Reading!

[sith_killer_99]

Tonight I read:

"Modeling Public Management: Empirical Analysis of the Management-Performance Nexus" by Kenneth J. Meier (Texas A&M University) and Laurence J. O'Toole Jr. (University of Georgia).

Then I followed it up with:

"The Managing of the Presidency: Applying Theory-Driven Empirical Models to the Study of White House Bureaucratic Performance" by Justin S. Vaughn (Texas A&M) and Jose D. Villalobos (Texas A&M).

The second is based on the MO model detailed in the first. It's actually pretty interesting stuff from a mangement/political theory aspect.

[JimJamBonds]

SK, I presume these are for some sort of class?

As for myself: Anatomy & Physiology For Dummies. I'd like to be more knowledgeable about what is going on when we are running, both when I'm doing it or for the people that I coach. Since its been a long, long time since I've had a science class I thought this would be a good one to get back into the game (this after I gave up on Biochemistry Primer for Exercise Science because I was lost pretty much from the get go).

[JediTricks]

I started a short book at Comic-Con while waiting in lines, and finally remembered it was waiting on my phone and finished it last night. A Double-Barrelled Detective Story, Mark Twain. Not very good. It's a mystery story that seemingly out of nowhere becomes a Sherlock Holmes parody (with Holmes himself appearing as a character 2/3rds into the story) which does a terrible job of showing up Holmes, and then wraps up the main storyline in the most goofy manner possible. Dialogue is really bad, and the interesting setup takes forever and doesn't really pay off so well.

The most interesting thing for me was that a character was actually named Ham Sandwich.

[JimJamBonds]

The Big Switch by Harry Turtledove. This is the 3rd in a series of alt. history books that persue a timeline where Chamberlin etc. stood up to Hitler earlier. Thus WWII started earlier, the Big Switch was England and France settle with Germany and they all gang up on the USSR. Japan takes a big chunk out of Siberia and Japan attacks Hawaii and the Philapines about a year and a half 'early' compared to our timeline... that happens at the end of the book so I'm sure the next one (when it comes out next year) will have much too do with the US fighting.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

It's very rare that I actually wish I hadn't read a book. I bought it at the Dollar Tree, so I can't complain about cost, but Benjamin Nugent's American Nerd: The Story of My People sounded funny from the title, and the book cover comments echoed that idea. There were a few, brief smile-worthy parts and some interesting historical studies, but mostly it was sad and depressing. I went to bed depressed, myself.

[OC47150]

Carte Blanche by Jeffrey Deaver. This is the new James Bond novel. It's not bad. Bond is now in his early 30s and a vet of the Afghan War. I just couldn't get use to the idea of Bond having an app on his phone.

[sith_killer_99]

SK, I presume these are for some sort of class?

Nope, the first was for practical application, the second was for curiosity.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Wait, people can read when they DON'T HAVE TO read?

Speaking of such, I saw a link to Time's Top 100 Non-Fiction Books (since 1923... odd year to choose), and because it was a list (LISTS... :drool: ) with Joseph Campbell's Hero w/ 1K Faces on it, I scanned it. Which others have I read from it?
- Caged Bird... (M.Angelou)
- Black Boy (R.Wright... I thought this was fiction)
- Maus (A. Spiegelman)
- On Writing (S.King)
- Brief History of Time (S.Hawking)
- Elements of Style (Strunk & White)

Check it out...
http://www.time.com/time/specials/pa...088856,00.html

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Funniest book I've read in a long time: This Is a Book by Demetri Martin. I cry-laughed several times, but was most impressed by the 2 1/2-page palindrome poem (yes, the first line is the reverse of the last line, and so forth, for about 60-80 lines) in the "Palindromes for Specific Occasions" chapter. He is hilarious, and very good with grammar, literary "stuff," and observations (and his occasional profanity actually works most times). Drawings are funny, too.

[JimJamBonds]

...I saw a link to Time's Top 100 Non-Fiction Books...

The only one I've read is Guns, Germs and Steel and to be honest I don't even remember anything about it Well if nothing else its given me some stuff to 'work on.'

As for myself my latest read was quite interesting but no where near the Top 100... Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America. The title pretty much says it all, a quick and interesting read, I actually didn't want to set it down. Its not very technical, it simply tells Nintendo's story, and rather well I might add.