SarasotaSabre Posted July 11, 2012 Report Share Posted July 11, 2012 You very obviously invited whatever ###### you get with the word "follies." Anyway. I'm reading Erik Larsson's (The Devil in the White City) latest, which is a chronicle of the US ambassador to Germany in Hitler's early days. Apparently, his daughter had quite the dating life--and so far, one date with Hitler. Interesting. Amazing that this doesn't seem to be common knowledge. Larsson really does write nonfiction very, very well, but I liked Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck (juxtaposing a murder suspect chase against the development of radio that assisted said chase) much better. I like the way he weaves two stories together; he's not doing that in his latest one. Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery is getting so slow in the middle that I cannot pick it up. I need some good literary fiction on deck! Help! I very obviously did not intend to provoke any negative responses with my choice to insert the word "follies" into my description of the book I am reading. I can't prevent your interpretation as such. I was merely trying to convey the context of the book's content, but in hindsight I can say that context is easily explained only by the title w/out the need for me to add any descriptions. Anyway, have a great day ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FogBat Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 I very obviously did not intend to provoke any negative responses with my choice to insert the word "follies" into my description of the book I am reading. I can't prevent your interpretation as such. I was merely trying to convey the context of the book's content, but in hindsight I can say that context is easily explained only by the title w/out the need for me to add any descriptions. Anyway, have a great day ..... I feel your pain. I know what it's like to go against the grain of "conventional wisdom" and the groupthink mentality behind it - especially being outnumbered by a huge margin. Then again, I'm thinking just how much the English were outnumbered by the French in the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years' War. Gives me peace of mind and blessed assurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walstib Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 The Prague Cemetery is getting sluggish in the second period, but I'll deal. What I need is a good "beach book." For me, that's usually a good literary crime/suspense novel. Something along the lines of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (and its sequels) or Q&A (the book that was renamed "Slumdog Millionaire" for movie purposes). Any ideas? Along the adventurous lines of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo books, if you have not already read it, The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum, is a great read as is the remainder of his originally authored series. No surprise here, the book(s) are far better than the movie(s), though I thought the first movie good enough to pick up the book and clearly was not disappointed. The second and third movies were pretty lame, IMHO. My current summer reading (aside from work stuff, this forum and my related Buffalo sports addiction) is George R.R. Martin's series on which HBO's, The Game of Thrones is based. Escapism at its finest, as are the Ludlum books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR HOLLIDAY Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Just finished reading, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis Bernieres..........I have never seen the movie, but the book is very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supersabre Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Just bought a copy of Colin Powells new book. Should be a good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Just finished reading, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis Bernieres..........I have never seen the movie, but the book is very good. It is (the book, I mean). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlueGED Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Just bought a copy of Colin Powells new book. Should be a good read. That should be a great read. While I haven't read the book, I do find Powell to be one of the more interesting political figures in recent memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohansrage Posted July 19, 2012 Report Share Posted July 19, 2012 I recently finished The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall and Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I enjoyed both. Polygamist is long (approximately 800 pages), but the story was rich enough to deserve it. Sense of an Ending was also a great read and is much shorter. The best part was how well it lent itself to discussion. I'm currently 200 pages into Game of Thrones. I find I am enjoying it much more than I anticipated I would. The suspense and intrigue are great, and it's not too fantasy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I recently finished The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall and Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I enjoyed both. Polygamist is long (approximately 800 pages), but the story was rich enough to deserve it. Sense of an Ending was also a great read and is much shorter. The best part was how well it lent itself to discussion. I'm currently 200 pages into Game of Thrones. I find I am enjoying it much more than I anticipated I would. The suspense and intrigue are great, and it's not too fantasy. I've never read anything by Julian Barnes that I didn't like. He's a great writer that we don't hear too much about on this side of the Ocean. Arthur & George is one of my favorites; I may re-read that this summer if I can't get into anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohansrage Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 I've never read anything by Julian Barnes that I didn't like. He's a great writer that we don't hear too much about on this side of the Ocean. Arthur & George is one of my favorites; I may re-read that this summer if I can't get into anything else. That was the first Barnes book I have read. I will give Arthur and George a read. In my signature I have a line from Tinkers by Paul Harding. Beautfully written and worth reading for the prose alone. If you haven't read it that may be a good summer book for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohansrage Posted July 24, 2012 Report Share Posted July 24, 2012 I recently finished The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall and Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I enjoyed both. Polygamist is long (approximately 800 pages), but the story was rich enough to deserve it. Sense of an Ending was also a great read and is much shorter. The best part was how well it lent itself to discussion. I'm currently 200 pages into Game of Thrones. I find I am enjoying it much more than I anticipated I would. The suspense and intrigue are great, and it's not too fantasy. Finished Game of Thrones. I ended up underwhelmed. It would have made a better graphic novel. Starting Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson for my science fiction book club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattPie Posted July 24, 2012 Report Share Posted July 24, 2012 Starting Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson for my science fiction book club. Great book. I've read a bunch of his other stuff. It's not as tight as Snow Crash, but generally quite good. Right now: Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Getting into it, just need more time. Next up: Inheritance (the fourth (and hopefully final) book in the Eragon series), just to finish it up. They're not *bad* books, but being written by a teenager they show some simpleness. The characters are generally very good or very bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted July 24, 2012 Report Share Posted July 24, 2012 Great book. I've read a bunch of his other stuff. It's not as tight as Snow Crash, but generally quite good. Right now: Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Getting into it, just need more time. Next up: Inheritance (the fourth (and hopefully final) book in the Eragon series), just to finish it up. They're not *bad* books, but being written by a teenager they show some simpleness. The characters are generally very good or very bad. Absolutely hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted July 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris The story of Teddy's presidency. It's hefty at 555 pages, but it reads fast despite the small print. Morris must know every single thing there is to know about Roosevelt, because it's in this book. The format is chronological and about as good as it gets for a biography. I can't put it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted August 12, 2012 Report Share Posted August 12, 2012 Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett--- for some reason, this offseason it seemed appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudberry Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 I recently finished The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall and Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I enjoyed both. Polygamist is long (approximately 800 pages), but the story was rich enough to deserve it. Sense of an Ending was also a great read and is much shorter. The best part was how well it lent itself to discussion. I'm currently 200 pages into Game of Thrones. I find I am enjoying it much more than I anticipated I would. The suspense and intrigue are great, and it's not too fantasy. My wife read the Lonely Polygamist and loved it. I'll have to check that one out myself Right now I'm reading Jeff Shaara's The Steel Wave-a book about D-Day and the events leading up to it. So far it is an excellent read as it tells the story from the perspective of both the Axis, and Allies. I've read a couple of his books and none of them disappoint. If you're a fan of historical fiction, any of his or his father's books are worth picking up. This guy is very thorough in his research and gives both accurate, entertaining portrayals of historical events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gohansrage Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett--- for some reason, this offseason it seemed appropriate. You get a Gold Star for this comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Finally finished The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. I'd misplaced it under a pile of notes on my desk and found it last week, half read. Picked right up where I left off. Very good piece on a topic/individual I doubt most would find their way to by specific interest. I'm glad I took a chance on it. To celebrate, I went to B&N and bought more books. The first I'll be reading is the newest version of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney. It's been a while since I read it, so I'm looking forward to some mythology to balance all the history I seem to have. Also purchased: The Arabs by Eugene L. Rogan. A political history of the Arab lands since 1517. It's rather thick, and should be a good "pick up when I feel like it" read about a region of the world I don't know much about. The Histories by Herodotus (Penguin Classics version). Another thick volume worth reading for obvious reasons. Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. About the rise to the Presidency and assassination of James Garfield. My goal is to read at least one book about every US President in the next two years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FolignosJock Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 I just finished 11/22/63 and am currently about half way through Unbroken... both are incredible and I recommend them highly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattPie Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 (edited) The first I'll be reading is the newest version of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney. It's been a while since I read it, so I'm looking forward to some mythology to balance all the history I seem to have. Read the Bible, you'll get a bit of both! Finishing up the last book of the Eragon four-parter (quadrilogy?). The first book was OK, I read the next two years ago since my girlfriend at the time was reading them but they got more and more tedious as time went on. Occurred to me that the library would have the last one, so I picked it up for the sake of completing the set. It's just as tedious as the third book, but I'm pushing thru just to finish the series. You can tell the author is pretty young, it falls into a lot of cliched plot lines. As a side note, the way my local library handles ebooks seems to work pretty well. Once you get a library card (which can be done online and they'll mail it to you), you can browse on the web and then check out a book for 7 or 14 days. The only hassle is I don't have a personal Windows or Mac machine at home, so I had to install Adobe Digital Editions on my work laptop to download the book. Once that's done, ADE sees my Nook and I can just drag it over. You could read it thru most devices (computer,phone, tablet, etc.) if you don't have a dedicated reader. Edited August 16, 2012 by MattPie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Read the Bible, you'll get a bit of both! Actually, I started that back in the late winter but haven't picked it up since then. Maybe in the fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude_Verret Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Out of curiosity, are there many people left who mostly read conventional books? I was reluctant to switch to a kindle a few years ago, but I now have a hard time going back when I get a book from the library or go back and re-read one from my library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Out of curiosity, are there many people left who mostly read conventional books? I was reluctant to switch to a kindle a few years ago, but I now have a hard time going back when I get a book from the library or go back and re-read one from my library. I'm a conventional book guy. I get a simple satisfaction out of turning pages and seeing how much thickness remains in the book I'm reading. I have no desire to go to e-books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Out of curiosity, are there many people left who mostly read conventional books? I was reluctant to switch to a kindle a few years ago, but I now have a hard time going back when I get a book from the library or go back and re-read one from my library. The idea of a kindle doesn't do much for me. The convenience is one thing, but I like to keep books so that I can look back at them later, especially since I read a lot of history. I believe in having books. I like seeing my shelves fill up. I like knowing I can go grab a favorite whenever I want and read a little of it. Some day I'd like to think any kids I have will want to read my books. I hope technology doesn't completely overtake the collection of literature. I guess I'd buy a kindle or something if I read a lot of dime novels and throwaway fiction. But I don't. I like writing my name inside the cover and picking something to use as a bookmark. I like to leave my bookmarks in the book, they're like little surprises. I'll use a receipt, a hockey ticket stub, or anything else that I think will give me laugh when I pick that book up again in a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dEnnis the Menace Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 I believe in books. I really don't want everything I do to be digital/hand held. I, like d4rk, like the idea of having books on a shelf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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