2009 Reading Log

[WhatsHisNuts]

Book #5 Completed:

Invisible Monsters, by Chuck Palahniuk.

Finished March 25th.

Rating: 3 of 5 stars.

Thoughts: Good story with lots of twists. For some reason, I just couldn't get caught up in it until the last 80 pages.

I'm going to try to find something quick to read so I can get back on track.

 

[new redneck]

on the advice of more than one conservative talk show host [ limbaugh, hannity etc] i am re reading atlas shrugged.. 50th anniversery edition.. the say that if you want to know what is happening to our country , read it ! first read was about 40 years ago .. also, just ordered "i,ll make you an offer you can,t refuse" [ think that is the title} written by a mafia boss. reviews are awesome.. i think the point of the book is that he used to take over companies the same way our country is doing it today.. read the reviews on amazon.... being retired, i read at least a book a week.. nothing deep however, mostly crime mysteries..

 

[AR182]

just finished up 2 interesting books....

" 7 - the mickey mantle novel", written by peter golenbock...story about the mick up in heaven speaking to a sports reporter explaining why he carried on the way he did & trying to get forgiveness from the people he hurt......

" the canary sang but couldn't fly", by edmund elmalen.....story about abe reles a hit man for murder inc. who decided to rat out other members of murder inc & the mafia...& while under police protection he mysteriously died by going out a window in a hotel in coney island....

now will start reading a book that terry ray recommended called, "when pride mattered"...story about vince lombardi....imo the greatest coach in football history...

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

Book #6 Completed:

Happy Endings, by Jim Norton.

Finished May 11th.

Rating: 2 of 5 stars.

Thoughts: I don't dig this guy's hunor. Too much raunch. I liked his other book, but only because of two chapters that were funny stories about his childhood. No way I could ever recommend this.

I'm way behind schedule. Time to start reading again.

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

Book #7 completed:

Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk

Finished May 18th.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thoughts: Really good story. I like this author a lot. He is very modern in his style and he has a twisted mind. The story never got boring so it was easy to read. It also has short chapters, so it is easy to knock out a couple chapters here and there. I highly recommend it.

I feel like I'm back on track. I have a lot of books to choose from. Not sure what is up next. I want something I can read relatively quickly so I can get past the half way point to my goal of reading 15 books in 2009.

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

Book #8 completed:

Factotum, by Charles Bukowski

Finished June 6th.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Thoughts: I like Bukowski a lot, but this wasn't my favorite...but it was entertaining.

 

[selkirk]

good thread gmrozz, 15 books in a year is a good goal, mine is 12, one per month. though have not started this year which is sad.

in 2008 read

2008 books read
1. Searching for Bobby Orr,
2. A Lion?s Tale,
3. The Bubble and the Bear (Nortel)
4.The Idiot (Fyodor Dostoevsky, translation Richard Pevar and Larissa Volokhonsky, Everymans Library, pages 615) (Read in 2008)
5.Hunting The 1918 Flu (Kristy Duncan, 2003 pages 292, Toronto University Press (Read in 2008)
6. Company of Adventurers (Peter C. Newman, 1985, 318 pages)
7. Walk to New York (Charles Wilkins, 2004, 300 pages)
8. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Stephen Leacock, pages 184, 1912)

give a short review of them later, have to start a few books, enjoyed most of them.

thanks
selkirk

 

[Woodson]

Read over the last two weeks while vacationing:

Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer: 4/10

Brad Meltzer has larded his proven cliffhanger formula with Da Vinci-esque conspiracies and comic-book lore, and the results aren't pretty. In his latest, The Book of Lies, ex-customs agent Cal Harper searches for the object Cain used to slay Abel. ''The world's first murder weapon'' might be anything: a jawbone, a rock, even an occult tome. Alas, Meltzer's plot, which drags in Nazis and the history of Superman comics, is just as hard to pin down. (Clues hidden in the cartoon illustrations explain little.) His muzzy mythologies are more baffling than thrilling. - taken from summary

First book I've read of Melter's and probably the last..

The Shack by William P. Young: 8/10

This book is different than anything I've read and I would say while theological fiction, its definitely geared at understanding why God allows terrible things to happen to innocent people. I overlooked a lot of the inaccuracies that it used regarding the Trinity but over all was pretty moved by the book. It's so different then my upbringing and so simplistic that I think most people will identify with the theological aspects...

Definitely worth reading...

 

[gardenweasel]

a friend reccomended the new michael connelly thriller,"the scarecrow"...... they loved it.....

amazon revue...""When it comes to chilling suspense thrillers few can match the level of Michael Connelly. So it should then be no surprise to see all the good reviews his new work "The Scarecrow" is receiving. There are some very chilling and sadistic scenes that would make the Marquis de Sade envious - but there is a lot more to this book than grizzly murders. Jack McEvoy is the book's lead - a newspaper reporter (you may remember him from "The Poet") The Poet

Well, both newspapers that Jack is affiliated with (Rocky Mountain News and The Los Angeles Times) are on hard times. As with most Connelly, technology plays a key role in moving the story along. In the Scarecrow, the cyber villainy comes from a place known as The Farm - an underground desert bunker where all your cyber fears are realized. Jack gets laid off relatively early in the book and goes searching for "The Scarecrow" But before he can begin his investigation, Jack, must deal with a teen-aged kid that made a false confession of murder. Using good, old-fashioned detective work, Jack discovers the kid only confessed to stealing the murdered woman's car. Exciting so far, right?

And we're only getting started. I won't go further with the story, but The Scarecrow shows the reader just why Michael Connelly is in a league all his own when it comes to suspense thrillers. The characters, the story, the plot, the interaction, the flow, all refined and detailed by the touch of a true master. I'm more of a historical fiction fan, and just finished reading Clarence Cage's epic novel "Ashes Divide" Ashes Divide (highly recommend) but when I got my hands on this chilling thriller I was unable to put it down.""



that`ll be my next read...

 

[SixFive]

book number 1 completed

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell 4 out of 5 stars

Cornwell is my favorite author. You may have read some of his Sharpe novels which he is most noted for. His Civil War tetralogy is also top-notched. He writes with a great attention to historical detail, and I guess you would call it historical fiction. He takes actual events and battles and incorporates his characters into those situations. You feel like you are fighting with his characters.

Agincourt was a famous battle between the English and French during the 100 years war where the greatly outnumbered English defeated a much bigger French contingency. Much of that credit is given to the skill of the yew longbow English archers. I've bowhunted a lot for deer, and my biggest compound bow had and 80 pound pull. These yew bows had a draw weight in the 130 pound weight class with no let-off. Very impressive to say the least. This battle is arguably where the "V" for Victory was started as the archers held up their 2 string fingers in a "v" shape in defiance to the French who would often cut off the archer's fingers if captured.

If you haven't ever read Cornwell, I would suggest starting with his Sharpe series or the Civil War "Starbuck Chronicles" as they are better. This novel is really good too, just not as good.

 

[AR182]

here are the last few books that i read....

"confessions of a master jewel thief"...this is an autobiography about bill mason, who may have been the greatest jewel thief who ever lived. the guy led an outwardly normal life who needed to pull burglaries like a junkie needed a fix...he was that addicted to it....some of the celebrities he robbed.....robert goulet, armand hammer, phyllis diller, bob hope, truman copote, & johnny weismuller & others....liked this book alot but then i was always interested in reading about people who broke the law by using their brains....& this guy was sharp...

"doc holliday, the life & legend" by gary l. roberts...liked this book also & learned things about doc that i didn't know before....yeah he was a gambler & a gunslinger but i didn''t know that he made it his business to help the lawmen in the towns where he gambled whenever possible....it was a way of covering himself in case he killed somebody in a gunfight...a little trivia.... he came from a wealthy family from georgia & a family member was used as a character model for the book "gone with the wind"....

also read bios on dean martin & cary grant but don't think anybody here would be intersted in these books so i won't do any writeups on them...but will if anybody is interested....

 

[Woodson]

Cormac McCarthy's Outer Dark 8/10 *due to it being more of a short story than novel...

Just completed Cormac McCarthy's Outer Dark. I just can't say enough about McCarthy's abilities as an author. The book was set in Appalachian region as a lot of his books are. Overall as twisted as one can suspect having read his other titles. His ability to blanket you in such a state of hopelessness and dread in only 250 pages is really astounding... Sadly, I'm running out of his books to read...

 

[Terryray]

John Hillcoat is filming "The Road" now. The father will be played by Viggo Mortensen. Pic from the filming here:

Charlize Theron plays the wife, and Robert Duvall as the old man. Supposed to open this October.

screenjunkies report:

The last time I checked, Ridley Scott was going to direct the big screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy?s "Blood Meridian". But when I looked at the IMDB page this morning, it had Todd Field?s name in the director spot. This is good, because he?s probably way more capable of retaining the gritty feel that the movie needs to be true to the book.

The "LA times" had a big article on Sunday about The Road, and they make mention of "Blood Meridian":

"No Country's" Academy Award-winning producer Scott Rudin and "Little Children" filmmaker Todd Field have been developing a "Blood Meridian" movie, and Australian filmmaker Andrew Dominik wants to film "Cities on the Plain," the last book in McCarthy's border trilogy. Said Field in explaining McCarthy's appeal: "His work examines our core, the two faces of violence that co-exist in every savage act -- brutal strength of purpose holding hands with a desperate and cowering weakness."

................

If you're running out of Cormac to read, you could move onto the writer who influenced him the most, whose writing is very similar to his. And also a better writer Than Cormac:

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

Book #9 completed:

The Final Season, by Tom Stanton

Finished June 25th.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Thoughts: Decent read about the last year of Tiger Stadium through the eyes of lifelong Tigers fan. The book focuses on his memories growing up a Tigers fan and how baseball was a big part of his family. I liked that he attended all 81 home games and wrote the chapters out like a journal. At first I was afraid that it was going to be a book about each game, but it actully spent very little time on each game.

 

[dunclock]

I read about 25 books per year, about 1 every 2 weeks, but I read 95% fiction so it does not look like there would much interest here on my stuff:shrug:

 

[Woodson]

I read about 25 books per year, about 1 every 2 weeks, but I read 95% fiction so it does not look like there would much interest here on my stuff:shrug:

I am. I read a lot of fiction and find myself leafing through a lot of non fiction...

 

[dunclock]

I am. I read a lot of fiction and find myself leafing through a lot of non fiction...

what is your favorite genre in fiction, I have been in publishing for 18 years now and know a lot of authors/series to recommend :shrug:

 

[SixFive]

I read about 25 books per year, about 1 every 2 weeks, but I read 95% fiction so it does not look like there would much interest here on my stuff:shrug:

I can't stand non-fiction. I just can't get into it, and I've tried 3 books highly recommended by Gmroz. I might be too red for them. Not sure? :sadwave:

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

I can't stand non-fiction. I just can't get into it, and I've tried 3 books highly recommended by Gmroz. I might be too red for them. Not sure? :sadwave:

Tipping Point?
Freakonomics?
Blink?
Outliers?

 

[WhatsHisNuts]

I read about 25 books per year, about 1 every 2 weeks, but I read 95% fiction so it does not look like there would much interest here on my stuff:shrug:

I have really liked Chuck Palahniuk's stuff. Do you have anything you'd recommend that is anything like his stuff?