Notnem

“(my job was) to encourage world leaders to become part of a vast network that promotes US commercial interests. In the end, those leaders become ensnared in a web of debt that ensures their loyalty. We draw on them whenever we desire - to satisfy our political, economic or military needs. In turn they bolster their political positions by bringing industrial parks, power plants and airports to their people. The owners of US engineering / construction companies become fabulously wealthy.”

Jon Perkins - Confessions of an Economic Hitman

Empire - A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon

Mitchell Pacelle

Back Cover: In this fast paced book, named one of the “top ten of 2001″ by By Business week, Mitchell Pacelle tells the gripping story of the ten-year struggle for control of American’s most famous skyscraper - a tale of greed and duplicity that consumed, and nearly destroyed some of the real estate worle’s most controversial tycoons.

Status: Not Read

- The Little Book of Sientific Principles, Theories & Things

Surenddra Verma

Back Cover: The Little Book of Scientific Principles, Theories and Things explains 175 laws, principles, equations, theories and things that form the foundations of science. It features the great names in science, including Pythagoras, Galileo, Newton, Darwin and Einstein as well as more recent contributors such as Rachel Carson, James Lovelock ans Stephen Hawking.

I love this book. It really puts the world in perspective and explains everything you need to know to understand the principles etc.

Status: Not Finished

Jose Mourinho - Made in Portugal

Luis Lourenco

Back Cover: Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, has made an immediate impact on English football, with his unmistakeable self-confidence, drive and ambition. His rise from relatively humble beginnings as assistant coach to Sir Bobby Robson to most sought-after club manager in Europe, is a fascinating and revealing story.

An interesting read for any football fans. It shows what goes on behind the scenes in fooball clubs and explains Mourinho’s approach to the game and coaching. Well worth a look if you are a football fan IMHO.

Status: Not Finished

Money Ball

Michael Lweis

Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball. In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, MIchael Lews follows the low-budget Oakland A’s, visionary general manager Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball theorists. They are all in search of new baseball knowledge - insights that will give the little guy who is willing to discard old wisdome the edge over big money

Status: Not Read

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

John Perkins
Back Cover “Economic hit men,” JOhn Perkins writes, “are highly paid professionls who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex and murder. They play a game as old as Empire but on htat has thaken on terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization”
Status: Not Started

The End of Oil

Paul Roberts

Back Cover: The situation is alarming and irrefutable: Within thrity years, even by conservative estimates, we will have burned our way throught most of the oil that is readily available to us. Already, the costly side effects of dependence on fossil fuel are taking their toll. Even as oil-related conflict threatens entire nations, individual consumers are suffering from higher prieces at the gas pump, resing health problems and the grim prospect of long-term environmental damage…

Status: Reading at the moment

The Firm

John Grisham
Back Cover: When Mitch McDeere signed on with Bendini, Lambert & Locke of Memphis, he thought he and his beautiful wife, Abbey, were on their way. The firm leased him a BMW, paid off his school loans, arranged a mortgage, and hired him a decorator. Mitch McDeere should have remembered what his brother Ray - doing fifteen years in a Tennessee jail - already knew. You never get nothing for nothing. Now the FBI has the lowdown on Mitch’s firm and needs his help. Mitch is caught between a rock and a hard place, with no choice - if he wants to liver.

I read this book about 10 years ago and remembered really enjoying it. I recently saw the film for about the 10th time, so I decided to re read it. It didn’t quite live up to what I remembered, but it is still a great read.

Status: Finished

Hotel Babylon

Imogen Edward-Jones

Back Cover: The manager of one of the world’s exclusive hotels gives a grad tour of glitz, glamour, decadence, and debauchery - floor by floor, room by room, in this hilarious and horrifying expose of the ultimate service industry.

Written in the style of a novel which follows the adventures of a hotel receptionist over a 24 hour shift and all the unusual and not so unusual things that go on behind the scenes in a hotel. I really enjoyed this book.

Status: Finished

Batman, Hush Volume Two

Jeph Loeb,  Jim Lee & Scott Williams
This was my first reading of a graphic novel. I really enjoyed it and it is definitely something I will read more over the comming months.

- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress

Ross O’Carroll-Kelly

Back Cover: So there I was, roysh, marrige focked, reputation focked, finances focked - everything completely focked bassically, and we’re talking big time. And it’s all Fionn;s fault. He’s the four-eyed focker who told me that, like, the first time you do it, roysh, you’re fireing blanks. Like an unloaded Uzi - seriously impressive, hard as fock and totally, like, ready for action, but action, but not actually hitting the torget. Well that is a pile of turds for storters. And of course it’s muggins here who ends up with a kid…

Written in Soutside Dublin 4 slang and Northside Dublin slang, it is a good read. I laughed out load several times, although most of those were inside the first 10 pages. I would recommend it.

Status: Finished

- A Series of Unfortunate Events

Lemony Snicket

Back Cover: I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells un unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe…

Basically a childrens book, I decided to read it after my little cousins talking about it so much. I did enjoy it and it was a very easy read.

Status: Finished

First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon

Darren Rovel

Back Cover: Before America even knew what “deep-down body thirst” was, four University of Florida scientists had invented something to quench it.

Remember the Cola Wars, with Coke and Pepsi battling it out year after year for supremacy in the soft drink market? Or what about the Burger Wars, the legendary slugfests between McDonald’s and Burger King?

Then of course, there were the Sports Drink Wars. If you blinked, you might have missed them, because Gatorade has swiftly and decisively fended off every would-be rival. Although a few other brands hold slim market shares, the fact is that Gatorade single-handedly created the sports drink industry 40 years ago and has absolutely ruled it ever since.

Status: Finished

Beer School

Steve Hindy & Tom Potter

Back Cover: A great city should have great beer. New York finally has, thanks to Brooklyn. Steve Hindy and Tom Potter provided it. Beer School explains how they did it: their mistakes as well as their triumphs…

Status: Finished

Long Way Round - The Illustrated Edition

Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman

Back Cover: ‘Surrounding the moments that tugged at our heartstrings, there were times of great wonder. And, every so often, flashes of magic. Like when we were riding at the end of the day and the sun setting in the west, warmed our backs and threw our shadows ahead of us on the road. Just chasing our shadows as we headed east. All the way round the world to get home’

Simply put, an amazing tale of two mates on the road. I loved it.

Status: Finished