Books

Townhallsavoy · « **on:** December 09, 2009, 10:53:15 PM »

I just finished reading Blink and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, and I need a new book to read.

Any recommendations?

AUsweetheart · « **Reply #1 on:** December 09, 2009, 11:13:53 PM »

If it's not the law...it's historical (well researched) fiction for me. Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman is one of my faves. You'll never see Richard III the same.

Kaos · « **Reply #2 on:** December 09, 2009, 11:25:43 PM »

I read Stephen King's 1500 page bloated monstrosity the other night.

That man -- and I think The Stand is the greatest work of apocalytic fiction in history -- is in dire need of an editor. Dire, I say.

1498 pages of bloviation and trite characters those who've read his books have seen before. Then two pages of asinine and utterly ridiculous wrap up.

It's a serious disappointment.

AUJarhead · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2009, 07:12:56 AM »

I just finished reading the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. There are 10 books out in paperback, 1 that's out in hardback. About a wizard who lives in Chicago, and freelances as a consultant for the Chicago Police Department.

Ogre · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2009, 09:21:31 AM »

Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged. The way it parrallels what is going on in our country today is scary. Great read.

GH2001 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2009, 09:36:19 AM »

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Suess is a good one. Its a short read and even an idiot can get it. I try to read it every night before going to bed.

Tiger Wench · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:29:34 AM »

mmmm... my favorite topic!

Monster Hunters International by Larry Corriea. Apparently monsters do walk amongst us, to the point where the Feds pay bounties for those who hunt them down. EXCELLENT read for the fantasy/paranormal intrusion onto real life crowd - plus guns!! Larry is a HUGE gun nut in real life, so some of the descriptions of weaponry drag on a bit, but still, excellent.

Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan. One of the best, most interesting bios I have read in a long time. I never knew that much about Daniel Boone other than the legends and tall tales. While the author is not out to do a hatchet job, the reality is that Boone was not a good guy in terms of caring for his family, etc. Very good read.

Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott. This is a true account of the Everleigh sisters, who ran a world famous brothel in Chicago in the early 1900s. In fact the term "To get laid (everleighed)" originated with their house of ill repute. Extremely interesting story.

When the Devil Came down to Dixie: Ben Butler in New Orleans by Chester G. Hearn Historical narrative about Major General Benjamin F. Butler's administration in New Orleans during the second year of the Civil War. Some historians have extolled the general as a great humanitarian, while others have vilified him as a brazen opportunist, agreeing with the wealthy of occupied New Orleans who labeled him "Beast" Butler. In my opinion? A greedy thieving moronic Yankee. Still, well written.

Thrilla · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:33:44 AM »

Quote from: Kaos on December 09, 2009, 11:25:43 PM

I read Stephen King's 1500 page bloated monstrosity the other night.

That man -- and I think The Stand is the greatest work of apocalytic fiction in history -- is in dire need of an editor. Dire, I say.

1498 pages of bloviation and trite characters those who've read his books have seen before. Then two pages of asinine and utterly ridiculous wrap up.

It's a serious disappointment.

Damn! I'm 3/4 of the way through this. Are you reading the one that came out later than the first version...without all the editor's cuts in it? AKA "The unabridged version"? Because that's what I'm reading, and might be the reason why you think it needs an editor...he purposefully left the additional character and plot development to be included in the unabridged version so the reader could see what all was cut before the original version came out. I think it's a great read, however....

Quote from: Ogre on December 10, 2009, 09:21:31 AM

Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged. The way it parrallels what is going on in our country today is scary. Great read.

Another good one. It was tough for me to get through some parts, but that's only because I'm a Simpleton. I felt like I was doing homework at some points through this book, and other times it was like a window in today's society. Ageless soical commentary, if you will.

Quote from: AUsweetheart on December 09, 2009, 11:13:53 PM

If it's not the law...it's historical (well researched) fiction for me. Sunne in Splendor by Sharon Kay Penman is one of my faves. You'll never see Richard III the same.

Sweets...the wife loved The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. It was about Mary Boleyn and King Henry VIII.

Tiger Wench · « **Reply #8 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:45:42 AM »

Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia by Dennis Covington. A journalist of some sort out of BHM. Started writing about the snake handling churches on Sand Mountain and got all caught up in it. Kind of a wild story. Not all that well written, but still worth a read.

Hetty: The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon by Charles Slack When J. P. Morgan called a meeting of New York's financial leaders after the stock market crash of 1907, Hetty Green was the only woman in the room. The Guinness Book of World Records memorialized her as the World's Greatest Miser. She turned a comfortable inheritance into a fortune that was worth about 1.6 billion in today's dollars and was frugal to a fault. I loved this book.

The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder, and the Birth of the American Mafia by Mike Dash Until I read this, I had no idea how the Mafia got so entrenched into the history of New Orleans. The Mafia families in NOLA are equivalent too, and were indeed contemporaries of, the first families in New York. This was a fascinating book.

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner Second book by these guys and just as good as the first one.

Tiger Wench · « **Reply #9 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:52:37 AM »

Kaos is referring to the new King novel - and I have not read anything he has written since the release of the unabridged cut of The Stand for the same reasons Kaos mentions. If King were a speaker, I would say he loves the sound of his own voice. His books are formulaic, nastier than they need to be in terms of describing sexual acts and gore scenes, and he has completely lost the talent he once had to create a story that will suck you in and leave you sleeping with the lights on. I am like Joey on Friends - I keep my copy of The Shining in the freezer. That book scared the living shit out of me. Nothing he has written since has freaked me out like The Shining did. And what's with the sexual perversion? Nearly all of his more recent books have involved extremely gratuitous sexual acts and language that are just not germane to the story. Y'all know I am not a prude but sometimes he sickens me.

Quote from: Thrilla on December 10, 2009, 11:33:44 AM

Sweets...the wife loved The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. It was about Mary Boleyn and King Henry VIII.

Hated this. HATED. IT. She is a hack. The books masquerade as historical, but all Gregory does is take a couple of historical figures and events and throw in a bunch of sex. That is fine, sex and "romance" has it's place, but I hate seeing English history totally fucked up like that, because some people never bother to find out the real story behind it all, and go the rest of their lives believing that is the way it really happened. And it's not.

Tiger Wench · « **Reply #10 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:55:53 AM »

Quote from: Kaos on December 09, 2009, 11:25:43 PM

I think The Stand is the greatest work of apocalytic fiction in history

Absolutely. I love The Stand. Usually read it again every year or so. One of te most amazing books I have ever read. The unabridged version filled inmore than a few gaps, and is worth the sheckels it costs.

I also like Alas, Babylon, which is written around a US - Soviet nuclear apocalypse, set in the 60s when that was what everyone expected to happen. People not at the blast epicenter have to basically recreate their society. Short book, but very thought provoking, and not in some sociopolitical way.

Thrilla · « **Reply #11 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:59:27 AM »

Quote from: Tiger Wench on December 10, 2009, 11:52:37 AM

Hated this. HATED. IT. She is a hack. The books masquerade as historical, but all Gregory does is take a couple of historical figures and events and throw in a bunch of sex. That is fine, sex and "romance" has it's place, but I hate seeing English history totally fucked up like that, because some people never bother to find out the real story behind it all, and go the rest of their lives believing that is the way it really happened. And it's not.

Well, no wonder she liked it so much.

But I do think she was aware that it was fiction, and much like movies that are "based on a true story", she knew to take it with a grain of salt.

Tiger Wench · « **Reply #12 on:** December 10, 2009, 12:01:52 PM »

Quote from: Thrilla on December 10, 2009, 11:59:27 AM

Well, no wonder she liked it so much.

But I do think she was aware that it was fiction, and much like movies that are "based on a true story", she knew to take it with a grain of salt.

Was not impuning your wife. But a lot of people do read this kind of stuff, considering it as gospel and thinking it is "real", and as an English history major, that makes me insane.

Thrilla · « **Reply #13 on:** December 10, 2009, 12:06:01 PM »

Quote from: Tiger Wench on December 10, 2009, 12:01:52 PM

Was not impuning your wife. But a lot of people do read this kind of stuff, considering it as gospel and thinking it is "real", and as an English history major, that makes me insane.

Same with the movies that are based on history and true stories... And, because I'm a Simpleton, I had to look up the word impuning. You learn something new every day!

wesfau2 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 10, 2009, 02:04:20 PM »

Quote from: Tiger Wench on December 10, 2009, 11:52:37 AM

Kaos is referring to the new King novel - and I have not read anything he has written since the release of the unabridged cut of The Stand for the same reasons Kaos mentions.

Did you read the Dark Tower series?

Amazing storytelling. He weaves all of his most prominent characters and stories into this one epic. The final book and end of the story are incredible and you finally see (whether it was planned or he just got inspired during the DT writings) that there is a forest in which all his novels stand as trees.

Thrilla · « **Reply #15 on:** December 10, 2009, 02:14:49 PM »

Quote from: wesfau2 on December 10, 2009, 02:04:20 PM

Did you read the Dark Tower series?

Amazing storytelling. He weaves all of his most prominent characters and stories into this one epic. The final book and end of the story are incredible and you finally see (whether it was planned or he just got inspired during the DT writings) that there is a forest in which all his novels stand as trees.

This is still my favorite set of books at all time. Reading through this series and recognizing variations of characters from other novels kept me just as interested as the main storyline. And the ending...the part where he says read on only at your own risk, as this book has already ended...and then you read on...best ending ever.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #16 on:** December 10, 2009, 02:17:29 PM »

wesfau2 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 10, 2009, 02:48:33 PM »

Quote from: Harvey Birdman on December 10, 2009, 02:17:29 PM

1776

Great book.

Tiger Wench · « **Reply #18 on:** December 10, 2009, 03:35:48 PM »

Quote from: Harvey Birdman on December 10, 2009, 02:17:29 PM

1776

Yes, very good. His Excellency, the Washington biography, is also very good.

I started the Dark Tower series, but lost interest. Maybe I will try again.

Aubie16 · « **Reply #19 on:** December 10, 2009, 03:48:28 PM »

Wench,

Thanks for the Jack Reacher suggestion. Just starting the latest book of the series. Took me about 4 months to finally catch up after starting with the 1st. Pretty entertaining for flights and traveling.