I read. A lot. Too much for my own good, really. I tend to be pretty particular about what I read. For instance, I'm a big fan of non-fiction. I've never been much if a sci-fi guy, but I'll occassionally pick up a book that deals with fantasy or space in some way that I simply can not put down. And, of course, if it's fiction, it damn well better be funny or REALLY, REALLY well written, or there's no way I'm going to finish it. If I'm not being entertained or educated, I don't want to waste my time, no matter WHAT Oprah says about the thing.

What follows are my impressions about the books I have read recently. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, as I will typically only mention books that I think are worth recommending (or worth warning you away from, as the case may be). You'll find a lot of non-fiction on here as well as a lot of tech guides. Why? 'Cause that's what I read. My reviews will be fairly brief. I'd rather give you the lowdown on the story and my impressions on the book and leave the details of the story for you to discover. If you'd like to discuss a book on this list, I've set up a forum for just that purpose.

All of the links to the books go to Amazon, with whom this site is affiliated. But, do this first: if you have a nice, small independant bookstore in your community, try to get your book there before going to Amazon. I'd rather you spend your money supporting places like than than helping me out. If, however, all you have are Borders', Crown's or -- heaven forbid -- Barnes and Nobles', PLEASE purchase your books through my links. Yes, Amazon is becoming a 300 pound gorilla like these guys, but at least I benefit when you purchase through them. And boycott BN.com. I'm still bitter with them.

Lastly, if you don't see a book listed here but think I would enjoy it, recommend it to me. Most of my favorite books come from recommendations of one kind or another, so don't be shy.

Categories

Entertainment
Cultural Literacy
History
General Non-fiction
Technical

Practical Demonkeeping, Blood Sucking Fiends, Island of the Sequined Love Nun, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Coyote Blue and Lamb, by Christopher Moore.

Published by several houses

When I first met Danielle, one of the first things she did after getting a feel for my sense of humor was pass on a book titled, Island of the Sequined Love Nun. Now, how can you turn down a book with a title like that? And you know that old saying, "Don't judge a book by it's cover?" Trust me, it falls apart here. It was so wacky, so drop dead funny and weird that I immediately sought out the author's first book, Practical Demonkeeping, just to see if it was as funny. I have since done that to all of his books and have not been disappointed once. If you want a good book that you can burn through in less than a week that provides solid laughs and pure entertainment, you can not go wrong with any of Moore's books.

Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

Penguin Books, New York

These are my two all time favorite books. Cannery Row is about a group of ne'er-do-wells who lived down in the cannery distric of Monterey, California, back in the thirties and forties. The characters find themselves in several odd situations. Many of the stories revolve around the character Doc Ricketts, based on Steinbeck's good friend Ed Ricketts. Sweet Thursday is the sequel to Cannery Row. I think I prefer this book over Cannery Row because Steinbeck develops the characters a little better and gives more structure to the plot. The stories and characters in these two books are loosely based on actual events and people who lived on Cannery Row, then known as Hovden Way (after one of the prominent canneries on the row), during Steinbeck's life. Those interested in visiting Cannery Row may do so, but will probably be dissappointed by what they find. The canneries are gone, replaced by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and several shops designed to attract tourists. Some of the original buildings are still there, including "Lee Chong's Heavenly Grocery" and "Pacific Biological", Doc's old lab. Many of the other buildings were destroyed during a huge fire that devastated the row. As you can see, I have a certain passion for these stories.

Youth in Revolt and Revolting Youth, by C.D. Payne

Doubleday, New York

These are the journals of fictitious teenager Nick Twisp. He's fourteen years old and goes from being regular, horny, non-descript teen to cross-dressing fugitive. I read it because it got pretty good reviews in the local papers. I found it to be one of the most hilarious books I've ever read. If I weren't afraid to write down my own sexual fantasies and if my mother were like his (the descriptions of his father, while a bit different, are very similar to my descriptions of my own father) then the first third of this book would probably be very similar to my own journals from when I was 14. He talks about sex, drugs, rock and roll, divorce, crummy step-parents, and many other things. He burns down half of Berkeley, helps a friend fake death, and is responsible, directly and indirectly, for several other events that are, ultimately, beyond his control. I'll warn you, if you are easily offended this may not be the book for you. He spend a lot of time talking about his erections and sexual fantasies in full graphical explainations, but the context is usually hilarious and it all fits into the feel of the book. I dare you to read the first two paragraphs and not feel a need to continue.

Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris

In 1981, this was just a really tense little thriller that gained a good deal of popularity and spawned a terrific little film called Manhunter.

Now, after "Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal", this book is being advertised with the slogan, "Meet Hannibal for the First Time." The deal is this: If you want to read this book to get the skinny on Dr. Lecter, you're barking up the wrong tree. He makes some very important, very creepy appearances, but is otherwise just kinda there. He essentially makes a cameo appearance. Which is even weirder when you consider that this is the first book of the trilogy and, with every subsequent book, he moves closer to the center of attention. Seems kind of backwards.

But don't be fooled: this is an intense, excellently written story. I'm not much of one for the whole tense thriller genre of writing, but this one just blew me away. Francis Dolarhyde is a an A-1 certified whackjob of the highest order. Makes Lecter seem very tame in comparison. I was told by a friend that they told you who the killer was early on in the book, which boggled my mind since, hey, isn't that half the point? How do you keep the suspense going when you know who's doing what? Well, trust me, Harris made it work. Really well.

Seriously, buy and read this book. It's a damn good story that'll make you cringe and think. And Will Graham, the investigator, is just as compelling as Clarice Starling, if not more so. Just an all-around good read.

24 Hours, by Greg Iles

Tense thrillers are not usually my bag. There's often way more drama than I'm willing to put up with in a book and the action is sometimes difficult for the author to describe, so it's difficult for me to visualize. I only mention this to give you context for my impressions.

This book was suggested to me by my soon-to-be mother-in-law. She and her husband loved the TV show "24" and I believe she picked this book up thinking it was connected. In actuality, I don't believe it has anything to do with the show. But it's a pretty good book none-the-less.

Joe Hickey has thought up the perfect crime: find a rich doctor who is still married and has only one young child. Wait until said doctor goes to the annual medical convention in Mississippi. Have your mentally challenged giant of a cousin kidnap the child, your ex-stripper/prostitute of a wife hook up with the husband and hang out with the wife on your own. Call your cohorts every 30 minutes. If a call gets missed, your cousin is under orders to kill the child.

What if the wife fights back? Simple - Joe calls his cousin Huey and orders the child killed. What if the husband tries something rash and calls the police? Well, Joe's wife Cheryl will miss the 30 minute call and, yes, Huey will kill the kid. The operation takes 24 hours to complete. The husband, who is a collector of expensive things, will receive a wired transfer of money that he has "asked" his wife to send so that he can add something new to his collection. He will then pick up the money and give it Cheryl, who will go to a planned destination and inform Joe of the transfer, who will then tell Huey to bring the child back to the mother. The money they're asking for is only about $200,000, which isn't much money for a rich, successful doctor. The trio has done this five times before and no one has ever died. Joe's number one rule is "the kid always makes it."

Pretty good setup, no? Well, family number six doesn't dig this and they fight back. Oh, and the kid this time has juvenile diabetes and can "go south" quickly if she doesn't have her insulin shot. Little things like that wreck Joe's plan.

It's kind of interesting to see how the new family helps bring the demise of Joe's plan, which is actually accented by a few backup procedures should something go wrong. There's a rather disturbing scene involving Joe attempting to rape the wife in the new family and her revenge for the act, plus a lot of gut-wrenching medical descriptions of stuff that, really, is better left for the movies.

All-in-all, if you like the thriller genre, pick this up. Apparently Iles is pretty well-known in this area. Having just come off of Red Dragon, it was hard for me to get into the thriller side of this book. It was also hard to get past the similarities - Both are set in the south, both involve some aspect of one guy trying to get into the head of a criminal, etc. And I think Red Dragon was a better book, but this was good on its own merits. Go pick it up.

Filth, by Irvine Welsh

Bruce Robertson is a complete and total pig of a man. And he makes no apologies for it. His wife has left him for infidelity (and various other offenses) and taken with her their only child. He is a policeman for the Edinburgh district, and a corrupt one at that. He loves to partake in what he calls "the games", which is a polite way of saying "f---ing with other peoples' heads". All in all, the guy is a complete and total unsympathetic bastard - and one hell of a compelling character.

Dani's brother is a huge fan of Welsh's (best known as the guy who brought us "Trainspotting") and thrust this book upon me some time ago, urging me to read it. It took more than a year before I finally took the time to pick it up. It was a good read, albeit dreary. If you're the kind of person who absorbs some of the personality of the main character (like I am, to some degree) I suggest you skip this one.

Written in the first person, you get an unflinching view into the mind of an asshole. Welsh writes about Scots and, in doing so, writes using a form of english that can take a bit of getting used to. Take this short passage, for instance:

- Listen Gus, whaire's Ray Lennox the now? Ehs no in here drinkin wi us, is eh? Naw. I'll wager three tae one, naw, make that four tae one on, that he'll be drinkin wi they silly wee lassies in some fuckin wine bar up the toon, just like eh wis eftir that fuckin course...

If you're offended by course language, skip this. If you're offended by womanizing old bastards, skip this. If you're offended by corrupt cops who love being corrupt, skip this. If you're offended by reading a scene about a cop who forces a 15-year-old girl to perform oral sex on him to keep him from telling her father, a judge, about her drug-dealing ways, skip this.

If none of this offends you, get this book. And see if you can't do something about being so damned jaded.

Black Sunday, by Thomas Harris

After Red Dragon, I got onto a Thomas Harris kick in a big way. I ran right out and purchased his first book, Black Sunday, and Silence of the Lambs, which is one terrific movie. I skipped Hannibal because it got lousy reviews, both book and movie, but I'll probably fall sway to that one as well.

As mentioned, Black Sunday is Harris' first book, and it kind of shows. It was written in the year I was born, 1975, and a lot of that shows in the plot, as there are tons of references to Mohamar Qadafy and Libyan terrorists. Ironically, though, after Sept. 11, this book also seems fresh at the same time.

A big Libyan terrorist has put a plan in motion that would kill tens of thousands of people in one flash in front of an audience of millions. The plan is drop a large bomb from the Aldrich blimp over the crowd at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. This all takes place just before the completion of the Super Dome.

The plot is carried through by two smaller Libyan terrorists: a vicious soldier by the name of Fasil and a deadly yet beautiful agent named Dahlia. They have found their perfect ally in an American former Vietnam POW named Michael Lander, who also just happens to be a pilot for Aldrich.

On the counter-terrorist side are the FBI, DOJ and a pair of Israeli secret-service commandos who have been in the thick of every terrorist action in the middle east since the 60s. What results is a tense cat and mouse game where there are ultimately no winners.

Black Sunday was a good book, but I felt it fell kind of flat at the end. The last quarter of the book was intense, as both circles started closing tighter on each other, but I expected it to end with a much bigger bang. None the less, it was frightening to get a look at what is no longer a far-off possibility. Such an attack on American soil has always been thought of as nothing more than hyperbolic doomsday-ism. After Sept. 11, an attack like he one described in Black Sunday doesn't sound so far-fetched. It's certainly not Harris' best, and it's quite the departure from the books that would follow focusing more on serial killers than anything else, but it is a good read on its own. If you dig his writing, you'll dig this.

Silence of the Lambs, by Thomas Harris

I burned through this book so fast I didn't even have a chance to put it up on the homepage. After Red Dragon, I went a little nuts for Harris and felt the need to read the Silence of the Lambs even though I had already seen the movie a couple of times. To be honest with you, I've forgotten a great deal about the movie -- it's been almost a decade since I last saw it -- so I can't compare the two particularly well. I do know that I found the movie kind of hard to follow at some points, but that may just be my foggy memory.

As a book, though, Silence of the Lambs works REALLY well. I mean, talk about intense. After reading Red Dragon, you're kind of left wanting more Lecter scenes. In Lambs, you get that and then some. And Lecter comes across as a brilliant psychopath, which he is. It makes one wonder how Harris came up with the character, i.e. how much of Lecter is actually in Harris' head. Scary.

I won't belabor the plot -- you know it. If you don't, you probably don't care anyway. Lambs is regarded nowadays as classic suspense cinema, and the chances are you've either seen it because you dig that sort of thing or haven't because you don't. If you fall into that former class, however, I'd suggest at least giving the book a try. Calling it a tight thriller doesn't do it justice.

I think the one thing that impresses me most about Harris' work is his character development. He really loves his characters and takes a considerable amount of time carefully structuring their nuances, background and motives. You walk away understanding the central characters and knowing their history as if they were people you came across in your daily life. The one exception is Dr. Chilton of the asylum, who was sort of a pain in the ass in Red Dragon but, for reasons that are never adequately explained, becomes a complete and total money-grubbing, fame-seeking asshole in Lambs. That lack of development sticks out when placed next tot he well-developed characters of Crawford, Starling, Lecter and Gumb.

Despite the poor reviews that both the book and movie have received, I am now compelled to read Hannibal, which will probably be the next one on my list. My hopes aren't too high for it but, if it's even 60 percent as good as Lambs, I know it's gonna be a good one.

Hannibal, by Thomas Harris

If you read any of the reviews for this book and the movie, you probably walked away with one feeling: it's crap. I read more than one review that called the story overindulgent. Basically, I walked into this expecting it to be a complete load of solid waste.

It's not the best book in the series, that's for sure, but it's certainly not as bad as everyone made it out to be. I have yet to see the movie (and, since I'm not a big fan of gore, I may need to gird my stomach before I break down and rent it) but the book is actually kinda cool. As the title implies, it focuses on Hannibal, far more than Lambs did. Clarice Starling is back and, while she does some strange things that I feel are a shade out of character, it feels good to have her back in the story.

Perhaps the most interesting part of all is that you learn part of Hannibal's motivation. You get some solid glimpses into his past and begin to understand why this otherwise refined and noble person would develop such shocking perversions.

Those perversions pale in comparison to those of his enemies, though. The thrust of the book is that Hannibal has set himself up in Italy in what would seem to be an ideal position for him: caretaker for an ancient estate. He has hardly killed anyone since he killed his predecessor for the job (call it creative job seeking) and has settled down. But victims from his past atrocities refuse to let sleeping dogs -- or pigs, in this case -- lie. Once such victim has been seeking Lecter ever since the good doctor fed him alive to the dogs. The victim survived, though in a significantly reduced state, and is bent on revenge, in between his pedophilic and destructive hobbies.

Harris introduces some real doozies in this one, and then proceeds to bring Lecter and Starling's relationship to a strange level. Watching the Manchurian Candidate (or that one episode of Star Trek where the Cardassians tried to brainwash Jean-Luc "There are FOUR lights" Picard) may be a prerequisite to understanding the ending. It's a pretty damn good read. Makes one wonder what (if anything) Harris has in store for the next chapter.

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkein

I was working at MightyWords just before the Fellowship of the Ring hit theaters. It should be noted that LOTR fans are just as rabid, if not more so, as Star Wars geeks. They just haven;t had an event to allow them to coalesce publicly in a while.

At MW, I was surrounded by rabid Tolkeinites who knew more about the geography of Middle Earth than of the United States. They spent hours poring over spoiler spy photos of Uruk Hais, cave trolls and hobbit feet just awed by everything. I think I was outed when I asked what the hell was an Uruk Hai.

"WHAT!", they exclaimed. "Has one among us not read the holy scriptures of Tolkein? Has he not been enchanted by tales of the elves and horrified by the darkness rising in Mordor toward the westerlands? Swear your allegiance to the men of Rohan or be thrown to the orcs!"

Alright, it was really more along the lines of, "Dude, you never read LOTR? Where the hell have you been?" Yes, unlike the hordes of geeks who forwent dating to instead read epic tales of wizards and halflings and posing as such during weekend D&D marathons, I did not read Lord of the Rings in high school. And this point has always stuck out when going into geekathons with my friends. I had no problem answering various questions about TCP/IP, network architecture, Linux hacking, etc. Ask me somethign about Star Wars and chances are I'll remember it better than you. I can quote Monty Python with the best of them. But God help me, I had no friggin' idea what an Uruk Hai was.

Until now. In preparation for the movies, I read the book. I finally get it. I finally see why all these fanboys are constantly fantasizing about wandering around through the woods killing goblins and what have you. I get the swordsmanship and the desire for adventure. Dear God, I'm even beginning to pick up on the eroticism of elf ears, though it may just be Liv Tyler. Yes, I actually get the Lord of the Rings. And DAMN is it good.

Now, I'm not going to wax poetic on how this is the best piece of fiction in the 20th century, though its influence certainly makes a good case for it on its own. The whole ent thing in the book bored me to tears, and what the hell does Bombadil have to do with anything? The Fellowship was abit to get through, but in the end I liked it. All of the Ent stuff REALLY bugged me. I had to put it down during the Ent meetings just because I couldn;t stay awake. Of course, once they took Isengard it was all different, and I don't think it slowed down until the end.

Bottom line: If you liked the movies thus far, go pick up the book right now. And push yourself through the slow stuff -- it will pick up and it will rock your world. If the movies bored you, check your pulse 'cause you may be dead. In which case, this book ain't gonna help you none.

69 Things to do With a Dead Princess, by Stewart Home

If you have read through all of these reviews, you will probably notice that I rarely have anything truly negative to say about any of the books I have read,. For the most part, if I don't like a book, I just don't finish reading it and, therefore, it never makes it to these pages. This time, though, I felt the need to get through it. I mean, the thing is only 192 pages long and is filled some pretty hot and bothered (and somewhat disturbing at times) sex scenes. But even if they put the script to Deep Throat in this baby, nothing could save it.

I bought Dead Princess for two reasons: the book jacket said it was a pretty erotic book and, hey, how can you pass up that title? Plus, the images on the front were pretty groovy. The story is about... well, frankly, I have no friggin' clue. It's based on a REALLY shaky plot line about a weird woman who meets some pseudo-intellectual in Scotland. The guy finds reading to be an erotic adventure and proceeds to drone on ENDLESSLY about various novels and works of literature, most of which you've never heard of nor care about. It's the kind of pseudo-intellectual drivel that english lit grad students like to spit out to justify their existence.

The book is told from the woman's point of view, which makes it slightly more compelling, though I wish she would tell the guy to just shut the hell up and fuck her already instead of encouraging his endless stream of book babble. The story follows the pair as they visit various stone circles throughout Scotland and England carrying a ventriloquist's dummy laden with rocks to simulate the supposed tale of a man who claimed to have carried Princess Diana's body around in the same fashion following her death, as described in a book by the same name as this one. OK, weird. On top of this, they have some rather weird and kinky sex at many of these sites. In fact, the whole book can basically be broken down in the following format: Boring book talk > sex scene > boring book talk > sex scene > Boring book talk... etc. The only thing getting me through the boring book talk was the fact that a sex scene occurred right around the corner.

Now, I realize at this point you're thinking I'm some sort of a pervert whose immature pebble-sized brain may just not be able to completely comprehend the astounding insights and clever metaphors this book represents. If this is the case, YOU go read this travesty of a book and let me know what you think. If you still feel that way after reading it, I strongly suggest you soak your head, get out of the house and try reality for a while.

This was, by far, the biggest waste of time to read I've ever masochistically forced myself through, made all the more so by the absolutely horrendous ending that made me want to burn down a university english department. SPOILER: The entire books is a rather vague and fumbling metaphor for the state of literature today. That's what the author claims at the end. It's a lie within a lie, a fiction within a fiction. You get to the end and realize that the main character didn't just dream it or whatever, but actually intended it to be her own metaphor. It's a metaphoric tale within a metaphor. It's a waste of time printed on expensive paper. I suffered through all the book talk only to find out that it was all just random babbling. You could have expressed this state of literary affairs in a friggin' three page article!!!

So, yeah, steer clear from this vapid waste of time. I read the shit books so you don't have to. If good writing is meant to elicit an emotional response, then I guess this book did succeed in that purpose, but the emotional response was one of great annoyance and -- at the end -- immense anger and frustration. If you're interested, you can have my copy, but I suggest you get it from me before I burn it. At the stake. Along with the author.

Bulfinch's Mythology, By Thomas Bulfinch.

Published by several publishing houses.

One of the best collections of myths and fables around. There are three volumes: The Age of Fable (concentrating on Classical Mythology and Norse Mythology), The Age of Chivalry (concentrating on renaissance mythology and the Arthurian Legends), and The Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages (Concentrating on the middle ages and European mythology). The author draws examples from classical literature to illustrate the myths. Not entirely complete, but very good for the individual seeking a guise to the more common myths. Many versions have all three volumes bound into one. Be sure to look for an unabridged copy.

On the Road, Big Sir, Dharma Bums, and Maggie Cassidy, by Jack Kerouac

Penguin Books, New York

Jack Kerouac is celebrated as one of the founders of the "Beat Generation". In fact, the term "beat" is attributed to him from an interview he had around the time On the Road came out. All of his books are part of a larger series he called "The Legends of Duluoz" which he meant to be similar to Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Unfortunately, due to problems with the publishers, the names he uses are false and are inconsistent from book to book. He planned to go back someday and fillin all of the names with the real names and then set them on his bookcase too look at, but he passed away before he could. On the Road is probably the most important to read out of the three of these simply because it's the most widely read of his books and is the one most often referred to.

The Aeneid, by Virgil

Several publishers, several translations

If you get this book find an unabridged copy, preferably one written in verse since it originally was a poem. If you understand Latin really well, go get a copy in the original Latin and read it. I've read this three times: twice in english, once in Latin and I'll be reading it again in Latin before I graduate as required by one of my courses. It is a ltin poem written entirely in dactylic hexameter. It's about Aeneas, the fabled founder of Rome (the other story of the founding of Rome involves the twins Romulus and Remus who were raised by a she-wolf). It is about "Arms and a man who came first from Troy and then to Italy, a fugitive of fate and the wrath of angry Juno." (This is from memory so the actual wording may be incorrect, but you get the picture) If you read this you'll understand such phrases as "She is the Dido to my Aeneas." Actually, maybe not. This is supposed to mean that she is my girlfriend or something, but Aeneas ditches Dido because the fates are calling him to find Latium and, eventually, Rome so Dido kills herself. Go figure. Well, anyway, this was written during the time of Caesar Augustus, who claimed Aeneas as an ancestor. In Ancient Rome one's power and greatness was largely determined by one's ancestors. Virgil, hoping to gain favor with Augustus, wrote this epic which glorifies Aeneas and, in many ways, reflects the wisdom and political forthrightness of Augustus, as seen by Virgil. Can get boring and drawn out, but it's a good story that is referred to often in literature and media.

The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

Several publishers

The Divine Comedy is divided into three volumes: The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradisio. I've always thought that The Inferno would make a cool ride at Disneyland, but something tells me they wouldn't go for people mucking around in pools of excrement. The whole comedy is an allegory of Dante's journey to find God, religion, and himself. He starts off in Hell and goes through the many circles until he finally meets up with Dis (Satan) and leaves Hell to enter Purgatory. He again goes through many circles in Purgatory until he reaches Paradise, or Heaven, and meets with the angels and saints and with God Himself. The famous phrase "Abandon all hope ye who enters here" comes from the comedy, as do many other famous references. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov

Several publishers, but try Vintage, New York

Those of you who were eagerly keeping track of the whole Amy Fisher/Joey Buttofuoco affair several years ago probably remember hearing Fisher being referred to as the "Long Island Lolita". This is where that came from. This is a book about a man who is sexually attracted only to prepubescent girls and actually gets married just so he can be close to one particular girl, who happens to be name Lolita. Yup, a pretty disgusting book. The book never really gets too graphic when describing sexual situations, but it leads the mind in the right direction. Just when you think the guy is OK and is not such a sicko he says or does something that completely throws you off. A very good book, much better than the first movie, though the second movie remained pretty faithful.

The Masks of God, by Joseph Campbell

Several publishers, but try Penguin Books, New York

There are a total of four volumes to this series which are titled, respectively, Primitive Mythology, Oriental Mythology, Occidental Mythology, and Creative Mythology. Joseph Campbell was one of the foremost folkloricists of his time and wrote several books about myths, folklore, and their meaning. These are not collections of myths but, rather, works that compare the myths of several cultures, looking for links through common psychology, proximity, etc. He does talk about several specific myths by means of example, but those looking for a myth encyclopaedia would probably be better off buying the aforementioned Bulfinch's Mythology or something like the Larouth Encyclopaedia of World Mythology. Those interested in comparative world mythology, like myself, will find this book fascinating but amazingly dense. He pulls on a lot of examples from psychology, anthropology, etc. to illustrate his ideas and the actual wording may confuse many, but if you can wade through all that it is a fascnating book written by a fascinating man (I have the entire "Power of Myth" PBS series with Campbell and Bill Moyers on tape. If you can get a hold of this at a library or something, be sure to watch it. It's incredible!).

John Steinbeck: A Biography, by Jay Parini

Henry Holt and Company, New York

As you probably know by now, John Steinbeck is my favorite author. He was born in Salinas, CA in 1902 and died in 1968. He led a facinating life (as far as I'm concerned) and this book chronicles it well. Parini gives us an inside look into the making of a Puliter and Nobel prize winning writer. If you like Steinbeck or just want to read a good biography, this is a must.

A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures, by Ben Bradlee

Simon and Schuster, New York

A fascinating look at the life of a man who had "a ringside seat at some of the century's most vital moments." I picked it up because recent events have caused me to take a different way to direct my life, namely from engineering to journalism. Bradlee was the executive editor at the Washington Post for several years. He was in the Navy for a while, spent time as a press attache for the American embassy in France, and worked as a writer and editor for Newsweek. During his time at the Post two writers, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, investigated a break-in at the National Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. The writers turned that break-in into national news almost overnight and the information that came out of the stories they wrote and the trials that followed led to the disgraceful resignation of then-President of the United States Richard Nixon. In the movie "All the President's Men," based on Woodward and Bernstein's book of the same name (This book is mentioned in the next entry), Bradlee is portrayed by the actor Jason Robards, who won an Academy Award for his performance. I think anyone, whether interested in journalism or not, could benefit from reading this book. Bradlee led a fascinating life and is a fascinating man as a result. If you are considering journalism as a career, this book is a must read.

All The President's Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

Simon and Schuster, New York

When I started this whole journalism thing a lot of people gave me suggestions of things I should do or read or, particularly, movies I should see. "All The Presiden't Men" was one of the movies suggested to me. It stars Robert Redford and Bob Woodward, Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein, and Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee. I was fascinated by the movie and, the next day, found myself working my sources a little harder for information. It inspired me to become a more aggressive reporter and made the whole journalism thing that much more appealing to me. I read the book, as I usually do after I see a good movie based on a book, and was even more fascinated. On June 17, 1972, five men broke into the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. The men had bugging and other surveillance equipment that they were installing in the room. On two of those five men were address books, each containg a reference to a staff member at the White House, then controlled by the republican Richard Nixon administration. Woodward and Bernstein were eventually both placed on the assignment and began an invesitgation so indepth that even the FBI didn't dig up as much information as they writers had. They found a cover up leading all the way to the top of the Whitehous, though Nixon used his executive privilege to keep information that could have implicated him in the burglary from getting out to the public. Woodward and Bernstein's persistance eventually led to Nixon's resignation, the only time in American history when a president has had to resign in disgrace. Another must read for any potential journalist. It's a fascinating inside look into one of the most famous inestigative reporting ventures in the nation and gives readers a good look at what real journalism is like.

Napa by James Conway

Anyone who has pried a foot into my deepest desires knows that, among them, is the dream of owning vineyards. Not necessarily a gigantic winery, but at least several acres of good Cabernet and maybe some Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. We're talking a boutique deal here.

Which means I will never own land in Napa. If nothing else, Conway's book proved to me that Napa as a region is a bit overplayed. While there are some fine wines to be found there -- some of the best in the world -- many up and coming regions are just as good if not better.

But the history of Napa and how it got to be where it is today is fascinating, particularly to anyone like me dreaming of going into the wine business. Though often sentimental, it doesn't hide the difficulties of running a winery from the reader.

The last third of the book gets bogged down in the details of the political machinations of the various factions within Napa, which is tedious, but the first 2/3rds is well worth the read.

Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet by Stephen Segaller

When I was a freshman in college, I was witness to the birth of the World Wide Web. We installed the Mosaic browser on the machines in the Engineer's Joint Council room and I proceeded to create one of the first student websites on the UC Berkeley network.

A friend of mine saw that I had a rudimentary grasp of HTML and said to me, "Hey, there's a company starting up near Stanford called Yippie, or Wahoo or Yahoo or something like that. They're paying $40k a year. My buddy and I are dropping out to go work for them. You should give them a call."

I told him there was no way I was going to throw away my college career on some risky fad that will probably never take off.

So much for prognostication.

Nerds was written during a time when journalists still wrote breathless pieces about the revolutionary nature of the Internet, fawning over the instant millionaire geeks like super models. It has a bit too much of that language in there. Some of the most ironic entries are the ones predicting unlimited business growth over the next decade. The Internet is a whole new business! We will all be rich! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

This is actually a really good book for folks who like to know the how of things. How did the Internet get to where it is today? Where did this thing come from? Wasn't it originally built to withstand a nuclear war? All kinds of myths are shattered and some very interesting and entertaining stories arise from the trenches. I remember a lot of the early PC and WWW stuff as it was happening, but it was nice to have it all clearly explained to help patch up the gaps in my understanding.

The copy I bought had an extra chapter written for the softcover version, which is sort of an update on what had happened during the year since its initial publication. The author at this point does something that annoys the piss out of me. He e-ifys everything. He argues that you need to be "e-literate" so that the Internet can continue to "e-liferate" "e-normously." Makes him sound like an "e-diot".

Other than that, though, it's a good, worthwhile, easy-going read if you're interested in stories about genius geeks and techno-hippies bent on changing the world. Which I am.

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser

My God, I used to love McDonalds. Their standard cheeseburger was tiny but oh so comforting. And they always had the best toys.

Too bad they treat their cows better than their workers. And, yes, I'm talking about the millions of cows they lead to slaughter every day. At least the cows are put out of their bovine misery.

I've been a vegetarian since 1997 for purely dietary reasons. After reading this book, however, my vegetarianism now has a political component as well. Schlosser's writing is strong and easy. He is not overtly political, nor does he outright condemn any particular institution. This is, plain and simple, a book based on fact. Almost one quarter of the book is dedicated to footnotes outlining where every fact, every figure was derived less you believe he's making the whole thing up. And, while there's plenty to get outraged over in here, even Schlosser concedes that he still frequents fast food places. He's just a bit more selective in where he goes.

This is not a book that is meant to outrage you as much as it's meant to educate. In a society where we are so far removed from the source of our worldly goods and everything is mechanized and dehumanized, it's good to get the occasional reminder of where it all comes from. I could not put this book down and have bored poor Dani to death with the information I gleaned ever since I finished it.

Code : The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, by Charles Petzold

Microsoft Press

The computer has saved civilization as we know it. Without the computer, we'd all be dead. Got a problem? The computer will solve it! The computer will save us all! Long live the computer!

Man, am I sick of that bullshit. The computer is an elegant machine, built by Mankind for Mankind. It is a tool, originally meant to save us from the tedium of calculation long, tedious math problems (the first computers were intended to create logarithm tables without the inevitable human errors that crept in when done by hand). That it has also revolutionized communications and information technology is impressive, but it isn't a panacea. In the end, the computer is still nothing more than a tool. It is how we use it that makes it so special.

What is most impressive about this tool is the fact that, really, it doesn't do all that much. To most people, the computer is a mysterious black (or beige, to be more precise) box that can do anything from blowing away virtual monsters to completing one's taxes. The fact is, all a computer REALLY does is generate small pulses of electricity, representing 1s and 0s, and keep track of them. That's it. Nothing else. All of the cool things a computer does with those abilities are due to a few brilliant men and women who figured out a way to harness that power and use it in increasingly clever ways.

Petzold's book celebrates all of this while ripping open those black boxes to demonstrate precisely what's going on inside. He begins by introducing the reader to the concept of a code, which is simply a representation of information. He goes on at length about the development of various codes, such as the Morse Code and Braille. He then eases us into number systems, eventually focusing on Binary and Hexadecimal, and show how these can also be used as codes. By the time you're finished with the book, you've constructed a computer and learned a great deal about programming, electrical engineering and information science. And all with very little effort

Petzold is probably best known for his definitive book on the Win32 API, upon which all Windows programs are built. He has an easy writing style that facilitates understanding and guides the reader into the murkier technical waters with relative ease. I expected the book to get extremely dry -- and there are places where I found myself slogging through -- but, for the most part, it was lively and interesting, shocking, when you consider the topic.

Code is very much like a watered down text book -- lots of information and theory, but not enough to teach an advanced class -- but may very well be the most interesting text book you read.

Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide by Heller, et al.

You'd think I was in High School again studying for the SAT the way I studied for the SCJP exam. I was amazingly nervous, having heard all kinds of horror stories about how complex the exam was, how it was more academic than practical and how very few peple passed it on the first try.

Let me put your fears to rest. Yes, the exam is far more academic than practical. You will read the code samples in the questions and say to yourself, "If I ever caught someone on my team coding like this, I'd shoot them." You may have built entire systems in Java and still not be able to pass this exam for that reason. But it's not impossible. It's very challenging, but not impossible.

First, you must unlearn what you have learned, Grasshopper. Or, more accurately, you must fine-tune what you have learned. You need to know all of the weird ways in which a static variable or method can be created, all of the little idiosynchrosies of the various modifiers and how the JVM casts variables when performing operations. For instance, did you know that a short value is always promoted to an int in an expression, no matter what the other term in the expression is? As a result, if you plan to add a short to a short and assign that value to a short, you actually need to cast the result in order for it to work. Wild stuff.

But don't sweat it. Buy this book, read it cover to cover (I swear it's not that boring) and do all of the quiz questions at the end of each chapter. Then, pop in the CD that comes with it and take the practice exam. The interface is somewhat similar to the actual SCJP interface and the questions are almost identical in many instances. Rather than concentrate on the answers, focus on the underlying concepts. Never answer a question without being able to justify your answer. If you can get to a point where you know not only the answer but why it's the answer on almost every question (let's say 80%), you're ready for the exam.

Once of the authors of this book helped write the exam, and he definitely knows what he's talking about. Without this guide, I feel I would have been ill-prepared for what awaited me at the testing center. Just don;t get cocky like I did and concetrate only on those areas where you feel you're weak. Spend some time on the basic stuff as well -- variable types, function definition, etc. I felt I was weak in the AWT, Threads and other "advanced" topics, so I spent most of my time studying for that stuff. My test scores reflect that. I did pretty well, but would have done much better if I had spread my study across all the focus areas.

As a bonus, this book will also help you study for the SCJD exam, which is far more difficult as it's more subjective. It's truly a complete all-in-one guide. I highly recommend it.