Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot (Antonia Fraser)
Apparently I forgot to ever review God's Secret Agents; since it covers some of the same territory as as Faith and Treason, I guess I might as well talk about them both.
Not knowing anything about either one of these books, I lucked out by reading God's Secret Agents first; this book is much larger than the other, and happily it does a lot of scene-setting. It mostly covers the Elizabethan age, with James coming in at the epilogue. Faith and Treason is much smaller, and picks up about where God's Secret Agents leaves off, dispatching Elizabeth in the introduction, and is almost exclusively about James assuming power and the Gunpowder Plot itself. I recommend both books, as they really do work well together, and the story they tell is quite interesting (if incredibly grim at times). That being said, Fraser assumes enough knowledge that I'd probably feel lost without having read God's Secret Agents first. My only caveat is that both these books go into gory detail about the caught Catholics getting tortured; reading about them getting dismembered was no less wince-worthy the second time, unfortunately. Still, I recommend both books, although you might want to slip a palette cleanser in between.
Grades: A
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
"A Book of Jean's Own!"
The Onion Presents A Book of Jean's Own!: All New Wit, Wisdom, and Wackiness from The Onion's Beloved Humor Columnist (Jean Teasdale)
This is a book pretend-written by the Onion's intentionally bad humor columnist Jean Teasdale, and it's pretty easy to figure out if it's for you: Just take a gander at her columns (and her website!) and see if you're amused. The book is basically Jean in concentrated form, and I liked it enough to polish it off in one sitting. My only suggestions would be to flip past the recipes (the joke appears to be the insane amount of butter that goes in), and don't listen to Jean's advice that you can skip around the book; there is a narrative thread running through the fake cat journals and Rick's lists of things that annoy the shit out of him that does come to a head at the end.
All in all I liked this book pretty well, and was surprised to see that the Amazon reviews are fairly mixed. I'm tempted to put this down to price; if I'd plunked down the MSRP of $18.99 I don't know that I'd be too pleased, but at $2.31 (with free shipping!) I'm pretty happy.
Grade: B
This is a book pretend-written by the Onion's intentionally bad humor columnist Jean Teasdale, and it's pretty easy to figure out if it's for you: Just take a gander at her columns (and her website!) and see if you're amused. The book is basically Jean in concentrated form, and I liked it enough to polish it off in one sitting. My only suggestions would be to flip past the recipes (the joke appears to be the insane amount of butter that goes in), and don't listen to Jean's advice that you can skip around the book; there is a narrative thread running through the fake cat journals and Rick's lists of things that annoy the shit out of him that does come to a head at the end.
All in all I liked this book pretty well, and was surprised to see that the Amazon reviews are fairly mixed. I'm tempted to put this down to price; if I'd plunked down the MSRP of $18.99 I don't know that I'd be too pleased, but at $2.31 (with free shipping!) I'm pretty happy.
Grade: B
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
"History's Biggest Blunders"
History's Biggest Blunders (Ian Whitelaw)
I had a bad feeling about this book as soon as I started reading it; the first "blunder" is "Humankind domesticates plants and animals," which I think most people would agree has turned out pretty well, civilization wise. I chalked this up to the book not being titled "History's Most Nuanced Looks at Societal Development" and went on to the second "blunder", which is Pharoh not letting Moses and the Jews go free, even as the author mentions multiple times that God explains to Moses that he hardened Pharoah's heart. So is that really a blunder?
Eventually I got the sense that I know more than the author about most of these blunders (Did Alexander the Great really "push too far"? He won the Battle of Hydaspes and his army made him turn back; how is that one of "History's Biggest Blunders"?). This makes it a little tough to recommend, but it is fairly entertaining, and it's divided into two to three page chapters that are the perfect length for a bathroom break. Pick it up if you see it in the bargain bin, otherwise I can't recommend it too highly.
Grade: C-
I had a bad feeling about this book as soon as I started reading it; the first "blunder" is "Humankind domesticates plants and animals," which I think most people would agree has turned out pretty well, civilization wise. I chalked this up to the book not being titled "History's Most Nuanced Looks at Societal Development" and went on to the second "blunder", which is Pharoh not letting Moses and the Jews go free, even as the author mentions multiple times that God explains to Moses that he hardened Pharoah's heart. So is that really a blunder?
Eventually I got the sense that I know more than the author about most of these blunders (Did Alexander the Great really "push too far"? He won the Battle of Hydaspes and his army made him turn back; how is that one of "History's Biggest Blunders"?). This makes it a little tough to recommend, but it is fairly entertaining, and it's divided into two to three page chapters that are the perfect length for a bathroom break. Pick it up if you see it in the bargain bin, otherwise I can't recommend it too highly.
Grade: C-
Friday, April 25, 2014
"On Such a Full Sea"
On Such a Full Sea: A Novel (Chang-rae Lee)
I really wanted to like this book, and for the first 70 or so pages, I did; The setting of a ambiguously radiated future where Western civilization has declined seemingly more of malaise than anything else and been largely replaced by Chinese settlers is really interesting, even if our heroine doesn't have much of a personality.
The problem is that eventually I would like the scene to be set and the story to begin, and this never really happened. The author is unable (or, I suspect, just unwilling) to actually tell the story; for each page of our heroine's journey out in the wilds, you'll get a page about the city our heroine left, and while some of these are interesting, I eventually became deeply annoyed at cutting away from the main plot to meander through four pages about the weird uncle who used to live upstairs. By the time I was a third of the way through the book and realized that the plot was never going to be able to pick up any momentum this way, I bailed.
I'd recommend checking out of the library and going about 100 pages; if the author's elliptical style and refusal to get to the point aren't driving you crazy, you're set.
Grade: C-
I really wanted to like this book, and for the first 70 or so pages, I did; The setting of a ambiguously radiated future where Western civilization has declined seemingly more of malaise than anything else and been largely replaced by Chinese settlers is really interesting, even if our heroine doesn't have much of a personality.
The problem is that eventually I would like the scene to be set and the story to begin, and this never really happened. The author is unable (or, I suspect, just unwilling) to actually tell the story; for each page of our heroine's journey out in the wilds, you'll get a page about the city our heroine left, and while some of these are interesting, I eventually became deeply annoyed at cutting away from the main plot to meander through four pages about the weird uncle who used to live upstairs. By the time I was a third of the way through the book and realized that the plot was never going to be able to pick up any momentum this way, I bailed.
I'd recommend checking out of the library and going about 100 pages; if the author's elliptical style and refusal to get to the point aren't driving you crazy, you're set.
Grade: C-
Sunday, April 20, 2014
"Empire of Liberty"
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789 - 1815 [Oxford History of the United States] (Gordon S. Wood)
For a massive history book I really enjoyed, I'm not sure I have much to say here aside from a strong recommendation; The core of this book is a why-didn't-I-learn-this-in-school exploration of the early clash between the Federalists - trying to make America into a European-style Power complete with landed aristocracy - and the Democratic-Republicans under Jefferson, attempting to mold America into a republic full of small farmers. This might not sound that interesting, but if so I'm not doing it justice; some of the truly bizarre ideas (including an attempt to completely outlaw commerce) are really staggering, and this is an easy recommend to anyone even casually interested in American history. Don't let the size scare you off from this gem.
Grade: A
For a massive history book I really enjoyed, I'm not sure I have much to say here aside from a strong recommendation; The core of this book is a why-didn't-I-learn-this-in-school exploration of the early clash between the Federalists - trying to make America into a European-style Power complete with landed aristocracy - and the Democratic-Republicans under Jefferson, attempting to mold America into a republic full of small farmers. This might not sound that interesting, but if so I'm not doing it justice; some of the truly bizarre ideas (including an attempt to completely outlaw commerce) are really staggering, and this is an easy recommend to anyone even casually interested in American history. Don't let the size scare you off from this gem.
Grade: A
Monday, April 7, 2014
Service Advisory
Your favorite blog about W40k novels and massive history books is going to be slowing down for a week or two; I'm currently reading the gigantic Empire of Liberty, which tips the scale at 800 pages and 2.4 pounds. This is going to take a while for me to read, which means middle of April may be quieter than usual around here. Resist the urge to go outside or interact with your loved ones until regular programming resumes. Instead, here's some other fine blogs to view:
NHam's Trip Reports - http://ntripreport.blogspot.com/
Eating Thru Albany (haitus) - http://eatingthrualbany.blogspot.com/
Husband Crime blotter - http://husbandcrimeblotter.blogspot.com/
NHam's Trip Reports - http://ntripreport.blogspot.com/
Eating Thru Albany (haitus) - http://eatingthrualbany.blogspot.com/
Husband Crime blotter - http://husbandcrimeblotter.blogspot.com/
Saturday, April 5, 2014
"American Savage"
American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics (Dan Savage)
I had an eerie feeling reading this book; Savage's voice comes through so strongly that I couldn't help but hear him reading the text. This is not necessarily a bad thing, although I guess it removes the need for an audiobook.
Aside from that, I liked it; Savage's positions seems pretty sensible to a liberal dupe like myself (although I was left wanting to hear more about his collection of Catholic kitsch).
My only two caveats are that I'd recommend skipping the gun control chapter, which is a real downer and doesn't look to be getting better any time soon; and this is probably a book to get out of the library (I polished it off in two sittings).
Grade: B+
I had an eerie feeling reading this book; Savage's voice comes through so strongly that I couldn't help but hear him reading the text. This is not necessarily a bad thing, although I guess it removes the need for an audiobook.
Aside from that, I liked it; Savage's positions seems pretty sensible to a liberal dupe like myself (although I was left wanting to hear more about his collection of Catholic kitsch).
My only two caveats are that I'd recommend skipping the gun control chapter, which is a real downer and doesn't look to be getting better any time soon; and this is probably a book to get out of the library (I polished it off in two sittings).
Grade: B+
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