Born to Run: The Hidden Tribe, The Ultra Runners, And the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

For all of you that are intrigued by running, barefoot running, racing, molding yourself into a healthy eating running machine, the evolution of running, or better running form, this is the book for you! I have been so excited and amazed by this book that I haven't put it down! I'm not even finished with it yet and here I'm posting about it! It amazes me the things the human body can do, for ex: 135 mile runs through Death Valley! Entertaining, enjoyable, and motivating. Anyone who runs or wants to run, needs to read this book!

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Wow

Reminded me of a Steinbeck or Kesey, well written and emotional.

I, Robot

I recently read the original version of I, Robot, and found it quite interesting. At a time in the not too distant future human kind has created sentient life with a positronic brain capable of amazing things. Robots are banned from earth but serve many purposes abroad. I found it a much more interesting and stimulating story than the one the movie portrayed. Quite different in fact, but very enjoyable. I would recommend it as a quick science fiction read.

Book Review: Guns Germs and Steel

Finished reading this book recently. It has been sitting on my bookshelf since 2002 I think. Too bad it took me so long to get around to reading it. It was great. Very informative and interesting. It is a brief history of humankind over the last 13,000+ years. Obviously, in covering so much ground in 400 or so pages, the book is low on specifics.  What it does is give a broad overview of why the several histories of different civilizations played out so differently.  For example, why did Europe conquer America and not the other way around?  He goes beyond the proximate causes of guns germs and steel and attempts to root out the ultimate causes that led to history playing out as it did.  It is a great book and well worth the read.

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

A national best seller and yet another Michael Pollan book that has won me over. Pollan focuses on four main plants that owe their current abundance to the cultivation of humans. In turn we owe a lot of our current abundance to them as well. I enjoyed how beautiful the writing was throughout the book, and especially enjoyed the idea of today's gardener being somewhat of a modern alchemist, turning dusty plants into ripe gold. For anyone that has an interest in botany, genetics, and gardening, this book was a fun and fairly quick read.

Book review: The Road

So I know this is a bit late as most of you have read this but...
I found this book to be powerful so I figured I'd write a quick little blurb. I figure it can't hurt.

So I am sitting at the dinner table tonight watching Dallin shove an over-sized hamburger into his face, as I sip some generic root beer and munch on salt and vinegar chips. And it hits me...wow what a feast. How fortunate we are and don't even know it. How beautiful this world, how much we have.

Most Post-apocalyptic stories are of surviving and rebuilding. Beating the odds and living to see a brighter day. Not so with this book. The world is dead, the environment ruined, and man clings to the dregs of our present, eking out a few more miserable years all the while feeding off other men, and not only figuratively.

I guess the powerful part was being faced with utter hopelessness, what is the point in going on? To perpetuate the species? That will end soon in such a world. For the first time ever in a book I found myself thinking that those that gave up had the right idea. The wife was right. Was it wrong of the group with the pregnant woman to do what they did? Was there another option?

Now this was from an outside perspective from a person who could see what it meant if all the plants were dead and all the fish in the sea were too, the sun blotted out with ash. I suppose, put in the middle of the situation I would fight on as the Man did. At least I would hope to. And who knows maybe some lived to see a brighter day after even such a catastrophe.

Anyways, from my limited knowledge of the subject I feel that this is one of the best books of American literature. The prose is spartan but poetic and so profound at times that I did could not fathom it. Read it if you have not.

Book Review-Longitude

This is a great little book about the race of discovering a way to measure longitude while at sea. It is interesting and a quick read. I think everyone would enjoy it.

Book Review-In Defense Of Food

Another good read from author Michael Pollan. Admittedly not as fun as The Omnivore's Dilema and a bit more disheartening. It seems it is harder than I originally thought to find actual food but nevertheless it is possible! I enjoyed learning a great deal more about the food industry and food itself in this book. My small criticism is that he encourages not to eat alone but what about the single adult Mr. Pollan? I read this book in a few days, easy, fun, educating!

Book Review-The Omnivore's Dilemma

I initially saw this book peaking out of the shelves of a Jamba Juice. I found the title intriguing and eventually got around to purchasing it. I thoroughly enjoyed this playful story of food and would recommend it to anyone. I really like that Pollan doesn't push an agenda on you. The greater portion of the book is just educating you with very intesting and yes, at times disturbing, facts. It motivates you to think more about where your food comes from and what exactly you are eating. But don't worry, it isn't a preachy book that wants you to be a vegetarian! I think most of us love the idea of a micro family garden/farm and this book definitely gives lots of useful tips on what makes a good one. Pollan's musings about his hunting experiences became fairly cheesy but that is the only part that bordered on boring. Read this, you'll like it!

Book Review-Samedi the Deafness

Samedi the Deafness is a strange read no doubt. The language of the book is abrupt and lyrical. It is somewhat of a mystery. The strange events taking place and the novel places that creep their way into the main characters life draw you in. It is different from any other book I've read and I like that. You find yourself wondering whether the events taking place are real or if they are delusions that only the main character believes to be real but are not in fact taking place. As the author states in an interview, "Samedi is an investigation of lies and responsibility.” Overall one of my favorite reads, albeit a strange one.

Book Review: Mistborn

It's been a long time since I've read fantasy, but if I'm still calibrated correctly to the genre this is a good book and will prove to be a good series. I've read the first book and liked it and am enjoying the second. Ninja's meet Fantasy is kinda what it feels like, and let's face it Ninja's are cool (substitute Jedi's if you haven't been turned off to them by the recent Star Wars films). I originally picked this book up because the author has been chosen to finish the Wheel of Time books after Robert Jordan's death. Luckily Brandon Sanderson is a much better writer than Robert Jordan was, I almost finished his series just to not have wasted the time getting as far as I had. Though in the end I couldn't finish and only read the summaries. The fight scenes are awesome and I really liked all the characters.

Book Review: "Genesis" by Poul Anderson

Don't let the horrid cover fool you. This was a good read. If you liked "Lungfish" and "Diaspora" you should like this. Takes place at various times in the human and post human future, ending a billion or so years from now, near the end of Earth's life.

The book brought up some interesting questions.

Is it immoral to create a civilization, ex nihilo style, and let it run with free will and all that entails? Love, joy, sadness, murder, cruelty. Some characters in the book seemed to think so.

Would it then be immoral to terminate your creation completely?

In the end I was rooting against the crazy AI that wanted to let earth die and for the ones trying to preserve the "birthplace of consciousness." The final reveal was a bit of a shocker. Just goes to show you should be careful who you side with.

Overall and easier read than Diaspora, and highly recommended.

Book Review-World War Z

Another Post Apocalyptic book for those of you that are fans. It is about the world having come to a near end through the spread of a disease that causes people to turn into zombies. I really liked how it was written in a documentary/interview style. The Interview style really allows you to get caught up in the conjured reality of the situation. It was a fun and easy read, made the new york times best seller list.

Book review: The Postman

Hey I don't know we want to do this with this blog, but one post won't do too much harm I suppose.

I think it may be fun to put book reviews here. That way, our now dead book club, can be more pick and choose. If you see a book review that you find interesting pick up the book. Format the review any way you like.

I recently read, "The Postman" by David Brin.

What I liked.

Post apocalyptic setting. I am a sucker for the post apocalypse. Don't know why. I just think it is fertile ground for stories about human nature and such, and a good place to reflect on civilization and society. This book did a fairly good job of creating such a place.

The Protagonist's journey was interesting. He kept traveling West hoping to find the remains of civilization.

The location. He ends up in Oregon. It was fun to read about him visiting towns that I know of. Ending up in the Willamette valley. Too bad Portland was still in a cloud of radioactivity.

The idea that something as simple as resuming postal service could bring people together and give them hope. Even if it was all a lie. I also liked Cyclops, an AI, that was helping people around OSU rebuild civilization. Or was it?

What I didn't like

The Protagonist was so dense. Whereas he was good and all, he kept feeling guilty for telling a lie, but failed to see that the lie was helping people. He kept searching for someone to follow that was ready to lead people back to hope and prosperity, but never thought that he was the person.

The Antagonists were infuriating. But it was interesting that what killed civilization was not the Nukes, not the 3 year nuclear winter that followed. But selfish men tearing down in the aftermath. Getting their own, while hurting others. Trying to bring back Feudalism etc. I guess I actually liked this part of the book.

It was written in 1985 and took place in 2011. A little soon to happen 16 years after the apocalypse. But this is a minor annoyance. Nobody can predict the future. Kindof like reading 2001 and saying, uh what?

The ending felt rushed. But it was not bad

Overall the book was ok. It was interesting but didn't really develop the ideas too well.