Good read, nothing new for true knowledgeable Howe fans
353601
Good read. Covers a lot that the true fan has already heard, but from the Man himself. We'll not see his like again.
3817660
I bought all of these individually since I was unsure if I'd like it once I got started. Good news is, I did. Not so good news is it wasn't what I had hoped. Obviously there are some high expectations after reading (and loving) Wool. I'll say right now that I recommend this series to Howey fans. But maybe not for those who are new to him. I did enjoy the series start to finish and was sucked into each book very quickly but it isn't anything close to Wool. The comparisons are obvious so I can understand the other reviews going into depth on them.

Bottom line. Read if you've finished Wool and want more Hugh Howey. Go ahead and buy the Omnibus version. Its worth every penny. Even bought and read indivually, they're worth the cost AND time. Three stars because I just couldn't get as into it as some of his other work. Still better than 99% of any other book out there right now.

Hugh Howey has quickly become one of my favorite authors.
1919811
First off in the interest of full disclosure: I am not a die-hard Rolling Stones or Keith Richards fan. I like their music, and I didn't think it would matter if I was a casual fan in terms of my reading and reviewing this book. The book is not associated with or blessed by Keith. So, you're basically getting some of Keith's life events and quotes and an author has turned them into a full book on Keith's "wisdom". I found a lot of quotes interesting as well as experiences about Keith, so perhaps I'd be better off finding a history book on Keith or the Stones rather than this loosely put-together book.

In any case, the author has a chapter on "what would Keith do", based solely on Keith's experiences. Who knows if Keith would really do these things, but I find some danger in following the author's interpretation of what Keith would do in certain situations. At least if I knew they were coming directly from Keith, I could take them with a grain of salt but the author tries to pass this off as some type of self-help book. As I mentioned, there are some good quotes in here but I found quite a few repeated throughout the book to reinforce different views. I think this was mostly just a book of quotes and Keith-isms with a lot of filler in between for the sake of writing a book.

On a side note, the abusive use of varying fonts throughout, especially for the chapter titles and the quotes, can be a bit distracting. I'm not a graphic designer or a font snob, but it just gave the book even less credibility. Also, I would have liked a photo or two, especially in the chapter describing how Keith came to put together his wardrobe of scarves, earrings, jewelry, hair adornments, etc.
3088696
I'm a big Mets fan and loved watching Nails.  It's a pretty interesting read while he's talking about baseball and what goes on inside the game; he trashes a couple teammates and managers which wasn't really important to the story.

His high-flying times, traveling on the jet and partying don't really go into detail so I found them a little slow.

He won't let you forget that he didn't do anything wrong though.  He's innocent.  He was framed!!

One chapter is basically an advertisement to subscribe to his $1000/year stock market letter.

All in all is was a quick, entertaining read if you're a fan but I've read much better and was expecting more.
4721839
By his own admission, Mr. Irvin placed a microphone on the table, recorded their comments and, basically, transcribed word-for-word what NHL referees, past and present, had to say about the game.
While by no means does  repeating subject comments, practically, verbatim to text represent a weak  effort, in Mr. Irvin's case one would have expected more.  Considering he  has direct lineage of one of hockeys most storied coaches, has seen  practically every Montreal Canadiens game in the past 40 or 50 years, has  written dozens of hockey books and provided countless analysis on HNIC this  book represents a let down.  Given the lack of 'off-ice observer' insight  one would expect from someone who practically grew up in the Forum, we are  then left with large-scale referee reminiscing, much of it repetitive  (entry into the profession, forced early retirement, mentors), however with  little depth and not much to re-new our appreciation for the men in  stripes.
2130091
There is not much new in this book (for fans who have read the entire Matt Helm series) but the author did a nice job of piecing together parts of existing Helm books to build a profile of Matt Helm.  Hopefully the reissue of the Matt Helm books will convince a publisher to release the unpublished Helm book "The Dominators".
1954473
Like all his books, it's well written, but unless you are a die-hard Portland Trailblazer fan that wants all the inside info from distant 35 years ago, there's nothing of particular exciting interest in this story.  There are no surprises or revelations.  I found it a "slightly interesting stroll in a park."
580915
David Menconi is a solid writer. The book is a good read for any Ryan Adams fan. That being said, this book is written by a music journalist. There is A LOT of descriptive music nuance about; other bands, influences, technique, the music scene at the time, etc., that I personally found to be a little tedious.
4462642
Having visited Roanoke and having read many books on the colonization effort there, on the life of Sir Walter Raleigh, and on Elizabethan England over the past decades, I was intrigued to see what new insights might emerge from this book.

The Good:  The author has evidently done extensive research on all these subjects and has supported the text with voluminous notes and references.

The Bad:  Nothing much new here.

The big mystery offered to the reader is, "What happened to the Lost Colony?  "

That query belongs in the same category as "What happened to the Neanderthals?"

Answer:  Their descendents are sitting across the kitchen table from you.

So, "What happened to the Lost Colony?"

This book, like many others before it, provides most of the answer by quoting John Lawson's observations in 1701.  After leaving Roanoke, the colonists interbred with the Indians on Croatan and were genetically swamped by them.

It is quite possible that various other colonists ended up with different Indian groups and were either killed or assimilated in the process.

This book, verbose and wandering, does nothing to alter those well-established facts and possibilities.

Much of the text is devoted to flimsy speculation about domestic intrigues in the court of Queen Elizabeth.  This ground has been well-plowed for decades.  Elizabethan England was a snakepit of those vying for power.  Nothing new here.

There is simply not enough factual basis to support the conclusions offered by the author.  What was the real relationship between John White and Sir Walter?  Don't know.  What was the real relationship between Simon Fernandez and Sir Walter?  Don't know.  What was the relationship between John White and Simon Fernandez?  Don't know.  What were the real motivations of Walsingham?  Don't know.  How reliable is the sole account given by John White to Hakluyt, years after the events described?  Don't know.

The factual data is sparse and will likely remain so.  The occasionally breathless writing style of the author, together with numerous grammatical atrocities, make this painful reading at best.

For the general reader, there are many fine biographies available of Sir Walter Raleigh, who was a truly remarkable man.  Authors  such as David Beers Quinn and David Stick have produced far more readable accounts of colonization efforts at Roanoke.

Save your money.
1191939
This book contains good information,  but not really anything new,  revolutionary,  or that you can't find with some internet searching.
952636
I've read a couple of biographies on Eric, one
of my favourite guitar players which shed more
light on the 'inner' Eric than this his autobiography.

It's full of 'time-line' facts and short on anecdotes,
dirt, on the road experiences etc that you would expect
from a life-time of gritty musicianship, so Eric has
played it very safe and praised everyone and half of the
book is dedicated to Crossroad Antigua and rehab, which is
all very good and proper for an English gentleman doing
good in this evil world, but I expected more salicious
dirt and mudslinging. But I guess Mr Clapton is above
such petty trivialities. I would have liked more info
on his gear, (not in the drug sense) as everything
guitar wise has been covered in other books.

For the price, I don't recommend buying it, borrowing
from a library would be the way to go.
4062998
I really like Steve Weber, and I'm grateful for his work in "The Home Based Bookstore". It has made me very successful in reselling used books and media. However, this particular book is a rehash of that book, and most of the discussion is on used books and used media. The updates include new apps and tools, but very little else. If you are just getting started, this book is good for that purpose. Otherwise, most of this information you probably already know.
4534456
It was a toss up whether to give 3 stars or 4 stars for Ain't It Time We Said Goodbye, so I opted for the 4 stars. The book was informative, but just didn't "grab" me. If you are a hard core Stones fan you will probably really like this book, but for a middling fan the author seemed a bit like every other run of the mill author telling about the Rolling Stones. Keith and Mick are the be all, end all and the others are not too much worth mentioning. He did say a bit about Bobby Keys, the saxophone player, but much of it seemed to be in a critical vein and he wasn't a Stone.

I would recommend this book to hard core Rolling Stone fans.
1810885
This is a decent read,but nothing spectacular.  This book seems rushed.  The information is sometimes taken from Vh1's behind the music episodes etc.  Many of the photos are captioned incorrectly(wrong band members named below the pictures).
Having lesser known bands like Accept, Overkill, Exodus, etc. was a great idea. These bands deserve the exposure!  The problem is that a lot of the material for each band is Eddie's patting himself on the back and taking credit for their success.  This is typical though as anyone who has listened to his radio shows knows.  It's definitely worth the time to read, especially for metal fans who are not already familiar with these bands.  I was expecting more.
2030697
This is a well written, informative book which (ostensibly) uncovers a bunch of "unknown" bands for the reader, and which would make a great introduction to underground music for the mainstream rock listener. The only problem I had with it was that it didn't present anything really new to me. I already have albums by about half of the artists profiled, and the other half I have at least read about or heard of before I got the book. I was hoping this book could introduce me to a bunch of great bands which I had never heard of, but it just didn't happen. I also agree with previous reviewers that it is too heavily slanted toward 80's post-punk, and doesn't cover anything in genres like Afrobeat and Tropicalia, just to name a few. However, everything considered, this could be extremely eye-opening to the average rock fan (if not the seasoned collector), and comes highly recommended.

Addendum 5/15/10:
Looking back on it now, I see what the real problem with this book is. The whole premise was that the author would take a look at the bands who influenced "today's biggest bands", "today" being the mid-nineties when grunge was at its commercial peak and Metallica was selling millions (their 1991 self-titled "Black Album" is THE top selling album of the last 20 years). There are tons of profiles of appropriately "hip" artists of the past, such as Serge Gainsbourg, Scott Walker, The Silver Apples, et. al, who realistically had little or no influence on the bands this book is based around. Yet despite its clearly pervasive influence, there are NO METAL BANDS profiled. Why is this? Does the author really think that metal has not influenced the rock music of this era? There are passing mentions throughout the book of heavy metal's influence from artists like Mark Arm (of Mudhoney, Green River) and King Buzzo (Melvins). Does it have to do with the book's subtitle, "The best bands you've never heard"? Does the author consider metal too mainstream to be included? Sure, most of the target audience for this book has probably heard of Black Sabbath, but what about Celtic Frost or Mercyful Fate? Or is indicative of a general rock-crit bias against metal as "low-brow" music, whereas punk is considered "high art". For anyone interested in this punk/metal dichotomy, I would recommend skipping this book, and instead reading&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/This-Ain-t-the-Summer-of-Love-Conflict-and-Crossover-in-Heavy-Metal-and-Punk-Roth-Family-Foundation-Music-in-America-Imprint/dp/0520257170/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">This Ain't the Summer of Love: Conflict and Crossover in Heavy Metal and Punk (Roth Family Foundation Music in America Imprint)</a>.
1282880
Catchy title, isn't it? Mike Greenberg is half of ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning combo. I catch them just about every day, either watching them on ESPN2 during my morning workout or on the radio on the way to the office. I'm a big fan, but I have to admit their shtick is starting to get a bit old. Nevertheless, they often have an interesting view on a story I hadn't considered.

If you too are a fan of the show, Greenberg's book, Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot, isn't what you'd expect. I was hoping for lots of insights into the many athletes he's interviewed and worked with over the years. No dice. It's mostly a parenting book. I knew what I was getting into when I flipped through it at the store. Still, couldn't he at least offer a few insights into some of these personalities he's come across over the years?!

All in all, it's not a bad read. I feel like I know a lot more about Greenberg than I did before, but I wish he'd write a book about sports next time.
2128243
I am a big fan, but this book goes a bit overboard on the fandom. It was interesting to read all the stories and how much Gordon is revered in Canada, but to place him on par or even ahead of Leonard Cohen and Dylan is a stretch.

Kudos to him for not selling out and staying true to who he is.

If you are a fan this is worth the read, but keep the author's bias in mind as you page through.