Hackers and Painters

Author: Paul Graham

In Progress...

The Rising

Author: Brian Keene

Dec 17-21

This is either a completely unredeemable work of trash or a clever play on the standard post-apocalyptic zombie horror movie. As usual, the dead start coming back to life, eat living flesh, and only a headshot will stop them. The twist is that the dead are being reanimated by "demons" passing through the veil, because said veil was weakened by super-collider experiments. Also, it's not just people - birds, all mammals, and fish are coming back as well.

Quite a lot of gruesome scenes. All the characters are poorly developed with the possible exception of one of the main females. Women are horribly depicted as baby makers, prostitutes, dead, or evil ex-wives.

TERRIBLE ENDING.

I love an apocalyptic tale, but this one didn't really leave me with a good taste.

The Art of Power

A book by Thich Nhat Hanh describing true power. In Progress.

Julie and Julia

This was a quick weekend read, about a woman in NYC that decides to start a Grand Life Project to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in her tiny NYC apartment kitchen. 

Read: 11/28-12/1

The Omnivore's Dilemma

Outstanding, life changing book about the food we eat.  Book is organized in three parts, each documenting in depth the full history of a single meal. 

Part I: Industrial Made Food. Starting with the industrial corn farming business and ending with a McDonald's meal.

Part II: Naturally grown food. Detailing the operation of Polyface Farms and ending with a roast chicken dinner.

Part III: A meal completely hunted and gathered by the author. Mushrooms and wild pig dinner.

Read: 10/1-11/31

Gentlemen of the Road

Author: Michael Chabon

Published: October 2007

Genre: Fiction, Adventure

Read: September 2008

Gentlemen of the Road is an adventure book set in a 10th century wild Jewish land of Khazaria. Two confidence men, a Frank and an Abyssyian, find themselves in the middle of another war. Against their profiteering nature, they involve themselves...

The Greatness Guide

Mavericks at Work

The Yiddish Policeman's Union

American Shaolin

Author: Matthew Pollack

Published: December 2007

Genre: Non-Fiction, Travel, Biography

Read: August 2008

A thought provoking biography of a 20-something's journey to China. As a kid, Matt makes a list of things he needs to improve on. At the top, his ignorance. After getting a degree from an Ivy League school, he moves on to the next item - don't be a coward.

This American's trip to the Shaolin Temple is a delicious string of culture shock tales. Matt doesn't play the clumsy ignorant traveler, which is great because it allows the honesty and real confusion, fear, and anxiety to play through. The idea of Matt's transplanting himself out of every comfort and modern convenience to study kungfu at the birthplace of kungfu is inspirational. Be different, indeed.