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kayemmdee

kayemmdee

Disclaimer: This is more about Shelfari than about me.

Many years ago, I started keeping a list of the books I read by title and author. In the beginning, I didn't think to also include the date - that only occurred to me several years into it. I haven't written any thoughts about the books - just what I've read. The titles speak... more »
  • member since January 25 2007

Reviews

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  • Persuader
    • Rated 3 stars

    “This was the first book I read when I got my new Kindle 2 (which I LOVE by the way) because it was offered at no charge and I thought, "Why not?" I'm not much of a fiction person and have not (so far) read any other works by the author so can't compare this to his other books.

    That said, I found "Persuader" to be engaging - something I looked forward to every time I picked up the Kindle - and read it in a few days. The main characters were all well-developed and no part of the plot dragged. I can't speak to how plausible all aspects of the plot were (government undercover operations, etc.), but I figure one has to suspend a certain degree of reality in almost all fiction.

    I found the ending, when Reacher "rides off into the sunset" (so to speak) to be a bit disappointing. I didn't know what to expect, but I was left with a sense of "this isn't enough".

    If the author offered the book for free as a way to entice people to buy and read more of his works, I probably will some day when I'm in the mood for fiction again.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Tuesday, April 7 2009. ( reply | permalink )
  • What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I listened to this as an audiobook. First, Scott McClellan was tolerably good reading his own book (in spite of making a few pronunciation errors IIRC), in contrast to some other authors who detract from the book because they are poor readers.

    The book itself was informative enough. I thought it was fair, for what it covered, given that the author is or was a Bush supporter. I remember when McClellan was press secretary. In a way I felt sorry for the guy when he would get up and say what it was his job to say in press conferences. It seemed he was clearly a bit out of his league and either clueless or lied to about what was really going on in the White House. This is not to excuse him - just that I think he got caught up in something that was way more than he had anticipated and was doing the best he could.

    I had hoped for more in-depth information and analysis and in this regard, the book was a disappointment. Still, it was worth the read / listen. There are undoubtedly better books about the topics covered, but this one wasn't a total waste of time.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Thursday, December 11 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • The cult that snapped: A journey into the Way InternationalThe cult that snapped: A journey into the Way InternationalKarl Kahler
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I recommend this book to anyone who has ever been in The Way International or (as is my case) has known friends and relatives who were members of this cult. (I have read about cults for decades now and, yes, I consider The Way to be a cult.) Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down and read it in just a few days.

    The Way was among the largest of the cults that came of age in the 1960s during the "Jesus movement" and it was full of the the hypocrisy, lies, fraud, twisting of history and scripture, theft, sexual harrassment and abuse, and other sins that have been integral to many religious groups and cults through the ages.

    Karl Kahler was intimately involved in TWI for many years and his self-published book is well-written and well-documented. He confirmed and expanded much of what I already suspected about TWI. This is indispensable reading for anyone interested in religious cults.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Saturday, July 5 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness, and the Hare KrishnasMonkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness, and the Hare KrishnasJohn Hubner, Lindsey Gruson
    • Rated 5 stars

    “It is both a delight and a curse when a book grabs me like this one did - a delight in the enjoyment of reading and a curse in not doing the other things I should be doing because I want to read more.

    I have a long-held interest in religious cults, but mostly of the Christian variety, so I had never paid much attention to the Hare Krishnas. I used to see them chanting and dancing outside the post office at college in the early 1970s and in airports after that, but that's about all.

    An acquaintance, who has written about a fundamentalist Christian religious cult he was once part of, recommended this book. My only regret is that I had never read it before.

    I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in religious cults. Even though I like to think I've read just about all the nutty things that can happen inside religious cults, this book stunned me.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Tuesday, July 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I had read many glowing recommendations about this book and since it touches on a topic (health fraud) that interests me, I finally read it. Perhaps because people I know had built up the book so much, I might have had unrealistically high expectations. The book was informative and well-written, but not superb. Perhaps I was not "wowwed" by the book because I have read, in depth, about many (if not all) of the topics discussed and thus there wasn't much that was truly new for me. It did help reinforce and expand some of what I already know.

    Much of the book focuses on the placebo effect, since in the author's (and my) opinion it is critical to understand the placebo effect to understand much of alternative medical practices. Probably the best part of the book is the inclusion of a set of experiments that proves the biological (versus merely psychological) component of placebos.

    The book was an easy read although I'm not sure how easy it would be for someone without a strong background in science. Still, I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the placebo effect and complementary / alternative medical practices.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Thursday, June 26 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I read the book before I saw the movie and after I had already read a lot about John Nash and heard him speak to a group once (briefly) in person. No one should see the movie based on the book and think it represents the book. The movie leaves out many parts of the book and otherwise does not fully represent who John Nash is and was. Although the tragedy of Nash developing schizophrenia is what first drew me to his story, the book has many other interesting aspects, including information about various personalities in the field of mathematics and the controversy surrounding Nash's Nobel Prize. Obviously, the book will be interesting for people who enjoy math or who are interested in schizophrenia.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Tuesday, January 22 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
    • Rated 5 stars

    “The author provided a lot of good demographic information and what seem to be good conclusions and predictions. It remains to be seen whether or not his predictions are realized.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Tuesday, December 11 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Kite Runner
    • Rated 4 stars

    “A friend recommended this book very highly, so I had high expectations. In the end, the book was worth reading, but it did not live up to my expectations. My friend who recommended the book is very driven by "feelings" and I suspect that is the same for most people who like this book a lot. In addition, he almost exclusively reads fiction and I tend to like non-fiction. There are a lot of great books out there, but this is not one of them. It is merely above average, and hardly that.”

    kayemmdee wrote this review Thursday, January 25 2007. ( reply | permalink )

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