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MUScoop => The Superbar => Topic started by: KipsBayEagle on April 30, 2010, 10:26:48 AM

Title: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: KipsBayEagle on April 30, 2010, 10:26:48 AM
New topics just keep on coming.  Almost finished george friedman's book "The Next 100 years".  very fascinating.  he forecasts that in 2020 China will fragment, a 2nd cold war will break out with Russia in which we win.  He predicts that the value of homes will freeze and even drop, since Americas population is decreasing.  he also predicts that by 2030, America will be installing policies that will be meant to attract more immigrants into America, and that the next gresat war will be between America and Poland on one side, against Japan and turkey on the other, all fighting over the scraps of a defunct Russia after it disintegrates after the 2nd cold war.  If you have any recomendations, post them here!
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on April 30, 2010, 10:30:25 AM
I saw that book at Barnes and Noble last time I was there...

Would you say its worth reading?  Just your little synopsis makes me feel like he is WAY out in left field... like some first year history student that could just make up something that sounded cool. 

Does he make good arguments?

Last good book I read was "The Story of B" by Daniel Quinn... I like him as an author, though I'm sure many here won't. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: KipsBayEagle on April 30, 2010, 10:33:26 AM
The arguments are actually very sound.  Whenever you undertake a task of predicting what will happen 100 years from now, you are always going to enter the theater of the absurd to some level.  But he really presents compelling arguments, and precedents that have happened in the 20th century to back up his claims.  I strongly recommend it.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU B2002 on April 30, 2010, 10:41:57 AM
I know it is not a new book, but I recently read "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", and thought it was very good.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on April 30, 2010, 10:44:37 AM
The arguments are actually very sound.  Whenever you undertake a task of predicting what will happen 100 years from now, you are always going to enter the theater of the absurd to some level.  But he really presents compelling arguments, and precedents that have happened in the 20th century to back up his claims.  I strongly recommend it.

cool, thanks for the tip, I almost bought it last time, and next time I will.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: KipsBayEagle on April 30, 2010, 10:47:13 AM
I know it is not a new book, but I recently read "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", and thought it was very good.
Whats the general premise?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on April 30, 2010, 10:49:07 AM
EAT is just finishing "Touchdown Johnny." Words are kinda big for him, so it takes a while.

When do you cats have time to read? With the need to post here and every other obligation, tough to make the commitment.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: KipsBayEagle on April 30, 2010, 10:57:49 AM
EAT is just finishing "Touchdown Johnny." Words are kinda big for him, so it takes a while.

When do you cats have time to read? With the need to post here and every other obligation, tough to make the commitment.

TV sucks so much nowadays, I find reading is quickly taking its place for me.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on April 30, 2010, 11:00:00 AM
Anyone reading on the ipad with ibooks and how's that working out compared to the Kindle?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU B2002 on April 30, 2010, 11:02:59 AM
Whats the general premise?

(Fiction)

It is the retelling of a series of events that lead up to and involve the murder of a young man.


Hard to identify the general premise in any other way.  It is a rather short book, but still very detailed.  
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: GGGG on April 30, 2010, 11:26:39 AM
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

Very interesting look at some of the new research that suggests that the Americas could have actually been more populous than Europe before Columbus, but that massive disease outbreaks may have killed as much as 80% of the native population.  This is based on both eye-witness accounts of massive settlements that were mentioned by early explorers, that were gone just a few decades later. 

The author also points out some drawbacks to these theories...mainly "where are the skeletons?"

Also mentions a number of theories that suggest that humans may not have come over strictly on the land-bridge from Asia to the Americas.

If you are into this kind of stuff, it is a very good book.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: damuts222 on April 30, 2010, 11:37:55 AM
 Finished "The Road", very good short book. Basically starts off with a father and his son after the apocalypse. Follows their struggles to fend of canibals, find food, etc. Apparently they made a movie out of it with Vigo Mortenson as the star.

 Now reading "You can call me Al."
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: WellsstreetWanderer on April 30, 2010, 11:48:23 AM
Tony Judt - Europe after 1945

A rather large tome that really lays out what happened afterWWII in the world. Judt goes country by country and delves into what worked and what was a catastrophy and the reasons for what followed such as the roots of European Socialist Democracies
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: KipsBayEagle on April 30, 2010, 11:49:07 AM
Finished "The Road", very good short book. Basically starts off with a father and his son after the apocalypse. Follows their struggles to fend of canibals, find food, etc. Apparently they made a movie out of it with Vigo Mortenson as the star.

 Now reading "You can call me Al."
I love Cormac Mccarthy, but for some reason, I hated the road.  I loved no country for old men, and child of god, but I really hated this novel.  I am definitly in the minority for this one.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on April 30, 2010, 11:57:05 AM
Isn't anyone reading "The Audacity of Hope"?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Ari Gold on April 30, 2010, 12:27:50 PM
Game Change (that new ish political tell all) It's pretty good. Makes both sides look crappy. I like that

Atlas Shrugged. Classic, love it, taking forever though. ~1200 pages
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on April 30, 2010, 12:32:14 PM
a good site to keep track of what you've read and what your friends are reading is goodreads.com.

starting to read a book on Michael Collins. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on April 30, 2010, 12:45:23 PM
Game Change (that new ish political tell all) It's pretty good. Makes both sides look crappy. I like that

Atlas Shrugged. Classic, love it, taking forever though. ~1200 pages

my problem with "Game Change" is that the authors don't revleal any of their sources. 

so uh.  Nice book that could be mostly hearsay.  I suggest not taking the book as fact.

Atlas Shrugged, huh?  If I didn't know where your political/ideological beliefs lied before, I do now.  The Fountainhead is much better, IMO.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Ari Gold on April 30, 2010, 12:50:55 PM
my problem with "Game Change" is that the authors don't revleal any of their sources. 

so uh.  Nice book that could be mostly hearsay.  I suggest not taking the book as fact.

Atlas Shrugged, huh?  If I didn't know where your political/ideological beliefs lied before, I do now.  The Fountainhead is much better, IMO.

ha! The Fountainhead is next on my reading list.
Not revealing sources does diminish the book's credibility. It's almost a kitty kelly political book. Though generally, as an inside look at political primaries (poor decision making and the frustration of two terrible campaigns), it was pretty good.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on April 30, 2010, 12:53:35 PM
Just as long as you don't start worshipping Ayn Rand.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Ari Gold on April 30, 2010, 01:00:18 PM
Just as long as you don't start worshipping Ayn Rand.

you mean you don't see me at the tea parties with the sign "Atlas has Shrugged" and "Who is John Galt?"
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: tower912 on April 30, 2010, 01:50:37 PM
Superfreakonomics.    Wicked funny.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: rugbydrummer on May 02, 2010, 08:39:11 AM
Superfreakonomics.    Wicked funny.

Don't forget its predecessor, "Freakonomics" either :)

I am going to read "The Paradox of Choice" soon.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: APieperFan3 on May 02, 2010, 09:24:57 AM
given the seasons

John Daly: My Life in and out of the Rough

or

Who's your Caddy


read both on my to Afghanistan...some good and literal "LOL"s
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: wildbillsb on May 02, 2010, 10:17:52 AM
Speaking of Afghanistan, I really enjoyed and strongly recommend these autobiographies of two young American men and their experiences in that country:

ONE BULLET AWAY:  THE MAKING OF A MARINE CORPS OFFICER by Nathaniel Fick, and

THREE CUPS OF TEA by Greg Mortenson


Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on May 02, 2010, 10:41:25 AM
Both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead were good. You can keep We the Living unless you are into books where literally nothing good happens to any of the characters.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Blackhat on May 02, 2010, 10:53:08 AM


Black and Blue

by Ian Rankin
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on May 02, 2010, 11:27:49 AM
I just re-read the Fountainhead.   Always enjoyable.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on May 03, 2010, 10:27:48 AM
about 40 pages into "The Next 100 Years".  I dig it.  Thanks for the rec.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: KipsBayEagle on May 03, 2010, 10:28:53 AM
about 40 pages into "The Next 100 Years".  I dig it.  Thanks for the rec.
No prob, hope you like the rest, give me a full review when yuor done!
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: PBRme on May 04, 2010, 10:48:43 AM
Just as long as you don't start worshipping Ayn Rand.

While I do not worship Ayn Rand I would say that Atlas Shrugged predicted very accurately the late 1900's and early 2000's.  I ussually reread it every 5-7 years and find I am amazed at how accurately she foretold the European/US development (or lack thereof)

It is also regularly in the 10 most influential books of all time list along with the Bible.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on May 04, 2010, 11:07:21 AM
While I do not worship Ayn Rand I would say that Atlas Shrugged predicted very accurately the late 1900's and early 2000's.  I ussually reread it every 5-7 years and find I am amazed at how accurately she foretold the European/US development (or lack thereof)

It is also regularly in the 10 most influential books of all time list along with the Bible.


*sigh*
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: GoldenWarrior on May 19, 2010, 11:11:24 AM
Read "The girl with the dragon tattoo" by Stieg Larson and am now moving into the follow up "The girl who played with fire"

Really enjoyed the first one and am so far enjoying the second as well.  These writings by Larson are mystery type, which I typically do not enjoy, but these are both very well done and would definitely recommend them to everyone.

It's a shame Stieg is no longer with us though.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: NYWarrior on May 19, 2010, 11:41:32 AM
I was late to it but "The Road" is one of the best fiction books I've read in quite sometime.

Baseball fans will enjoy "High Heat" the new book about the history of the fastball and the pursuit of identifying the fastest pitcher of all-time. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Josey Wales on May 19, 2010, 11:44:21 AM
Reading Too Big To Fail. I've found it to be very good.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: damuts222 on May 19, 2010, 11:46:15 AM
 Now reading "Long Walk to Freedom," Nelson Mandela's autobiography. Very interesting childhood and path in his life up to the point I have read. Being very young when he was elected its amazing to realize that South Africa was segregated for so long. Would recommend it thus far.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: shaquilvaine on May 19, 2010, 08:57:22 PM
"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy... absoulte riveting.  Couldn't put it down.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: wadefan#1 on May 19, 2010, 09:46:54 PM
New topics just keep on coming.  Almost finished george friedman's book "The Next 100 years".  very fascinating.  he forecasts that in 2020 China will fragment, a 2nd cold war will break out with Russia in which we win.  He predicts that the value of homes will freeze and even drop, since Americas population is decreasing.  he also predicts that by 2030, America will be installing policies that will be meant to attract more immigrants into America, and that the next gresat war will be between America and Poland on one side, against Japan and turkey on the other, all fighting over the scraps of a defunct Russia after it disintegrates after the 2nd cold war.  If you have any recomendations, post them here!
I doubt any of that will happen
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Stringer Bellenson on May 20, 2010, 12:41:53 AM
Don't forget its predecessor, "Freakonomics" either :)

You should check out "Gang Leader For A Day" by Sudhir Venkatesh; he's the maniac U of Chicago grad student from "Freakonomics" that supplied the information for the chapter about "why drug dealers still live with their moms."  It's basically the whole story of how he wandered into the projects for a sociology project, cheated death, and became the right-hand man of J.T., a top drug dealer in the Robert Taylor Homes.  It's an easy read and incredibly interesting, you couldn't make this stuff up.  See how the other half lives and what not.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BME to MD on May 20, 2010, 01:02:51 AM
I have really enjoyed Jon Krakeur's latest two books:

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
 - All I knew before I started reading this book was what the media covered but there really was much more - tragic story.

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
 - The premise is an attempt to explain why two fanatically devout Mormon men murdered their brother's wife and young daughter.  
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: APieperFan3 on May 20, 2010, 07:01:55 AM
I have really enjoyed Jon Krakeur's latest two books:

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
 - All I knew before I started reading this book was what the media covered but there really was much more - tragic story.

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
 - The premise is an attempt to explain why two fanatically devout Mormon men murdered their brother's wife and young daughter.  

My brother went to ASU...got it for me for a Christmas present one year. Good Read.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on May 20, 2010, 08:21:16 AM
I doubt any of that will happen

Lots of things that people don't think could happen, happen.

He explains it in the book.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: augoman on May 20, 2010, 12:39:58 PM
just finished "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis (guy who wrote The Blind Side).
excellent book- gives names and personalities to some of the people involved in the recent economic crisis.  A little one-sided, in that he fails to talk about what created the opportunity for the big banks to screw us all, but you'll realize that, put it aside as I did, and thoroughly enjoy the read. 
now working on "Ghengis Kahn" and really amazed at how undervalued he is in history.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on May 20, 2010, 12:49:47 PM
just finished "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis (guy who wrote The Blind Side).
excellent book- gives names and personalities to some of the people involved in the recent economic crisis.  A little one-sided, in that he fails to talk about what created the opportunity for the big banks to screw us all, but you'll realize that, put it aside as I did, and thoroughly enjoy the read. 
now working on "Ghengis Kahn" and really amazed at how undervalued he is in history.

To be honest, that is the truth with most non-western historical figures. :)
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Big Daddy 84 on May 20, 2010, 02:27:13 PM
The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner,  I know it has been around for a few years, but I just had the opportunity to meet him in Phoenix and he gave me a copy of his book. The connection and fact I did not know is that he grew up in Milwaukee.

It is an easy read and worth the time.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: augoman on May 20, 2010, 10:59:57 PM
To be honest, that is the truth with most non-western historical figures. :)

I agree, but am still surprised that he and his amazing conquests/contributions has been so overlooked/ignored, while minor figures like Atilla the Hun seem to get good ink, without contributing or accomplishing 1/100th of that which Genghis Khan did.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Strokin 3s on May 21, 2010, 02:40:41 PM
Read "The girl with the dragon tattoo" by Stieg Larson and am now moving into the follow up "The girl who played with fire"

Really enjoyed the first one and am so far enjoying the second as well.  These writings by Larson are mystery type, which I typically do not enjoy, but these are both very well done and would definitely recommend them to everyone.

It's a shame Stieg is no longer with us though.

I read both of these and moved onto the third as well, "The girl who kicked the hornets nest"  thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Josey Wales on May 21, 2010, 03:06:37 PM
have you guys read The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King? I am on the third book of three, and I have really enjoyed it so far. It is kind of like Lord of the Rings meets Clint Eastwood's spaghetti-western genre gunslinger movie.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: augoman on May 22, 2010, 10:26:08 PM
I absolutely loved "Blood and Thunder"..., the true story of Kit Carson and the conquering of the West.  Great read.  Amazing guy.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: willie warrior on May 23, 2010, 05:57:03 AM
Big Russ and Me by Tim Russert

Always by My Side by Jim Nantz

Both great forFather"s Day
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: wildbillsb on May 23, 2010, 10:50:04 AM
I just finished OUTCASTS UNITED by Warren St. John.  Fascinating book of reportage about the shoestring-budget efforts of a young woman soccer coach (and others) in providing structure, respect, goals, and loving expectations in refugee kids from war-torn nations who have been re-located in suburban Atlanta.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: shiloh26 on May 23, 2010, 11:14:50 AM
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.  This guy's theory about how the world came to be divided up the way it did... why Europe and China developed a lot faster than the rest of the world.  As he says, its his search for ultimate causes of why things shook out the way they did... and it covers everything fro plant and animal domestication, its connection with creating nasty strains of germs, early access to resources, etc...It's really interesting.  It's pretty value free too, which is hard for a topic like that it attempts just to be an explanation, not a condemnation.   
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 🏀 on May 23, 2010, 08:54:02 PM
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.  This guy's theory about how the world came to be divided up the way it did... why Europe and China developed a lot faster than the rest of the world.  As he says, its his search for ultimate causes of why things shook out the way they did... and it covers everything fro plant and animal domestication, its connection with creating nasty strains of germs, early access to resources, etc...It's really interesting.  It's pretty value free too, which is hard for a topic like that it attempts just to be an explanation, not a condemnation.   

Had to read that book for Anthropology class. Terrible, terrible.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Blackhat on January 18, 2011, 01:24:11 PM
Been nice to do some reading for leisure during the break, read some of the books you fellas recommended and others.

The Road: I get Charles McCarthy's style of uncovering naked humanity, but I read also to be entertained and found the book to be redundant and boring.

Dawn of Empire by Sam Barone:  Very good book dealing with early warfare in Babylonian times with some nice drama intersperse. Plan on reading the sequel Empire Rising.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo:  Great book.   Plot sucks you in and get a good connection with the characters.  Reading the sequel The Girl Who Played With Fire right now.


Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: willie warrior on January 18, 2011, 02:25:25 PM
Decision Points by Bush 43. Never was much of a Bush fan, but he has more class in his pinky than Obama does in his whole body. His story of 9-11 is gut wrenching.

Day After Roswell by Philip Corso: makes you wonder

Secretariat by William Nack. The race horse of all race horses.

Prince of Darkness by Robert Novak. Amazing insights of our government during his 50 years of reporting.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Henry Sugar on January 18, 2011, 03:41:11 PM
Decision Points by Bush 43. Never was much of a Bush fan, but he has more class in his pinky than Obama does in his whole body. His story of 9-11 is gut wrenching.


In general, political threads are banned from this board unless pertinent to Marquette. In the past those topics have dominated the conversation and we'd like this board be home to friendly water-cooler type discussions that relate to Marquette, and the Milwaukee area.

If you find yourself wondering where to discuss politics on the internet, just ask any MUScoop moderator, we'd be happy to help.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: akmarq on January 18, 2011, 04:06:30 PM
Just finished "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Thought it was one of the better novels I've read in a while - he also wrote Everything is Illuminated, which the movie is based on.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on January 18, 2011, 07:54:56 PM
Really enjoyed, "Playing to Win" by Brent Williams.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: KipsBayEagle on January 18, 2011, 09:47:03 PM
Just read Everyman by Phillip Roth.  It was good, but not as good as typical Roth.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: rugbydrummer on January 19, 2011, 09:49:48 AM

In general, political threads are banned from this board unless pertinent to Marquette. In the past those topics have dominated the conversation and we'd like this board be home to friendly water-cooler type discussions that relate to Marquette, and the Milwaukee area.

If you find yourself wondering where to discuss politics on the internet, just ask any MUScoop moderator, we'd be happy to help.



Gracias.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: rugbydrummer on January 19, 2011, 09:50:33 AM
Really enjoyed, "Playing to Win" by Brent Williams.

Coach Buzz?? j/k

Have people read Bill Simmons' "Book of Basketball"?? i know this has been out for a couple years . . .
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: RawdogDX on January 19, 2011, 10:36:43 AM
TV sucks so much nowadays, I find reading is quickly taking its place for me.

I left the Old Yeller for SNL slide but WTF?  This is the golden era of TV.  It is the first time TV is better than movies.  Drama: Wire, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Madmen, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy. 
Comedy: Office, Parks and Rec, Community
Scifi: BSG, Trueblood, Lost, Fringe

How old are you that you don't like TV now?

btw, as soon as I saw this thread I was going to post about the next 100 years.  It is a great book.  People who think it's far fetched don't realize how far fetched a perdiction of the 1900's would have sounded if it was half way accurate.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: RawdogDX on January 19, 2011, 10:39:52 AM
I doubt any of that will happen

You heard it hear folks.  Ignore the guy who started a company that figures out the future and gets hired by the CIA because Wadefan is doubtful.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on January 19, 2011, 12:28:53 PM
I left the Old Yeller for SNL slide but WTF?  This is the golden era of TV.  It is the first time TV is better than movies.  Drama: Wire, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Madmen, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy. 
Comedy: Office, Parks and Rec, Community
Scifi: BSG, Trueblood, Lost, Fringe

How old are you that you don't like TV now?

btw, as soon as I saw this thread I was going to post about the next 100 years.  It is a great book.  People who think it's far fetched don't realize how far fetched a perdiction of the 1900's would have sounded if it was half way accurate.


next 100 years is really interesting.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: PBRme on January 19, 2011, 01:40:35 PM
I left the Old Yeller for SNL slide but WTF?  This is the golden era of TV.  It is the first time TV is better than movies.  Drama: Wire, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Madmen, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy. 
Comedy: Office, Parks and Rec, Community
Scifi: BSG, Trueblood, Lost, Fringe

How old are you that you don't like TV now?

btw, as soon as I saw this thread I was going to post about the next 100 years.  It is a great book.  People who think it's far fetched don't realize how far fetched a perdiction of the 1900's would have sounded if it was half way accurate.

TV has been all down hill since the Jackie Thomas show
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu-rara on January 20, 2011, 11:31:11 AM
Any Vince Flynn novel.  Mystery / Spy stuff.   Kind of Tom Clancy for the terrorist era (as opposed to the Cold War era). 

Fast read, exciting, fun.  Not deep and insightful, but sometimes you need a break.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: wildbillsb on January 20, 2011, 12:46:15 PM
THREE CUPS OF TEA by Greg Mortenson - inspirational account of one idealistic American making a difference in the struggle for real success in Afghanistan.

HALF-BROKE HOSES: A TRUE-LIFE NOVEL by Jeanette Wells - great character study about the life of Lily Casey Smith, a early 20th century pioneer woman of the American southwest.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: rugbydrummer on January 20, 2011, 01:42:42 PM
in the middle of reading

The Help by Kathryn Stockett:  Optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. (Amazon)

Half the Sky:Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof
 New York Times columnist Kristof and his wife, WuDunn, a former Times reporter, make a brilliantly argued case for investing in the health and autonomy of women worldwide. More girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely because they were girls, than men were killed in all the wars of the twentieth century, they write, detailing the rampant gendercide in the developing world, particularly in India and Pakistan.  (Amazon, bolded emphasis added)

What?  Don't look at me like that, I got them as presents. 

also sporadically re-reading Madame Bovary (rural girl with champagne tastes gets simple bumpkin doctor, entitled wife cheats on said doctor because life he is so dull -- classic!).  Those saucy French mademoiselles...never satisifed!  (hmmm, never satisfied, why does that seem so familiar?)
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: SacWarrior on January 21, 2011, 02:34:49 PM
I recently finished a book that may be the greatest thing I have ever read, and displaced like 5 different Steinbeck novels for my top book of all time. It's called "The House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende. It's a phenomenal narrative about a family told through three generations of politics, civil war, revolution and magical realism based upon the author's own uncle's life in Chile. Would reccomend it to anyone.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: pillardean on January 21, 2011, 03:05:26 PM
I love Cormac Mccarthy, but for some reason, I hated the road.  I loved no country for old men, and child of god, but I really hated this novel.  I am definitly in the minority for this one.

I would say my favorite McCarthy has to be Blood Meridian.  Is there now character more enigmatic as 'The Judge?'  "And he dances, he never dies...he says he will never die".  I have not read the eastern novels so that opinion may change.

The Road, I felt, deserved the literary acclaim.

E.L. Doctorow   "Book of Daniel"  "City of God" "Billy Bathgate"  "The March"

Reading:

Lord of the Rings (purely for fun)

The Wilding (former MU English prof Benjamin Percy-Short story collection Refresh Refresh was pretty damn solid)

Leviathan (Paul Auster)


Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Blackhat on August 01, 2013, 11:18:02 AM
just got done with unbroken..very good book.  Anybody read any good ones lately?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on August 01, 2013, 11:32:43 AM
just got done with unbroken..very good book.  Anybody read any good ones lately?

I'm reading "The Lay of the Land" by Richard Ford. It's the final book in his Frank Bascombe trilogy (preceded by The Sportswriter and Independence Day). Brilliant writer.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: LloydMooresLegs on August 01, 2013, 12:10:23 PM
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (historical fiction; the first two parts of a planned trilogy about Thomas (not Oliver) Cromwell, Thomas More and Henry VIII).  I am an old school book guy, but these were fantastic on the iPad if, like me, you have only passing knowledge of that period of English history--with an eReader like the iPad, you can look up terms/people instantly without losing too much flow.

Wouldn't read those if you are a big Thomas More fan, as the author takes great liberties (it is fiction) and a much different view than the traditional Catholic (and secular historic) love of More (he is, after all, a Saint).

And, speaking of books of which the Church takes a dim view, I just gave my son who is on his way to college (and then re-read it before he picked it up) The Last Temptation of Christ.  Never saw the film, but the book was assigned reading at my amazing Jesuit high school and it had a powerful impact on my religious and spiritual formation.  Don't believe what you remember from the popular and Church criticism of the movie; the book is Kazantzakis's meditaion on the gospel story, focusing on the struggle he imagines Jesus the man to have had in accepting that He also was the Son of God (with Judas the Zealot as the protagonist [well, along with the devil, I suppose], encouraging Jesus to lead the people in an uprising against Rome rather than preaching the gospel of love.  It was the humanity of that struggle that resonated with me.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on August 01, 2013, 12:39:56 PM
Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (historical fiction; the first two parts of a planned trilogy about Thomas (not Oliver) Cromwell, Thomas More and Henry VIII).  I am an old school book guy, but these were fantastic on the iPad if, like me, you have only passing knowledge of that period of English history--with an eReader like the iPad, you can look up terms/people instantly without losing too much flow.

Wouldn't read those if you are a big Thomas More fan, as the author takes great liberties (it is fiction) and a much different view than the traditional Catholic (and secular historic) love of More (he is, after all, a Saint).

And, speaking of books of which the Church takes a dim view, I just gave my son who is on his way to college (and then re-read it before he picked it up) The Last Temptation of Christ.  Never saw the film, but the book was assigned reading at my amazing Jesuit high school and it had a powerful impact on my religious and spiritual formation.  Don't believe what you remember from the popular and Church criticism of the movie; the book is Kazantzakis's meditaion on the gospel story, focusing on the struggle he imagines Jesus the man to have had in accepting that He also was the Son of God (with Judas the Zealot as the protagonist [well, along with the devil, I suppose], encouraging Jesus to lead the people in an uprising against Rome rather than preaching the gospel of love.  It was the humanity of that struggle that resonated with me.

If you've read historical fiction... I highly recommend Fall of Giants by Ken Follet (I'm sure you've read it though).
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on August 01, 2013, 01:48:00 PM
Detroit:  A autobiography

Sh*t My Dad Says

The Outsider:  Jimmy Connors memoire

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 🏀 on August 01, 2013, 01:53:27 PM
The Stench of Honolulu
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Sir Lawrence on August 01, 2013, 04:05:34 PM
If you've read historical fiction... I highly recommend Fall of Giants by Ken Follet (I'm sure you've read it though).

I'll second that, and add his sequel, Winter of the World.

Currently reading book one of the (non-fiction) Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy (by Edmund Morris):  The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.  Fascinating dude and a surprisingly good read. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Pakuni on August 01, 2013, 04:14:01 PM
Crazy River by Richard Grant
Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 🏀 on August 01, 2013, 05:07:27 PM
Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary

+1
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: LloydMooresLegs on August 01, 2013, 10:16:47 PM
I'll second that, and add his sequel, Winter of the World.

Currently reading book one of the (non-fiction) Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy (by Edmund Morris):  The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.  Fascinating dude and a surprisingly good read. 

One of my favorite bios - and there are several good bios of TR. Much better than Dutch, which was so odd.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: LloydMooresLegs on August 01, 2013, 10:18:44 PM
If you've read historical fiction... I highly recommend Fall of Giants by Ken Follet (I'm sure you've read it though).

Have read some Follet, but long ago and not that.  I will check it out- thanks.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: LloydMooresLegs on August 01, 2013, 10:25:15 PM
Just read a couple of reviews and looks right up my alley.  Other favorites of the genre include Gods and Generals (of course) and Caleb Carr's The Alienist (and frankly, any well-written Guilded Age set thriller).
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MUeng on August 01, 2013, 10:54:15 PM
Light at the Edge of the World.  Great book about vanishing cultures, lots of lessons to be learned
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: forgetful on August 01, 2013, 11:44:50 PM
It is an old book, but it is one that I think everyone should read and was just re-reading it.

Team of Rivals.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: LloydMooresLegs on August 02, 2013, 09:35:42 AM
It is an old book, but it is one that I think everyone should read and was just re-reading it.

Team of Rivals.

+1,000
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: reinko on August 02, 2013, 09:36:54 AM
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes by David Grann

http://www.amazon.com/The-Devil-Sherlock-Holmes-Obsession/dp/0307275906

A mixture of true crime stories, great read.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Steve Buscemi on August 02, 2013, 09:48:17 AM
The Tender Bar is one any Wells St. alum would enjoy.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Chicago_inferiority_complexes on August 02, 2013, 03:58:49 PM
Detroit:  A autobiography

Sh*t My Dad Says

The Outsider:  Jimmy Connors memoire



Detroit: An Autobiography just came in the mail for me on Wednesday.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Sunbelt15 on August 02, 2013, 04:22:29 PM
Atlas Shrugged was pretty interesting. I have to watch the movie now.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: wildbillsb on August 02, 2013, 04:55:54 PM
THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST by Mohsin Hamid.  Political assassination thriller, believable love story, and modern political allegory all rendered in 200 pages.  Couldn't put it down.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: WellsstreetWanderer on August 02, 2013, 05:10:02 PM
Istanbul Passage by Korner

  The War is over and most of the intrigue left is smuggling Jews into Palestine. I liken this to a Graham Greene thriller with plot twists and turns and a good foray into manners and morals of the place and time.
He also wrote "The Good German" which I thoroughly enjoyed
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: brewcity77 on August 04, 2013, 01:23:11 PM
Reading and enjoying Dan Brown's Inferno right now. It follows the same premise as his other Langdon books, but like all of them is a great page-turner and has some interesting art history woven into the plotline.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on August 04, 2013, 09:17:37 PM
Atlas Shrugged was pretty interesting. I have to watch the movie now.

Great book, not so great movie.

I'd recommend the Fountainhead, written more than a decade before Atlas Shrugged.  Also a book of fiction, but you may like it if you found Shrugged interesting. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Dr. Blackheart on August 04, 2013, 11:30:15 PM
From Fr. Pilarz:

Quote
If you appreciate riveting nonfiction, I highly recommend The Hare with Amber Eyes by noted British ceramic artist Edmund de Waal. Decades after his wealthy, art-collecting Jewish family had nearly all of their possessions stripped from them by Nazi occupiers, he goes in search of their truths and traditions and finds them passed down through the tiniest of art objects.

My other recommendation is A Thousand Mornings, the new collection by Mary Oliver. The renowned poet treated a Marquette audience to a preview of the book in November during the reading she gave while here to receive an honorary degree. With their rare gift for capturing the rhythms and wonders of the natural world, the poems of this friend of Marquette are exceptional summer companions.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 77ncaachamps on August 05, 2013, 12:19:22 AM
My girlfriend: ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell. She's really enjoying it.

Me: WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket). I'm enjoying it.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Blackhat on August 05, 2013, 06:36:31 AM
Went and purchased Fall of Giants and Hitler's War (alternative history).   Some good recommendations out there, enjoying Fall of Giants so far.   Detroit an Autobiography seems interesting too....A how-not-to story?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on August 05, 2013, 07:07:50 AM
The Tender Bar is one any Wells St. alum would enjoy.

The Tender Bar was the hangout for a good friend of mine. He knew all the principal characters and had some great stories not in the book to add.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: CTWarrior on August 05, 2013, 07:57:39 AM
Great book, not so great movie.

I'd recommend the Fountainhead, written more than a decade before Atlas Shrugged.  Also a book of fiction, but you may like it if you found Shrugged interesting.  

The worst movie made out of a great book is Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.  The movie starred Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith and Bruce Willis and was unwatchable.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Eldon on October 13, 2013, 01:36:37 PM
A Random Walk Down Wall Street (8th edition, 2003)

This books is great.  I have yet to read a Non-random walk down wall street and I probably won't be able to for a while, unfortunately.

Keefe (and/or anyone else with finance experience), I'm curious to hear your take on the efficient markets hypothesis.  In economics departments across the US (world?), it is gospel, but I always like to hear the thoughts and opinions of those who are on the ground actually trying to put theory into practice.

Could it really be that Warren Buffet is simply a really lucky guy?  Are financial markets really akin to glorified coin-flipping contests?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Steve Buscemi on October 13, 2013, 07:31:44 PM
The Tender Bar was the hangout for a good friend of mine. He knew all the principal characters and had some great stories not in the book to add.

I can imagine.  The book was a joy to read.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 13, 2013, 08:57:59 PM
Speaking of Afghanistan, I really enjoyed and strongly recommend these autobiographies of two young American men and their experiences in that country:

ONE BULLET AWAY:  THE MAKING OF A MARINE CORPS OFFICER by Nathaniel Fick, and

THREE CUPS OF TEA by Greg Mortenson

Interesting choices. Fick was both an FMF and Force Recon Marine Platoon Leader and HBS grad whom I met once in Cambridge. I cannot agree with everything he wrote but then my experiences as an AFSOC TACP and III Corps Staff Officer gave me a different perspective on the fight. Fick has rather pronounced views on OEF and OIF that attempt to critique the strategic and operational dimensions of the war from the extremely focused horizon of the tactical level. His experience was also limited to the initial phases of both OIF and OEF. He has no first-hand insight beyond 2003 as the complexion, character, and complexity of both campaigns morphed into very different conflicts beginning in 2004.

Anyone who has logged time at any of the War Colleges (I was graduated from Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College) will understand the fallacy of Fick's extrapolating from the platoon to the MNC to the Oval Office. The tactical level of warfare has a very different rhyme and meter from every other echelon. A JTAC Team Leader may be an Air Force A10 Lt Col but his concerns are markedly different from the Air Force A10 Lt Col Close Air Support Coordinator for MNC-I.

Fick has compromised his message by politicizing the content. As one reads Fick it is important to bear in mind that the man has significant political ambition and that agenda is woven throughout his narrative. His platoon was featured in Generation Kill, a period piece written by a latter day Hunter S. Thompson Gonzo journalist wanna be whose take on contemporary warfare and the men who live through it offered little insight beyond the views of a handful of enlisted Marines. The author, Evan Wright, commits the same sin as Fick – suggesting that the experience of a few Marines in a small unit fully illuminates the problems with decisions made at higher echelons.

Fick is a warrior who went well outside the wire into harm's way with grim determination and is deserving of our respect. But every man who has been in combat has been changed though not always for the worse. There are two points on which I am in full agreement with both Fick and Wright: No one understands the moral dimensions and implications of combat more than the men who must wage those wars and the cultural and intellectual gulf between combat veterans and civilians is deep, wide, and expanding.

Fick’s work is worth reading but keep a large grain of salt within reach as well as a jaundiced eye.   
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 13, 2013, 09:22:48 PM
The Tender Bar was the hangout for a good friend of mine. He knew all the principal characters and had some great stories not in the book to add.

Clever at times but too formulaic and far too many Fitzgerald references and allusions to take seriously. There is a depth to the dialogue that makes it entertaining but the thin characterizations and ultimate predictability of the of the plot makes it disappointing in the end. It's not The Great Gatsby but, perhaps, that was Moehringer's point all along? 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 13, 2013, 10:14:44 PM
I was late to it but "The Road" is one of the best fiction books I've read in quite sometime.

Baseball fans will enjoy "High Heat" the new book about the history of the fastball and the pursuit of identifying the fastest pitcher of all-time. 

Someone here found The Road disappointing but I found it equal to McCarthy's other works. If one enjoys the dark, morally complex works of Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Melissa Marr, John Kennedy Toole, Erskine Caldwell, or Eudora Welty then McCarthy's Blood Meridian and Border Trilogy should be on your reading list.

The Road is different in that it is post-apocalyptic but it is no less engaging. Central to all of McCarthy's work is the eternal struggle between the brutality and weakness that inhabits Everyman's soul - an immense capacity for violence coupled with a cowering, craven, cowardice. How this struggle plays out within us determines the traction, texture, and tenor of our lives.

What may disturb some readers is McCarthy's seeming relish for exploring the random, arbitrary violence that defies rational explanation and yet intrudes on our existence with increasing frequency. Perhaps it is not the fact of intense violence but McCarthy's assertion that such actions can never be punished and it is our fate to live in an increasingly chaotic and dangerous world that makes his writing so compelling, in the same way people rush to the scene of the terrible car accident. But unlike the car accident, where we walk away thinking better him than me, McCarthy's world is characterized by the extreme injustice of capricious violence.   
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MUBillsTil2017 on October 14, 2013, 05:58:11 PM
Just finished "Neptune's Inferno, the US Navy at Guadalcanal" by James D. Hornfischer.

This book delves into the mental condition of warriors thrown into battles in which career training didn't prepare them for the speed and lethality of a well prepared enemy.  It's a story of officers in command using peace time methods to prepare their ships and ground troops for combat and those methods causing the death of thousands and the loss of many capital ships.  Its a story about the daily learning of the right lessons to defeat the Japanese Navy and Army, fighting close to all their bases and Americans fighting from thousands of miles from their bases.

Great story and one that should be taught in any American History class in middle school and high school.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ATWizJr on October 14, 2013, 07:23:34 PM
Reading and enjoying Dan Brown's Inferno right now. It follows the same premise as his other Langdon books, but like all of them is a great page-turner and has some interesting art history woven into the plotline.

 Really?  Probably too picky, but I found it less than believable.  I know, I know, it's fiction, but for me, it has to bear some resemblance to reality.  I thought it was a good premise, but a tale poorly told.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on October 14, 2013, 07:23:48 PM
With Tom Clancy's recent death, I still need to read 2 of his books.  They are on my bucket list.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on October 14, 2013, 07:26:10 PM
Really?  Probably too picky, but I found it less than believable.  I know, I know, it's fiction, but for me, it has to bear some resemblance to reality.  I thought it was a good premise, but a tale poorly told.

Not a Dan Brown fan.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on October 14, 2013, 07:43:56 PM
Someone here found The Road disappointing but I found it equal to McCarthy's other works. If one enjoys the dark, morally complex works of Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Melissa Marr, John Kennedy Toole, Erskine Caldwell, or Eudora Welty then McCarthy's Blood Meridian and Border Trilogy should be on your reading list.

The Road is different in that it is post-apocalyptic but it is no less engaging. Central to all of McCarthy's work is the eternal struggle between the brutality and weakness that inhabits Everyman's soul - an immense capacity for violence coupled with a cowering, craven, cowardice. How this struggle plays out within us determines the traction, texture, and tenor of our lives.

What may disturb some readers is McCarthy's seeming relish for exploring the random, arbitrary violence that defies rational explanation and yet intrudes on our existence with increasing frequency. Perhaps it is not the fact of intense violence but McCarthy's assertion that such actions can never be punished and it is our fate to live in an increasingly chaotic and dangerous world that makes his writing so compelling, in the same way people rush to the scene of the terrible car accident. But unlike the car accident, where we walk away thinking better him than me, McCarthy's world is characterized by the extreme injustice of capricious violence.  

I didn't find "A Confederacy of Dunces" particularly dark or complex, but I loved it. It was the last book I read that made me laugh out loud (often) and that was probably 30 years ago. Toole's own life, though, now that's dark, complex and tragic. Dead at 31 - imagine the books that were never written.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on October 14, 2013, 08:03:16 PM
With Tom Clancy's recent death, I still need to read 2 of his books.  They are on my bucket list.

Your still a young man, Chicos. Fly or jump out of an airplane, climb Mt Everest, run with the bulls or run the Boston Marathon. Reading a couple of Tom Clancy books might deserve a "note to self" but not a place on your bucket list.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 14, 2013, 08:36:12 PM
I didn't find "A Confederacy of Dunces" particularly dark or complex, but I loved it. It was the last book I read that made me laugh out loud (often) and that was probably 30 years ago. Toole's own life, though, now that's dark, complex and tragic. Dead at 31 - imagine the books that were never written.

I found that Toole's acerbic wit provided mere pin pricks of light in a otherwise darkly somber weltanschauung. He tempered morose observations on the meaninglessness of life with wry commentary that prevented me from wanting to re-enact Papa Hemingway leaves Ketchum.   

“It smells terrible in here.'

Well, what do you expect? The human body, when confined, produces certain odors which we tend to forget in this age of deodorants and other perversions. Actually, I find the atmosphere of this room rather comforting. Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs. You may remember that Mark Twain preferred to lie supinely in bed while composing those rather dated and boring efforts which contemporary scholars try to prove meaningful. Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.”


The beauty of Toole is his ability to resurrect some semblance of hope from the absolute depths of despair. The real tragedy is that Confederacy of Dunces can now be seen as the shrill cry for help that unfortunately culminated in Toole's suicide. Imagine the penetrating insights on this post-industrial world lost for that one irretrievable act.   

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on October 14, 2013, 09:14:31 PM
I found that Toole's acerbic wit provided mere pin pricks of light in a otherwise darkly somber weltanschauung. He tempered morose observations on the meaninglessness of life with wry commentary that prevented me from wanting to re-enact Papa Hemingway leaves Ketchum.  

“It smells terrible in here.'

Well, what do you expect? The human body, when confined, produces certain odors which we tend to forget in this age of deodorants and other perversions. Actually, I find the atmosphere of this room rather comforting. Schiller needed the scent of apples rotting in his desk in order to write. I, too, have my needs. You may remember that Mark Twain preferred to lie supinely in bed while composing those rather dated and boring efforts which contemporary scholars try to prove meaningful. Veneration of Mark Twain is one of the roots of our current intellectual stalemate.”


The beauty of Toole is his ability to resurrect some semblance of hope from the absolute depths of despair. The real tragedy is that Confederacy of Dunces can now be seen as the shrill cry for help that unfortunately culminated in Toole's suicide. Imagine the penetrating insights on this post-industrial world lost for that one irretrievable act.  



We agree on his genius. I just found his observations on the meaninglessness of life more stone cold hilarious than morose. I didn't see the book as a cry for help - I was under the impression that his feelings of persecution and his depression didn't so much pre-exist the book as resulted from his problems getting it published. Could be wrong on that.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 14, 2013, 09:20:24 PM
I have just begun three books:

Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, Richard B. Frank

The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai

Let Me Wear Your Coat, John Basil

I will post reviews when I am finished and time allows but each looks interesting thus far.

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on October 14, 2013, 09:25:54 PM
Your still a young man, Chicos. Fly or jump out of an airplane, climb Mt Everest, run with the bulls or run the Boston Marathon. Reading a couple of Tom Clancy books might deserve a "note to self" but not a place on your bucket list.

Marathon...check
Jump out of airplane...check

I enjoy Tom Clancy's stuff....I wasn't asking for a look down your nose to validate it's prose worthiness.  Sometimes, just reading something for fun is a pleasure. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on October 14, 2013, 09:27:31 PM
Maybe Tony can help with jumpin' out the plane, hey?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on October 14, 2013, 09:27:41 PM
I have just begun three books:

Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire, Richard B. Frank

The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai

Let Me Wear Your Coat, John Basil

I will post reviews when I am finished and time allows but each looks interesting thus far.



Read Downfall probably 10 years ago ....I'm curious to how you like it.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on October 14, 2013, 09:44:00 PM
Marathon...check
Jump out of airplane...check

I enjoy Tom Clancy's stuff....I wasn't asking for a look down your nose to validate it's prose worthiness.  Sometimes, just reading something for fun is a pleasure. 

I've got nothing against Tom Clancy's books and certainly would not look down my nose at anyone who reads them. I've read a couple myself and liked them fine. I just don't think they merit a spot on a bucket list. I love reading, I just think a bucket list should involve doing something a little more outside the box than reading a book. Feel free to disagree.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 14, 2013, 10:00:22 PM
We agree on his genius. I just found his observations on the meaninglessness of life more stone cold hilarious than morose. I didn't see the book as a cry for help - I was under the impression that his feelings of persecution and his depression didn't so much pre-exist the book as result from his problems getting it published. Could be wrong on that.

There is no question his commentary is wryly insightful but I have always found it tinged with the monotonous languor so typical of the Southern Gothics. There is a musty, dank feel to his narrative that makes one want to find the writhing energy that must certainly exist beneath the languid surface of the bayou.
 
As for his suicide, retrospect usually provides a clarity not available in the swiftly flowing current of events and what appears to me all too obvious may in fact be nothing more than droll musings.

I posted the passage on Twain as it is likely the most unique take on one of America's most gifted humorists. In one brief paragraph, Toole manages to trash both Classical and modern American aesthetics through comments on Schiller and deodorant. His segue from body odor to decay through Twain is at once stark in its effect yet so deftly executed that the reader never actually notices the transposition. Pure genius by a truly tortured soul.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on October 14, 2013, 10:06:37 PM
Marathon...check
Jump out of airplane...check

I enjoy Tom Clancy's stuff....I wasn't asking for a look down your nose to validate it's prose worthiness.  Sometimes, just reading something for fun is a pleasure. 

Anything "Tom Clancy and" is complete garbage. When he still wrote the books himself he wad great.

I'm reading jake tapper's The Outpost. a lot of A-10s coming to save the day.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 14, 2013, 10:41:47 PM
Read Downfall probably 10 years ago ....I'm curious to how you like it.

Yea, Downfall has been out for a while. I saw it this weekend at Half Price so I grabbed a copy. First few pages look great. From what I understand, Frank's thesis is that the savagery of Iwo and Okinawa combined with the Imperial Forces build-up in Kyushu projected millions of casualties just to take the southern most island of mainland Japan. With the threat of Soviet intervention and demonstrated Japanese intransigence Truman had no choice but to use nukes. I'll let you know what I think.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on October 14, 2013, 10:44:59 PM
Anything "Tom Clancy and" is complete garbage. When he still wrote the books himself he wad great.

I'm reading jake tapper's The Outpost. a lot of A-10s coming to save the day.


Agreed
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ChicosBailBonds on October 14, 2013, 10:49:40 PM
Yea, Downfall has been out for a while. I saw it this weekend at Half Price so I grabbed a copy. First few pages look great. From what I understand, Frank's thesis is that the savagery of Iwo and Okinawa combined with the Imperial Forces build-up in Kyushu projected millions of casualties just to take the southern most island of mainland Japan. With the threat of Soviet intervention and demonstrated Japanese intransigence Truman had no choice but to use nukes. I'll let you know what I think.

They don't make men like Truman anymore.  In today's day and age, you couldn't pull off dropping a nuke, let alone two (nor the bombing of Tokyo).  The press and the anti-war crowd wouldn't allow for it, even if it mean shortening the war, winning the war and ultimately saving lives.  The world is upside down, and we don't fight to win.   My wife and I socialize with some older vets, have lunch with them or breakfast, etc, and it drives these guys crazy.  I don't blame them.  They just shake their heads.  Of course, this is some of the same group that says life was a lot better back in the day so I should probably ignore what the greatest generation has to say.

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 14, 2013, 10:56:17 PM
Anything "Tom Clancy and" is complete garbage. When he still wrote the books himself he wad great.

I'm reading jake tapper's The Outpost. a lot of A-10s coming to save the day.


Of course they did. The A 10 Warthog. The Ultimate Killing Machine.

(http://aircraft-photographs.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/aircraft-USAF-Fairchild-Republic-A10-Thunderbolt-Warthog-Ground-Attack-Aircraft-hog.jpg)
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 14, 2013, 11:42:45 PM
They don't make men like Truman anymore.  In today's day and age, you couldn't pull off dropping a nuke, let alone two (nor the bombing of Tokyo).  The press and the anti-war crowd wouldn't allow for it, even if it mean shortening the war, winning the war and ultimately saving lives.  The world is upside down, and we don't fight to win.   My wife and I socialize with some older vets, have lunch with them or breakfast, etc, and it drives these guys crazy.  I don't blame them.  They just shake their heads.  Of course, this is some of the same group that says life was a lot better back in the day so I should probably ignore what the greatest generation has to say.



One of our greatest Presidents. Truman applied common sense but his decisions were grounded in principle, not politics. He accepted the Balfour Declaration and endorsed Wilson's statements on an independent Jewish state but in recognizing Israel he confided to his closest associates he was doing it because it was, "the right thing to do." That move is something FDR never would have done and was contrary to what Whitehall and Foggy Bottom wanted.

HST exhibited a courage that has been conspicuously absent from political decision making. One of my favorite authors, David McCullough, has a superb biography of Truman.  The beauty of McCullough's work is in showing us the very human Harry Truman, perhaps our most down to earth President alongside Lincoln. Harry Truman made tough decisions learned as a farmer, haberdasher, and Jackson County Judge under the shadow of Tom Pendergast. One of the most remarkable men of the 20th Century.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 15, 2013, 12:51:35 AM
Just finished "Neptune's Inferno, the US Navy at Guadalcanal" by James D. Hornfischer.

This book delves into the mental condition of warriors thrown into battles in which career training didn't prepare them for the speed and lethality of a well prepared enemy.  It's a story of officers in command using peace time methods to prepare their ships and ground troops for combat and those methods causing the death of thousands and the loss of many capital ships.  Its a story about the daily learning of the right lessons to defeat the Japanese Navy and Army, fighting close to all their bases and Americans fighting from thousands of miles from their bases.

Great story and one that should be taught in any American History class in middle school and high school.

I just started Downfall which is about the endgame in the Pacific War by Richard Frank. Frank also wrote the definitive work on the Battle for Guadalcanal, Guadalcanal. What is fascinating about that engagement is that it was fought in all three battle spaces with daily contact between combatants lasting more than 6 months and a physical and emotional intensity not seen in the western ETO. What is particularly appealing about Frank's work is his articulation of the fight from the vantage point of the individual marine, aviator, and sailor on both sides.

Perhaps the most comprehensive study of the Solomon's Campaign is contained in Samuel Eliot Morrison's 15 volume History of US Naval Operations in WW II. Morrison's work is monumental in scope yet meticulous in detail and worth every second invested in reading about our senior service's most magnificent moment. The scope, scale, and intensity of the Pacific War makes it one of this Republic's grandest undertakings.

The battle rhythm you mention in Hornfischer's work has characterized virtually all of our foreign wars. The spool up time for a citizen-based military is always more substantial than for our more authoritarian adversaries. One feature of today's volunteer force is that the chasm of perspective between those who serve(d) and those who have not is wider than at any time in our history. We have for the first time a professional military that has been blooded and that experience is not shared by 98% of their fellow citizens. Unlike the great wars of the 20th Century, where American society as a whole was mobilized, the military today is a thin sliver of the total nation. On the positive side, though, is that our volunteer force is the most educated and socially representative force we have ever had.

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu03eng on October 15, 2013, 07:54:46 AM
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

Very interesting look at some of the new research that suggests that the Americas could have actually been more populous than Europe before Columbus, but that massive disease outbreaks may have killed as much as 80% of the native population.  This is based on both eye-witness accounts of massive settlements that were mentioned by early explorers, that were gone just a few decades later. 

The author also points out some drawbacks to these theories...mainly "where are the skeletons?"

Also mentions a number of theories that suggest that humans may not have come over strictly on the land-bridge from Asia to the Americas.

If you are into this kind of stuff, it is a very good book.

I thought this was a very good book, though pretty technical from an anthropological and historical perspective so not a "light read".  I found the discussion of the America's as some untamed nature perhaps being a myth pretty compelling.  Have the follow-up to this book on my dresser to read but have to get through grad school before I take up anything else too serious 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu03eng on October 15, 2013, 08:14:22 AM
Some books I've enjoyed in the last couple of years

-Goodwin's Team of Rivals
-Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic
-McCullogh's The Great Bridge
-Sebastian Junger's War
-James Kyle's first person account of the Iranian rescue attempt:  The Guts To Try (I'm biased, I knew a lot of the guys on this and I re-read it every couple of years)
-Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City
-Anything Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt series(that he is the sole author, like Clancy anything he did Clive Cussler AND sucks)
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU Fan in Connecticut on October 15, 2013, 08:18:04 AM
I thought this was a very good book, though pretty technical from an anthropological and historical perspective so not a "light read".  I found the discussion of the America's as some untamed nature perhaps being a myth pretty compelling.  Have the follow-up to this book on my dresser to read but have to get through grad school before I take up anything else too serious 

I enjoyed Charles Mann's 1491 also.  1493 is compelling also.  He goes into detail on the Spanish silver trade between South America and Manila, Phillipines and how this ties into China. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu03eng on October 15, 2013, 08:19:14 AM
I enjoyed Charles Mann's 1491 also.  1493 is compelling also.  He goes into detail on the Spanish silver trade between South America and Manila, Phillipines and how this ties into China. 

Spoiler alert!!!!   ;D
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu03eng on October 15, 2013, 08:20:07 AM
Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography was great, love or hate the man there was a lot of stuff from a business, product, and innovation standpoint you could take away from that book.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU Fan in Connecticut on October 15, 2013, 08:24:08 AM
Some books I've enjoyed in the last couple of years

he is the sole author, like Clancy anything he did Clive Cussler AND sucks)

Just like you, I think I read every Dirk Pitt - Clive Cussler solo written books.  I haven't read any in the last several years as everything seems to be co-written and I've moved on.  If you like the Dirk Pitt novels, you might like author Steve Berry.  My brother introduced to me the books.  The main character, Cotton Malone, gets involved with history mysteries.  He has a few other books in the same mold.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on October 15, 2013, 08:49:59 AM
I enjoyed Charles Mann's 1491 also.  1493 is compelling also.  He goes into detail on the Spanish silver trade between South America and Manila, Phillipines and how this ties into China. 

Mann's 1491 was good.

I also read the Brendan Voyage, by Tim Severin.  He actually took 6th century technology and built a boat and sailed from Ireland to America, based on the writings of Brendan the Navigator.

Other recent reads:

Failure is not a option-Gene Kranz, about the Mercury & Apollo programs
Condoleeza Rice's autobiography
A Country of Vast Designs, about James K Polk.
The Fifties, based on CBB's recommendation


Daniel Silva's series about Israeli spy Gabriel Allon is entertaining.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on October 15, 2013, 09:16:32 AM
How did you like Touchdown Johnny?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ATWizJr on October 15, 2013, 09:38:40 AM
Not a Dan Brown fan.
  Philosophical differences or just don't care for his style?  I felt Inferno read more like a travelogue and stretched the bounds of credulity.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: brandx on October 15, 2013, 11:13:56 AM
They don't make men like Truman anymore.  In today's day and age, you couldn't pull off dropping a nuke, let alone two (nor the bombing of Tokyo).  The press and the anti-war crowd wouldn't allow for it, even if it mean shortening the war, winning the war and ultimately saving lives.  The world is upside down, and we don't fight to win.   My wife and I socialize with some older vets, have lunch with them or breakfast, etc, and it drives these guys crazy.  I don't blame them.  They just shake their heads.  Of course, this is some of the same group that says life was a lot better back in the day so I should probably ignore what the greatest generation has to say.


I think maybe part of the difference is that in WWII - we were attacked as opposed to us attacking a country that posed no threat. People will almost always defend their own, but will question the deaths of friends and loved ones whose lives are wasted over political (Iraq) or proxy (Vietnam) wars.
And since we have participated in 16 wars since WWII, some people see an immorality in constantly having such little regard for human life that isn't American.

And yes, some people think life was much better back when women and minorities knew their place. (I am not among them). I was born in the 50's and it is very easy for me to understand why it was the sons and daughters of this Greatest Generation that rebelled and decided they needed to change the world
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: swoopem on October 15, 2013, 11:33:22 AM
I'm sure this was already mentioned somewhere in the thread, but I thought "The Lone Survivor" was an awesome book and with the movie coming out soon it'll be worth reading.

It's a true story about Navy SEALS in Afghanistan if you're into that.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: brandx on October 15, 2013, 11:47:31 AM
Read Downfall probably 10 years ago ....I'm curious to how you like it.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on October 15, 2013, 11:52:35 AM
  Philosophical differences or just don't care for his style?  I felt Inferno read more like a travelogue and stretched the bounds of credulity.

I think he's an average at best writer who plays fast and loose with the "facts" that he bases his novels on.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: brandx on October 15, 2013, 11:54:22 AM
Read Downfall probably 10 years ago ....I'm curious to how you like it.

Sounds like something I will pick up. I'd be interested as to what the thinking was at the time. Especially the days between the two bombings. Japan knew the war was lost and was already negotiating to save as much face as possible - and in the interim, Russia attacked them in Manchuria - so the story behind the 2nd strike would seem the more fascinating.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Pakuni on October 15, 2013, 12:07:16 PM
Just got my copy of Chuck Palahniuk's latest, "Doomed." So far, so good.
Though Chuck's prose isn't for everyone.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: PBRme on October 15, 2013, 03:19:33 PM
PJ O'Rourke - Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance are both tears streaming down your face funny.  His description of his experience in the Peace Corps is hysterical.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu03eng on October 15, 2013, 03:23:35 PM
Anything Malcolm Gladwell....haven't read the new one yet though
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu03eng on October 15, 2013, 06:56:23 PM
One other thought for the Clancy fans out there.  At some point I'm planning to go back and re-read the Jack Ryan Clancy books, what order would you read them in?  Order of publishing or in chronological order based on the Ryan Universe?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 15, 2013, 07:38:20 PM
Marathon...check
Jump out of airplane...check

I enjoy Tom Clancy's stuff....I wasn't asking for a look down your nose to validate it's prose worthiness.  Sometimes, just reading something for fun is a pleasure. 

I don't think Lenny was taking the piss out of you on Clancy, Chico. And there is nothing wrong with Clancy - it's great escapism fare which everyone needs. I remember I brought a couple Clancy and Grisham books on a holiday to Thailand and my beloved started giving me crap about it. I noticed what she was reading and gently pointed out that she was likely the only person in the history of Phuket beach history to read Dostoevsky while lazing on the white sand. There is a time and place for everything and Clancy, Gilligan's Island, or Scoop help flush the brain in order that we can re-engage effectively in what is truly important.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on October 15, 2013, 07:47:17 PM
I don't think Lenny was taking the piss out of you on Clancy, Chico. And there is nothing wrong with Clancy - it's great escapism fare which everyone needs. I remember I brought a couple Clancy and Grisham books on a holiday to Thailand and my beloved started giving me crap about it. I noticed what she was reading and gently pointed out that she was likely the only person in the history of Phuket beach history to read Dostoevsky while lazing on the white sand. There is a time and place for everything and Clancy, Gilligan's Island, or Scoop help flush the brain in order that we can re-engage effectively in what is truly important.

Scoop proves the Buffalo theory perfectly.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU Fan in Connecticut on October 16, 2013, 07:41:58 AM
One other thought for the Clancy fans out there.  At some point I'm planning to go back and re-read the Jack Ryan Clancy books, what order would you read them in?  Order of publishing or in chronological order based on the Ryan Universe?

Isn't the order of publishing pretty much the same as chronological order other than the Mr. Clarke origin book?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ATL MU Warrior on October 16, 2013, 07:53:21 AM
Isn't the order of publishing pretty much the same as chronological order other than the Mr. Clarke origin book?
That's what I thought as well.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu03eng on October 16, 2013, 08:16:39 AM
Isn't the order of publishing pretty much the same as chronological order other than the Mr. Clarke origin book?

As an example Red Rabbit(Pope JPII assassination plot) takes place right after Patriot Games but was published 20 years later.  And Red October was published before Patriot Games but Patriot Games takes place before Red October.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Eldon on October 16, 2013, 10:55:27 AM
Scoop proves the Buffalo theory perfectly.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU Fan in Connecticut on October 16, 2013, 11:01:54 AM
As an example Red Rabbit(Pope JPII assassination plot) takes place right after Patriot Games but was published 20 years later.  And Red October was published before Patriot Games but Patriot Games takes place before Red October.

Now that you mention the JPII assaniation atempt, I recall Red Rabbit as "the Foley's" origin story.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: brewcity77 on October 16, 2013, 12:55:48 PM
Not recent, but finally got around to reading Ender's Game recently. Brilliant bit of writing. Also enjoyed the new Dan Brown book, Inferno. The first 2/3 of it felt exactly like his other Robert Langdon books (Da Vinci, Angels & Demons, etc), though was still enjoyable despite being formulaic. He had one big diversion from his usual formula that really made the last bit more enjoyable for me. Well worth the read, if you are a fan of Brown's.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on October 17, 2013, 07:05:30 AM
Not recent, but finally got around to reading Ender's Game recently. Brilliant bit of writing. Also enjoyed the new Dan Brown book, Inferno. The first 2/3 of it felt exactly like his other Robert Langdon books (Da Vinci, Angels & Demons, etc), though was still enjoyable despite being formulaic. He had one big diversion from his usual formula that really made the last bit more enjoyable for me. Well worth the read, if you are a fan of Brown's.

Ender's Game is neat, but fairly predictable (it is YA Fiction after all)... one thing that really distracted me was the names the kids called each other... it was like reading Beavis and Butthead.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 26, 2013, 03:19:28 PM
I recently read John Basil's Let Me Wear Your Coat. I posted this review:

This book was recommended to me and I will admit I approached it with a bit of trepidation when I realized it was a coming of age story. As a genre, I feel that we have trivialized it to the point where coming-of-age is a shibboleth for A Separate Peace, Catcher In the Rye, and Lord of the Flies and precious little else.

The category has been in dire need of a refresh with a more contemporary context and John Basil’s Let Me Wear Your Coat certainly fulfills that requirement. His story is set in the late 1970’s but this morality play articulates lessons that are acutely relevant today. Basil’s protagonist is an Everyman struggling to come to grips with an increasingly complex and bewildering world. His supporting cast personifies good and evil but with a refined ambiguity that adds depth, richness and complexity to his characters without being cliché. His narrative is compelling with several underlying tensions that add a dramatic tautness that engages the reader and demands reflection and introspection.
  
His characters are interesting and I would welcome a sequel to see how the protagonist applies the insight and wisdom he has gained through the story’s denouement. The antagonist is also fascinating and worthy of further understanding.

Basil’s Let Me Wear Your Coat is noteworthy for the depth of its players and the poignancy of its narrative. This story takes a welcome place alongside Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, S.E. Hinton’s Outsiders, and Ayad Akhtar’s Dervish. It is that good.  


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16083226-let-me-wear-your-coat?ac=1

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on October 26, 2013, 03:22:58 PM
Let me guess keefe, you got an "A" in John Pick's English class, hey?.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 26, 2013, 03:27:32 PM
Let me guess keefe, you got an "A" in John Pick's English class, hey?.

English?? I'm an Injunear!
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 26, 2013, 04:58:02 PM
Let me guess keefe, you got an "A" in John Pick's English class, hey?.

Actually, Pick was before my time. My wife was an English major and she had him when he did an encore at Marquette. I remember she did a paper on Blake's The Tiger for Pick.

Pick was an institution at Marquette.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on October 26, 2013, 05:21:42 PM
I had him for an entire year of English along with Chones, Lackey, Frazier, McGuire, and a dude named Cary. Pick kept it interestin' and real. Best was when we read, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and he wore a rubber chicken around his neck to symbolize the albatross. Rumor was the Cat married the princess of Malta and was on the maiden voyage of the Andrea Doria, which sank.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 26, 2013, 07:09:42 PM
I recall my wife saying Pick had an Oxbridge accent but it turns out he was from the Midwest. I think you are right in that he married into English-Maltese aristocracy and he lived in a palatial villa on Malta when he wasn't in Milwaukee. I know my wife really enjoyed him and took 6 hours with him.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: wildbillsb on October 26, 2013, 07:16:35 PM
Just finished JAYBER CROW by Wendell Berry, and can't praise it enough, especially to those of us in our twilight years.  First time reader of Mr Berry and I regret not having discovered him sooner.  JC is a novel told by and through the life experiences of a simple, God-fearing man - a small town barber in mid 20th century Kentucky:  a story of love, friendships, life in simpler times.  Beautifully written, as well.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on October 27, 2013, 08:12:02 PM
I finished Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake and wrote this review:


Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake is a poignant tale of tradition, heritage, evolution, transformation, and discovery in which she chronicles the travails, struggles, triumphs and sorrows of immigrants creating a new life in a very different world. Lahiri’s personal perspective brings an acuity and percipience to the narrative that enriches the plot with more than a touch of both whimsy and pathos.

The beauty of Lahiri’s work lies in the sublime deftness of her imagery. Through subtle shadings she adds incredible depth to situations, relationships, and moments that infuses energy into her story while engendering intimacy between reader and character. There is an elegant delectation to her prose that conveys feelings and emotions with a spry agility that keeps the dialogue flowing in a natural cadence. Lahiri can say more in one sentence than many writers can in a chapter.

An example of Lahiri’s wry brilliance is in her use of an unconventional name for the protagonist. Named for the Russian writer Gogol, in honor of a grandfather killed in a tragic accident, this literary device adds color, humor, irony, and encumbrance to a young man struggling with responsibilities to numerous identities.

The Namesake is a moving tale of multi-generational discovery that engages the reader immediately. This is a finely crafted story that should enrich your appreciation of the immigrant experience.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/750895611

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: THEultimateWARRIOR on October 29, 2013, 10:46:38 AM
If you like both economics and history, then I highly suggest reading "Land of Promise" by Michael Lind.

Fantastic book that walks you through the economic history of the United States. Lind's knowledge of history is quite fascinating.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Blackhat on February 24, 2014, 12:08:11 PM
ttt
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Blackhat on March 13, 2016, 03:11:18 PM
Any good novels u have read lately? Need some pool reads.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Pakuni on March 13, 2016, 03:19:52 PM
Any good novels u have read lately? Need some pool reads.

Not a novel, but I enjoyed "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates." Superficial, but in a good way in that it makes for a good read without getting too bogged down in minor details.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on March 13, 2016, 06:04:59 PM
"Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates."

I second this.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: rocket surgeon on March 14, 2016, 04:55:44 AM
TV sucks so much nowadays, I find reading is quickly taking its place for me.

yes it does, BUT, netflix has some really good documentaries-just watched the 1st series of narcos(10 x 1 hour episodes) on the rise of the cocaine industry and pablo escobar.  and a nice 2 hour docu on the navy seals.  these are like visual books in a way imho.  they have tons of good stuff in the docu category-musicians, weather, influential people, etc and they have ratings given to them by the people who watched them
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: drewm88 on March 14, 2016, 11:04:26 AM
I finished Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake and wrote this review:


Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake is a poignant tale of tradition, heritage, evolution, transformation, and discovery in which she chronicles the travails, struggles, triumphs and sorrows of immigrants creating a new life in a very different world. Lahiri’s personal perspective brings an acuity and percipience to the narrative that enriches the plot with more than a touch of both whimsy and pathos.

The beauty of Lahiri’s work lies in the sublime deftness of her imagery. Through subtle shadings she adds incredible depth to situations, relationships, and moments that infuses energy into her story while engendering intimacy between reader and character. There is an elegant delectation to her prose that conveys feelings and emotions with a spry agility that keeps the dialogue flowing in a natural cadence. Lahiri can say more in one sentence than many writers can in a chapter.

An example of Lahiri’s wry brilliance is in her use of an unconventional name for the protagonist. Named for the Russian writer Gogol, in honor of a grandfather killed in a tragic accident, this literary device adds color, humor, irony, and encumbrance to a young man struggling with responsibilities to numerous identities.

The Namesake is a moving tale of multi-generational discovery that engages the reader immediately. This is a finely crafted story that should enrich your appreciation of the immigrant experience.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/750895611

My review of this to a friend was, "Pretty good. Kinda slow in parts. Worth reading." This makes me feel inadequate now.

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: THRILLHO on March 15, 2016, 01:42:36 PM
For non-fiction, I just read Sarah Vowell's "Lafayette in the Somewhat United States," very funny and informative. I don't know if you could quite call it a biography because it's interspersed with the author's travel descriptions but very good however you categorize it.

For fiction, I just read some old sci-fi that was apparently award-winning when it came out but I hadn't heard of it until recently -- Connie Willis's Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, about future historians who use time travel to study the past. Also very funny and smart with heart.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: rocket surgeon on March 15, 2016, 01:52:31 PM
Actually, Pick was before my time. My wife was an English major and she had him when he did an encore at Marquette. I remember she did a paper on Blake's The Tiger for Pick.

Pick was an institution at Marquette.

ohhhhhhh, robbed the cradle-ein'a?  nicely done!
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Spotcheck Billy on March 15, 2016, 02:11:16 PM
rereading The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: keefe on March 15, 2016, 10:54:53 PM
rereading The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

Did Arthur Gordon Pym know the Girl from Nantucket?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU Fan in Connecticut on March 16, 2016, 07:09:11 AM
Did Arthur Gordon Pym know the Girl from Nantucket?

Arthur Gordon Pym - Is he related to the inventor of the Ant-Man suit?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU B2002 on June 15, 2016, 09:36:48 AM
Reading Devil in the White City at the moment.  So far so good.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: naginiF on June 15, 2016, 09:54:46 AM
Reading Devil in the White City at the moment.  So far so good.
my wife's reading that - LOVES it.

The last book i read that i HIGHLY recommend is Reamde by Neal Stephenson - but i'm a biased Stephenson fan.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on June 15, 2016, 10:10:33 AM
Reading Devil in the White City at the moment.  So far so good.

Just read that as well. It's absolutely worth a read.

Above someone talked about Dan Brown, and I hate Dan Brown. He has 0 respect for his readers. His writing is the equivalent of him leading a horse to water, shoving a funnel in its mouth, and pouring ALL the water down its throat.

Devil in the White City is the exact opposite. There are a ton of one-line throwaway references that he's expecting his readers to get. Don't know who Frank Lloyd Wright is? Well the 30 word reference to him will go over your head. I'm sure I missed a bunch too, but it's nice to not be reading something targeted at a demographic below mold spores in intelligence.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: GWSwarrior on June 15, 2016, 10:20:19 AM
I really enjoyed these two recently

"6 Amendments: How and Why we should change the Constitution"  By retired Justice John Paul Stevens. 

"Agent Zig-Zag" By Ben Macyntire
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: WellsstreetWanderer on June 15, 2016, 10:59:31 AM
anything by  Ken Bruen
his prose is like indulging a deck of Luckies along with a pint of Black and  a shot of J
his stories set in Galwaay are addicting
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Spotcheck Billy on June 15, 2016, 11:04:55 AM
So why is Devil in the White City so popular right now? It is a good read but seems odd that an old book is being read by so many now.

Edit: Now I see that a movie is being made from it by Scorsese with DiCaprio.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: warriorchick on June 15, 2016, 11:06:31 AM
Reading Devil in the White City at the moment.  So far so good.

Amazing book.  Soon to be a Major Motion Picture with Martin Scorcese and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: mu_hilltopper on June 15, 2016, 11:28:48 AM
Not for adults, but I've been reading books to my 7-9 year old boys by an author, Stuart Gibbs.

They are phenomenal.  If you have boys (and maybe girls) in the 7-14 range, these are great.  The first series is about a 12 year old boy who is recruited to "Spy School" and becomes a young CIA agent.

Follow up books .. Spy Camp, Evil Spy School.    Also, Space Case and Spaced Out.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: warriorchick on June 15, 2016, 11:58:38 AM
Not for adults, but I've been reading books to my 7-9 year old boys by an author, Stuart Gibbs.

They are phenomenal.  If you have boys (and maybe girls) in the 7-14 range, these are great.  The first series is about a 12 year old boy who is recruited to "Spy School" and becomes a young CIA agent.

Follow up books .. Spy Camp, Evil Spy School.    Also, Space Case and Spaced Out.

Glow jr's favorite books during those years were the "Captain Underpants" series.  Full of inappropriate grade-school humor. His third-grade teacher had a program where parents would randomly show up dressed up as character in a book, and guess who I chose?  When the teacher asked, "Whose Mom is this?", glow jr. put his head on the desk and covered it up with his arms.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on June 15, 2016, 12:43:22 PM
So why is Devil in the White City so popular right now? It is a good read but seems odd that an old book is being read by so many now.

Edit: Now I see that a movie is being made from it by Scorsese with DiCaprio.

Ah, i didn't even realize they were making a movie of it. I just finally got to it on my ever-growing book pile.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: warriorchick on June 15, 2016, 12:44:38 PM
Ah, i didn't even realize they were making a movie of it. I just finally got to it on my ever-growing book pile.

It's still "in development".  You've got time.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: GWSwarrior on June 15, 2016, 12:51:25 PM
So why is Devil in the White City so popular right now? It is a good read but seems odd that an old book is being read by so many now.

Edit: Now I see that a movie is being made from it by Scorsese with DiCaprio.

It is a phenomenal read
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Spotcheck Billy on June 15, 2016, 01:00:49 PM
I like the part where the folks in Waukesha met the train with pitchforks, that spring in Big Bend is still operational.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on June 15, 2016, 01:13:26 PM
It's still "in development".  You've got time.

Ah, I finished it already. I'm on to some low-impact genre fiction (the 5 John Cleaver books by Dan Wells) before I move on to the next two non-fictions in my queue, The Gift of Fear, and Consider the Fork.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: rocket surgeon on June 15, 2016, 01:34:49 PM
needed a break from "current affairs" so i dove into steven tyler's "does the noise in my head bother you"  some of his stuff would really surprise you except for the fact that he should be dead from drugs n drink.  believe it or not, he is quite the musician.  his dad was an accomplished concert pianist.  his real name is steven victor tallarico.  very entertaining read
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: vogue65 on June 15, 2016, 07:03:51 PM
Just finished "Neptune's Inferno, the US Navy at Guadalcanal" by James D. Hornfischer.

This book delves into the mental condition of warriors thrown into battles in which career training didn't prepare them for the speed and lethality of a well prepared enemy.  It's a story of officers in command using peace time methods to prepare their ships and ground troops for combat and those methods causing the death of thousands and the loss of many capital ships.  Its a story about the daily learning of the right lessons to defeat the Japanese Navy and Army, fighting close to all their bases and Americans fighting from thousands of miles from their bases.

Great story and one that should be taught in any American History class in middle school and high school.

So much for "training", just a left over burr from the politics posts.

A Question of Belief, Donna Leon, A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery.

The Seven Story Mountain, Thomas Merton, it finally makes sense.

An Army At Dawn, First of the WWII Liberation Trilogy by Rick Atkinson

Over the weekend I suggested to a friend, The Killer Angels, an historical novel of Gettysburg, the definitive novel on the subject.


Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on August 18, 2017, 07:04:36 PM
Bump.

need some fresh reading ideas.  fiction or non-fiction suggestions welcome.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Pakuni on August 18, 2017, 08:11:20 PM
Bump.

need some fresh reading ideas.  fiction or non-fiction suggestions welcome.

"The North Water"
"The Last Days of Night"
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on August 18, 2017, 09:23:00 PM
I just read "Station Eleven," which is essentially about the threads of lives intertwining between the before 0 hour of a civilization-ending plague and of the survivors 10ish years later. The prose is exceptional, but it very much so falls on the "literary" rather than "mainstream" end of the spectrum. It was a finalist for the National Book Award, and for that to happen to a genre book is... uh... indicative of its quality.

I presume you're aware of it and that it has been reccomended, but Patrick Rothfuss' "Kingkiller Chronicle" (Book 1: "The Name of the Wind") is spectacular. It's dense, artistic, prose, with a layered complex narrative that subverts fantasy tropes. The biggest downside is that he has yet to finish the third and (allegedly) final book of the trilogy.

Continuing on the genre theme, I highly recommend Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" books. It's essentially a noir styled PI story, only the PI is a wizard for hire in modern day Chicago. Butcher has mastered pacing and structure to pull you through books fast. The first couple aren't incredible, but by book 3 it becomes absolutely compelling. On the plus side of the ledger here, there are like 15 books in the series. On the minus side of the ledger is that there are like 15 books in the series.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on August 18, 2017, 09:49:03 PM
Bump.

need some fresh reading ideas.  fiction or non-fiction suggestions welcome.


Dude, I'm down wit "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fook," hey?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: CTWarrior on August 21, 2017, 11:26:48 PM
How We Got to Now: Six Innovations that Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson.

From a few years ago.  My son gave it to me and it was a very interesting and fast read.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU82 on November 12, 2021, 09:35:36 AM
Just finished John Grisham's latest novel, "Sooley."

It's about a basketball player from South Sudan who leaves his extremely rough existence in that ravaged nation to play basketball in America. About 2/3 of it is basketball-related and the rest is about what the folks in South Sudan deal with.

The South Sudan stuff was fascinating and heartbreaking, and Grisham obviously did extensive research. I knew it was effed up there, but learned a lot.

Grisham is a fine writer and he did a good job developing most characters.

It is a novel, though, and quite a bit of the basketball-related stuff is beyond unbelievable fiction. Without giving too many spoilers ... if you think the shooting percentage in Hoosiers is ridiculously high, wait till you get a load of Sooley's shooting from 3-point range (and not just 3s, but everything is a "30-footer," or more). He also went from redshirt to super-duper-star in about half a second, which of course doesn't happen.

Not the best Grisham novel, and nowhere near the best basketball book I've read, but a pretty easy read that I'm glad to have done.

Oh ... and there's even a Marquette hook:

Sooley's coach goes on to take our most recent job opening! Seriously. Sorry, Shaka!!


Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Scoop Snoop on November 12, 2021, 12:47:00 PM
Just finished John Grisham's latest novel, "Sooley."

It's about a basketball player from South Sudan who leaves his extremely rough existence in that ravaged nation to play basketball in America. About 2/3 of it is basketball-related and the rest is about what the folks in South Sudan deal with.

The South Sudan stuff was fascinating and heartbreaking, and Grisham obviously did extensive research. I knew it was effed up there, but learned a lot.

Grisham is a fine writer and he did a good job developing most characters.

It is a novel, though, and quite a bit of the basketball-related stuff is beyond unbelievable fiction. Without giving too many spoilers ... if you think the shooting percentage in Hoosiers is ridiculously high, wait till you get a load of Sooley's shooting from 3-point range (and not just 3s, but everything is a "30-footer," or more). He also went from redshirt to super-duper-star in about half a second, which of course doesn't happen.

Not the best Grisham novel, and nowhere near the best basketball book I've read, but a pretty easy read that I'm glad to have done.

Oh ... and there's even a Marquette hook:

Sooley's coach goes on to take our most recent job opening! Seriously. Sorry, Shaka!!

Agree with your comments, especially Grisham's decision to make Sooley into a super star "in about half a second". I wish Grisham had taken a very different route and had Sooley becoming a star over several seasons. The ending was, to me, just a really bad idea. I laughed when the coach took the Marquette job. Grisham knew Wojo was a goner long before many MU fans who said he'd be coaching another year at MU!

Grisham is a big fan of baseball and pulled his car over to watch a youth team play not too far from where I live. Grisham lives about an hour North of me in Charlottesville. The field and other facilities were pretty bad so he paid for a first class facility to replace it. I heard he has done that in at least one other location. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU82 on November 12, 2021, 01:21:53 PM
Agree with your comments, especially Grisham's decision to make Sooley into a super star "in about half a second". I wish Grisham had taken a very different route and had Sooley becoming a star over several seasons. The ending was, to me, just a really bad idea. I laughed when the coach took the Marquette job. Grisham knew Wojo was a goner long before many MU fans who said he'd be coaching another year at MU!

Grisham is a big fan of baseball and pulled his car over to watch a youth team play not too far from where I live. Grisham lives about an hour North of me in Charlottesville. The field and other facilities were pretty bad so he paid for a first class facility to replace it. I heard he has done that in at least one other location.

I didn't want to give away too much of the ending (and you didn't either). But yes, it's not the way I would have ended it.

Very nice of him to have paid for a new baseball facility. Wealthy folks can build up so much goodwill doing stuff like that, stuff that is so appreciated but costs them the equivalent of a penny to you and me.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on November 12, 2021, 04:42:30 PM
Thought “Sooley” was good, not great.

Currently reading “Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles (“The Gentleman From Moscow”). Great story, and this guy can REALLY write.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on November 12, 2021, 08:30:53 PM
American Marxism is a must read, aina?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Uncle Rico on November 12, 2021, 08:32:21 PM
American Marxism is a must read, aina?

So is Unfit, aina?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: warriorchick on November 12, 2021, 10:01:16 PM
Just finished the Giannis biography by Mirin Fader, and holy Hell, if you haven't read this book, you don't know anything about what he has overcome to make it to where he is, or the extent of his humility.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on November 12, 2021, 10:14:48 PM
The newest Ishiguro book sounds interesting.  I just finished and really enjoyed Murakami's Killing Commendatore.  Wind-Up-Bird Chronicle is still his best but all of his stuff is never boring.  I would also recommend The Death of Expertise by Nichols if you're looking for some non-fiction.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU82 on November 12, 2021, 11:50:08 PM
Thought “Sooley” was good, not great.

Agree 100%.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on November 13, 2021, 12:01:37 AM
Just finished the Giannis biography by Mirin Fader, and holy Hell, if you haven't read this book, you don't know anything about what he has overcome to make it to where he is, or the extent of his humility.

The Giannis biography is next on my list after I finish up How the Word is Passed. Not sure I’ve heard a bad review from anyone.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Scoop Snoop on November 14, 2021, 02:38:56 PM
Alex Trebek's And the Answer Is... is an easy and fun read. He was a real down to earth type of guy and he offered plenty of great stories from his life.

 My favorite story was when he was MC for the packages of performances- music, athletic events, etc.- that were put on to celebrate Canada's 100th anniversary as a Dominion in 1967. With Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip present and, afterward, thanking the performers ("That was a wonderful performance. I enjoyed it very much. Please tell me your name and where you are from."). Rinse and repeat. Phillip's job was to stay just slightly behind Elizabeth in the receiving line as they thanked everyone. Just before the queen came up to Alex, she glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Phillip was not behind her. She was not going to exit the stage alone, so when she spoke to Alex (he was at the end of the line) , she engaged him in conversation for quite a while after finding that he had an interest in horses, a subject in which she is very knowledgeable. And why was Prince Phillip delayed? Apparently he was quite interested in a gymnastic team and not anxious to move on. Alex described the team as "20 year old blond girls in bright blue tights".   

Alex's phone rang often that night. His friends, having seen the events on TV, wanted to know how he managed to get such special treatment from the queen. The next day Alex was MC again and wondered what his new best friend would choose to talk about when she came to him at the end of the line. Queen Elizabeth approached Alex, smiled, and said " Wonderful performance. I really enjoyed it. Please tell me your name and where you are from."
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on December 08, 2021, 12:13:48 PM
Just finished the Giannis biography by Mirin Fader, and holy Hell, if you haven't read this book, you don't know anything about what he has overcome to make it to where he is, or the extent of his humility.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through. It's an incredible book. Fader truly seems to have left no stone unturned. She had to have interviewed close to 1,000 people.

It's a shame that the book wasn't finished a year or two later.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on December 09, 2021, 07:29:01 AM
Open your eyes and mind and read "The Real Anthony Fauci." As a lifelong democratic, the author, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says, challenge his findings if you disagree.
Regardless, the book is extremely well done and exposes Fauci, the media, and big pharma, hey?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Uncle Rico on December 09, 2021, 07:40:28 AM
Open your eyes and mind and read "The Real Anthony Fauci." As a lifelong democratic, the author, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says, challenge his findings if you disagree.
Regardless, the book is extremely well done and exposes Fauci, the media, and big pharma, hey?

You should read Michael Lewis “The Preminition” and open your mind and eyes and exposes Trump, hey?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on December 09, 2021, 07:48:17 AM
Open your eyes and mind and read "The Real Anthony Fauci." As a lifelong democratic, the author, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says, challenge his findings if you disagree.
Regardless, the book is extremely well done and exposes Fauci, the media, and big pharma, hey?

I'm sure it's eye opening.  For you.

His politics are irrelevant.  He is an anti-vax moron who shouldn't be taken seriously, and is only relevant because of his surname.  The only reason folks like you like him is because you hate Dr. Fauci.  It's quite pathetic, really.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 🏀 on December 09, 2021, 08:19:33 AM
The only reason people like 4ever hate Fauci is because he’s an absolute expert in his field and was tasked with telling people what to do during a pandemic that crippled the entire world.


Anywho…

Tom Coyne’s A Course Called America is a great gift for that golfer in your family.

Met him up at Sand Valley in July, great guy, even though he’s a Domer.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: SERocks on December 09, 2021, 03:10:51 PM
I have found a couple of books interesting lately. 

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy - What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny, by Stauss and Howe

and

The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy, by Kelton.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on December 09, 2021, 04:07:48 PM
Open your eyes and mind and read "The Real Anthony Fauci." As a lifelong democratic, the author, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says, challenge his findings if you disagree.
Regardless, the book is extremely well done and exposes Fauci, the media, and big pharma, hey?

<long slow whistling> you gotta log off dude.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on December 09, 2021, 07:59:01 PM
I have found a couple of books interesting lately. 

The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy - What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny, by Stauss and Howe


Looked this up on goodreads. 

1st review: ugh. Steve Bannon, he's evil and trump and do you want to live in a world of Bannon, and so on.

2nd review:  al gore likes this guy, so watch  out, I don't trust these authors, and so on.

God bless America.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Herman Cain on December 09, 2021, 09:28:20 PM
This is a book I have enjoyed reading . 

William Bartram:
Travels Through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy and Country of The Chactaws :Contains an Account of the Soil and natural productions of those regions. Together with observations of the manners of the Indians ,embellished with copper plates

This long titled book was written in 1791 as Bartram traveled through these territories and has some very interesting unedited insights about his interactions with the inhabitants .

I like this version below, but it is available in hard copy etc.


https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/bartram/bartram.html
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on December 09, 2021, 10:01:36 PM
Recent Nonfiction I've read:

The Verge - Patrick Wyman - Fantastic read of a world in flux. One of the hinge points in history in ways that we're not used to considering. Military revolution in gunpowder, tactics, and the increasing scale of nation-state/financed warfare, information revolution, accounting and financial evolutions, and with an exceptional writing to keep it gripping.

Hero of Two Worlds - Mike Duncan - Spectacular biography of the Marquis de Lafayette. Do yourselves a favor and grab this to round out the knowledge you gained during Hamilton. When you're done do The History of Rome and Revolutions podcasts, each of which are incredible and free.

Caesar: Life of a Collosus - Adrian Goldworthy - a comprehensive biography of Julius Ceasar. A little heavy on detailed minutae, especially during the sections reviewing his Gallic Wars, but that's what you get when you sign up for a comprehensive biography.

The Monster of Florence - Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi - a great true crime serial killer story from the picturesque Florentine countryside. Compellingly written too. One of those truth-is-weirder-than-fiction tales.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on December 10, 2021, 12:06:59 AM
Recent Nonfiction I've read:

The Verge - Patrick Wyman - Fantastic read of a world in flux. One of the hinge points in history in ways that we're not used to considering. Military revolution in gunpowder, tactics, and the increasing scale of nation-state/financed warfare, information revolution, accounting and financial evolutions, and with an exceptional writing to keep it gripping.

Hero of Two Worlds - Mike Duncan - Spectacular biography of the Marquis de Lafayette. Do yourselves a favor and grab this to round out the knowledge you gained during Hamilton. When you're done do The History of Rome and Revolutions podcasts, each of which are incredible and free.

Caesar: Life of a Collosus - Adrian Goldworthy - a comprehensive biography of Julius Ceasar. A little heavy on detailed minutae, especially during the sections reviewing his Gallic Wars, but that's what you get when you sign up for a comprehensive biography.

The Monster of Florence - Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi - a great true crime serial killer story from the picturesque Florentine countryside. Compellingly written too. One of those truth-is-weirder-than-fiction tales.

Great stuff!!  Have you ever read I Claudius?  I'm a little weak in Roman History.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on December 10, 2021, 09:20:03 AM
Great stuff!!  Have you ever read I Claudius?  I'm a little weak in Roman History.

I haven't read I Claudius, it's been low on my radar for a while though.

On the Roman History Front:

For the non-enthusiasts the podcast histories are fantastic. Hardcore History is gripping and worth the small cost for the "Punic Nightmares" series and the "Death Throes of the Republic" series, Mike Duncan's "The History of Rome" is great with short, bite-sized episodes (he really hits his stride round about when Augustus enters the stage). Patrick Wyman's first podcast: "The Fall of Rome" is a really good look at the late Western Empire and challenges the entire concept of "fall."

I would also recommend Mike Duncan's first book: The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic. It's the story about the two generations preceding Julius Caesar, the Grachhi, Marius and Sulla, how the norms that governed the Republic were weakened to the point that Caesar could shred them entirely.

Adrian Goldsworthy - The Fall of Carthage - Super-detailed look at the Punic Wars. Goldworthy is always going to be very comprehenisve.

Robert L. O'Connell - The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic



Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on December 10, 2021, 09:56:35 AM
Goldsworthy is the gold standard (no pun intended) on roman history,IMO.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on December 10, 2021, 10:00:50 AM
Goldsworthy is the gold standard (no pun intended) on roman history,IMO.

Agreed, reading his work does give you a way more minute-detail-oriented view. I'll admit that I started to lose the thread somewhere during the LONG review of Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, but that's sort of what you pick him up for. There are others who will give a higher-level review and those aren't necessarily bad either. Just depends what you're looking for.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: ZiggysFryBoy on December 10, 2021, 10:44:11 AM
For the less well known events of Rome, I like to read historical fiction first, to get an idea of the cast of characters, what is going on, etc., in a less academic lens.  Then I'll read the non fiction to learn the true side of things.

Ben Kane and Colleen McCullough are 2 roman historical fiction authors that I've enjoyed.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU Fan in Connecticut on December 10, 2021, 10:48:11 AM
For the less well known events of Rome, I like to read historical fiction first, to get an idea of the cast of characters, what is going on, etc., in a less academic lens.  Then I'll read the non fiction to learn the true side of things.

Ben Kane and Colleen McCullough are 2 roman historical fiction authors that I've enjoyed.

A friend recommended author Steven Saylor to me.  He has a series of books about Gordianus the Finder who is a bad ass detective in ancient Rome. 
I have not read yet, but the series of books sounded intriguing. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on December 10, 2021, 11:04:17 AM
A friend recommended author Steven Saylor to me.  He has a series of books about Gordianus the Finder who is a bad ass detective in ancient Rome. 
I have not read yet, but the series of books sounded intriguing.

Just looked him up, didn't realize he had a piece in that series placed in a GRRM antho a while back. Seems intriguing.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: TSmith34, Inc. on December 10, 2021, 11:09:31 AM
Open your eyes and mind and read "The Real Anthony Fauci." As a lifelong democratic, the author, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says, challenge his findings if you disagree.
Regardless, the book is extremely well done and exposes Fauci, the media, and big pharma, hey?
LOL. What a dupe.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on December 16, 2021, 08:23:39 AM
I just started Apeirogon by Colum McCann.    I guess you would call it a hybrid-fictional work as it's based on the lives of two men who lost their young daughters  (One Isaeli, one Palestinian) and the friendship they have developed from their sorrow.  McCann is an exceptional writer if you haven't read his stuff.  I'm talking one of the very best contemporary writers we have and of course he has that classc Irish lyricism in his prose.

The subject matter in parts requires a bit more  knowledge than I have about specific areas in present day Israel  as well as customs among the populations.  But it reads as a novel, and the intermittent stories within the primary story are absolutely brilliant.  Honestly this guy could have made our game against UCLA sound fascinating, he's that gifted.  I would recommend all of his stuff.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Jables1604 on December 16, 2021, 08:15:22 PM
“Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties” by Tom O’Neill. Came out in 2019 but someone just recommended it. Really interesting. Changed my mind as to what actually happened 3 or 4 times while reading the book. Still insure.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on December 17, 2021, 01:00:40 PM
Fiction:

The Hand of the Sun King - J.T. Greathouse

Absolutely stunning debut in the vein of Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind. Lush prose, coming of age, fantasy, wild magic. One of the best books I've read in a long long time. I was lucky enough to beta read the sequel, Garden of Empire, and know he's already started Book 3 even though Book 2 isn't out yet, so you're not signing up for a Rothfuss-esque wait.

Jade City, Jade War, Jade Legacy - Fonda Lee

Like the Godfather if it were a Bruce Lee movie. Full disclosure, have not read Legacy yet as it just came out, but City and War were awesome.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Scoop Snoop on December 22, 2021, 01:21:01 PM
Just finished reading The Medici by Paul Strathern. Nice blend of history in a novel format. Covers the beginning of the Rennaissance in Florence with of course the Medicis front and center. This was a turning point in European history from the Medieval Ages to an entirely different way of looking at the world. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo and others make appearances as the Medici family's rise to power is narrated. Beginning as bankers, then infiltrating the Church with family members becoming Cardinals and two Medici buying and bribing their way to becoming Popes, the family amasses enormous power. Next, they marry into royalty and two Medici become queens of France.

The author brings the characters to life and also sprinkles in a little humor occasionally. when the subject of prohibiting priests from gambling arises, one Medici suggests just getting them to stop using loaded dice. When the Gregorian calendar is instituted, jumping ahead of the Julian by ten days, there were some dim-witted protestors who demanded their ten days back. The domineering mother of one Medici ruler presented her son with a list of high officials who were gay. The son reviewed the list, added his own name and asked his mother what should happen to the men. "They should be burned!" "As you wish" replied the son as he threw the list into the fire.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on January 17, 2022, 02:40:40 PM
Thought “Sooley” was good, not great.

Currently reading “Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles (“The Gentleman From Moscow”). Great story, and this guy can REALLY write.

Notwithstanding the Marquette reference, Sooley was a complete piece of garbage with a pitiful and lazy ending.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Jables1604 on January 17, 2022, 08:16:41 PM
Just finished “Showtime” by Jeff Pearlman. About the Lakers from the drafting of Magic through his testing HIV-positive. Some great anecdotes about Jim Chones, Maurice Lucas and Tony Smith.

Hands down the most entertaining parts of the book are about Wes Matthews, Sr.

I play golf with Wes at least once a week from April through October. Never knew that he coined the phrase “Three-peat.” Not only that but there is a story in the book about a rookie who was rather eccentric. According to the author Wes is quotes as saying the rookie wasn’t 100% there. The quote is “There is an old adage in Los Angeles: when Wes Matthews says you’re not playing with a full deck, you’ve got problems.”

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jutaw22mu on January 17, 2022, 09:00:53 PM
Notwithstanding the Marquette reference, Sooley was a complete piece of garbage with a pitiful and lazy ending.

Concur.  I didn't like it very much either.  Very poor.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: warriorchick on January 17, 2022, 09:39:04 PM
If you want Marquette references, I recommend the following Steve Rushin books:

Pint Man
Sting Ray Afternoons
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on January 21, 2022, 03:53:09 PM
It's a few years old but Evicted by Matthew Desmond was incredible work, in my opinion.

Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen is the most recent book that I finished. Thought it was good, not great.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on March 06, 2022, 10:25:55 AM
Enjoyed Jonathan Franzen's Crossroads. He doesn't hit on 100%, but most of the character development is excellent.

Next three in some order will be The Lincoln Highway, Ravensbruck, and Empire of Pain. I've heard many great things about all of them so fingers crossed.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Scoop Snoop on August 11, 2022, 10:33:05 AM
For those who enjoy reading history, I suggest The Hidden White House by Robert Klara. From early in 1949 to March of 1952, the White House was rebuilt due to very serious structural problems. This was a total gut job as evidenced in the attached story. The White House was turned into a massive cavern.

Over many years, cutout portions of beams to allow for plumbing, gas lighting, electrical, telegraph, heating, air conditioning (FDR Administration) etc. left the floors not only creaking ominously but also resulted in the second floor dropping down 12"-15" in two areas. The reuse of some charred beams salvaged from the 1814 burning of the WH when it was rebuilt did not help matters, nor did the reckless weakening or elimination of load bearing walls ordered by presidents. A team of highly respected architects and structural engineers avoided the word "condemned" but that was essentially their verdict. The Truman family moved out of the living quarters that had become a forest of steel poles supporting the ceiling. The threat of a total collapse of the interior of the WH was very real.

The WH today is a steel and concrete structure coated with interior materials to make it look old. Very little of the original woodwork, plaster castings, flooring, mantels etc. made it back into the WH. At least it survived the calls for bulldozing it. The Washington Post ran an opinion piece supporting that idea.

Klara's meticulous research added an undeniable authenticity to the book. His portrayal of the Truman family and all the people involved in the project was outstanding and was a much-appreciated bonus. I felt like I knew them personally.

He added humor to an otherwise tragic story. When the chandelier in the East Room swayed during a tea for the Daughters of the Revolution, Truman was right above them soaking in a bathtub while reading a book. His wife told him she was worried that the ceiling/floor would collapse. He laughed and imagined falling through the floor with the tub "allowing him to salute the DAR, wearing nothing more than his reading glasses." 

  https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/05/09/very...   
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: brewcity77 on August 11, 2022, 12:16:50 PM
After watching Dune earlier this year, I tried the books. The first one was good, but it is a very sharp, rapid decline downhill after that.

Also read Cultish recently by Amanda Montell. Can't recommend it highly enough. Does a good job of looking at a wide range of cultish organizations, from Scientology to MLMs to Crossfit. I have to imagine anyone in today's society has probably had close encounters with one cult or another, sometimes without even realizing it. Well worth the time.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: cheebs09 on August 11, 2022, 12:57:39 PM
. I have to imagine anyone in today's society has probably had close encounters with one cult or another, sometimes without even realizing it. Well worth the time.

Scoop is my favorite cult.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Billy Hoyle on August 11, 2022, 05:20:08 PM
I just finished North Korea Confidential, which is a look at the modernization of North Korea and life there. One interesting aspect was that post famine, the state relaxed cracking down on the "black market" and actually allows people to sell products openly now. North Koreans can more easily access the outside world (particularly media) thanks to smuggled USB sticks.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Lennys Tap on August 11, 2022, 06:32:41 PM
Enjoyed Jonathan Franzen's Crossroads. He doesn't hit on 100%, but most of the character development is excellent.

Next three in some order will be The Lincoln Highway, Ravensbruck, and Empire of Pain. I've heard many great things about all of them so fingers crossed.

I think you’ll love The Lincoln Highway - beautifully written coming of age story.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: jficke13 on August 12, 2022, 09:27:44 AM
Book two in my buddy's debut fantasy trilogy is out and it rocks:

https://smile.amazon.com/Garden-Empire-Pact-Pattern-Book/dp/B0B64LG2P7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2I9FX4ST4AOAG&keywords=garden+of+empire&qid=1660314423&sprefix=garden+of+empire%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-1

Fans of Rothfuss will find a lot to love here.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on August 13, 2022, 08:56:50 AM
I'm reading a novel by Elif Shafak called the Island of Missing Trees.  I have read a few of her political articles in the past. She's a very well know activist, especially with regards to women's rights and human rights in general.  I never realized she was such an accomplished and prolific novelist.  Anyway. she's a wonderful storyteller and it's worth reading imo.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Babybluejeans on August 13, 2022, 10:09:52 AM
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a masterpiece. About as good as modern literature gets, in my opinion, this side of Franzen.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: warriorchick on September 23, 2022, 12:29:21 PM
Reading Bob Oden Kirk's memoir "Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama".

FTR he spends exactly 2 sentences talking about his time at Marquette.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on September 23, 2022, 02:22:51 PM
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a masterpiece. About as good as modern literature gets, in my opinion, this side of Franzen.

I will eventually get to this one.  Ty.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on October 29, 2022, 05:16:37 PM
I'm trying to read Gravity's Rainbow again.  It's an enormous challenge. I think it's the kind of work you have to read at least three times which takes discipline I don't have.  Has anyone gotten through it and is there a method to reading this without expert tutelage?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MU82 on October 29, 2022, 05:24:39 PM
Just finished Thank You for Your Servitude by Mark Leibovich.

Lots of stuff in it made me laugh, but overall it was pretty depressing.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on January 01, 2023, 12:06:11 PM
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a masterpiece. About as good as modern literature gets, in my opinion, this side of Franzen.

I just started this one Bbj.  Thanks for the recommendation. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on January 01, 2023, 11:06:09 PM
I just started this one Bbj.  Thanks for the recommendation.

Just finished it. Doerr can be overly descriptive at times but I thought it was fantastic.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on January 02, 2023, 08:56:16 AM
Just finished it. Doerr can be overly descriptive at times but I thought it was fantastic.

There's a lot going on introducing this story but it's a really interesting premise.  Hopefully it comes together, I generally don't read this genre. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on January 13, 2023, 03:58:25 PM
There's a lot going on introducing this story but it's a really interesting premise.  Hopefully it comes together, I generally don't read this genre.

How'd you like it?

In Love by Amy Bloom is a tough read but one I'd definitely recommend. Also read All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews. I enjoyed it, but was hoping for a bit more given that it was a National Book Award winner. Milwaukee being the setting certainly made it more entertaining.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on January 13, 2023, 05:00:47 PM
How'd you like it?

In Love by Amy Bloom is a tough read but one I'd definitely recommend. Also read All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews. I enjoyed it, but was hoping for a bit more given that it was a National Book Award winner. Milwaukee being the setting certainly made it more entertaining.

I thought it was an outstanding book.  About 1/3 of the way through I wasn't so sure, but somehow he was able to weave the entire story together.  My initial thought was that the Anna/Omeir section was slow and superfluous but the plot development was crucial to the essence of the work.  It was also nice to read a great book with such a positive overall message and a timeless message at that.  The skill to pull this whole off, once you realize these particular "time-periods", cannot be understated.  Masterclass is not hyperbole when describing this novel and author.  Thanks so much for the recommendation. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on February 16, 2023, 11:54:10 PM
I thought it was an outstanding book.  About 1/3 of the way through I wasn't so sure, but somehow he was able to weave the entire story together.  My initial thought was that the Anna/Omeir section was slow and superfluous but the plot development was crucial to the essence of the work.  It was also nice to read a great book with such a positive overall message and a timeless message at that.  The skill to pull this whole off, once you realize these particular "time-periods", cannot be understated.  Masterclass is not hyperbole when describing this novel and author.  Thanks so much for the recommendation.

Glad you liked it!

I’m starting Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” now. CCL was my introduction to his work and I’m excited to read another one of his books.

I haven’t read it yet, but based on your posting history “An Immense World” by Ed Yong looks right up your alley.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on February 16, 2023, 11:54:30 PM
I’ve read a lot of books this year that I’ve truly loved. Either I’m in the midst of strong stretch or I’m getting softer as I age.

Would strongly recommend Gabrielle Zevin’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, Emily St. John Mandel’s “ Sea of Tranquility”, and “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” by Hanif Abdurraqib.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on February 17, 2023, 08:53:58 AM
I’ve read a lot of books this year that I’ve truly loved. Either I’m in the midst of strong stretch or I’m getting softer as I age.

Would strongly recommend Gabrielle Zevin’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, Emily St. John Mandel’s “ Sea of Tranquility”, and “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” by Hanif Abdurraqib.

Thank you BM!  I've read two of Emily St. John Mandel's books, most recently the Glass Hotel.  I thought it was a wonderful book and I believe it's somewhat autobiographical.  I had been meaning to pick-up her newest work. 

If you want a challenge  I just finished a novel called The Bone People by Keri Hulme.  I suppose it's dated but I've never really read anything quite like it and it's understandable why it was so controversial at the time.  I'm hoping to get to New Zealand this year and this is often cited as one of their most consequential novels.

I've also read several of Elif Shafak's works and haven't been disappointed.  She's an incredibly talented writer with deep characters, combined with snippets of historical events.  She's a skilled story teller and writes with great passion and heart. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Pakuni on February 17, 2023, 09:15:48 AM
If you're not especially adverse to fictional violence, "Razorblade Tears" by SA Cosby is fantastic.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: drewm88 on February 17, 2023, 01:28:30 PM
I’ve read a lot of books this year that I’ve truly loved. Either I’m in the midst of strong stretch or I’m getting softer as I age.

Would strongly recommend Gabrielle Zevin’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”, Emily St. John Mandel’s “ Sea of Tranquility”, and “They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us” by Hanif Abdurraqib.

Station Eleven is my favorite by Mandel, but Sea of Tranquility is up there. Glass Hotel is a notch below but still good. It exists in the same universe as Sea of Tranquility, so there's a little benefit to have read Glass Hotel first (not at all necessary though.)

Hanif Abdurraqib is an incredible writer and music critic (and entertaining follow on social media for sports takes on top of music recommendations.) I find new music and learn more about music history from him than any other source. Be sure to check out A Little Devil in America--his way of weaving history with personal experience is awesome. Also read Go Ahead in the Rain whether or not you're a fan of A Tribe Called Quest. He's got a book about basketball coming out next year, too.

If you're not especially adverse to fictional violence, "Razorblade Tears" by SA Cosby is fantastic.

Good book, but at times felt a tiny bit hokey. I thought Blacktop Wasteland was a little better. Would rec both though.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on February 17, 2023, 03:23:34 PM
I just started Colbalt Red by Siddarth Kara.  I'm somewhat familiar with this problem but it really is heartbreaking what we have done throughout history to the Congolese people and these young kids.  Terrible. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on February 24, 2023, 07:57:07 AM
Cobalt Red is definitely worth reading and vitally important to share with others. It's truly sickening, like Heart of Darkness grotesque.   
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Hards Alumni on March 02, 2023, 07:10:02 AM
Station Eleven is my favorite by Mandel, but Sea of Tranquility is up there. Glass Hotel is a notch below but still good. It exists in the same universe as Sea of Tranquility, so there's a little benefit to have read Glass Hotel first (not at all necessary though.)

Hanif Abdurraqib is an incredible writer and music critic (and entertaining follow on social media for sports takes on top of music recommendations.) I find new music and learn more about music history from him than any other source. Be sure to check out A Little Devil in America--his way of weaving history with personal experience is awesome. Also read Go Ahead in the Rain whether or not you're a fan of A Tribe Called Quest. He's got a book about basketball coming out next year, too.

Good book, but at times felt a tiny bit hokey. I thought Blacktop Wasteland was a little better. Would rec both though.

The TV show of the same name on HBO is absolutely fantastic. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: Herman Cain on March 08, 2023, 09:14:25 AM
Don’t read many books . This  is one I enjoyed while on some road trips:

A Land Remembered

By Patrick D Smith

The book chronicles a 100 year History of a Florida Cracker family. A historical fiction about one pioneer family’s struggles and successes .

Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: RushmoreAcademy on March 11, 2023, 04:39:58 PM
The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman
 
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Rizzio by Denise Mina

Also, it was awhile ago but I loved the Three Body Problem series. Did anyone else read it?
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: BM1090 on March 11, 2023, 04:42:34 PM
Cobalt Red is definitely worth reading and vitally important to share with others. It's truly sickening, like Heart of Darkness grotesque.

I finished about 70 pages and had to put it down. It’s a necessary read but you definitely have to be in the right mindset it digest it.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on April 17, 2023, 01:37:10 PM
I finished about 70 pages and had to put it down. It’s a necessary read but you definitely have to be in the right mindset it digest it.

It's a fair point.  Very tragic and upsetting history to put it mildly. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: WellsstreetWanderer on April 17, 2023, 03:54:11 PM
Reading The Lincoln Highway and concur with others who have enjoyed it. Reminds me of
All the Pretty Horses.  Just finished Old Filth  (failed in London try Hong Kong) by Jane Gardam
I loved her prose, subtle humor and superb character development . Her skill at revealing stages of a man's life that shape him in non-linear fashion while holding the reader wholly and increasingly sympathetic echoes Dickens and E.M. Forster.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on April 17, 2023, 08:36:47 PM
Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was highly inventive and entertaining.  Having some background in Sri Lankan history would have been helpful but I still found it a really interesting read. 
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: MuggsyB on May 21, 2023, 10:39:51 AM
RIP Martin Amis
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: warriorchick on October 22, 2023, 09:37:05 PM
Just got finished reading Sister Jean's memoir - co-written by Seth Davis.

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  It was interesting reading about the journey that led her to being Loyola's chaplain. 

I also thought it was amusing hearing her describe how she sneaks a little chalk talk into the pregame prayer - something along the lines of "Dear Lord, please bless our players on the court today, and please guide them as they try to prevent number 7 from taking the corner 3..."

She also revealed that she was the first person Porter Moser consulted with as he fielded various coaching offers.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: dgies9156 on October 23, 2023, 08:17:55 AM
Just finished  "Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy" by Stephen F. Knott.

The book was an excellent read that threaded the needle between the "Camelot" image of Jackie Kennedy and the reactionary image of President Kennedy after the House Assassinations Committee began revealing some of the excesses of the Kennedy Administration. In the process, the book takes one from Mr. Knott being a typically Catholic Kennedy adorer to working in the Kennedy Library to becoming a Reagan Democrat to re-evaluating his own political views in the wake of President Trump.

It's one of the first really balanced views of the Kennedy Administration. For those of us who are into this stuff, it's well written and an excellent read. While I'm not sure Mr. Knott reveals a whole lot of new information, it puts what we know in the perspective that happens with the passage of time.
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 21Jumpstreet on October 23, 2023, 10:11:50 AM
Recently started reading “How to be Perfec   t” subtitled “The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question” by Michael Schur. So far, it is a nice balance of knowledge, questions, perspectives, and humor.

My next book will likely be “Every Thing Is F*cked” subtitled “A Book About Hope.”
Title: Re: Recent Books you have enjoyed
Post by: 4everwarriors on October 25, 2023, 05:39:40 AM
Must read, hey?

Breaking Biden: Exposing the Hidden Forces and Secret Money Machine Behind Joe Biden, His Family, and His Administration