mar 2012 Ubik by Philip K. Dick
jan 2012 The Devil in the White City: Murder, Madness, and Magic at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
dec 2011 The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry
nov 2011 Volt by Alan Heathcock (4.1)
“Short story collections just not doing it for me”
“Great collection of short stories tied to one fictional midwest town”
“One of, if not THE, best short story collections I’ve ever read. Powerful, touching prose that either came out perfect or was immaculately edited”
oct 2011 — miss
sep 2011 Candy Freak by Steve Almond (3.2)
“SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR”
“If I were a candy freak this would have been stellar. it was funny though!”
aug 2011 The 25th Hour by David Benioff (3.5)
“Not as good as City of Thieves”
“Good. should have stopped with city of theives”
jul 2011 Desert Solataire by Edward Abbey (3.8)
“Loved a writer’s version of our lovely UT desert”
“Beautiful passages about wilderness in Utah, in spots. not the easiest read”
“Great when read 10 years ago, not as great of an author compared to other works we’ve read”
jun 2011 Post Office by Charles Bukowski (3)
“Did make me want to deliver mail for a living”
“Very funny, depraved”
may 2011 Just Kids by Patti Smith (3.4)
“Very interesting piece of rock and roll history”
“Interesting view on NYC in the day…”
“Historical value; autistic writing”
apr 2011 The Terra Cotta Dog by Andrea Camilleri (3.3)
“Could have been better, not sure how though”
“His other books might be better…”
mar 2011 Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell (4.1)
“Book and movie were very good”
“Well written ’bout redneck methheads”
feb 2010 — miss
jan 2010 A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage (3)
“Very intriguing history and ideas, how beverages have shaped the world, particularly beer”
“Interesting, but not entirely compelling”
“Bored to tears–good premise, extraordinarily weak sociological study”
dec 2010 True Grit by Charles Portis (4.8)
“Western’s are awesome and this is so much better than the John Wayne version”
“Better than any movie!”
nov 2010 In Praise of the Stepmother by Mario Vargas Llosa (3.2)
“Super creepy”
“Amazingly well written. pretty twisted…”
oct 2010 Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin (4.5)
“Western’s are awesome”
“Cool book, great piece of historical fiction”
“Raw historical fiction”
sep 2010 — miss
aug 2010 Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck (4)
“Definitely a classic
“Paisanos! simple book, and yet so deep…”
jul 2010 Pattern Recognition by William Gibson (3.5)
“Don’t remember it”
“Tried, but didn’t finish. not bad, not good”
jun 2010 Trawler: A Journey Through the North Atlantic by Redmond O’Hanlon (2.4)
“Ugh, written version of ‘Deadliest Catch’ only less entertaining”
“Interesting account of deep sea life, and trawling. took a bit to get through. nice pictures”
may 2010 — miss
apr 2010 The Modern Drunkard by Frank Kelly Rich (2.9)
“Still drunk after reading this…”
“Very amusing! definitely not healthy to read, especially if you like a drink (or few…)”
“Good for the theme of the book club, but same shtick page after page”
mar 2010 The Underground Man by Ross Macdonald (3.8)
“Just another crime novel”
“Classic crime fiction–love the title”
feb 2010 Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind (4.6)
“Gary’s best pick yet. Wonderfully creepy”
“Olfactory wonderment–who knew there was such a wild world of the nose?! (movie is good too)”
“Kick ass main character, great idea, story and writing”
jan 2010 Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman (2.8)
“We’re screwed……”
“This was not easy to read”
dec 2009 City of Thieves by David Benioff (4.7)
“Loved it, recommended 25th Hour because of this book”
“Amazing historic fiction of siege of lenningrad”
“Damn good book”
nov 2009 Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (3.5)
“Now you know where he came from and why he’s still funny”
“Very interesting account by world’s biggest comic”
“I like hearing Steve talk about Steve, but that’s all it was”
oct 2009 The Wonder Clock by Howard Pyle (3.7)
“Because it was my choice, but no one else read it LOSERS!”
“Dated certainly, but quaint (more for little ones). the illustrations are great! goose, fox, cock, sausage–really!”
sep 2009 — miss
aug 2009 Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (3.3)
“Interesting notions, but kind of a yawner”
“Interesting stuff, but they’re not Malcolm Gladwell”
jul 2009 The Acid House by Irvine Welch (3.2)
“Bizarre stories, surprisingly it was presented by Derick. Tough to read some of the lingo”
“Loved the lingo, but hard to read because of it–aptly titled”
jun 2009 The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (3.4)
“Must be subpar, don’t remember this one”
“Easy read, but nothing remarkable”
“Really good stuff”
may 2009 The Film Club by David Gilmour (3.5)
“If one of my son’s is unemployed, I’m doing this same thing”
“Interesting account of connecting with teenage son”
“Easy read, enjoyable but too light for my tastes”
apr 2009 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein (3.2)
“Typical Heinlein”
“A bit trudging at times (even dated), but points for coining ‘terrorist cell’ and such notions…”
“Really couldn’t get past the narrator’s ungrammatical voice”
mar 2009 Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor (4.5)
“Simply awesome book and excellent writer”
“Over the top–in an incredibly bizarre way! the movie is great too…”
“Freak show in the best way possible. Haunting and broken characters”
feb 2009 Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (3.7)
“Enjoyable read”
“Swedish crime thriller–one of many”
“Either the translation or the author was flat in my opinion. Read much better procedurals”
jan 2009 Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (3)
“Just didn’t grab me, did not finish reading”
“Didn’t get into this”
“Trippy and wonderful, loved the imagination of this work”
dec 2008 The Boat by Nam Le (3.6)
“Decent stories, none that memorable for me”
“Good, but not compelling enough to finish”
“Really impressed by Nam Le and the virtuosity of voice”
nov 2008 Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (2.7)
“Vulgar just like Michael”
“Fantastically deranged”
“I expected a lot more”
oct 2008 — miss
sep 2008 The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester (4.8)
“Will read again and made me read ‘Demolished Man’”
“Absolute best! (Bester…) Vorga–I kill you filthy!”
“If you’ve never read it, you’re missing out on an iconic sci-fi novel”
aug 2008 When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (3)
“Trying too hard to be amusing”
“This got a little too whiny, and his humor grated on me, which I didn’t expect as a fan of Sedaris’s spoken word stuff”
jul 2008 The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue (4.6)
“The only ‘fantasy’ book we’ve read”
“Amazing story…”
“Haunting, memorable adult version of Grimm’s fairy tales, although drags a little in parts”
jun 2008 Ghost Wars by Steve Coll (1.5)
“HISTORY??? too f#$%king long. Only read 200 pages of 800+”
“Didn’t read, but this choice was improperly made from someone’s loins…”
“Encyclopedic, thorough, boring, read like a phone book at times”
may 2008 The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks (3.2)
“Good enough I also read book two of the trilogy, Dark River”
“Swords and time travel–what’s not to like?”
apr 2008 Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane (3.8)
“Just OK”
“Good book and movie”
“Fast pace, good writing”
mar 2008 Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris (3.7)
“Funny to those of us who have worked in office cubicles”
“Workplace humor about layoffs”
feb 2008 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (3.8)
“Insightful ideas and observations”
“Interesting notion”
“So readable”
jan 2008 The Midnight Choir by Gene Kerrigan (4.4)
“Good crime novel”
“Irish–good drinkin’ book”
“Really great, tight writing–nice contemporary detective fiction from Ireland”
dec 2007 Glasshouse by Charles Stross (4)
“One of our better sci fi’s”
“All over the place, but very imaginative”
“Love Stross, although Accelerando is a superior book to Glasshouse”
nov 2007 Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant (3.3)
“Before my time”
“Redneck memoirs from a bleeding heart liberal…now dead”
