and it was a lot of fun finding out how it ended.
Brian » The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness and Obsession
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness and Obsession by David Grann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed David Grann's The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, so when I heard he had a new book out, I went and found it at the library. This one features several interesting stories, some of which I am fairly certain I had read before in magazine form. Did I mention they are mostly pieces he wrote for the New Yorker?
So, that was the only disappointing part. The stories aren't really tied together in any particular way, but they are all intriguing in their own way, and I enjoyed reading them. If you're in to long form journalism, this is right up your alley.
Brian » Mockingbird
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Another book that is a bit predictable, partially because it's a YA title, but it deals with its rather mature topics rather well even with the flaws. Death and autism/Asperger's are going to be tough topics to tackle in and of themselves, but put them together and it's really hard. It seemed to me that the author kind of compressed the timeline and forced some of the characters to get to their resolutions more quickly than they might in "real life," and that bugged me a bit. Still, I would recommend it for the category, as it does well in addressing the topics it tackles.
Brian » How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This one seemed a bit scattershot at times, but I suppose it's hard to write a good story about time travel without things getting a little scattered. But of course, a good sci-fi story isn't about the gadgets and the time travel, it's about the characters and the story, and that is where this book manages to get it done just well enough. And of course, the fun spin on time travel doesn't hurt.
Brian » Room
Room by Emma Donoghue
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A tremendously moving book that will have you squirming and hoping and rooting and crying, and that's just in the first half of the book. The surprise comes about halfway through, as a punch in the gut, and the second half is probably even better than the first. Amazing.
Brian » 2010 Favorites
It's time once again for my yearly favorites!
First, in the book category, for non-fiction we have Blind Descent and The Big Short. For fiction, Let the Great World Spin and A Visit From The Goon Squad. Overall I finished 45 books, just a few short of my goal of 52, but not bad.
In the ever-present beer category, I didn't review nearly as many as usual, but I most enjoyed Founders Nemesis and Drie Fonteinen Oude Kriek.
And as always, we relive the rest of the year's events:
Looking forward to 2011!
Brian » Super Sad True Love Story
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A lot of authors have tried to write near-future fiction that ends up falling into sci-fi too much (hint: we still don't have flying cars and jet packs, get over it!). Gary Shteyngart writes near-future fiction that is downright scary, because it seems so close to coming true. He totally nails what could be the downfall of the US, and does it without delving too much into techno-babble. It's entirely possible that this book will actually hold up over the coming years, and wind up being far too prescient as well.
Brian » The Cheapskate Next Door
The Cheapskate Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means by Jeff Yeager
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Vaguely similar to the last financial book I read, but less ADD affected. There are money-saving "tips" sprinkled throughout, but far less frequently than the other one. I guess this one bugged me just as much though, because it was largely pasted together interviews with "cheapskates" around the country, and, while some of the interviews were interesting, I felt like as a whole, it was kind of repetitive and not all that interesting.
Brian » Movember Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who donated to my Movember campaign. I passed my goal and raised over $500! You can still donate for the next week or so right here. Now, it's time to go shave this thing off!
Brian » Generation Earn: The Young Professional’s Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Bac
Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back by Kimberly Palmer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I didn't really think too much of this book, honestly. There may be some stuff in there that people unlike myself would find useful, but I really felt like I had read most of it elsewhere. And all the "quick tips" scattered throughout every single page really got to me. So ADD! I guess I'm just barely too old to be in this book's target demographic.
Evan » Evan Turns 4!
Way better than last year, when I forgot to post pictures for, oh, 5 months or so. Here we go.
The birthday boy wears the crown at school. And waits patiently to eat that awesome alien cupcake.
Mmm, cupcake.
We opened presents before the party. Evan was happy to get more Thomas trains.
Of course, Evan wanted a Toy Story party, so he was quite pleased to get Buzz Lightyear as a present.
And don't forget Woody!
Thankfully, the kids took turns playing with each of the new toys. Well loved by all. Then, it was on with the party.
What could those kids be waiting for so patiently?
The baking soda and vinegar rocket launch!
Somehow I managed to only get a little bit wet.
Then it was time for the piñata. Oh, that awful piñata.
Evan took some good whacks, but that bat wasn't working. We moved on to a heftier stick, but it took a long time to finally crack it.
Another fine Lisa cake creation. The cupcakes are pretty awesome, eh?
And of course, we had to position the candles so they looked like the engines firing. Pretty awesome cake for a pretty awesome kid. Happy birthday Evan!
