Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Another Book Thread

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Another Book Thread

    Originally posted by burd View Post
    You hated the characters; how do you rate the book?
    I didn't like the book. I just mentioned the characters because I wanted to punch them all in their noses. I don't need to like a character to like a story, be it movie, TV show, or book. Fitzgerald's style never hit with me.
    "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." George Orwell, 1984

    "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." Boromir

    "Good news! We have a delivery." Professor Farnsworth

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Another Book Thread

      Originally posted by St. Clown View Post
      The Great Gatsby. I hated every last character in that book. And yes, I understood its message.
      I want to throw that book into hell. Couldn't stand any of it.

      I did FINALLY start reading Down By The River by Charles Bowden. Excellent so far. The past year, I severely lacked in reading. Didn't read a page of anything. I felt shame.
      Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
      Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Another Book Thread

        Recent Reads

        Excalibur (The Arthur Books #3) by Bernard Cornwell The final novel in Cornwell’s take on the legend of King Arthur. In my opinion this is the weakest of the Cornwell series when compared to Sharpe, Saxon and Starbuck. It is certainly readable and offers a different tale from the typical tale of Arthur, Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table.

        Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. O'Donnell Interesting tale of the Revolutionary War told thru the actions of Washington’s Immortals the Maryland regiment that contained some of the best and most trustworthy soldiers in the Continental Army. It tells the tales of most of the major engagements of the Revolution thru the eyes of these soldiers. Excellent read.

        A Cold Heart (Alex Delaware #17) by Jonathan Kellerman Interesting Alex Delaware novel about an investigation into the murders of artists. Milo and Alex struggle to find out who is the killer before they strike again.

        Bones (Alex Delaware #23) by Jonathan Kellerman Not the best of the Delaware novels this follows a complicated case involving bodies that were dumped in marsh and the disappearance of a wealthy family.

        The Fox and the Hound: The Birth of American Spying by Donald E. Markle While this book is a bit dry and probably written from a historians perspective this is valuable because it covers all aspects of spying in the Revolutionary War rather than focusing on a specific ring like the Culper Ring. He goes methodically thru the various Revolutionary War departments covers the spies, the battles they helped provided intelligence for and how they helped to shape the outcome of the War. At the end of each section he gives a short profile of an exemplary spy. One of the good things about this book is that is also covers British and Loyalist spies in addition to American spies.

        Secret New York - An Unusual Guide. Local Guides by Local People by T.M. Rives I am not sure how this would work as a travel book for someone coming to NYC for the 1st or second time on vacation as this certainly doesn’t cover the main “tourist” sites. But as someone who live in the suburbs and works in Manhattan this is a great book full of unseen gems that one can check out when they are in the neighborhood they are located or even a jaunt on a free day to check out multiple ones. It is broken up nicely by location as they are all grouped together. Each site is broken down into 1 photo and a 1 page description which includes details on how to get there, subway bus route etc. An excellent read.

        A Yankee Century: A Celebration of the First Hundred Years of Baseball's Greatest Team by Harvey Frommer Pretty good overview of the Yankees first 100 years. Profiles of the best players, the highlights and lowlights of the franchise.

        Calico Joe by John Grisham Very good non legal book about baseball from Grisham. Tells the story of a boy seeking redemption from his estranged father and trying to right a major wrong done by the father when he played in the major leagues. Just a quick short read but very good.

        Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw - By the Man Who Did It by Tsutomu Shimomura, John Markoff An ok book about the hunt for Kevin Mitnick the legendary computer hacker. It follows the quest of one of the people who was hacked to get justice for the intrusion of his computer system. The book shows the FBI’s non knowledge of computer crimes and their reluctance to get involved at times. It is told strictly from Shimomura’s viewpoint and can be a bit tedious and slow moving at times.

        The Dark Tide (Ty Hauck #1) by Andrew Gross This book follows a woman’s quest to find out what happened to her husband who is killed in a train bombing. When she is threatened and told to pay over something he has done she teams up with local lawman Ty Hauck to see what her husband was into. It’s an okay quick read.

        The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais Interesting story by Crais in which the roles are reversed. Max Hollman is released from jail and finds out that his estranged son an LA police officer was murdered the day before. When he doesn’t get the answers he wants he believes that the police may be involved and starts to investigate assisted by the former FBI agent who put him in jail 10 years before. Good read.

        Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano: Whitey Bulger's Enforcer and the Most Feared Gangster in the Underworld by Howie Carr This book tells the story of Whitey Bulger and Steve Flemmi and the Winter Hill gang from the perspective of Johnny Martorano a hitman who killed 20 people and turned government informant once he found out that Whitey and Flemmi had been FBI informants during the whole time he knew them. Ok book but it drags a bit.

        Devil's Corner by Lisa Scottoline Not a Rosato and Associates book but this is a good effort from Scottoline. Vicki Allergetti is a new US Attorney on a routine visit to a witness. She walks in on a murder that leaves the witness and the ATF witness with her dead. Told to stay off the case she investigates with an unlikely partner as they struggle to find out why the witness was killed despite the fact that the policy don’t seem that interested.

        The First Rule (Elvis Cole #13) by Robert Crais Personally I prefer the Crais books where Joe Pike takes the lead over Elvis. This book follows Pike’s journey into the Eastern European underworld to find out who killed a former member of his team and his family. Non stop Pike action, good read.

        Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports
        by Mark Fainaru-Wada, Lance Williams This is an okay book which follows the Balco scandal and the emergin culture of steroid use in sports particularly in baseball and track and field. The book seems to go back and forth between chapter on Barry Bonds and his bulking up and the track and field athletes, in particular Marion Jones, that Balco is working with. It ends prior to Jones’s confession and being stripped of her medals and of the Bond’s trial so a lot of information is left out as the case has not concluded at the end of the book.
        Oswego State Lakers 2007 NCAA Div III Champs

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

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Another Book Thread

          Read two non-fiction books that were interesting -

          Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America by Michael Ruhlman. This got a little preachy at times, but was still an interesting look at the evolution of eating, cooking, shopping and grocery stores.

          Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. Secret life indeed. I had no idea what was involved in writing a dictionary and the detail involved (and I thought MY job was nerdy - these are super nerds). This got a little dry at times, but I think that was part of the point. Still an entertaining and very informative book.

          Still cranking through Parker's Spenser series, and enjoying all of them. Just finished 26.

          Also, there's a new Alex Cross book due out in October.
          Last edited by jen; 08-22-2018, 10:02 PM.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Another Book Thread

            For Harry Potter fans.

            https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainm...cid=spartandhp
            **NOTE: The misleading post above was brought to you by Reynold's Wrap and American Steeples, makers of Crosses.

            Originally Posted by dropthatpuck-Scooby's a lost cause.
            Originally Posted by First Time, Long Time-Always knew you were nothing but a troll.

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Another Book Thread

              Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers - non-fiction about a Yemeni American guy who wants to export coffee from Yemen into the U.S. (coffee was supposedly invented - in its "modern" form - in Yemen, after being transported from Ethiopia). This makes it sound boring, but it was really interesting. He trains with different coffee people, and travels to Yemen several times, which is often exciting and extremely violent. Good read.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Another Book Thread

                Originally posted by Brenthoven View Post
                I want to throw that book into hell. Couldn't stand any of it.

                I did FINALLY start reading Down By The River by Charles Bowden. Excellent so far. The past year, I severely lacked in reading. Didn't read a page of anything. I felt shame.
                Update: this book is choppy as hell. Perspectives change by the paragraph, and you don't really know who's doing the narrating for a bit. Still a good story, but I have to knock it down a notch because it's so scattered. Just about done with it.

                I will admit, if it was smoother, I'd have finished it weeks ago.
                Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
                Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Another Book Thread

                  Barely made it halfway through Sweet Spot: An Ice Cream Binge Across America by Amy Ettinger. Sounded so promising. Maybe stories about cool out-of-the-way ice cream shops and how they do business or develop flavors? Regional differences in tastes or unique practices? Nope. It's mostly about Amy Ettinger. And she's an unlikable, self-important *****, the kind of person who name drops every chance she gets. She needs to repeatedly reference how she's green and recycles and is from California. She could have stuck in another mention about how she does yoga, but probably not. Did I mention this book is supposed to be about ice cream? I haven't hated an author this much since Eat, Pray, Love.

                  edit: she's also the kind of person who will take shortcuts in a recipe and is unable to follow directions - then complains when it doesn't turn out.
                  Last edited by jen; 08-27-2018, 07:31 AM.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Another Book Thread

                    Originally posted by jen View Post
                    edit: she's also the kind of person who will take shortcuts in a recipe and is unable to follow directions - then complains when it doesn't turn out.
                    Is someone ruminating about an old post from the Cooks thread?
                    "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." George Orwell, 1984

                    "One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its Black Gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust, the very air you breathe is a poisonous fume." Boromir

                    "Good news! We have a delivery." Professor Farnsworth

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Another Book Thread

                      Originally posted by jen View Post
                      Barely made it halfway through Sweet Spot: An Ice Cream Binge Across America by Amy Ettinger. Sounded so promising. Maybe stories about cool out-of-the-way ice cream shops and how they do business or develop flavors? Regional differences in tastes or unique practices? Nope. It's mostly about Amy Ettinger. And she's an unlikable, self-important *****, the kind of person who name drops every chance she gets. She needs to repeatedly reference how she's green and recycles and is from California. She could have stuck in another mention about how she does yoga, but probably not. Did I mention this book is supposed to be about ice cream? I haven't hated an author this much since Eat, Pray, Love.

                      edit: she's also the kind of person who will take shortcuts in a recipe and is unable to follow directions - then complains when it doesn't turn out.
                      So she is Ree Drummond, whom I blame for the "chatty food blogger" trend, even though I usually like her recipes? OK.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Another Book Thread

                        Are her blog recipes better than her show’s? Because her show recipes are horrible. Or rather last I had checked they were just one or two steps up from Sandra whatsherface
                        Code:
                        As of 9/21/10:         As of 9/13/10:
                        College Hockey 6       College Football 0
                        BTHC 4                 WCHA FC:  1
                        Originally posted by SanTropez
                        May your paint thinner run dry and the fleas of a thousand camels infest your dead deer.
                        Originally posted by bigblue_dl
                        I don't even know how to classify magic vagina smoke babies..
                        Originally posted by Kepler
                        When the giraffes start building radio telescopes they can join too.
                        He's probably going to be a superstar but that man has more baggage than North West

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Another Book Thread

                          Originally posted by FadeToBlack&Gold View Post
                          So she is Ree Drummond, whom I blame for the "chatty food blogger" trend, even though I usually like her recipes? OK.
                          Her recipes were the least of it. She traveled around, but had nothing good to say about anywhere that wasn't on the West Coast. She did get carjacked in Milwaukee, but you'd think it was Newark the way she described it. And describing people? Even if they were from the West Coast, it was all backhanded insults, like an evil mother-in-law.
                          Last edited by jen; 08-28-2018, 07:52 AM.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Another Book Thread

                            My recent reads

                            House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street by William D. Cohan An interesting tale depicting the rise and fall of Bear Stearns and how they were the first domino in the mortgage crisis. It tells the tale of the 3 larger than life executives who ran the firm; Cy Lewis, Ace Greenburg and Jimmy Cayne how the decision they made helped set Bear up for a big fall. Good read.

                            Trafalgar: The Biography Of A Battle by Roy A. Adkins A very good tale of the Battle of Trafalgar. It tells the events leading up to the battle. The major players on the English, French and Spanish sides. The sequence of the battle, as it can be best told and the aftermath. It also gives nice descriptions of what happened on individual ships. He also gives specific descriptions and blow by blow accounts of how a gun crew on a warship operated. What the surgeons did, were women really on board and what were there duties. Good read

                            Twisted Prey by John Sandford Lucas is back trying to catch the one who got away. When an attempt is made on a Senator's life he feels he and Lucas's old enemy Senator Taryn Grant angling for the presidency is behind it. Lucas finds himself in Washington fighting against trained killers trying to solve the murder.

                            The Joy of Hate: How to Triumph over Whiners in the Age of Phony Outrage by Greg Gutfeld Interesting book full of short tales, opinions and anecdotes from Gutfeld with his points of view on the left media, environmentalists etc.

                            Tom Clancy's Point of Contact (Jack Ryan Universe #23) by Mike Maden A Jack Ryan Jr novel, this finds him going to Singapore on a “white collar” mission for the campus. His partner is a non descript forensic accountant. He suddenly finds himself beset by terrorists and wonders what kind of trouble he has gotten into. OK but not as good as the ones written by Greaney and Cameron.

                            United States of Jihad: Americans Fighting for Radical Islam--from al-Qaeda to ISIS by Peter L. Bergen Ok Book about homegrown Jihadists. He tells the stories of various US jihadists how they converted and what they did. OK read but a lot of parts are a bit dry with statistics, studies and the like rather than stories.

                            Hunted by James Patterson (Goodreads Author), Andrew Holmes A Patterson bookshots novel about a bunch of rich men hunting people for sport. Ok read

                            Nooners by James Patterson A book about several murders which seem to be happening around one member of a Manhattan ad agency.

                            The Force by Don Winslow Interesting book following Denny Malone a corrupt cop in Manhattan as he struggles to keep his sanity and keep one step ahead of the cops trying to put him away and the drug dealer attempting to kill him. Not nearly as good as Power of the Dog or Cartel but a good read.

                            Hidden (Mitchum #1) by James Patterson (Goodreads Author), James O. Born A bookshots series about a man who delivers papers in the morning and then he becomes a private eye in his upstate NY town. In the first of the series his niece is missing and he must find her when everyone else thinks that she has run away.

                            Malicious (Mitchum #2) by James Patterson (Goodreads Author), James O. Born The second of the Mitchum books finds Mitchum seeking to clear his drug dealing brother who has been charged with a crime.

                            The Moores Are Missing by James Patterson (Goodreads Author), Loren D. Estleman, Sam Hawken, Ed Chatterton A short bookshots novel where a man shows up at his friends house to play basketball and finds that the family has vanished without a trace sending him on a mission to find them.

                            The Housewife by James Patterson (Goodreads Author), Sam Hawken A short novel about a former police detective who is now a stay at home Mom who starts to investigate a murder in her neighborhood when she was the last person to see the woman alive.

                            Absolute Zero by James Patterson (Goodreads Author), Ed Chatterton By far the best of the Patterson Bookshots I have read and not at all like his typical books as this feels more like a Brad Thor or Vince Flynn novel. Cody Thurston is a former Australian special forces soldier working at a bar in London when he gets involved in a heap of trouble and is framed for murder and is forced to travel the world to clear his name.

                            The Victims' Club (Kindle Single) by Jeffery Deaver Interesting short story about a detective who takes over a case of revenge porn on a college professor. He meets all kinds of obstacles when the college throws up all kinds of obstacles when they close ranks to protect the offender.

                            Buy a Bullet (Orphan X #1.5) by Gregg Hurwitz This is a short Orphan X story which tells of the origins of The Nowhere Man where Evan Smoak attempts to help save a young woman from the clutches of a sadistic tech billionaire.

                            Shooting Gallery (Dewey Andreas #8.5) by Ben Coes A short Dewey Andreas e book where he is tasked with rescuing the Vice President’s son who has been kidnapped while on spring break in Mexico.

                            Shot All to Hell: Bad *** Outlaws, Gunfighters, and Law Men of the Old West by Nick Vulich Read this prime book on my way back from vacation because all of the library books had expired. An okay overview of lawman, gunfighters and outlaws of the Old West. Covers some of the best known and some obscure ones of the Old West, Each outlaw or gang is covered in a few pages.

                            Fodor's Alaska by Fodor's Travel Publications Inc. Got this for my Trip to Alaska, mainly because it included the Yukon which I was also going to. Decent descriptions and ok but not really a great guidebook.

                            Ride Guide to the Historic Alaska Railroad by Anita Williams, Linda Ewers I bought this guidebook when I was traveling the Alaskan Railroad between Fairbanks and Denali, and then subsequently Denali to Anchorage. It tells the story of the railroad and give a mile by mile description of what you will see.

                            Denali by Alaska Geographic Association, Penny Rennick Got this on my Wilderness Tour of Denali. A short book with lots of pictures which tells the history of the park and the wildlife that lives in the park.

                            Floaters by Joseph Wambaugh OK book but certainly not one of Wambaugh’s better ones. This involves a murder and sabotage plot involving the America’s Cup.
                            Oswego State Lakers 2007 NCAA Div III Champs

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

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Another Book Thread

                              Originally posted by Deutsche Gopher Fan View Post
                              I don’t like dickens either with one exception- tale of two cities. And I hated the first 100 pages. Probably the first time I came to love a book after loathing the beginning.
                              I read Dickens when I was somewhere around 11 and and ate it up. (We were living in England and my folks got a large lot of old books at the local auction market)
                              Originally posted by Probert View Post
                              Did they differentiate between books that had great critical acclaim and books that were massive bestsellers?

                              To me those are two separate categories, a lot of books that are massive bestsellers like 50 Shades of Gray are loathed by the critics. While some greatest books of all time, per critics weren't huge hits or bestsellers at the time and get read now because students have to read them.

                              For me under the Critically acclaimed two stand out Ulysses and The Great Gatsby. I like Shakespeare and Dickens and love the Iliad and the Odyssey, which I am sure were high on the list.

                              For the huge bestseller, movie, popular buzz Cold Mountain would probably be at the top of my list, probably partially because I thought it would be more of a Civil War book than a romance novel. Another one would be Dutch Edmund Morris's biography of Ronald Reagan, I have loved his Theodore Roosevelt trilogy but this one was complete dreck.
                              I loved the Odyssey and the Illiad when I was a kid- read them the same time as Dickens. Tried to read them when I was older and hated them!

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Another Book Thread

                                Picked up "The Subtle Art of Not Giving A *****" from Amazon; I heard it's a self-help book worth reading.
                                Facebook: bcowles920 Instagram: missthundercat01
                                "One word frees us from the weight and pain of this life. That word is love."- Socrates
                                Patreon for exclusive writing content
                                Adventures With Amber Marie

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X