tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:51:26 +0000Random ThoughtsBook ReviewsOdd TidbitsBlack ShirtTechnomonkIlliterate MonkeyBook reviews, and random thoughts.http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (JDubba)Blogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-332360312189980929Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:17:00 +00002008-08-11T21:17:58.756-05:00Book ReviewsReflections on GulagI recently began working through volume 1 of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago history of the Russian prison and slave labor system that arose from the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution and was entrenched by Josef Stalin and later Nikita Khrushchev. My experience has been punctuated by the author's death, which occurred the day after I began consuming the volume, which had sat idly http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/aFH1ZVYcVbE/reflections-on-gulag.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/aFH1ZVYcVbE" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2008/08/reflections-on-gulag.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-6929895294200863316Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:57:00 +00002008-07-07T19:11:55.742-05:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: SpinSpin by Robert Charles Wilson Published by Tor Books Spin is a coming of age love story set in a backdrop of apocalyptic science fiction.  Wilson uses a creative technique that divides the story into two long running threads, the culmination of a flashback thread that ends the novel where the future thread begins.  He uses the back and forth between past and future to build suspense and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/O0fSIuaZOBk/book-completed-spin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/O0fSIuaZOBk" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2008/07/book-completed-spin.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-5901560980216749212Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:37:00 +00002008-07-07T19:12:07.758-05:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Spaceman BluesSpaceman Blues: A Love Song by Brian Francis Slattery Published by Tor Books A surreal kaleidoscope of moments woven into a story of apocalyptic intrigue.  Stattery's freshman novel manages to take a patchwork of highly surreal story elements and narrate the end of the world, love lost, longing and betrayal. The single thread that ties this story together is the search for Manuel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/s-sgMW6KCpM/book-completed-spaceman-blues.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/s-sgMW6KCpM" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2008/07/book-completed-spaceman-blues.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-463176729721543136Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:46:00 +00002008-07-07T19:12:20.267-05:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Black ShipsBlack Ships by Jo Graham Published by Orbit Black Ships, the freshman novel by Jo Graham, is a historical fantasy set in the world of the ancient Mediterranean.  Set after the fall of Troy, this book is the retelling of the story of Aeneas, his flight from Troy and the founding of Rome, with the insights of modern interpretations of the historical arena where the story is set. While thehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/zDqc-KhUJf8/book-completed-black-ships.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/zDqc-KhUJf8" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2008/06/book-completed-black-ships.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-8657460304341191886Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:21:00 +00002008-06-08T09:34:37.615-05:00Book Completed: The God DelusionThe God Delusion by Richard Dawkins Published by Mariner Books With the publication of The God Delusion Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins leaves his world of biology for the realms of the Philosophy of Religion and the Philosophy of Science.  Dawkins primary purpose in writing the book, is to study what religion is, and why it is not only wrong, but dangerous to the human condition.  To http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/QkY_qOJWnq8/book-completed-god-delusion.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/QkY_qOJWnq8" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2008/06/book-completed-god-delusion.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-6340590983389184971Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:56:00 +00002008-01-20T00:56:24.682-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Character Makes a DifferenceCharacter Makes a Difference: Where I'm From, Where I've Been, and What I Believe by Mike Huckabee Published by B&H Books Character Makes a Difference was published as a preparation for Huckabee's bid for president in the 2008 election. It is an updated version of his 1997 book Character is the Issue, with some inclusions from another book Living Beyond Your Lifetime. This book reads http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/uFxW-ty77rY/book-completed-character-makes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/uFxW-ty77rY" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-completed-character-makes.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-8601227845968198162Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:23:00 +00002008-01-05T17:23:41.177-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Letters from NurembergLetters from Nuremberg: My Father's Narrative of a Quest for Justice by Christopher Dodd Published by Crown Christopher Dodd, running for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008, decided to publish his father's letters home from Nuremberg.  Christopher Dodd's father, Thomas, traveled to Germany to eventually act as one of the chief prosecutors for the United States in the trials http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/xftSXBFyvn8/book-completed-letters-from-nuremberg.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/xftSXBFyvn8" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-completed-letters-from-nuremberg.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-8118588649938078244Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:46:00 +00002007-12-22T14:46:15.036-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Mises and Austrian EconomicsMises and Austrian Economics: A Person View by Ron Paul Published by The Ludwig von Mises Institute In this very brief booklet (only 23 pages), Ron Paul provides a short overview of Austrian economic theory, with focus on the theory as it was defined by Ludwig von Mises. Concerned with individual liberty, Paul began studying Austrian theory with its focus on free markets as a means to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/-aLziOhzC0Y/book-completed-mises-and-austrian.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/-aLziOhzC0Y" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-completed-mises-and-austrian.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-2468729731653986615Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:46:00 +00002007-12-22T04:00:04.885-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Gold, Peace and ProsperityGold, Peace, and Prosperity by Ron Paul Published by The Ludwig von Mises Institute More of a political tract than a book, Gold, Peace, and Prosperity is a brief history and analysis of U.S. monetary policy from 1913 through the present, with a focus on the need to return to a gold based system of money. Originally published in 1981, the Mises Institute has reissued copies of this workhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/MyUUJPwuXpw/book-completed-gold-peace-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/MyUUJPwuXpw" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-completed-gold-peace-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-4162717498892236789Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:05:00 +00002007-12-20T22:05:02.982-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: TurnaroundTurnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games by Mitt Romney Published by Regnery Publishing, Inc. The short version of this review is that Turnaround is a management book. Though many people will be picking this title up for it's potential insights into Romney as a politician, those insights are very thin and buried between the lines. After a brief prologue full of patriotic http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/Nb5SOYXjaKg/book-completed-turnaround.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/Nb5SOYXjaKg" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-completed-turnaround.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-4961067690606852588Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:18:00 +00002007-12-10T12:19:07.631-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: The Audacity Of HopeThe Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama Published by Crown The Audacity of Hope is a publication by Barack Obama of his platform for his 2008 U.S. Presidential candidacy. Stepping outside the limited coverage available by news media, it is a deeper expression of his views on the nature of the challenges facing the United States as a country, and ofhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/hgnSwGMQYxk/book-completed-audacity-of-hope.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/hgnSwGMQYxk" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-completed-audacity-of-hope.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-5887104225083882381Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:19:00 +00002007-12-01T18:38:06.452-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Stranger than Fiction: True StoriesStranger than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk Published by Anchor Stranger than fiction moves outside of Palahniuk's normal literary fiction genre as a publication of collected personal stories and articles written by Palahniuk for magazine articles.  While it did not prove to be as outlandishly strange as I expected, it proved to be something even warmer and more endearing thanhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/lVlKKQNtkrM/book-completed-stranger-than-fiction.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/lVlKKQNtkrM" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-completed-stranger-than-fiction.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-8894491755169024550Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:54:00 +00002007-12-01T15:54:09.192-06:00Odd TidbitsPalahniuk Strikes AgainI just found out about a new Palahniuk book Snuff set to release on May 20th of next year. You can pre-order your copy through amazon here. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/7Dn16TDnncs/palahniuk-strikes-again.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/7Dn16TDnncs" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/12/palahniuk-strikes-again.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-2948166039766370395Sat, 01 Dec 2007 15:18:00 +00002007-12-01T09:18:53.281-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Why Courage MattersWhy Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life by John McCain Published by Random House Though I was critical of some of McCain's political views in my more detailed discussions of this book, in the end I think it actually raised my opinion of him as  a presidential candidate.  More of a light philosophical tract than political commentary, Why Courage Matters is a series of twelve http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/W0Qk846RKkk/book-completed-why-courage-matters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/W0Qk846RKkk" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/12/book-completed-why-courage-matters.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-7512366847492483867Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:21:00 +00002007-11-29T15:22:52.772-06:00Random ThoughtsOntological EfficiencyIt is much more efficient to shape your ideals to reality than to shape reality to your ideals.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/cPylTLpcp6g/ontological-efficiency.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/cPylTLpcp6g" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/11/ontological-efficiency.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-2641518557629406831Sun, 25 Nov 2007 07:31:00 +00002007-11-27T02:08:34.816-06:00Random ThoughtsGrooves Magazine - reviewsGrooves Magazine - reviews Technomonk pointed at me Grooves magazine many years back, but just recently I have begun to use them as a source of music discovery for electronic music.  With one to two album reviews per week, they provide a great way to explore the experimental/avant-garde electronic music scene without an overload of new material.  Combined with a subscription music service from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/7GLpgIyXYx8/grooves-magazine-reviews.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/7GLpgIyXYx8" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/11/grooves-magazine-reviews.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-897217651337054663Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:25:00 +00002007-11-27T02:07:36.667-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: ConquistadorConquistador by S. M. Stirling Published by ROC After enjoying Stirling's Dies the Fire series, I decided to test the waters with some of his other works. I chose the stand alone novel Conquistador as a quick way to evaluate if my enjoyment was purely from good writing and storytelling, or if it was tied up merely in the thematic material of the original series of novels. Even prior to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/0kM09ngL6NI/book-completed-conquistador.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/0kM09ngL6NI" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-completed-conquistador.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-7938190492107250862Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:42:00 +00002007-11-27T02:05:38.124-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: NeverwhereNeverwhereby Neil GaimanPublished by BBC BooksNeverwhere is the first solo novel by modern fantasy master Neil Gaiman. I first encountered Gaiman in his graphic novel series Sandman and later picked up his novel American Gods both of which are worthwhile pursuits, and what led me to begin pursuing his other works. Immediately upon beginning Neverwhere it was apparent from tone, style and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/RLo2QIQ3pyI/book-completed-neverwhere.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/RLo2QIQ3pyI" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-completed-neverwhere.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-3417071617840728147Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:49:00 +00002007-11-27T02:03:52.542-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: The RoadThe Road by Cormac McCarthy Published by Knopf The human race in its death throes.  The last gasps of life for the world, dark and apocryphal.  A world burnt and covered in ash, where no sun remains to shine.  There is no food, and the water is polluted with ash and debris from some unnamed cataclysm.  No world teeming with life.  The birds and beasts are gone.  An Anti-Eden where exist http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/TPXY8eXU7Qs/book-completed-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/TPXY8eXU7Qs" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-completed-road.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-8202125801928064835Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:29:00 +00002007-11-27T01:58:15.370-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Published by The Peebles Classic Library Jekyll and Hyde is a cultural landmark for English speaking peoples, yet while the basic premise of the story must be known to all, I heretofore had never sat down and read the work in its original.  It is interesting to see how our preconceptions can mingle with reality.  http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/J9Nb1ichNS4/book-completed-strange-case-of-dr.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/J9Nb1ichNS4" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/11/book-completed-strange-case-of-dr.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-7375888484040887401Thu, 18 Oct 2007 05:50:00 +00002007-11-27T01:54:52.061-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: The Stars My DestinationThe Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester Published by Vintage The Stars My Destination is classic 50's Sci-Fi.  A gritty everyman anti-hero in love with the woman who would destroy him and in a loners fight with those who rule the world, or in this case the Solar system.  It reminded me very much of Philip K. Dick, but slightly more literate and based on ideas that were not quite as http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/SFTEcTvcclM/book-completed-stars-my-destination.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/SFTEcTvcclM" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/10/book-completed-stars-my-destination.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-1041538856858477770Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:09:00 +00002007-11-27T01:44:06.050-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: The Sunrise LandsThe Sunrise Lands by S. M. Stirling Published by ROC The Sunrise Lands is the first novel in a new trilogy by S.M. Stirling, set in the universe created in his previous trilogy Dies the Fire.  As with Stirling's previous works the writing here has a lively pace and is quite engrossing.  While this next set of three novels is being labeled as a new trilogy, I really have trouble http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/XnNnkPQiL5c/book-completed-sunrise-lands.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/XnNnkPQiL5c" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/10/book-completed-sunrise-lands.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-2919977192868012517Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:43:00 +00002007-11-27T01:40:34.902-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: A Confederacy of DuncesA Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole Published by LSU Press Dear Reader, "I dust a bit...in addition, I am at the moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip." — John Kennedy Toole A Confederacy of Dunces is an apt title for the menagerie of characters on parade in Toole's novel. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/ivkvivCzi3Q/book-completed-confederacy-of-dunces.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/ivkvivCzi3Q" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/10/book-completed-confederacy-of-dunces.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-8635227511708204375Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:16:00 +00002007-11-27T01:37:22.334-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: Crash ProofCrash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse by Peter D. Schiff Publish by Wiley America, once a society of production has become a society of consumption.  Living on massive amounts of credit, both as individuals and as a nation, the ever mounting inflationary debt has left us on the brink of an economic disaster.  At least according to Mr. Schiff. Peter Schiff, son ofhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/i1VgIzBCdTg/book-completed-crash-proof.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/i1VgIzBCdTg" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/09/book-completed-crash-proof.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3621766256208536889.post-6172769426918079173Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:00:00 +00002007-11-27T01:28:18.890-06:00Book ReviewsBook Completed: A Canticle For LeibowitzA Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. Published by Eos Millers post-apocalyptic alternate history is less fiction, and more philosophical tract in the guise of literature. It's a story about the nobility of man and the depravity of mankind. A Canticle for Leibowitz is a story chronicling the fall and eventual resurrection of mankind. Following a tried and true formula http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~3/yvgqEVEs4Lg/book-completed-canticle-for-leibowitz.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (JDubba)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IlliterateMonkey/~4/yvgqEVEs4Lg" height="1" width="1"/>http://illiteratemonkey.blogspot.com/2007/09/book-completed-canticle-for-leibowitz.html