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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter shuke
- Start date
Vegas Trip
Footballguy
Anyone try the Blinkist app? Got a free 1 year trial via AMEX but haven't played around with it yet.
Was re-listening to Wool in the car trying to get may kids interested but but didn't catch on.
My older son has shown some interest in some war topics they've been covering in history so I try Hardcore History - Blueprint for Armageddon out on him while he's trapped in the car with me.
Was re-listening to Wool in the car trying to get may kids interested but but didn't catch on.
My older son has shown some interest in some war topics they've been covering in history so I try Hardcore History - Blueprint for Armageddon out on him while he's trapped in the car with me.
Shatner!
Footballguy
The last few are definitely not up to par with the first dozen or so but I still look forward to them. I need to read the Nora Kelly spin off ones still.
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KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Jutz
Footballguy
Just got done reading Acid for the Children a memoir by Flea of RHCP fame. So, it was pretty good. I like non fiction. It was kind of crazy. I actually believe he wrote it because it isn't written well (from a literary standpoint) and is kind of a collection of short chapters that represent random memories of his childhood. The book covers basically his childhood up to the RHCP first show. It doesn't get into the RHCP years. At the time I started reading it... it was perfect because I just wanted something really easy to read that wasn't too deep. It was cool to hear about his early days meeting and hanging out with Anthony K. I guess I would say one thing I was surprised about was the amount of drug use.
Just started reading Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. Looks pretty cool.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I’ve been thinking about making diving more into Waugh a goal of mine in 2021.
It has been a long time since I read White Noise (currently collecting dust on my book shelf), but I remember liking it.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
I have been wanting to read it for awhile and just never got it. I read on Twitter Noah Baumbach is adapting it into a movie for Netflix and that kind put it on my mind so I grabbed it from the library.
What have you read from Waugh? It was my first. Until I looked at the book jacket, I thought Waugh was a woman.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I think just Brideshead and The Loved One. It has been awhile for both though. Scoop has been on my radar.I have been wanting to read it for awhile and just never got it. I read on Twitter Noah Baumbach is adapting it into a movie for Netflix and that kind put it on my mind so I grabbed it from the library.
What have you read from Waugh? It was my first. Until I looked at the book jacket, I thought Waugh was a woman.
ETA: I just looked at my bookshelf and I have Decline and Fall in my Waugh section too, but I can't remember anything about it. I don't know if that's because I bought it but never read it, or read it and found it forgettable (or if I'm just getting old).
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Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
I think that might be the one where King goes on and on about milkshake bubbles, I might be off on my Stephen King books but I think that's the one. Long book, has its moments.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Manster
Footballguy
At the Grave of the Unknown Fisherman.
John Gierach.
I've read it a couple times. I have all his books, mostly paperback. I re-read em after a couple years......quick reads, great story telling, if ur into the outdoors. He's my favorite author by far.....although, I'm pretty low-brow and simple, so take it fwiw.
John Gierach.
I've read it a couple times. I have all his books, mostly paperback. I re-read em after a couple years......quick reads, great story telling, if ur into the outdoors. He's my favorite author by far.....although, I'm pretty low-brow and simple, so take it fwiw.
Joe Mammy
Footballguy
If you're into crime noir featuring a hitman or two then you'll love Malcolm Mackay's "Glasgow Trilogy". I'm on book 3- outstanding in the style of Jim Thompson or Dashiel Hammet.
Not only a page turner but a book turner as I've just ordered books 4 and 5 which branch off into the world of loan sharks.
Not only a page turner but a book turner as I've just ordered books 4 and 5 which branch off into the world of loan sharks.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I did enjoy both. Brideshead Revisited deserving of its reputation as one of the best novels of the 20th century. I think The Loved One is similar to what you describe in Scoop, as a breezy satire (although this one deals with the funeral industry in 1940s Hollywood).
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
On page 135. Only 1300 to go!!
Sand
Footballguy
Vegas Trip
Footballguy
Oh man, was I supposed to read that already?Almost ashamed to say this, but at 48 years old, I’m reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time.
Don't Toews Me
Footballguy
Finished "The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution" today. Good story of how a bunch of PhDs in physics and math and computer science used machine learning and advanced computer models to trade. Pretty good detail of all the characters involved and their personalities. Lots of challenges and adversity along the way, both business wise and in his personal life. 66% average annual returns (before investor fees) in their Medallion fund since 1988. Better than Buffett and Dalio and Soros. Simons never took a finance class in college.
Others recently finished:
"Learn to Earn" by Peter Lynch
"Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt
Both just very basic, introductory level books in investing and economics.
Others recently finished:
"Learn to Earn" by Peter Lynch
"Economics in One Lesson" by Henry Hazlitt
Both just very basic, introductory level books in investing and economics.
Eephus
Footballguy
It took me a long time but I finally finished Youngblood Hawke, Herman Wouk's huge mid-century novel about the rise and fall of an American novelist. The plot meandered over its nearly 800 pages but I've always enjoyed Wouk's writing.
I switched to non-fiction for Cowboys and Indies: The Epic History of the Record Industry by Gareth Murphy. It attempted to tell the tale of the music biz from Edison and Alexander Graham Bell to Rick Rubin and Rough Trade. It was fascinating for me with a lot of industry lore.
For Black history month, I'm reading Attica Locke's East Texas mystery Bluebird, Bluebird and have The Warmth of Other Suns queued up. It's a history of the great migration of African-Americans from the rural South to Northern cities in the early-20th century.
I switched to non-fiction for Cowboys and Indies: The Epic History of the Record Industry by Gareth Murphy. It attempted to tell the tale of the music biz from Edison and Alexander Graham Bell to Rick Rubin and Rough Trade. It was fascinating for me with a lot of industry lore.
For Black history month, I'm reading Attica Locke's East Texas mystery Bluebird, Bluebird and have The Warmth of Other Suns queued up. It's a history of the great migration of African-Americans from the rural South to Northern cities in the early-20th century.
prosopis
Arizona Chupacabra
Don't Toews Me
Footballguy
Started General H. Norman Schwarzkopf's autobiography this week. 500 pages long, about a quarter of the way through it. Well-written. Didn't know his mom was a severe alcoholic which obviously really impacted the family.
Joe Mammy
Footballguy
Picked up "Is This Anything?" by Jerry Seinfeld at the library. Hilarious! He recounts 45 years of joke writing from his vault.
On the Superman tv show from the '60's (his favorite show as a boy):
You have The Daily Planet, a huge newspaper yet they only have 3 reporters and 2 of them are usually tied up in a cave somewhere. Clark Kent is Superman, his disguise is a pair of glasses. Have you ever had a friend get a new pair of glasses? Could you still recognize them?
On the Superman tv show from the '60's (his favorite show as a boy):
You have The Daily Planet, a huge newspaper yet they only have 3 reporters and 2 of them are usually tied up in a cave somewhere. Clark Kent is Superman, his disguise is a pair of glasses. Have you ever had a friend get a new pair of glasses? Could you still recognize them?
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Ilov80s
Footballguy
All the Light We Can Not See. It’s fiction about a blind girl in occupied France, a German boy and a NAZI art collector.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Ive got 10 credits to burn and could use some recommendations please. I will list what I think my likes are and some books ive enjoyed...(Also read = listened to)
Steven King got me into books but ironically, I don't like his stuff anymore. I like his writing, but I don't like anything that involves the supernatural, especially when it comes to fiction. For me, supernatural events or powers to often give authors entirely too much protection to merely explain things away with an infinite number of excuses.
I like history. Non fiction.
Interested in reading classics but they have to be somewhat of an easy read - I tried to read the original Moby **** and it was unreadable.
I loved:
With the old Breed - E.B Sledge.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
Washington By Ron Chernow
Liked A lot:
Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand
The Martian By Andy Weir
Ready Player One By Ernest Cline
Okay but stuck with it just to stick with it
The Gunslinger - Stephen King
Guilty pleasure
I like Graham Hancocks stuff. Im permanently stuck down a rabbit hole that leads to anything about ancient advanced technology, advanced civilizations, "real" possible alien contact. Im interested in real theories and speculation but not conspiracy.
Again, 10 credits to burn, there are no wrong suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Steven King got me into books but ironically, I don't like his stuff anymore. I like his writing, but I don't like anything that involves the supernatural, especially when it comes to fiction. For me, supernatural events or powers to often give authors entirely too much protection to merely explain things away with an infinite number of excuses.
I like history. Non fiction.
Interested in reading classics but they have to be somewhat of an easy read - I tried to read the original Moby **** and it was unreadable.
I loved:
With the old Breed - E.B Sledge.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
Washington By Ron Chernow
Liked A lot:
Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand
The Martian By Andy Weir
Ready Player One By Ernest Cline
Okay but stuck with it just to stick with it
The Gunslinger - Stephen King
Guilty pleasure
I like Graham Hancocks stuff. Im permanently stuck down a rabbit hole that leads to anything about ancient advanced technology, advanced civilizations, "real" possible alien contact. Im interested in real theories and speculation but not conspiracy.
Again, 10 credits to burn, there are no wrong suggestions. Thanks in advance.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Should have also said I want to read a biography on every president so any recommendations on those would also be cool
Looking back, I probably should not have started with George Washington. He was such a baller than I haven't been able to finish any other presidents. Maybe I should just skip right o Benjamin Franklin.
Looking back, I probably should not have started with George Washington. He was such a baller than I haven't been able to finish any other presidents. Maybe I should just skip right o Benjamin Franklin.
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Don Quixote
Footballguy
I read a biography on every President a few years back. I think I tracked in this thread. After Washington, go for David McCullough’s John Adams.
On a side note, I placed in a presidential trivia contest sponsored by the Washington Post’s Presidential podcast the other day.
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STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
Done and NICE!I read a biography on every President a few years back. I think I tracked in this thread. After Washington, go for David McCullough’s John Adams.
On a side note, I placed in a presidential trivia contest sponsored by the Washington Post’s Presidential podcast the other day.
9/10 credits left!
facook
Footballguy
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose. Miniseries on HBO was based on this excellent book.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Poke_4_Life
Footballguy
Finished books 2 and 3 in the trilogy recently. Really enjoyed them.That's great, DQ! Thanks for the shout out.
Since this is our reading crew, I'll broadcast the news (please forgive the self-promotion).
Very happy to announce that FINAL RECKONING was officially released on Dec 4th. Phew!
This book wraps up the Hostile Takeover Thrillogy. If you've read the first two books (Hostile Takeover and Second Son), I hope you enjoy this one and find it a satisfying conclusion to the story.
Beyond the thriller trilogy, if anyone is interested in a shorter, family-friendly Christmas story, please feel free to check out The Three Christmases of William Spencer. This was my first book and hit #1 on Amazon's holiday book sales once upon a time.
And if you want something completely different, Tango Six is a screenplay I wrote a year ago. It's an action adventure (similar vibe of action and humor to what you'd find in an Indiana Jones movie...but with fewer bullwhips). Not many people read screenplays, but if you like that sort of thing, please give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe one of these days it'll get picked up by a studio and become a real movie (um, if anyone happens to know a studio exec, I'm open to an introduction...).
Thanks for the personal messages some of you have sent. Very glad you like the writing. Hope you enjoy the new one!
I would like a series based on the NYC 'retired' detective that's now going to have his own investigation company. Please and thank you.
Eephus
Footballguy
Destiny of the Republic:by Candace Millard is a fascinating book about James Garfield and his assassination.
Captain Fantastic
Footballguy
Thanks, @Poke_4_Life! Very glad you enjoyed the books.
The trilogy is complete but the door is certainly open to revisit a character (or two) in a future thriller, and that particular gentleman likely has more stories to be told.
Having said that, I will confess that my next book (the current work-in-progress) is completely unrelated to the Hostile Takeover Thrillogy. It's going to be a mystery with plenty of humor, not quite as serious as the trilogy (though I did try to integrate enough humor in those three as well to prevent them from being "dark" since I prefer light moments even in "serious" thrillers).
Thank you again - and to all our FBGs who have given the books a whirl - I really appreciate you guys.
KarmaPolice
Footballguy
Well, The Stand was a book I read. I thought it was OK, but not worth the hype as one of the best books ever. I guess I like King when he is not in his long winded mode. Give me The Shining, Pet Sematary, Dead Zone, etc.. over The Stand, It, or Dark Tower series.
I think I will start in on one of the non-fiction books in my pile next.
I think I will start in on one of the non-fiction books in my pile next.
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Poke_4_Life
Footballguy
I'm following you on Amazon now, so I look forward to future offerings.Thanks, @Poke_4_Life! Very glad you enjoyed the books.
The trilogy is complete but the door is certainly open to revisit a character (or two) in a future thriller, and that particular gentleman likely has more stories to be told.
Having said that, I will confess that my next book (the current work-in-progress) is completely unrelated to the Hostile Takeover Thrillogy. It's going to be a mystery with plenty of humor, not quite as serious as the trilogy (though I did try to integrate enough humor in those three as well to prevent them from being "dark" since I prefer light moments even in "serious" thrillers).
Thank you again - and to all our FBGs who have given the books a whirl - I really appreciate you guys.
I do quite enjoy the spontaneous humor within thrillers, and found your humorous moments to be quite on point.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
I have that one but thank you!
Thank you!
8 credits left
Thank you!
7 credits left
Don't Toews Me
Footballguy
I read "SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam" by John Plaster a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Top secret unit with missions that were pretty gnarly to say the least.
Countless Medal of Honor recipients and awards to members in this group.
Some quotes (page 355):
Plaster was a SOG veteran. Wrote the book back in the 90s. The unit was top secret and denied to have existed for a number of years. Great read.
"Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden was a good read as well. Better than the movie.
Don't Toews Me
Footballguy
Great read. Ended up finishing the last few pages today. Great detail of Desert Storm, but also of his time in Vietnam. Great details of a remarkable career.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
I finished Midnight’s Children, but a bit of a slog. It had enough to hold attention and was original, but it felt a bit over the place and like Rushdie was just trying to fit as much modern Indian history into one book even if it did not advance the story.
After that, I read Waugh’s “Scoop” after 80s planted that seed. I did enjoy that, although it felt like Waugh’s views of colonialism felt a bit dated (and maybe a bit racist). It is still a great book, but that holds a bit back from a full endorsement.
I’m currently on Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds. It just came out earlier this month. I’m probably the only dude who would pre-order a Hannah novel, but whatever. I enjoyed “The Nightengale” from her. The Four Winds has a Grapes of Wrath type plot, but from a woman’s perspective (and Hannah is not Steinbeck).
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KarmaPolice
Footballguy
The Gator
Footballguy
Understood, but it felt like he was trying to one up himself this round. Not only the pop culture stuff, it was just poorly written overall. He was very repetitive on certain points and it just didn't seem very streamlined.
MindCrime
Footballguy
Felt the same way. (My review back a few pages) RP1 was fun for me, good story with the pop culture references placed well . RP2 seemed like a pop culture lesson with very little story.
Ilov80s
Footballguy
White Noise was good but I actually was expecting more out of the big event in the middle (I sort of knew what it would be going into it). I actually thought the book slowed down as it went on. Maybe my expectations were just off. Onto A Room With a View now. I read it a long time ago, don't remember much but love the movie.
The Gator
Footballguy
Exactly. The first one felt more balanced and the references felt part of the story. this one felt very forced and repetitive.
Likely still makes a fun movie though.
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Don Quixote
Footballguy
The Four Winds was kind of mediocre. I preferred The Nightengale as far as Hannah novels go.
I’ve had Lolita sitting on my bookshelf for years now and started that one last night. The content disturbs me, but I keep hearing it referred to as one of the greatest novels of the century. I got some serious side eye from my wife when I started reading it though.
