PANIC.

When reading books on finances either personal or involving the entire economy, it baffles me when people complain about it not being interesting, or being misleading. These people are writing books on the facts, you can’t really mess with the facts, and regardless, facts ARE boring. If you really want to be entertained, pick up a thriller, a murder mystery…ANYTHING but one based on modern finances and the stock market.

Now to my point…PANIC: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity Edited by Michael Lewis is a bit dense. It is also a little hard to follow, BUT it is filled with good information. Isn’t that what really matters when reading boring shit like this? If you want to know more about this topic, JUST READ IT.

Daemon.

“Daemon” is a book about BIG things, a thrilling ride from beginning to end. Anyone involved or interested in online gaming and virtual environments should find the technology aspect of this book especially intriguing. The plot revolves around an online game where it becomes a fine line between a virtual world and the material one. It makes you seriously wonder if it could happen in real life.

This book just so happens to be the debut of author Daniel Suarez. I love when I can write polite shit about first timers. I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading this book.

HIPPOS!

A legendary manuscript co-written by Beat Masters, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, has finally come to light as "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks." Written when both were unknown and unpublished, leading hardscrabble lives in wartime New York, the real-life story centers on the doomed relationship between Lucien Carr and David Kammerer, mutual friends of the would-be Beats. Though the names and some facts are changed in the book, "Hippos" is for the most part a deadpan account of the relationship (which ended with Carr stabbing Kammerer with a Boy Scout knife and dumping his body in the Hudson…crazy) from the perspectives of Kerouac and Burroughs, who alternate chapters as "Mike Ryko" and "Will Dennison," respectively.

This book has been called an “unexpected gem,” and I completely agree. For you freaks (I am one of them) who love reading about murder, here is a bit of true life for ya. Enjoy!