Caribbean Book Club - September '13

This month wasn't quite as busy. I may or may not have spent a good chunk of my free time binge-watching all five seasons of Friday Night Lights.  I was still able to knock out six or seven books though...

I really did not enjoy Lost. It was the only book I could find to read at work, and even then it was a chore to finish.  I thought it was kind of hard to follow, a dumb story, and that the first 1/3 of the book was just not interesting at all. Wicked seems pretty popular so I'm assuming it is better.  Either way, spend your time more wisely than I did.

The Last Stand was pretty interesting in parts. However, there were big chunks of it that just did not interest me at all. Once it gets to the battle though, I couldn't put it down. It amazes me how close they were to pulling it off and how the terrible and selfish decisions of others (a lot of which could possibly traced back to mistakes Custer himself made) cost Custer in the end. I really never knew anything about this battle before reading. However, there was still a lot of dead space in the book.

Lombards Amulet was written by one of the Lieutenants in my unit, so it pains me to say that it wasn't that bad and I would read a sequel.  I may or may not recommend it as decent/easy/quick/light reading. Ugh. That really hurt to write.

Of Mice and Men was great.  I guess that Steinbeck guy new what he was doing, or something.


They got a very eclectic mix of (what look to be) interesting books at the Liberty Center. So I have to start reading faster so that I can get to them before the necks from Alabama try to use them as door stops...

Best books I have read so far:
1. World War Z
2. A Thousand Cuts
3. The Sisters Brothers

Worst books I have read so far:
1. The Count of Monte Cristo
2. Lost
3. The Last Stand: Custer Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Bighorn

*= New Entry

Max Brooks
-World War Z

Phillip Connors

-Fire Season

Thomas H. Cook
-The Crime of Julian Wells

Patrick deWitt
-The Sisters Brothers

Emma Donoghue

-Room: A Novel

Alexandre Dumas
-The Count of Monte Cristo

Jennifer Egan
-A Visit from the Goon Squad

Lee Goldberg
-Mr. Monk Gets Even (Mr. Monk #15)

John Krakauer

-Into Thin Air

Stephen King
*The Dead Zone

Simon Lelic
-A Thousand Cuts

Elmore Leonard
-The Hunted

Gregory Maguire
*Lost

Kevin Mullikin
*Relics & Wonders: Lombards Amulet

James Patterson
-Alex Cross's Trial (Alex Cross #15)
-I, Alex Cross (Alex Cross #16)
-Cross Fire (Alex Cross #17)
-Kill Alex Cross (Alex Cross #18)

Nathaniel Philbrick
*The Last Stand: Custer Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Bighorn

John Sandford
*Rules of Prey (Lucas Davenport #1)

Lisa See
-The Interior (Red Princess #2)
-Dragon Bones (Red Princess #3)

John Steinbeck
*Of Mice and Men

Shellie Vandevoorde

-Separated By Duty, United In Love

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

-Rose of Fire

Multiple Writers
-The Best American Sports Writing 2012

Caribbean Book Club

August was a good reading month!

I read the best book I have read so far, World War Z, and I finally finished that albatross, The Count of Monte Cristo.

The Count of Monte Cristo was a cool story, or at least had the makings of one. However, it was just too damned long and descriptive. NOTHING was left to the imagination of the reader. There is one point where Dumas describes the color of the sheets on a bed. SERIOUSLY?!  You could've easily cut 300-400 pages out of that book. Not to mention that some of the revenge was incredibly anti-climactic. I don't really recommend this book to anyone who isn't mad at themselves for something.

My review of World War Z can be summed up pretty briefly, well made.  The oral history style of writing makes the chapters short, to the point, easy to follow, and unique.  Max Brooks (son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft!) did a great job of tying them together while still jumping through all of the various perspectives. Finally, for those of you that saw the movie, there is really only about 10 minutes of the movie that are also in the book, so you haven't spoiled anything.

So read World War Z and not The Count of Monte Cristo...

Best books I have read so far:
1. World War Z
2. A Thousand Cuts
3. The Sisters Brothers

Worst books I have read so far:
1. The Count of Monte Cristo

*= New Entry

Max Brooks
*World War Z

Phillip Connors

-Fire Season

Thomas H. Cook
*The Crime of Julian Wells

Patrick deWitt
-The Sisters Brothers

Emma Donoghue

-Room: A Novel

Alexandre Dumas
*The Count of Monte Cristo

Jennifer Egan
-A Visit from the Goon Squad

Lee Goldberg
-Mr. Monk Gets Even (Mr. Monk #15)

John Krakauer

-Into Thin Air

Simon Lelic
-A Thousand Cuts

Elmore Leonard
*The Hunted

James Patterson
-Alex Cross's Trial (Alex Cross #15)
-I, Alex Cross (Alex Cross #16)
*Cross Fire (Alex Cross #17)
*Kill Alex Cross (Alex Cross #18)

Lisa See
-The Interior (Red Princess #2)
-Dragon Bones (Red Princess #3)

Shellie Vandevoorde

-Separated By Duty, United In Love

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

-Rose of Fire

Multiple Writers
-The Best American Sports Writing 2012

Charlie's Updated Deployment Reading List

July was a good reading month!

A Thousand Cuts was outstanding- I highly recomend it.  I also did a little guilty pleasure reading and read a book in the Monk series.  It is based on the TV show (fun little mystery).

Best books I have read so far:
1. A Thousand Cuts
2. The Sisters Brothers
3. Into This Air

Worst books I have read so far:
... There really aren't any yet, though once I am done with The Count of Monte Cristo, it will probably anchor this list for a while. There is just way too much "boring" in that book.

*= New Entry

Phillip Connors

-Fire Season

Patrick deWitt
*The Sisters Brothers

Emma Donoghue

-Room: A Novel

Lee Goldberg
*Mr. Monk Gets Even (Mr. Monk #15)

John Krakauer

-Into Thin Air

Simon Lelic
*A Thousand Cuts

Lisa See
-The Interior (Red Princess #2)
-Dragon Bones (Red Princess #3)

Shellie Vandevoorde

-Separated By Duty, United In Love

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

-Rose of Fire

Multiple Writers
*The Best American Sports Writing 2012

Marathon Training Week 2

This was a good week!

I felt really strong during my runs. I'm hoping this is a week I can build on going forward.
So generally my midweek runs are all on the treadmill after I lift weights. My long weekend run is generally outside on the road (which has a lot of hills).

Below is what I did this past week. What was recommended is in parenthesis...

Monday: Rest (Rest)

Tuesday: 3.1 miles (3 miles)

Wednesday: 3.1 miles (3 miles)

Thursday: 3.1 miles (3 miles)

Friday: Rest (Rest)

Saturday: 7 miles (7 miles)

Sunday: Rest (Cross Training)

Marathon Training Week 1

Last week I signed up for my first marathon. I have been toying with the idea for about a year now. No turning back now though, the money has been paid.

Big Sur International Marathon here I  come.

I am actually pretty lucky to have gotten in at all.  The damned thing sold out in an hour!

Anyways, as I prepare for April 27th, 2014, I will be posting my weekly training. Maybe someone out there cares, and can provide some feedback. I have about 39 weeks to train. I am starting out with the Hal Higdon Novice 1 for the first 18 weeks. Then I'll probably do the slightly more difficult Novice 2 training. We'll see how it goes though. 

Below is what I did this past week. What was recommended is in parenthesis...

Monday:       4 miles (Rest)

Tuesday:       1.5 miles (3 miles)

Wednesday:  3.1 miles (3 miles)

Thursday:      2.25 miles (3 miles)

Friday:          2.4 miles (Rest)

Saturday:      6 miles (6 miles)

Sunday:         Rest (Cross Training)

Charlie's Deployment Reading List

So I am a couple months into deployment and haven't spent as much time reading as I would have liked.  Once I get a few more on the list I'll start compiling best/worst lists.  Though I will say that "Into Thin Air" is the best thing I have read so far. 

Also, we have brand new bells and whistles this time around, if you click on the title you can go to see the book on the web. 

Here's what we have so far...

*= New Entry

Phillip Connors

*Fire Season

Emma Donoghue

*Room: A Novel

John Krakauer

*Into Thin Air

Lisa See
*The Interior (Red Princess #2)
*Dragon Bones (Red Princess #3)

Shellie Vandevoorde

*Separated By Duty, United In Love

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

*Rose of Fire

Time to cycle through again...

Updates to come.