Review: Going Zero

Going Zero by Anthony McCarten
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A friend read this and thought I would really enjoy it. I can understand her thinking -- the surveillance we all face from the use of technology is something I can worry about. But the problem with books like this is that the author suggests that technology exists that seems far fetched, and then makes that technology a key part of the plot. It happened a couple of times, and while I'm willing to suspend disbelief when reading such books, this one went to the well too many times for me. So I liked the concept and the story and the non-technology related twists, but the tech side was a bridge too far. This did feel very much like a screenplay, and i can see someone like Amazon picking this up for filming.

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Review: The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century

The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century by Jim Kaplan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had recently finished Bob Gibson's "Pitch by Pitch", his recounting of the details of a single game in the 60s that he believe memorable. It was. And I found his book to be quite well done, showing Gibson's thinking about the situations of almost every pitch, as well as his take on his opponent's pitching decisions. You learned a lot and were entertained. I expected the same with this book. Instead, this was more of a two pitcher biography, with lots of back (and post-) story on these player's careers. The game itself was not covered in the depth that Gibson wrote, and I suppose that's no surprise given the author is a reporter and not one of the pitchers. I did find i learned a lot about these players, but not so much about a single game, but about their careers.

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Review: This is It: And Other Essays on Zen & Spiritual Experience

This is It: And Other Essays on Zen & Spiritual Experience by Alan W. Watts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Having read the many positive reviews here, I suspect that my listening to the audiobook, without the benefits of reading and reflecting as I would with a physical book, was not a good thing. I found a lot of long-winded sentences that were difficult to follow on audio. With a book you could easily re-read. While driving and listening, no way. I will possibly try another...

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Review: A World Lost: A Novel

A World Lost: A Novel by Wendell Berry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Follows a boy who loses a beloved, freewheeling uncle to murder through his life before and after the murder, and years later when he starts to question to find out what actually happened. You are in the boys head all throughout the short book, and you see how he thinks as he learns that some stories and some storytellers can't be trusted. It all happens in the bucolic country, and slowly as a typical Southern story.

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Review: The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story

The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas Preston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this to keep up with an online book club. I found the story interesting. What starts as a archeology adventure story with some mysteries becomes something else quite different at the end. I enjoyed that change the most. it was like reading two or three very different books. Kept my interest all along.

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Review: Sabine Spring

Sabine Spring by James Lee Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've read almost all of Burke's books, so this one from early in his career was a nice reminder of his writing but in a very different setting, much more an old Western than his more typical mysteries or later historical fiction. His description in the early part of the book of prison life and escape was very well described and memorable. I didn't find the rest of the book, with a lot of chasing and running, as well drawn. Burke's writings from the last couple of decades have a heavy dose of the supernatural and/or superhuman characters. This one didn't, and it was good to see his style of writing working without resorting to that plot crutch. Of course, this one was shorter without that stuff.... Altogether, it was nice to read and recall why I started reading Burke's books, with great setting description, typical Western heroes, and some interesting action.

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Review: The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World

The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World by Max Fisher


I listened to this audiobook 7 months ago and can't remember a single thing it said. I believe that provides some affirming evidence of one of the points he makes about social media ruining your memory. But I think it also makes the point that this kind of story isn't new, it's something I read about often, in other books and in the media and from internet sources. Problem yes, solution??

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