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Old 06-29-2010, 07:07 AM   #541
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Ken Follett's Code to Zero. Not one of his best.
A frownie for this one .

Is it just me or are there a lot more errors in books these days? Content as well as grammar. In this book, the protagonist steals a Ford Fiesta in 1958! It really had me going for a moment.
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Old 06-29-2010, 10:22 AM   #542
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The Terror, by Dan Simmons.

Fictional account of Sir John Franklin 1845 Polar Expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. This is the first book I've read by Simmons, he combines a very well researched account of the hardships of early polar expeditions, with a bit of the mysticism of the native population. One of the books I didn't want to put down.
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Old 06-29-2010, 04:05 PM   #543
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Just finished Blind Side and Big Short by Michael Lewis. Both great books.
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Old 06-29-2010, 04:29 PM   #544
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Just picked up two new books today to read on vacation.

The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan

The River of Doubt, by Candice Millard
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Old 06-29-2010, 05:44 PM   #545
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Almost finished Harlan Coban "Caught " . A great read !
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Old 06-29-2010, 08:13 PM   #546
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The Terror, by Dan Simmons.

Fictional account of Sir John Franklin 1845 Polar Expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. This is the first book I've read by Simmons, he combines a very well researched account of the hardships of early polar expeditions, with a bit of the mysticism of the native population. One of the books I didn't want to put down.
This is on my pile of books to read, along with his Hyperion. Can't wait!
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Old 06-30-2010, 05:33 AM   #547
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This is on my pile of books to read, along with his Hyperion. Can't wait!
Hyperion is great. I put a hold on Terror based on how good Hyperion was - and jimnjana's recommendation of course .
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Old 06-30-2010, 06:07 AM   #548
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I also recently read The Big Short and agree it's the only one that explained the housing fiasco to me. It's amazing that so many people deeply involved in that didn't see it coming.

Just finished A Random Walk Down Wall Street and now halfway through The Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox.

All of this makes me think more and more that perhaps they're right - just put the newspaper stock quotes page up on a wall and throw darts to decide what to buy, hold, or sell. Seems as good a formula as any.
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Old 06-30-2010, 01:57 PM   #549
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We've got six books/videos on hold right now, and that's the limit, so could you guys cool it for a while?
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Old 06-30-2010, 02:07 PM   #550
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Just picked up two new books today to read on vacation.

....
A national park?
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Old 06-30-2010, 04:19 PM   #551
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We've got six books/videos on hold right now, and that's the limit, so could you guys cool it for a while?

Sorry Al but it is rainy season in Florida so I will be churning out the book reviews ! I'm almost finished with John Connolly 's " The Lovers " . Very weird and just okay !
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Old 06-30-2010, 04:55 PM   #552
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Ken Follett's Code to Zero. Not one of his best.
A frownie for this one .

Is it just me or are there a lot more errors in books these days? Content as well as grammar. In this book, the protagonist steals a Ford Fiesta in 1958! It really had me going for a moment.
And movies. I remember seeing Braveheart and spotting a plastic downpipe emanating from a bathroom in a Scottish castle. Or maybe Scottish plumbing was very advanced in the 16th century!
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Old 06-30-2010, 04:56 PM   #553
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We've got six books/videos on hold right now, and that's the limit, so could you guys cool it for a while?
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Old 06-30-2010, 11:06 PM   #554
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I also recently read The Big Short and agree it's the only one that explained the housing fiasco to me. It's amazing that so many people deeply involved in that didn't see it coming.
If you haven't already read it, 'The Quants' by Scott Patterson is another great read on the same subject.

My library just got 'The Big Short' in. I'm looking forward to it.
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Old 07-07-2010, 11:12 AM   #555
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Today I finished

Amazon.com: Shadow of Power: A Paul Madriani Novel (Paul Madriani…

on my iPod touch. First novel that I read on it. I enjoyed it, and rate it as a 9.5/10. I agree with some reviewers that the premise of the book is a little silly, but I enjoyed the courtroom stuff and general story.
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Old 07-08-2010, 12:13 PM   #556
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Ran across this in an article discussing manufacturing moves. I did not expect such a low printing cost for hardcovers:
Quote:
Printing a 9-by-9-inch, 334-page hardcover book in China costs about 44 to 45 cents now, with another 3 cents for shipping, says Goodwin. The same book costs 65 to 68 cents to make in the U.S.
The full article (not related to reading books) is here: Companies brace for end of cheap made-in-China era - Yahoo! Finance
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Old 07-09-2010, 06:43 AM   #557
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Just finished China lake by Anthony Hyde. I would give it an 8-8.5 on Al's scale. It is sort of a Mojave Desert John LaCarre mystery. It involves a young British scientist expelled from the country after being framed to appear involved in the release of Sidewinder plans to the Russians and the China Lake base security officer who argued that he didn't do it. 25 years after the incident things start popping all over again and the hunt for answers is on. Very good but a bit dense on the internal explorations and details. I got tired of the lengthy character development and skimmed by many pages -- but Hyde is good at that stuff so, if you like it, you will want to plod through every page.
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Old 07-09-2010, 08:25 AM   #558
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Thanks Don, on Amazon Hyde's other book Red Fox got good reviews too. Have added to reading list.
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Old 07-09-2010, 10:50 AM   #559
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I am like 8 pages from finally finishing 'Atlas Shrugged'. Boy does Ayn Rand like to hear herself write! I like the book and the message is sobering. No matter you political persuasion, it is hard to dismiss the parallels to what is going on today in America, though obviously the results in the book are played out over a much shorter time frame an more dramatically than would likely occur, if they occur at all. Still a good book and worth a read.
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Old 07-09-2010, 11:05 AM   #560
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Reading The Big Short by Michael Lewis right now, like others here.

I can't believe how badly AIG got screwed by Goldman and other big banks, getting AIG to sell them credit defaults swaps on those synthetic CDOs with the bogus AAA ratings. It's amazing how unethically the big banks acted in these deals, putting together these synthetic CDOs that they knew were crap, just so AIG would sell CDS on them.

I think the big banks that did this may incur a little financial liability after it is all said and done.
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