Steve Gross

Jeff Bezos comes across as very smart and ruthlessly driven. The author must have done a lot of work to get this story. Recommended if you want to see the inside of the dot com business.

A rare liberal that, although I disagree with him on many/most things, I can respect. Lots of name dropping, ego and somewhat repetitive (for example, every time he mentions his support of Israel, he feels compelled to add that he opposes West Bank settlements; probably at least a dozen times). Last section of the book, where he discusses legal issues is not very enlightening. Still, an interesting life in the law.

Good writing but somewhat incomprehensible plot.

My all-time favorite book, which I haven't reread since high school. There's been an explosion in Verne studies and a raft of new translations. Most of the old translations were poor, cutting out large portions of the books. The standard Mysterious Island was 90,000 words; this new one is 190,000 words! Still holds up very well as the ultimate Desert Island book.

Another solid entry in this series about a policeman in upstate NY.

The writing crackles. Great last paragraph.

Fascinating book, mostly about genetics and sports ability. Could have used better editing - many times the author doesn't know when to stop. He also inserts himself into the book needlessly. The real-life stories are engrossing, though.

A history of phone phreaking. Lots of fun if you are a geek.

A fascinating topic but a very poorly written book. This was translated from the Hebrew but I am told that the Hebrew version is just as dry. You can skip most of the book and simply read the last appendix.

Rabbi David Golinkin, a brilliant scholar in the Conservative movement, examines the sources for a wide spectrum of halachic issues. Basically, everything is permitted with the exception of adding the Imahot to the Amidah.

Christopher Hitchens put together this collection of essays when he knew he was terminally ill. Very British and erudite but about three-quarters of them are shot through with Hitchen's obsessive hatred of religion.

From the first encounter, you know the author will have to choose between his wife and family on one hand and the glamorous life of a celebrity, and a difficult one at that. Guess which one he picks? A view of Johnny Carson that will astound you.

The author travels across America to find unmarked spots where significant historical events occurred. Two problems: the author is somewhat of a coward and the spots he picks tend to show the bad and ugly side of American history.

A cross between a novel, a police procedural and a mystery. Set in LA in 1946. This is the crudest book I have ever read - filled with profanity, racism and sexual terminology. Very irish and very Catholic to the point where I did not understand some of the religious references. Still, a very compelling story about good and evil.

Each chapter deals with two or three classic horror movies - who created them, how the movie was made, what were the reviews, etc. No plot summaries. Writing is simplistic and kind of boring.

Although some individual bits of nice writing, nothing exciting here, especially Inspector Dalgleish.

Two chapter-length biographies of George Boole and Claude Shannon, then the rest of the book is devoted to Boolean logic and algebra at a medium level of difficulty. Only for true fans.

Very spyish. The protagonist is not a very interesting character.

Only for diehard Martin Gardner fans, but very entertaining if you are one.

I didn't know that it took 20 years to bring Patton to the screen. Lots of detail, sometimes more than is needed.

Lengthy summary of a famous Victorian murder, when policing and detection were in their infancy. Way too much detail but impressive knowledge of Victorian crime fiction.

As good as any of the Reacher novels. The first half was excellent but the second dragged a bit. The fifty-fifty refrain was nonsense.

I think Forsyth is getting old. Very much like “The Afghan” and more than a few awkward sentences. But middle of the road Forsyth is still better than the best of many others.

A great improvement from the previous one in the series. Much more spy-like although too many references to the “great” Allon. It's a mystery to me why he's so great.

I listened to rather than read this. The reader was obviously not Jewish as he could not pronounce most Hebrew words correctly, such as “ute-zi” for Uzi. Story was a little dated but still held up OK.