tho i love reading, i only really do it before i go to sleep. so it takes me a few weeks to get through a normal sized book. time for a book review.
“The Good the Bad and the Mad: Some weird people in American history” – a collection of short bio’s on interesting people. quick and interesting read. most of the people i had never heard of, so it was new info for me.
“A Brief History of The Cold War” – fascinating (to me) book that gives an overview of the Cold War starting from the Bolshevik revolution up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the USSR. Really interesting, lots of information, and lots of things that make you just sick now with all that’s going on in Iraq. Some quotes:
“Democracy is, after all, the will of the majority, however misguided, stupid, or ignorant that majority will be.” SO TRUE.
“He was promptly stigmatized by the left as ‘ill equipped for the great responsibility he bears…bellicose, ignorant and with a simplistic view of the world, pieced together from journals of right-wing opinion and Hollywood b-movies………The President (Reagan) was characterized as a ‘stupid cowboy’ and a political simpleton in the liberal press in both Europe and America, much to the delight of political cartoonists.” – Such a good way to characterize Dubya as well.
Regarding the Berlin Wall – “President Bush (Sr) was slower to react and watched the events in Berlin unfold on television in a state of bewildered disbelief. Richard Gephardt’s soundbite on his President’s reaction went to the heart of the White House’s pedestrian approach to the momentous events of 1989: ‘As the walls of the modern Jericho come tumbling down, we have a President who is inadequate to the moment…’ ”
Bush Sr regarding the attempted coup in USSR: “In an astonishing remark he called the attempted coup ‘extra-constitutional’, whatever that meant, and called for ‘prudence’ ” hahha
The main problelm with the book, I found, was that he uses abbreviations that we are apparently supposed to know, but don’t. So half the time I was confused as to what agency or organization he was talking about. I found out at the end that there was a glossary. He also frequently uses french sayings to describe things. While I know what raison d’etre means, most of the other ones I didn’t. There’s no point except to sound pompous and arrogant. In a book that is supposed to be an easy read and easy to understand, things like that make it seem too academic for the general population. Good book though.
“Yes Man” – fun book, apparently true story, about a man who is told by a stranger to “say yes more.” He takes up the suggestion vowing to say yes to everything he comes across – from penis enlargement pills to adopting elderly people and traveling to singapore. Amusing and funny, somewhat inspiring, and uplifting. quote that i LOLed at “I decided very quickly that if i was approached by any monk named either Professor Plum or Colonel Mustard, i’d be out the door, in the car, with a five-iron. Which is a scenario Clue never seemed to cover.” hahahah
“Voices from Chernobyl” – intersting collection of interviews and first hand accounts of the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the early 80s. very recommended. however it assumes you know something about what happened there. easy and interesting read even if you have no clue.
I am now reading a book called “Do fish drink water?” which is apparently a collection of questions and their answers. After the animal section, I’d say it’s interesting and a quick read. Must remember to take it to my hida scan tomorrow since they said it could take up to 4 hours for my gall bladder to cooperate.
With finishing all these books, I think I’m going to join bookmooch.com. It’s a free service where you list old books you don’t need anymore, and can look for books you want to read. You get points for each book you list, which you can redeem to get a book. All you pay for is shipping to other moochers.