Brian » 12 Books http://the-ds.com/brian Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:08:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Review: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything http://the-ds.com/brian/2012/01/review-moonwalking-with-einstein-the-art-and-science-of-remembering-everything/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2012/01/review-moonwalking-with-einstein-the-art-and-science-of-remembering-everything/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:50:33 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=16595 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/12/review-1q84/feed/ 0 Review: Zone One http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-zone-one/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-zone-one/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:47:07 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=16517 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.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-zone-one/feed/ 0 Review: The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-the-magic-of-reality-how-we-know-whats-really-true/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-the-magic-of-reality-how-we-know-whats-really-true/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:43:28 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=16513 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.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/11/review-the-magic-of-reality-how-we-know-whats-really-true/feed/ 0 Review: Ready Player One http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/09/review-ready-player-one/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/09/review-ready-player-one/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:12:34 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=15433 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.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/09/review-ready-player-one/feed/ 0 Decoded http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/03/decoded/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/03/decoded/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:45:30 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=12748 DecodedDecoded 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.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/03/decoded/feed/ 0 Review: Sapphique http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/02/review-sapphique/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/02/review-sapphique/#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 13:47:47 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=12727 Sapphique (Incarceron, #2)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.

]]> http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/02/review-sapphique/feed/ 0 The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness and Obsession http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/02/review-the-devil-and-sherlock-holmes-tales-of-murder-madness-and-obsession/ http://the-ds.com/brian/2011/02/review-the-devil-and-sherlock-holmes-tales-of-murder-madness-and-obsession/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:29:51 +0000 Brian http://the-ds.com/brian/?p=12715 The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness and ObsessionThe 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.

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