Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre

This is an old book. I did not realize how old it was until I started reading. That being said, I believe it is timeless and still 100% relevant to today.  I would recommend this book to anyone who has even the slightest interest in any high-risk investments or markets.  However, if you don't have the time for a whole book (just do audio book because everyone has time for that) the take home message is: Get smart, put in the long hours of studying, and once you know your stuff, don't be swayed by rumors, tips, or your idiot brain. Keep cool and rely only on your smarts and your numbers.

Wolves of the Calla - Stephen King (Dark Tower Series, Bk 5)

A good story, but it didn't really advance much in the general arc of the overall story purpose.  We have our characters trying to make it to the dark tower, but this entire book was spent helping some village people repel and destroy unknown raiders who show up and steal children, which is a good story, but I don't see how it did anything to further the actually getting to the dark tower.  It's a giant cross-over with Salem's Lot and has some funny pop references. It's more of a stand alone book. You could read this whole story without really needing the other books, except for possibly setting up the style of the series, which is really weird.
Overall: good, but totally unnecessary

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

I'm not sure how I feel about this book.  It was good, an interesting story, but somehow despite that, I had a hard time finishing it. The author goes off on a lot of tangents and seems to relish the occasional absurdly artistic sidenote.  I'm sure that's what won it the Pulitzer prize, but I hated that stuff. It brought the momentum of the actual story to a screeching halt for some random bits that sounded cool, but were nearly irrelevant.  Cut all that crap out, and I'm sure I would have liked it a lot better.  Also, as a scientist, I wanted much more explicit description of what exactly was going on during sex scenes and examinations.  Maybe the author just assumes you'll go to the internet and check it out yourself, but that seems like his research is incomplete or he never truly understood what he was writing about to begin with.  Either way, it comes off weak and shy of hard details.
To sum it up:  Story is good, pacing is slow, too many artsy forays thrown in

Visitors - Orson Scott Card (The Pathfinder series, Bk 3)

I love Orson Scott Card. I think he might be my favorite author. He is beautifully articulate. His ideas are so complex they are sexy, yet he presents them in a way in which nearly anyone could understand.  This book wraps up the Pathfinder series and has an excellent ending.  As time jumpers, where, or more exactly, when, do you end a book? Do they go on and on forever? Card ends with a very nice, "I'll jump ahead to sometime and settle there." Indicating the continued use of the time manipulating powers and leaving it open, but with a plan so you still feel satisfied that you know how it will end.
My favorite part was how he resolved the time continuum conundrum:  Do you go back in time and change the future? Or is the present this way because you already changed the past?  Card's answer: Both.  And of all the time things I've read, that's my favorite.
I highly recommend this series to anyone with a brain, who likes to use it.

Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism - Temple Grandin

I was completely unprepared for the impact this book would have on my life. I have never had so many personal revelations from reading a book.  If you would like to understand me, read this book.

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Well, I wasn't really sure what to expect here. Just out of nowhere, Neil Gaiman blew up. I'd never heard of the guy a year ago, then suddenly he's everywhere. I'd also heard that American Gods was being made into something, tv show? series? I'm not sure, but I knew of it and thought I should read it before it gets ruined into a show.
My opinion is that it is a good book, but perhaps not worth all the hype over it. The idea is fantastic, the characters are a little weird (though I believe that to be on purpose, it didn't rub me as the right kind of weird), but the pacing is good.
Overall, I would say: Eh. Perhaps a let down based on the hype, not that it was a bad book. I think I would have liked it more if I'd not heard anything about it beforehand.

The Beautiful and Damned - F. Scott Fitzgerald

This is another book that could be titled, "Why Everyone Needs a Job". It was more in line with Steinbeck's useless, pointlessly meandering characters than those of the other Fitzgerald book I've read, The Great Gatsby. That's really why I picked up this book; I really enjoyed Gatsby. However, this was a huge let down in comparison.  Lame, useless, the characters never did anything....it was just boring.
I don't recommend this book to anyone.

How We Do It: How the Science of Sex can make You a Better Lover - Judy Dutton

Totally read this book. Lots of info without being boring. I liked the author's use of snide remarks to keep it amusing, yet on task. It has helpful ideas, regardless of where you are in your journey.
The only complaint I have is I wanted more on kinky stuff, but I imagine that section was not limited by the author's interest, but rather a dearth of available studies to reference.

Forgotten Tales of Indiana - Keven McQueen

This is a compilation of just a stack of weird stories about strange circumstances and eccentrics. Other than the first chapter, it's not a coherent narrative, and while the stories are interesting, they don't flow at all, nor are they long enough to pull you in, only a paragraph or so.  I read this straight through and some of the changes in stories were jarring.
I would recommend this more for bathroom reading, that's how short some tales were.

The Gingerbread Girl - Stephen King

This is one of King's "short" stories. The short is in quotations because for other people, this would be a normal length story. But coming from the man who wrote It, this is a lazy afternoon's worth of work. It is in keeping with his style, simply not as long because the incident the book covers takes place over a short period of time.  It has all the frustrating desperation interspersed with obscure but relevant details that he is so good at creating. If you've never read a Stephen King novel, this would be an excellent one to test out to see if you like his style.

Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, Bk 8)

Good, good good story, good twists.
I have one small complaint: Harry shows up at the Carpenter household after it was attacked and specifically mentions that the family minivan looks like giants used it to play basketball. Then after getting everyone out, it is suddenly fine to drive to safe haven. MAJOR editing flaw people! Come on! I'm a casual reader and I noticed this, I wasn't even trying. This is the type of error in these books that I see regularly, and I am striving HARD not to repeat in my own book. But I think I also have a good handful of friends who will be more than obliging to help me find them when that time comes.
I also have one big complaint: Early Dresden books dealt with the Nevernever and ghosts and so on, but a few books in we get into knights and faith and God. Now, I love me some good demon/God/insane Catholicism/summoning type stuff. I'm a big fan of Lucifer and Hellblazer. BUT these characters are obvious where they stand in regard to God and how that influences the story. Butcher's take on it is just weird and wishy-washy. Dresden knows God exists, even has a demon imprint running around his brain, but still doesn't "believe" or have "faith". There are two reasons you wouldn't give God the time of day, either you don't believe he's there or you've already had a falling out and are damned. Neither of these is the case for Dresden so his whiny, "I don't know......." make zero sense. I wish Butcher had either thrown in with the religious crowd or stayed the hell away from it (pun intended). It is my least favorite aspect of this story line. This is another issue I am striving hard not to make in my own book. I'm pleased as punch that I have a better planned out universe than the author who inspired me. But I believe I'm far more neurotic and methodical than Butcher is, but you could say that about me in regards to 99% of all 7 billion people alive today, so that shouldn't surprising.
Also NEWSFLASH to my readers: I'm writing a book. I think it's great, but when you put that much love and effort into something, of course you should think it's great. It must be the same reason parents love their children.

Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy

This is the first Tom Clancy book I've read.  While I can appreciate his background and the knowledge behind the creation of this book, it wasn't my cup of tea. As odd as this sounds describing "world war 3", it was boring. I'm glad I read it and agree with Clancy in that this situation is absolutely believable. His writing is easy to follow and concise, but bland. If I was going for "alternate history" I would prefer Harry Turtledove.

Overall: Meh, Clancy isn't on my list to get back to barring another specific recommendation.

Mean Streets - Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Simon R. Green, Thomas E. Sniegoski

This is a compilation of four short stories by these four authors centered around one of their major book series with the idea being to draw in a reader who already likes one of the other authors and interest them in a new one. Being as each story is completely different, different realm, different world, different rules, I'll go through each one individually.
Butcher - I wasn't impressed and thought overall it wasn't a good representation of his books because the story was so short it had nowhere to go, but is was in the proper styling. Meh.
Richardson - I didn't like the first book I read by her, and this is the same character. It was written ok, but kinda boring. The best character was the dog who did nothing but follow her around.
Green - I destroyed Green in my first review of him. This was a different set of characters in a different realm, but it still sucked. I just don't like anything this man does. I have similar complaints to the last time, poorly written with jumps where I got lost, weird and kinda pointless story, cliched characters. This ensures that I won't be reading any of his other stuff. (ha, the opposite of the desired effect)
Sniegoski - I'd never heard of him before. The story and characters were ok. The dog talks, I like that. I might pick up one of his books, but it hasn't rocketed to the top of my list either.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

Holy cow! EVERYONE needs to read this book! Henrietta Lacks is the origin of the HeLa cells, which are the first immortal human cell line cultured, and the research done on them has touched every single one of you in some way. They lead the way for creation of the polio vaccine. They are the reason we figured out that HPV causes cervical cancer (exactly what happened to Henrietta). They caused the biggest scientific set back ever when they contaminated lots of other cell lines. Yet, despite all this, Henrietta's family didn't even know about it until decades later, was never monetarily compensated, and I would imagine that none of her children ever even understood/understand what any of it means.
This book is a fascinating look into the history of cell culture, consent and the terrifying experiments burdened by the poor that are only now coming to light.
A book like this, spanning so much time, so many places and such a broad range of characters, I thought would be boring or at least difficult to follow. It is neither. It is fun and fascinating and frustrating, all at once. I may be showing my nerd side a little too much here, but I really thing you should read it.

Bad Girls Don't Die - Katie Alender (Bad Girls Don't Die, Bk 1)

This was a totally at-random selection.  The characters were ok, but a bit overplayed. The pace was good. The plot, while obvious, didn't have any gaping holes. The styling was very good. I believe this is the author's first book, and that being the case, it's reasonable. Not horrible, but certainly not one I'd run around recommending to anyone because it is too simple. Young readers might enjoy it, but I don't know any of those. This is the type of book I would have loved at age 11 or 12.

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

This book should be titled "Why Everyone Needs a Job" or "Why Being a Housewife is Unsatisfying to all but the most Simple of Minds". From the beginning, Madam Bovary is looking for meaning in her life and keeps trying to find it in one of the few outlets a woman has access to in this era. Today she could have a career, or travel. But during this time, she could only look for it in men, which, unsurprisingly, doesn't work. This mistake is still repeated today: Others cannot give meaning to your life. You must find it yourself. It is the perfect example of how the human spirit withers without the passionate pursuit of goals.  In her search for something to give her life meaning, to find excitement, she devolves into the most pathetic of creatures.
Also, if I hear/read the work "eunni" ONE MORE TIME, I'm gunna lose it!

Cannery Row - John Steinbeck

Steinbeck is capable of creating a beautiful picture. I love his descriptions of the natural world in this book. It's too bad he messes it up with a pointlessly meandering story about nothings doing nothing. I wish he could have written something captivating. He had the potential. He squandered it on uselessness the same way the characters of this book do.

Caribbean - James Michener

This book is a series of short historical fiction stories based across the islands in the Caribbean.  It begins with the native Carib and Arawak peoples all the way up to the Cuban immigration into Miami in the 80's. Once you hit the 20th century, it gets pretty boring, but prior to that, I would absolutely recommend it to near anyone. Because it has short stories spread across different times and different islands, you could pick it up and put it down anytime and not lose anything because the stories are concise and separated from each other.
I was particularly fond of the politics of the islands during the periods of slavery. No matter how much I read on the subject, I cannot imagine justifying slavery.  Every slave revolt had the potential to succeed and I'm always surprised more didn't.
A great read, and recommended to everyone.

The Desert Spear - Peter V. Brett (Demon Cycle Series, Bk 2)

I definitely enjoyed the first of this series. However, this book starts out in the southern region of this fictional land and I did not like that part.  It was necessary to build the story of who Jardir was and where he came from and why he thought he was the Deliverer, but I detest the culture of the area and consequently wanted to read as little about it as possible. I took a long time getting through the first third of this book because it was only about that character. Once the story moved north, I was back to my normal pace and finished the book quickly.
There were some surprises and fantastic plot twists, as always good pacing. I will enjoy continuing with this series.

Die Trying - Lee Child (Jack Reacher Series, Bk 2)

This is the third Lee Child book I have read. I started with a more recent Reacher novel and didn't like it at all, I hadn't gotten to know the character yet. So I started over, and loved it. The first one is great. This one has a similar pace and style, both of which I like, though the first had a better story design.
Regardless, this book is still good and I'm still glad I took the time to pick it up. I think my favorite aspect of Child's writing is that he goes into the fine details of Reacher killing the bad guys. In the first book, there's a scene where Reacher turns some ambushers into ambushees. It is a deliciously painted scene with Reacher running through the rainy night slitting throats to keep the attack quiet. Child does an excellent job of creating the visuals of the scene through the combination of blood and rainwater. Similarly, though in my opinion not as satisfying, this book has multiple incidents of people getting shot through the head and more than once is described as a "fine, pink mist". That's the kind of detail I like in a book. I will absolutely continue to read these and really should put them higher up on my list.

The New Bottoming Book - Dossie Easton & Janet W. Hardy

I got this because it was repeatedly recommended over and over. There were a few good tidbits and I'm glad I read it. But much of it was either info that I already knew or could figure out myself. I would recommend it only to the newest of new, otherwise, you likely already know everything in it.

The Modern Scholar: Global Warming, Global Threat - Michael B. McElroy

This is actually an audio lecture series on climate change, how, when, where, why and what to expect from it. I like all the Modern Series, but this one, because of its topic, I think is particularly important. I wish I could make everyone in this country listen to this.  It is terrifying, despite already being quite old!

The White Rose - Glen Cook (Annals of the Black Company, Bk 3)

This is, by far, the best of the trilogy. It definitely has good pace and mystery. Clearly, it's my favorite of the three and I would say absolutely worth reading the first two for!
Cook makes a good fantasy world, without getting too outlandish. I would recommend this to everyone who likes fantasy style.

Misery - Stephen King

I suspect only Stephen King could write 338 pages about a guy stuck in a room and make it fascinating. At first it struck me as slightly similar to Gerald's Game, but it was only a passing, superficial similarity that quickly dissolved as the story developed. In Gerald's Game, Jessie is fighting herself (mostly) where as in Misery, Paul has a 100% legit wacko to deal with.  Personally, I'd say Misery is the better of the two for that reason. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes an intense book.
This book also has two GREAT quotes I'd like to share with you:

"He didn’t need a psychiatrist to point out that writing had its auto-erotic side – you beat a typewriter instead of your meat, but both acts depended largely on quick wits, fast hands, and a heartfelt commitment to the art of the far-fetched."

"The reason authors almost always put a dedication on a book, Annie, is because their selfishness even horrifies themselves in the end."