Book Review: Inferno

It's a Dan Brown novel -- what is there to review? If you've read a couple of his books then you know the gist. Harvard University's Professor of Art History & Symbology, Robert Langdon,* is called in to a different part of the world to help solve a crime. Amazingly, the criminal has left clues for how to stop his/her plan but in the form of a historical puzzle which Langdon must then solve. The plot usually unfolds in a 24 hour time period with many twists and turns along the way.

Still, Brown makes it exciting every time. A lot of people like Brown's books for how descriptive he is. Since Langdon is a SME on all things art history, setting his stories in France or Italy allows Brown to describe the grand architecture, paintings, sculptures, etc. in painstakingly accurate detail. For some people, the descriptors just jump off the page, but for me, these are the most annoying passages. I'm a visual guy... I need to see something to fully comprehend it. Reading about something doesn't inspire a picture in my head, it just slows down my pace.

However, I liked Inferno. I've read all of Dan Brown's work** and I'd probably rank this as his third best. It has all the elements you like plus a very different beginning and a crazy ending that has huge implications. Borrow it from your local library today.



*Langdon is as much of a professor as Indiana Jones. So... not really at all.

**Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons, Deception Point, The DaVinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno

Book Review: FRANCONA: The Red Sox Years

Perfectly timed with the release of the Cleveland Indians' Harlem Shake video yesterday, I finished reading Terry Francona's book about that other team he managed. After 8 years and 2 World Championships, Francona's Red Sox tenure ended in historically bad fashion during September 2011. But let's start with the good stuff.

I really enjoyed this book and it took me back to a time when our owners seemed great, our manager had control of the team and our GM was a wunderkind. Francona's father was a professional MLB-er and he grew up around the game. He also ended up playing professionally and had a 10 year career. Soon after retiring he got into coaching and quickly moved up the ranks. In 2004, he was hired by the Sox to take over for Grady "I think Pedro can give me one more" Little. You know how that season ended.

Fast forward through some more highs (2007 Champs) and we end on the lowest note possible. I didn't enjoy reading the last three chapters because our team is still in the midst of recovering from that mess. It hit a little too close to home. And anyone who read the book excerpts that were released ahead of time know all the salient quotes from this section. The real reason to dig into this book is to remember the good times; how they built something from nothing. It was an insightful walk down memory lane... I can't wait to go back.

Book Review: I Suck at Girls

by: Justin Halpern

Two things before I jump into this post. First, you may have noticed that I deleted the tab up top for "Recent Books." If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you will see why... Shelfari! Everyone likes visuals and I prefer this approach to showing off my reading collection. The second thing is, I still have love for Goodreads. I use that site to track what books I want to read, what I'm reading currently and to rate the books I've completed. That won't change but they didn't have a blog widget like Shelfari. Now, to the book!

I did not like Halpern's first effort, Shit My Dad Says. Why would I go back for more? Three reasons: 1) It was only 170 pages. 2) I read a preview chapter online that was funny. 3) I also suck at girls. And my leap of faith was greatly rewarded.

I loved this book. It was extremely funny, Halpern kept the story moving and he stayed out of his own way (which he wasn't able to do in his first book). His dad was in there -- of course -- but much more naturally and his comments actually fit and flowed. If you're a guy you have to read this. If you're a girl, well, I have no idea what you like. Halpern never quite figures that out either.

Book Review: I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)

by: Stephen Colbert

I was at the library perusing the new book section (which I just found 18 months after I started going here. Really, no signage?) and came across this book:

I haven't read Colbert's first book but I think he's hilarious. Plus, this made me think it would be like a Go The Fuck To Sleep type of "adult" children's book. See, it's 32 pages long and the size of a Where's Waldo? book.

It's probably not giving too much away to say that this pole is trying to figure out what type of pole it is -- a ski pole? A barber's pole? A stripper pole? Yeah, so it's not exactly for kids and the illustration for that one I'll leave up to your imagination. But it's funny so spend the two and a half minutes it takes to read.

Book Review: Gone Girl

by: Gillian Flynn

Brig recommended this book to me and if it was already old news back when she read it, then 3 more months probably isn't a big deal.

Gone Girl is about a husband whose wife goes missing on their fifth anniversary. The chapters switch between the husband narrating what's happening in the present and the wife's diary entries. We learn quite a bit about their relationship and how their lives led up to that fateful day.

There are quite a few twists I didn't see coming and the story always kept me enrapt. It was a book I put down (multiple times) but that's only because in real life sometimes you have other things to do. I'm not one to indulge in large swaths of reading at once but here it was easy to knock out 70-100 pages in a sitting.

And the true sign of a good recommendation, I think I will be checking out Flynn's other books now with equally high hopes.

Book Review: Red Sox Triviology: Fascinating Facts from the Bleacher Seats

by: Neil Shalin

With a great byline like that, how could you go wrong? I'll tell you how:

Adrian Gonzalez - ranked 6th best first baseman in Red Sox history
Adrian Beltre - ranked 10th best third baseman in Red Sox history
Carl Crawford - ranked 7th best left fielder in Red Sox history

Are you kidding me? Beltre was only in Boston 1 year. Gonzalez had only been here 1 year (the book was published in October 2011) and is now gone. Carl Crawford put up the worst stats of his career (batted .255/.289 with only 18 steals) in his 1 full season with the Sox. How do you rank these guys that high on the All-Time Red Sox List?

Take a good, hard look at the cover of this book. If you see it just turn and walk away.

Book Review: Timekeepers: A Revolutionary Tale

This book was written by Brig’s aunt but you wouldn’t know it because she uses the pen name J.Y. Harris (Mark Twain she’s not). It’s a story about a high school-aged brother and sister who go back in time to 1777 and have to help deliver an urgent message to General George Washington.

It’s a light read and is written for 12-15 year olds but it’s actually really entertaining. Anyone who has a sibling close to their age and knows how annoying that can be – especially in high school – will get into this.  What made it enlightening was how Harris based the story in the middle of actual historical events (although minutely fictionalized for the book). She used it as a way to teach the two kids (and the reader) a lesson about how even the smallest town has a “history” and that people should take pride in it.

Also, she focused on a smaller battle – a local event – to again push their relationship with the town but also to acknowledge that even the lesser-known skirmishes and ordinary townspeople can change the face of a war.

Towards the end the two kids were trying to return to their normal time when one of them started questioning how likely that would be. They were randomly transported to 1777 but who’s to say they’ll be sent back to their day instead of some other year in history? It made me think how I would love to follow them on another adventure in another time period. As luck would have it, Harris wrote in the Author’s Note that we can expect another trip back in history. Awesome! Now I have to see if I can get Brig to weasel me an advance copy.

Book Review: Barrel Fever

Brigid has been telling me to check out David Sedaris for the longest time. I didn’t know anything about him except his sister Amy was the star of Strangers with Candy and that he was gay. That's all the info I needed as I dove into his first published book of stories, Barrel Fever.

I found it a very odd collection of tales and couldn’t make sense of it one way or another. I couldn’t tell if these stories were pure fiction, partly real, him narrating, someone else’s account, etc. It was jarring to go from story to story with absolutely no carry-over. I couldn’t follow it.

Maybe the jocosity was over my head or maybe he hadn’t found his “voice” yet and I should have tried one of his more recent books first. Or maybe he and I don’t have the same type of humor. It happens. But there was one story I liked and have transcribed it by hand below. Both because I like it that much and to save you the time of reading the rest of this book.

“The Last You’ll Hear From Me”

Dear Friends and Family,

By the time you receive this letter I will be dead. Those of you attending this service are sitting quietly, holding a beautiful paperweight, a gift from the collection, which, in life, had been my pride and joy. You turn the paperweight over in your hands, look deep inside, at the object imbedded in the glass, be it a rose or a scorpion, whatever, and through your tears you ask, “What is death like?” By this time I certainly know the answer to that question but am unable to give details. Know only that I will one day meet you upon the grassy plains of Heaven, where, with the exception of Randy Sykes and Annette Kelper, I will be tickled to embrace you and catch up on all the news. When the time comes I probably won’t be too thrilled to see my mother either, but we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

If my instructions were followed the I wanted them to be (see attached instruction envelope #1), this letter is being read to you from the pulpit of The Simple Shepherd Church of Christ by my best friend, Eileen Mickey (Hi, Eileen), who is wearing the long-sleeved Lisa Montino designer dress I left behind that always looked so good on me. (Eileen, I hope you either lost some weight or took it out some on the sides or you’re not going to be able to breathe. Also, remember it needs to be dry-cleaned. I know how you and your family love to skimp, but please, don’t listen to what anyone says about Woolite. Dry-clean!)

Most of you are probably wondering why I did it. You’re asking yourselves over and over again, “What could have driven Trish Moody to do such a thing?”

You’re whispering, “Why, Lord? Why take Trish Moody? Trish was a ray of bright sunshine, always doing things for other people, always so up and perky and full of love. Pretty too. Just as smart and sweet and pretty as they come.”

You’re probably shaking your heads and thinking there’s plenty of people a lot worse than Trish Moody. There’s her former excuse for a boyfriend, Randy Sykes, for example. The boyfriend who, after Trish accidentally backed her car over his dog, practically beat her senseless. He beat her with words but still, it might as well have been with his fists. He struck her again and again with words and names such as “manipulative,” “jealous,” “childish,” and others I wouldn’t justify in print. The dog’s death was a tragic accident but perhaps also a blessing in disguise as Randy tended to spend entirely too much time with it. The dog was in danger of becoming, like Randy himself, spoiled and disobedient. Besides that, being a registered breed it was headed for unavoidable future hip problems.

What did Trish’s mother say when her daughter, heartbroken over her breakup with Randy, came to her in search of love and understanding?

“If you’re looking for sympathy you can find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary.”

Perhaps my mother can live with slogan such as this. I know I can’t.

Neither can I live surrounded by “friends” such as Annette Kelper. Poor, chubby Annette Kelper, who desperately tries to pretend that nobody notices the fact that she’s balding on top of her head. That’s right. Look closely – balding just like a man. Perhaps Randy feels sorry for chrome-dome Annette. Maybe that’s why he was seen twice in her company in a single five-day period. Seen standing together in the parking lot of the Burger Tabernacle (her home away from home) and seen huddled together, laughing on the escalator of the Crabtree Valley Mall. Annette, my supposed best friend, who secretly wanted and coveted everything I owned. Annette, always in my corner, the balding, chubby girl who said to me, in the spirit of friendship, “You’ve got to loosen up a little, Trish. People aren’t things that you can own and control and arrange to stay a certain way.” I remember she said it to me in the bedroom of my own home, her hand on my shoulder, facing left so that I could clearly see how those two top teeth of hers are turning brown as a result of a cheap root canal. I remember feeling sorry for her.

Is everyone on earth as two-faced as Annette Kelper? Is everyone as cruel as Randy Sykes? I think not. Most of you, the loved ones I left behind, are simple, devoted people. I urge you now to take a look around the room. Are Randy Sykes and Annette sitting in the audience? Are they shifting uncomfortably in the pew, shielding their faces with the 8½ -by-11 photograph of me I had reproduced to serve as a memento of this occasion?

(Eileen, read this part real fast before they have a chance to leave.) Randy Sykes’s dick is the size of my little finger and that’s when it’s hard. And I’m not counting the nail, just the finger! He had sex two times with a boy at Camp Ticonderoga when he was in junior high school. Maybe that explains why he loves it when somebody sticks their finger up his butt. He used to beg me to do that but I refused. I said, “No way, Randy.” He used to do it to himself all the time. That’s why I never held hands with him. His hands stink! He secretly thinks he looks like Marlon Brando, but take a good look – a young Marlin Perkins is more like it! Maybe that’s what he sees in Annette Kelper – he’s an animal lover. She used to come to my house crying, her breath smelling a mile off like her uncle’s dick. She said he forced her but that’s a lie because you don’t force whores and that’s what she is – a whore. Annette and Randy deserve each other. Dick-Breath and Stinky-Finer riding up and down the escalator at Crabtree Valley, up and down, up and down. Fancy little shit-heads! Look at them, take a good hard look at them. It’s their fault I’m dead. They are to blame. I urge you not to take those paperweights and stone them. Release your anger! The Bible says that it’s all right to cast the first stone if someone dead is telling you to do it and I’m telling you now, pretend the paperweights are stones and cast them upon the guilty. I’ve put aside my savings to pay for damages to the walls and windows. It’s money I was saving for my wedding and there’s plenty of it so throw! Hurt them the way the hurt me! Kill them! No one will hold your responsible Kill them!

(Eileen, I’m going to allow a few minutes here because it might take a while for certain people to get into the swing of it. Pop in the cassette marked “Stoning” and wait until both Randy and Annette are lifeless. Wait until everyone has finished with their paperweights and then I want you to hand the microphone over to my mother. Watch the way she trembles and stutters and remember every gesture as if you were me.)

Book Review: Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life

Maybe it was my fault for assuming a book written by a comedian, about his years as a stand-up comic, would be funny. In any case, it isn’t.

What it is is an autobiography of Steve Martin’s early life and career as he became a performer whose act evolved from magic to music to comedy. He tells us about his time working at DisneyLand in the magic shop; his experience writing for the Smothers Brothers TV show; and his appearances on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. All of this ended up molding his comedy act and making him (at the time) the best-selling stand-up comedian ever.

Of course, this is a book solely about that time in his life so once he decided to retire from stand-up in 1981, and focus solely on movies, the book ends. We get some mention of The Jerk and his hosting appearances on SNL but nothing on what made him a household name. It’s a bit disappointing.

The most interesting takeaway from this read was how Martin’s relationship with his family was close to non-existent. He had practically no contact with his parents or sister for upwards of 10 years. His father never respected what he did and always had negative comments about his work. It was impressive to see how that kind of home life is what initially drew him to extracurricular activities such as magic and comedy so he could spend more time outside of the house. And that it would pay off doubly when he became so extremely successful.

Book Review: I, Robot

by: Isaac Asimov

I’ve been on a book/movie kick recently: Shoeless Joe, The Help and Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist were 3 of the last 4 books I read. With the exception of The Help these have all been instances where I saw the movie first and enjoyed them enough to be interested in reading the source material. Shoeless Joe and Nick & Norah were pretty similar to their respective plots but I, Robot has nothing to do with the Will Smith movie.

If you remember when Marty went back to 1955 in Back to the Future then you know that the Science Fiction genre was just taking off. Asimov was at the heart of that. He published I, Robot in 1950 as a collection of 9 short stories that all tie together. None of the stories are similar to Will Smith’s plight but the film absolutely takes ideas from each tale. It’s amazing to consider that Asimov could even conjure up such an impressive and outstanding future during a period when most people didn’t even own a TV set.

In the book, he talks about every family owning a robot, robots working on different planets, the existence of space stations and even interstellar travel. Again, this was 1950. Sputnik wouldn’t even circle the globe until 1957 and NASA wouldn’t even exist (in its current form) until 1958! You have to chalk it up to more than just imagination; the man almost hit a bullseye.

Robots are essential in the 21st century but primarily for industrial purposes. Humanoid robots are more or less non-existent likely because of the uncanny valley -- (Did I do actual research for this blog post?) -- and likely because Rosie from the Jetsons was so annoying. Still, to read a piece of fiction from 1950 and find that it leans closer to non-fiction in 2012 is incredibly impressive.

Book Review: Shoeless Joe

by: W.P. Kinsella

If I hadn’t seen Field of Dreams I probably would not have been able to get into this book. It is so fantastical and it seems to come out of nowhere. Ray and his family are normal Iowa farmers trying to get by and then all this supernatural stuff starts happening. I like how Wikipedia describes it as a “magic realist” novel because that’s exactly what it is and why it seems so off-putting at first. You’re expecting ‘real’ and then you get blindsided by ‘magic’.

I also think it helped that I had seen the movie because I could picture the story more easily in my mind. I know people love books because the reader can imagine whatever they want but I liked being transported to the scenes of a movie that I really enjoy. Plus, Kinsella is very wordy in his visual descriptions and it can feel tedious at times. Instead, I could imagine their lines of dialogue and pick out which ones came directly from the book.

My recommendation is to stick with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones for a more enjoyable experience.

Book Review: The Help

by: Kathryn Stockett

As many of you know by now, this book was rejected by 60 literary agents before Stockett found someone willing to represent her. It’s amazing to hear that considering just how great this book is. I’d love to see some of those earlier drafts. Revision is an author’s best friend.

The Help is a fictional story of black maids working for white families in 1960s Mississippi. It is told from 3 different perspectives: 2 black maids and a young white woman. For those of you who have seen the movie (or just the previews) they were played by Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone.

As someone who was born well after the civil rights movement and north of the Mason/Dixon line I found this book extremely interesting. It was exceptionally insightful into what both races were feeling during that time of immense pressure and change. It even managed to be sufficiently frightening when violence – or the fear of it – erupted.

You may notice I keep saying “It” and not giving Stockett any sort of recognition. I thought the book was great but in my version there was a little personal essay tacked on at the end. She just came across as so conceited that I don’t want to give her any credit. Of course, she can feel free to continue writing from other people’s perspectives but stay away from the other b.s.

Book Review: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

by: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

I saw the Michael Cera/Kat Dennings Nick & Norah in theaters a couple years ago and I thought I should finally get around to reading the source material. Turns out there were quite a few liberties taken in the movie.

Remember how the whole film was a race to find the band Where's Fluffy?'s secret show? Well, in the book they just happen to randomly go to a club and it turns out the band is playing there that night. No race, no search, no anything.

And remember how half the movie was trying to find Norah's friend Caroline who Nick's friends were supposed to take home but they lost her? Well, in the book they just take her home and there is no mention of her again.

Also, the girl Tris who is supposed to be the antagonist in the movie is much more 50/50 in the book and she's written as someone who was looking out for Nick's best interests when she broke up with him. (Yeah, I know how that sounds but it's actually true.)

The book is written by 2 writers (Cohn & Levithan) each voicing one of the characters. The story moves back and forth with each chapter switching viewpoints from Nick's to Norah's. It's a pretty light read and is most definitely written with the "Young Adult" in mind.

Book Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by: Stephen Chbosky

I’ve wanted to read this book for many years. I’d heard great things and that there were some similarities to The Catcher in the Rye. It’s definitely not a Catcher clone though… it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to make a youthful or generational statement.

The book is a series of letters written by the titular wallflower, Charlie. The person he is writing to is anonymous. It is his telling of his freshman year of high school and all the people he meets and new things he tries. Charlie is a little odd though. He’s had psychological problems since he was young. But he’s very smart and that comes across in some of his observations.

One of my favorite things from the book was a poem that Charlie gave to his friend Patrick for Christmas. He didn’t know its title or who wrote it but Google does ("Absolutely Nothing" by Osoanon Nimuss).

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it 'Chops'
because that was the name of his dog
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
And he let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X's
and he had to ask his father what the X's meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it.

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it 'Autumn'
because that was the name of the season
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
And the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
And sometimes they would burn holes
That was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
And he called it 'Innocence: A Question'
because that was the question about his girl
And that's what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
That was the year Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end
of the Apostle's Creed went
And he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
And the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
And at 3am he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly.

That's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
And he called it 'Absolutely Nothing'
Because that's what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn't think
he could reach the kitchen.

Book Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?

by: Mindy Kaling

I would not recommend this book to anyone I know. Maybe if I had a female cousin in junior high or something. It's not even that this is too girly -- it's just not funny.

Kaling describes this book in the introduction as being written in a way that reflects how she thinks. "Sometimes it's an essay or story, and sometimes it's a pliest, which is a piece with a list-y quality, a term I've just made up." But in reality, her chapter entitled "Alternate Titles for This Book" really nailed it with The Book That Was Never a Blog.

This book is really just a bunch of little blog posts pasted together and sold under the guise of being by one of the young, up and coming writers of a hit TV show. Which would be fine, to a certain extent, as long as she dished out cool details about The Office since that's pretty much all she is known for. Yet that long-running NBC tentpole only garners 20 pages of her already slim (220 pages) book.

I read this book in two sittings, comfortably. Although, I hesitate to say comfortably because there was close to no enjoyment until the second to last chapter. It was titled "A Eulogy for Mindy Kaling" and it was some of the funniest writing in the book. Not by Kaling, of course, but by Michael Schur, a former writer for The Office and co-creator of Parks and Recreation. If he put out a book I would grab it in a heartbeat.

Book Review: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business

by: Dick Van Dyke

I want to preface this post by saying I enjoyed this book. It was a quick, easy read about an actor who I like and enjoy. However, it was probably a bad idea to read it immediately after Steve Jobs.

It was nice to read about the golden age of television and see how actors back then had real talents like singing and dancing. Van Dyke is 75% of the way to an EGOT, only missing an Oscar. That is an especially amazing feat since he is known primarily for only 4 things: The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Diagnosis Murder.

The only problem with this book is the one I read before it. I was still in the frame of mind of Walter Isaacson’s take on Steve Jobs’ life and it carried over to this read. First of all, one is a biography and one is a memoir. That’s a huge difference. I’m not saying Van Dyke was trying to spin anything in his favor but obviously it was written from his perspective. Second, there was no dirt. Van Dyke is known for being clean cut and staying out of tabloid trouble which is fine, of course, except that I had already been immersed in the Apple exposé known as Steve Jobs.

Anyway, it’s a good read if you’re a fan of Dick Van Dyke but make a point to buffer it with some lighter fare (or maybe I’m just weird).

Book Review: Steve Jobs

by: Walter Isaacson

Unprecedented access. That’s what Walter Isaacson got from Steve Jobs and that’s what the reader gets from Steve Jobs.

Most people know his story, especially the past decade or so. But this biography has a lot of inside information that the public never had access to: behind the scenes stories and glimpses into a brilliant mind. But with that brilliance came a dark side. He was a perfectionist and therefore a very difficult and demanding boss. The fact that he was so hands as a CEO made it even more of an issue with confrontations between him and employees becoming common daily occurrences.

But people believed in his vision and would follow him anywhere. His list of successes is enviable; the original Macintosh, iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad, nevermind his co-creation and leadership of Pixar (yes, that Pixar). He was a showman first and foremost but was also a design freak. He lived by the mantra of minimalism and making things as simple as possible.

This life story is so packed with information that I can’t even write a cohesive blog post about it. Read this book for the true tale of Steve Jobs.

Book Review: Shaq Uncut

by: Shaquille O'Neal (w/ Jackie MacMullan)

Most memoirs/autobiographies just aren't very entertaining. Childhoods are usually boring and then there's the never overnight rise to the top (AKA the stuff we don't care about). But like with everything else he does in life, Shaq succeeds famously. For a man who stands apart in so many ways, he is the everyman. People love Shaq and are drawn to him almost effortlessly. He's just an awesome human being who happens to be 7'1" and a future Hall of Famer.

Shaq Uncut is a great read. It is quick paced and tells all the stories you want to hear. About his playing days with Kobe, D-Wade, LeBron, Penny Hardaway and the Celtics' Big 3. Plus, commentary on guys like Dwight Howard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and... Greg Ostertag? You will get an insider's look at NBA locker rooms and player/front office relationships. But most importantly, you will laugh a lot.

2011 New Year's Resolution follow up

Ladies and gentlemen, you are looking at an official New Year’s Resolution keeper! Back in December 2010 I was ruminating over what I wanted to change in 2011. I had tried in years past to “read more” but it never ended up sticking. This year, however, I crushed it.

I have read 27 books so far this year with a month to go. I have a sweet new library card for the NOBLE Network (North of Boston Library Exchange) and they’re having a tough time keeping up with me. I’ve read fiction (The Night Circus), non-fiction (The Longest Day), series (The Hunger Games), memoirs (Bossypants), and a children’s book (Go The Fuck To Sleep).

Am I better for it? I guess I’ll already know the backstory for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movie but now it’s forced to live up to my expectations. It’s a double edged sword. I don’t want to be one of those “The book was much better than the movie” kind of people. (But seriously, The DaVinci Code was definitely a better book.)

Then again, other things have fallen to the wayside to make room for all this reading. My music listening has dropped dramatically. I just don’t have the time now. And I rarely watch TV but that’s not anything new. So, I kept my resolution all year but isn’t the point to make it a normal part of your life? All I did was focus my energy on that in lieu of doing other things. Mission accomplished?

Book Review: The Wise Man's Fear

by: Patrick Rothfuss

The Wise Man's Fear is the second of an expected trilogy by Rothfuss called The Kingkiller Chronicle. You may recall I reviewed the first book, Name of the Wind, back in September. This one picks up right where that left off and is even more fantastical. Featuring fairies, mercenaries, kings, traitors and more, our hero Kvothe certainly has his hands full. It is almost inevitable how his name -- and reputation -- grow to perilous heights in the process.

The book ends with seemingly everything going Kvothe's way and nothing but an assumed perilous fall ahead of him. Heading into book three (tentatively titled The Doors of Stone) expectations almost match those Lost fans had for its final season. There are so many questions and plot lines that need to be tied up that it's difficult to believe everything will be resolved. Of course, books can have many, many pages (The Wise Man's Fear was nearly 1000) while ABC forced Lost's hand. Anyway, I am excited to see how everything comes together, or falls apart, for that matter. It's a hell of a story.