One Shot - Lee Child

Well, that was the last of the Jack Reacher books until Gone Tomorrow is released in May! This wasn't the best story, only because there couldn't be another 300 pages unless the reader assumed a few things upfront. A former Army sniper shoots five people, seemingly at random, and after being awakened at his home, asks for Reacher, who shows up soon thereafter. The problem is that the sniper is beaten into a coma while sitting in jail, and Reacher had investigated him 14 years prior for a similar incident that he admitted to. So why ask for Reacher? The story moves at a good pace and is an entertaining trip (even if you know you've figured it out!).

Low Man - T.J. Vargo

Just not one I could get into. I wasn't overly a bad story, I just don't think it was a great story either. I might give it another chance at a later date as I have been distracted lately with other good reads, so perhaps I just didn't devote myself to this enough to give it justice. But for now....nothing memorable.  4/10

Cuts - Richard Laymon

I wasn't sure if I should put a review of this one up or not as I didn't finish it.  But I felt that this book was bad enough to warn others away.  I've read a few of Laymon's novels before and while they are not quality literature, they can tend to be somewhat enjoyable.  This was not.  This was just downright boring.

Laymon's books tend to follow a simple pattern.  Young people (anywhere from teenagers to young adults) wide up being a mass killer or chased by one.  Usually end up naked for most of the book and they usually find plenty of time to have a bit of sex. Not sure why I've read his books in the past, but the past  books I've read at least keep the action going enough to hold my interest.  This one was just dull.  Sure the pattern  was holding true, but there was no action to go along.  Just nothing really happening.  Perhaps it was all building to a big climax, but I just didn't feel like wasting my time on this one.  So back on the shelf it goes....in fact it's going to be listed on Amazon or Paperbackswap soon.  No need to have this one take up shelf space.  1/10

Confessor - Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth

Well I feel like I've just lost an old friend.  The Sword of Truth series has come to an end.  I started my second path through the series almost a year ago and while I've read other books in between, this has been my main focus for 2008.  Plowing through 11 books of 700+ pages was a daunting task at times, but well worth the time.  These kind of series only come around once in a while.  Those that you are truely drawn into the plot, you feel empathy for the characters and in fact kind of see them as old friends.

Book 11, Confessor, wraps up the series in fine fashion.  For the most part I was in the dark about how this would wrap up until the very end.  Most books or series will end weakly because they try to just tie up loose ends within a certain word count, leaving the reader less than satisfied.  This was the exception.  Not many loose ends left over.  Everything wrapped up nicely and made complete sense when looking over the entire series.  While some may not like the ending for Jagang, if you look at thephilosphies that Terry was trying to portray through his story his end fit oh so well.  

I'm saddened yet relieved that the series is done (I don't think I will be doing any huge long series in 2009).  I can't wait to see what Goodkind produces next and hope that at some point he returns to this world in a new novel / series either expanding on some back history or telling all new stories moving forward in this world.  While this series is long and will take some time, I recommend it to anyone even to non-fantasy readers.  9/10

Posts for the rest of the series.
Book 1 - Wizard's First Rule

Book 2 - Stone of Tears

Book 3 - Blood of the Fold

Book 4 - Temple of the Winds

Book 5 - Soul of the Fire

Book 6 - Faith of the Fallen

Book 7 - Pillars of Creation

Debt of Bones

Book 8 - Naked Empire

Book 9 - Chainfire

Book 10 - Phantom

The Daemon - Daniel Suarez

So, what happens when a designer of extremely popular multi-player virtual games (e.g., World of Warcraft) dies of brain cancer? In this novel, a daemon is unleashed that burrows through corporate and government networks, following an emotionless logic path focused on interrupting society. I'm not much of a techie anymore, but there is an unnerving sense that much of this book could happen - imagine if that gaming engine is turned to the outside world! There are parts that seem somewhat fantastic (e.g., the razor-armored rider-less motorcycles), but for those of us that have experienced the helplessness of having a credit card hacked online, the book resonates with possibility! The book doesn't actually resolve and actually introduces an upcoming series - I'll be waiting for it to hit the stores in 2010!

Experiencing God - Henry Blackaby and Claude King

I worked through the workbook years ago with friends from church. This book pretty much mirrors the workbook and presents it in a readable, book format. Content is pretty much the same. Having said that, this is an awesome book. Presenting ways in which we can know God's will and then how to go about doing God's will. This is one that any Christian should read and I for one was encouraged by it and am now "hearing" God speak to me each day in many ways. I would recommend this to anyone who wishes to experience God fully.  9/10

Hyperspace - Michio Kaku

I read this book a while back and just realized I never reviewed it.  So actually this should probably go against the 2008 numbers, but who cares.

This book deals with high dimensional space time theories like superstring theory.  This book is very readable for the non-physicists amoung us (myself included).  The writing style of Kaku actually made 10 dimensional understandable despite the complex math underlying it and I actually understood how the 10 dimensions actually simplify the laws of nature.  

Sure I took a couple physics courses in college, but we never got this deep and I'm no where near ready to take on Einstein, but this was actually an enjoyable read for those of you that are interested in seeing what some of the latest theories of space-time are.  I've got a few more of Kaku's books on my TBR pile and look forward to tackling them.

Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation - Joseph J. Ellis

This was a phenomenal book! I picked this up at an airport last week, and have been captivated by these stories of Washington, Burr, Hamilton, Adams, and Jefferson. The writing style is fantastic (Ellis is a Pulitzer winner) and the stories he has chosen are perfect - things you may not have thought about at depth, such as how the Potomac was picked to become the capital, how and why slavery came to exist in the Constitution, and how the famous Burr-Hamilton dual came to pass. This is not a dull history version - the writing brings the men the founded this country off the page. I'd recommend this to anyone!

God's Stress Management Plan

We all let the little (or sometimes big) stresses get the best of us in our lives.  What I've come to realize over the years is that all that little stress adds up to a big problem for my overall health (physical, mental and spirtual).  One of my goals of 2009 is to become more stress free.  To let life lead me where it does and savor every moment.  One of my favorite biblical verses comes from Matthew 6:34 which says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."

This book doesn't have any ground breaking material in it, but what it does do well is bring many biblical ideas together into one place.  It's very heavy in biblical references, which is a good thing and the 10 steps are great and actually do work.  The more difficult thing that will actually keep me coming back to this book from time to time as a reference is to integrate these steps into my every day life.  

Each day I like to make a bit more progress towards my yearly goals.  Reading this book has moved me well down the path of living more stress free this year.  8/10

The Card - Michael O'Keefe & Teri Thompson

Those that know me recognize that I couldn't tell you anything about sports - nothing. It might seem odd, then, that I would be interested in a book about a baseball card. This isn't just any card, but the T206 Wagner that has inspired people to spend a million dollars for a 100-year-old slice of cardboard! This book highlights the mysterious past of the Gretzky card, as well as an industry of sports collectibles that has become haunted by fakes and restorations. I've paid $100 for a single postcard that I wanted for my collection, and that feels like a lot to me, but I suppose that one man's Benjamin is another's million! An interesting book!

Lawyer Boy - Rick Lax

Perusing the law section at Borders, I fell upon this story of an amateur magician that decides to go to law school. This book chronicles the period stretching from the LSAT through the author's first year at DePaul in Chicago. Not bad. I've been a law student at a public university, nothing at all wrong with that, but the environment is different than Turow's "1L" tale from Harvard. This book tells that tale by introducing the characters present in every law school, and the story is told with an entertaining humor. Those that have experienced, or plan to experience, law school will enjoy this book, and the rest of you, it's a great story!

Phantom - Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth

Book 10 in the Sword of Truth series was one of the better books in the series in my mind. It begins to tie up the pieces of the puzzle and draws alot of the other books which were less ejoyable at the time together. Some of the seemingly meaningless and frankly boring books in the series now make a bit more sense. I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read the final book to see how the whole thing wraps up. Good stuff here.  8/10

The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

I think most people have heard of this book by now, but for those that haven't, the author was a professor at Carnegie Mellon, invited to participate in a tradition where the professor would deliver a theoretical last lecture. In his case, however, a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer made it likely that this would be his last for real, and his topic turned to happiness through realizing one's childhood dreams. Video of the lecture is viewable at www.TheLastLecture.com, but the book goes beyond by talking about how the author worked with his wife to ensure that his three children (18 months to six years) would know their father. This is a good book to start the year with, as it reminds you over-and-over that time is valuable, and quite possibly in shorter quantity than desired.

2008 Recap - Todd

Okay, so I was hoping to get close to the goal of 100 books in 2008, but finished at 60. It seems like I should be able to read more than 5 books a month, but maybe 2 a week is a bit excessive as a goal as well! 2008 was a good year, topped by the birth of my daughter, so I think I'll forgive myself a reading deficit. I discovered a few new favorite authors (Joe Abercrombie, Lee Child) and enjoyed most of the books that I picked up.

Now, if I could just get my novel published in 2009!

The Grand Inquisitor's Manual - Jonathan Kirsch

I saw this book reviewed, and immediately picked it up. As I suspect is the case with many, my knowledge of the inquisition is rather limited, and probably headlined by Monty Python's "No one ever suspects the Spanish Inquisition" and the story of St. Joan or Arc. The subtitle of this book is "A History of Terror in the Name of God" and this the word "terror" is operational here. The author tracks the history of the Catholic Church using priests, by authority of the popes, to force confessions by any means, including torture and ultimately the stake. Later, Nazis and Stalinists adopted this same approach, and disturbingly, the author shows that water-boarding, a torture method used by American officers, was used by inquisitors in the 1200s.

2008 Recap

Here we are at the end of another year and time for my annual recap of my books read in 2008.  This past years numbers were up a bit from last year.  I finished 27 books this year compared to only 20 from last year.  Still not where I would like to be, but I'm still happy with it.  A lot of time was spent working through a very long series (Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind) of which I'm still not completely finished.  This year I think I'll stick to either standalone or short trilogies.  No more massive series in 2009 (2010 may be different as I'll reread and finish the Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan once the last book comes out).  I did spend a lot of down time not reading as I was sick a bit more this year than last and was busier with work which left me with not much time to read, but I'm still very pleased with my numbers.

Favorite book of the year?  By far it was Glenn Beck's Christmas Sweater.  This was not a typical book for me to read, but it touched me in so many ways that it is one I will remember for the year to come and will come back to next year as well.

Least favorite book of 2008?  Probably Fistful of Diamonds by John Robinson.  Nothing overally wrong with it, just didn't grab me in any way and not memorable in the least.

I've got so many books on my to-be-read pile that I hope to have a record breaking year this time and hopefully find some interesting books in the process.  Well here's to a Happy New Year to everyone and hoping for some Good Reads for all!