Getting your read on...

I’m back adjusted to the time, getting used to the darker nights and staying rather busy at work. Between work, Battlefield 2142, TV and some random computer nonsense I’ve managed to keep reading. I haven’t updated my list in a while but here’s what I’ve read recently.

When I was in the UK a few months back I stopped by a book store in Ipswitch, since the books where in English I figured it was a good time to pick a few up. Having recently ‘discovered’ the joys of Pink Floyd I grabbed The Dark Side of the Moon: The Making of the Pink Floyd Masterpiece. It’s a well written book, looking at both ‘sides’ of the Pink Floyd story that takes about how the band got started, the time through the Syd Barrett years working into the first few albums and finishing with Dark Side of the Moon. It provides a unique look at how the albums diverse sounds come to be. Finally it briefly covers what happened after Dark Side and finished with a bit about the continuing tour of both Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour. Briefly mentioning the Live 8 reunion show and the progress that each person has made since the falling out. Being a rather diverse music fan it was really neat to read about how the process worked and imagine what it would have been like to go to one of the shows. Which is probably why I picked up Live in Pompeii when I was back in the states. I haven’t watched it yet, but I imagine it will be pretty wild. I’ll get to it when I setup my TV and surround sound. The best way to enjoy the Floyd.

Also while in Ipswitch, at the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Marley & Me. This was really enjoyable. Reading he book reminded me of the time spent with our Golden Retriever ( who was not even close to this crazy) and how enjoyable dogs can be, given the proper room, attention and love. Since I don’t have the room or the attention to devote to an animal, that’s probably why I don’t have one now. But as for the book, it was well written and provided a lot of short antidotes about a man and his dog. It should probably be read by all dog lovers.. just so they can know that their dog is never the worst.

The other three books I’ve read are both spy thriller/espionage novels. After reading so many of those growing up (Clancy, Dan Brown, Robert Ludlam, etc..) you would think they all start to blend together (which is true) and have all the same stories (which isn’t true). But in the end, the result is almost always the same (the bad guy losses) and in the process you can laugh a little, think about a different time or style of life and hopefully enjoy another story.

• Robert Baer’s Blo The House Down sounded interesting at first, but I got a bit bored with it and really just wanted to finish it. I had thought I ordered his non-fiction piece, but it turns out i was wrong. This was OK.. not as good as others and really, I got a bit confused towards the end. It seemed a bit to forced.
• Dave balidicii’s The Collectors Was middle of the road. Not as believable as some of his other works and a bit fare fetched in some cases. I like the twisting of some of the character story lines (the con artists in particular) but it just didn’t seem to hold up on it’s own. I didn’t read The Camel Club, so i don’t know the back story behind the main group of people (who kind of remind me of what the “Lone Gunman” would be like) but there is enough in this book to give you an idea of what’s going on. Not to bad, but I like David Baldacci’s older works better..
• Ken Follett’s Code to Zero was much more enjoyable. I had never heard of the author and only picked up the book while seeing at the garage of my folks place when I was back there for the wedding. What makes it different is that it takes place in the 60’s involves the earlier OSS/CIA time frame back when we had communists living here and which hunts and all that. It also has to do with the early space program, another thing I’m a fan of, so that probably helped. This one I could recommend for some lite reading like on a plan or something.. it reads fast and while the ending is predictable, is fun.

So yeah.. that’s it for now. I’ve still got a large pile of books to go through so there will be more reviews to come.