May 2013 Reading List

Killing Floor
Die Trying
Tripwire
Running Blind
Echo Burning
Without Fail
---All by Lee Child
I don't know...  I saw the new Tom Cruise movie, "Jack Reacher" and it wasn't too bad, so I thought I'd check out the novel it was based on. Come to find out, it's based on book number 9 in a series of 17 or so. These are the first 6 and they're pretty good (albeit mindless) reads chock full of factual errors. I guess that's to be expected when a Brit writes a series of action novels about an ex-US Army officer, but you'd think he'd do a little research about the US Army before writing about it.  This guy seems to think that Corporals do Majors' laundry for them, that Majors can be demoted to Captain and re-promoted to Major, and that officers sleep in a huge barracks in open bays with other officers. The plots are far-fetched and they should really just be short stories, but they're great when you don't want to think much.

New Complete Techniques
---Jacques Pépin
I love this guy. Love to watch him cook, love to see him interact with Julia Child, love to hear him talk. The explained techniques are all pretty cool--even if you already know how to do them--and the recipes are all very simple, straight-forward, and things I'm dying to try, but it'll have to be on a long weekend. If we were at a restaurant, Sim would eat most everything in the book, but she wouldn't eat it at home. Too good. She doesn't like to eat anything that tastes good at home because she thinks it will make her fat.  As if.

Letter To A Christian Nation
---Sam Harris
Wow...  Harris stated that his aim was "to demolish the intellectual and moral pretensions of Christianity in its most committed forms" and he certainly succeeded to my way of thinking. I don't know what to make of this guy yet, but there's no doubt he's brilliant, interesting, funny, and a great writer.

Heart Shaped Box
---Joe Hill
I'm certainly glad that I didn't find out Joe Hill is Stephen King's son until after I finished the book because I would have been comparing the two the entire time I was reading it. I can't say the kid's better at this sort of thing than his father, but he's certainly different. Some of the stories were only so-so and some were gripping. All in all, it was good bedtime reading.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
---Christopher Hitchens
The biggest problem I have when reading Christopher Hitchens is that I know if he and I were debating whether the sky was blue or not, and I had the affirmative, he would win anyway because no one can argue with Hitchens. An absolutely brilliant writer; entertaining, thought-provoking, thorough, and highly literate. And while Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris are no chumps, this was the best book I've read on a subject I agree with whole-heartedly.

Odd Thomas
---Dean Koontz
It's my second reading, but Odd is the most enchanting character in contemporary literature...even though most people wouldn't consider Dean Koontz a writer of what you'd call "literature." How could you not like a character who works as a fry cook but wants to change tires for a living, sees ghosts and spirits (including Elvis) and whose girlfriend is named Stormy Llewelyn?

No Cure For Cancer
---Denis Leary
Fucking moron. I've read menus that were funnier than this guy.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
---Steve Martin
A very interesting autobiography of comedian Steve Martin. Sometimes surprising, too. I thought he just "burst on the scene" and was an immediate success. Reading about how he worked his way up and through the ranks is fascinating, especially because faced with that, I would have quit a long time ago.

Fear and Loathing At Rolling Stone
---Hunter S. Thompson
I started picking this up and knocking off a chapter or two ever few days. It's an interesting insight into the workings behind the scene of Dr. Thompson and Jann Wenner, but nothing earth-shattering. If you're a huge fan of Thompson like I am, you'll enjoy it; if not, it's a waste of time. I still can't believe the goofy bastard killed himself, but I guess he thought it was time to go.

How To Win Friends And Influence People
---Dale Carnegie
Nah, I'm just shitting you.