Done, Done, On To The Next One

As of approximately one hour ago, with the completion of No Country For Old Men, I accomplished my goal of reading ten books by the end of 2008. Thanks to everyone who recommended books for me to read, and to Kayla for allowing me to hole myself up in our room for hours at a time when I felt more like reading than watching Dancing With The Stars. Hugs and Kisses all around.

For those who care, here's the list of the ten I've read so far, with a ranking of one star (not great) to five stars (highest recommendation). Of course, feel free to recommend more to me, my mind is an open book. That was really lame. Read on, readers, read on...


1)Forever Odd, Dean Koontz-Second in the Odd Thomas trilogy. A good book, but the ceiling is lowered considerably when the story is based on a twenty-year old fry cook that sees ghosts.**



2) False Memory, Dean Koontz- The fifth Koontz book I've read so far, and one of the best. A psychological thriller, this one was gosh-awful long but very very entertaining.****


3) Con Ed, Matthew Klein- Witty, sarcastic novel about an over-the-hill con man who thinks he has one more great con in him. Blunders and hilarity ensue.***



4)21:Bringing Down the House, Ben Mezerich- Faaantastic book. As many of you know, a movie has been made based-very loosely-on the book. Mezerich interviews the actual people that were involved with the MIT blackjack team, and so the book is predictably more accurate and entertaining than the movie.*****


5) Ugly Americans, Ben Mezerich-Another great Mezerich book based on true events. This time Mezerich goes around the world to interview the young American businessmen who made fortunes trading in the Asian markets.***


6)Rammer Jammer Yellowhammer, Warren St John-Reccommended by Justin Scott, this book delves into the rabid fandome of the SEC, focusing on the authors personal obsession with the University of Alabama, and the 2000 football season.****


7) The Final Shot, Darcy Frey-A documentary of Coney Island's Lincoln High Schools 1991-1992 basketball season. In a neat twist of fate, one of the stories main characters is Stephon Marbury, then an up and coming freshman who started on the varsity.****


8) The Blind Side, Michael Lewis-Another fantastic rec from J Scott. This book parallels the
importance of the left takle position in football and the bizzarre upbringing and subsequent recruiting of Michael Oher. It's particularly relavent since the main character is still in college and has a shot at being drafted next April.*****



9) The Bad Guys Won, Jeff Pearlman-An awesome account of the antics of the 1986 World Series Champion, New York Mets. The '86 Mets were an end of an era squad and Pearlman does a great job of chronicling their bad behavior and performance both on and off the diamond.****


10) No Country For Old Men, Cormac McCarthy-Creeeeepy book, couldn't put it down. As great as it was, I'm gonna have to finally watch the movie so I can hopefully tie up the loose ends that I may have missed while reading.****



That's the list, folks. Again, feel free to recommend more, I'm all ears.

-Twig

Read Me

Today, sports will be taking a backseat for the Twig, because, let's be honest, there isn't too much going on in that area right now. Yes, March Madness and Opening Day are right around the corner, but as of Right Now-8:44a.m. CDT-It's pretty slow in the sports world. What I'm bringing to the table this morning is a topic that I've suddendly grown very fond of in 2008. That's right, we're talking books at JAT!! (Told you it was a sllloooowww sports day) My interest in books has peaked this year, as I made a new year's resolution that I may actually accomplish.

Three months ago, I made it my goal for the year to read ten books in 2008. Somewhere, Justin Scott is giggling, thinking, "Ten? Really? In a year? Dude, I've read ten books in a month before!" Well excuse me, smarty pants, not all of us are 'single' and in 'post-graduate school.' Here in the real world, we have responsibilities, such as providing for one's family, and...uh, blogging once a week. Anyway, I've knocked out four books so far, and I'm close to finishing the fifth, so it looks like ten for the year will be attained. The books I've read range from the supernatural-Dean Koontz's Forever Odd-to the wildly entertaining-Rammer Jammer Yellowhammer, by Warren St. John and 21:Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich. (For those who haven't seen the previews on TV, the new movie 21, is based on the true story of a group of MIT students who learn to count cards while playing blackjack and make millions during their weekend trips to Las Vegas. From the looks of it, the book seems exponentially better than the movie will be, so I highly recommend reading the book first if you plan on watching the movie)

Last week, after finishing 21, I went to Barnes and Noble with Kayla and Bethany, and ended up buying the book I'm currently reading, Con Ed, by Matthew Klein, and my next book, Ugly Americans, also by Ben Mezrich, as well as a toilet reader, What Would MacGyver Do? True Stories of Improvised Genius, by Brendan Vaughan. After I'm finished with these, however, I'm not sure what my next read will be, which brings me to the point of this post. I'm running out of ideas, and need suggestions from faithful readers. I've heard great things about Cormac McCarthy, and have been thinking about getting something by him, as well as a few other possiblities, but I'm sure I'd be missing out on something great if I didn't consult the JAT community first. Thank you for your time, you've been fantastic as usual.

-Twig