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  • Originally posted by jen View Post
    Still working my way through Robert Parker's Spenser books. There are a LOT of them. I did not know until I started them that the TV show Spenser for Hire was based on the series. Now I kind of want to watch it (never have), although it's probably quite dated at this point..
    Wouldn’t necessarily say that.

    3 yrs. in the Middle year they took Susan out (not exactly Catskills eagle’ly like)and introduced Rita to give Spenser a new love interest in the hope of increasing viewership.
    a legend and an out of work bum look a lot alike, daddy.

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    • Re: Book Thread number ?

      Originally posted by mookie1995 View Post
      Wouldn’t necessarily say that.

      3 yrs. in the Middle year they took Susan out (not exactly Catskills eagle’ly like)and introduced Rita to give Spenser a new love interest in the hope of increasing viewership.
      ehhh.. that makes me not want to watch it. Sort of like Hollywood-ing a movie version of a book to give it a happy ending (The Natural, anyone?) I rarely like the movie as much as the book. I can't imagine TV shows would be much different.

      Starting #11 next (Valediction). My mom keeps telling me about Pearl, so I am anxiously awaiting her arrival.

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      • Re: Book Thread number ?

        Hit or miss. Worthwhile just to see the guest stars. Some of them before they got breaks elsewhere you will recognize. End of the 2nd season Parker wrote an episode which was decent and a nice look at how he’d do it.
        a legend and an out of work bum look a lot alike, daddy.

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        • Re: Book Thread number ?

          The Rising Sea (NUMA Files #15) by Clive Cussler, Graham Brown- just finished this as well. I was under-impressed. Less story that usual. Felt like it was a cookie cutter book. Same basic formula with different characters. Not that deep compared to some of his others. Felt like skim milk instead of heavy cream.

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          • Re: Book Thread number ?

            Sea of Tranquility - good, easy-reading YA Fiction. I liked the style it was written (2 person perspective, done well) and the characters. Nothing special but it killed a plane ride nicely.
            Ready Player One - I enjoyed it, but I need to reread it in a shorter period of time. I read it over several months and lost some of the detail. I can see why people slightly older than me (i.e. the husband, who was born in 1978) love it.

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            • Re: Book Thread number ?

              No Great Mischief - Alistair MacLeod. Really enjoyed his Island, so I read this one. Very similar "feel" and sense of place (although that term is something a lit blowhard would say, it's very accurate). Not sure I got the connections with all the Scottish war stories, but enjoyed (? it was depressing) the book nonetheless.

              Wicked City - Beatriz Williams. Two stories, one modern day, and one during Prohibition - a woman helps spy on her step-father, who's running booze all over the coast (the Prohibition story was way more interesting than the modern one). I was enjoying this one and looking forward to finding out how the stories connected... and then it ended. No closure. There better be a sequel.

              The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies by Jason Fagone. About Elizebeth Smith, who (with her husband) was one of the first code breakers in the U.S. before (and after) WWII - really interesting. Didn't know anything about her. I have a few more "code breaker" non-fiction stories on my To-Read list, so I'm looking forward to them after reading this one. I want more details about how they figured those things out. It's amazing how little they had to work with sometimes, and they were still able to solve the code.
              Last edited by jen; 06-12-2018, 08:06 AM.

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              • Re: Book Thread number ?

                A re-read, for me at least, MAY-DAY, Eisenhower, Khrushchev and the U-2 Affair, by Michael Beschloss. An early book of his, maybe his first? He is one of my favorite historians and authors. The book is a fascinating look at the relationships at play between the U.S. and Russia right in the middle of the Cold War.

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                • Re: Book Thread number ?

                  I joined a book club a few months ago. Here are some of the things I've been reading with this group:

                  Noir - Christopher Moore Those of us in the group that are fans of Christopher Moore all agreed this is our least favorite. It took half the book to get into the zany tale that I'm used to from him. I think he was too focused on noir stylization for the book to be as enjoyable as his other work.

                  And the Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini I like his writing style and story telling. I hadn't read any of his other novels, but will try to when I have time.

                  The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration - Isabel Wilkerson I'm only about half way through this one. It has a great narative feel to it for a non-fiction. I'm learning a lot about the South during Jim Crow. I highly recommend this one (or at least the first 250 pages which I can attest to).
                  Originally posted by West Texas Wolverine
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                  • Re: Book Thread number ?

                    Originally posted by wolverineTrumpet View Post
                    And the Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini I like his writing style and story telling. I hadn't read any of his other novels, but will try to when I have time.

                    The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration - Isabel Wilkerson I'm only about half way through this one. It has a great narative feel to it for a non-fiction. I'm learning a lot about the South during Jim Crow. I highly recommend this one (or at least the first 250 pages which I can attest to).
                    I liked all of Hosseini's, but that was my favorite. I also really enjoyed the Wilkerson one. Sounds like a good book club.

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                    • Re: Book Thread number ?

                      Recent Reads

                      Demolition Angel by Robert Crais Interesting book about a serial killer who places bombs to kill bomb squad members. Former bomb squad member Carol Starkey recovering from a blast must get to the bottom and find the killer.

                      Lost Lake by Phillip Margolin This tale from Margolin follows an involved conspiracy about a presidential candidate. Out of her league lawyer Ami Vergano must struggle to find out if her clients out of this world tale is true and how she can use that to save him. OK

                      No Way Back by Andrew Gross This book finds a married woman in a hotel room with another man. Someone comes in and murders the man and she finds herself on the run wanted for murder. Trying to prove her innocence she finds out that she is up against the drug cartels.

                      The Bishop's Pawn (Cotton Malone #13) by Steve Berry The latest Cotton Malone book is really the first sort of as most of the book is a flashback when he is first recruited to the Magellan Billet. Recruited for a simple task of diving and retrieving a case from a wreck he ends up in the fight for his life against forces inside and outside the government in a conspiracy involving the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Okay read but in my opinion these have been slipping a bit.

                      The Cutting Edge (Lincoln Rhyme #14) by Jeffery Deaver The latest Rhyme novel has a lot of moving parts it kicks off with a massacre in the diamond district and the team hunting a killer who is tying up loose ends. There also a secondary plot involving a Mexican drug lord whose attorney wants Lincoln to prove his client’s innocence. OK read.

                      Private Princess (Private #14) by James Patterson, Rees Jones OK Private novel where Jack is recruited by a member of the Royal family to find one of her friends. Like most Patterson books quick moving with multiple plots this one didn’t have as much appeal to me as some of the Private novels since they have already done several set in London with the same characters.

                      Lexington and Concord: The Battle Heard Round the World by George C. Daughan Pretty good books that examines the events in both the Colonies and England which led up to “the shot heard round the world”. Examines the actions of Parliament and the King along with Thomas Gage and the Son’s of Liberty.

                      Blood Money (Jack Swyteck #10) by James Grippando I was not that impressed with the last Swytek book but luckily this book gets the series back on track. After a high profile client is acquitted a look alike is attacked and Jack is pressed into service by her family to help them out. As he delves in he finds a sinister element to the case.

                      Harriet Tubman, Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War by Thomas B. Allen A pretty good book which details Harriet’s early life and her days as a conductor on the underground railroad. It also details how current and former slaves were utilized as espionage agents during the Civil War including Harriet’s famous raid in South Carolina. The activities of Elizabeth Van Lew and Robert Smalls are told too. Definitely written for a younger audience.

                      The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower: A Biography of C. S. Forester's Famous Naval Hero
                      by C. Northcote Parkinson A Biography of a fictional hero how novel. I loved the Hornblower books and while this is okay it covers a lot of minutia, like he and Barbara’s love life, that were not covered in the books for good reason in that it’s not that interesting to the people who like the books.

                      Exile on Front Street: My Life as a Hells Angel . . . and Beyond by George Christie I enjoyed the Outlaw Chronicles on History Channel and this is the autobiography of George Christie the former West Coast President of the Hells Angels. A good description of the outlaw lifestyle and the various wars that the Angels had with the Outlaws, Mongols etc. during the time he was with the gang. It also tells of his trials and tribulations with the Angels and Sonny Barger which led to him quitting the gang and then being considered persona no grata. Good read.

                      The Legacy (Legacy of the Drow #1) by R.A. Salvatore The start of a new Drizzt trilogy this book finds the Drow once again coming for Drizzt in the underground of Mithril Hall. He struggles to evade the drow and keep his friends alive. Good read.

                      Enemy of God (The Arthur Books #2) by Bernard Cornwell I don’t like the Arthur books nearly as much as the other Cornwell series, Starbuck, Sharpe and Saxon but this is an okay take on the Arthurian Legend. The second book finds England mainly at peace until turmoil erupts and also explores the Round Table.

                      Company Man by Joseph Finder An okay book by Finder about a man who is CEO of a local company and is under intense pressure after layoffs. He is being stalked and troubled by the recent death of his wife and dealing with his children. He has issues going on at the company and the members of the hedge fund who run the company. Pretty good, didn’t like it as much as the Nick Heller books but a good read.

                      The Murder Book (Alex Delaware #16) by Jonathan Kellerman As many other people have stated this book spends way too much time dealing with Alex and Robin’s relationship. Guess what I don't read the books to find out what's going on with Robin and Alex. I have read these in various order so their relationship is always jumping around for me, I think they have broken up at least twice during the series. Aside from that it’s an interesting Cold Case leading back to Milo’s early days as a homicide detective and his first partner.
                      Last edited by Probert; 06-24-2018, 08:32 AM.
                      Oswego State Lakers 2007 NCAA Div III Champs

                      Adirondack Red Wings 4 time Calder Cup Champs 81,86,89 & 92

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                      • Re: Book Thread number ?

                        Just starting Anna Karenina. I assume I will move over to audio book eventually but for the first few chapters I'm reading. One of the best starts of any novel, and wonderful Tolstoy. If you love a storyteller who is like a cold lake where you can't reach the bottom, I highly recommend him. Read a few pages and then set it aside to work inside you for a while. It's a deep tissue soul massage.
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