Page Count Grade 0-9 Date I finished Source (FPL: Fargo Public Library)
It's been over three years since I read it. Also I knew I would run into Billi Jo on the way out of the MSU library. I have to concentrate to read poetry, my mind starts to wander about; it's hard to focus on the words. 88 pages 6.0 1/3/97 MSU
It was a lot like Chuck Yeager's book. All the famous names, places and planes from WWII to the Jet Age. 291 pages 6.2 1/4/97 FPL
Visionaries, Rebels, And Hipsters, 1944-1960
This book gives a great unfiltered look at the Beat generation of writers. They seem to be low lifes and losers, who become heroes to the kids of american. As I get older they seem less interesting and more tragic. 310 pages 6.2 1/15/97 FPL
Very interesting and complete guide to all the songs of the Who. It included an interview CD, only 28 minutes long and poor quality. But right now I’m a Who fanatic so I think it's great. 132 pages 6.7 1/22/97 Craig
I get in these moods, maybe it's mid winter blahs, and I get Kerouac on my mind. The FPL doesn't have a single Kerouac book, but they had this collection of letters. It started slow but got better. I didn't think I'd finish the book by it's due date but last night I read a lot. Some of the letters were boring but many were rich and put weird thoughts in my head. 599 pages 5.0 2/13/97 FPL
Rediscovering George Washington
The length was perfect. I even like the non chronological breakup of the book (by topic). I found Richards writing to be a little hard to scan, but it was still an interestin book. 202 pages 5.9 2/17/97 FPL
An Eye Opening Exploration Into The Science & Mysteries Of Sleep
It started out slow and dull- it put me to sleep but the information contained was very interesting. It seems people need 8-10 hours of sleep to operate at maximum efficiency yet people aren't and are suffering for it. I points to the answer if you believe life should be quality over quantity. 287 pages 7.6 3/1/97 FPL
The Life Of J. Pierpont Morgan
Morgan filled a vacuum in American business with a force of will, education and background. Interesting story. 237 pages 5.2 3/9/97 FPL
I knew Suzanne had this non-fiction book by Turrow. I thougth the SF book I was reading was silly and couldn't take it seriously, so I picked this book up to dump the SF. It sucked me right in and with "The turbulent true story of a first year at Harvard Law School." 276 pages 6.5 3/21/97 Suzanne
Our Story
The bittest pill Bruce and Rick had to swallow when Paul dissolves the Jam at it's peak. It's not as if they weren't good musicians. The tours seemed to be about booze and shit. Paul comes off very distant and unfeeling. 199 pages 4.8 3/26/97 Suzanne
Confessions Of A Political Junkie
Hunter writes these books by stringing his columns and letters together. It's only worth ready because it's so weird. He makes these bold statements but never backs them up with any examples. I ran out of things to read so I'm reading books which I bought as future gifts to Suzanne. 246 pages 5.0 3/27/97 Suzanne
Some chapters were funny and insightful somewere only stupid rants, but it was easy to read. 297 pages 5.5 4/5/97 FPL
You have to be a computer nerd to really love this book and I am. I was laughing out loud quite a few times. His take on Jerry Pournelle of Byte magazine, mail order ads, the Macintosh operating system and his love story (which was touching.) 215 pages 6.6 4/23/97 FPL
Very slow at the start. I can see the Beat influence. It got better at part 3, when Eugene goes to college. Once the charactors are developed, and you get used to the crazy family- it seem interesting. 563 pages 5.0 5/2/97 FPL
Because the subject matter isn't as close to my heart as computers this book is only slightly humorous. The cartoons are good. And the peices on worst music are fun- I want to hear them again. 244 pages 5.1 5/6/97 FPL
This is the kind of Science Fiction I like: a good story, simple charactors and as much science as you can cram into the book. Considering where he finished the book I assume there will be a sequel. 417 pages 7.0 5/12/97 FPL
No doubt this is a kid's book but I wanted to read one; one which dealt with Minnesota as the Maas reunion there again. This idea got me when I read about Mrs. Wilder in American Heritage. It tells the story of a loving pioneer family in a clear and simple language. 339 pages 4.0 5/23/97 Suzanne
A difficult read. I started in the middle- each chapter is about a different person. I didn't think I'd get very far as it is a dense difficult book, yet it was interesting and didn't take very long to read it. I'm not sure what his point is- all intellectuals are hypocritical fools? How do I know he didn't pick only intellectuals which proved his point? 342 pages 5.5 6/2/97 Suzanne
This was his second(?) book recently brought up to date. (Does Delany have writers block, is his busy, or just getting old?) It wasn't bad once I got to the middle. The ending was anti-climatic. I sort of liked the added chapters thrown on the end which wouldn't fit in with the main story. 243 pages 5.0 6/3/97 Craig
A Navy Carrier Pilot's War Experience
Easy to read book. Sherman 'Tank' Balwin's experiences going straight from training to war. Full of detail which brings the story to life. 258 pages 5.5 6/5/97 FPL
The Redemption Of Christopher Columbus
Except for some Social Utopia idealism, it was a fun and interesting story about time travel. 351 pages 6.0 6/13/97 FPL
Great stories, he seems a little self absorbed but it's okay, fun and exciting. The last chapter rang a bell: "Manhunt: The Incredible Pursuit Of A CIA Agent Turned Terrorist" by Peter Maas 365 pages 6.5 6/16/97 FPL
An exciting, well written science fiction story. I knew Ender wasn't just playing a game during that last game, but actually fighting the war. What I didn't know was all those last games were the real thing. I buzzed through this book. 357 pages 7.2 6/19/97 FPL
Book two isn't as good as book one, but it's still a quick interesting read. Alien races are hard to make interesting- I think he fails but the story is good. I got a SFBC flyer; in it I see there is a fourth book. 415 pages 5.8 6/26/97 FPL
The Right Word
"About the uses and abuses of language and about vocabular; about usage, style & speaking; fiction, diction, dictionaries; with reviews and interviews; a lexicon; on latin & letters, eloquence & journalism." - I picked this book up just to look at it. Maybe learn a thing or two about writing but the book is a best of Buckley's writing so I was soon reading it like a novel, and enjoying myself. 406 pages 6.2 7/4/97 FPL
Third book of a trilogy (I see there's a fourth out now). Merely okay but in some ways better than the second. 592 pages 6.0 7/12/97 FPL
Technology And The Revenge Of Unintended Consequences
I only read the chapters on computers. I think his point is overstated about computers but mostly accurate. People are spending all the time freed up by computers dealing with the computer. 48 pages 5.9 7/13/97 FPL
A Personal Interpretation
Short, consise, and easy to read. This came from a speach at REASON's 25th anniversary. I agree 100%, so I didn't learn anything new but I nice read something I can agree with. 172 pages 6.2 7/16/97 FPL
America's Industrial Revolution and the People Who Delivered the Goods
Short little Biographys of inventorys and their inventions. Interesti how varied the outcome: riches, poverty, fame, obsurity, happy families, suicide. 257 pages 6.2 7/19/97 FPL
Victor checked it out on the 7 day loan. He let me read it first. It was great. A big change from that Mars book. I didn't have anything to do Saturday so I read the entire book. I didn't like the unhappy ending- it seemed forced. (usually it's the other way around.) 366 pages 6.7 8/16/97 FPL
The third book in the series, it seemed he took left over notes and ideas and just published them. There seems to be no story line. The charactors are flat. Robinson is a utopian idealist. The book was stupid, I don't know why I read it all. It took forever- I had no enthusiasm for it. 609 pages 3.4 8/16/97 FPL
Soul Singers Of The Early 1970s
A collection of short chapters (alphabetical), histories of each act. It would have been much better by geographical area (or label) or chronological. 338 pages 5.0 8/18/97 FPL
An Autobiography
Subtitled: The outrageous story of my wild years as the founder and lead guitarist of the Kinks. And it was. I wonder if he was jealous or getting back at Ray's "X-Ray" The stories were good, but he comes off as a crazy drug taking alcoholic in the early years and an acid flash back, UFO freak in the later years. 270 pages 5.3 8/20/97 FPL
A Guided Tour Of A Marine Expeditionary Unit
The story at the end was the best part. Weapons and the people were okay but the shipping was slow. Too many anacrnims to follow, too much jargon and numbered units. 329 pages 3.9 8/28/97 FPL
The Politics Of Celebrity
Garry didn't make his case for politics but he did for celebrity. It's no crime for John Wayne nee Marion Morrison fight for his movie career, even to avoid WWII. Then he used his popularity mirroring the times and the myths of the era. I need to look at these movies: Stagecoach, Red River, Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, Sands of Iwo Jima, The Quiet man, The Searchers, The Wings of Eagles, Jet Pilot, Rio Bravo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Alamo, The Green Berets, True Grit, Rooster Cogburn, Big Jake, The Shootist 314 pages 5.5 9/4/97 FPL
TV's Captain Kangaroo
More or less a picture book, it was a quick read. I remember the major charactors but it didn't bring back any memories. 205 pages 5.7 9/6/97 FPL
This was a great book, much better than those Windows95 books. Every example uses Adobe Photoshop, Fractal Painter and Debabilizer. No more moron books, David expects you to know your Mac. 257 pages 5.0 9/15/97 FPL
I read most of the book, reading the interesting parts and skipping programs I have no interest in. But if you factor in "Introducing Microsoft Windows95", "Getting Results with Microsoft Office 97" and "Discover Windows NT Workstation 4.0" - that's a lot of pages. 609 pages 4.0 9/16/97 FPL
A Book About Art, Independence And Spirit
The theories in this book seemed out of date. Then I looked at the copywrite 1938- no wonder. The book didn't have a structure until the last chapter which should have been the first. I have no arguement with her ideas, most I use. I think the fashions of writing have come around, and around again a few times since it was written. Judy gave me this book on Labor Day. 179 pages 4.4 9/21/97 Craig
A Study In Command
It was too long by half, too my abreviations made it hard to follow. The maps could have been much better. Also, it could have used more color and less flag waving. The second half of the book was interesting. VII Corps maneuvering and fighting the Republican Guards. The final chapter on the future of the Army reinforced some of my pet ideas regarding the future of combat. 522 pages 7.0 10/21/97 Suzanne
The Final Odyssey
A fun book with some interesting concepts. An easy read, I read it in three short sittings. 263 pages 7.0 10/29/97 FPL
The Incredible Life Story Of Captain Kathryn Janeway!
It seems anyone can write a Star Trek book. The story wasn't very good, the charactors seems shallow. The only good thing was the background which Jeri had nothing to do with. It was an easy read or I would have quit. 312 pages 2.5 11/19/97 FPL
A collection of fun ha ha and funny strange stories. Most of the humor is dry hence the title. Fun to read. 291 pages 6.0 11/26/97 FPL
For Macintosh
I didn't catalog this book the first time I read it last year. It got me started. I checked it out this year after writing some web pages. I wanted a better understanding of the HTML tags, which this book provides. 494 pages 5.9 11/29/97 FPL
The Conclusion To The Ender's Saga
This was better than book 3 but not as good as the first one. The ending was good but then he did a chapter on his notes, ideas and other authors; this wrecked the feel good ending of the story. The charactors were better, fewer misfits, fewer aliens: buggers and piggies. I hope he doesn't do book 5 even though he leaves it open. 349 pages 5.9 12/19/97 FPL
This show were somethings are on Excel97 but I thought it did a poor job of explaining were everything went from version 4.0. Excel97 has some nice features, but couldn't they have added them to 4.0 instead of rewriting the entire program? The book was easy to read but only covered the simple stuff. 413 pages 5.0 12/27/97 FPL
This was the hardest book I've ever opened. I don't know why I even bothered to read it. I bought it way back on 8/17/95 on the buzz. The text is dense and makes impossible demands on the reader. Dense? "The daemonism of chthonian nature." could be it's subtitle. After a very slow start I put back in the closet, taking it out only when I had trouble going to sleep. Then near the end of this year I decided I would finish it by skimming the text. Even this was slow. There were some interesting chapters, namely DeSade and Wilde. Camille pontificated on paintings and novels/ poetry. At leasat the paintings had examples you could look at. She seemed to think the reader was intimately familar with the novelists. I can hear her speed reading this book- and to think this is only volume 1. 673 pages 2.5 12/30/97 Craig