Jump to:

About

This page lists books which I don't care enough about to properly categorize them.

The list

Sort by , .

Anonymous

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

Dan Brown

Erlend Loe

Francis Scott Fitzgerald

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Ian Spector

Max Brooks

Nick Hornby

Paulo Coelho

Simon Stern

Sun Tzu

Reviews

Here are my thoughts on most of the books. Note that just because some have small reviews doesn't necessarily mean I don't recommend them, or recommend them less.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

The Illuminati steals a quarter gram of antimatter from CERN, places it somewhere inside the Vatican, and kidnaps four cardinals from under the Vatican's nose. Robert Langdon, a symbologist from America, is flown in to investigate.

Naiv. Super. by Erlend Loe

The story of a man in his mid-twenties who suddenly feels that nothing in his life matters and the things he does to combat this feeling. The title is Norwegian and, as should be obvious, means "Naïve. Super." The book's title certainly describes its contents well. Don't read this unless you're forced to (like I was).

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

An allegorical story of a boy who follows his dreams and heart and eventually discovers his true self and finds his treasure.

I found it a little too naive to be entertaining, but it's a cute story nonetheless.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The Art of War is a classic treatise on war (and tactics in war) and covers topics such as the real purpose of war, different types of ground, how to treat your soldiers, and the use of spies.

It's a really tedious read, but the points it makes are probably valid, even today.

The Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous

Being one of the few surviving early epic poems in the world (dating to the third millenium BCE), Gilgamesh tells the story of Gilgamesh, a god-king of Uruk who the gods see as arrogant. They create Enkidu, a wild beast that eventually befriends Gilgamesh. They travel together to the cedar forest and battles Humbaba, a fiendish guardian. They successfully defeat him, but eventually Enkidu dies, and Gilgamesh becomes painfully aware of his own mortality. Not liking that, he sets out on a journey to find ever-lasting life.

The paperback edition that I read is only 62 pages, so it's a very light read. The story is engaging, but not really engagingly written (doubtless because of its age and the act of translation). Nevertheless, I recommend it if only for its prominent status. (Note: There are several free online translations. I originally read it online, but I can't find the version I read, so you could Google it if you want. However, my guess is that a translation from a proper book is best.)

The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 Facts About the World's Greatest Human by Ian Spector

A compilation of the funniest Chuck Norris facts with illustrations. A good read if you're just looking for something to pass your time.

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

How to survive the zombie onslaught, written in a modern Art of War-esque style. Although a work of fiction, it's written as non-fiction which makes it all the more eerie. So if zombies do exist and they do attack, you should be ready for them. I can heartily recommend this book.