2013 Reading List
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Volume 2: The New Girl
Sean McKeever
Published: 2007 | Pages:120
My Rating: 5/5
Description: Plus: Mary Jane Watson wasn’t always the girl she is today. How did she become the sort of person to push her problems away rather than face them? And how is it that Peter Parker, Spider-Man and Spidey’s origin itself all play pivotal roles? See the birth of the greatest modern super hero like you’ve never seen it before. Collecting: Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane 6-10
In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
Steven Levy
Published: 2011 | Pages:432
My Rating: 3/5
An ok read but nothing in this is overly surprising if you already follow Google. It also comes off as a bit repedetove in its layout of chapters, sometimes reiterating the same events from a slightly different point of view in different chapters. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the company.
Description: Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes readers inside Google headquarters—the Googleplex—to show how Google works.While they were still students at Stanford, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized Internet search. They followed this brilliant innovation with another, as two of Google’s earliest employees found a way to do what no one else had: make billions of dollars from Internet advertising. With this cash cow, Google was able to expand dramatically and take on other transformative projects: more efficient data centers, open-source cell phones, free Internet video (YouTube), cloud computing, digitizing books, and much more.The key to Google’s success in all these businesses, Levy reveals, is its engineering mind-set and adoption of such Internet values as speed, openness, experimentation, and risk taking. After its unapologetically elitist approach to hiring, Google pampers its engineers—free food and dry cleaning, on-site doctors and masseuses—and gives them all the resources they need to succeed. Even today, with a workforce of more than 23,000, Larry Page signs off on every hire.But has Google lost its innovative edge? With its newest initiative, social networking, Google is chasing a successful competitor for the first time. Some employees are leaving the company for smaller, nimbler start-ups. Can the company that famously decided not to be evil still compete?No other book has ever turned Google inside out as Levy does with In the Plex.
Lost Souls (Star Trek: Destiny, #3)
David Mack
Published: 2008 | Pages:444
Description: For Captain William Riker, that choice has already been made. Haunted by the memories of those he was forced to leave behind, he must jeopardize all that he has left in a desperate bid to save the Federation.For Captain Ezri Dax, whose impetuous youth is balance by the wisdom of many lifetimes, the choice is a simple one: there is no going back — only forward to whatever future awaits them.But for those who, millennia ago, had no choice…this is the hour of their final, inescapable destiny.
Mere Mortals (Star Trek: Destiny #2)
David Mack
Published: 2008 | Pages:433
My Rating: 4/5
Description: Half a galaxy away, Captain William Riker and the crew of the Starship Titan have made contact with the reclusive Caeliar — survivors of a stellar cataclysm that, two hundred years ago, drove fissures through the structure of space and time, creating a loop of inevitability and consigning another captain and crew to a purgatory from which they could never escape. Now the supremely advanced Caeliar will brook no further intrusion upon their isolation, or against the sanctity of their Great Work….For the small, finite lives of mere mortals carry little weight in the calculations of gods. But even gods may come to understand that they underestimate humans at their peril.
Gods of Night (Star Trek: Destiny #1)
David Mack
Published: 2008 | Pages:429
My Rating: 3/5
Description: Elsewhere, deep in the Gamma Quadrant, an ancient mystery is solved. One of Earth’s first generation of starships, lost for centuries, has been found dead and empty on a desolate planet. But its discovery so far from home has raised disturbing questions, and the answers harken back to a struggle for survival that once tested a captain and her crew to the limits of their humanity. From that terrifying flashpoint begins an apocalyptic odyssey that will reach across time and space to reveal the past, define the future, and show three captains — Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise, TM William Riker of the U.S.S. Titan, and Ezri Dax of the U.S.S Aventine — that some destinies are inescapable.
The Mote in God’s Eye (Moties, #1)
Larry Niven
Published: 1974 | Pages:596
My Rating: 4/5
Been wanting to get to this for a while. Its a bit long 20hrs for the audio) but still pretty good.
Description:
Arthas: Rise of the Lich King (World of Warcraft, #6)
Christie Golden
Published: 2009 | Pages:320
My Rating: 3/5
Aside from the first 25% or so of this book, this is essentially Warcraft 3, the Book. the early section covers the early parts of Arthas’ life. As such, its an OK read adding a bit to the lore if you are mostly already familiar with it. If you are not familiar with it many of the later events may come off completely random and disjointed. For example, Illidan shows up and Art has sends him off on a mission, only to later reappear at the end of the book at the climax. None of Illidan’s story really is told though as to how he got to where he was.Probably the most interesting aspect is reading a story that follows the villain. Arthas is sort of the Darth Vader of Warcraft, except instead of saving Luke and redeeming himself he just is super evil. Its an interesting change from a story perspective as its not a common viewpoint.
Description: The uncanny elemental spirit drew its icy sword. “Turn away, before it is too late,” it intoned. * * *His evil is legend. Lord of the undead Scourge, wielder of the runeblade Frostmourne, and enemy of the free peoples of Azeroth. The Lich King is an entity of incalculable power and unparalleled malice — his icy soul utterly consumed by his plans to destroy all life on the World of Warcraft.But it was not always so. Long before his soul was fused with that of the orc shaman Ner’zhul, the Lich King was Arthas Menethil, crown prince of Lordaeron and faithful paladin of the Silver Hand.When a plague of undeath threatened all that he loved, Arthas was driven to pursue an ill-fated quest for a runeblade powerful enough to save his homeland. Yet the object of his search would exact a heavy price from its new master, beginning a horrifying descent into damnation. Arthas’s path would lead him through the arctic northern wastes toward the Frozen Throne, where he would face, at long last, the darkest of destinies.
Redshirts
John Scalzi
Published: 2012 | Pages:320
My Rating: 3/5
_______ said…. _______ said…. _______ said…. _______ said…. _______ said….Cute story that has kind of a reduculous nonsensical resolution that doesn’t really make sense even with the self referencing plot elements. Essentially it works because the author says it works.
Description: Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that: (1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces (2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations (3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.
Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 6
James Roberts
Published: 2012 | Pages:364
My Rating: 4/5
Description:
A Lonely Resurrection (John Rain, #2)
Barry Eisler
Published: 2003 | Pages:352
My Rating: 4/5
Description: Aided by an achingly desirable half Brazilian, half Japanese exotic dancer he knows he shouldn’t trust, Rain pursues his quarry through underground no-holds-barred fight clubs, mobbed-up hostess bars, and finally into the heart of a shadow war between the CIA and the yakuza. It’s a war Rain can’t win, but also one he can’t afford to lose–a war where the distinctions between friend and foe and truth and deceit are as murky as the rain-slicked streets of Tokyo.”… a superlative job… entertaining and suspenseful enough to keep you turning the pages as fast as your eyes can follow.” –Chicago Sun Times
A Clean Kill in Tokyo (John Rain, #1)
Barry Eisler
Published: 2003 | Pages:363
My Rating: 4/5
Description: Name: John Rain.Vocation: Assassin.Specialty: Natural Causes.Base of operations: Tokyo.Availability: Worldwide.Half American, half Japanese, expert in both worlds but at home in neither, John Rain is the best killer money can buy. You tell him who. You tell him where. He doesn’t care about why…Until he gets involved with Midori Kawamura, a beautiful jazz pianist–and the daughter of his latest kill.
Gutenberg the Geek
Jeff Jarvis
Published: 2012 | Pages:20
Description:
BioShock Infinite: Mind in Revolt
Joe Fielder
Published: 2013 | Pages:31
My Rating: 3/5
Description:
Transformers: The IDW Collection, Volume 5
Shane McCarthy
Published: 2011 | Pages:352
My Rating: 4/5
Description: All Hail Megatron storyline, plus the four CODA issues that followed.
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
Published: 1953 | Pages:158
My Rating: 3/5
Description:
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Audrey Niffenegger
Published: 2003 | Pages:537
My Rating: 5/5
Description:
xkcd: volume 0
Randall Munroe
Published: 2009 | Pages:120
My Rating: 5/5
Description: xkcd as a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. While it’s practically required reading in the geek community, xkcd fans are as varied as the comic’s subject matter. This book creates laughs from science jokes on one page to relationship humor on another.xkcd: volume 0 is the first book from the immensely popular webcomic with a passionate readership (just Google “xkcd meetup”).The artist selected personal and fan favorites from his first 600 comics. It was lovingly assembled from high-resolution original scans of the comics (the mouseover text is discreetly included), and features a lot of doodles, notes, and puzzles in the margins.The book is published by Breadpig, which donates all of the publisher profits from this book to Room to Read for promoting literacy in the developing world.
Legion (Legion, #1)
Brandon Sanderson
Published: 2012 | Pages:88
My Rating: 4/5
Description:
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, #1)
Seth Grahame-Smith
Published: 2010 | Pages:336
My Rating: 2/5
Admitedly, I.am not a huge fan of vampires and horror or history, but I do like gimmicks. the gimmick here is interesting but the execution leaves a little to be desired. Most Historical Fantasy works better if it works around history and not so blantantly in the middle of it.
Description: Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.””My baby boy…” she whispers before dying.Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire.When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a master of mind and body. And this mastery shall have but one purpose…” Gifted with his legendary height, strength, and skill with an ax, Abe sets out on a path of vengeance that will lead him all the way to the White House.While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years. That is, until Seth Grahame-Smith stumbled upon The Secret Journal of Abraham Lincoln, and became the first living person to lay eyes on it in more than 140 years.Using the journal as his guide and writing in the grand biographical style of Doris Kearns Goodwin and David McCullough, Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time-all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Volume 4: Still Friends
Sean McKeever
Published: 2007 | Pages:96
My Rating: 3/5
Description: Collecting: Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane 16-20
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Volume 3: My Secret Life
Sean McKeever
Published: 2007 | Pages:120
My Rating: 5/5
Description: Plus: Gwen Stacy has a problem with Peter, and MJ has a secret. Collecting: Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane 11-15
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Volume 1
Sean McKeever
Published: 2006 | Pages:304
My Rating: 5/5
Description: Marvel’s most mischievous melodrama, as featured in Entertainment Weekly’s Must List!Whether she’s going to school or hanging out with her friends at the Coffee Bean, Mary Jane Watson is always the center of attention. But what no one knows is that this gorgeous redhead’s exuberant personality is a shell designed to make her forget about life’s harsh realities. From her social life to her undying interest in becoming an actress to her crush on that costumed crime-fighter who swings along the New York City rooftops, it’s clear Mary Jane just wants to escape. Join MJ, Harry Osborn, Liz Allen, Flash Thompson and Harry’s nerdy friend, Peter Parker, as they experience the thrilling highs and the crushing lows of high-school existence in this electric teen drama! Collecting: Mary Jane 1-4, Mary Jane: Homecoming 1-4, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane 1-5
Penny Arcade Volume 2: Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings (Penny Arcade, #2)
Jerry Holkins
Published: 2006 | Pages:168
My Rating: 4/5
Description:
Penny Arcade Volume 1: Attack of the Bacon Robots! (Penny Arcade, #1)
Jerry Holkins
Published: 2006 | Pages:168
My Rating: 4/5
Description: Attack of the Bacon Robots, which includes strips, sketches, and creator commentary not available anywhere else!
Josh Miller aka “Ramen Junkie”. I write about my various hobbies here. Mostly coding, photography, and music. Sometimes I just write about life in general. I also post sometimes about toy collecting and video games at Lameazoid.com.