December 2010

2010 Reading List

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 3: Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 3: Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness

Bryan Lee O’Malley

Published: 2006 | Pages:192

My Rating: 4/5

Description:

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together

Bryan Lee O’Malley

Published: 2007 | Pages:216

My Rating: 4/5

Description:

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

Bryan Lee O’Malley

Published: 2009 | Pages:184

My Rating: 4/5

Description:

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

Scott Pilgrim, Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour

Bryan Lee O’Malley

Published: 2010 | Pages:245

My Rating: 5/5

Description:

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (Scott Pilgrim, #1)

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life (Scott Pilgrim, #1)

Bryan Lee O’Malley

Published: 2004 | Pages:168

My Rating: 5/5

Description:

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Scott Pilgrim, #2)

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Scott Pilgrim, #2)

Bryan Lee O’Malley

Published: 2005 | Pages:200

My Rating: 4/5

Description:

Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications

Dvorak’s Guide to PC Telecommunications

John C. Dvorak

Published: 1990 | Pages:1053

Description:

Byte Me!

Byte Me!

Robert P. Libbon

Published: 1996 | Pages:208

Description: In this book you’ll learn how to crash your computer almost as well as Windows does, remove computer screws embedded in your forehead from pounding your head in frustration, avoid vendors who advertise “Incredible Bait and Switch Deals!”, and learn if your Software Licensing Agreement carries more obligations than a favor from Don Corleone.

Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho

Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho

Jon Katz

Published: 2000 | Pages:256

My Rating: 3/5

Description:  “Too often, writing about the online world lacks emotional punch, but Katz’s obvious love for his ‘lost boys’ gives his narrative a rich taste.”— The New York Times Book ReviewJesse and Eric were geeks: suspicious of authority figures, proud of their status as outsiders, fervent in their belief in the positive power of technology. High school had been an unbearable experience and their small-town Idaho families had been torn apart by hard times. On the fringe of society, they had almost no social lives and little to look forward to. They spent every spare cent on their computers and every spare moment online. Nobody ever spoke of them, much less for them.But then they met Jon Katz, a roving journalist who suggested that, in the age of geek impresario Bill Gates, Jesse and Eric had marketable skills that could get them out of Idaho and pave the way to a better life. So they bravely set out to conquer Chicago—geek style. Told with Katz’s trademark charm and sparkle,  Geeks  is a humorous, moving tale of triumph over adversity and self-acceptance that delivers two irresistible heroes for the digital age and reveals the very human face of technology. Praise for  Geeks“Ultimately,  Geeks  is not a story about the Internet or computers or techies. It is a story about personal bonds, optimism, access to opportunity, and the courage to dream.” — Salon“An uplifting and hugely compassionate book.” — Philadelphia Inquirer “A story of friendship, optimism, social despair, and an updated version of that American icon, the tinkerer.” — USA Today

Atlas Shrugged

Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand

Published: 1957 | Pages:1168

My Rating: 1/5

Description: This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators?Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the world’s motor — and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story. Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life — from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy — to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction — to the philosopher who becomes a pirate — to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph — to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad — to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels. You must be prepared, when you read this novel, to check every premise at the root of your convictions.This is a mystery story, not about the murder — and rebirth — of man’s spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and an irresistible suspense. Do you say this is impossible? Well, that is the first of your premises to check.

Falling Up

Falling Up

Shel Silverstein

Published: 1996 | Pages:178

My Rating: 4/5

Description: Millie McDeevit screamed a scream, so loud it made her eyebrows steam.She screamed so loud, her jawbone broke,Her tongue caught fire, her nostrils smoked…Poor Screamin’ Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings. Here you will also meet Allison Beals and her twenty-five eels; Danny O’Dare, the dancin’ bear; the Human Balloon; and Headphone Harold.Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound. So come, wander through the Nose Garden, ride the Little Hoarse, eat in the Strange Restaurant, and let the magic of Shel Silverstein open your eyes and tickle your mind.
Story List
– Advice- Allison Beals and Her 25 Eels- Alphabalance- Bad Cold- A Battle in the Sky- The Bear, the Fire, and the Snow- Best Mask?- Big Eating Contest- Bituminous?- Blood-Curdling Story- Body Language- Camp Wonderful- Carrots- Castle- Cat, a Kid, and a Mom- Cat Jacks- Cereal- Christmas Dog- Clean Gene- Complainin’ Jack- Cookwitch Sandwich- Crazy Dream- Crystal Ball- Danny O’Dare- The Deadly Eye- Dentist Dan- Description- Diving Board- Don the Dragon’s Birthday- Eggs Rated- Falling Up- Feeding Time- The Folks Inside- Foot Repair- Forgetful Paul Revere- The Former Foreman’s Story- Furniture Bash- Gardener- Glub-Glub- The Gnome, the Gnat, and the Gnu- Golden Goose- Hand Holding- Hard to Please- Haunted- Headless Town- Headphone Harold- Help!- Hi-Monster- Human Balloon- Hungry Kid Island- Hypnotized- Ice Cream Stop- Imagining- In the Land of…- James- Kanga Ruby- Keepin’ Count- Keep-Out House- Little Hoarse- Little Pig’s Treat- Long-Leg Lou and Short-Leg Sue- Long Scarf- Lyin’ Larry- Mari-Lou’s Ride- Medusa- Mirror, Mirror- Mister Moody- Molly’s Folly- Monkey- Morgan’s Curse- Mummy- Music Lesson- My Nose Garden- My Robot- My Sneaky Cousin- The Nap Taker- Needles and Pins- New World- No- No Grown-Ups- No Thank You- Noise Day- Nope- Obedient- Ooh!- One Out of Sixteen- People Zoo- Pinocchio- Plugging In- Poison-Tester- Porky- Quality Time- Reachin’ Richard- Red Flowers for You- Remote-a-Dad- Rotten Convention- Runners- Sack Race- Safe?- Scale- Screamin’ Millie- Settin’ Around- Shanna in the Sauna- Sharing- Shoe Talk- Short Kid- Show Fish- Sidewalking- Smile Makers- Snowball- Somethin’ New- Sorry I Spilled It- Spoiled Brat- Stone Airplane- Stork Story- Strange Restaurant- Stupid Pencil Maker- Sun Hat- Sybil the Magician’s Last Show- Tattooin’ Ruth- Tell Me- They Say I Have…- Tongue Sticker-Outer- The Toy Eater- Three O’clock- Three Stings- Turkey?- Unfair- Use for a Moose- The Voice- Warmhearted- Wastebasket Brother- Weavers- Web-Foot Woe- Weird-Bird- We’re Out of Paint, So…- When I Was Your Age- Why Is It?- Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda- Writer Waiting- Yuck

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Tim Weiner

Published: 2007 | Pages:702

My Rating: 4/5

Description: Now Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tim Weiner offers the first definitive history of the CIA—and everything is on the record. LEGACY OF ASHES is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA itself, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including ten Directors of Central Intelligence. It takes the CIA from its creation after World War II, through its battles in the cold war and the war on terror, to its near-collapse after September 11th, 2001.Tim Weiner’s past work on the CIA and American intelligence was hailed as “impressively reported” and “immensely entertaining” in The New York Times.The Wall Street Journal called it “truly extraordinary . . . the best book ever written on a case of espionage.” Here is the hidden history of the CIA: why eleven presidents and three generations of CIA officers have been unable to understand the world; why nearly every CIA director has left the agency in worse shape than he found it; and how these failures have profoundly jeopardized our national security.

The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne, #1)

The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne, #1)

Robert Ludlum

Published: 1980 | Pages:566

My Rating: 2/5

Description: Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found hereWho is Jason Bourne? Is he an assassin, a terrorist, a thief? Why has he got four million dollars in a Swiss bank account? Why has someone tried to murder him?…Jason Bourne does not know the answer to any of these questions. Suffering from amnesia, he does not even know that he is Jason Bourne. What manner of man is he? What are his secrets? Who has he killed?