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 few things. Read on –>

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. Read on –>

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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Maximum City

November 16, 2009

by Suketu Mehta
Mehta grew up in Mumbai but he left after his formative years for the US (New York City, mostly, for 20 years). This book documents a homecoming of sorts. He brings his wife and two young kids back to Mumbai to live for a few years and documents his personal experiences. It’s deeper [...]

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The Hoopster

October 6, 2009

by Alan Lawrence Sitomer
The earliest memory I have of a “chapter book” is one called Powerhouse Five. I think I may have read it in 5th or 6th grade. It feels like yesterday. In fact, I can picture the grade-school bookshelf with all of the basketball books. All I can recall about the book was that it had a [...]

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The Company of Strangers

September 25, 2009

by Robert Wilson
I was looking for a serious spy novel – I got a serious spy novel. There’s nothing light about this book. I read one of Wilson’s novels before I started Booktakes and I recall thinking it was really cool. Well, this one is even better. In fact, it’s the best book I’ve read [...]

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