Rate The Last Book You Read

We already have these threads for movies and records, so why not books?

The Phantom

Author--Rob MacGregor

Published--1996

Summary--Novelization of the movie The Phantom

Rating--7/10

I really want to see the movie now.

The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn. Originally published in 1972.

Outstanding. A 10 for me. This is a must read for any baseball fan.

Basically, the book is in two parts. The first deals with the author's growing up in Brooklyn and becoming a fan of his home town team, the Dodgers. He actually comes to cover the team for a local paper for a few years during which time he gets to know the players. The second part of the book takes place years later as he is giving a "where are they now" account of the ball players that he knew twenty some years earlier. Very good stuff....

Wild Fire

Author--Nelson DeMille

Published--2006

Summary--Recurring character John Corey uncovers a plot to nuke two American cities. Problem is the Middle East would mistakenly be blamed.

Rating--10/10

I'm a big DeMille fan and esp like the John Corey character. The book moves and Corey manages to keep his sense of humor despite the seriousness of the subject matter.

I picked up a first edition copy (cd included in the back sleeve) of Bill Gates' book 'The Road Ahead.'

Written between 1993-94, Gates gives the whole story of his early days and the foundation of Microsoft, and then goes on to make predictions.

He was really on-spot with the predictions. It's really creepy to read about today's internet, written almost fifteen years ago when there was hardly an internet at all.

He only missed on two things:

1) Gates thought that the internet access device you attach to your TV, with keyboard, etc. would be a big hit. It wasn't.

2) He said HDTV probably wouldn't work because he thought the television networks wouldn't pay the money to convert the signals to HD for public use.

Side note: I tried to view the CD, and it was so old it would only run on Windows 95 or earlier versions.

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Needs no introduction, of course. Beautifully written, an unusually accessible masterpiece. 10/10

Title: Positively Fifth Street

Author: James McManus

Year Of Release: 2003

My Rating: 9/10

Title: Invisible Monsters

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Year Of Release: 1999

My Rating: 8.5/10

I love that movie.

Perks of Being Wallflower 10/10

maybe it is just because, being about the same age as the character, i tend to relate a lot to him.

Hairstyles of the Damned 9/10

The Great Gatsby 9/10

yes, a classic. i found it to be a bit boring at times. his writing is amazing and his descriptions are on the ball. but they do tend to get rather long and tedious. his poetic language drove me up a wall at some points but the whole message of the book was phenomenal.

Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Grey
7/10

That's a subjective rating. I'm not saying it's a bad book, but it was more philosophical rumination than it was a story. The dialogue here is absolutely soaked in interesting ideas (although there never is a real debate between hedonism and virtue, it's mostly just monologue after monologue punctuated with "Oh dear, you're so naughty"). Nothing wrong with the language, or the concept, or any of that. It just never really clicked.

Richard Matheson
The Shrinking Man
10/10

Absolutely relentless storytelling that manages to confront a number of interesting themes through action. One of those rare genre pieces that manages to transcend its genre. Wonderful, wonderful read.

Elsewhere

Author--Gabrielle Zevin

Published--2005

Summary--A girl dies and is taken to the afterlife

Rating--10/10

An easy read, but a great one. Somewhat related to The Lovely Bones.

Title: Survivor

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Year Of Release: 1999

My Rating: 9.5/10

Title: Scar Tissue

Author: Anthony Kiedis

Year Of Release: 2004

My Rating: 8/10

Lord of the Flies by William Golding originally published in 1954.

The book is about a group of English boys who get stranded on an island and what happens to them.

I read the book was a response to an earlier book about a group of boys on an island called The Coral Island by Robert Ballentyne published in 1857 that was apparently unrealistic.

I've always wanted to read the book since grade school and never got the chance until now.

I was disappointed. I had imagined a better book in my mind and when I finally read it, it was like, is that it?

Maybe for 1954 it was the cat's behind, but now, maybe with too much reality TV, I think everyone knows that if put together without rules, people would probably be uncivil towards each other.

What was somewhat interesting was that one of the main boys was named Jack and that reference is made to "the others", another group of boys. Kinda reminded me of the TV show Lost.

Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley and published in 1932.

The book is set in the future where people are made and not everyone is made equal. People are sorted in groups and each group has it's functions. Alpha people are at the top and it goes down from there.

It follows three main characters, an Alpha male who had some alcohol put into his pre-birth mix so he's not quite all Alpha, an Alpha who is a little smarter than most and someone born outside of what passes for the civilized world.

People do their jobs, has sex with whoever they want and take a drug called soma whenever they want to escape. Shiny happy people everywhere.

I enjoyed it and am glad I finally got a chance to read it.

If you like 1984 and books that make you think about society and your place in it, check it out.

After reading it, you'll probably realize that there's more soma in the world than you might have imagined and maybe you'll wonder just what the hell everyone is trying to escape from.

I just finished reading both of the Dexter novels by Jeff Lindsay, Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter. These novels were the inspiration for the Dexter Showtime series. I found both books to be good well-paced fun reads. They were entertaining and even more enjoyable than the show, which is what got me hooked to begin with. These novels are macabre dark excursions with gallows humor sprinkled liberally throughout.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Awesome NH! I actually forgot all about those. I'm making a note to pick them up. I still have to get on Palahniuk's new one, Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey, and Dante's Inferno and Purgatorio. I've been getting through this book of short stories, but I'm thinking I should devote some time to these others as well.

Make sure to read them in order. Also because of the Showtime program you might think (like me) that you know how the first book is going to end. Wrong! So though certain things may seem familiar rest assured there are still surprises to be had. And the second book is off the charts.

Title: Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Year Of Release: 2007

My Rating: 8/10

Not counting Harry Potter...


Rash
Pete Hautman
2006
10/10

Sweetblood
Pete Hautman
2005?
8/10 (minus two for the ending)

I am finishing up

Ricochet
by Sandra Brown
Simon & Schuster 2006

BUT the paperback just came out, I have the hardback.

“…expert mix of spicy romance and sharply crafted crime drama…Tight plotting, a hot love story with some nice twists and a credible ending help make this a stand-out thriller.”
RICOCHET

She use to be a romance novelist, but now does these really exciting murder mysteries.

Chill Factor 2005 is another excellent read.....

a 10 on both!

Michael Langford's 'The 35mm Handbook'. It was good. Everyone needs a refresher course, even yours truly...

God is not Great

by Christopher Hitchens (2007)

Rating: 8/10

Great read. This book is not so much a criticism of God but of the people and things that make up organized religion.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again

2001

Frank Miller


Fantastic! Almost as good as its predecessor: The Dark Knight Returns. Classic Frank Miller at the top of his game.

Invisible
Pete Hautman
2006
6/10(ending was too freaky)

Godless
Pete Hautman
2006?
7/10

Polar Bear says:

I can understand that. Why would you?
(oh, I am hard on Potter fans over the age of 16.)

Last book read: 'Dangerous Visions, Again' (Short stories edited by Harlan Ellison) Oldie but goodie.

Very Good. An '8'.

I can understand that. Why would you?
(oh, I am hard on Potter fans over the age of 16.)

Last book read: 'Dangerous Visions, Again' (Short stories edited by Harlan Ellison) Oldie but goodie.

Very Good. An '8'.

That anthology is one of the earliest "adult" books I ever read; I love that book. I can remember checking it out from my local library-I could not have been more than nine or ten. My parents had no idea what was in that book or they'd have shoved it right back on the shelf.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition The Official Companion Book

Released 2005

6/10

My mom got me this, since I watch the show when I can. I wouldn't have bought it myself. It has the basic cast biographies, behind-the-scenes stuff, and episode summaries. None of them are very detailed, and even the featured episodes don't get a lot of detail. It only covers the first two seasons.

All in all, not too impressive.

Title: The Inferno

Author: Dante Alighieri (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

My Rating: 10/10

Classic! Dante's journey through the depths of Hell guided by the poet Virgil. Interesting mesh of history, mythology and religion. Recommended reading!

That hardcover of 'Again, Dangerous Visions' I read on the camping trip, well...

I am SO bad sometimes. I used the book for a doorstop for three months. I knew it was a SIGNED copy. But I just left it there. On the day I was packing up the gear, I grabbed it. When I returned from the trip I quit using it for a doorstop.

Author: Hanson, Neil.
Title: The Custom of the Sea: (The Story that Changed British Law. )

The case of Dudley and Stephens (1884). After the yacht they were sailing, the "Migonette" went down in a storm the crew was forced onto a life boat with scant supplies for a few weeks. After being on the lifeboat a few weeks one of the crew became unconscious from not eating and drinking sea water. The other crew members, (with one objecting), decided to kill and eat him, as was the Custom of the Sea. The remaining crew was rescued 4 days later. Although one crew member did not want to tell the authorities what happened at sea, CPT Dudley told the truth, as he felt he had nothing to hid, for it was a known and accepted custom of the sea. Dudley and Stephens were put on trial........

It was a good book. I am not sure why I chose this book to read, except it was sitting around the office, and I am a big fan of maritime.

In parts the book was rather gruesome (I did skip a part of the historical examples), but overall I liked the book. If you like history, and maritime you may like the book.

I'd give it a 7 out of 10. (there was a little embellishment of the truth, to add to the story, which I am not a fan of, and I did not think they needed as much historical support as they provided)

Okay that's funny

I've been on a roll.

Title The Blue Zone

Author Andrew Gross

8/10

Title Middlesex

Author Jeffrey Eugenides

Rating 7/10 Good book, great writing, but it didn't move fast enough for me.

And finally wanted some fast reads and I got them. If you like quick page turners I always recommend James Patterson

Finished:

The Quickie

9/10

Currently:

You've Been Warned

Will no doubt be another 9/10

Title: I Am Legend

Author: Richard Matheson

Year: 1954

My Rating: 9/10 - Excellent

You'd think I would have read this book earlier as I've always enjoyed Matheson's stories, but, I just finished it. The isolation and mental struggles of Robert Neville were vividly portrayed by Matheson. While reading, I thought often about how difficult it would be if I were in his situation as the last man on Earth (surrounded by vampires, no less).

I was taken by surprise by the ending, it didn't go the way I desired until the last page, when Matheson convinced me otherwise.

I've never seen the older movies based on this book, which I believe are "The Omega Man" with Charlton Heston and "The Last Man On Earth" with Vincent Price. I really wanted to read this before the new movie "I Am Legend" with Will Smith (no..I'm not joking) comes to theaters next month. There's almost no chance that Hollywood will faithfully portray this book, especially when it stars Smith.

hey whit.. i read i am legend years ago, and i too want to read it (again) before the new movie comes out.

from what i've seen of the trailer for the movie, i totally agree with your last statement:

Yeah, from looking at the trailers, it looks hopeless. Every movie he's in...the movie is secondary. People go to Will Smith's movies to see Will Smith, regardless of the story. The story is always treated as the vehicle. It's the same thing with Tom Cruise.

Although, I think Will Smith is a guy I'd like to have a beer with. Tom Cruise, ah...no.

Yeah he'd try to convert you to Scientology And in reality...what the heck is that? I have yet to hear any celebrity really explain it to my satisfaction.

Title: I Am Legend

Author: Richard Matheson

Year: 1954

My Rating: 7/10 - worth the time

This is going to be slightly embarrasing to admit but here goes. I read it through until I came to what I thought was the next chapter. It made absolutely no sense at all. It nothing to do with anything in the previous 170 something pages I had just read. The next chapter also had nothing to do with either of the other things I'd read. I was half way through the next chapter when I realized something was up. i flipped to the front of the book and yes, I was actually reading a compilation of Matheson's where Legend was the first thing and there were several other stories following.

So then, I didn't even realize the story had ended when it did and I kep reading and reading hoping that there would be a different ending from what I had read.

Actually, I wasn't crazy about the ending which is why I must have subconsciously or at whatever other level; did what I had done....

beer with Will Smith = hell yeah! Tom Cruise? he just creeps me out like a whoooooooole lot.

I finished up Purgatorio a long while ago. I'd give it a 9.5/10 - still a classic, but I found the evils of Hell a little more interesting than Limbo - though, interestingly enough, Dante placed the seven deadly sins in this region.

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Year published: 1959

My rating: 5.5/10


Since the holiday season is upon us, I was feeling charitable and decided to give this another go. My reaction hasn't changed. This is a good book to get into reading with, but once you become more literate, it should be shown the book donation bin.

But after the holiday season, no more Mr. Nice Guy, eh?