I finally got started on Mine Were of Trouble. Enjoying it so far.
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I finally got started on Mine Were of Trouble. Enjoying it so far.
I like it well enough, but still think it's the weakest of the five -- and it makes me worry about where it's going. I really dislike what he did to Dany in this book. I'll be interested to see how quickly she gets stronger again (or if he keeps her as this indecisive character).Quote:
Originally Posted by Champ967
Agree completely about the reader. And I made it worse -- I was listening at 1.75 speed. Everybody sounded a bit like an old chipmunk.
I dont know if indecisive is the right word. By the end of Dance, I was reading her as cracked. She's coo-coo for cocopuffs. Years of PTSD and still a teenager.Quote:
Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
(Arya, I think, has similarly lost her $hit)
If you have a 5th or 6th grader, I'd highly recommend When You Reach Me (read this at the daughter's insistence, and she was right, it's great).
SPQR pretty good so far.
Just finished The Exorcist. I always read horror this time of year, but this was one of my favorites.
You ever try The Hike?Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
Or the Southern Reach trilogy?
No, but I’m looking for what’s next!Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
After watching the first 5 seasons of The Expanse, I started into the books.
And -- as in all things -- the books are even better.
I just finished Annihilation (book one of Southern Reach), but I don't think I'll be continuing to the other two books. I really didn't like the first book that much and the reader reviews are pretty clear that the other two books follow similar dynamics. I actually listened to book one, so if I pursue the others at all, I'll do it in print form -- where I can skim when it gets too deep in the introspection. Still, it never really felt like it was going anywhere -- and that's what those who don't like it say continues.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
The other two are little more traditional (the last one jumps around in time some) but they're all similar enough that if you hated the first one, yeah, don't bother with the rest.Quote:
Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
I recently finished In a Lonely Place, which wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. It was ok.
Reading The Green Ember aloud to my boys.
The bedside book stack is getting out of hand (per usual).
Getting into Albion's Seed. It's...very dense. But well written and enlightening.
SPQR was very good. Brought back a lot of memories of Tech Rome and Dr. Mead's classes.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
The Green Ember is still going, and we're all liking it. If your kids like stuff like RedWall, this is worth checking out (talking animals battling it out in a semi-middle ages world with kings and swords and that whole bit).Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
We also recently discovered a new (to us) series we like called Big Words, Small Stories. A former kindergarten teacher we know has said that the trick to teaching young kids big words is to pick ones with easy meanings (so they can understand the concept and plug it in). These are really fun to read aloud and work on that level.
I just started the latest by the author of The Martian. Only a page or two in, but I'm excited for it.
To balance it out I'm also going to be reading a non-fiction book that came very highly recommended by a legal/political podcast I listen to (Advisory Opinions, by some Dispatch contributors). It's called The Great Dissenter and is about the one judge who voted against Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal) and apparently was the one dissenting vote on a lot of stuff where we'd now be on his side. Supposed to be a very good book about a very interesting and important figure.
Prof Mead -- So Constantine founded a new capital city for the Eastern Empire in 330. But that was still a long time after Narmer unified Egypt, which was when?Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Entire bleary-eyed 8AM class [deadpans in unison] -- Thirty one hundred BC.
Mead -- Yep. And what grade was I in?
Class [still deadpaning] -- Second.
Mead -- That's right. And I was a true second grader. Not some redshirt!
That may be a bold assumption given some of our posters' leanings.Quote:
apparently was the one dissenting vote on a lot of stuff where we'd now be on his side.
Just finished The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson and Daughter of the Morning Star by Craig Johnson..
About to start.. Thrawn Ascendancy: book 3 Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn
Zahn is hands-down the single best Star Wars author.Quote:
Originally Posted by DallasDog
And his Thrawn is one smooth operator.
Yep I am very much looking forward to the Ashoka show and the return of Thrawn and Ezra
Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
I'm a couple of hundred pages into Project Hail Mary and so far it's more like The Martian than his previous book (Artemis) was. If you liked The Martian, you'd probably like Project Hail Mary. Different types of problems, but still sort of in that vein of lots of little problems, let's figure out how to "science" them. It hasn't quite hooked me the way The Martian did (higher stakes, but weirdly less unputdownable, at least for me).Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Apologies for verbing a word and making up a new one in the same post. That's indulgent.
Hero of The Martian is an engineer. Hero in Project Hail Mary is a science teacher.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
Is your family funding these books?
come on, these are the most obvious professions for heroes. can you think of an occupation that inspires more wonder?Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Only Int'l Ed.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
I've read a few of Harlan Coben's books in the last couple of weeks. Good mystery/thriller type writer. If you're familiar with him, I'm way out of order in my reading--mainly because I just went with what I found at the library.
Started with Win which is a sort of sequel to his main series of books about Myron Bolitar. Win is Bolitar's best friend from the series, but this book is from Win's perspective and without Myron in it at all. Win is an amoral rich guy who has a strong sense of justice. He likes to beat up people who hurt those who can't defend themselves. He shows up in the series as Myron's protector (even though he's a small guy, he's a martial arts expert and pretty well ruthless in a fight). In this book, he's trying to track down someone involved in a 20 year old terrorist act. Generally Coben is witty and pretty tight in his writing.
The other two books were an audio (Long Lost) and a paperback (One False Move). Both are Myron Bolitar books. Both were page turners, hard to turn off/put down. Nothing deep, but generally fun and fast moving. If you've read any of Lee Child's Reacher stuff, there's some similarity--though Myron and Win are very different characters from Reacher.
By the way, Leviathan Falls releases tomorrow.
Finished The Expanse yesterday. Overall it’s a very good series. They did a pretty good job of finishing up the series. If you create a super-powered villain it’s hard to finish it without having a contrived ending. I was worried about that. Thought they did ok with resolving the situation. Was a bit surprised that there was one loose end they never tied up. Good series. Glad I invested in it
Has anybody read any of Erich Von Daniken's books? His first book, Chariots of the Gods, was written in 1968, and he's written about 30 books since then. My wife gave me 3 of his latest books for Christmas. My favorite out of these 3 is Eyewitness to the Gods. All of his books are written very well and they're all very interesting.
Still a few seasons behind but enjoying it immenselyQuote:
Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
Just finished Mine Were of Trouble and beginning No Colours or Crest. Fascinating stuff - I've never been much of a WW2 guy but I didn't know jack squat about the Spanish Civil War
I vaguely remember reading Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, but I remember so few details from it that I honestly couldn't swear that I did read it (I'm pretty sure I did).Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Dawg
And you'd have to have the taste for the style, but I really like For Whom the Bell Tolls.
This is the aliens built the pyramids and appear in the Bible guy, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by DONW
It does sound interesting in a "we don't really understand how this happened in history" sense. Were there like Time Life book series based on his stuff? I feel like there used to be commercials for those Mysteries of the Universe type book sets that included some of his kind of theories.
I'm reading a collection of travel writing called A Book of Traveler's Tales edited by Eric Newby. I was really looking for a book actually written by him (his Short Walk in the Hindu Kush and Love and War in the Apennines are both excellent). I may have mentioned them here when I read them. In the first, he just decides on a whim to quit his job and go exploring in what's now Afghanistan (in the 1950s) despite not having any climbing experience. It's pretty funny and VERY British. The other one tells about his experience on the run as a WWII POW escapee in Italy. The local people helped him and he eventually fell in love with and married one of the people who helped hide him. They made of movie out of that story (but I haven't seen it). Super interesting guy, but for some reason the FW library doesn't have anything by him (at least not anymore, I read both of these from the library originally) other than this compilation thing.
It's ok, it's certainly interesting to read various excerpts from travel writing about various places through the centuries. Pretty long and not (to me) ideal for just sitting down and reading a lot of at one go (probably an ideal book for the bathroom).
Still working on The Great Dissenter. It's good but hadn't really been a page-turner until the part I just got to (we're at the Civil War). But we're picking up steam in the story now, it's really interesting to go through the different experiences of the two (probably) brothers.
I sometimes make book challenges for my kids (read a book about X, read a book set in Y, etc) and this year the boys opted out and the daughter asked to scale down (from the usual 52, to just 22 for '22). I may join her in doing hers this year.
Erich von Daniken has spent his whole life traveling to many countries around the world investigating structures such as the great pyramid and rock structures in Peru and Equador where mega ton rocks look like they have been melted in place to fit so close that you can't even slip a piece of paper between them. He has sold over 65 million copies of his books. He spent 5 years in a catholic boarding school in Switzerland where none of his teachers could answer any of his questions about what he read in the Bible. His religious upbringing and curiosity sent him out to seek answers.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
<br><br>Erich von Daniken has spent his whole life traveling to many countries investigating structures such as the great pyramid and rock structures in Peru and Equador where mega ton rocks look like they have been melted in place to fit so close that you can't even slip a piece of paper between them. He has sold over 65 million copies of his books. He spent 5 years in a Catholic boarding school in Switzerland where none of his teachers could answer any of his questions about what he read in the Bible. His religious upbringing and curiosity sent him out to seek answers.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Just finished *The Guns of August* by Barbara Tuchman (corrected). It's a Pulitzer Prize winning telling of the first month of WW1. Insightful and at times pretty witty, it is another book where you have to like detailed analysis of what Corps did what in battle to really get the most out of it. I thought a lot more in the way of maps would have helped. Perhaps I should have read with a map sitting in front of me. Still, it's an excellent introduction to the causes (and absurdities) of the beginning of WW1.
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Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
Tuchman, maybe? If so that one is on my to-read list eventually.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
A Distant Mirror was quite good.
Plato's The Republic
Yeah, Barbara Tuchman. I combined her names.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
The queue in front of it on the "to be read" list is not short, but it's on there.Quote:
Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
Yowza -- that's a slog.Quote:
Originally Posted by CARTEK
My wife is reading Laptop From Hell by Miranda Divine. She said the corruption in the Biden family is much worse than we had heard. Hunter made a porn video with his brother's widow. Hunter and his family have taken millions of dollars from the CCP and other countries for favors from Joe.
Still trudging my way through The Godfather. It picks up for short stints and then crawls for a while.
it definitely has its "wth is the point of this section" sections.Quote:
Originally Posted by techman05
This is the book challenge I made for the daughter this year:
22 for 22
1 A Newbury Book______________________________________________ _ 2 A dystopian novel ______________________________________________ 3 A graphic novel ________________________________________________ 4 A nonfiction book ______________________________________________ 5 A book published in 2022 ________________________________________ 6 A book published in the 1970s ____________________________________ 7 A book published in the 1980s ____________________________________ 8 A mystery book**__________________________________________ 9 A book you borrowed from a friend ________________________________ 10 A book of short stories___________________________________________ 11 A book you read to a younger child_________________________________ 12 A book you’ve been meaning to read, but haven’t yet__________________ 13 A book set in Australia/New Zealand_______________________________ 14 A book that has been adapted to a movie or tv show__________________ 15 A book that is part of a series______________________________________ 16 A book with an interesting cover __________________________________ 17 A book with a plain cover ________________________________________ 18 A book set in Arkansas, Texas, or Louisiana*__________________________ 19 A book you choose (free space) ___________________________________ 20 A book with a main character very unlike you________________________ 21 A book with a main character very much like you _____________________ 22 A book of the Bible _____________________________________________
Much easier than the last couple of years (which had 52 books each). I may play along myself. I think she's already hit #2 and is on her way through either #14 or #15 because she's started the Hunger Games trilogy (could be both when she finishes all 3 books). She and I both will have already satisfied #11 by reading to the youngest. Half the fun is slotting the books you'd have read anyway (the other half is picking and reading the rest).
If any of y'all have kids that you're trying to get to read that might respond well to this kind of thing (or bookworm kids that might just enjoy it), I still have some others from previous years ranging from middle-schoolish like this one to pre-K where you'd be doing the actual reading).
I'd be happy to share (for 2021 I brought back the 80s kid book-it vibes and offered to buy Personal Pans if they'd complete it, including friends). It's pretty fun (if you're wired for this sort of scavenger hunt type thing).
i just read the first chapter of the silmarillion. all i can say is wow.
You kind of have to power through the first chapters. I recently reread just the Beren and Luthien chapter.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
what i meant was i don't have the words to describe how good it was or why. i almost feel like if i try to describe/explain it, it would lose some of its power in my mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Gotcha. Glad you liked it.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
https://www.deviantart.com/anubis100...le-V-286564442Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
coolQuote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Dune.
Holy cow!
I've been putting it off for years. But decided I wanted to read at first book before seeing the movie. And damn. DAMN.
This some above-average sci-fi.
Welcome to the club.Quote:
Originally Posted by Champ967
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Originally Posted by Champ967
The daughter was asking about me ordering it for her from library. This something that would be ok for a 12 year old? I guess I could bite the bullet and finally read it myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by JuBru
One of the bad guys is described as having sex with a young boy and then murdering him. It's a relatively graphic scene as I recall--and it happens early to show just how bad the dude is. Other than that, it's not very graphic and I don't think the language is pretty rough. Think I was about 15 when I first read it. That was the only scene that really stuck with me as bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
The worst violence (incl. the scene mentioned above) is largely "off-screen". But definitely there. And a communal drug trip (hive mind stuff) is a key plot point. Also polygamy is a running theme. Traditional sci-fi tropes like telepathy and time-traveling consciousness are described by some characters as witchcraft.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Our girls are the same age. If mine asked about it, I'd want to give her a heads up about some of that material.
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Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
Hmm. I'm sure she's just asking because she's seen the movie trailers with actors she knows. If she brings it up again we'll talk about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Champ967
Thanks.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
Talk about a kick in the ass in how creative folks overcome that demon Resistance.
Been reading A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear and enjoying it so far. Clever writing and a compelling story. Turns out, fire departments and Game and Fish agencies are probably worth public funding.
Wingfeather 2 (North! or be Eaten which is a great title for a book) is what I'm reading out loud to the boys. So far I like it better than the first one (stage is set, now we get to some action). Nice short chapters also help with the read aloud at bedtime part. It's going to take us a while, but that's ok.
As usual, lots of books on deck - I'm really trying to read some books that I already own before buying more or getting new ones from the library.
The big kids are currently busy with "battle of the books" selections, but it's been fun to watch both of them get really into stuff lately. Daughter is almost done with the Hunger Games trilogy. Middle kid/older boy has discovered Percy Jackson. Little guy is excited about the Bad Guys movie opening soon (a favorite series of his).
I just finished a book called Angels in the Sky by Robert Gandt. It's about the volunteers who went to fly for the new Israeli air force in 1948 when the various arab countries invaded the newly created Israel. It's a rather interesting story though the author was a bit too detail oriented. Still, this was a group of mostly WW2 vets who came to Israel to help them survive. Some were Jews who believed in the cause, some were just chasing adventure, some were soldiers of fortune -- but they became the start of the Israeli air force. Ironically, their first set of fighters were Messerschmidts they bought from Czechoslovakia. So you have Jews from what would become one of America's main allies flying German airplanes bought from a communist country.
Just finished Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Superior to Narnia in every way…and I like Narnia.
I wish That Hideous Strength weren't non-fiction :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
I like the Space Trilogy, but it's no Narnia.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
You might enjoy this.
I wouldn't go that far, but I think Perelandra's understanding of temptation may actually be greater than Screwtape's.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
Whoa -- that's a high bar.Quote:
Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
I may have to check this out now.
They start a little slow, but there's a big payoff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Champ967
Thrawn Ascendancy- Lesser Evil. Its the final book in the latest trilogy by Timothy Zahn
i had a long solo road trip last weekend and decided to listen to stephen king's the stand. well, i started it anyway. i'm about halfway through it now. it's my first stephen king book and i have a few observations:
1) apparently this is the extended edition and it's 47 hours long. my road trip wasn't quite that long. i could have done with the original shorter version.
2) i was going to complain about all of the out-of-date talking styles for 1990 until i realized it was written in 1978. if you're going to give cool people dialogue 12 years in the future, make up some new phrases -- don't use whatever the hip cats are saying today.
3) king is a really good storyteller.
4) it's a little annoying when he puts maine colloquialisms in the mouths of people from arkansas and nebraska, like "towny" and "dooryard".
5) a lot of authors write their own personalities in to certain characters. in this case, i'm pretty sure harrold is the author.
6) it's interesting how he nailed the government's tendency to aggressively control the information available to the public in a pandemic and cover any signs of their own potential culpability. also the tendency to just try anything to show that you're doing something, and then stick with that plan even after it's proven not to work.
Just listened to Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown. Philbrick is a really good story-teller. I knew most of the story here, but still found the book hard to stop. He did a nice job of addressing the last year or two of the war, how the southern campaign flowed, Washington's frustrations, and the relationship of the French and Americans and how all that interplayed to set the stage for Yorktown. He clearly respects Washington, but despite the title, it's not hero worship. He gives a picture of Washington's errors in thinking and planning along with the "genius".
I think the best book I've read this year (that wasn't a re-read), that I have been recommending left and right is Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. Picked it up for the tween (who also ended up liking it a lot) but I thought it was fantastic.
Quote:
A sprawling, evocative, and groundbreaking autobiographical novel told in the unforgettable and hilarious voice of a young Iranian refugee. It is a powerfully layered novel that poses the questions: Who owns the truth? Who speaks it? Who believes it?
“A patchwork story is the shame of the refugee,” Nayeri writes early in the novel. In an Oklahoman middle school, Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family’s history, stretching back years, decades, and centuries. At the core is Daniel’s story of how they became refugees—starting with his mother’s vocal embrace of Christianity in a country that made such a thing a capital offense, and continuing through their midnight flight from the secret police, bribing their way onto a plane-to-anywhere. Anywhere becomes the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy, and then finally asylum in the U.S.
Implementing a distinct literary style and challenging western narrative structures, Nayeri deftly weaves through stories of the long and beautiful history of his family in Iran, adding a richness of ancient tales and Persian folklore. Like Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights, Daniel spins a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth.
I've also recently knocked out a few Discworlds, re-read Slaughterhouse Five, started Midnight's Children (checked it out just days before the recent attack), and I'm working on All That's Good (which I've had for a while).
After a summer "bedtimes are too late/unpredictable" hiatus, we also resumed reading Wingfeather book 2, the awesomely named North! or be Eaten. TV series is scheduled to come out soon, so we want to get through the books.
You three in particular (and maybe your kids, if old enough) need to look for this and see what you think.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
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Originally Posted by Champ967
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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
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Originally Posted by arkansasbob
Took a break from The Godfather because some guys wanted to start reading the Bible cover to cover. Almost thru the Bible and I did finish The Godfather.
we'll give it a lookQuote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
roadtrip to indiana and back got me through paradise lost, the hiding place (last read it in middle school), some poirot mystery short stories, the metamorphosis, the curious case of benjamin button, bartleby the scrivener, and half of the sandman audio drama.
currently working on wayne grudem's systematic theology, and i plan to get back and finish the silmarillion before i watch the rings of power series.
Wow, that really puts my reading of LoTR to shame. I've been trying to get through it for over a year now. I only just got to Frodo and Sam's perspective in 6th book (or second half of book 4, however you look at it) in the last month, but haven't picked it back up since they started marching with Sauron's army.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
I'm not hating it. Enjoy a few things of it. Just a lot of unnecessary and unrelated detail. Weirder that it's my "style" of story telling (when I storytell), but it's much easier being the storyteller than the listener. I see that now. haha
I think the issue may be that I'm reading a digital book instead of paperback. Been thinking I need to buy paperback version of books from now on (and buy books I already have again). Digital books are very convenient, especially while traveling, but there's definitely something missing with not being able to hold an actual book in my hand. Probably why Dune is still my #1 book.
I recently listened to Malcolm Gladwell's book Talking to Strangers. It's very interesting. He talks about some of the research around why we have a difficult time recognizing when someone is telling the truth or lying. And why that sometimes leads to catastrophic results. He's a bit weak on solutions, but it's interesting seeing some of the reasons. Among other things, he gives a much more nuanced understanding of some of the conflicts between police and motorists that have proved deadly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
I'm not a huge tv guy, but I'm pretty excited about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8UAUAuKNcU
i'm not terribly disappointed in it so far. no spoilers, but i'm really interested in the plot and trying to ignore where things don't exactly fit tolkien's world. my main complaints:Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
1) galadriel is a little bit of a mary sue
2) some of the dialogue and sub-plots are really poorly written
3) the dwarf maids don't have enough facial hair
anybody else seen it? finished the first season and thoroughly enjoyed it. i stand by my original criticisms, especially number 2.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
I think I have two more episodes left -Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
It's passable
I think we watched the first three but haven't been able to make it back to finish it off. The bookends aren't into it (one is not interested, too cool I guess and the other got a little creeped out) but the middle kid is all in. It's been fun to nerd out and "well, actually" and "oh, that's from this or that" with him.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
Did you ever finish the Silmarilian?
As to books, I'm reading a kind of late western by the author of Forest Gump that's ok so far. It's called El Paso. Finally finished All That's Good and really liked it. Started 3 Big Questions that Change Every Teenager this week (oldest turned 13 last week). Also working on another non-fiction book about the history of treating trauma. Pretty well known I think, it's called The Body Keeps the Score and has been out for a little while now.
Read The Whale Rider recently (haven't seen the movie yet but I think it's streaming). I'm trying to get the daughter to read it. Finally wrapped North! or be Eaten this week (it was great, we're on to book three - The Monster in the Hollows). This is the bedtime read-aloud, so they take some time. Middle kid just finished A Wish in the Dark and wants me to read it (looks good). First grader enjoyed this one a lot.
I need to re-order Midnight's Children but I think I'll sneak another Discworld book in there somewhere first.
I thought I'd been in a bit of a reading slump but writing it out like this makes me think maybe not (or we're coming out of the slump).
i was hoping i could avoid that question and just let everyone assume i did, since i went ahead and watched rings of power. i have not got back to it, but i'm wishing i had before i watched.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
I don't think there's much correlation between the show and the story -- especially since they don't actually have the rights to the main story.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
no, i recognized that early on, but it would have been helpful to have the lore in my mind of what happened in the first age before the events of the series. (and of the second age so that i could be properly angry at the way amazon butchered it)Quote:
Originally Posted by TechDawgMc
Anybody read "Killers of the Flower Moon" about the Osage Murders?
Just listened to an "Infamous America" podcast about the Osage murders. Crazy stuff that went on in the early 1900s.
I haven't read it, but I did hear that Scorsese is making a movie of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by PawDawg
Still going on all these, and they're all pretty good so far.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Yes I heard. I’ll pass on his woke masterpiece.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
Finally finished LoTR. I enjoyed it for the most part. But my statement still stands: lot of unnecessary and unrelated detail. I can see why it became so popular, just not sure it deserves its status as one of the greatest.Quote:
Originally Posted by JuBru
I also managed to read Starship Troopers. I liked it, but it also had some unnecessary and unrelated detail.
Not sure what to read next. Have lots in my reading list that I tend to randomly add to:
They Called Us Enemy
Star Wars: Bloodline
Star Wars: Queen's Shadow
Star Wars: Thrawn
The Count of Monte Cristo
Circle of Treason
The Decline and Falls of the Roman Empire
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
Percy Jackson series
A Tale of Two Cities
Norse Mythology (Gaiman)
The Smartest Guys in the Room
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
And then a few others posted here have piqued my interest.
The Last Mile- David Baldacci
The Fallen - David Baldacci
I have all 4 of those Amos Decker books now. To me, Baldacci took what Clancy and Grisham have done and bumped it a level.Quote:
Originally Posted by olddawgfan
I have #5 and #6 in the bookcase - just not to them as yet. I also enjoyed the first two Aloysius Archer series titles.
Are there more Memory Man books? I thought only 4. Wow, I have a ways to go.
I also read book 1 of the Atlee Pine series. Pretty good as well.
Finally finished The Hiding Place. Pretty amazing story.
About half-way through The Light of Day by Eric Ambler. Fun so far.
Got some books for Christmas that I'm looking forward to. All biographies - Scott Drew, Bono, and one Joe Aillet (who y'all may have heard of).
Read most of these on the website as they were released, but I ordered the book version from the library and it's fun. Some of y'all engineering nerds would enjoy these if you haven't already read them:
https://xkcd.com/what-if/
(Here they are online if want a sample: https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/)
I have the first one, very fun.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
read most of them when they were released, but i didn't realize he added some last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by inudesu
half the fun is the hover text. does he do something to include those jokes in the print version?
There are footnotes and captions. I assume it's the same text, but I'd have to go check it against the website.Quote:
Originally Posted by arkansasbob
Middle kid really enjoyed this (looking forward to reading it myself):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEqJpgdQZrM
Rereading Uncommon by Tony Dungy.
Just finished The Indispensables by Patrick O'Donnell. Very interesting (if a tad overly detailed) book about the Marblehead Regiment who did a lot of water work for George Washington. They were involved in the escape from New York and crossing the Delaware, for instance. As much as I've read about the Revolution, there were still some small things I'd never heard before. Good read.