blikesbikes's reviews
326 reviews

This continues to be a fun read. Adventure, a wizard, elves, dwarves, huge spiders, and a dragon. What's not to like? I even enjoyed the songs - I remember being annoyed by them when I was a teenager. It was a nice transition from the Grapes of Wrath (my last read) - a different kind of travel story. If only the Joads had a hobbit and a wizard and a ring.

Diaz creates unsympathetic characters even though there life conditions are worthy of some sympathy. They easily hit the self destruct button. Maybe I learned something about Dominicans in Jersey and Boston. The racial slurs thrown at the main characters were good to hear and helps address some of the white privilege the characters are facing. I'm wondering if I should read any of his other books?

I've read a lot of money books. My first one was Beth Kobliner's Get a FInancial Life, then Your money or your life, and Andrew Tobias' book on personal finance. Ramsey covers many of the same points and he's got a very motivational style! He really abhor's credit though makes a small exception if you have to take a 15 year mortgage on a house. I do like his idea of paying cash for everything and I've switched a few things to my debit card, instead (I think he'd approve). It's good for post-Christmas reading as we pay off the holiday balances on credit cards. Give it a shot. The religious tone isn't that strong and is pretty common sense oriented. I think the faithful and the secular can find some useful actions to take.

I read the Passage and it seemed pretty straight forward. This book had me feeling a little overwhelmed by all the characters and plot twists. I had to remember little bits from the Passage and blurry references. That said I still enjoyed it, and the last 150 pages or so were good page turners. My sense is that there will be one more book with these characters, but I might be done.

While I was reading this book, Goodreads came out with a list of books most abandoned by readers. This was number 1. Very disheartening. I almost gave up at that point, but things improved about half way and I got through. I feel like I've put other things aside to read this book, so the next book will be an easier read. Maybe the latest Dan Brown.

I was reading lots of blogs about the financial mess as it was unfolding. Lewis does a good job of bringing in separate voices and perspectives to explain a complicated situation. He does raise good questions about who you can trust in the financial world. The only heroes in the book are some smart, small-time players who read the tea leaves and cast their bets. I'm not sure much has changed after the meltdown - time will tell.