Sucker’s Portfolio by Kurt Vonnegut

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really love Vonnegut and this collection of short stories and one non-fiction essay did not disappoint. The first story – Between Timid and Timbuktu really caught me from the start. While the ending elicited an initial let down response, upon further reflection it worked very well. I don’t think I want the answer to what was proposed.

The non-fiction essay was great, very entertaining and informative. Including this in the book was not a disappointment at all. What was a bummer, though, was that the last story was incomplete. Just as one is getting into it, it’s over. The story reminded me a lot of The Sirens of Titan.

Great collection and if you are a Vonnegut fan, a must read!



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Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street by Neil Barofsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bailout as very frustrating to read. Not because it was poorly written, quite the opposite; I though the book was a smooth read. No it was frustrating to catch a glimpse of the turmoils one has to weed through to navigate the bureaucracy in Washington to get some meaningful change implemented. This hint of the troubles involved opens the window to see how inefficient and troubling it is for any kind of effective reform.

What concerns me the most, though, is that the given the challenges and the mess going in, and the walls imposed along Barofsky’s trek, coming out the other end, there was little reform to stave off a repeat necessitating another bail out. Of course, this frustration was palpable throughout the summary of the book.

My one complaint is that I am unclear as to why Barofsky stepped down from his position. Was it this red tape and frustration prompting him? Did he feel his work was complete and it was time to move on? Did he feel ineffectual? I was not clear on his reasonings. He seemed to have a short lived career as a SIG.



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Real Mermaids Don’t Need High Heels by Helene Boudreau

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book three of the Real Mermaids series read. This one had a good deal of action and mystery that it did and a coming together of friends at the end. What more could an adolescent girl ask for? There is even some headier romance. I will say, Boudreau has done another great job and the book kept me interested too. I look forward to reading the fourth novel in the very near future!



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Real Mermaids Don’t Hold Their Breath by Helene Boudreau

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book picks up right were the first one ended and does a great job keeping the pace. My daughter loved this book.

There are new wrinkles along the way as the truth about Jade is revealed to her best friend. There is a quest to find her mother and return her to the family, and of course her blossoming relationship with Luke, who we learned from the end of the first book is also a Mer.

Pure, delightful fantasy for a pre-adolescent and not a bad read for adults, if you like mermaids and pre-teen angst.



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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The characters were compelling and the story very well paced. I look forward to reading the other two volumes in the trilogy as well as watching the movie at some point.



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Real Mermaids Don’t Hold Their Breath by Helene Boudreau

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book picks up right were the first one ended and does a great job keeping the pace. My daughter loved this book.

There are new wrinkles along the way as the truth about Jade is revealed to her best friend. There is a quest to find her mother and return her to the family, and of course her blossoming relationship with Luke, who we learned from the end of the first book is also a Mer.

Pure, delightful fantasy for a pre-adolescent and not a bad read for adults, if you like mermaids and pre-teen angst.



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Who Stole the American Dream? Can We Get It Back? by Hedrick Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What an eye opening book. The author does a great job summarizing his points based upon the events of the past 50 years and their impact on the Middle Class in particular. The main point is that when business and working class/labor force goals are aligned a virtuous circle is created whereby the needs of both are met, profits are made, and the economy as a whole prospers. The author’s point is that in the past 30 years in particular business has shifted away from supporting their work force to bolstering the wallets of share holders and wallstreet. The shift to profit at any cost, the movement to driving down labor costs, and seeking out resources in other countries has driven a huge schism between management and labor and unless some serious shifts in business and economics are made the downward spiral will continue.

One salient example to all this is covered in the chapters on Walmart. Walmart’s drive to offer consumers the lowest cost possible has pushed manufacturers to move their factories over seas to China. By pushed that means Walmart has specifically told manufacturers they need to move their factories over seas to reduce cost or their products will not be sold at Walmart. To a business, this is the death kneel and those who have tried to fight this have sufferred tremendously. While consumers get the lowest cost, that cost is then passed on to the rest of the economy causing loss of jobs, increased dependency on welfare programs, and increased dependency on foreign goods and services. Walmarts profits soar but everyone else suffers in the long run. Since reading these chapters I have not shopped at Walmart, instead focusing more on local businesses.

I think the author does a fantastic job presenting his information culled from years of research and reporting on these topics. There is clearly a bias here towards labor and the middle class, and I would like to read some counter points to his arguements to make a more informed decision on these topics. Still, what I have learned is very jarring.



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Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings by Helene Boudreau

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My daughter really, really wanted me to read this to her for our nightly reading before bed. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. She really enjoyed this book. Girls of the age 8 and up would probably enjoy this book, especially if they were into mermaids. Boys of any age, probably not so much unless they were fathers and had daughters.

This is probably the most “girly” book I ever read. I do not mean this in a derogatory sense. Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings is chock full of fashion, relationships, crushes, young woman’s coming of age experiences, and of course mermaids. What isn’t there for a young girl/woman to love?

Story-wise the pace was really good, not a moment of drag. The characters enjoyable and there are plenty of surprises. While some twists were obvious in being revealed, their origins were pretty novel, for me at least.

If you have a daughter and she likes to read and loves mermaids, than this is the book for her. I look forward to reading the other books in the series (tonight we start book 2). Great stuff!



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The Descent of Perfection by Seth Kenlon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very interesting book. The twists at the end were rather novel. The main character was very stoic and very detached which made one of the twists at the end seem very odd and almost out of character. Regardless the actions of Aryan Mylo were consistent through the remainder of the book and did well to dictate the pace. Often in a fantasy novel there is a good deal of violence, but in this novel there was very little, and what was there happened on the periphery. Aryan Mylo’s fist never clenched but by the end her hands were not unbloodied.

The supporting characters were very interesting. I would like to see more of the Harlequin Serpens Cauda along with the whole Eastern Kingdom.

Now that I reflect upon the book I must say, it reminds me of a more mature Oz tale.

Knowing the author I can say that a lot of his ideals come ringing through. It is as if this novel is a lens into his psyche.

Good stuff, and I do recommend giving it a read.



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Meditations on First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated by René Descartes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The version of Meditations I had read was broken into four parts. The meat of the Meditations, and what most people are familiar with occur in the fourth part. This is where Descartes lays out his 6 Meditations on truth and existence. The first two meditations concern the breaking down of beliefs and illuminating that because of disbelief how can one truly believe what exists exists? The second meditation is where the often cited, but incorrect adage, “I think therefore I exist” is born. The real posit is “I exits because I am an thinking thing thinking.” Not very flowing, but more to the point. That is the crux of the meditations, thought. That is what it all boils down to, that thinking is the only way we can define our selves. Outside stimuli, even that in the body, are not reliable because the sense can deceive, form can change. There is a separation between things and ideas and things give rise to ideas, but thinking is above ideas. One could deny the existence of things but could not deny the existence of ideas or thinking. Therefore existence is a thinking being thinking. But because one can think and is separate from things and perception of things is not perfect, one is not perfect and those things are not perfect because they can deceive.

His meditations then turn to the proof of the existence of God and vacillates between perfection and deception. Because (to paraphrase) “I exist, and I am not perfect, I could thus not be the creator of myself, for I am imperfect. Therefore there must be a cause before me that created me, a perfect cause. My existence is also dependent on there being other things or beings, and those are not perfect and thus require a cause before them. God, a perfect being would not deceive. Therefore, God must exist because I can imagine there being a perfect being and a perfect being would have to be the creator of all that exists, and there must be something perfect that created all that exists. Furthermore, something cannot come of nothing.”

The remaining Meditations concern building on the first three to challenge truth and falsehood. God is truth and perfect, but “I am imperfect and thus can be deceived, not by God but by the falsehood of others and my own senses.” Since God is perfect he would not create falsehoods and deceive. Because I am a Thinking thing thinking, and must exist in a world with things that are not me, those things exists as God, a perfect being, would not deceive me.

The other three parts of the book, the prefaces include his treatise on how he developed the Meditations over many years. This is prefaced by a letter of dedication. The Meditation themselves are prefaced by a letter included some criticisms to his ideas.

This book was a rather challenging read but I am glad I stuck with it.



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