Books: What are you reading tonight?
We have ongoing threads on t.v. and movies we're watching lately; it's time for one for books. daveT's thread on favorite books covers ones we've already read, but let's put ones we are reading/going to read soon or have just finished(i.e., let's make this thread more like a log than a resume) here.
Below is some stuff I've pulled from daveT's thread, where I felt compelled to talk about my recent book-buying craziness, with some new comments.
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I'm one of those guys who will often read many books at once. Right now I'm at various depths into:
Stephen King -- On Writing
textbook on real estate
Ode to Kirihito - supposedly best graphic novel ever done by Japan's best graphic novelist ever
American Splendor (second collection put out after the movie) -- Harvey Pekar, graphic short stories
various meditation books -- Mantak Chia
How to Cheat Your Friends at Poker -- Penn Jilette
Cosmicomics -- Italo Calvino -- another re-read of it
On the burner to read next:
From Hell -- Alan Moore, graphic novel
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and The Palm Wine Drinkard -- some African dude won a Nobel prize for this I think; supposedly absolutely fantastic; the album by Brian Eno and David Byrne certainly was
God is Not Great -- Christopher Hitchens
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I like it for a number of reasons, but I think the one he wrote for internation consumption may have been Kafka on the Shore. Windeup is another of my faves, but Murakami seems to think that the English translator (Rubin?) took the bit in his teeth on this one, and it's not really his novel. There's a whole book called Who Are We Reading When We Are Reading Murakami for diehard fans.
Yeah I also meant to put Rules of Civility on the list, a notch above Moscow for me.
Would also put Skippy Dies up there, may have to make this a top 20 list. Add a Murakami also.
Cloud Atlas might not make my top 3 list of his works: The...Jacob De Zoet is also quite amazing. And I love Black Swan Green as well. They're all great.
Again, for me, 1q84 doesn't measure up to the best of his works.
Just PSA if you haven’t read it. Table for Two ties up some of the Evelyn Ross loose ends from Civility. I found the whole book enjoyable but also quite different from the novels.
lyn alden is regularly made fun of in the crypto threads
Looking for recs on books/blog posts about Walmart…
I’ve read Made in America, but really interested if there’s an equivalent of “The Everything Store” (which is about Amazon) but about modern day Walmart. Quite possible such a book doesn’t exist, but figured I’d ask if anyone here has read something they really like.
2nd Rec from ChatGPT might be worthwhile but it is as of 2012:
Just PSA if you haven’t read it. Table for Two ties up some of the Evelyn Ross loose ends from Civility. I found the whole book enjoyable but also quite different from the novels.
Thank you, I have read it and it was enjoyable.
Co-sign on Kafka on the Shore, would probably make the top 20 list. Wild Sheep Chase is still a big fave of mine.
Started a re-read of White Noise. He's so good.
I've never been a huge baseball fan but I got ahlold of K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner, it's fantastic. He's a really good writer, knows the game up and down, and his interaction with these athletes is pitch-perfect on the human level too.
Yes, that is a very fun book.
Call me biased, but prime Steve Carlton's slider is the best, most unhittable pitch I've ever seen. [Pedro might be right behind that]
Just finished "The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell"
https://www.amazon.com/Bona-Fide-Legend-...
If you're in the Negro Leagues, baseball, or just black history, this is a book for you.
It's written by Lonnie Wheeler of "If I Had a Hammer" fame, so this is a baseball fan's bio.
Uneasy Rider: The Interstate Way of Knowledge by Mike Bryan.
When he's setting up the premise (which seems to be finding the "real America" by way of the Interstate), he uses the term "blue highways" in what I felt was a dismissive context.
Then, he heads out on the road, almost always on I20 and I10 in west Texas. I'm not really sure what the difference is between visiting small towns which happen to be on the interstate vs not.
Reading along, there were a few points where I thought, "that doesn't seem right...", but couldn't be bothered to research.
Then, at one point, he writes about being on the road for Thanksgiving, and seeing the "annual game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions."
Uh, no.
Anyway, it moved along, but not something I'd recommend.
P.S. In case mark's in this thread, the game in question was the Leon Lett blocked field goal mistake, handing Miami the win. Though I guess the Lions could've played in Dolphins clothing.
I'm most of the way through the Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown. I haven't noticed it mentioned here but didn't do a search.
It is an epic sci-fi series that weaves in some fantasy elements in a cool way. I've really enjoyed it. It's fun, fresh and very fast-paced.
6 books have been published so far and a 7th and final book is expected soonish. Based on what I've read I'd say Brown is much more reliable to actually finish his series than Martin or Rothfuss, but maybe not as dependable to hit a date as a Sanderson.
I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the above mentioned authors, or something like The Expanse.
I've been listening to it on Audible and the narration is good.
This is a great list. I haven’t read a few of these.
Not eligible by 3 months: Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Solvable by including it's great sequel Eventide.
Uneasy Rider: The Interstate Way of Knowledge by Mike Bryan.
When he's setting up the premise (which seems to be finding the "real America" by way of the Interstate), he uses the term "blue highways" in what I felt was a dismissive context.
Then, he heads out on the road, almost always on I20 and I10 in west Texas. I'm not really sure what the difference is between visiting small towns which happen to be on the interstate vs not.
Reading along, there were a few points where I thought, "that doesn'
This sounds like a weak response to (and something of a knock-off of) William Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways, (1972), which is a wonderful account of taking a road trip across the US and back, travelling back roads and visiting small towns. A classic of its genre and still very readable. Even better that Travels with Charlie imo.
This was fantastic. Not at all what I was expecting, but really really good. I have added Days Without End to my audible library since it was free there, looking forward to it too.
Downfall
The most bizarre rags to riches story ever. Covers everything about Prigozhin from his 9 years in prison, to getting wealthy selling hot dogs, to warlord in Africa and finally his convict army in Ukraine. Really would seem far fetched if it was fiction.
A Small Stubborn Town
The story of Voznesensk, a town with a very important bridge in southern Ukraine. Instead of fleeing at the start of the invasion the town gathers today and decides to make a stand.
Leon Lett was so good.
Russell, you're right. I think he was trying to counter Blue Highways, but didn't do nearly as well (IMO).
This was fantastic. Not at all what I was expecting, but really really good. I have added Days Without End to my audible library since it was free there, looking forward to it too.
Days without End is also terrific. But I'll read anything Sebastian Barry writes. He's that good.
I last read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by J Weatherford. Great book and I recommend it to any history lover or anyone in general.
I'm liking Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane. First book of his I've read, but I've liked the movies I've seen made from some of his others.
I'm liking Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane. First book of his I've read, but I've liked the movies I've seen made from some of his others.
I recently read his Small Mercies, also my first by him, and I quite liked it. Online just now, I found a blogger saying that Since We Fell is one of his weaker books. He sees his peak work as Mystic River, Shutter Island, The Drop and Gone Baby, Gone.
Online just now, I found a blogger saying that Since We Fell is one of his weaker books. He sees his peak work as Mystic River, Shutter Island, The Drop and Gone Baby, Gone.
This rings true, didn't finish strong at all.
Now I'm halfway thru the new biography of Aaron Rodgers by Ian O'Connor. It's ok, but it's really hitting his estrangement from his family hard. Playing that angle up. I mean, he is a rich talented athlete and a very interesting person as star athletes go. Anyway, I'll be curious to see how his career ends there with the hapless Jets.
Angry Optimist by Lisa Rogak.
A biography of Jon Stewart through the end of his first tenure at The Daily Show.
It was ok. Not a breathless, behind-the-scenes, tell-all book (this is good), but also kinda mediocre. Some interesting tidbits now and then, but mostly just an accounting of his timeline.
Might be worth it for fans, but other than that, just a not-unpleasant quick read.
Count of Monte Cristo is another book I haven't read in years and is next on my list. I was thinking that if it were written today, it would never get published. Too much detail, too deep. More of something you dive into rather than just skim and then condense into a film treatment.
I should read this, but I never tackle thousand page novels. I went through a bunch of quotes on Goodreads a while back and was kind of blow away. So many familiar sentiments vividly expressed in a sentence. I get the feeling there's a lot of wisdom in this one.
the COMC is my all time fav novel just such an epic tale of revenge and so perfectly crafted.
it also makes for a great audiobook just make sure you pick a good narrator and of course the unabridged version.
it's sooooooooooooooo good.
