1/4/10
Melody of Vengeance by Michael A. Black.
A rousing good pulp adventure that pays tribute to the two greatest pulp heros, Doc Savage and the Shadow!
1/11/10
The Man of Bronze and The Land of Terror by Lester Dent.
The first two Doc Savage novels.
The first Doc Savage novel I read was The Land of Terror back in either 1971 or 1972. It was a Bantam reprint that I picked up at store in Panama City just outside the Balboa Gate. Since then, I have read over 160 of the original 181 Doc Savage novels, as well as several by Philip Jose Farmer (licensed or otherwise) and Will Murray. IMNSHO, Doc Savage was the greatest of the Pulp Era Heros.
1/18/10
TriPlantary by E.E "Doc" Smith.
The first in the classic Space Opera Lensman series. This series influenced a lot of what was to come. Robert Heinlein considered Edward E. Smith to be one of his mentors.
2/1/10
Live Free or Die by John Ringo.
Woot! This book was fun! Loosely based on the back story of the Schlock Mercenary webcomic, John Ringo has fun with classic SciFi concepts like First Contact, asteroid mining, and big nasty space Battlecruisers! He doesn't think small either. Lots and lots of mirrors in space make great big solar powered Death Rays! Ringo is planning more books in this series and I'm hoping he goes E.E. "Doc" Smith big.
2/8/10
The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross.
It's another tale from the "Laundry Files." British Civil Servant Bob Howard is forced to save the world from the horrors of the "Old Ones" once again, while dealing with the mind numbing horrors of government bureaucracy at the same time. Stross pays tribute to the British institution of James Bond in this book as well.
2/15/10
A New American Tea Party: The Counterrevolution Against Bailouts, Handouts, Reckless Spending, and More Taxes by John O'Hara
This book cover the history of the early Tea Parties in 2009 and provides information on how to "brew your own." Bonus: Forward by Michelle Malkin!
2/22/10
Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling
Mr. Stirling got a lot of mileage out of this book, at least eight other books have been written based on this one, with only two being direct sequels. The story starts off with the island of Nantucket, and a Coast Guard training sailing ship that was just offshore, being transported back to the Bronze Age. That is good for a trilogy right there. What happended to to rest of the planet with Nantucket disappeared is good for at least two more trilogies.
3/1/10
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
One of his juveniles series, but a good read for all ages. A good solid adventure story of the type Heinlein was famous for. As author Spider Robinson so aptly put it, "And I repeat: if there is anything that can divert the land of my birth from its current stampede into the Stone Age, it is the widespread dissemination of the thoughts and perceptions that Robert Heinlein has been selling as entertainment since 1939."
3/8/10
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy's first novel, which not only launched his career but revitialized the techno-thriller genre. This Cold War era novel introduces the reading public to Jack Ryan, whom Clancy continues to use as his main character in a string of wildly successful bestselling novels.
3/22/10
That's No Angry Mob, That's My Mom: Team Obama's Assault on Tea-Party, Talk-Radio Americans by Michael Graham
Boston Talk Radio host Michael Graham has been following the Tea Party movement since it started picking up speed and now tells you just who those people are. Hint, it's not the people the leftist talking heads at MSNBC and CNN are describing.
4/5/10
The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein
This novel is about four geniuses travelling through space and mutiple-dimensions in a flying car with its own AI. The travellers wander through multiple science fiction universes, including several of Heinlein's own.
4/12/10
The BIG Black Lie: How I Learned The Truth About The Democrat Party by Kevin Jackson
Kevin Jackson tells how he escaped the trap liberal democrats have set for Black Americans and became a conservative Republican.
4/26/10
The Shaolin Grandmasters' Text: History, Philosophy, and Gung Fu of Shaolin Ch'an
A very good book for the serious martial artist. A lot of history as well the basics behind various techniques and philosophy. It explains why there are no real Shaolin in mainland China anymore (the Communists were better at driving them out than the War Lords), and why you are better off going to the Chinatowns of San Francisco, New York City and Boston, to find real Shaolin Gung Fu than going to Communist China (where they have Tai Chi practitioners and WuShu artists in orange robes to bilk tourists of the their cash).
5/24/10
Alongside Night by J. Neil Schulman
This Libertarian novel from 1979 prediced the Obama presidency pretty damn accurately! So much so, the author plans on suing the United States for Copyright Infringement!
11/29/10
Out of the Dark by David Weber
Weber takes a look at a near future Earth invaded by a ruthless alien species. Raw meat for Weber fans right up to the surprise ending. An ending which horked off some fans, but not me. I took at a hat tip to the late Fred Saberhagen.
12/27/10
The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Timothy Ferriss
I just started digging into this book, but it is very interesting and the result of a huge amount of research.
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