646 replies to this topic

[Mark Carver]

Kindle Freebie, get it while you can.

 

Siege: Malta 1940-1943

[DJ MC]

I Wear The Black Hat: Grappling With Villains (Real and Imagined) by Chuck Klosterman.

 

Got it in the mail today. Really, really excited. Have to finish my current book first, though: ​1491: New Revelations Of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann. And I'm still working my way through The Stand.

[Russ]

I've finished the Jack Reacher series and have read a couple basic physics books recently and a book on number theory. I have also started a novel of my own. I'm not sure at this point if there's enough there to make it but I'm determined to get it done.

[ChrisWorthington]

Hmm just discovered this thread. I'm late to the party but this is good stuff here.

 

Recently finished The Essential Smart Football by Chris Brown. Outstanding and easily accessible information about the nuts and bolts of football. Can be read in a night.

 

I'm most of the way through Blood, Sweat, and Chalk by Tim Layden. This is hands down my favorite sports book I've ever read. It's a fascinating history of the evolution of football from the time of Pop Warner (the dude) through the modern-day game. At the same time, it's a good analysis of the schemes that dominated different eras of college and pro football and the way that teams used them/defended against them. 

 

As far as that other genre, everything-except-sports, I recently read Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee. Haunting, unapologetic allegory about imperialism and its effect on colonized people. I highly recommend Coetzee in general.

[Mark Carver]

Kindle Freebies, get them while you can....

 

Panzer Wedge: Vol. 2: The German 3rd Panzer Division and Barbarossa's Failure at the Gates of Moscow (Stackpole Military History Series) - NICE!

 

Operation Barbarossa 1941 (Stackpole Military Photo Series)

 

 

 

 

[Russ]

I just finished 11/22/63. There are some books that you finish and say, "I could do that." I read this and was like "no f 'ing way."

[DJ MC]

Finally reading The Great Gatsby. So you know, I'll officially be able to graduate middle school.

[DJ MC]

Finally reading The Great Gatsby. So you know, I'll officially be able to graduate middle school.

 

Finished. It was OK.

 

Just as an aside, I was looking for both Gatsby and The Catcher In The Rye for my Kindle. The former was available, so that is how I read it. However, for whatever reason the latter is not. That actually made me a bit angry: how can such a prominent book that is still in print and still widely read not be available electronically?

[Russ]

Finally reading The Great Gatsby. So you know, I'll officially be able to graduate middle school.

Finished. It was OK. Just as an aside, I was looking for both Gatsby and The Catcher In The Rye for my Kindle. The former was available, so that is how I read it. However, for whatever reason the latter is not. That actually made me a bit angry: how can such a prominent book that is still in print and still widely read not be available electronically?

Have you read it?

[DJ MC]

Have you read it?

Catcher in the Rye? Nope. So I still need to graduate ninth grade.

[Russ]

Have you read it?

Catcher in the Rye? Nope. So I still need to graduate ninth grade.

I would be interested in your thoughts once you do.

[KWebz]

Finally reading The Great Gatsby. So you know, I'll officially be able to graduate middle school.

Finished. It was OK. Just as an aside, I was looking for both Gatsby and The Catcher In The Rye for my Kindle. The former was available, so that is how I read it. However, for whatever reason the latter is not. That actually made me a bit angry: how can such a prominent book that is still in print and still widely read not be available electronically?

You can buy a paperback copy for about 6 dollars which is a steal considering its one of the best works of fiction out there.

[Russ]

Just finished Under the Dome. Great story, poor ending.

[KWebz]

Has anyone read or is currently reading The Sports Gene by David Epstein? I'm currently about 3/4 through and it's really fascinating. Just finished a chapter that looked into why so many elite sprinters come from one specific area in Jamaica and how it may be connected to warrior slave trade roots. Other chapters pit opposing views on the 10,000 hours rule, some for it and some against it. Also some insight as to why Jenny Finch can strike out all the best MLB sluggers and how your bone structure and genetic background can predispose you to success in different sports.

From what I've read so far, the book cites very credible sources as well as provides many views on the topics, never trying to persuade the reader into believing one thing over another.

Needless to say, I highly recommend it

[DJ MC]

I'm just starting A Storm of Swords for the second time (technically, I'm starting it for the third time, but I hope to finish for the second time ). I figured I would go back and re-read the first three ASOIAF books before continuing on in the series.

 

Also, I just got Veeck As In Wreck from the library; I'm very excited.

[Russ]

Finally reading The Great Gatsby. So you know, I'll officially be able to graduate middle school.

I'm taking an American Currents in Literature course this semester and we are dealing with Gatsby next week so I'm rereading now. It's a great class. So far we've read and discussed some Poe stories, Sherlock Holmes, The Maltese Falcon, The Little Sister by Chandler, Hammett's Red Harvest, Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice and McCoy's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? I'm a quick reader but it's been hard for me to keep up.

[DJ MC]

I'm just starting A Storm of Swords for the second time (technically, I'm starting it for the third time, but I hope to finish for the second time ). I figured I would go back and re-read the first three ASOIAF books before continuing on in the series.

 

Also, I just got Veeck As In Wreck from the library; I'm very excited.

 

Starting Veeck now. Also bought A Feast for Crows, so I can read that when I'm ready.

[Mark Carver]

Kindle Freebie, get it while you can.

 

Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy 

[DJ MC]

Starting Veeck now. Also bought A Feast for Crows, so I can read that when I'm ready.

 

Read A Feast for Crows, went ahead and blew right in to A Dance With Dragons.

[Russ]

Some books I've read recently:

 

Everything's Eventual by Stephen King

    - Some of King's best work has been found in his short story collections.  Different Seasons is a great example of that with "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body" which turned into the film "Stand By Me."  There are a couple good ones in here.  "The Man in the Black Suit" is a story of an old man recounting the time he met the devil when he was a young boy.  "The Death of Jack Hamilton" and "1408" (which was also adapted into a movie with John Cusack, I believe) are also good.

 

Misery by Stephen King

   - This was a reread for me.  I read this about 20 years ago, I guess.  Stands the test of time well.  Annie Wilkes is one crazy bitch.

 

If He Hollers Let Him Go by Chester Himes

  - Powerful story told in the 1st person by a black man living in LA during WWII.  He's an angry man, constantly fighting the urge to kill and rape.

 

Assorted stories by Flannery O'Connor

   - If you're not familiar with any of O'Connor's work, you should check her out.  She died young of lupus, like her father before him.  She had a strong Christian faith, and she imposed that in her stories in an interesting way.  There's no stories of men who find salvation;  she uses murder and gore as situations in which to find evidence of God.  Good stories, regardless of your beliefs.

 

The Assistant by Bernard Malamud

  - Malamud is the guy who wrote The Natural (the book is better than the film by a lot).  This is a story about a criminal who is...he's looking for some kind of salvation, I guess.  He's an out-of-practice Catholic who befriends a Jewish guy and can't help but steal from him.