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George is retired. His life is comfortable if a bit boring. He has a wife, Jean, and two adult children, a daughter Katie and son Jamie, and a slightly hyperactive grandson, Jacob. Katie is getting remarried to Ray that no one (except Jamie) seems to like, and about whom Katie [...]
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A brief(ish) history of which species of plants and animals were chosen (or were happened upon) by biologists for use in understanding natural selection, the discovery of genes and chromosomes, genetic engineering, and so on. Basically, which plants and animals have quick reproduction times, are easily manipulated through breeding and later by gene [...]
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I suppose most everyone knows the basics of the story. It also depends on whether you’re red or blue as to which version of events you’re wont to believe. But this is the story in her words. I have to say, it’s pretty compelling.
The redactions make it tough going in places. Parts of [...]
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Author David Weintraub is Professor of Astronomy at Vanderbilt.
There has long been a debate about whether or not Pluto is really a planet. Is it or isn’t it? In order to answer that question, one must first decide exactly what a planet is. A recent discovery, 2003 UB313, a trans-Neptune Object, is thought to [...]
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The startlingly frank autobiography of Graeme Obree, cycling world champion and twice one-hour record holder. Written mostly while recuperating in the hospital after one of a series of nearly successful suicide attempts brougt about by ever worsening series of manic episodes, it chronicles his journey from a terribly abused childhood at the hands of [...]
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I have to confess: I’ve never read anything by Hunter S. Thompson. I know his reputation, but have never read anything or seen any film involving him. But Ralph Steadman is one of my favorite artists of all time, which is why I wanted to read this. (His artwork on Bonny Doone wines [...]
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This turned out to be a collection of short stories and, as such, is not a favorite of mine as I’m not a big fan of the genre. A bunch of people get together and each tells a “mystery” story to which only the teller knows the answer. The teller and, of course, Miss [...]
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I found this book because I saw James Hirsh interviewed on Jeanne Blake’s show. He was pretty interesting so I thought I’d read the book. It’s quite good. He was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 15, and the book came about as a result of his son being diagnosed at age 3. [...]
The list of 34 books read in 2007. A bit down from last year due to the renovations taking up so much time.
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
On the Wing by Eric Kraft
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
Taking Off by Erik Kraft
Our American King : A Novel by David Lozell Martin
Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
Peril [...]
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I think this is the last Agatha Christie book in the library that I hadn’t already read.
An anonymous letter arrives for Elinor that says someone is trying to divert Elinor’s (assumed) inheritance from here ailing aunt. She visits the aunt with her cousin-betrothed and discovers nothing terribly out of place, but that a childhood [...]
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Book two of Flying: A Trilogy. (Book one is Taking Off).
Peter Leroy and his wife Albertine embark on their trek in the one-of-a-kind Electro-Flyer to recreate Peter’s cross-country journey he made with his home-make aerocycle, Spirit of Babbington, when he was 15. The book chapters alternate between Peter’s teenage journey in the aerocycle and [...]
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This is billed as a Miss Marple mystery but she doesn’t show up until 3/4 of the way through the book and then is only an incidental character who says “Oh dear” a lot. The dust cover claims this was viewed by Christie as one of her best works. While it’s a good story, [...]
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Manhattanite Peter Leroy gets a note from a former high school classmate in Babbington, Long Island telling him to come back and see what’s happened to the town: it’s become a theme park. The town has re-created 1950 America, complete with period actors and Peter finds himself part of the lore as the “Birdboy [...]
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Mary and John, living in suburban Washington, D.C., are starving to death. America no longer exists in any real sense since its stunningly quick collapse. Just before the collapse the ultra rich bought up all the commodities (oil, food) and sequestered themselves away in easy-to-defend military bases where they play golf and have socials, [...]
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Christie must have been getting a little bored with her formula. This is a Poirot book, no doubt, but it’s written by Amy Leatheran, a nurse hired by one of the protagonists, Dr. Leidner, to attend to his wife, Louise. Poirot doesn’t show up until halfway through the book (as he’s still traveling in [...]
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Poirot and Captain Hastings are vacationing in the seaside town of St. Loo, when Miss Nick Buckley is shot at in the garden of the hotel where they are staying. Poirot leaps to the defense of the fair damsel and tries to discover who shot at her and protect her from harm after [...]
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The daughter of a wealthy American is murdered and her rubies stolen aboard the Blue Train from Calais to Nice. Whodunit? Her estranged husband? Her maid? Her secret lover? Her estranged husband’s secret lover? The nice girl from St. Mary Meade? The not-so-nice cousin of the nice girl from St. Mary Meade? The mysterious [...]
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Sarah King is traveling through the middle east when she meets up with the Boynton family who are terrorized by the matriarch who is found murdered during a side trip to Petra. Although this is a Poirot book, he doesn’t show up until well past the halfway point. The first half is a examination [...]
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Written by the woman who played “Angelique” in the 60’s soap opera, this has a very slow start, but gets quite good towards the end. It starts so slowly, in fact, that I almost put it down. I suppose that’s to be expected in a “novelization” of a soap opera. But about halfway through, [...]
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Samuel Fromartz is a business writer who has written for Fortune, Business Week, and Inc. who found himself shopping at a local farmer’s market and Whole Foods. So he decided to find out about the organics industry. This is the story of how organic food went from smelly hippies to a multi-billion dollar industry, [...]
