- The Continental Op, by Dashielle Hammet. Many of Hammet's books have been out of print for some time which makes them difficult to find. However, the salesperson at Barnes&Noble (in downtown SF) said they do appear from time to time. She said she looks for them in used bookstores. This book of short stories was Hammet's first book - providing the original model for his later gritty detective characters.
- Fifth Business, Robertson Davies. This book, the first in Davies' Deptford Trilogy, was a great story and thorough character development of a man whose entire life affected others' fate. I read half of this on an airplane and finished the rest a few weeks later. It was worth the time. I'll probably finish the trilogy as well - as soon as I walk down to City Lights.
- The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest, Po Bronson. Let me begin by saying that this book is worth if for the book jacket photo of Bronson alone. I know he is not that good looking in real life. Otherwise, this one was a great read -- almost as fun as "Primary Colors" at picking out the real life references. We took at vote the last time I was with my Silicon Valley engineer friends. SRI or Stanford? Definitely SRI.
- Microserfs, Douglas Coupland. Microserfs is one of my favorite books by one of my favorite writers. This book isn't really a light or quick read if you really read it. This was a re-read before I read Bronson's book -- I always cry at the end. So does everyone else I know.
My dream Jeopardy categories would be:
- Modern Pop Music 1983-1985
- Restaurants of San Francisco
- Sailing as a Second Language
- Steves I Have Dated
- Cheese
- Hair of the FA Premiere League
- Deeper, John Seabrook. I read this entire book on an airplane between Denver and Indianapolis (yes, I'm a book geek, I admit it) which really means nothing in the big scheme of things except that I label it a "quick read." I actually bought it because I wanted to show the jacket design to someone in my office and, being the WeLL geek that I am, I wanted to see what Seabrook had to say. He had an interesting reaction to his experiences, but I wonder how uncommon they were for someone new entering cyberspace? Worth the time just to see if you agree with him or not.
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Email reading suggestions to me at rwilmeth@well.com.
This page last updated April 25, 1997