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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter shuke
- Start date
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
There's one in there that messed me up more than anything King wrote. And I have no idea why.
SouthJersey
Footballguy
"American Kingpin" about the kid who started the online drug marketplace Silk Road was a really engrossing read.
Shaft41
Footballguy
After starting last summer, I finished the most recent Jack Reacher book yesterday. It's so awesome when you start a new series that you enjoy and you have so many to read, and it makes it sad that now I'm caught up. And now that Lee Child is retiring from the series and turning it over to his brother, I sure hope they're still as good as I've come to expect. I just started "The Drifter" by Nick Petrie, as it was described as somewhat in the same vein as Reacher.
facook
Footballguy
Sand
Footballguy
Somewhere in this thread I named Bob as one of my top three literary characters, though that is sooo cheating.bostonfred said:
I highly recommend to anyone to go read it to find out why.
Currently reading The Wandering Inn 2. Not sure why it's so compelling, but it is. At the same time while I'm painting the house I've been listening to book 9 of The Expanse. Best space opera ever.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Decided to grab a couple Crichton books at the library. I think he and King were some of the first authors that I started in on during my teen years as a jumping point into longer books. Curious how they hold up, and now reading it in the perspective if I think my son would like them. Still holding onto hope that I will get him something that will grab him and get him into reading again. Started with Sphere yesterday.
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bigmarc27
Footballguy
I re-read Jurassic Park a few years back and it was still enjoyable. It’s a quick read. Actually my biggest takeaway was that the movie did a pretty decent job capturing the feel. The book is better, but the margin is much less so than most transitions.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I'm not sure if he's into Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime, but I think it was Tom Clancy for me when I was teen. Clancy's books got a bit longer, but could start off with something shorter like Cardinal in the Kremlin, Hunt for Red October, or Patriot Games. Some good action and suspense.
heckmanm
Footballguy
I was a little disappointed in the last Reacher book (Blue Moon)
It just felt like he was an unstoppable machine this time. Seemed like every idea he had worked the first try, and I never felt like he was in any danger. I mean, you know he's going to win out in the end, but there are usually some twists and turns and "how is he going to get out of THIS one?" moments. I never felt that this time around. IDK if that's Child coasting into the transition, or just a one-off hiccup. Still a satisfying read, but it lacked something.
facook
Footballguy
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
It was the one with the coin-operated guy. Something like 'All I Ever Cared About Is You". I don't know why that one hit me like it did, but that twist at the end........
facook
Footballguy
Cool story, but didn't hit me like it did you. Late Returns and Mums both got to me for different reasons. He's a talented author for sure.
Senor Schmutzig
Footballguy
TheBaylorKid
Footballguy
Space opera has nothing to do with music or singing if that is what you are thinking.
I agree the Expanse is awesome.
Sand
Footballguy
It's the name given to epic adventure sci-fi books set in space. An area of literature I read a decent bit and enjoy.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/55-essential-space-operas-last-70-years/
I remember as a kid reading Rendevous with Rama (which is ####### awesome) and getting hooked into this area.
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Shaft41
Footballguy
I enjoyed it a lot, but I see where you're coming from. I actually thought something very similar as I was reading it. Having read all 24 in a fairly short period of time, I found myself thinking that he seemed to run into a whole lot more trouble, both physically and plan-wise, in the earlier books.
Hov34
Eephus's Great Great Great Love Child
I'm in the same boat. Have read just about all the Reacher stuff so I tried the "David Rivers" series and it's good, very quick easy reads. The last one just came out I think - I've read the first 5.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N2NLNH5?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_0&storeType=ebooks
heckmanm
Footballguy
Shaft41
Footballguy
See, I thought he was hitting a dry spell more later, rather than earlier.I also don't recall him getting laid in EVERY book earlier in the series
heckmanm
Footballguy
Maybe there was a stretch in the middle that I'm thinking of. I didn't go in order for the first 8-10 books.
The last few books it seems like he's batting 1.000
Joe Mammy
Footballguy
All 24 in order. My favorite is "The Affair". He certainly rattled the tracks. That's for damn sure!I also don't recall him getting laid in EVERY book earlier in the series
bigmarc27
Footballguy
Finished The Gunslinger, Drawing of the 3, Wastelands, Wizard and the Glass, and Wind through the Keyhole so far. Wolves of Calla starts today probably.
So far so good. I really enjoy the backstory / young Roland stories in Wizard and the Glass and Wind through the Keyhole. The entire thing is good and have very few nitpicks through the first 2400 pages.
facook
Footballguy
Just fyi and not that it matters, Wind was added after the series was complete. I actually forgot about it. But it's not part of my original ratings.
bigmarc27
Footballguy
Yeah, I knew that it was kind of an addendum but the boxed set I received had it 5th out of 8th so I just kept going. I also used a read order list and it said it was basically book 4.5, almost an extension to Wizard and the Glass. It was good though, I liked it a lot.facook said:Just fyi and not that it matters, Wind was added after the series was complete. I actually forgot about it. But it's not part of my original ratings.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Got through Watchmen as I was watching the show. Not a big a graphic novel guy but this was pretty good. Although it felt pretty disjointed at time.
Finished Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I enjoyed the second half much more, but I just think this was way longer than it needed to be.
Next up is King's The Institute.
Finished Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I enjoyed the second half much more, but I just think this was way longer than it needed to be.
Next up is King's The Institute.
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
I feel like the Dark Tower series is my book version of something like Mad Max Fury Road or something - always gets brought up in the "best of" conversations, but didn't click at all with me. To me it felt like the worst of King battling the best of King and the first part winning out more often than not. Oh well, can't agree on everything.
Been more into the "blockbuster" style books lately. Finished up Sphere, which was better than I remember. Staring at my pile, I am deciding between Lucifer's Hammer, Darwin's Radio, and The Expanse books.
Been more into the "blockbuster" style books lately. Finished up Sphere, which was better than I remember. Staring at my pile, I am deciding between Lucifer's Hammer, Darwin's Radio, and The Expanse books.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
"Best of"........... what?
There's really nothing else to compare it to - in ways both good and bad. I first read it as the books were released, maybe over a period of 25 years or so. With the gaps between books, I didn't notice the tonal shifts nearly as much as readers must today. The last 3 were written in a rush after King almost died and it shows plot-wise - they became almost autobiographical and his thesis on Creator-vs-Art. The plot suffered greatly, IMO, but those last 3 volumes also contain some of his best writing.
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
I mean not great literature or up for the Pulitzer - but the series is constantly brought up as great series to read, or the best of King's work, etc..
The Man With No Name
Footballguy
Anyone ever read any books by Stacy Dittrich? 8 books from 2008-2013. She is a retired Police Detective where I live and the Mother-in-law of a young guy I work with.
Crime novels.
Crime novels.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
Reviews of "The Mirror and the Light" (the last book in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy on Thomas Cromwell) are starting to trickle out, and they have made me even more excited for the book than I was. March 10th can't get here soon enough.
sports_fan
Footballguy
750 pages into The Way of Kings. It’s starting to pick up
prosopis
Arizona Chupacabra
Just finished The Concrete Blonde a Harry Bosh novel by Michael Connelly which I enjoyed.
Just started The Friend: A Novel by Sigrid Nunez - So far I am liking it. Subject of suicide right off the bat which is not something I really want to read about but it has me intrigued pretty quickly. So far it is an easy read.
Just started The Friend: A Novel by Sigrid Nunez - So far I am liking it. Subject of suicide right off the bat which is not something I really want to read about but it has me intrigued pretty quickly. So far it is an easy read.
Eephus
Footballguy
Non-fiction
An Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J.Hoberman combined a history of Hollywood during the blacklist years and film criticism exploring themes of the era (e.g. monster movies, film noir). It was OK but I wasn't as familiar with the films from 46-56 as I am of later periods.
Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West by Christopher Knowlton covered the boom and bust of the cattle business during the open range era. At its core, it's an economics lesson but the West was full of colorful characters and extraordinary tales. Highly recommended.
Fiction
Munich by Robert Harris is a spy story set during the 1938 peace talks between Hitler and Neville Chamberlain. Harris is a but I've always liked but there was too much diplomacy and not enough thrills.
A Long Way from Home (in progress). This is the latest novel by the Australian Peter Carey who's best known for the True History of the Kelly Gang.
An Army of Phantoms: American Movies and the Making of the Cold War by J.Hoberman combined a history of Hollywood during the blacklist years and film criticism exploring themes of the era (e.g. monster movies, film noir). It was OK but I wasn't as familiar with the films from 46-56 as I am of later periods.
Cattle Kingdom: The Hidden History of the Cowboy West by Christopher Knowlton covered the boom and bust of the cattle business during the open range era. At its core, it's an economics lesson but the West was full of colorful characters and extraordinary tales. Highly recommended.
Fiction
Munich by Robert Harris is a spy story set during the 1938 peace talks between Hitler and Neville Chamberlain. Harris is a but I've always liked but there was too much diplomacy and not enough thrills.
A Long Way from Home (in progress). This is the latest novel by the Australian Peter Carey who's best known for the True History of the Kelly Gang.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
Finished Ben Lerner’s The Topeka School. It got a lot of “best book of the year” type of publicity, but I was a bit underwhelmed by it. It is just kind of a dull.
Started Louise Erdrich’s new release, The Nightwatchman. I was recently saying in another thread that she deserves a spot in the conversation of the greatest living American authors. It is a novel about Native American dispossession in the 1950s, based on her grandfather’s experience. Up to her usual standards so far.
Started Louise Erdrich’s new release, The Nightwatchman. I was recently saying in another thread that she deserves a spot in the conversation of the greatest living American authors. It is a novel about Native American dispossession in the 1950s, based on her grandfather’s experience. Up to her usual standards so far.
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bigmarc27
Footballguy
Finished Wolves of Calla and Song of Susannah. Song of Susannah was my least favorite of the books so far. I still thought it was a decent read except for one chapter in particular which I absolutely hated. I think you probably know which one and I could tell what was coming by that point, but the self awareness of it all wasn’t enjoyable.
It hasn’t killed my enjoyment of the 3700 pages so far and I might even come to accept or even like it at some point, but it was pretty jarring.
Onto the Dark Tower!
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Eephus
Footballguy
Ilov80s
Footballguy
My 4 novels that I am targeting for this next few weeks
- Cannery Row by Steinbeck
- Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
- The Recognitions by William Gaddis
- The Luminaries by Elanor Catton
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
I haven't gotten back to the show, but I did start back in on Book 2 of The Expanse series today, and really like it. Good, quick, escapist reading, but there are 8 books. Of course different and more in depth vs the show.
Also still have the first 2 books of the Kingkiller Chronicle I've been putting off reading. I do have a bunch of other stuff too sitting around: Dracula, East of Eden, Anna Karenina, In cold Blood, all the light we cannot see, the Handmaid's Tale sequel.
Maybe it's time to fire up that fbgs book club!
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Ilov80s
Footballguy
Two of my favoritesI haven't gotten back to the show, but I did start back in on Book 2 of The Expanse series today, and really like it. Good, quick, escapist reading, but there are 8 books. Of course different and more in depth vs the show.
Also still have the first 2 books of the Kingkiller Chronicle I've been putting off reading. I do have a bunch of other stuff too sitting around: Dracula, East of Eden, Anna Karenina, In cold Blood, all the light we cannot see, the Handmaid's Tale sequel.
Maybe it's time to fire up that fbgs book club!
Sand
Footballguy
TheBaylorKid
Footballguy
@shader just finished Red Rising on your recommendation. It was really good, thanks for the recommendation. Strong start to a series, can’t wait to read the next one.
