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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (4 Viewers)

Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.
 
finished Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. It's fitting to start attacking books from kupcho's thread with one of his picks. First time reading this author and I liked it. A detective Lionel with tourette's investigates a crime close to him. The tourettes creates humour but also empathy as we get into Lionel's head. The case itself isn't very gripping, the charm of the story is how Lionel sees things and and how he deals. It's a funny book, there was a part that put me in tears.
 
Just started Swords of Lightning by Mark Nutsch, Bob Pennington & Jim DeFelice. Nutsch & Pennington were members of ODA 595, some of the first members of the military to set foot in Afghanistan in America's response to the 9/11 attacks. Previously I had read Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton which I thought was the only story regarding the first boots on the ground in October 2001. The movie, 12 Strong was loosely based on that book. Swords of Lightning is the same story told through a couple different sets of eyes. Looking forward to it, such an incredible story.

Swords of Lightning
They landed in a dust storm so thick the chopper pilot used dead reckoning and a guess to find the ground. Welcomed by a band of heavily armed militiamen, they climbed a mountain on horseback to meet the most ferocious warlord in Asia. They plotted a war of nineteenth-century maneuvers against a twenty-first-century foe. They trekked through minefields, sometimes past the mangled bodies of local tribesmen who’d shared food with them hours before. They saved babies and treated fractures, sewed up wounded who’d been transported from the battlefield by donkey. They found their enemy hiding in thick bunkers, dodged bullets from machine-gun-laden pickup trucks, and survived mass rocket attacks from vintage Soviet-era launchers. They battled the Taliban while mediating blood feuds between rival allies. They fought with everything they had, from smart bombs to AK-47s.The men they helped called them brothers. Hollywood called them the Horse Soldiers.

They called themselves Green Berets—Special Forces ODA 595.
 
I just finished The Known World by Edward P. Jones, the 2004 Pulitzer prize winner. It's an odd book, at least to me, in that it's more a rambling succession of vignettes than a novel. The subject matter was very interesting and something I was not aware of before reading the book. That is, black people (some of whom were former slaves) who owned slaves on their plantations. The story starts in 1855 with the death of one of the black slave owners, and proceeds with flashbacks to flesh out his origin story.
There are several vignettes that are very, very strange. One has a minor character (the cousin of the local Sheriff) migrating through Lousiana into Texas who comes across one of the oddest collection of characters heading the other way.
All in all, a good book.

87 down / 12 to go

Next up: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the 2005 winner.
 
Don Quixote said:
kupcho1 said:
Next up: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the 2005 winner
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Hope you enjoy as much as I did.
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Sorry GB, but I did not.

It's not the worst of the Pulitzers I've read by any measure. But it just didn't resonate with me. At times it is beautifully written, and telling the story as a father writing to his son (albeit for 247 pages) was interesting. My primary problem with it was that there was too much religion, theology, bible-thumping, etc., for my taste. There was a clever little twist (at least I think that was the intention) that I should have seen coming given the narrator's grandfather was a gun-toting abolitionist, but caught me by surprise.

It's a pretty good book that never really had a chance to displace Faulkner's A Fable as the worst Pultizer winner.

Currently 88 down / 11 to go

Next up, another short one March by Geraldine Brooks, the 2006 winner. If I can keep up my current pace, I'll finish ~ 6/2/2025, but will be happy to do so by the end of June.
 
kupcho1 said:
Don Quixote said:
kupcho1 said:
Next up: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, the 2005 winner
Click to expand...
Hope you enjoy as much as I did.
Click to expand...
Sorry GB, but I did not.

It's not the worst of the Pulitzers I've read by any measure. But it just didn't resonate with me. At times it is beautifully written, and telling the story as a father writing to his son (albeit for 247 pages) was interesting. My primary problem with it was that there was too much religion, theology, bible-thumping, etc., for my taste. There was a clever little twist (at least I think that was the intention) that I should have seen coming given the narrator's grandfather was a gun-toting abolitionist, but caught me by surprise.

It's a pretty good book that never really had a chance to displace Faulkner's A Fable as the worst Pultizer winner.

Currently 88 down / 11 to go

Next up, another short one March by Geraldine Brooks, the 2006 winner. If I can keep up my current pace, I'll finish ~ 6/2/2025, but will be happy to do so by the end of June.
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Sorry to hear that did not resonate. There was a lot of theology in it — that is not typically my style either, but resonated for me anyway because it was more philosophical and it worked in the context of the book for me. And I loved Robinson’s prose. But I can see it not resonating because of that.
 
Beowulf by unknown
a turnjose7 selection in the top 300 thread. I knew the basics going in, a poem about a warrior who hunts down the monster Grendel. According to google it was written "Estimates for the date range from AD 608 right through to AD 1000." It wasn't too hard to follow, but I had to re-read parts especially at the beginning. Also had to search for some terms. The story wasn't a page turner for me but it did hold my interest. Beowulf vs Grendel was only a piece of the story and happened early which surprised me. This is about the life of a hero. It's easy to see the influence it's had.
 
Don Quixote said:
beer 30 said:
Don Quixote said:
beer 30 said:
Don Quixote said:
after I finish the Charlie Wilson memoir
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Go on...

If its Charlie Wilson's War, we're good.
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Different Charlie Wilson. Charlie Wilson of The GAP Band. I’m ranking his songs for the next round of the MAD artist threads.
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The level of disappointment I just experienced is tough to put into words, I am sad.
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Sorry for dropping that bomb on you.
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I know what you did there and it's just rubbing salt in the wound. Next you're going to tell me your reading the autobiography of Gust Avrakotos, you know, the one from Insane Clown Posse.

I hate you more now
 
On The Rocks said:
Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.
Click to expand...
I mentioned to my wife last night I heard about a new book that I was going to read next based on this post. She asked me the title and I told her. She then proceeded to show me the book she is currently reading (same book) and said I can't believe you don't remember me telling you that you need to read this book but when you hear it from the random FBGs you want to go out and buy it right away. Needless to say I am going to wait for her to finish this book and then start it. She says it started a bit slow but is fantastic, she can't put it down.
 
skillz said:
On The Rocks said:
Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.
Click to expand...
I mentioned to my wife last night I heard about a new book that I was going to read next based on this post. She asked me the title and I told her. She then proceeded to show me the book she is currently reading (same book) and said I can't believe you don't remember me telling you that you need to read this book but when you hear it from the random FBGs you want to go out and buy it right away. Needless to say I am going to wait for her to finish this book and then start it. She says it started a bit slow but is fantastic, she can't put it down.
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:lol:

I bought the audiobook based on that post. I figure it's good for a road trip with the wife.
 
Sand said:
skillz said:
On The Rocks said:
Just completed All the Colors of the Dark
Don't let 600 pages scare you away. It's 600 of the easiest pages I have ever read. Great storytelling!

The plot synopsis from the inside flap of the book cover:

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

Loved this book! Highly recommend if this genre flips your switch.
Click to expand...
I mentioned to my wife last night I heard about a new book that I was going to read next based on this post. She asked me the title and I told her. She then proceeded to show me the book she is currently reading (same book) and said I can't believe you don't remember me telling you that you need to read this book but when you hear it from the random FBGs you want to go out and buy it right away. Needless to say I am going to wait for her to finish this book and then start it. She says it started a bit slow but is fantastic, she can't put it down.
Click to expand...
:lol:

I bought the audiobook based on that post. I figure it's good for a road trip with the wife.
Click to expand...
I think good for that. One of those rare books that both my wife and I have read. My wife enjoyed it more than me, but I’m not really someone who goes for the thriller reads.
 
I don't often dive right into the next Pulitzer prize winning book when I put the last one down, but I did so with March (2006 Geraldine Brooks) , but the cover flap description (which I don't always read beforehand) looked so darned interesting.

March is the story of Mr. March, the father in Little Women who has gone South with Union forces as the beginning of Alcott's Little Women. This is his story of the time spent ministering to Union troops (as Chaplain) and as a teacher at a Union captured cotton plantation (his mission being to educate the to-be-paid, rather than enslaved, workforce).

Mrs. March does take the narrative around 2/3 of the way through March, which dovetails nicely with the plot of Little Women, wherein she receives a telegram regarding her husband's health that brings her to Washington, D.C. BTW, I've never read Little Women but might some day having read this "companion" novel.

So that's 89 down / 10 to go; I'm almost at single digits!!!

Next up: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, the 2009 winner (having already read 2007's The Road and 2008's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao).
 
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon was a Dr.Octopus selection. A wealthy man dies and names Oedipa, an ex-girlfriend, the executor of his estate. She hits the road and begins her duties. The craziness starts when Oedipa discovers that her ex was working with the mob and they sold the bones of U.S soldiers from WWII to a cigarette company. This sets off a chain of events that uncovers a century long feud between two postal services. The story was easy to follow but the subtext went over my head. Very funny but also strange. We had people named Pierce Inverarity, Genghis, Fallopian, Dr. Hilarious, and a rock band The Paranoids. It was a short book and I would've finished earlier but I made the mistake of reading this in bed. I needed to be on my toes so I started over. To me it was original and funny.

When creating my list for the countdown I had to search names of forgotten authors to some of my books. Whenever I see Pynchon mentioned it will be "oh that guy."
 
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Olive Kitteridge was a fascinating book (Elizabeth Strout, 2009 Pulitzer winner). I hesitate to call it a novel as it is comprised of short stories that are all interrelated and set in the fictional town of Crosby, Maine. Many of the stories don't really include the title character at all (outside of a reference or a bit of dialog). In fact as I was reading the first story, I wondered why the book was called Olive Kitteridge, as it was about her husband, Henry. But the stories do hang together, there is a chronology (with a big time jump) and a satisfying conclusion.

There are also some great character studies in the book, a whole lot of tragedy (some comedy) and a lot of old married couples with deep dark secrets.

Looking back, many of the Pulitzer winners were turned into movies (e.g., South Pacific, The Age of Innocence, The Caine Mutiny), some of them several times over. It seems the more recent winners are being turned into miniseries. Olive Kitteridge starred Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins (that guy!), Bill Murray, Ann Dowd and Zoe Kazan. I watched the trailer on IMDB and it looks like it was pretty well done. They have to move some scenes around, put characters in places they were not in in the book, etc. But all told, great cast. (BTW, I know that 2017's winner The Underground Railroad was made into a streaming series; that's still to come on my list),

So that is 90 down / 9 to go

Next up: 2010 winner tinkers by Paul Harding. I'm going in blind on this one. I'm not even reading the cover flap.
 
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I really did not expect to be back this quickly, but ... tinkers, the 2010 Pulitzer prize winner by Paul Harding is a very short book (191 pages). Moreover, the dimensions of the book (i.e., page size) is also on the small side. Long story short, it's a quick read.

tinkers (FYI it's in lowercase on the cover, so that's what I'm going with) is a debut novel. You'd think this would be a rare occurence, but in the 99 awarded so far (and yes, I'm including Gravity's Rainbow in that number), it's happend 16 times!

1924: Margaret Wilson, The Able McLaughlins
1930: Oliver La Farge, Laughing Boy
1931: Margaret Ayer Barnes, Years of Grace
1934: Caroline Miller, Lamb in His Bosom
1935: Josephine Winslow Johnson, Now in November
1936: Harold L. Davis, Honey in the Horn
1937: Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind
1948: James A. Michener, Tales of the South Pacific
1960: Allen Drury, Advise and Consent
1961: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
1969: N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn
1981: John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces
2000: Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies
2008: Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
2010: Paul Harding, tinkers
2016: Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer

In any event, tinkers (per Wiki)
follows George Washington Crosby who (synopsis from Wiki) in the days before he dies and his memories from his childhood. The book takes the reader through both George's life as well as his father's, Howard, who sells home goods from a wagon in New England. The reader learns about George's skill at fixing clocks, which becomes a metaphor for life's beauty as well as its fragility. It is about Howard's struggle with epilepsy as well as his own relationship with his father, who was a minister who fell ill when Howard was a boy.
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BTW, Howard's father didn't just fall ill. It's never made clear in the book, but he suffered some sort of mental breakdown and was taken away and never seen again. Howard's wife, increasingly bitter about her lot in life, has enough at one point and leaves a pamphlet for an insane asylum (apparently that's where epileptics went, back in the day) on her bureau for him to see. He takes off, abandoning her and their four children.

tinkers was the first winner to come from a small publisher since 1981 (A Confederacy of Dunces) and seems to have come out of nowhere to win the award. The New York Times hadn't even reviewed it (and they reviewed everything).

All in all, not a bad book. I was hoping I wouldn't like it so I could say something like: tinkers ? More like stinkers.

That's 91 down / 8 to go

Next up would have been 2011's A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, but I enjoyed that one shortly after it came out. It's a great book (#114 in the countdown).
There was no award in 2012 (the last time that's happened, so smooth sailing from here on out). It's on to ... hey wait, I've already read the next four as well

2013: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
2014: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
2015: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2016: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

That leaves me at 2017's The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
 
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