Review,Thoughts
19 January 2012 | 0 Comments
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Buy on Amazon.
Great Read.
5 out of 5 cups of Black Coffee
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The Ares Decision by Kyle Mills
Buy on Amazon
One of the my favorite books in the Covert-One Series.
4 out of 5 cups of Black Coffee
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Jonathan Edwards: Lover of God by Strachan & Sweeney
Buy on Amazon
Probably one of the briefest introductions to Edwards life that you can read. Accessible and Informed.
3 out of 5 cups of Black Coffee
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The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larrson
Buy on Amazon
Wasn’t planning on reading any more from this series because it’s pretty rough / disturbing at times. But Larsson’s writing is good and compelling. This isn’t as good as the first book, but none-the-less it’s hard to put down.
3.5 out of 5 cups of black coffee
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Tagged in 3 of 5, 3.5 of 5, 4 of 5, 5 of 5, Covert-One Series, Doug Sweeney, Jonathan Edwards: Lover of God, Kyle Mills, Owen Strachan, recent reads, Review, Robert Ludlum, Steve Jobs, Stieg Larrson, The Ares Decision, The Girl Who Played with Fire, thoughts, Walter Isaacson
Fiction,Review,Thoughts
1 November 2011 | 0 Comments
The Lazarus Vendetta is the fifth book in The Covert One Series created by Robert Ludlum and written in conjunction with other authors. This is the first of the stories written by Patrick Larkin, and the results while acceptable, are not overtly impressive. My main complaint is that the story itself is too far-fetched and unbelievable. As a result, the reader remains an observer of the action rather than a participant in the action. Good stories, I would argue, so envelope the reader that she no longer feels as if she is reading at all. Obviously, believability in every detail is not the essential element to make a story work, but it is fairly important in the thriller/spy genre, especially if said story is set in modern times. Despite how well the other elements of the story may be developed, ultimately the book falls flat if the reader can’t imagine the events actually happening in real life. And The Lazarus Vendetta is just a bit too far gone to be fully enjoyed. Longtime readers of The Covert One series will also note that Larkin’s style is a bit different than other authors. Most notably he’s more graphic (gory), and some of the traits of main characters are portrayed differently. For instance, Fred Klein was addicted to his pipe in the last novel, but his obsession is hardly mentioned at all in this story. In one scene, Jon Smith suddenly develops a conscious towards a would-be attacker and nearly dies as a result. I don’t dislike the book, but it falls a bit short when compared to the stories Gayle Lynds has written in the series. As it goes, Gayle Lynds is the best author in the Covert One Series so far, with Patrick Larkin and Phillip Shelby a distant second and third.
2 of 5 cups of black coffee.
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Tagged in 2 of 5, book, book review, Covert-One, Covert-One Series, fiction, Gayle Lynds, Ludlum, novel, Patrick Larkin, Phillip Shelby, Review, Robert Ludlum, spy, The Covert One Series, thriller
Fiction,Review,Thoughts
25 October 2011 | 0 Comments
I’m an avid M.A.S.H. fan. I grew up in a household with parents who watched the reruns nearly every night. My mom especially seemed to have it perpetually on. But I never really understood the appeal of the show until I started watching it myself. It’s weird how you pick up on a select number of your parents’ habits as you grow older. But you do. It seems like we all do. Eventually you realize that you’re a lot like your folks, and it scares you a bit. Honestly though, it’s a happy, understanding sort of scared. Like you somehow know them better and love them more deeply, but secretly wonder if your kids will one day look at you like you’re crazy.
In my mid-twenties I picked up a personal love for M.A.S.H., and over the course of three years, I watched through the entire series. Eleven seasons, twenty-four episodes each (usually anyway), for a grand total of 251 total episodes. Steadily one episode after another I watched, and it became a part of my life. When I finished the series, there was a sort of melancholy that set upon me, like I’d lost a good friend, and life would never quite be the same. It literally felt like I was leaving college or something. I felt that way because it’s a show about characters. And you grow to like those characters, even love those characters, and you feel like they’re a part of your life. Now they’re leaving, and it’s sort of sad. I loved M.A.S.H. not just for the characters though, I also loved it because it transported me to another place, one with war and death and adventure and humor and cold nights and hot summers and meaning and moodiness and all-around life. It’s a show about life, about humanity, and I love it.
The movie upon which the tv show was based is a little different. Not too different, but different. Same characters, many of the same actors, but with a much darker sort of humor. It’s a bit of a scandalous movie, touching on subjects that at the time, and even now, seem too taboo to talk about. You watch, and you laugh, and you’re not sure if you should be laughing. A sort of Southpark approach decades before Southpark existed. Many who like the tv show don’t appreciate the movie, and many who like the movie don’t appreciate the tv show. Personally I love them both. And by saying that, I’m not trying to make any sort of moral evaluation, I’m just admitting that I like them.
I just finished reading the book, which I had never read before. In case you didn’t know, the book is the genesis of the movie, the tv show, everything. It was written in 1968 by Richard Hooker. Really it was written H. Richard Hornberger because Hooker is a pseudonym, but whatever. It’s a book about three army doctors, their friends, and all the craziness that they caused as surgeons at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Hooker indicated that the storyline was based roughly on his own experiences in the Korean War while stationed at a M.A.S.H. unit. According to Hooker’s son, the lead character, Hawkeye Pierce, was loosely based upon his dad, and in some senses is autobiographical. It makes me wonder how loosely because it’s hard to believe that the characters in this book, affectionately referred to as “The Swampmen,” could really pull off all the comical hijinks that the book entails. Secretly, as a reader of the book, you sort of hope they really did pull off all of the craziness. It seems a bit too over-the-top to be true, but maybe not. And it’s this sort of flirting with the line of reality that makes the entire book work as a pleasing bit of fiction to read.
M.A.S.H. is hilarious. Multiple times I laughed out loud. But be warned! The humor is even darker than the movie. It would be rather easy to find yourself offended if you didn’t know what you were getting into. But as an avid M.A.S.H. fan, I highly recommend it!
4 out of 5 Cups of Black Coffee.
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Fiction,Review,Thoughts
22 September 2011 | 0 Comments
Tagged in 24, 3.5 of 5, book review, Bourne novels, Bourne series, Covert One Novel, fiction, Gayle Lynds, Jack Bauer, novel, post-Jack-Bauer-era, Review, Robert Ludlum, The Janson Directive, The Paris Option
Food,Just Plain Crazy,Thoughts
9 August 2011 | 0 Comments
#1 – The Reigning Champion – Cinnamon Toast Crunch
#2 – A Very Close Second – Cocoa Pebbles
#3 – Really the Top Three Are Almost Tied – Golden Grahams
#4 – A Classic – Captain Crunch
#5 – Probably My Favorite for Several Years – Fruit Loops
P.S. – I really only eat cereal at night…but that’s the best time!
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Tagged in captain crunch, cereal, cereal at night, cinnamon toast crunch, cocoa pebbles, favorite cereals, food, fruit loops, golden grahams, just plain crazy, kids cereals, thoughts, top 5, top 5 favorite cereals
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larrson
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