ShaqAttaq
Morally Ambiguous
first to die wasn't bad. they got worse quickly. i didn't make it through 4 or 5 & gave up
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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter shuke
- Start date
Juxtatarot
Footballguy
I just finished Goon Squad yesterday. Very interesting. I suppose I enjoyed it. Although "enjoyed" doesn't seems like the right word considering the book's lack of a real plot, depressing theme and unlikeable characters. For those reasons I will be cautious in recommending this: it's certainly not for everyone. Still, I'm glad I read it and will be thinking about the book for a long while.
kupcho1
Footballguy
Patterson is a hack. I'm not sure he even belongs in a book discussion. I just feel bad for the guy that bought a 10 book series.One of my daughter's classmates recommended some Patterson series geared toward young adults (I can't remember the name, but they were kids with wings or some such oddity). I told her he'll start with an interesting premise, but before long, you'll be throwing the book across the room. They'll be a plot "twist" that totally contradicts almost everything that's come before (either from a plot or characterization perspective). Sure enough, that's what happened.Hell of a marketer, but an awful writer (that is when he's actually writing the brands/books he's putting his name on).
Eephus
Footballguy
Just finished Heat by Bill Buford. The stuff in the Batali kitchen was more interesting to me than the author's travels to Tuscany in search of the history of pasta.
Just starting Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides about the MLK assassination and James Earl Ray manhunt.
Just starting Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides about the MLK assassination and James Earl Ray manhunt.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
I am thinking about 95% of the world's corporations would love to be 'doomed to Microsoft status'.I'm no spring chicken myself, but what I see is damn near everyone under the age of 25 using social sites damn near all the time. Which means that Google is doomed to Microsoft status if they don't do something innovative in the social space. Google effectively stopped the growth in desktop computing. Social will do/is doing the same to search.I must be old; I don't understand a thing you're saying.Ask the folks in Egypt and other places with so-called "social" revolutions how useful social is. Don't get me wrong, I don't buy that Twitter and Facebook played as big a role as at the media likes to portray, but it's still very useful.Social is way more profitable than automated cars for a company selling ads. Social is the new search. Just like Google helped define the move from the desktop to the cloud, we're seeing the paradigm shift from search to social. People are at their base social.
It's funny that someone would post in a book recommendation thread on a message board that social is less useful than other things.
facook
Footballguy
Tried So Cold The River by Michael Koryta. I read several really good reviews, but I didn't get it. The idea was great, the execution pretty bland. I gave up on it halfway through, tired of wasting my time not being entertained.
Now continuing my Peter Straub journey with Koko.
Now continuing my Peter Straub journey with Koko.
krista4
Footballguy
Agree about Heat. I found myself zoning out during the pasta parts.Finished Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi and had to wonder why it was so well-reviewed. From the NY Times: "The hero of this haunting and fearless novel moves from self-indulgence to the dissolution of self." I guess from that perspective, it's an interesting book, but I don't think it was particularly well-written. Enjoyable enough, but not great.
At Drifter's recommendation I'm reading A Trip to the Beach: Living on Island Time in the Caribbean, which was written by a couple who chucked their Vermont life and moved to Anguilla to open a restaurant. Very interesting and a good read, particularly if you're thinking of doing something similar.
John Bender
Footballguy
Just finished AWOL by David Miller. Was just okay in my opinion. I picked it up due to an earlier mention in this thread.
I'm not sure how new the book is but Erik Larsens book "In The Garden of Beasts" was 30% off. I absolutely loved his previous work and will be starting this tonight.
I also picked up "A Short History of The World" by JM Roberts and "Reds" by Ted Morgan.
Short History of the world got great reviews and Reds got awful reviews mainly from people who felt it was way too biased as a left wing radical book but I've read almost everything in the Red Scare non fiction genre (Witness by Whittaker Chambers being my favorite) and figured I'd give this a try since I read the Ann Coulter book that defended McCarthy a few years back (I forget the name of it). I'm hoping I can do what I did with Coulters book and see through the biases and use the book to pick up some new facts and perspectives.
I'm not sure how new the book is but Erik Larsens book "In The Garden of Beasts" was 30% off. I absolutely loved his previous work and will be starting this tonight.
I also picked up "A Short History of The World" by JM Roberts and "Reds" by Ted Morgan.
Short History of the world got great reviews and Reds got awful reviews mainly from people who felt it was way too biased as a left wing radical book but I've read almost everything in the Red Scare non fiction genre (Witness by Whittaker Chambers being my favorite) and figured I'd give this a try since I read the Ann Coulter book that defended McCarthy a few years back (I forget the name of it). I'm hoping I can do what I did with Coulters book and see through the biases and use the book to pick up some new facts and perspectives.
roadkill1292
Footballguy
First, a nod to bigbottom or whoever it was many pages back that said some of us only posted the cerebral stuff that we read: I've been reading David Baldacci novels all spring and summer. 
Now I've got my hands on Powering the Dream by Alexis Madrigal, a really interesting look at the history of alternative energy concepts and how those successes and (mostly) failures led us to where we are today. Recommended for anybody interested in this subject.
Now I've got my hands on Powering the Dream by Alexis Madrigal, a really interesting look at the history of alternative energy concepts and how those successes and (mostly) failures led us to where we are today. Recommended for anybody interested in this subject.
igbomb
Footballguy
I'm actually willing to read a lot of garbage and actually read quite a few of the Cross books back in the day, but James Patterson is the hackiest hack I have ever encountered.Absolute dreck.
facook
Footballguy
Early Cross was pretty good stuff. But Patterson definitely transitioned to a "brand" at a certain point, and became unreadable.
PizzaDeliveryGuy
extra sausage
Finished Utopia, I found the biography on Sir Thomas Moore more interesting than the book. The reason I started it was because of the references in 1984 and The Brothers Karamazov, anyway, to keep to a similar subject I am moving on to Republic.
Cliff Clavin
Footballguy
Finished Ghengis Khan and The Making Of the Modern World a couple weeks ago. Didn't know much about him which made the book all that more fascinating. It definitely tries to make him seem less like the barbarian murder which is the common perception. Great read.
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D_House
Footballguy
The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien, is an outstanding book about war and also about how to talk about war. It's never clear here whether the several interlocking short stories that make up this book reflect real events or whether they are creations of the author, but just about all of them touch on some poignant aspect of the Vietnam War experience - the draft, combat, fear, reintegrating into life after the War, etc. Great book.
kupcho1
Footballguy
I agree, a book doesn't have to be Pulitzer prize material to be a decent read.But a book, and even - or I might say especially a series - should have some sort of internal consistency of character and plotting. The first few Cross novels managed this while being interesting stories in and of themselves.They are easy reads - and they hold my interest. I actually listen to them while I am working out at the gym. Not everything has to be pulitzer prize material to be a decent read
But in the 3rd (I think) book when the lead character's friend in the FBI was revealed (in what felt like a tacked on ending) to be the mastermind bad guy, that was it. That "twist" made everything that came before it it wrong. I understand that one willfully suspends disbelief when reading a novel, but that was beyond the pale.
The preceding spoiler was brought to you as a public service to aid in readers avoiding Patterson 
guderian
Footballguy
I'm about two-thirds of the way through Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness. It's a pretty fascinating look into his incredible genius and truly obsessive focus on chess as well as a bit of the history of the game. I'm just getting into the 'crazy Bobby' parts and I was concerned that would slow the book down, but it's still pretty intriguing. Very good book. 
Nate
Footballguy
I've read a couple Genghis Khan books but not that one. Would it have been as good if you already knew a lot of the history?I'm intrigued if only because it attempts to sympathize with the Mongols and Khan and from what I know that's not going to be an easy sell.
phatdawg
Footballguy
In the last couple weeks I have finished the following:
Zeitoun (Dave Eggers) - Well written story about a guy who decided to stay behind during the flooding after Katrina. It was a compelling narrative that I finished in a couple days.
Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand) - Story about Louie Zamperini, a WWII vet who overcame some enormous odds to survive the war. Again, another book I finished quickly because it was impossible for me to put it down. I found it to be about as riveting as anything I have read recently.
I am currently reading:
The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer (Dr. Harvey Karp) - We are expecting and we heard good things about this book. My wife and I are sharing it, so it is taking me a little longer to get through it.
What to Expect the First Year - Again, we're expecting.
Decide to Play Great Poker (Annie Duke) - Because I can't play internet poker and I needed some sort of poker fix. It hasn't been bad, but there isn't anything earth-shattering about her approach.
Zeitoun (Dave Eggers) - Well written story about a guy who decided to stay behind during the flooding after Katrina. It was a compelling narrative that I finished in a couple days.
Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand) - Story about Louie Zamperini, a WWII vet who overcame some enormous odds to survive the war. Again, another book I finished quickly because it was impossible for me to put it down. I found it to be about as riveting as anything I have read recently.
I am currently reading:
The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer (Dr. Harvey Karp) - We are expecting and we heard good things about this book. My wife and I are sharing it, so it is taking me a little longer to get through it.
What to Expect the First Year - Again, we're expecting.
Decide to Play Great Poker (Annie Duke) - Because I can't play internet poker and I needed some sort of poker fix. It hasn't been bad, but there isn't anything earth-shattering about her approach.
Instinctive
Footballguy
Haven't gone to this one yet, but Going After Cacciato (same author) was pretty good.
Eephus
Footballguy
Bobby Fischer Goes to War was a pretty good general interest (i.e. non-chess geek) book on the subject. It focused on the months in Iceland with enough backstory and afterwards to give it context. I don't know what's more bizarre in retrospect: that the sporting world focused on a chess match or that a crackpot like Fischer became an avatar for the United States and its way of life.I'm about two-thirds of the way through Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness. It's a pretty fascinating look into his incredible genius and truly obsessive focus on chess as well as a bit of the history of the game. I'm just getting into the 'crazy Bobby' parts and I was concerned that would slow the book down, but it's still pretty intriguing. Very good book.
Cliff Clavin
Footballguy
I'm not sure if it would be as good if you already know plenty about the Mongols. I only had a rough idea about what they (and their lifestyles) were about. It isn't that that he tries to sympathize with the Mongols. He tries to glamorize Ghengis and his ideals and how the Khan's after Ghengis broke away from those ideals and became more of the barbaric image that is commonly perceived.
krista4
Footballguy
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
This looks interesting but I am confused about what I am supposed to read. Serial, Serial Uncut, or Serial Killers Uncut?
njherdfan
Footballguy
PizzaDeliveryGuy
extra sausage
Reading Crime and Punishment right now.
The_Man
Footballguy
That was one of my favorite books last year. Really fun, quick read. Like The Things They Carried and A Visit from the Goon Squad, it's a series of interlocking short stories. I wonder if that's a literary device that's on the rise - seems like there's more of those than there used to be.Speaking of Tim O'Brien, In the Lake of the Woods is a great book. It's kind of the book you'd expect if you crossed Stephen King with Jonathan Franzen - tense, compelling, and moving.
PizzaDeliveryGuy
extra sausage
While it was an interesting read from a different perspective of a murder and the psychology that was associated with it, I would recommend The Brothers Karamazov over Crime and Punishment by far if you are going to read Dostoevsky. On to some quick reading in Animal Farm as I continue my way through the classics.
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steelerfan1
Footballguy
hi shuke,i got serial uncut
think that is the right 1.
still finishing up another book right now so can't comment on how good it is yet.
njherdfan
Footballguy
I agree that Karamazovis a better book than C&P but I think C&P is a much more "modern" book and that it's a better introduction to someone who has never read any Dostoevsky. I think the plot of C&P is a very good one, and the cat&mouse game between Porifry and Raskolnikov makes for a much easier read.
njherdfan
Footballguy
I really liked The Imperfectionists but I thought it sort of tailed off at the end. I was hoping for something bigger to happen, and I didn't really love the back-story of the founding of the paper, but I thought the opening half of the novel was incredible.
PizzaDeliveryGuy
extra sausage
Animal Farm was an awesome, quick read. Cracking open David Copperfield next.
Foosball God
Foos
I'm on A Clash of Kings from the Song of Fire and Ice series. Good books so far.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Finally finished The Passage. I thought the first 1/3 of the book was awesome. And then, big time meh. It's almost as if a different writer took over when the story moved in time.
And the end completely sucked. I had forgotten that this thing was setting up a trilogy.
Next up: George RR Martin's A Feast for Crows.
And the end completely sucked. I had forgotten that this thing was setting up a trilogy.
Next up: George RR Martin's A Feast for Crows.
kupcho1
Footballguy
Just finished re-reading this. I liked it a lot more the second time through. Maybe because I didn't race through it, but took the time to see if I could figure out what he was setting up down the line.
Urinal Mint
Footballguy
Robopocalypse by Daniel H Wilson
It's reminiscent of World War Z, but told from the perspective of a Terminator-like (and I, Robot-like) uprising by machines. Fun read, and would make a good serial for SyFy I think.
It's reminiscent of World War Z, but told from the perspective of a Terminator-like (and I, Robot-like) uprising by machines. Fun read, and would make a good serial for SyFy I think.
Been a while since I threw out a recommendation, and have probably neglected to offer up a number of books. Regardless, would like to suggest Child 44 which is a great read by Tom Rob Smith. It is his debut novel, set in Stalinist Russia. The protagonist is a member of the MGB - successor to the KGB, who is forced to confront the existence of a serial murderer. According to Stalin, murder would not exist in a utopian society where all are "equal," so to even suggest it would be a crime against the state.
Very well done. Have a couple titles sitting in front of me now, trying to read Robert B. Parker's westerns (R.I.P. to a wonderful writer), and have started Atlas Shrugged. Daunting task ahead, but have always wanted to read it and definitely want to before seeing the movie. Can't help envisioning the scenes from the video game Bioshock though. LOL
Very well done. Have a couple titles sitting in front of me now, trying to read Robert B. Parker's westerns (R.I.P. to a wonderful writer), and have started Atlas Shrugged. Daunting task ahead, but have always wanted to read it and definitely want to before seeing the movie. Can't help envisioning the scenes from the video game Bioshock though. LOL
Interesting to see these two authors paired like that. I just finished Eating Animals by Foer, and I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Kingsolver about a year ago. Two non-fiction books about food — from very different points of view — but each is worthwhile, IMO.
Thorn
Footballguy
Thorn
Footballguy
In the Lake of the Woods was also very good.
Socrates11
Footballguy
Child 44 was excellent. Also really enjoyed his followup, The Secret Speech. Hopefully he'll have another title out soon.
Maelstrom
Footballguy
I'm halfway through the third book (re-reading them prior to reading the new book) and am also taking my time a little more in some places that I probably breezed through the first time.
