Book Reviews by Jeff Powell

Two things caused me to start maintaining these book review pages:

  1. Back in March of 2005 I began participating in a book review forum belonging to a friend of mine (Doug Shaw) and really enjoyed it. I've decided that the reviews I wrote can also go on my own site here, since people finding my site may or may not be searching for book review related data. I owe a debt of gratitude to Doug for the idea behind the reviews page, in addition to providing the forum where the reviews initially started. Thanks much, Doug!

    Note that any references to people's names in these reviews probably refer to the people sharing the review board with me. We're a community of friends, and we write for each other, mostly.

  2. In late 2005 I became a member of paperbackswap.com - an online book swapping club. That has been a great resource for me, and I encourage others to join as well. You can join by clicking on the icon below. Note: doing so will make me your referrer, and I'll get a book credit once you're an active member of the club. If you'd rather join directly, just go to the site yourself and sign up. I won't be offended if you do that. I just want you to sign up!

    PaperBackSwap - Swap your used paperback books with other club members.

With those as my reasons, below is a list of books I've reviewed, along with some related material. Each review also contains a link to Doug's web site where you can see any replies that the people there wrote. I didn't think it right to copy their text here. If you see the word "SPOILERS" after a title, that means I've described something about the book in enough detail that you may not want to read my review until after you've read the book itself; I've given away something important.

Oh, one more reason I enjoy writing these reviews is that they keep me writing. That, in and of itself, is important to me. I want to write more, and this is writing exercise, if you will.

Comments about any of these reviews can be emailed to me.

Capsule review marks mean:

Great Great! A fantastic read.
Good Good. Worth the effort.
OK OK. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't transformative or anything.
Neutral Neutral; either I didn't feel strongly, or I had mixed feelings.
Poor Poor. I didn't like it, but others may.
Lousy Lousy. Not the worst I've read, but not good.
Terrible Terrible! Don't waste your time.

Books Read and Reviewed in 2008
# Title Author(s) Date Reviewed Capsule Review
1 The Cyberiad Stanislaw Lem Jan 2, 2008 Good
2 The Glorious Deception Jim Steinmeyer Jan 12, 2008 Good
3 The Salmon Of Doubt Douglas Adams Jan 12, 2008 Great
4 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Douglas Adams Jan 21, 2008 Good
5 Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner Jan 21, 2008 Good
6 Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos Donna Andrews Jan 21, 2008 OK
7 The War Of Art Steven Pressfield Feb 1, 2008 OK
8 DK2 Frank Miller and Lynn Varley Feb 28, 2008 OK
9 The Gilded Chain Dave Duncan Mar 1, 2008 OK
10 The Meme Machine Susan Blackmore March 13, 2008 Good
11-13 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman Mar 30, 2008 OK
14 The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie Apr 13, 2008 Terrible
15 Ella Minnow Pea Mark Dunn Apr 17, 2008 Great
16 Casino Royale Ian Fleming Apr 23, 2008 OK
17 Serenity: Those Left Behind Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad Apr 23, 2008 Good
18 The Dispossessed Ursula K. Le Guin May 4, 2008 Great
19 Never Have Your Dog Stuffed Alan Alda May 11, 2008 Good
20 The Scorpion's Gate Richard A. Clarke May 15, 2008 Poor
20.05 Last and First Men Olaf Stapledon May 15, 2008 Lousy
21 Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood May 15, 2008 Good
22 What's The Matter With Kansas? Thomas Frank Jun 10, 2008 OK
23 Love And Other Near-Death Experiences Mill Millingtion Jun 11, 2008 Great
24 Intelligent Thought John Brockman Jun 11, 2008 OK
25 Knockout Mouse James Calder Jun 11, 2008 Good
26 Gaudeamus John Barnes Jun 18, 2008 Good
27 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain Jun 19, 2008 OK
28 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley Jun 26, 2008 Great
29 Radio On Sarah Vowell Jul 3, 2008 Lousy
30 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood Aug 15, 2008 Great
31 Blink Malcolm Gladwell Sep 2, 2008 Neutral
Books Read and Reviewed in 2007
# Title Author(s) Date Reviewed Capsule Review
1 Neuromancer William Gibson Jan 6, 2007 Great
2 When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours Teller Jan 7, 2007 OK
3 Letter To A Christian Nation Sam Harris Jan 7, 2007 Great
4 Marley & Me John Grogan Jan 9, 2007 Great
5 Catch-22 Joseph Heller Jan 18, 2007 Neutral
6 Take The Cannoli Sarah Vowell Jan 22, 2007 Good
7 Cobra II Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor Jan 28, 2007 OK
8 Dimension Of Miracles Robert Sheckley Feb 4, 2007 OK
9 The Best From Fantasy And Science Fiction, Fourteenth Series Avram Davidson, editor Feb 8, 2007 OK
10 Sock Penn Jillette Feb 10, 2007 Good
11 Tuf Voyaging George R. R. Martin Feb 15, 2007 OK
12 The Man Who Killed His Brother (POSSIBLE SPOILERS) Stephen R. Donaldson Feb 18, 2007 OK
13 The Man Who Risked His Partner Stephen R. Donaldson Feb 20, 2007 Good
14 The Man Who Tried To Get Away Stephen R. Donaldson Feb 24, 2007 Good
15 The Unfettered Mind Takuan Soho Mar 1, 2007 Poor
16 The Best From Fantasy And Science Fiction, Nineteenth Series Edward L. Ferman, editor Mar 9, 2007 Neutral
17 Finding Serenity Jane Espenson, Editor Mar 21, 2007 OK
18 Anonymous Rex Eric Garcia Mar 27, 2007 Good
19 All Creatures Great And Small James Herriot Mar 30, 2007 Great
20 The God Delusion Richard Dawkins Apr 7, 2007 Great
21 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Apr 7, 2007 OK
22 A Storm Of Swords George R. R. Martin Apr 21, 2007 OK
23 The Partly Cloudy Patriot Sarah Vowell Apr 22, 2007 Good
24 All Things Bright And Beautiful James Herriot Apr 30, 2007 Great
25 A Treasury Of Great Science Fiction, Vol 1 Anthony Boucher, editor May 15, 2007 Poor
26 A Treasury Of Great Science Fiction, Vol 2 Anthony Boucher, editor Jun 7, 2007 Neutral
27 Jailbird Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Jun 19, 2007 Good
28 A Disgrace To The Profession Charles Newton and Gretchen Kauffman Jun 21, 2007 OK
28.25 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini Jun 25, 2007 Lousy
29 A Feast For Crows George R. R. Martin Jul 11, 2007 OK
30 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling Jul 24, 2007 Good
31 The Busker Brian McNeill Jul 31, 2007 OK
32 The Dangerous Book for Boys Gonn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden Aug 22, 2007 Lousy
33 The Road Cormac McCarthy Aug 26, 2007 Neutral
34 Firefly, The Official Companion, Vol 1 Joss Whedon Sep 8, 2007 Good
35 Managing Humans Michael Lopp Sep 24, 2007 Good
36 America: The Book: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction Writers of the Daily Show Sep 24, 2007 Poor
37 The Children Of Hurin J. R. R. Tolkien Oct 10, 2007 OK
38 Shopgirl Steve Martin Nov 9, 2007 Poor
39 Sluggy Freelance: Little Evils Pete Abrams Nov 9, 2007 Great
40 A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney Andrew A. Rooney Nov 9, 2007 Good
41 Casual Rex Eric Garcia Nov 9, 2007 good
42 American Gods Neil Gaiman Nov 17, 2007 Great
43 Hot And Sweaty Rex Eric Garcia Nov 17, 2007 OK
44 Whiskey Appreciation and Tasting Guide Derek Cooper Nov 21, 2007 OK
45 On Bullshit Harry G. Frankfurt Nov 21, 2007 Poor
46 The Professor and the Madman Simon Winchester Nov 30, 2007 Good
47 The Sirens of Titan Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Nov 21, 2007 Good
48 The End Of Faith Sam Harris Nov 30, 2007 Great
49 Fatal Revenant Stephen R. Donaldson Dec 16, 2007 Great
50 Solaris Stanislaw Lem Dec 16, 2007 Good
51 Serenity Joss Whedon Dec 22, 2007 Good
52 James Herriot's Yorkshire James Herriot Dec 22, 2007 Good
53 The Left Hand of Darkness (SPOILERS) Ursula K. Le Guin Dec 27, 2007 Good
Books Read and Reviewed in 2006
# Title Author(s) Date Reviewed Capsule Review
1 The White Plague Frank Herbert Jan 2, 2006 Good
2 The Princess Bride William Goldman Jan 5, 2006 Good
3 The Real Story Stephen R. Donaldson Jan 7, 2006 Good
4 Forbidden Knowledge Stephen R. Donaldson Jan 13, 2006 Good
5 A Dark and Hungry God Arises Stephen R. Donaldson Jan 15, 2006 Good
6 Chaos and Order Stephen R. Donaldson Jan 22, 2006 Great
7 This Day All Gods Die Stephen R. Donaldson Jan 25, 2006 Great
8 America the Beautiful Moon Unit Zappa Feb 1, 2006 OK
9 Nine Princes In Amber Roger Zelazny Feb 3, 2006 Good
10 The Guns Of Avalon Roger Zelazny Feb 4, 2006 Good
11 The Sign Of The Unicorn Roger Zelazny Feb 6, 2006 Good
12 The Hand Of Oberon Roger Zelazny Feb 8, 2006 Good
13 The Courts Of Chaos Roger Zelazny Feb 9, 2006 Good
14 Trumps Of Doom Roger Zelazny Feb 9, 2006 Good
15 Blood Of Amber Roger Zelazny Feb 10, 2006 Great
16 Sign Of Chaos Roger Zelazny Feb 12, 2006 Great
17 Knight Of Shadows Roger Zelazny Feb 12, 2006 Great
18 Prince Of Chaos Roger Zelazny Feb 15, 2006 Good
19 Dead Man's Tale Ellery Queen Feb 23, 2006 Poor
20 Death Spins the Platter Ellery Queen Feb 26, 2006 Neutral
21 The King Is Dead Ellery Queen Mar 1, 2006 Good
22 Reave the Just and Other Tales Stephen R. Donaldson Mar 4, 2006 Good
23 Zodiac Neal Stephenson Mar 7, 2006 Good
24 Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Mar 9, 2006 Great
25 Calculating God (SPOILERS) Robert J. Sawyer Mar 10, 2006 Lousy
26 Dangerous Days Pete Abrams Mar 18, 2006 Great
27 The Time Machine H. G. Wells Mar 22, 2006 OK
28 The Island Of Dr. Moreau (SPOILERS) H. G. Wells Mar 24, 2006 Poor
29 The Invisible Man H. G. Wells Mar 26, 2006 Good
30 The War Of The Worlds H. G. Wells Apr 10, 2006 Good
31 James Herriot's Dog Stories James Herriot Apr 20, 2006 Great
32 The First Men In The Moon H. G. Wells May 7, 2006 Lousy
33 Emergency Response American Red Cross May 7, 2006 Neutral
34 Emergency Response Workbook American Red Cross May 7, 2006 Neutral
35 The Food Of The Gods H. G. Wells May 16, 2006 Terrible
36 In The Days Of The Comet H. G. Wells May 27, 2006 Lousy
37 The Diamond Age Neal Stephenson June 21, 2006 Good
38 What We Believe But Cannot Prove John Brockman June 30, 2006 OK
39 Altered Carbon Richard Morgan July 9, 2006 Good
40 Timequake Kurt Vonnegut Jr. July 21, 2006 Good
41 Year's Best SF 9 David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer August 13, 2006 Neutral
42 3001 Arthur C. Clarke Aug 16, 2006 OK
43 A Game Of Thrones George R. R. Martin August 28, 2006 Good
44 A Clash Of Kings George R. R. Martin Sep 14, 2006 Good
45 Breakfast Of Champions Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Oct 5, 2006 Poor
46 U. S. Constitution George Washington et al. Oct 5, 2006 Good
47 The Man Who Fought Alone Stephen R. Donaldson Nov 4, 2006 Good
48 Broken Angels Richard Morgan Nov 23, 2006 Great
49 Sluggy Freelance: Born Of Nifty Pete Abrams Nov 23, 2006 Great
50 The Beatrice Letters Lemony Snicket Nov 24, 2006 Neutral
51 The End Lemony Snicket Nov 26, 2006 OK
52 Heris Serrano Elizabeth Moon Dec 13, 2006 Good
Books Read and Reviewed in 2005
# Title Author(s) Date Reviewed Capsule Review
1 The Runes of the Earth Stephen R. Donaldson Mar 15, 2005 Great!
2 The Coldfire Trilogy C. S. Friedman Jun 17, 2005 Good
3 The Madness Season C. S. Friedman Jun 17, 2005 Good
4 The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster Mar 23, 2005 Good
5-15 The first 11 Lemony Snicket books Lemony Snicket Jun 27, 2005 Good
16 No Germs Allowed Winkler G. Weinberg, MD Jun 27, 2005 Good
17 Lemony Snicket, The Unauthorized Autobiography Lemony Snicket Jun 27, 2005 Poor
18 The 9/11 Commission Report 9/11 Commission Jul 19, 2005 Good
19 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (SPOILERS) J. K. Rowling Jul 21, 2005 Good
20 A Certain Chemistry Mil Millington Aug 11, 2005 OK
21 2005 Honda Element Owner's Manual Honda Motors Aug 27, 2005 Poor
22 Basic Firefighter Academy (2005) CDF Sep 15, 2005 Neutral
23 The Challenger Launch Decision Diane Vaughan Sep 20, 2005 OK
24 Haz-Mat Course Book CDF Sep 25, 2005 Neutral
25 Art & Physics Leonard Shlain Oct 2, 2005 Terrible
26 Chatter Patrick Radden Keefe Oct 15, 2005 good
27 Amphigorey Edward Gorey Oct 15, 2005 good
28 Eats, Shoots & Leaves Lynne Truss Oct 25, 2005 good
29 Losing America Senator Robert Byrd Oct 31, 2006 OK
30 The Penultimate Peril Lemony Snicket Nov 1, 2005 good
31 Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About Mil Millington Nov 19, 2005 good
32 Animal Farm George Orwell Dec 1, 2005 good
33 God's Debris Scott Adams Dec 1, 2005 OK
34 The Elegant Universe Brian Greene Dec 8, 2005 Great!
35-36 Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book & Album Brian Froud & Terry Jones Dec 12, 2005 OK
37 1984 George Orwell Dec 14, 2005 good

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