No thank you, i'm not into fantasy books, i only tend to read True Crime books..

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

My second book of the series behind THE GOBLET OF FIRE. What I loved most about this book and was saddened that the film didn't dive more into was Voldemort's back story. There were 4 separate occasions that Harry and Dumbledore delved into the Pensieve but only 2 made it into the film. I definitely enjoyed learning more about Voldemore and while it wasn't necessary to the film, I still would have liked to see these images on screen. This book also does leave you with a great cliffhanger and set up for THE DEATHLY HALLOWS!

I just finished Eugenie Scott's Evolution vs. Creationism. Her approach was to present state laws, court cases, testimony, school board policies and presentations, and books and articles about either.

Creationism and its adaptation, Intelligent Design (ID), are, essentially, Evidence Against Evolution (EAE). I've read several tomes on Creationism such as The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel and Of Pandas and People by William Dembski et al both of which are EAE. None of the Creationism tomes provides any science to support their thesis although they punctuate their argument with contentions such as Irreducible Complexity which itself has no scientific support.

In any case, I recommend Scott's tome and others on this subject.

Almost finished this book about the disappearances of two hunters from suburban Detroit, David Tyll & Brian Ognjan.

18 years later, two brothers, JR Duvall & Coco Duvall, were convicted and sentenced to life for their murders, despite no physical evidence tying them to the crime.

They allegedly beat them to death, fed them to pigs and junked their Ford Bronco.

The eyewitness testimony that ultimately damned them was harrowing and gripping.

Very good read. I started reading this and the Al De Meo book at the same time but this book stole my attention.

A good one I got for Christmas. BUNKER HILL, A CITY, A SIEGE, A REVOLUTION.

Excellent book about the start of the revolution against those pesky Brits

I still don't get why this issue is so contentious. It strikes me as navel gazing. What is the harm in allowing people to believe this? So you can lord how much brighter you are than a working class guy (not really on your own ability to comprehend the actual science but to repeat the talking points of some expert)? People are probably happier and more content overall if they can at least believe it has some ultimate purpose.

I just finished reading With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge, The harrowing story of a Marine mortar man who saw action on Peleliu and Okinawa in WW2.

interested in Marilyn Monroe and joe DiMaggio, then read "joe and Marilyn" great read!

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

It's the end of the HARRY POTTER series and I'm sad. This is one of my all-time favorite stories and it's finally over. I definitely enjoyed the books more so than the films (with maybe the exception of THE GOBLET OF FIRE). What I didn't like about THE DEATHLY HALLOWS films is I felt there was too much fluff to try and make the last book 2 movies. The book was pretty straight forward and the pacing was fine. However, I do feel that the last half of the book (particularly talking about the last 3 Horcruxes) felt a little rushed since we didn't get into those until at least halfway through this book. An excellent series for anyone who hasn't read them yet. I'm wondering how the 3 Hogwarts Library books are (I'm starting those next: QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, AND THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD).

QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES

The first from the Hogwarts Library collection. An easy read at just around 100 pages that goes into some back story about how the game of Quidditch was created, the different teams, rules, advancements in brooms, etc. The only reason I purchased this collection was due to the positive reviews on Amazon. Honestly, I felt this book to be rather unnecessary personally.

Just finished "Special Deluxe," by Neil Young. Could have been subtitled, "My Life as a Car - an Auto-Biography." Young has been fascinated by cars since he was a little kid. He offers a thin account of his life circulated around the cars his family and then he owned. Not a lot of detail about his early groups, Buffalo Springfield, CSNY or Crazy Horse, but plenty about the cars he bought impulsively. He has a weakness for huge, old American cars, like Buick Roadmasters, Lincoln Connies, and hearses (good for moving equipment). It was pretty interesting in a modest, unassuming way. But Young couldn't resist getting preachy at the end about emissions, etc. Quick read. Recommended.

I'll bet. He's the original hippie nature nut. Young makes Carl Hiaasen look pro-development. And that's really saying something.

Talented guy, though. I like some of his early stuff.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Another easy but dull read. This just covers beasts that J.K. Rowling has (mostly) created from A-Z. I'm really curious how they are planning on making this into a movie as this in no way, shape, or form tells any story. THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD had better deliver; otherwise this Hogwarts Library has been a complete waste of time and money!

Just read


Book was written by a guy with only his left eyelid. The author had a stroke and suffered from "locked in syndrome." True story, kind of depressing but a good read

Quarter of the way through

THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD

The third and final book of the Hogwarts Library and the only one worth reading in my opinion. This book has five different tales and was the most enjoyable book and the only one with any substance. One of the tales is THE TALE OF THE THREE BROTHERS which was the story in THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. Overall, I was very disappointed with the Hogwarts Library. I really felt it was an unnecessary addition to the Harry Potter series. I feel the only one worth releasing would have been THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD. If anything further is added to the Harry Potter series, I would love a prequel to THE SORCERER'S STONE dealing more with Voldemort and his early days leading up to his rise to power.

THE BEATLES

Only the third Beatles book I've read behind THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY and A HARD DAY'S WRITE. At first I was a little hesitant as this book was written in 1968 and hadn't been altered and at the beginning, gave a lot of back story about characters other than The Beatles (I was wanting the author to get back to the Beatles more). However, once I read more, I'm really glad he included a lot of this back story. It was interesting to me to see how the Beatles parents and family members handled the boys success among many other behind-the-scenes stories. This is the only authorized book on the Beatles ever and even though the book itself hasn't been changed since it's original publication, the author does give updates since then in the introduction and 1985 postscript. Overall, a great and in depth book that pulls back the curtain on the boys (which doesn't always show them in the brightest of lights). I borrowed it through my local library and wound up buying it from Amazon. Thanks for the recommendation DE NIRO. Next up probably are the John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison books!

Just read an interesting Kurt Vonnegut short story "Harrison Bergon"

Just started

Bump

Currently reading Trunk Music by Michael Connelly.

Tangentially mob related.

I like the Bosch novels but I got to say I find it hackneyed that Connelly sees it necessary to include a love interest for Bosch in every single novel.

It's contrived, unnecessary and adds nothing to the novels - particularly the last one I finished, The Last Coyote.

If anything, the romantic digression took away from that book. It was sharp and focused before the inconceivable, and all too predictable, love interest side story.

Just finished reading "The Black Country", by Alex Grecian, which is book two in Grecian's "Scotland Yard Murder Squad" series. I thought it was every bit as good (if not better) than his first novel (The Yard). I'll definitely be picking up books 3 and 4 in the near future.

I'm currently immersed in James Ellroy's "Perfidia", which is book one in the "new L.A. Quartet series." Nobody writes about 1940's era L.A. like Ellroy. The man is a master. I'm only about a hundred pages in, but so far I am transfixed. Ellroy hasn't lost his touch.

THE KILL BILL DIARY

I read this when it originally came out, probably about 10 years ago now. A neat little diary about my favorite movie of all-time, written by probably my favorite villain of all-time. It can be short in parts, wishing he would expand in others; but there are some nice behind-the-scenes stories David recounts first hand. If you like the movie or David Carradine, I'd say it's definitely worth a read. I had heard recently Pam Grier kept a diary while making JACKIE BROWN but that it might not see the light of day until after she passes unfortunately (if, even then).

I plan to buy more books, and it would be fun to review them here on the GBB. Here goes review #1.

Steve-O




Professional Idiot: A Memoir

I usually like to read biography books based on rock stars. They live crazy lives that could be fiction but are in fact reality. Celebrities and rock stars have so many crazy and extraordinary experiences. This book is an autobiography about Stephen "Steve-O" Glover, one of the members of Jackass. It follows the life of Steve-O from being a spoiled kid to being a successful entertainer in his own right with many highs, bumps and pitfalls in between. Steve-O is the son of a successful business man who was an offshore representative of Coca-Cola that eventually became the president of Nabisco. Steve-O goes to college to impress his parents but eventually drops out and becomes homeless with dreams of making it big in the entertainment industry. This is a good story including Steve's life from being homeless and sleeping on roofs, to living in a luxury apartment, losing his mind on drugs and eventually becoming better. It's a very entertaining read and I recommend it.

Not going to read that but I do like your review and interested to read your next review.

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band



The Dirt is an autobiography of Mötley Crüe written by all four members being Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil and Mick Mars. The band members take turns telling stories which becomes one cohesive story detailing the band members early lives, success with the band and eventual break up. Some segments are written by their manager at the time and some are written by music executives. This book is absolutely insane. It is filled stories of sex, drugs and rock n' roll. All four members were addicts and it's a wonder they are still alive after reading some of the stories. This is a very entertaining read and I highly recommend it.

I like the idea that the book involves all memebers and others perspectives.

I may read this, have two books going now, ( Murder Machine & a James Joyce book.

Thanks B

I'm a huge Crüe fan, thanks for posting this. I can only imagine some of the stories they have. I'd love to see them in the Rock N' Roll hall of fame someday.

Thomas Sackville and the Shakespearean Glass Slipper, by Sabrina Feldman.

http://www.amazon.com/Sackville-Shakespe...asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I have a weakness for fringe theories, including Shakespeare authorship questions. This a fascinating book that expresses a theory that is similar to the Earl of Oxford ideas (i.e, that Oxford's life seems much more closely connected to the Shakespeare canon than than William Shakespeare's life does), but puts forth Sir Thomas Sackville as the likely real author. Sackville fits better in various ways - he lived longer than Oxford and so doesn't require a complicated explanation for completion of the later Shakespeare plays; and Sackville was also an innovative poet and dramatist as a young man, before turning to a life of public service (he ended up as Lord Treasurer under both Elizabeth and James).

Shakespeare authorship is a very interesting field now: various plays have been added to the canon by orthodox scholars in recent years, as co-written by Shakespeare. There's now a lot of debate about second-rate versions of many of the plays that were for many years seen as pilfered, unauthorized versions, but are now receiving reconsideration as edited, popularized versions of court productions that the common Londoner might enjoy. Doctor Feldman (a physicist at the Jet Propulsion Lab in California) has an earlier book that postulates that William Shakespeare of Stratford wrote this line of crowd-pleasing plays, plus others that nowadays are known as "the apocryphal plays"?":

http://www.amazon.com/Apocryphal-William...asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I don't know of I will read more of the series but it was a good read, can't go wrong with a classic

Reading Ann Coulter's book currently!

Greg Iles NATCHEZ BURNING.

Very good read!!