Category: Writing

author: Jeremy Scahill
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/12
date added: 2010/06/15
shelves: politics, religion, non-fiction, crime
review:
Wow. Depressing and astonishing. The stories of individual mercenary disasters are actually pretty heartbreaking, even if you think the guys are jerks for getting into it. Prince, on the other hand — the founder of Blackwater — gives me the heebie-jeebies. And the guys in DC who were all gung-ho to outsource the military: I got nothing good to say, at all.

author: Jeremy Scahill
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2010/06/12
date added: 2010/06/15
shelves: politics, religion, non-fiction, crime
review:
Wow. Depressing and astonishing. The stories of individual mercenary disasters are actually pretty heartbreaking, even if you think the guys are jerks for getting into it. Prince, on the other hand — the founder of Blackwater — gives me the heebie-jeebies. And the guys in DC who were all gung-ho to outsource the military: I got nothing good to say, at all.

author: Liane Merciel
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2010/06/06
date added: 2010/06/07
shelves: fantasy, fiction
review:
A solid fantasy novel with interesting plot twists, lots of rich description, and a crazy number of different POVs. Even some of the unsavory characters end up having sympathetic sides, which is always intriguing to me. Not so psyched on the plot thread of "they’re in love, but he’s taken a vow of chastity" — although it’s not done too badly. But otherwise enjoyable, and I’ll probably read the sequel when it comes out.

author: Liane Merciel
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2010/06/06
date added: 2010/06/07
shelves: fantasy, fiction
review:
A solid fantasy novel with interesting plot twists, lots of rich description, and a crazy number of different POVs. Even some of the unsavory characters end up having sympathetic sides, which is always intriguing to me. Not so psyched on the plot thread of "they’re in love, but he’s taken a vow of chastity" — although it’s not done too badly. But otherwise enjoyable, and I’ll probably read the sequel when it comes out.

author: Michael Lewis
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2010/06/03
date added: 2010/06/07
shelves: business, crime, economics, history, non-fiction, politics
review:
Utterly fascinating narrative about how our financial system got f’d. He actually explains the finance bits well enough that I think I maybe finally understand WTF credit default swaps are…although don’t test me on that. But he also embeds it into the story of a set of individuals who saw things getting ready to implode. Alas, they were all enough of the system that they all seem to have made serious money off of it, as the damn thing turned into a snake eating its own tail. Lewis tells a great story, even if it’s a horror story. Highly, highly recommended.

author: Michael Lewis
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2010/06/03
date added: 2010/06/07
shelves: business, crime, economics, history, non-fiction, politics
review:
Utterly fascinating narrative about how our financial system got f’d. He actually explains the finance bits well enough that I think I maybe finally understand WTF credit default swaps are…although don’t test me on that. But he also embeds it into the story of a set of individuals who saw things getting ready to implode. Alas, they were all enough of the system that they all seem to have made serious money off of it, as the damn thing turned into a snake eating its own tail. Lewis tells a great story, even if it’s a horror story. Highly, highly recommended.

author: Scott Berkun
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2010/05/22
date added: 2010/05/24
shelves: autobiography, business, non-fiction, self-help, wishlist
review:
Not your typical public speaking handbook — in the same way that Making Things Happen (aka The Art of Project Management) is not your typical project management handbook. Berkun is smart, weird, and funny. He writes about public speaking in such an honest and energetic way that I almost want to try it more myself…which is a huge thing for me. Lots of factoids, big-picture advice, and some little fiddly tips, but mostly, it’s storytelling about speaking in public, and using those stories to point to bigger concepts. If you ever have to present to any sort of group, read this! I’d buy a copy, for sure.

(BTW, I’ve seen him speak, and he’s pretty good.)

author: Scott Berkun
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2010/05/22
date added: 2010/05/24
shelves: business, non-fiction, self-help, autobiography, wishlist
review:
Not your typical public speaking handbook — in the same way that Making Things Happen (aka The Art of Project Management) is not your typical project management handbook. Berkun is smart, weird, and funny. He writes about public speaking in such an honest and energetic way that I almost want to try it more myself…which is a huge thing for me. Lots of factoids, big-picture advice, and some little fiddly tips, but mostly, it’s storytelling about speaking in public, and using those stories to point to bigger concepts. If you ever have to present to any sort of group, read this! I’d buy a copy, for sure.

(BTW, I’ve seen him speak, and he’s pretty good.)

author: Cory Doctorow
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/20
date added: 2010/05/24
shelves: fiction, kid-lit, sci-fi
review:
I read this one entirely online. (Yay for the Readability bookmarklet.) Found it immediately engrossing, loved the characters — like Little Brother, technologically-savvy but not always particularly aware teens for the most part. This one adds a couple of adults as secondary POV characters. There are a couple of lumps of info sections, mostly about economics, but I actually learned something reading them. (I swear, I actually understand inflation better now.) The politics are bracing in their forthrightness. But it also acknowledges, to some extent, the ambiguity of reality. Enjoyed a great deal, may buy a donation copy for a school.

author: Cory Doctorow
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/20
date added: 2010/05/24
shelves: kid-lit, fiction, sci-fi
review:
I read this one entirely online. (Yay for the Readability bookmarklet.) Found it immediately engrossing, loved the characters — like Little Brother, technologically-savvy but not always particularly aware teens for the most part. This one adds a couple of adults as secondary POV characters. There are a couple of lumps of info sections, mostly about economics, but I actually learned something reading them. (I swear, I actually understand inflation better now.) The politics are bracing in their forthrightness. But it also acknowledges, to some extent, the ambiguity of reality. Enjoyed a great deal, may buy a donation copy for a school.