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I'm trying to get my reading organized in Goodreads, a really neat site. Doesn't integrate with the blog (yet), but that's where I'm tracking things at the moment.
Books - 2008 Archives
February 5, 2008
February 10, 2008
Constant Waterman
Regarding tides:
Those are the things in the water that keep the moon in orbit. I've never quite understood just how they work. You mostly can't see the moon during the day, so they can't be very efficient.
Matthew Goldman: from The Journals of Constant Waterman: Paddling, Poling, and Sailing for the Love of It.
June 25, 2008
Book: The Island Stallion's Fury
The Island Stallion's Fury by Walter Farley
My review
rating: 2 of 5 stars
My oldest son asked me to read this book, thinking that I'd enjoy it. For the most part, I did. I found the contrasts particularly interesting. Tom is painted evil from the first mention and only gets more stupid, fat and animal with every encounter. Flame, however, is his opposite: beautiful, intelligent and benevolent. We're never given a chance to like Tom and we're never given a chance to dislike Flame.
Overall, it's an "OK" book. My issues with it are more about what I like in a book than anything to do with the book.
View all my reviews.
Meanwhile, I continue to slog through The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
July 5, 2008
Book: We Didn't Mean to go to Sea
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this book again this weekend for three reasons: 1) I needed some fiction, 2) I have been in some tough weather scrapes recently with my little boat and 3) I wanted to remember how John and his siblings handled their weather situations.
This is an amazing book. Ransome sets up the story so well and gets the reader into the minds of his characters so much so that one begins thinking what Susan and Roger and Titty and John are thinking. The timeline for the story is only a handful of days and so the action ends up being quite intense.
This is one of the stories in which we get a sense of John growing up as he takes charge, makes decisions and, in the end, has them all validated by those much more experienced than he. We also see the wisdom of his father when Commander Ted appears on the scene and gently takes charge of some aspects (primarily provisions) and leaves Skipper John to sail and run Goblin as he sees fit.
This is one of Ransome's best. Yes, it is fiction, but I think it shows how much we pamper our children these days while exposing them to so little that they would truly gain from.
View all my reviews.
July 19, 2008
Book: The 33 Strategies of War
33 Strategies of War, The by Robert Greene
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
I liked this book; not fabulous, but I did like it. I have many of the books on war (Machiavelli's The Prince, Moltke on the Art of War, Sun Tzu's classic, Alexander the Great's version, some from Napoleon, some Civil War writings, etc.) and this is a conglomeration of many of those I'm familiar with.
Having said that, the style gets tiresome after a while. Many of the best parts are the sidebars where the author quotes directly from some of the best in war theory and war stories. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to read it all at once but perhaps a chapter a week. As it was, it took me many months to get through.
Things I learned: Many of the things I learned were better found in Machiavelli, Alexander and Napoleon. Echos of things I already knew. Still, it is nice to have all of this in one volume. I suppose I could have done without the ever-present quotes from "I Ching" and such.
View all my reviews.
July 30, 2008
Book: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are dead
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
Somehow in college I stumbled upon a radio drama production of this play. My music appreciation professor, Cecil Isaac, put me onto it, I believe. It was amazing then (1991) and I really like it now. Tom Stoppard is an amazing writer, a true wordsmith and I am always picking something out that seems new. A new nuance or turn of phrase or something that just seems to bring new meaning to the text.
This weekend is our Cleveland Shakespeare Festival's last weekend for Hamlet (Saturday) and R&G (Sunday) and we hope to attend both, so naturally, I dusted off both and breezed through them again.
Wonderful! Someday I hope to see both produced on the same stage at roughly simultaneous times. That would be fun.
View all my reviews.
September 5, 2008
Book: Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories by Ian Fleming
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked this collection of short stories. And I must have read an earlier edition years ago (as they were all familiar to me in one way or another), re-reading them was just as pleasant as sinking into your favorite overstuffed armchair.
[ It is important to note that just because one enjoys the movies, they may not necessarily enjoy the books. Fleming's (paper) Bond is, in many ways, quite different than the character portrayed by Connery, Lazenby, Moore, Dalton and Brosnan (but not, perhaps, Craig). ]
Each short story adds to the Bond character; even the one that's not about Bond tells us quite a bit about him!
Read it for fun, read it to round out your knowledge of Bond, read it for the thrills‚but read it.
View all my reviews.
[Note: while reading this book on the bus, I added a cover to it, obscuring the figure on the front. A bit too racy for my taste, at least on the bus!]
September 19, 2008
Book: Raising Wild Boys into Men
Raising Wild Boys into Men: a modern dad's survival guide by Tony Woodlief
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I re-learned that boys are very different from girls. I re-learned that the shadow I cast on my children (boys and girls) is long, wide and lasting, but not as long, wide and impactful as our heavenly Father's shadow.
I learned that all the noise, smoke, blood, dirt, frogs, hats and sticks are normal. And delightful. And should be celebrated. Tomorrow, my family and I take off to hike a segment of the Buckeye Trail. Who had the bright idea to do this? My oldest boy.
View all my reviews.
For more Tony Woodlief, subscribe to World Magazine, the Wall Street Journal or Tony's blog (the blog has the most Tony per dollar of the three).
September 7, 2008
Book: The Tooth of Time: a Philmont adventure
The Tooth of Time: a Philmont adventure by Sterling, Gray
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a fun read. Fairly short, it covers the journey of a Philmont trail crew in the `50's as they gather together, travel to Cimarron, hike the trails, have some adventures and solve a mystery, all the while growing and maturing.
I had hoped to purchase one (my father was a ranger in the `50's early sixties) and only found it on Abebooks for a rather steep price!
View all my reviews.
November 3, 2008
Book: The Cruise of the Alerte
The Cruise Of The Alerte by E. F. Knight
My review
rating: 2 of 5 stars
Knight writes an engaging travelogue of his cruise from England to an island named Trinidad in 1889 in search of buried treasure. He starts the narrative in the Fall of 1888, leaves Southampton in late August 1889 and manages to return in February 1890 (whether successful or not, I won't disclose).
He includes all the important details for such a trip as this and one gets the impression that following his steps of preparation, his packing lists and his timeline, a successful voyage could be made today.
As a sailor, I particularly appreciate Knight's ability to depict the sea, the islands, his moorings and the various difficulties encountered and how their little yacht was handled through them.
While in the middle of this book, I was astounded by the similarities to Peter Duck and others from the Ransome series and will have more to say about that later.
I've rated this book two of five stars mostly because you've got to be a certain type of reader to get through Knight's writings. This is not an armchair expedition but a synopsis of the Alerte's logs and as a consequence, may be a bit dry to some readers.
View all my reviews.
November 10, 2008
Book: Father Power
Father Power by Todd Wilson
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Todd Wilson is an insanely funny speaker who tends to write like he speaks; as a consequence, this book is laced with humor throughout. But it also filled with thoughtful challenges for Dads who are seeking to influence their children in a positive way.
In the end, Todd predictably encourages his readers to not squander their time doing "things they deem more important than fathering." In fact, Todd makes a strong case that there is nothing more important than fathering.
A quick, short read, Todd packs quite a lot into this book. It is suitable for a group setting with discussion and it is meaningful also read solo. The hard part of this book is not in the reading or the understanding, but in the doing. Like most things worth doing, the action he calls fathers to is quite difficult.
November 17, 2008
Book: Ship Fever
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
A fellow bus-rider lent me this book to break up the non-fiction I wasn't getting through in my reading (slow reading? non-reading?) of Democracy in America. I tore through it in a couple of days—really couldn't put it down!
Author Andrea Barrett includes several short stories in this volume, all with a historical, naturalist/science bend to them. Whether we discover a connection with Mendel or Linnaeus or ponder the same mysteries they did, we get inserted into their lives in an interesting way. Or perhaps a better way to say it would be that we find the lives of the stories' characters intertwined with the historical figure.
The title story, Ship Fever follows some of the events of the Potato Famine in that we join a young doctor on a Canadian island while the ships empty sick Irish refugees onto shore.
None of the stories are very uplifting. None of the characters live "happily ever after" and many are fairly miserable. Many of the stories, perhaps even all of them, lack closure; they just end when they do—not really hanging, but just ended and not resolved. (Please note this is not criticism, just a comment on an interesting style that isn't completely to my taste.)
Perhaps only our visit with Linnaeus could be considered "happy". As he reviews his colleagues, acquaintances and students and their achievements, we find that he isn't unfulfilled but strangely content. Even in the limitations brought on by his stroke, he appears satisfied with the events of his life. (Only later do I find out about his faith.)
Overall, it is a good book and one I am glad to have read.
Book: Hornblower and the Atropos
Hornblower and the Atropos by C.S. Forester
rating: 3 of 5 stars
I needed a good read over the weekend and chose this one. It appears I read it earlier this year and enjoyed it then, too.
About the only thing that really sticks out to me from this book is his complete hypocracy surrounding his marriage and his fatherhood. Sure, he spends some time with his toddler toward the end (and enjoys it), but he would really rather be on his ship. We do learn some more management techniques as he manages the people under him and the Admirals over him. We gain insight into his project management skills, too as he is assigned the task of bringing Nelson's body into the city.
Overall, it is a good book and an important link between the various stages of Hornblower's life.
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About Books - 2008
This page contains an archive of all entries posted to CurlyShavings in the Books - 2008 category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
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