The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
As for the actual history of the New Netherlands colony, it is compelling and very interesting part of American history. The down side is that much of the source material has not been translated as the author admits. We will probably get a better, more complete history in the next 10 to 20 years after all the material has finally been translated. Still, Shorto does an pretty good job with what he was working with and it is worth a listen. The worst part of the book was the author's ridiculous attempt to somehow draw a line from the Dutch colony's openness and the progressive world of modern day NYC. He tries hard to make it some colonial blue state/red state battles with the backwards Massachusetts colonies. It doesn't hold water because he almost never mentions the Virginia colonies which were company towns like New Netherlands towns and were just as open and tolerant of outsiders as the Dutch were, but somehow Virginia and North Carolina didn't morph into modern day progressive capitols. While also ignoring Virginia, he also doesn't mention Rhode Island or Pennsylvania (except for one throw away line at the end), as both colonies had a similar tolerant attitude to different religions. Thankfully, his misguided attempt to connect 17th century ethos to 21st century multiculturalism does not ruin a pretty good book.
All Quiet on the Western Front
One of the most powerful books I've read. This one is going to stick with me for awhile.
A Walk in the Woods
Funny and entertaining. Loses a couple stars for endless dated hyperbole about how acid rain is going to wipe everything out (actually serves as a good warning to take whatever today's environmental panic of the moment with a big grain of salt) and his several unneeded shots at religious people (He skips most of the trail in the south because they are Christians there). He's a New Englander who rails against commercialization and environmental damage while he and his buddy litter all over the AT, smoke in the woods, and drink soda and eat fast food. Hard to take him seriously on those points, but it is otherwise a fun read.
SPOILER ALERT!
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Women-studies college-dropout Woman messes up her life due to her own poor choices by:-- Cheating on her husband with random men
-- Doing illegal drugs
-- Getting pregnant by her junkie boyfriend and having an abortion
Blames it on her mother dying three years previous so she decides to hike the PCT where she:
--Has unprotected sex with random men
--Lusts after nearly every man she meets on the trail
--Does illegal drugs
--Nearly dies due to her incompetence several times
Conclusion: After skipping most of the trail, she's still the same trainwreck she was before she started her "thru-hike"
Many of her stories are obviously embellished or just plain made up despite her claims that everything is true (even though she waited 20 years to write this book). She talks about how much she wants to write a novel on the trail and her book make uses of so many cheap literary fiction cliches. Like how many times someone waited until they were almost out of earshot on the trail and then turned around to yell something important at her. Or her farcical encounter with the most stereotypical redneck hunters the world has ever encountered (can't have a good modern women's book without at least a threatened-rape situation). She seemingly spent more time off the trail due to her own incompetence, laziness, or just wanting to hook up than she did actual hiking. Early on, she describes how she desperately wanted to give the male nurse a blowjob in the bathroom of her mother's hospital room while her mom is dying a painful cancer death just a few feet away. I should of just stopped listening there. She bemoans that her family fell apart and doesn't want anything do with her after her mother died. That's probably because she is horrible person that no one can stand be around. I have no idea why this book got so much hype (and a movie). There is nothing redeeming about it about it at all.
The 34th Rule
A little long at the beginning. They could have easily cut about 50 pages out of the book, but then it picks up and becomes a surprisingly good Trek read.
The Long Night
Even though it had some of the same themes as the last book in the series "Station Rage" this one was a real page turner. Good story. Solid character development. Worth a read for all fans of DS9.
Devil in the Sky
Very fun fast read. The story starts out with very little lead up and jumps right into it.
Warchild
Good points: It deals with the fate of many Bajorans living on Bajor after the withdrawal which really isn't dealt with that much in the TV series. Bad points: The story really isn't that good or gripping. The second half of the book seemed to drag.
