piece of shep

I’ve been craving some new history books lately. I really like early 20th Century American history. Topics that I’ve enjoyed reading about the most seem to be about business. The rise of advertising, franchising, and rise of an urban society interest me a great deal. I’ve read books about Franchising in America, the creation of [...]

A natural part of growing up for most of us is the loss of imagination. It doesn’t totally disappear, we just stop using it as much or start using it in different ways. Instead of imagining being an astronaut and flying to the moon we imagine that two-story house with the white picket fence. Our [...]

I’ve been in a reading mood lately. I don’t know what it is but I can’t get enough of it. Friday night I bought two books, A Good and Happy Child and The Husband. A Good and Happy Child was a pretty good book by first time novelist Justin Evans. It’s a book that explores [...]

I was browsing some best books of 2007 lists and found one by an author named R.M. Kinder that lives in Missouri. The book, entitled An Absolute Gentleman is about a serial killer. I went to Amazon.com and searched for it and was instantly hooked and had to buy it. Inspired by her own brush [...]

I was at the mall Christmas shopping today and came across a book while waiting in line to check out. It was in the Bargain Books section. The book is Tupac Shakur Legacy. Originally priced at $45, I picked this gem up for $4.99. It’s kind of sad that it went for this cheap. I [...]

Sometimes when reading a book I think how great a movie it could be. Of course, with some books, others see the same potential and make a horrible movie out of it (Michael Crichton’s Timeline is a superb example of a great book and horrible movie). Now, I’m usually drawn to a specific style of [...]

I just finished reading Michael Eric Dyson’s Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop. It is a brilliant, insightful discussion on hip hop and its history, it’s problems, and how it relates to society as a whole. Anyone who is interested in what hip hop really is about and where it’s going needs to [...]

I just read Chuck Palahniuk’s new book Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey. I am a huge fan of Palahniuk’s cynical stories. Reminding me of Vonnegut, Palahniuk spins deep stories about how fucked up the world is and how poor society has become. My favorite book of his, Fight Club is the perfect example [...]

A literary legend has passed. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. died last night. He was 84 years old. Slaughterhouse-Five, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Breakfast of Champions were my favorite books by Mr. Vonnegut. I happened to be re-reading Breakfast of Champions this week. Such a great book. Rest in peace to a great writer. He [...]

For Christmas from my sister Lisa this year I received a great book entitled Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer. It is a fantastic read. It gives great insight into the business economy in America starting in the mid 1800′s. Not only does it give the details of the biggest breweries in American history, [...]