Review: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
My Rating: 
Read from July 01, 2010 to July 11, 2011
Irreverent, sacrilegious and ridiculously funny! Who said all that religious education was a waste? Just make sure you you aren't in a quiet place when you're reading this because you'll be breaking out into laughter every few minutes!
The biggest disappointment with the book was that there wasn't any Monty Python allusions. That would have been awesome. The first half is certainly more funny than the back section
A few choice quotes:
Joshua and I played at being rabbis, and he insisted that we stick to the authentic Hebrew for our ceremonies. It was more fun that it sounds, or at least, until my mother caught us trying to circumcise my little brother Shem with a sharp rock. What a fit she threw. And my argument that Shem needed to renew his covenant with the Lord didn't seem to convince her. She beat me to stripes with an olive switch and forbade me to play with Joshua for a month. Did I mention she was besought with demons?
Overall I think it was good for little Shem. He was the only kid I ever knew who could pee around corners. You can make a pretty good living as a beggar with that kind of talent. And he never ever thanked me.
Brothers.Nobody's perfect. Well, there was this one guy, but we killed him....
The medium obscured the message.
Josh: "What is this thing?"
Gasper: "It's a Yeti. An abominable snowman."
Biff: "This is what happens when you fuck a sheep?"
Josh: "Not an abomination, abominable."Joshua's ministry was three years of preaching, sometimes three times a day, and although there were some high and low points, I could never remember the sermons word for word, but here's the gist of almost every sermon I ever heard Joshua give.
You should be nice to people, even creeps.
And if you:
a) believed that Joshua was the Son of God (and)
b) he had come to save you from sin (and)
c) acknowledged the Holy Spirit within you (became as a little child, he would say) (and)
d) didn't blaspheme the Holy Ghost (see c)
then you would:
e) live forever
f) someplace nice
g) probably heaven
However, if you:
h) sinned (and/or)
i) were a hypocrite (and/or)
j) valued things over people (and)
k) didn't do a, b, c, and d,
then you were:
l) fuckedThis story is not and never was meant to challenge anyone's faith; however, if one's faith can be shaken by stories in a humorous novel, one may have a bit more praying to do.
Blessed are the meek, for to them we shall say "attaboy"
Blessed are the dumbfucks.
Biff: "Actually , I thought I'd stay Josh. Your mother needs someone to look after her, and she's still a relatively attractive woman. I mean a guy could do worse"
Josh: "I've got to think that that was unethical,"
Biff: "Josh, faking demonic possession is like a mustard seed."
Josh: "How is it like a mustard seed?"
Biff: "You don't know, do you? Doesn't seem at all like a mustard seed, does it? Now you see how we all feel when you liken things unto a mustard seed? Huh?"
Review: The Valley of Horses
The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 
Read from April 18 to 21, 2011
Interesting story but a bit preachy at times. Valley of Horses, unlike the prequel, feels like it's trying too hard to fast forward human history and show how all the pivotal discoveries in human society could be brought about (by a single person!). And unlike the prequel, doesn't seem to try as hard to focus on plausibility.
Review: Freedom
My rating:
Read from March 23 to 30, 2011
This is the kind of book that makes you feel better about your own family experience. All families might be screwed up, but at least yours isn't as screwed up as the Berglunds. In many ways, the over-the-top family drama is reminiscent of HBO's six-feet-under, L-word, or Big-Love.
The intensity of the story line aside, the character development and quality of writing are superb. I really enjoyed the changes in authors voice as the story is told from different perspectives.
As the novel concludes, you can't help but wonder if the intention of Franzen is to be self referential: Is "Freedom" intended to be marketing material for Walter's Free Space initiative?
Review: Atlas Shrugged
My rating:
Read January 17, 2011
I can easily see why this book has become so popular recently. Many of the themes echo in today's troubled economy. The irony is that the allegory that I think best fits is one where the 'looters' are not the liberal democrat of today, but the conservative republican who looted the financial system and caused the economy to collapse. I wonder what Rand would say about that.
Atlas Shrugged was a marathon of a read. I enjoyed the story line, the insight into what business was like 60 years ago and a story line that blended business, finance, science fiction, and mystery. I found the book motivational and even inspiring in many ways. It makes me want to get up and get to work and produce!
However, in other ways I found the preaching to be too over the top and too contrasting. The antagonists are set up as straw men in order to easily defeat their dissenting opinion of Ayn Rand's philosophy. In many ways I agree and many more that I disagree. I have to concede that I would not have been able to get the education I received or build my career as I have, were it not for the benevolence of society and the social safety net that the government creates for families to recover from poor financial decisions. I think this is where Ayn Rand misses the mark. Balance is needed.
Review: American Gods
My rating:
Read in December, 2010
Gaiman's alternate worlds are always disorienting and intriguing never the less. In the world of 'american gods' the gods from myths of old live as men and women in america who are fading and dying because of unbelief by the massses. A war brews between the old gods of oden and thor and the new gods of internet and tv. A bizarre and engaging read (although a few times it felt alice-in-wonderland acid trip like).
Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
My rating: 
Read in December, 2010
I had a hard time reading P&P a decade ago and failed. Retrying this time with the zombies twist made it a little more bearable but quite frankly I can't stand Austin. The only reason I read as much of it as I did this time was because I was always wondering what was originally written and intrigued with how the zombie segments were woven into the story. That said, it was not enough for me to endure to the end. As far as I can tell Austin is enamoured with "small talk" and writes about it from beginning to end. The language is interesting but the story line is mind numbing. I guess I'm just an uncultured swine.
Review: Player One: What Is to Become of Us
Player One: What Is to Become of Us by Douglas Coupland
My rating:
Read in November, 2010
Overall impression: Meh.
Coupland is good at setting the stage and introducing us to interesting characters, but just like Generation A, he has a hard time finishing the story. In fact, this book mirrors a lot of thoughts from "Generation A" that I would almost call this world a parallelquel.
The story line premis and back of the book description is interesting, but the story lacks any final punch other than to remind us of the precarious dependency that we have on oil. Even that seems to be a lost subplot.
Review: Generation A
Generation A by Douglas Coupland
My rating:
Read from June 21 to November 22, 2010
I read this book at the same time I was listening to Player One so I think I might have over done it with apocalyptic Coupland stories.
Much like Generation X, the story is about the characters and the stories they tell. The premis is interesting and the five principle characters are even more intriguing.
Alas, the momentum that the first half of the book delivers is squandered in the second half. The bee story line is discarded and ignored half way through like a dejected sub-plot that never existed. The second half of the book is really a collection of short stories from individuals in a post-bee world. However, even these sub-stories became mundane as they all seemed to have the same fatalistic and depressing punchline. Almost as if they were the same story recast with different settings.
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