Recent Reading

Fault Line: A Novel by Barry Eisler – Having read and thoroughly enjoyed all of Eisler’s John Rain books, I was anxious to give his new non-Rain novel a go.  The book was entertaining, but didn’t hold me as well as the Rain stories.  While I liked the character of the older brother, an ultra-cool trained assassin (like Rain), the younger brother is just OK and the legal sidekick, Sarah, was just annoying – well beyond what Eisler intended her to be.  Overall, enjoyable, but I’d recommend Eisler’s fantastic John Rain books if you’re just starting off with the author.

Long Lost by Harlan Coben – This was my first book by Coben and I liked it a lot.  The hero, Myron Bolitar, has apparently appeared in several of the author’s books before, which I’m now interested in going back and trying out.  The characters are fascinating (although not completely exposed in this book, I suppose they are explained better in previous volumes) and story kept me guessing.  The ending is a bit anticlimactic, but far from disappointing.  Definitely a fun read.

Afraid by Jack Kilborn -  I think the genre is horror, but never having read a horror story, it’s not clear to me.  The story is full of violent death vividly described.  The story kept me riveted, but not without making me wish it would end sooner.  The writing was good and for fans of this type of book, I’m sure it’s terrific.  Certainly an interesting premise and platform for loads-o-killin’.  Just not my gig.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell – This is the only non-fiction, non-technical book I’ve read in the last month.  It’s the story of a Navy SEAL team dropped into Afghanistan on a mission and how everything comes unglued, resulting in not only the deaths of most of the team (thus the name of the book), but in many additional SEALs sent in to save the original team.  All I can say is that you just can’t make this shit up.  This book is fantastic.  If you don’t cry at some point, you’re not an American.  While the broad-brush attribution of the “liberal media” for military problems gets a little tiresome, it is far from the focus of the story.  This book will keep you in awe of the men and women who serve in the American military.  A must read.

jQuery in Action by Bear Bibeault – I’ve started to play with jQuery on this blog with PHP and on my web site that is .Net-based.  Since I’m not a JavaScript expert, I was hoping that the book would lead me down the path of implementing jQuery within a more basic JavaScript framework.  It does not.  It is simply a detailed description of jQuery and how it works.  A better reference book for jQuery than a tutorial on its use, IMO.

The Cyclist’s Training Bible by Joe Friel – The original version of this book was the go to reference for cycling training.  This new edition adds loads of new data and more detail about stretching, nutrition and periodization.  While more appropriate for the racer than the recreational cyclist, if you’re willing to do some dynamic editing, any cyclist with a desire to improve can get something from this book.  It is not basic, however.  If you’re new to the sport, you may want to read something targeted at beginners.