Life Laughs (33)

Life Laughs
Jenny McCarthy
read 11/20/08

I didn't expect much from this.. but it was less than I hoped for. More just a collection of little essays each about 2 pages long, and nearly all of them telling you how hard she is working as a mother and under appreciated. Over all I will pass on this one.

Playing With The Grown-ups (32)

Playing With The Grown-ups
Sophie Dahl
read 11/18/08

I really enjoyed this book. It is hard to describe.. basically the story of a young girl growing up as her mother, an artist, keeps moving around and changing her life. It is oddly engaging and I could not put it down.
It is written by Sophie Dahl, who's grandfather wrote Charlie & The Chocolate factory etc. But this book is loosely based on her own life.
Highly recommended.

Exterminators (31)

Exterminators
Christopher Golden
read 11/13/08

This is another Justice Leagues book that takes comic book characters and puts them in novel form. I have a love hate relationship with these books. It gives you more depth than a comic book you get more into the heros feelings and motivations. But in the end the stories largely describe action and are not very deep. There is the great threat... the great battle.. then it is over... I like a little more understanding of the problems and solution.
In the book they get dozens of minor characters involved, many of which I have never heard of... the switch from battle to battle where people I dont know are fighting the monsters...
The book was o.k. but I guess not really my style. So far I read Batman (good), which is what got me into the series, then Flash (poor), next was Wonder Woman (ok). There are 2 more books in this series.. Superman and Green Lantern... I will get through those and I can say I read the series. Maybe they will be better?

Welcome To the Monkey House (30)

Welcome To the Monkey House
Kurt Vonnegut
read 10/25/08

This is a collection of short stories by Vonnegut. I have been reading it off and on over the summer. On this weekend I forgot the book I was reading, so I finished this off.
I had never read Vonnegut, but really enjoyed this book. A lot of the stories are SciFi inspired and they are well done. They make you think like a good short story should.

I have been looking for more books by Vonnegut....

I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This (28)

I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This
Bob Newhart
read 10/18/08

I didn't even know Bob Newhart had written a book! He is one of my favorite comedians, my father was a big fan of his routines, and I also enjoy them. The book is a look at how he came to be a comedian, but not really a biography. The book contains the text of many of his famous skits, along with how he came up with them, or experiences from his career.
Overall an enjoyable book if you like Newhart the comedian.. others might enjoy it also if they are not familiar with his dry wit.

Brave New World (27)

Brave New World
Aldous Huxley
read 10/11/08

I love the dystopian books, and this is one of the classics. I read it first in the early 90's, and have read parts of it recently, but finally sat down and read the whole book. It paints a dark future where people are in pursuit of consumption, and paid in drugs.. and every body is happy... well almost.
Like 1984 this book ends in death.. but it does not seem to have the same punch as 1984. I think the description of the new world is more vivid than 1984, but the actual story suffers a bit. Still a great book and well worth reading.

Split Images (26)

Split Images
Elmore Leonard
read 10/6/08