The further adventures of Asher and Co. Asher the dead Beta Male returns as a crocodile headed Squerril Person-who has a ten inch penis that he keeps wrapped around his waist as an erection causes him to faint. We also see Minty Fresh, The Emperor of San Fransico, and the rest of the gang from the other books in this series. If there are cameos from other books I didn’t notice them this time. Fisher Stevens returns to read the audio book and does the same brilliant job he’s done on the other Christopher Moore books he’s read. There are a…
Category: book review
10% Happier
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Dan Harris is a TV News Anchor who appears to have spent a good deal of time feeling sorry for himself. He’s kind of a smug fellow with a nice soothing voice. He does a good job of reading his book and delivering the gags and one liners that fill all the space between the Zen talk. But Dan isn’t happy about his super successful life…because he’s not Walter Cronkite or his personal idol, Peter Jennings. The fact that there are no Cronkites or Jennings in the modern world doesn’t seem…
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett
The last Discworld book by Terry Pratchett. Book Number 41 is about Tiffany Aching and the Discworld Witches. While we get a few flashes of the larger Discworld, Death, Hex, Vetinari, etc – this is mainly a tale of Witches and Elves and the Nac Mac Feegles. These have never been my favorite characters. I hate the Nac Mac Feegles. I would have preferred the last novel to be about Moist or Rincewind, but then, this was a pretty good book. The standard Sir Terry formula has been to find a downtrodden group, such as Golems or Trolls or Dwarves or Goblins and show that…
It Doesn’t Suck. Showgirls
A book that explores the deeper meaning of Showgirls. [easyazon_link identifier=”1770411747″ locale=”US” tag=”londonthoug-20″]It Doesn’t Suck[/easyazon_link] is what the hero of [easyazon_link identifier=”B004TJ1GVK” locale=”US” tag=”londonthoug-20″]Showgirls[/easyazon_link] says whenever she likes something, such as a sports car or a bottle of champagne. The title should not be taken to mean that Showgirls doesn’t suck. In fact, the book is a balancing act between calling the Showgirls a work of art and a piece of shit. He makes a case for both arguments. Adam Nayman gives us a bit of background about director Paul Verhoeven, writer Joe Eszterhas, and actress Elizabeth Berkley. There is a…
1Q84
The suspense is terrible. I hope it lasts. ~Willy Wonka [easyazon_link identifier=”B00E84D060″ locale=”US” tag=”londonthoug-20″]1Q84[/easyazon_link] is a deep novel. It has many layers. We start off following two main characters. We hear about their work, their passions, their hopes. One is a writer and there is a good deal of talk about the publishing industry. The other is an assassin, and there is a good deal of talk about who she kills and why she kills them. For such a long book, it clocks in at about a 1,000 pages, we really have only a handful of characters. At one point…
The Ghost in My Brain
Ain’t that a kick in the head? [easyazon_link identifier=”0525426566″ locale=”US” tag=”londonthoug-20″]The Ghost in My Brain[/easyazon_link] starts off with Dr Clark Elliott coming close to freezing to death. This happens as he makes the two hour trek from his office to his car in the college parking lot. He goes into mind numbing detail about why this trip is taking him two hours, as opposed to the ten minutes it would take anyone else. He talks about his decision paralysis. About how he knows that he should just lay down and die-only he can’t remember how to lay down. He eventually makes…
Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years
The Beatles-The Early Years. [easyazon_link identifier=”1408704781″ locale=”US” tag=”londonthoug-20″]Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years[/easyazon_link] follows in the footsteps of James A. Michener, we start the story of the Beatles in the 1840s or so. I’ve never been that into the whole Roots thing and have little interest in what John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s great grandparents were up to. I do like the idea that the Beatles are towering historic figures worthy of such treatment, but on the other hand, it seems a bit silly. As the Beatles themselves liked to say, they were just a band that got very…
Between The World and Me
Morpheus: The body cannot live without the mind. [easyazon_link identifier=”0812993543″ locale=”US” tag=”londonthoug-20″]Ta-Nehisi Coates[/easyazon_link] lays his book out as a letter to his son. He talks about race, life, death, and how the world he grew up in and the world where his son now lives are slightly different places. But still very dangerous places. If you happen to have dark skin in a world run by people who think they are white. He views the entirety of human history through the viewpoint of a black man who may have his body taken from him at any moment for no reason.…
Dead Wake by Erik Larson
The Last Crossing of the Lusitania Erik Larson writes dense books filled with minutia that somehow always feel poignant and relevant. This time the story is about World War I u-boats and the end of the great age of Ocean Luxury Liners. The Lusitania was a large ship and had close to two thousand souls on board. Erik does a great job of bringing many of those two thousand people to light. Celebrities of the day and people working their way across alike. Everyone has a story. Of course, the rich and famous get a bit more attention as a…
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances
A Trigger Warning is something designed to keep people from being upset by what they read or see. I agree with Neil when he says if you’re warned about something, you pretty much take the fun out it. I’m not sure this collection of stories and poems is seriously disturbing, but they are fun. Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers and I think he’s a great reader of his own audio books. A few of the stories are very short and the last story is closer to a novella than a short story. They were all very good,…