Readers corner

[VakAttack]

Anybody reading anything? I just finished Robin Hobb's "Realm of the Elderlings" 17 book series, it was excellent.  Before that I read all if Joe Abercrombie's "First Law" books.  What are you guys reading?

[JimmyBT]

I’ve heard this is a good one. May start it soon 

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Traffic-Court-Seymour-Stern/dp/1411603818/ref=asc_df_1411603818/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=675739057612&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15994963275484606859&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1021434&hvtargid=pla-1653307695297&psc=1&mcid=b56bf99d3526378b854155f4abc38082

[Wrestleknownothing]

Recently read Chuck Klosterman's "But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past"

And now I have moved on to his new book, "The Nineties"

I like Klosterman a lot.

[Lipdrag]

Just pulled Walden off my shelf last night  Was asleep before page 4.  But I am going to make a go of it.

I love the title But What if We're Wrong.  The present day hubris about people of the past is shocking.  If Walden can't hold my attention - probably - I may switch quickly.

 

Edit:  Whoa!  I just read a review.  The book has perspicacity.  I need more of that in my life!

“Full of intelligence and insights, as the author gleefully turns ideas upside down to better understand them. . . Replete with lots of nifty, whimsical footnotes, this clever, speculative book challenges our beliefs with jocularity and perspicacity.” —Kirkus (starred review)

Edited February 14 by Lipdrag
Perspicacity

[mspart]

I read Black's Law Dictionary.   Fascinating really. 

mspart

[ionel]

Most recent:  The Cure by Bruce McNicol - prob not for everyone

Started:  American Midnight by Adam Hochschild - Amazon/Kindle free download trial, read ~3 chapters free decided not the time for it, covers history events etc we prob should be taught but weren't. 

[mspart]

I haven't read a book in a while actually, my last post was a joke post.  

I have read Undaunted Courage about Lewis and Clark.   That was good.

I have read John Adams and that was really good. 

1491 was a good but tough read about pre columbian America. 

Lost in Shangri-La was a good WWII story of a joy ride gone bad in the Pacific.   True story. 

I'm more of a non-fiction type.    I read all these in the last 20 years or so.   I get enough reading at work. 

mspart

Edited February 14 by mspart

[Danny Deck]

Recently finished Augustus by John Williams and loved it. It is a novel about the emperor told all through letters. Fascinating both in plot and how the story was told. I also highly recommend his two other novels, Stoner and Butcher's Crossing. 

Top reads from last year:

Fiction:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. A very rare re-read for me and just as enjoyable as the first time. I can't recommend it enough. I can almost guarantee it's the easiest 900 pages you'll ever read. 

Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo. This is the third in a series after Nobody's Fool and Everybody's Fool and I've loved each of them, and most of Russo's work. I feel like he is kind of a Northeastern Larry McMurtry in a lot of ways, which is about the highest compliment I can give an author.

Non-Fiction:

Stalin's War by Sean McMeekin. Definitely more of a political history than military. Was pretty enlightening on all of the machinations on the eastern front that are largely ignored in other WW2 histories I've read.

G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and The Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage. As the sub-title makes clear, you can trace a lot of the 20th century through Hoover's life, and it was a very interesting read about the FBI during his tenure. 

[Jason Bryant]

I made a simple New Year's Resolution to read more books. I'm starting slow, trying to read a new book a month. As an avid podcast listener, I have to get back into the habit of turning pages. 

January: I completed Prisoners of the Castle by Ben MacIntyre, which chronicles the numerous stories of the escape attempts from Colditz, a German POW camp housed in an old castle. 

February: Currently reading Trash Talk: The Only Book about Destroying Your Rivals That Isn't Total Garbage. I was interviewed for this one, so it was sent to me and the author reached out to come on the show to talk about it. So when I have a guest on the show who wrote a book, I want to read the book so I'm educated on the topic. This one dives into the psychology of trash talk, interviewing some of the great sports villains across the ages. I'm about halfway through it. Pretty fun stuff and I get quoted in spots, although I do feel I'm being presented there as a pro wrestling journalist rather than a pro-wrestling journalist. 

I also listened to an audiobook two weeks ago using the Libby app (local libraries) called Games of Deception by Andrew Maraniss, which talks about the first U.S. Olympic basketball team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler-run Germany. I'd previously listened to his book about the first U.S. Olympic women's basketball team in 1976 in Montreal, so while its about roundball, I dig Olympic sports history and that one featured a former great from my alma mater. I don't "count" audiobooks in this exercise as reading, because you're not actually reading.  

[Lipdrag]

On 2/14/2024 at 2:27 PM, Jason Bryant said:

I don't "count" audiobooks in this exercise as reading, because you're not actually reading.  

Audiobooks count.  Braille isn't actually reading either, it is feeling.  But I am sure you won't tell a blind guy that the way he experiences a book does not "count".  The sense (sight, touch, sound) through which the information enters your consciousness should not be subject to discrimination.  Show some tolerance for diversity, dude.

I read the first 100 pages of Hamilton then listened to the next 600+ via Libby.  Often in the car and doing yard chores.  Sometimes I would find a couple more tasks to do outside to get through a particularly interesting bit of the book or arrive at my destination but remain in the car listening for a bit until reaching a natural break in the narrative.

PS, did I do an OK job of trash talking you?  Maybe I should read the book.

Edited February 16 by Lipdrag

[VakAttack]

16 minutes ago, Lipdrag said:

Audiobooks count.  Braille isn't actually reading either, it is feeling.  But I am sure you won't tell a blind guy that the way he experiences a book does not "count".  The sense (sight, touch, sound) through which the information enters your consciousness should not be subject to discrimination.  Show some tolerance for diversity, dude.

I read the first 100 pages of Hamilton then listened to the next 600+ via Libby.  Often in the car and doing yard chores.  Sometimes I would find a couple more tasks to do outside to get through a particularly interesting bit of the book or arrive at my destination but remain in the car listening for a bit until reaching a natural break in the narrative.

PS, did I do an OK job of trash talking you?  Maybe I should read the book.

Braille is a written language, so I think that's different.

[jross]

Last three books read

• Sapiens
• The Open Conspiracy
• Fast This Way

On my desk - Daily Stoic, Baseball Cards, Chord Chart

[Lipdrag]

2 hours ago, VakAttack said:

Braille is a written language, so I think that's different.

Right.  It's different.  Listening to a book of a written language being read is different.  Different, but still counts.  Don't make me go get Larry Bird (world famous trash talker if there ever was one) in here to trash talk both of you about all of the audiobooks he counts.

[VakAttack]

13 minutes ago, Lipdrag said:

Right.  It's different.  Listening to a book of a written language being read is different.  Different, but still counts.  Don't make me go get Larry Bird (world famous trash talker if there ever was one) in here to trash talk both of you about all of the audiobooks he counts.

I'm with JB.  I don't think it counts as reading.  It's more....consuming.  YMMV but to me there is a distinction.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

On 2/14/2024 at 1:27 PM, Jason Bryant said:

I made a simple New Year's Resolution to read more books. I'm starting slow, trying to read a new book a month. As an avid podcast listener, I have to get back into the habit of turning pages...

Similarly, I bought myself a Kindle for Christmas. Thought I'd streamline the process of reading by eliminating unnecessary trips to the libraries and bookstores. 

Just brought a couple books back to the library (boring financial stuff), but the Kindle is still sitting on the right side of my desk. With zero hours on it so far. I'm making a 2/15 resolution to fire it up at least once a month.

(My podcast/Libby catcher gets almost no days off.)

So much content, so little time.

[VakAttack]

3 minutes ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

Similarly, I bought myself a Kindle for Christmas. Thought I'd streamline the process of reading by eliminating unnecessary trips to the libraries and bookstores. 

Just brought a couple books back to the library (boring financial stuff), but the Kindle is still sitting on the right side of my desk. With zero hours on it so far. I'm making a 2/15 resolution to fire it up at least once a month.

(My podcast/Libby catcher gets almost no days off.)

So much content, so little time.

I bought a Kindle for the very same reason, but mine is getting a workout!

[Jason Bryant]

I’m not dogging audiobooks, but for this resolution, I want to physically turn the pages.

[Wrestleknownothing]

I have mentioned "The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York" by Robert Caro before. An amazing book that studies power, how it is acquired, how it is used, how it affects people, through the lens Robert Moses, the man who is most responsible for the way New York City looks and works today, though few had ever heard of him.

It is a mere 1,344 pages long. A nice, breezy summer read. There is also a podcast going on right now that geeks out on the book in installments (99% Invisible on Spotify).

[jross]

12 hours ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

Similarly, I bought myself a Kindle for Christmas. Thought I'd streamline the process of reading by eliminating unnecessary trips to the libraries and bookstores. 

Just brought a couple books back to the library (boring financial stuff), but the Kindle is still sitting on the right side of my desk. With zero hours on it so far. I'm making a 2/15 resolution to fire it up at least once a month.

(My podcast/Libby catcher gets almost no days off.)

So much content, so little time.

Let us know your thoughts on the Kindle.  I like the paper in hand.  I don't like pruning the bookshelf.  Sticking to books here for now.

[Jason Bryant]

Borrowed my wife's kindle a few years ago for a trip when I was doing through The Hunger Games trilogy and I just blew through those books in weekend. I don't think I'd ever read three books so fast. Granted, I ended up being sick and laying in bed the whole weekend, but the kindle was a pretty good experience. 

 

[Lipdrag]

13 hours ago, VakAttack said:

It's more....consuming.  YMMV but to me there is a distinction.

 

12 hours ago, Jason Bryant said:

but for this resolution, I want to physically turn the pages.

Gentlemen, I stipulate the sensual corporal experience is more encompassing by touching the book and turning the page.

I also learned what YMMV means after looking it up.

[mspart]

Page turning definitely the best.

mspart

[cowcards]

I'm a big fan of reading completed series. I hate waiting for books to be released. Here is a few of some of my favorite series and highly recommend reading.

Ender Saga (haven't read any that Card didn't write)
Millennium Trilogy (Haven't read any of the books Larsson didn't write)
Red Rising (still 1 more to go...)
Iron Druid Chronicles

I'm currently reading the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson and just learned that he has created a whole universe out of it with 40+ books. Not sure if I will end up reading all of them but it is likely. 


 

[VakAttack]

1 hour ago, cowcards said:

I'm a big fan of reading completed series. I hate waiting for books to be released. Here is a few of some of my favorite series and highly recommend reading.

Ender Saga (haven't read any that Card didn't write)
Millennium Trilogy (Haven't read any of the books Larsson didn't write)
Red Rising (still 1 more to go...)
Iron Druid Chronicles

I'm currently reading the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson and just learned that he has created a whole universe out of it with 40+ books. Not sure if I will end up reading all of them but it is likely. 


 

Sanderson has created a whole shared universe, but it's not solely out of Mistborn.  Basically it's a multiverse situation called the Cosmere.  You could read the Mistborn books as standalone, there 7 of them (and one or two novellas).  They're isn't a whole lot of crossover....yet.  but there will be, per Sanderson.

[cowcards]

5 hours ago, VakAttack said:

Sanderson has created a whole shared universe, but it's not solely out of Mistborn.  Basically it's a multiverse situation called the Cosmere.  You could read the Mistborn books as standalone, there 7 of them (and one or two novellas).  They're isn't a whole lot of crossover....yet.  but there will be, per Sanderson.

The lack of crossover is why I think I may skip the others. Although the Stormlight Archive is supposed to be really good too.