What are we reading?

[Random]

Just finished Neil DeGrasse Tyson's The Pluto Files, giving the brief history of the planet/not debate that he got himself into the middle of. :)

[Rob]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. After meeting him last summer, I figured I should actually read some of his books.

[Cam]

Half way through Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

[tigeraid]

I approve of all three of those reads.

I recently finished Vicious, by V.E. Schwab. Very, very cool.

http://www.amazon.ca/Vicious-V-E-Schwab/dp/0765335344

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BlfDDs52L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU15_.jpg

[novicius]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. After meeting him last summer, I figured I should actually read some of his books.
Ah, an excellent reason -- I'll wait to meet him before I read anything he's written, too. :D :up:

My girl lent me her Kindle and so I read through Hunger Games on it. Eh, it's Young Adult Fiction in the dead of winter here, what more do you want? :lol:

[George]

iPad 2 for Dummies, from the library.

I still can't see that an iPad isn't anything more than a read-only portable wifi browser for around the house, although Garageband is very cool.

[Taimar]

Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith - Robert Slayton.

and

The Sporty Game - John Newhouse.

[NoKnownCure]

Not enough!

Currently on Stoner(John Williams). Just done a few Reachers (train commute) and When We Were Orphans (Kazuo Ishiguro).

Glad I've found everyone, courtesy of the Rob :)

[George]

Currently: Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes To War, by Sir Max Hastings.

Last finished: The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins. Very enjoyable. Would appeal to fans of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America" by Erik Larson. Different stories to be sure but I think those who like one will like both.

[Rob]

Glad I've found everyone, courtesy of the Rob :)

De fuckin nada.

[NoKnownCure]

Moooochos grassy arse :up:

Also reading Montalbano number II (Terracotta Dog), having been to Sicily last September. Quite funny.

[George]

Currently: "Wilson" by A. Scott Berg - a biography of Woodrow Wilson. Pretty good so far.

[lostnight]

My most recent book I finished was Cell by Stephen King, because I love his writing, and because I read they were going to make it into a movie in 2014 starring John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson (umm, not Lawrence Fishburne, lol). Very good book, except for the last page, he could have done that better. Not really the result I complain about, as much as the briefness of it. The movie is already taking some deviations from the book. It will be set in Atlanta instead of Boston. Also, the girl that tags along with them is a neighbor instead of a random stranger. Still looking forward to it.

Getting so sick of the winter, I went with another Stephen King book, this one set in Florida; Duma Key. Only 27% done, like it so much so far, the location is a good escape from this long nasty Ohio winter.

[sandydandy]

Loved Cell!

[George]

Currently: "Wilson" by A. Scott Berg - a biography of Woodrow Wilson. Pretty good so far.

Finished this last week. Fantastic biography. A great study of life in a time of amazing change, violence, bigotry, corruption in business and government, European empires falling and new boundaries being drawn in Europe, and so much more.

Standing here in 2014, it's easy to see some of the far-reaching effects of this European reconstruction, far beyond even WWII. Example: I have a friend who is veteran of the 1990s Bosnian conflict. The causes of that war can be drawn back to WWI pretty directly - "Hey, you people who don't like those people across the border, listen up! You all now live in the same country. Hope you can learn to get along."

As my friend says, "Those people have been fighting the same war for hundreds of years. That's why I left. It's not over."

I remember writing essay exam questions in college about Wilson's Fourteen Points and wrote a term paper on Eugene V. Debs but wow - this book was just chock full o' knowledge about the times that I did not know or had forgotten from my college studies and I enjoyed spending some time in the past with this great book.

My highest recommendation for "Wilson".

Oh, and something special for the oft-maligned GTXF Cycling Crew - Wilson was an avid cyclist who toured the UK on bicycle more than once, including riding from Edinburgh to Glasgow wearing "cycling shorts and a waterproof cape".

Reading "Wilson" hot on the heels of "Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes To War" as mentioned here previously, was a good combination.

Currently listening to another audiobook from the library: "The Men Who United The States" by Simon Winchester. Winchester is an Englishman who is now a naturalized US citizen, and as he says, "after a half-century of wishing". It's a book of US history with his own 20th and 21st century experiences at historical American sites included...sort of like a cross between a history book and "Travels With Charley". This audiobook is read by the author and it's fun to hear such Englishisms in a book about the history of America with such phrases as "had grown quite tiresome" in reference to the leader of an enemy country, and "longitude" with a hard G. There's a great deal about surveying and geology and socialist communes so far. Interesting book. I'm about 20% into it now. It's pretty good and quite entertaining - the author tells good tales.

[Random]

I've read a pair of Winchester's other books: The Map that Changed the World, which is about one of the first geologic maps, and Kraktoa: The Day the World Exploded, which is pretty self-explanatory. :) Interesting stuff.

[JoshInKC]

Both of those were pretty good, but for my money his best book is The Professor and the Madman, about the beginning of the Oxford English Dictionary (and a lunatic).
Recommend.

[George]

I am almost finished with Winchester's "The Men Who United The States". This man is a great storyteller. He reminds me of my favorite college professors in history and political science - men who could lecture facts all day but who would go off on tangential tales that were as entertaining as educational.

On the way home from work last night, I picked up another Winchester audiobook from the library, again read by the author: "Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Historic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories". I assume I will enjoy it. I'm on the lookout for "Kraktoa" too - that's a story I know little about but it seems very interesting.

[Random]

It's "Krakatoa," I fat-fingered the title above. Sorry! :D

[George]

Funny. I typed it that way at first and then scrolled up to your post to check my spelling.

I'll remember not to copy test answers from your paper in the future.

[George]

Really enjoyed "Atlantic" by Simon Winchester and on the lookout for more from him with no luck so far.

Went through a couple other histories lately - one was a tale of the WWII Western Front from D-Day to VE Day. Not great, but good. "The Guns At Last Light" by Rick Atkinson.

This one was very enjoyable: Junius & Albert's Adventures In The Confederacy" by Peter Carlson. It's the tale of two reporters from the abolitionist New York Tribune newspaper who are captured and are sent to Confederate POW camps. Don't get me wrong - tales of prison camps aren't "enjoyable", but the story is very good and well-written.

Being limited to what's on the shelf at a library when I arrive, I can't always stay with an interest book after book as I would have with my recent WWI and Simon Winchester fetishes, so I'm back to an old reliable source of entertainment: Lee Child. I'm currently listening to "Tripwire", the third Jack Reacher novel.

[George]

"Tripwire" might be the best Reacher novel I've read, er...heard yet. Excellent.

[sandydandy]

Currently reading "Stutter No More" by Dr. Martin F. Schwartz, which is available for free in PDF form via Google search. The good doctor discovers the physical cause of stuttering, and discusses some treatments and techniques for those desiring to overcome this insidious disability.

I'm one of those people...38-years-old and a life-long stutterer. I can tell you that at times it becomes frustrating and even debilitating, and the anger toward it all-consuming. I always thought it would go away on its own by the time I reached my twenties, or thirties at the latest, but it hasn't.

I hope I can finish this book. I tend to drop a lot of self-help books that I read right in the middle, as they can get boring and tedious. Especially when I hit parts where I have to do some sort of work. Hopefully I'll stick with this to the end, and actually try to apply what I'm learning.

[George]

Followed up the excellent "Tripwire" with another Reacher novel: "The Enemy". Also one of the better Reacher novels, IMO.

Then on to Grisham's "The Partner" which is pretty good but standard Grisham fare. I like Grisham but his writing is pretty tame compared to the gore and grit of a Reacher novel.

Swinging back to history instead of fiction as I often do, I'm ready to start "Between Man And Beast: An Unlikley Explorer, The Evolution Debates, And The African Adventure That Took The Victorian World By Storm" by Monte Reel. Was the best bet this morning at the library.

I had to get an emissions test this morning and stopped into the library near by office at about five minutes to nine and figured I'd wait for them to open, which I did.

I was surprised to see a mob of people waiting in line to rush into the library as soon as someone unlocked the door. I had no idea libraries were that busy at 9:00 AM.

[Drachen596]

finished Look me in the Eyes by John Elder Robinson. pretty insightful book imo.

reading the most recent Game of Thrones book currently.

[KillerB]

I'm reading an excellent biography of Catherine the Great.

Why?

Because the *gorgeous* consultant I've been working with who was raised in Poland until she was 11 lent it to me, and I want to make sure I can talk about it with her when we go out for drinks next week. :D

[Leon]

Have I missed the boat, but weren't you married / seriously attached? Apologies if I've missed a life change that I shouldn't be reminding you about ...

[novicius]

Dating is just dating, Leon. :D :up:

[KillerB]

Yes, I was married. Long story short:

- Wife wanted me to get a job where I'd not be traveling anymore (been doing it for 7 years)
- I got a job that eliminated the travel, but it was in SoCal
- Wife refused to move to SoCal
- Since I made nearly all the money in the relationship, having her support us in PA was not an option
- I moved to California
- She didn't
- We got divorced
- ???
- Profit

There were other factors at play, but that's all the stuff that really matters.

[Random]

Picked up the James Herriot books from the library. Been a while since I read them--very fun. :)

[Leon]

Yes, I was married. Long story short:

Ok. Sorry man, wasn't at all caught up on that one.

[KillerB]

Don't worry about it, it was over a year ago and I didn't really post much about it. Got an excellent date tonight - living in the LA metro area has its perks. :)

[George]

Swinging back to history instead of fiction as I often do, I'm ready to start "Between Man And Beast: An Unlikley Explorer, The Evolution Debates, And The African Adventure That Took The Victorian World By Storm" by Monte Reel. Was the best bet this morning at the library.

Finished the gorilla book. Pretty good. Dropped it off at the library today at lunch and came away with another history audiobook, although this one goes a little farther back than the 19th and early 20th century reading I've been doing lately: "Cro-Magnon: How The Ice Age Gave Birth To The First Modern Humans" by Brian Fagan.

I guess I still have fantasies about being a college history professor. Oh well, he goes nothin'...

*puts on headphones and settles down to some boring production work*

[FaultyMario]

Tried to finish "I Thought My Father Was God", but I couldn't concentrate in this darn heat/humidity.

[George]

"Cro-Magnon: How The Ice Age Gave Birth To The First Modern Humans" by Brian Fagan.

Turns out the Cro-Magnon CDs won't read in my car. I've burned them all to my HD at work so I'll get through the book that way, but I really like having an audiobook I can listen to in the car also.

On my way home from work yesterday I pulled into the library to return Cro-Magnon and got another audio book by another guy named Fagan...almost.

"Eminent Hipsters" by Donald Fagen. It's only 4 CDs long so I'll probably burn through it pretty fast. The audio book is read by the author, which I always prefer.

He reads as if he's reading, which is okay, and that got me thinking about two other rock and roll cats who read all or part of their own autobiographies:

1. Pete Townshend's "Who I Am". Pete read this emotionally and realistically. It was like having Pete sitting in the car talking about his life. It didn't seem like he was reading at all - just talking/yelling/laughing, which sounded spontaneous and was very fun, even if the subject matter was a little odd at times.

2. Keith Richards' "Life". Now that I think about it, Richards did this one in his own personal style - he read some at the beginning and at the end, and he introduced as his friend Johnny Depp, who read a good bit of the first part of the book, and then they had a third reader, a professional reader/actor guy I'm sure, to do the rest. It's as if he and Johnny had something better to do so they hired a guy to do most of the grunt work. Cool.

While at the library, I also got a book - yes, a real book instead of CDs - "Krakatoa" by Simon Winchester. I don't know if I'll have time to read it at home but it really interests me. Wish I could find it on audio at the libraray.

Edited because I can't spell Donald FagEn.

[Random]

Just flew through the final book (http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Renewal-Legend-Paksenarrion-Elizabeth/dp/0345533097)in Elizabeth Moon's most recent Paksenarrion series--good stuff. Gotta re-read it a few more times before it's due back at the Library of Mom. :D

[lostnight]

Reading Monuments Men, it is the factual account. The movie is only loosely based on this, Clooney says about 80%, but the movie characters have been changed. I can't wait to see the movie after I'm done with the book, which is taking forever.

Also just read;
Duma Key - Stephen King
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk - Ben Fountain
Cell - Stephen King

[JoshInKC]

Just finished The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria. (http://www.amazon.com/King-North-Times-Oswald-Northumbria-ebook/dp/B00CGOD5K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401798099&sr=8-1&keywords=the+king+in+the+north) A really well written and researched book on Northern England in the 7th century. - Highly recommended.

Have also been reading the Lovejoy books by Jonathon Gash (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovejoy_%28novel_series%29) - Fun little crime/mystery novels revolving around antiques (which I know sounds ridiculous). Recommended, assuming you like amusing mystery books. They were made into a BBC tv series in the late 80s/early 90s starring Ian McShane, which is both half-decent and pretty hilariously dated at the same time.

And finally, I've been reading/editing/making recommendations to a few books my friends are writing/have written. One of them is really very, very good and the other 2 are at this point, okay. Its interesting doing this kind of editing/reading on a kindle rather than paper - My previous technique involved getting kinda nuts with highlighters and red pens in the margins - as it turns out, that comes off as a lot more hostile than electronic highlighting and typed notes. I think the writers appreciate the new technique, apparently they do not feel nearly as "Attacked."

[novicius]

Books I'm not too proud to admit to reading: pretty much anything in the WH40K Black Library. :lol:

Just finished "The Killing Ground" by Graham McNeill. He may be Scottish but it sounds like Benedict Cumberbatch is narrating in my head. :assclown:

[lostnight]

I started reading my first Nelson DeMille book, The Panther. Some online reviews said this is one of his most boring books, if that's true, I'm encouraged because 35% of the way in to it I love his writing style. I'm learning about life in Yemen while being fed a steady stream of sarcasm and witty wisecracks. Paul Brenner, the main character of The General's Daughter, is in this book working with the main character of this book, John Corey. I will likely read The General's Daughter soon after this book. I am glad to have another author I like with a bunch of books ready for me to read.

One of my friends suggested Donald Westlake, so I downloaded a sample of Watch Your Back.

Two nonfiction books I have downloaded to my Kindle and are ready to read are The Crimean War by Orlando Figes and Russians by Gregory Feifer.

[Random]

Books I'm not too proud to admit to reading: pretty much anything in the WH40K Black Library. :lol:

Just finished "The Killing Ground" by Graham McNeill. He may be Scottish but it sounds like Benedict Cumberbatch is narrating in my head. :assclown:

I thought the "Eisenhorn" omnibus was pretty decent. Didn't like the unhappy ending, of course, but that's me.

[Yw-slayer]

Books I'm not too proud to admit to reading: pretty much anything in the WH40K Black Library. :lol:

Yeah, I used to read the Robotech books. I was, however, less than 13 years old.

[George]

Heard on audio book recently:

"Eisenhower In War And Peace" by Jean Edward Smith. Must have been a long book - 24 audio CDs. A full bio of Ike from boy to West Point to general to president and retirement.

This next is not a book but a collection of BBC radio stories. This must have been a regular series for some time: "The History Of The World In 100 Objects From The British Museum" by Neil MacGregor. Excellent. Very long, too at 20 CDs. They cover everything from sharpened rocks used to scrape meat from bones to credit cards. The development of human technology is a fascinating story, and it made this listener feel very small and insignificant.

Biggest discovery of 2014 for me so far: Instead of driving around to various libraries, I can simply download the audio content from the libraries' websites. The audio files work for a couple weeks and then become disabled and are "returned" to the libary for others to "borrow". This has probably been going on for years but I just discovered it while trying to figure out where I could drive to pick up specific audio books.

The rest of this post is all about Jack Reacher, so scroll on by if you don't care about his modern pulp fiction adventures.

I finished "Die Trying", the second Jack Reacher novel (in order of publication). I'm currently reading - yes, reading a book from the used book store - "Persuader" by Lee Child. It's true what they say - this book is literally difficult to put down. It's the first Reacher novel I've read and not heard and like the rest, the action just never stops and to put down the book is to stop having fun...or being disgusted, as I occasionally am in Reacher's world.

I have three more to go after "Persuader". Also for Reacher fans, the 19th novel is supposed to come out in August 2014, titled "Personal", I think.

Oh, almost forgot - at a library recently, I also borrowed the trade paperback copy of "The Affair" because it had "bonus material inside!" - the short story "Second Son". This story has all the elements of a Reacher novel and, along with a couple other "flashback" novels, shows me that we don't need to fear Reacher getting too old to be exciting. Lee Child can always go back in time and make him young again.

Here's the blurb about "Second Son" from Amazon:

Okinawa, 1974. Even at thirteen, Jack Reacher knows how to outwit and overpower anyone who stands in his way. And as the new kid in town, that’s pretty much everyone. His family has come to the Pacific with his father, who’s preparing for a top-secret Marine Corps operation. After receiving a rude welcome from the local military brats, Reacher and his older brother, Joe, intend to teach them a lesson they won’t forget. But it’s soon clear that there’s more at stake than pride. When his family’s future appears to come crumbling down, it’s the youngest Reacher who rises to the occasion with all the decisive cunning and bravura that will one day be his deadly trademark.


There are a couple other short stories online at my libraries - "High Heat", "Deep Down", and "Not A Drill".

Also, what's up with this? Other authors are writing Reacher stories too?

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-Jack-Reacher-Series-ebook/dp/B0072JJTIG/ref=pd_sim_kstore_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=1FR2D2B3ZEK5D1YN0MTQ#_

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511gW6-r7BL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_ OU01_.jpg

"It’s been a while since we first met Lee Child’s Jack Reacher in Killing Floor. Fifteen years and sixteen novels later, Reacher still lives off the grid, until trouble finds him, and then he does whatever it takes, much to the delight of readers and the dismay of villains. Now someone big is looking for him. Who? And why? Hunting Jack Reacher is a dangerous business, as FBI Special Agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar are about to find out. Otto and Gaspar are by-the-book hunters who know when to break the rules; Reacher is a stone cold killer. Reacher is a wanted man, but is he their friend or their enemy? Only the secrets hidden in Margrave, Georgia will tell them."

[George]

Since I last posted here, I've finished the last Reacher novels that I hadn't read yet - "Running Blind", "Bad Luck and Trouble", "Echo Burning", and the short story "High Heat". I still have a couple more short stories to find and read to complete the list. The new Reacher novel "Personal" comes out pretty soon - early September, I think.

I swing back and forth between history and fiction. I just finished 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307265722/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3520694691&ref=pd_sl_mdgvwpfcc_e). Enjoyed it and learned a lot I didn't know about the worldwide re-distribution of diseases, plants, animals, insects, and other things that crossed oceans and made the world what we know today, and how the "globalization" started by the Columbian Exchange is still continuing and evolving.

Veering back to fiction, I'm about to start The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir (http://www.amazon.com/Martian-Novel-Andy-Weir/dp/0804139024/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408569996&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Martian)

Blurb from back of book and at Amazon that describes the basic plot:

"Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?"

[Random]

That's a great book; read it a few weeks ago. :up:

[speedpimp]

A trip to a local place called Bargain Books netted me copies of The Ultimate History of Mercedes and Irish History. The MB book is a great companion to the BMW book I picked up a few years back.

[JoshInKC]

1493 is a really good text for the public. If you haven't already, I recommend his earlier book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus as well.

[George]

Just finished on audiobook "Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed" by John F. Ross.

Now starting "Fighting The Flying Circus" by Eddie Rickenbacker('s ghost writer, according to Ross), downloaded free (and legally) from librovox.org.

[Random]

Now starting "Fighting The Flying Circus" by Eddie Rickenbacker('s ghost writer, according to Ross), downloaded free (and legally) from librovox.org.

Short, but interesting. :up:

I'm currently working my way through a half-dozen books in L.E. Modesitt's "Saga of Recluse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saga_of_Recluce)" Chaos/Order series. These books fill in a lot of the pre-history of the first five books in the series.

I picked the books up at a library sale for 50 cents each. :D

[sandydandy]

Just downloaded 'Arabian Nights' (aka 'One Thousand and One Nights') off Kindle for free. Free! Can't beat that deal!

[George]

I've listened to a good bit of "Fighting The Flying Circus" and may not finish it. It doesn't hold a candle to a serious biography like the one I just finished. While it's entertaining, it's more like an "Adventure Stories For Boys" kind of thing. That's not always bad but not what I'm looking for right now.

[Random]

Yeah, it's pretty lightly written--I read it at lunch one day.

[George]

Admitting defeat: I quit "The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood" by James Gleick halfway through. It wasn't enjoyable enough to continue, so back to the library it went.

I thought it would be a history of information creation and distribution similar to "The Men Who United The States" by Simon Winchester. And it is, sort of, but the interesting historical tidbits such as two under the spoiler tag are few and far between, unlike in Winchester's book(s). Instead it's a book about numbers and mathmatics and codes. I think it would appeal more to people more interested in the philosophy of mathematics than in history. People who can program a computer with punch cards would love this book.

It wasn't a bad book; I'm just not brainy enough to understand most of it.

Two of several cool things I learned from this book:



African talking drums were able to convey entire sentences, if not paragraphs. Drumming as communication over several miles was developed long before written language. Some Africans in recent years have gone from talking drums to cell phones without learning a written language in between.

In the early days of telephone switchboards (turn of the last century), teenage boys were hired as operators. It was soon found that boys favored pratical jokes and pranks, drinking beer, and wrestling to hours of monotony at the switchboard. Young women soon replaced them. :lol:

[sandydandy]

Started re-reading 'E-Myth Revisited' by Michael Gerber. I think this is the fourth time I've tried getting into this book. Got pretty far last time, and could've picked up where I left off, but decided to just start again from scratch. Hopefully I'll stick with it this time.

[Random]

Just started "The Years of Rice and Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson. Story tracks the adventures of a group of souls that are continuously reincarnated near each other through an "alternate history" that assumes that the Black Plague killed off 99% of Europe, leaving the Chinese and Middle Eastern cultures to explore and conquer the rest of the world. Neat stuff.

[George]

^^^ that sounds like a story I would like. It's on my library list as of now. Thanks.

And one back atcha for the reincarnation thing. I've probably mentioned it before several times, but if not, try "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. It's one of my all-time favorites, and the only novel I can remember reading in which someone drives a...

...Studebaker Avanti.

[JoshInKC]

I'm currently working my way through A History of Archaeological Thought by Bruce Trigger, (http://www.amazon.com/History-Archaeological-Thought-Bruce-Trigger/dp/0521600499/) which is pretty awesome - Where else are you going to learn about archaeological practices and thinking in Tsarist Russia.
Also, I just starting L.A. Confidential on my re-read-through of The L.A. Quartet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Quartet) and the Underworld USA Trilogy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underworld_USA_Trilogy) by James Ellroy. This was spurred by the release of his newest book, Perfidia, which has a bunch of the same characters during WWII. I'm still not sure how I feel about the new one - I finished it a few weeks ago, and it seems both unnecessary and very risky, even though I enjoyed it overall. Therefore, I'm re-reading the others to place it into context and figure it out.

[George]

"On Writing" by Stephen King

Next up is "Under The Dome" by the same author on thirty audio CDs from the library.

[Alan P]

I've started reading through the Jack Ryan books again from Red October onwards in release order. Currently on The Sum of All Fears. Other than the movie it's maybe been ten or fifteen years since I read the book.

[sandydandy]

Started reading 'Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life' by Kevin O'Leary. He is a star investor on the hit TV show 'Dragon's Den' in Canada, and the US equivalent 'Shark Tank'. O'Leary is badass. He shares his life story and his philosophy on money, business, and life in general.

I read 50 pages last night and couldn't put the book down. Very interesting. Can't wait to resume tonight. Been watching Dragon's Den a lot recently on Netflix, and he's my favourite dragon by far. He's ruthless.

[George]

From the What are you watching? thread:


Yeah, those Bosch novels were pretty decent. The first one is the weakest, though so if you find yourself questioning whether to read more, keep that in mind. If you do keep at them, the third (? I think, maybe 4th), The Concrete Blonde is actually flat-out great, so you've got that to look forward to.
I should probably catch up on those, I got out of the habit of that series when Connelly started alternating them with writing lawyer books. Of course that assumes I'll ever get time for recreational reading again.

Given what I think I know of your taste in fiction- if you ever need recommendations, lemme know. Cause I've read a lot right in that wheelhouse.

Please feel free to shout out any recommendations at any time, Josh! I think I found the Jack Reacher series from a recommendation in a similar thread at the last forum. I think dodint (Nate?) suggested the Reacher series. Is he still around - under a different name, maybe?

I started the Bosch books with "The Black Box" from...(checks Wikipedia)...2012, so it's far from the first. Next up is "9 Dragons", also on audio book from the library. I'll keep an eye open for "The Concrete Blonde" as well.

Lately I've had one audio book going at work for periods of dull data entry and other semi-mindless activitiy, and another real book (not audio) going at home, which I usually read before falling asleep or whenever I have a few minutes. On a recommendation from another forum, I am about halfway through the first John Puller novel, "Zero Day", by David Baldacci.

Apparently there's a feud going on between Reacher author Lee Child and Puller author David Baldacci. I suspect this might be a clever ploy by authors who might be friends, with each trying to help the other's career as well as his own by creating a controversy where Child is supposedly outraged that Baldacci is writing books so very similar to Reacher novels. And the first Puller novel could easily be a Reacher novel with just some minor details changed - primarily the amount of gear that Puller travels with. He's like Reacher with a Batman utility belt. Other than that, they are pretty much the same guys who do the same things the same ways, or so it seems from half of the first Puller novel. Even the plot of "Zero Day" is a total Reacher plot, at least so far, about halfway in.

Example, which contains spoilers - sort of - about the first half of "Zero Day":

Six foot three John Puller is an Army CID investigator who is sent to a small town to investigate the murder of an Army Colonel and his family. He arrives and quickly forms an alliance with a female deputy sheriff. The local sheriff is an older man nearing retirement. Puller and the deputy eat in diners and quickly come to trust each other and work together to solve the mystery at hand. He drinks lots of black coffee and stays in a cheap motel. He head butts a guy who gives him trouble on the street and breaks the guy's nose. Soon, people are trying to kill Puller to stop his investigation and it's obvious there's a much bigger thing going on than it first appeared. Oh, and there's a local tycoon who lives in a mansion on a hilltop with armed guards at the gate (and probably elsewhere). Undoubtedly that will be the location of the big showdown when Reacher, uh...I mean Puller has to assault a stronghold worthy of a James Bond villain.

That's the standard Reacher formula, for sure! I will say that Baldacci avoids the constant sentence fragments that seem to be Child's trademark. Which is good. :p

And what I didn't realize, even though I had already read/heard all the Reacher novels by now, is that characters named Baldacci and Puller have appeared in later Reacher novels in rather unflattering roles. Details below for anyone who's curious contain spoilers. Don't click if you intend to read "A Wanted Man" and "Never Go Back" but haven't yet.



Quotes from a website that explains it better than I could:

In A Wanted Man, he made Jack Reacher insult and threaten a character named - yeah - Puller. A Deputy Chief named Puller comes into the story when the Sheriff Goodman dies.

•Even in their first meeting, chapter 48, Reacher insults ‘the guy named Puller’ (Lee Child’s words, not mine). He asks Puller, ‘Were you dropped on the head as a baby?’

•In chapter 50, he quips to Sorenson ‘But who’s going to do anything about it? That idiot Puller?’

•In chapter 52, he uses Puller as decoy and when Sorenson laments they might get him killed, Reacher retorts, ‘In which case we’ll be helping the gene pool.’

In Never Go Back, Lee Child makes Jack Reacher injure a man named - yeah - Baldacci! One of the 4 thugs following Reacher has driver’s licence and credit cards in the name of Ronald David Baldacci! Though they’ve run into each other earlier,

•In chapter 46, Reacher confronts Ronald David Baldacci on an airplane and breaks both his elbows in the toilet.

•In chapter 47, he finds out Ronald David Baldacci is a serving soldier and starts to merrily use his credit cards, cash and driver’s licence for himself (and again in chapters 50, 51, 59, 60, 63).

Source: http://www.madmadrasi.net/2013/09/why-is-reacher-angry-at-puller-and.html

I admit to being easily amused, but I find this sort of stuff very interesting. I'll read/hear more Puller novels for sure.

And finally, even though I do have other interests than Jack Reacher, the 20th Reacher novel is due out in September of this year. According to Lee Child in an interview, it will be called "Make Me", which surely is a Reacher-esque title if there ever was one.

Still on my list to read but not yet found at the library: "The Years of Rice and Salt" by Kim Stanley Robinson, "1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus" by Charles C. Mann, and anything else by Simon Winchester, whose books live around 550 on the library shelf. I always check for more audio books read by Winchester but only see the two I've checked out before, and this across six library branches.

I also picked up a biography of Benjamin Franklin but haven't had time to start it yet. I should probably return it before I start racking up late fees.

It's someone else's turn now. What are you reading?

[JoshInKC]

I'm currently starting on Europe's Lost World: The Rediscovery of Doggerland & Mapping Doggerland: The Mesolithic Landscapes of the Southern North Sea by Kenneth Thomson, Simon Fitch, Vincent Gaffney and The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present, and Future of Rising Sea Levels by Brian Fagan along with a ton of journal papers on the inundation of Doggerland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doggerland), the landmass that used to connect Great Britain to the continent.
As far as nonacademic/work reading goes, I'm only really managing a couple of comic books per week - Bitch Planet, Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Sex Criminals, whatever Warren Ellis is working on, etc.
Ideally at some point I'll be able to read actual books for fun again, but probably not soon.

[George]

Dang. That Doggerland stuff makes me feel as if my primary reading interest is picking up the hooker postcards that litter the sidewalks in Vegas by comparison. Which isn't far from the truth, as Lee Child would add.

What's your line of work, if you don't mind my asking?

[JoshInKC]

Archaeology, which in my case primarily means teaching bored undergrads the basics of world prehistory, with a side of research and digging in the summers.
I promise, its nowhere near as exciting as it sounds.

[Random]

Oh hey, one of our Davis friends is in the same business. He's got a consulting gig though, with Far West. Adrian (Adie) Whitaker, if you run into him at a conference or something. :)

[neanderthal]

The Expedition Of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollet.

[Alan P]

The last Reacher book was rather uninspiring. Like Child 'phoned it in'. I can't even remember the title it was that good.

[George]

While at the library yesterday with my daugter and looking for kids' books, I snuck away to the biography section for a second and grabbed "Jimmy Stewart - Bomber Pilot" by Starr Smith. I am about 50 pages into it so far and am enjoying it.

http://www.amazon.com/Jimmy-Stewart-Bomber-Starr-Smith/dp/0760328242

Blurb from Amazon:

Of all the celebrities who served their country during World War II -and they were legion -Jimmy Stewart was unique. On December 7th, when the attack on Pearl Harbor woke so many others to the reality of war, Stewart was already in uniform - as a private on guard duty south of San Francisco at the Army Air Corps Moffet Field. Seeing war on the horizon, Jimmy Stewart, at the height of his fame after Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and his Oscar-winning turn in The Phadelphia Story in 1940, had enlisted several months earlier.

Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot chronicles his long journey to become a bomber pilot in combat. Author Starr Smith, the intelligence officer assigned to the movie star, recounts how Stewart's first battles were with the Air Corps high command, who insisted on keeping the naturally talented pilot out of harm's way as an instructor pilot for B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators. By 1944, however, Stewart managed to get assigned to a Liberator squadron that was deploying to England to join the mighty Eighth Air Force. Once in the thick of it, he rose to command his own squadron and flew twenty combat missions, including one to Berlin.

[Taimar]

Just finished:

Island at the center of the world - Russell Shorto. A fascinating history of the influence of New Amsterdam on the history of the United States. Really and truly a great read.

The Intuitionist - Colson Whitehead. I'll never look at an elevator the same way, for one, but also, it's also an approachable novel about Race and history in America. Alot of great stuff there.


Now:

What it was - George Pelicanos. Nice little hard boiled pulp, set in 1972 Washington D.C., primarily. A good read but a little too heavy on ephemera. If you see it at the bookstore,, you can't miss it, it has a big picture of a red 1971 Plymouth Sport Fury GT on the cover (it's related to a character).

[George]

At the recommendation of my brother-in-law, a Jack Reacher fan too, by the way, I am enjoying Walt Longmire audiobooks from the library.

Heard so far:

A Serpent's Tooth
The Spirit Of Steamboat
Wait For Signs - a collection of short stories
The Dark Horse - just finished this one. My favorite of the bunch so far, but they've all been great. Lots of unexpected twists.
Death Without Company - just starting this one.

These are a series of modern-day westerns set in Wyoming. Everything I've heard so far has been terrific. They're as good as the best Reacher mysteries, and the ones I've heard so far haven't been quite as gory as some of the Reacher stuff, and a bit more believable.

I'm also reading the second John Puller novel, "The Forgotten". The Puller character is a blatant Reacher ripoff, but Reacher isn't all that original either. I'm perhaps a quarter of the way into it and can't wait to read more. It's typical tough guy stuff where one huge dude takes on all kinds of bad guys while trying to solve a bigger problem, and, like Longmire too, we're not always sure what the bigger problem is for a good part of the story.

[Random]

Finished up "My Twenty Years of Racing," Juan Manual Fangio's autobiography. Lightweight, but interesting.

[Freude am Fahren]

I just started The Girl Who Played With Fire on my vacation last week. Good read so far. I should go back and read the first one after the third. I skipped it since I saw the movie :|

[George]

"The Escape", by David Baldacci. It's the third and most recent John Puller novel.

Next will be another Walt Longmire novel by Craig Johnson, hopefully. I really like those, and thankfully there are several I haven't read (or heard on audio CDs) yet.

[Taimar]

Right now:

"From Emporer to Citizen" - the autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi. It's interesting reading for sure - hard to tell sometimes what he's writing for factual information and what he's writing because that is what his minders, he'd only been out of a re-education camp for a few years and was under the close watch of the party, wanted him to say.

Also:

"A full life" - Jimmy Carter. I met Carter but meeting him required buying the book, although actually it's not bad. Breezy recollections.

[George]

Carter came to Denver on his recent/current book tour. I wanted to go but had another obligation, and it was pretty far away from my part of town as well. I would have liked to get an autographed copy as well as have an excuse to shake his hand, if he does that with the unwashed masses at book signings, and share a brief second with a part of history. I was a long way from voting when he was president, and it seems like all the adults grumbled about what a terrible president he was, but he sure has lived, well "a full life".

I've only been to one book signing, and that was to get a signed copy of "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" by Doris Kearns Goodwin as a gift for my father. I assumed I could just stroll in, buy the book, and find her seated behind a table, ready to sign it. What I didn't know what I had to endure an hour and a half lecture by the author in a hot and overcrowded basement auditorium that was standing room only by the time I got there, and then stand in line with probably 200 people to have the book signed. Oh well - Dad liked the book and that's all that matters.

Speaking of autographed books, I recently discovered one on my own bookshelves. It was a book my Dad had and I expressed interest in reading it once, so he gave it to me. Recently I pulled it out after watching the movie Jaws on cable TV. After seeing the scene on the boat where Quint tells the story of the USS Indianapolis, I thought it was finally time for me to read the book "Abandon Ship!", which is the story of her final mission. I was surprised to see the author's signature inside the front cover, or one on of the first blank pages: "Richard F. Newcomb, 1958".

Most of you guys are probably too high-brow for the kind of action/adventure stories I like, but let me say the third and most recent John Puller book, "The Escape", was great. Having read the first two books in order helped me enjoy the third more than I might have otherwise. Toward the end I thought it would make a good movie, too, sort of along the lines of a Jason Bourne or Mission Impossible movie.

Now I'm back to Wyoming with the slower-paced and less violent but still excellent mysteries of Sheriff Walt Longmire by author Craig Johnson. Currently listening to "Death Without Company" from the audio CD section of the library, and I have "Kindness Goes Unpunished" and "Hell Is Empty" already ripped for future listening.

[George]

Oh, and a reminder for Jack Reacher fans - the twentieth novel, "Make Me", comes out next month according to The Googles.

A blurb about the plot looks like this one is a mixture of...

...classic rural and urban Reacher.

"“Why is this town called Mother’s Rest?” That’s all Reacher wants to know. But no one will tell him. It’s a tiny place hidden in a thousand square miles of wheat fields, with a railroad stop, and sullen and watchful people, and a worried woman named Michelle Chang, who mistakes him for someone else: her missing partner in a private investigation she thinks must have started small and then turned lethal.

Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins every step of the way—right back to where he started, in Mother’s Rest, where he must confront the worst nightmare he could imagine.

Walking away would have been easier. But as always, Reacher’s rule is: If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to make me."

[JoshInKC]

Regarding the Jack Reacher books, in the most recent edition of Warren Ellis's email newsletter, he wrote this: (Bolding mine)
So, I have this semi-regular guilty pleasure. I read Jack Reacher books. No, no. Don't leave. Lee Child is one of the best carpenters there is. A natural tree-splitter who can cleave language into regular functional blocks with single swings like a folkloric lumberjack. Bang bang bang. No splinters, no dust, nothing left over. Everything fits into everything else. From a writer's point of view, these books are often little masterclasses in the design, whittling and assemblage of a thriller. PERSONAL is no different, except that Child reaches into the first person. Because the book's called PERSONAL, right? Jack Reacher, essentially a giant genetic freak who runs on coffee and murder, usually prowls the United States looking for people to explode and strangle, but this time he has to go to Paris and... well, Romford. The trip is actually to London, but he ends up in Romford and Chigwell for the most part. All of which is 45 minutes up the rail line from me. Also, of course, I'm an occasional visitor to Paris. So perhaps you won't derive the hilarity from this caper that I did, but it is still a remarkably well-built object worthy of study.

As per usual, pretty much everything Warren says is accurate. A good thriller can be some of the tightest and most efficient works of long-form fiction, which (I think) is why they can appeal to among the highest-brow readers.
Sign up for said newsletter here (http://orbitaloperations.com/), and check out some of his other writing at morning.computer (http://morning.computer/).

[George]

He does indeed run on coffee and murder! :up:

I think that's a big part of his popularity - he does stuff readers couldn't do, or certainly couldn't get away with doing. John Puller is equally tough and skilled, but more law-abiding than Reacher. Of course there's a reason for that.

I didn't like "Personal" as much as some, but generally I do like the first-person flashback Reacher stories such as "The Affair" and "The Enemy", and of course, "The Killing Floor", in which all he wanted to know was how and where a famous musician died. I thought of that when I read the part about what he wants to find out in this new novel (hidden behind my spoiler tag above). I can see him in this new book just getting off a bus somewhere because he was curious about something, as he has done before.

I don't know if anyone will be trying to run Reacher out of town in the new book, but of course that's the one way to get him to stay.


PERSONAL is no different, except that Child reaches into the first person. Because the book's called PERSONAL, right?

Well, no. At least not as I see it. I remember when I first discovered Reacher, from right here in this thread, or a previous version of it at a prior GTX forum, I found the wikipedia page about Reacher novels and saw that some are in third person and some are in first. Huh? How can that be, I thought. But it works, somehow.

Seems to me the third person books are like an observer describing to us what Reacher is doing right now. I'm reminded of one book in which Reacher is stalking the bad guys outdoors, and the narration keeps saying: "Reacher. Alone. At night. With a gun." in between the action. Funny.

The first person books seem to be Reacher remembering what he did in the past and telling the reader. Perhaps I think that because at least two of the first person books are clearly set in the past, before the events of the first Reacher novel.

I have read two short stories that are obviously set in Reacher's distant past (childhood and teenage years), but I can't remember if those were first or third person.

[JoshInKC]

I'm reminded of one book in which Reacher is stalking the bad guys outdoors, and the narration keeps saying: "Reacher. Alone. At night. With a gun." in between the action. Funny. I read that one and remember chuckling at that repetition.

[George]

My wife brought home "The Time Traveler's Guide To Elizabethan England" by Ian Mortimer from the library, but I think I'll finish it before she does.

Wow, if you think times are hard and the world is too violent and scary these days, just thumb through that book. It will make you feel lots better about the world we live in today.

I have also now completed eleven Walt Longmire mysteries, one of which was a compilation of short stories. Good stuff. They're quite entertaining, without the breakneck pace of a Reacher novel or other "all action, all the time" stories, like Louis L'amour, perhaps. They're not slow and boring, but Longmire is an older man, compared to some action heroes, and I think his more contemplative nature reflects that.

[George]

I started the latest Longmire novel, "Dry Bones" on audio CD from the library this week. So far, so good.

Be warned, here I go again with the Jack Reacher...

I was a different part of my county today and saw a library branch I didn't even know existed. I went in to look around and found a few good books for bedtime stories for the kids, and then, certain it wouldn't be there, because it never has been, I wandered over to the C section in Fiction and found the 20th Reacher novel. It's titled "Make Me", and it came out in 2015. I have been hoping to find the audio book on CDs instead, but that probably has a waiting list a year long. I figured a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, right?

I read the first two chapters almost immediately and would like to share my thoughts, briefly. No spoilers, I promise. Not a word about anything in the book - just my impressions after reading them. Still, I'll spoil it, so those (like me) who like to know absolutely nothing about a book they're anxiously awaiting to read can skip it if they choose.



The last two Reacher novels, "Never Go Back" and "Personal" were okay, but just okay. I mean, any new Reacher is better than no new Reacher, but I'm hoping for another "can't wait to read/hear more!" and "oh, no, it can't be over! No! I need MORE!!!" book with this one, like some of the previous Reacher books that were so good. Sort of like how I imagine AC/DC and ZZ Top fans, I want more of the exact same stuff as before. Change the words a bit, sure, but give us the same song, over and over.

If anyone said, "I don't understand this Reacher guy. You say he's a drifter who doesn't look for trouble, so just how does he get sucked into all these crazy adventures?"

This book is what I would hand them to answer that question. The first two chapters are simply perfect. Let's hope the rest of the book lives up to the first few pages.

[Freude am Fahren]

Just finished Ready Player One. I really liked it. Unfortunately I'm about 5-10 years too young to get all of the references from memory, but I still really liked it. When I was reading it, I thought it would be really fun to make it into a screen play (a secret fantasy of mine is to write a movie, and yeah, I actually have some training background, and no, I don't hang out at Starbucks). Turns out it's been done by the author himself (Ernest Cline), and Speilberg is directing. Right now it's schedules to be released the same day as Avatar 2 and Episode VIII.

Starting my next book tonight or tomorrow; just picked up The Gunslinger. I figure it's about time I read the Dark Tower series.

[thesameguy]

Hang out at *$ more and you'll have that screenplay in no time!

[George]

I finished the latest Jack Reacher novel "Make Me".

My very short review, which contains no mentions of anything in the book, just my opinion:



Good stuff. Sure, I'm biased, like a starving man handed the meal of his choice, but I think this one deserves a grade of B+, at least. I'd love to mention a couple things, but won't. Reacher fans: read it. Or listen to it on audio book, which takes longer and therefore prolongs the enjoyment.


With this last book, I've (finally) figured out what it is about Reacher stories that are so much fun. No spoilers here - just a couple things that are surely common knowledge about the character by now, and I'll compare Reacher books to James Bond movies (I've never read a James Bond book).

Like Bond, Reacher usually, if not always, has a showdown with the bad guys toward the end. Sometimes those are almost disappointing in comparison to the rest of the story.

What's cool about Bond is the beginning through middle parts of the movies - how he tosses his hat on the hat rack in Miss Moneypenny's office, his banter with her, M treating Bond like a naughty schoolboy, Bond checking out Q's latest gadgetry - with a bit of the naughty boy routine there too (Q: Don't touch that!), and then his suave ways with the ladies and smoothly getting close to the bad guy, etc. All the Bond movies that I've seen (I haven't seen the last few, since Brosnan got the role) have most of these things in common.

Reacher stories work the same way. I think it's common knowledge by now he carries no luggage, lives nowhere, eats in diners and drinks coffee like it's going out of style, buys new clothes and throws away the old, typically travels by hitchhiking or taking a bus, and usually gives the minor bad guys a chance to walk away before making them really, really wish they had...if they survive the encounter.

So I say it's not the destination that matters. It's the journey to get there that is the most fun.

My last word about "Make Me":

The journey is good in this one, and pure classic Reacher just like I had hoped it would be. Critics may say they've read this book before, and a couple times, at that, but the journey in this one was just what I was hoping for.

[George]

I finished the latest Walt Longmire book "Dry Bones" yesterday, and I'm quite sorry it's over. For any who haven't read any Longmire mysteries but would like to, I suggest reading them in the order they were published. There is quite a cast of characters in his professional and personal life who appear in multiple books. The development of these characters is best enjoyed as it happens, rather than trying to figure out things like "who's that, and why is it important that such-and-such a thing just happened?"

And a word about Walt's lifelong friend Henry Standing Bear - is there a better friend/sidekick/guy who's "got your back" than Henry? He reminds me of Mr. Spock in a lot of ways - interesting because he's from a different culture, but loyal, intelligent, perceptive, and very dangerous, when he needs to be. I haven't seen enough of him on TV as portrayed by Lou Diamond Phillips, but the man is a total badass in the books, but also the coolest guy around, when it's not time to kick ass.

No actual spoilers below, but some observations about "Dry Bones" that those like me who want to know nothing at all about books and movies they haven't read or seen yet will want to avoid.


There were a couple surprises in "Dry Bones" that I don't think would have nearly the impact they did had I not "known" the people involved so well from reading the previous books. I love how the author now has us (or at least me) excited and nervous about a situation that Walt will almost certainly have to face in an upcoming book. It seems like most of the other books just end, and that's it, until the next one, but "Dry Bones" has me very impatiently waiting for the next one(s) to find out what's going to happen with a situation I just wish I could mention, but won't.
The next Longmire book will apparently be called "An Obvious Fact" and is due out in September, 2016.

Up next for me on audio book from the library: "The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the Winning of World War II" by Winston Groom.

[George]

Up next for me on audio book from the library: "The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the Winning of World War II" by Winston Groom.

Finished "The Generals...". Pretty enjoyable to this history and WWII buff, and while not all new information to me - especially about Patton - I learned quite a bit. I didn't know much about George C. Marshall at all.

Next I re-read a couple Louis L'amour books and found them wanting the detail I've been getting from more modern fiction writers, but still better than staring at the walls when in the reading room.

I'm about to finish the audio book "It's A Long Story", the autobiography of Willie Nelson. It's good fun from a guy who you just have to like. I mean, who doesn't like Willie?

I stopped at the library on the way home from work tonight and found a real gem: "Pacific", written and read by Simon Winchester. I didn't even know it existed, but it makes sense, given his previous book "Atlantic." I've heard that and another audio book read by Winchester and I really enjoyed his storytelling style. He's as good of a reader/speaker as he is a writer. He's like that favorite teacher or professor that hopefully we all had a least one of whose classes were as entertaining and enjoyable as they were educational. I can't wait to start it - probably tomorrow.

The subtitle of the book on the CD booklet is "Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers." Whew.

[George]

While at the library, I also got a book - yes, a real book instead of CDs - "Krakatoa" by Simon Winchester. I don't know if I'll have time to read it at home but it really interests me. Wish I could find it on audio at the library.

New job, new library.

I went to the main Denver library branch downtown last week and got a Denver library card, to go along with two others cards I carry daily from nearby suburban counties. Guess what I looked for first? Yep, they had it, and it's great.

I have lots of time on the train these days to listen to books on tape and I'm enjoying "Krakatoa" - read by the author, of course - so much. I tried the book but it just didn't capture my interest as much as the audio version does. Just as importantly, I have time to listen to audio while commuting and doing boring work at work, but not so much time to sit and read a book at home.

I love this guy. He's the king of the backstory. Someone, tired of my long-winded prequels of a "guess what happened" kind of story, once said to me, "Damn, George, when you tell a story, you tell THE WHOLE STORY!" As most of you who read my ramblings here know, he wasn't paying me a compliment.

Well, I'm saying that about Mr. Winchester and I do mean it most complimentarily. I love his style. Here we have a book about a volcano that erupted in 1883, but before we get to hear about that occurrence, we get to hear him wonderfully articulate his own work for six (6!) audio CDs of background information, including - but certainly not limited to - the fall of the Roman Empire, the pepper trade, his trip to Greenland in 1965, how gas lamps work, all about Lloyds Of London, and much, much, oh-so-very much more. I'll probably think of eighteen other things that you'd think would have nothing to do with a volcano but actually do that I should have listed here after I post this, but I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who may be interested. :lol:

Next on my reading/listening list: any audio book that I haven't heard already that's written and read by Winchester...at least until the new Jack Reacher and Walt Longmire books come out later this year.

[Alan P]

Got an ebook copy of Moneyball. If you're at all interested in baseball it's a great read. Rather different to the movie too.

[George]

Below is a link to a recent article from The New Yorker called "How Jack Reacher Was Built".

There are some spoilers here, including a few hints about the latest novel "Night School", which was just released last week. Mostly these are very minor, but it does mention the ending of the book "61 Hours", if that's important to anyone.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/11/14/how-jack-reacher-was-built

Recommended for people like me who enjoy all things Reacher.

[George]

Maybe I should mention a real loser of a book (audiobook, actually) that I suffered through about three-quarters of before having to quit out of sheer exhaustion: "Maphead", by Ken Jennings. I confess it was the reader of the audio book that annoyed as much as the author - if you're going to read a book about maps, cartography, geography, and the nerds who obsess over same, you could at least make an attempt to pronounce places and historical names correctly!

A few examples that I unfortunately cannot forget: Hue, Vietnam, pronounced like the color variant that rhymes with blue; the River Thames pronounced as it's spelled, rhyming with James; and the last name of Samuel Pepys pronounced "peppies".

Yeah, I know this makes me sound like a snob, but to me, those things are common knowledge. My wife agrees, so I can't be the only one.

Other things I've read and am reading:

"TransHuman" by Ben Bova. Science fiction. Like other Bova audiobooks I've heard, this one kept my mind busy during my twice-daily 45-minute train commute, but it doesn't stand out as excellent in my mind. I was glad when it was over.

"The Churchill Factor" by Boris Johnson. Another biography of Churchill. Somewhat repetitive, but as with them all, I learned a few things...such as the author's claim that one hundred books about Churchill are published every year. Wow. I've read a couple and will probably pick up another eventually.

"The Highway" by C.J. Box. Crime drama. Excellent. Had me wishing for a sequel that I could have started immediately.

The Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box. Pickett is a Wyoming game warden. I thought it might be a Longmire clone, but it is not. Pretty good so far.

More later. Life interrupts.

[tigeraid]

Getting a little into this ditty, recently:


https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41ousrSpn9L._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


https://www.amazon.ca/Future-History-Arctic-Charles-Emmerson/dp/1586486365


A little scary, but also optimistic, and along the lines of what I've been saying for a long time: thanks to climate change, the Northwest Passage is gonna be BIIIIIIIIIG shipping business some time in the next 20-30 years.

Especially now that that orange tit is in charge and will set our environmental progress back 50 years. :smh:

So I suppose we Canadians (and Alaska for that matter) should see a silver lining in our ruination of the world.

[Rikadyn]

scholarly articles on the rise of nationalism...that is all i have read in the last two weeks, except for a couple on the culture of karoshi in japan, which is an odd topic to read about as you overwork yourself

[Drachen596]

Anyone know of a good site or way to find a book if you only really know what the thing was about and not an author or title?

There's one I enjoyed years ago that I can not remember the information on except cover design and what the book was about. Cover was gray/silver with i think a red color for the title and author name. picture of the aircraft the book was about, it was an attack VTOL design with ducted fans on the wing tips and all black stealth looking. 95% sure it was called the Osprey in the book.

Book was about a group of Air Force guys testing these and being tossed into a middle east war similar to either of the Iraq ones.


Edit- this book is most definitely out of print. i boutght the copy i had at a used book store that has closed since. It was Dale Brown or Tom Clancy in style. Futuristic weaponry on a 'current' battle field type thing.

[Freude am Fahren]

The War in 2020 by Ralph Peters?? (https://www.amazon.com/WAR-2020-Ralph-Peters/dp/0671676709/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=)
http://brianjnoggle.com/bsgfx/warin2020.jpg

[sandydandy]

Gonna start reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Bought it a couple of days ago. Looks like a weird sci-fi thriller that could be turned into a movie.

[Drachen596]

I dont think thats thebone im looking for based on the description. Google and such arent much help but damn can they find movies and songs by a single line.


Sony owns the rights and is making a dark matter movie

[sandydandy]

Oh that was a total guess on my part about it becoming a movie. Maybe I should hurry up and start reading. Sometimes it takes forever for me to start a book.

[George]

I continue to go through a lot of audio books from the library. Most are enjoyable but not so much that I feel like I need to bore you guys with every one.

Occasionally, however, one comes along that really impresses me. The latest of these was "Catch Me If You Can" by Frank Abagnale. The book was different enough from the movie to keep me completely entertained and looking forward to what would happen next right up until the very end.

[SkylineObsession]

http://rcdn-4.fishpond.co.nz/0085/094/005/239061698/6.jpeg
Linky (http://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Zero-to-60-Tony-Quinn/9781775538882?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=ps&utm_campaign=NZ&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm4zau4uS1gIVhAgqCh1JGAk8EAQYAiAB EgKlFfD_BwE)

Tony Quinn's book about his life, how he made his millions, and how/why he built a racetrack in the South Island of NZ, and bought one in the North Island. If you know anything about him/have seen him talking on TV etc, the book is written by him exactly how he talks. :)

Quite an interesting read. I've seen him a few times at his Highlands Motorsport Park racetrack (my favourite place to go in the South Island) and complimented him on the track once; "Thanks" (wasn't expecting much more of a reply that day, considering it was a day he was racing his Aston GT car later on, along with a million other things he was doing).

Thinking of getting the latest Phil Collins book at some stage too.

[George]

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519txUuR0kL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I'm home on a snowy day reading No Middle Name from the library. I just finished "James Penney's New Identity". That story blew my mind. I just had to log in and tell you guys about this book, in case any Reacher fans here are unaware of it. It came out in 2017 and it contains twelve stories, several of which are new to me.

A+

[Leon]

Quin isn't making many North Island friends at the moment, as the price to hire Hampton Downs, and restrictions on who can use what have apparently changed markedly.

I guess that's the difference between a car club / enthusiast group owning a race track, compared to a maximise profit businessman.

[George]

My first Elmore Leonard audio book. It is riveting, so far. A real "page turner", as they say.

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fd20eq91zdmkqd.cloudfront.net%2Fass ets%2Fimages%2Fbook%2Flarge%2F9780%2F7538%2F978075 3822449.jpg&f=1

[George]

"Pagan Babies", from my previous post, was very good. It had a few plot twists that I didn't see coming, which is always fun.

Then I tried "Djibouti", from the same author, but just couldn't get into it. The first two CDs were all talk and no action. Maybe I'll try again in the future.

I go through a lot of audio books that aren't worth mentioning, but I just picked up one at the library yesterday, heard the first half of the first CD in the car on the way home, and I can already tell I've found a good one: "The Man From The Train", non-fiction by Bill James.

The book is about a bunch of murders all around the country in small towns near train stations that were never solved, and apparently also not connected as being related, by law enforcement of 100+ years ago. Apparently the author has figured it all out. It's an interesting topic to me, and a reminder of how life used to be before there were digital video cameras recording everything everyone does.

I also picked up an actual hardback book (*gasp!*) instead of an audio book, just because I'm tired of looking for the audio book in several libraries over the last few months and not finding it yet: "The Midnight Line" by Lee Child - the 22nd Jack Reacher novel. It's such a treat to get a new Reacher novel and read the first chapter which invariably describes how Reacher finds himself in his next adventure, including the author's strange sentence construction that would drive an English teacher nuts but works in a hard-boiled crime story.

I've learned from previous experience that once I finish the printed book, the audio version will finally come off all the holds and I'll find it sitting on the shelf pretty soon. I'll check it out and burn the CDs for later listening on my mp3 player in a few months, after the details of the story have faded and I'm ready to hear someone else read it during my commute time on the train.

[dodint]

George, ever heard/read Replay by Ken Grimwood?

[George]

Yes! One of my all-time favorites. Certainly on my top ten list, if I had such a thing, and near the top.

Why do you ask?

P.S. Check out post #56 of this very thread. :D

http://gtxforums.net/showthread.php?99-What-are-we-reading&p=25827&viewfull=1#post25827

[dodint]

It's one of my favourites, and thought you would enjoy it. Very nice.

[George]

Thanks for thinking of me.

I must tell this story: I first found "Replay" on a bookshelf in the apartment of a girl I knew around 1990 or '91. I guess we must have dated just long enough for me to finish that book and I loved it. I think it messed my young mind up for a while by letting me think that... (a plot spoiler, sort of, follows)

...nothing really mattered, because there was all the time in the world to live one's life, and because the wrong decisions could be made right again. I had just finished college and didn't really have a plan for my life after my first choice of career fell through. That book did not fill me with a sense of urgency to get things done and get on the fast track in life.

I never owned the book; I just read her copy but the memory of the story stayed with me a long time.

Fast forward to 2006 or so. I was working at a company near three used book stores (only one is still in business now in 2018) and I sometimes shopped for books during my lunch breaks. I wasn't looking for that book, as I was into Westerns at the time. I had probably forgotten the name of the book, but I saw a copy sticking out from a shelf as if it was trying to get my attention. I immediately recognized it, bought it, and probably read it twice in a row out of happiness in having found it again, and maybe a time or two after that in the following years.

A couple/few years ago, I most enthusiastically loaned the book to someone who I thought would enjoy it and I never got it back. Or I haven't yet.

Maybe one day, I'll find another copy sticking out from another book store shelf. Those who know the story would agree that would be most appropriate, I think. :D

[George]

I have one last (or one more) "Replay" story, if you can stand it, but I have to go find it. A few years ago I was heavily into Old Time Radio, the same way I'm into audio books now, and I found a radio show from the 1950s that was eerily similar to "Replay". I'm not suggesting plagiarism, nor would I care if it was, but it is possible the author heard the story I need to go find (I can't remember it right now) and it became the basis for that novel many years later. I posted the details on a OTR forum years ago and I no longer have a link to that site, but I will find it and re-post it here if you're interested, dodint. Or even if you're not.

[dodint]

Amusingly I'm almost 100% certain we've had this conversation before, and you recommended the radio show to me, but I've since lost it.

[George]

Amusingly I'm almost 100% certain we've had this conversation before...

How appropriate. :D It was probably lost in some previous version of this forum.

I found my post from 2008 - over 8,000 views and no replies. :lol:

This is from a forum that didn't have spoiler tags, so there are spoilers about "Replay" in plain sight on that page.

http://forums.oldradio.net/ftopic2303.html

A link to the radio version from the early 1950s at archive.org for streaming or right-clicking to Save Link As: https://archive.org/details/Dimension-X/Dimx_e039_TimeAndTimeAgain.mp3

A link to the text of the original story from Astounding Science Fiction magazine in April 1947: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18831/18831-h/18831-h.htm

[dodint]

I have a 14hr drive back to Pittsburgh next weekend, hopefully I'll remember to look at this for entertainment. Thanks. :up:

On the way up here I happened to flip on the FM radio and hit scan; landed on an episode of "Our Miss Brooks" that was quite entertaining. Got to my hotel before it ended though, sadly.

[George]

Hope you get a chance to hear it. I've only been waiting ten years for someone to compare the two works with. :cool:

I need to go listen to it again myself. I wonder if I'll think the same about it now as I did back then.

[dodint]

Downloaded the episode for my trip tomorrow. :up:

[SkylineObsession]

Talbot Odyssey - Nelson DeMille.

All about a Russian attack on the USA, based in New York City. At least that's what i'm getting from it so far.

[George]

Downloaded the episode for my trip tomorrow. :up:

Neat. I really hope you enjoy it, but I'm quite certain after all this hype that you will be completely underwhelmed. That's usually how these things work.

As for me, I was delighted to stumble upon the latest Walt Longmire audio book at the library yesterday - "The Western Star", from 2017.

If anyone here watched the Longmire TV series on A&E and then Netflix, you may remember most episodes were of the "mystery of the week" variety, but there was always some bigger, darker problem going on that we got glimpses of from time to time, and we knew Walt would eventually have to deal with these.

The books, while plenty different from the TV series in many ways, are no different in that regard. Some big trouble started brewing around the third book in the series and has been mentioned a bit here and there in subsequent books. Then, in the second-to-latest book, I think, or maybe the one prior to that, A Really Big Thing happened and the author has kept us uneasily in suspense ever since. The back of the audio book cover hints that this might be the time for the big showdown, but is that just another teaser to keep people reading this book, and the next one, and the one after that? Time will tell, but I'll keep reading (listening) as long as Craig Johnson keeps writing these excellent mysteries.

[dodint]

Southern Gods by John Hornor Jacobs. Really good for a first novel. Good pacing and it knew when to quit. Would recommend it to anyone looking for a Southern Gothic fix.

[George]

I just finished my first Robert Crais audiobook - "The Watchman", with recurring characters Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Standard tough guy(s) crime-mystery, but a good one.

Right now I'm listening to "The Job" by Steve Osborne - non-fiction. He was a New York City cop for twenty years, and this is a collection of his stories about living that life. What makes this audiobook so good is that it's read by the author in his thick NYC accent, so it's somehow more believable and entertaining than if some actor had read it. Very entertaining and somehow lighthearted, despite being about serious stuff.

[JoshInKC]

Those Crais books are pretty decent. I fell off of reading them for some reason after The Sentry, though. A glance at his wiki indicates he hasn't published much since then, so maybe I'll check them out after I get more time. If you like those, I'd recommend the Myron Bolitar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myron_Bolitar) series by Harlan Coben. I'd steer away from his stand alone books - they left a bad taste in my mouth for a variety of reasons.

For my reading in the field this summer, I'm plowing through the Hap and Leonard (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hap_and_Leonard) books by Joe R. Lansdale. They're very funny and full of a lot of heart. They made a tv series out of them which is on netflix, and also highly recommended - the casting is amazing.

[Leon]

"Chasing New Horizons"

Documentary book, about the New Horizons mission to Pluto.

[FaultyMario]

Interested in prophet Jeremiah, any reccos?

[George]

Important Jack Reacher news!

This could have gone in the Watching thread, but I figure the Reading thread is where the people who know the real deal are. The glassy-eyed couch potatoes over in the Watching thread probably think Tom Cruise = Jack Reacher, but we know better. :D

Lee Child set to adapt Jack Reacher novels for TV (but with a taller star) (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/aug/26/lee-child-jack-reacher-novels-on-tv-tom-cruise-archive-public)

[FaultyMario]

A great article (https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/28/how-to-be-human-the-man-who-was-raised-by-wolves) about a man (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcos_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Pantoja) who'd really rather not live with humas.

[dodint]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

Not what I was expecting but it's a bit captivating.

[George]

I went to a Craig Johnson book signing last night and got a copy of the latest Longmire novel, "Depth Of Winter", personalized for my brother-in-law, as I've done once before.

And I'm pleased to learn that George Guidall is reading the audiobook once again. He has read all the Longmire audiobooks so far and I'm glad he's still cranking out audiobooks at the age of 80. I'm now 34th on the waiting list at the library for the audiobook that is shown as "on order". Might be a while, but I'm used to waiting for my favorite titles since I finally learned how to place a hold online.

This inter-net thing might catch on after all.

[sandydandy]

Starting listening to the audiobook “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge. A couple of chapters in and finding it fascinating. It focuses on neuroplasticity, which has graduated from the realm of pseudoscience over the past couple of decades, and is mostly accepted in the mainstream scientific community.

The concept kind of gives you hope that you can overcome most ailments without resorting to drugs. Not that I have any ailments. Just stuttering, which I fucking hate.

[2ndMoparMan]

lately just been re-reading a lot of the Jack Ryan novels. That, and fanfiction. I am nerd.

[dodint]

I realized I had never read a Jack Ryan novel a while back. Read Hunt for the Red October. Was interesting.

I did watch the series on Prime and like it a lot.

[George]

Here I go again talking about audio books in the reading thread, but I finished a powerful audiobook in early November and I am still thinking about it two months later.

Roots, by Alex Haley, read by Avery Brooks on twenty-four audio CDs.

And before that, I heard the Librivox.org recording of The Life And Times Of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, read by some volunteer who did a fine job but didn't really sound the part. Soon after, I happened to see Roots on the shelf at the library and grabbed it as if it were some long-lost treasure I had been seeking for years. And it was. I just didn't know it at the time.

Avery Brooks was superb as the narrator of Roots and I suppose there's not much I can say about Alex Haley's family story that hasn't been said many times before. I remember when the mini-series was on TV in the 1970s and it seemed like that's all anyone talked about at the time. I didn't see it for a variety of reasons, probably - too young for the subject matter, the episodes were on past my bedtime, and so forth, but I remember my parents and probably every other adult back then in a time of just a few TV channels tuning in every night to watch it. I did remember hearing as a child that someone...

WARNING: Important plot point revealed below!


...has a foot cut off

...which was shocking enough that I still remember that after all this time. I think we probably talked about it in school as well, but none of that prepared me for the intellectual and emotional experience of hearing the book performed by a talented actor. And by the way, despite being a rabid fan of the original Star Trek series, I haven't seen any of Deep Space 9 and didn't know Avery Brooks before this.

Here's a strange but true way this book changed the way I think about some things now. I don't know if this is just a temporary thing while it's fresh on my mind or if this kind of thinking will continue.

While watching the 1964 TV show Rudolph The Red-Nosed Raindeer starring Burl Ives with the family this year, I saw the following scene.

Donder, I think it was - one of the reindeer - and his wife have given birth to Rudolph, who has a glowing red nose. All of the other reindeer have black noses. The parents are scared that their offspring will not be approved of by Santa for this and make a dark cover to slide over his nose to cover its red glow. When Santa comes to their cave (the reindeer live in caves) to meet Rudolph, the parents are scared Santa will discover the "defect" (my word, not theirs) and disapprove of him.

This scene could be straight out of Roots.

A silly thought, I realize...but then again, maybe it's not.


I can't think of too many other books that have had such an impact on me. Read or listen to it if you can.

[JoshInKC]

I've spent the last few months re-reading Iain M. Banks' "Culture" novels because they're comforting. For context, it's a series of space opera novels situated within the context of a post-scarcity, post-withering of the state, anarchist utopia. They're really funny and great, and its a damn shame that Banks died a few years ago.

[George]

1493 is a really good text for the public. If you haven't already, I recommend his earlier book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus as well.

I found 1491 on audio CDs at the library yesterday. Better late than never.

[JoshInKC]

That is way back.
In hono[u]r of his passing, I'm currently re-reading John leCarre's The Honourable Schoolboy, which is the middle book in his "Karla Trilogy" and the follow-up to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. He was one of the handful of truly great novelists of the past half-century, and kept putting out amazing books into his late 80s.

[Ashie]

The Long Walk by Stephen King. I'm enjoying it so far considering I normally read physical therapy research papers and books as of lately.

[sandydandy]

My sister got me the novelized version of X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga for Christmas. It was a nice gesture but it was kind of overkill. I have read the comic many times, watched the cartoon and watched two movies based on it. I am all Dark Phoenixed out. I doubt I'll read it, will just put it on the shelf with the trade paperbacks.

I don't read many books anymore...paperback or ebook, as I've taken more of a preference to audiobooks. I'm a better listener than reader, I guess. It doesn't help that my eyesight is slowly deteriorating. Books about astral projection (especially by Robert Monroe), and other "forbidden" knowledge interest me greatly these days.

[JoshInKC]

For pleasure reading I do ebooks exclusively these days - I'm not sure if my eyesight has gotten worse, or if I'm just much more exhausted when I go to bed and have trouble focusing my eyes.

[sandydandy]

Gonna start reading Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Bought it a couple of days ago. Looks like a weird sci-fi thriller that could be turned into a movie. Started on this book again, for the third time. Last time I got 1/3 of the way through, but put it down for some reason. Now I picked it up again a few days ago and have already surpassed where I left off before.

It’s such an engrossing story and I find myself almost speeding through it. I guess either I’ve become a fast reader or novels in general are easier to read.

Did some digging and there’s no movie planned for this book, but instead a TV series on Apple TV. That’s probably the best way to go these days.

I’m almost halfway through the book now and look forward to wrapping it up in the next couple of days.

[FaultyMario]

I'm in Book 11 of The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky was a goddamn genius.

[dodint]

The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever


In 1956, a casual bet between two millionaires eventually pitted two of the greatest golfers of the era -- Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan -- against top amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi.

[Leon]

Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, since there's a TV series inspired by it, arriving shortly.

[George]

Currently listening to this audiobook from the library: Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard (https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Empire-Daring-Winston-Churchill/dp/0307948781/ref=asc_df_0307948781/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312021252609&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2651690665869199057&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028771&hvtargid=pla-473683235754&psc=1)

I'm about halfway through it and it is very good. This author has written two other books about lesser-known (at least to me) history that I hope to find on audiobook as well.

And, realizing I don't much about the Boer War(s) or other African history, I've already found my next audiobook at Librivox.org: The River War - An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan by Winston S. Churchill, first published in 1899 (https://librivox.org/the-river-war-an-account-of-the-reconquest-of-the-sudan-by-winston-churchill/)

I also need to watch the movie Zulu one of these days.

[Tom Servo]

I'm reading The Storm Is upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything by Mike Rothschild. He's one of the better conspiracy theory researchers I've run across and it's a really interesting and pretty scary book about the movement and how quickly it's spread, especially during the pandemic.

[George]

My son just finished reading my paperback Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. He said it's now his favorite book. I am proud, of course, and especially because he has always been more into video games or TV than reading in his free time. We discussed it in depth (since it's one of my favorites, too) and it is obvious that he read the whole thing.

Yesterday, I visited a Barnes & Noble bookstore while gift-shopping for someone and guess what they had on the shelf? Yup. It was first published in 1949 and you can still buy it in a new book store today. I bought my copy at a used book store several years ago and I guess I never thought about whether it might still be in print.

https://i.postimg.cc/bvQggNHy/IMG-8370.jpg

I'm mentioned this book here before, I'm sure, so I'll dispense with the usual praise for it and the link to the condensed but free audio version.

[FaultyMario]

About to start The Road to Unfreedom.

Though I should finish first Where Men Find Glory and Guerra en el Paraíso*, on which I've probably spent more than 3 years.


*A telling of the war against leftist guerrillas in Mexico during the 70s. In a language so beautiful you want it translated to all languages

[George]

After at least a couple months, I have just finished the audiobook Grant by Ron Chernow. At 38 discs long, it is the longest book I've heard on audio. The only others I've "read" that even come close are Roots by Alex Haley (30 discs) and It by Stephen King (35 discs).

I found it fascinating history of a man I've known too little about. Some reviewers say it's not impartially written and presents Grant in too positive a light. All I know is I liked it very much. Just mentioning it in case anyone is looking for a long read about important American (and world) history and many people other than Grant himself.

[dodint]

Wow. My personal record is King's Under The Dome at 30 discs.

Insominia felt like 90 discs but only because it was boring as fuck.

[JoshInKC]

I found it fascinating history of a man I've known too little about. Some reviewers say it's not impartially written and presents Grant in too positive a light. All I know is I liked it very much. Just mentioning it in case anyone is looking for a long read about important American (and world) history and many people other than Grant himself.

I haven't read Grant, but this tracks with the other Chernow books I have read and broader trends in historical political biography. People tend to want to 'spend a lot of time with' (write about for a span of years) figures that they 'like'. Which isn't necessarily bad, but also isn't great if you're looking for the ever-nebulous "objectivity".
If you're interested in a book (or 5) of political history where the author doesn't like his subject but is trying hard to understand him - Check out Robert Caro's books on LBJ. The first volume The Path to Power, is a singular masterpiece, covering Johnson's birth up until 1941. Combined with the other 3 (as yet) published volumes it's one of the great towering literary works of the past 50 years. I can't recommend it highly enough. Caro also wrote The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, which is a combination biography and explanation of urban planning, which is also really good and about a complete asshole.

[sandydandy]

Getting ready to read The Complete TurtleTrader by Michael W. Covel. “How 23 Novice Investors Became Overnight Millionaires”.

Looking forward to it.

[SkylineObsession]

https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/dw/image/v2/BDMG_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-twl-master-catalog/default/dwb3a448b7/images/hi-res/74/8E/R2714375_40.jpg?sw=765&sh=765

Been stuck reading this for a good year or so now i reckon. I've found it harder to read than most other books i've read, simply because he uses too many big words and/or words i've never heard of before! I am not bored by it as Obama is my favourite US president, but yeah - first time reading a politicians book and it seems as though he's putting all the big fancy words he knows into use, at the expensive of readability for laymans. :D

[George]

Check out Robert Caro's books on LBJ. The first volume The Path to Power, is a singular masterpiece, covering Johnson's birth up until 1941. Combined with the other 3 (as yet) published volumes it's one of the great towering literary works of the past 50 years. I can't recommend it highly enough.

I will. Thank you.

I've seen A Promised Land by Obama on the library audiobook shelves and noticed it was read by the author, which is always preferable, I think. I passed it by because it seems like current events compared to the adventure of escaping to a previous century, where I've just spent a long time in Grant. Plus, you can't always trust what former politicians and military leaders say about themselves as they try spin history in their favor.

With tongue in cheek, here's this: Free audiobook from librivox.org: Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant (https://librivox.org/personal-memoirs-of-u-s-grant-by-ulysses-s-grant/). I'm not in a rush to listen to it but might someday. I've skimmed the text online and it looks like it was written in the plain style for which Grant was known. It might appeal to those for whom Obama's prose is too high-falutin' and it's only thirty-five and a half hours long. :D

Quite a while ago, probably in the Politics thread, our friend neanderthal recommended A People's History Of The United States by Howard Zinn. I reserved it at the Denver public library near my office, but they only had Young People's version or something like that. Fine, whatever. They eventually emailed me that it was ready and I picked it up, only to discover one of the discs was missing as I copied them to my PC for transfer to my mp3 player. I took it back and showed the librarians there was a disc missing. They thanked me and said they'd reserve another copy for me. Very nice.

Then a pandemic happened and I forgot all about that book and a lot of stuff from the twenty-teens. I didn't set foot in that library again for more than two years, until recently when they emailed me and said my reservation was ready! It was full version, too - not the one for kids. I am looking forward to it.


...current events...former politicians and military...read by the author...

I also have A Full Life by Jimmy Carter ready to go on my mp3 player.

[neanderthal]

https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/dw/image/v2/BDMG_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-twl-master-catalog/default/dwb3a448b7/images/hi-res/74/8E/R2714375_40.jpg?sw=765&sh=765

Been stuck reading this for a good year or so now i reckon. I've found it harder to read than most other books i've read, simply because he uses too many big words and/or words i've never heard of before! I am not bored by it as Obama is my favourite US president, but yeah - first time reading a politicians book and it seems as though he's putting all the big fancy words he knows into use, at the expensive of readability for laymans. :D

This one is coming up for me. Also, "The 1619 Project," by Nicole Hannah- Jones and "We Do This Till We Free Us," by Mariame Kaba.

[speedpimp]

I was hoping to be reading "Of Blood And Sand" by now, but Amazon totally underestimated the response to the book. Even though it's a somewhat niche audience(pro wrestling) it covers a man and a town(Detroit) during the tumultuous times of the 60s and 70s and the eventual downfall of the territory(long before the WWF started expanding).

[sandydandy]

Listening to the audiobook Best Loser Wins by Tom Hougaard aka “Trader Tom”. Sounds largely focused on the psychological part of trading. Actually so I far I haven’t heard anything different than what I’ve already heard in one of his seminars on YouTube. Hopefully he expands on a lot of his stuff. He’s a fantastic guy.

Next up will be the Satanic Verses - a book I always wanted to read/listen to, despite all the controversy surrounding it and the author. I’m not Muslim but I have friends who are, and I obviously won’t be sharing this endeavor with them. I’m going to listen to it purely from an objective standpoint, because I need to hear and judge for myself if the hatred toward Rushdie is justified or not.

[speedpimp]

I was hoping to be reading "Of Blood And Sand" by now, but Amazon totally underestimated the response to the book. Even though it's a somewhat niche audience(pro wrestling) it covers a man and a town(Detroit) during the tumultuous times of the 60s and 70s and the eventual downfall of the territory(long before the WWF started expanding).

Just finished it. Only took three months as my "Throne Room Read".

[sandydandy]

Started on this book again, for the third time. Last time I got 1/3 of the way through, but put it down for some reason. Now I picked it up again a few days ago and have already surpassed where I left off before.

It’s such an engrossing story and I find myself almost speeding through it. I guess either I’ve become a fast reader or novels in general are easier to read.

Did some digging and there’s no movie planned for this book, but instead a TV series on Apple TV. That’s probably the best way to go these days.

I’m almost halfway through the book now and look forward to wrapping it up in the next couple of days. This post was about Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. I did finish the book a couple of years ago and found it quite excellent.

The TV series is due to be released on Apple TV soon. It’s supposed to be some time in 2023, but the year is almost over. No release date has been announced yet. I’m really looking forward to this. It’ll be a nine-part series and will feature Joel Edgerton in the lead role, with Jennifer Connelly as well.

It’ll be a cool sci-fi series. I wish they would announce a release date already.