Great Interview with Cormac McCarthy

March 4, 2010

I’ve had this excerpt from a WSJ journal article sitting in my notes for a few months and wanted to be sure I put it in a place where I wouldn’t forget it. It’s from an interview with Cormac McCarthy in the WSJ dated Friday, November 13, 2009. In it, the author John Jurgensen asks McCarthy a question about getting old (McCarthy is 76 and still writing). Read on –>

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

February 17, 2010

by Stieg Larsson

I bought this because the cover looked cool and it seemed to be receiving some critical acclaim. I’m a fool for the cool cover/rumors of critical acclaim combination. I’m pretty sure I saw a study last year that said cover design does matter even for electronic book purchases (I read the Kindle version). I can attest to that. Read on –>

The 50th Law

February 9, 2010

by Robert Greene and 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson)
I’m not sure how I heard about this book. It may have been an Amazon suggestion. I do recall reading an article on it in the WSJ or Newsweek, it kind of grabbed me for some reason. The idea that Fifty (Curtis Jackson), if I may call him [...]

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The Name of the Rose

January 31, 2010

by Umberto Eco
So I’m starting early this year with what I’m going to classify as literature. And yeah, it felt like lit. This was a long, slow read for me but it was rewarding when it was over; not so much because it was exciting or dramatic, but because I feel like I learned a [...]

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Fallen Angels

January 29, 2010

by Walter Dean Myers
Myers writes mostly teen lit. This is a war story about a group of guys in Vietnam during a twelve month period in the late 60’s. It’s told from the first person perspective by a young soldier named Richie Perry. It’s a horrors-of-war story for the most part but with some hopefulness. [...]

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The Shooters

January 7, 2010

by W.E.B. Griffin
This book is just about all dialogue. I noticed it earlier in the series but it really seemed to stand out in this one. Especially in the first half. Griffin basically tells the bulk of the story with dialogue. It’s amazing, and really cool. It’s non-stop chatter that moves rather rapidly. The violence [...]

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The Year in Books 2009

December 31, 2009

Wow, I think this will stick out as a year to remember for me, but not necessarily for my book selections. Reading was a struggle at times but there were many rewards. Once again I was shooting for 40 books but ended up well short. Oh well, let’s not lament. We’ll dig right into it.

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Designing With Web Standards

December 29, 2009

by Jeffrey Zeldman
Yeah, it’s basically a textbook. But I’ve read them before and I’ll probably read them again. Lately I’ve become infatuated with web design and I think that people in the occupations of finance and controllership need to become more familiar with the associated concepts. I certainly see plenty of applications for my clients. [...]

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World Without End

December 27, 2009

by Ken Follett
This is the follow-up to Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, which I read about two years ago. It takes place about 200 years after Pillars so I don’t think it deserves to be termed a sequel. You certainly don’t need to read the first one before this one. But they are similar [...]

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Uncommon

December 5, 2009

by Tony Dungy
My brother heard Tony Dungy on the radio the other day and called me up after. He said he thought Dungy had a lot of good things to say, so I grabbed it on the Kindle. That’s where the Kindle is most insidious; you are literally seconds away from buying a book that [...]

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