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9/10/2010

Books of 2010: The Books of Summer

I've been meaning to do this for quite a while.  Like, three months or so.  So here is a list with everything that I have read to completion since then.

"Watch on the Rhine," by John Ringo and Tom Kratman.  Pretty good, does the Posleen War from the perspective of the Germans.  8/10

This one again.

The "Big Green Book."  Third time I read it.  Good, 10/10.

Over the summer I finally read through the Book of Psalms.  It's long enough by itself that I am going to count it, and since this is my list, I can put it on here.  Took me about half a year, reading them every night.  Good poetry, if you like that kind of stuff, and good religious material.  How do you rate a book of the Bible?

One like that one.

"Saltation," by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  If you have never read any of the Liaden Universe novels, I highly recommend them.  Very good character building, very entertaining happenings.  "Saltation" involves the leading up to the "Well, it's kind of complicated" that ended the previous book.  Hopefully that means we will finally get to see what happens next sometime soon. 9/10

"Mouse and Dragon," also by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.  This one details what causes one of the main characters to leave, and is somewhat a prequel to the whole series.  9/10

Next, I went on a Micheal Z. Williamson kick.  I kind of read them out of order, starting with "Better to Beg Forgiveness."  Not knowing much about his universe, it was kind of confusing (as it is one of his newest books) but the events in it happened much prior to anything that has happened in his other books, so it wasn't too bad.  Still, it was kind of like "The Expendables" movie that is out right now.  Lots and lots of explosions and killing, but not a whole lot else to occupy your mind.  I'll give it a 6.5/10

Then I read "Contact with Chaos," also by Williamson.  In it the Freehold and the UN jostle with each other over the discovery of alien life.  I'm not really much of a fan of SciFi that has aliens in it, but what you gonna do? Once again, I didn't really know much about his universe when I read it, so it was kind of confusing at times, but still pretty good.  7.5/10

Next I read "The Weapon," by Williamson again.  This one finally explains a lot of what happened between the Freehold and the UN.  I thought it was a good "train up the soldiers and send them out to kill, maim, and destroy" type story, with Kenneth Chinran being an interesting character.  8/10

My boss gave me a book to read at work, "Quest for Cosmic Justice" by Thomas Sowell. In it basically he talks about how progressives believe "the ends justify all means," to the detriment to reality and our country.  If you've never read any Sowell, he is very concise and powerful in his language.  Good stuff.  9/10

I also read "Von Neuman's War," by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor.  Pretty standard "alien robots attack earth and at the last minute we discover how to stop them" type SciFi.  Has some entertaining scenes with rocket scientists.  8/10

Here is the first book I've read on my Kindle, from the Baen Free Library, and the first book in Micheal Z. Williamson's universe: "Freehold."  I think I liked this one the best out of all of the books I read by him.  It covers quite a bit about the Freehold's politics and culture, and how the war between the UN and the Freehold, talked about in "The Weapon," went on Grainne.  Some good Libertarian SciFi right there.  10/10

I also ought to add C.H. Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" devotional.  It has a very good little sermon for you every morning and evening, as the title implies.  Spurgeon was an amazing speaker and writer, with a very interesting history.  Most excellent, I give it a 10/10.

There you go.  14 more books to add to the count.  Hmmm... what should I read next?

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