Ron Suskind’s a good writer, but he’s also in love with Barack Obama. Well, maybe not in love, but he’s certainly not an objective or dispassionate observer. Even while he’s observing that Obama may not have been ready for the Presidency, he’s lavishing praise on the politician. I read as long as I could, but […]
Review | Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President by Ron Suskind
2011-12-14 · by ·
Review | Patient Zero by Jim Beck
2011-12-01 · by ·
Just when I thought that the zombie subgenre had reached a saturation point, Jim Beck comes along with Patient Zeroand proves that a clever idea can take an old idea and provide fresh flesh for hungry readers. No pun intended. Beck spins a simple story that is veined with strands of Frankenstein and moments of tenderness […]
Review | In My Time by Dick Cheney
2011-11-29 · by ·
What will history think of Dick Cheney? I believe that jury is still out, but I know one thing: Cheney is doing his best to steer the criticism. I’ll be honest: I only read this up until the chapter when Cheney starts his account of 9/11 and its aftermath. At that point, I decided that […]
Review |1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
2011-11-28 · by ·
I’ll be the first to admit that my interests in the historical have generally been Eurocentric, especially the Roman Republic and Empire. Recently, though, I found reason to pick up Charles C. Mann’s “1491,” and I have had a hard time putting it down since. The children’s nursery rhyme reminds us that “In 1492, Columbus […]
Review | Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris
2011-11-27 · by ·
To read the first in Edmund Morris’ biographical series on Theodore Roosevelt (see my review here: “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt“), one might be left with the feeling that it was inevitable that Teddy someday become President. Individuals from his German tutor while he studied abroad to those who came into contact with him while […]
Recommendation | Grand Strategies by Charles Hill
2011-09-27 · by ·
Let’s speak frankly for a minute: if you don’t read fiction–or worse, if you read bad fiction–you are short-changing yourself. You could be missing revelations into human nature, behavior, and nuance that you might not otherwise be able to observe. Further, you might be limiting your ability to empathize, to understand, and shift your perspective. If […]
Review | The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
2011-09-20 · by ·
The great thing about reading Edmund Morris is two-fold: he presents extremely thorough research with an enjoyable reading style that makes one feel like they are reading fiction. As a friend put it, it’s like reading a novel, not a biography. It doesn’t hurt that Theodore Roosevelt lived a life that makes easy picking for any biographer. […]
Review | Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
2011-09-20 · by ·
Welcome to the future. Humanity has colonized the solar system – Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond – but the stars are still out of our reach. Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his […]
Review | Robopocalypse by Daniel H Wilson
2011-09-10 · by ·
They are in your house. They are in your car. They are in the skies…Now they’re coming for you. In the near future, at a moment no one will notice, all the dazzling technology that runs our world will unite and turn against us. Taking on the persona of a shy human boy, a childlike […]
Review | The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies by Bryan Caplan
2011-08-11 · by ·
Lately, I’ve not had a lot of time to read. But when I have had time, I’ve enjoyed reading the wonkish and pointed “The Myth of the Rational Voter” byBryan Caplan. It’s an economist’s look at why, as the sub-title says, voters tend to support bad public policies. The reason, Caplan argues, is not special […]
