What book(s) are you reading?

[ACamp1900]

I joined the library here a couple years ago. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made. As somebody who almost thinks zero government money should be spent on just about anything, I will say that public libraries are definitely a worthwhile expenditure for the citizenry.

Freakin commie

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

The Last Kingdom Series - I had watched the first few seasons of the show on Netflix and really liked the show, but the books are way better. Uttred of Bebbanburg is an all time bad ass character. Plus, you have the whole history of England going on along with Vikings.

Love this show, it's so good. Szn 5 release is March 09; I'm on szn 4 recapping the series. It's one of my all time favorite shows.

I'll have to read the books.

The Devil in the White City also by Larson - I never bought into the "Oh the architecture in Chicago is unrivaled" pretentious tripe you hear from so many people, but this was riveting...along with the parallel story of the world's fair being built...and probably the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history.

I read this last year as well, I'm no architect buff, but the story about H.H. Holmes was fascinating and terrifying. The World Fair chaos around the city really aided him in his disturbing efforts. Great read.

Killers of the Flower Moon - a "holy shit, I never knew anything about this" type of history book. Members of the Osage Nation, the wealthiest place on earth, start dying. Why and how?

GREAT book. If you like this type of reading, I recommend you read "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" by Michelle McNamara, if you haven't already.

I'll have to look into some of your other recommendations.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

Just finished reading "Duty" by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. He is the only Secretary who served two different political parties; George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

He's a self-declared moderate Republican, but he goes into detail about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and how he comes to respect both Presidents despite their very stark differences/approaches to war. I don't get too much of a right-leaning vibe at all from the book. He trashes Congress early and often, and talks about the bureaucratic barriers and bullshit he had to put up with at the Pentagon to get anything done to aid the troops and war vets.

It's a thick read but if the Middle East wars/DoD interests you, it's really fascinating. He goes into a lot of behind the scenes detail about WH staff members for both 43 and 44, members of the Military, etc. He most definitely burnt some bridges if he hadn't already before retiring, lol.

Interesting note, he mentions in the book (wrote in 2014) that he butted heads the very most with Joe Biden and they have very stark differences in how to go about foreign policy. He said he has basically disagreed with every foreign policy stance Biden has had up to the writing of the book. He got along just fine with 44, but Biden was often in Obama's ear singing a different tune, before, during and after meetings with his Defense staff.

 

[irishog77]

Finished Blood Meridian a week or so ago. Man, it was…deep? Maybe interesting is a better way to describe it. A lot going on in it to wrap your head around. Has anybody else ever read it?

 

[irishog77]

I just finished History Through the Headsets by Reed Gregory and John Mahoney. They were the 2 main hand signalers from the sideline for the defense in the ‘20 season.

It was basically a memoir and recap of the ‘20 season. It’s a very quick read.

A couple takeaways I took regarding the coaching staff:

-Clark Lea was a great coach

-Nick Lezynski was the man. They give him a lot credit for his communication abilities and willingness to go the extra mile for any and all of his players. He will be sorely missed and ND’s loss is certainly Lea’s gain.

-Burnt Ends is essentially who we thought he was. The guy’s experience will definitely be lost next season. He knew when to dial it up, when to tone it down, and how to run a program. He was definitely a CEO. He also was an arrogant ass and I don’t think any players loved him. Was not the type of coach (like Lea and Lezynski are) for which a player would ever run through a brick wall.

-Walk ons at ND are a unique bunch. They’re part typical ND student, part ND football player. It was really cool seeing that dynamic for “regular” guys like us, and living a bit vicariously through them for 220 pages.

 

[ACamp1900]

Read The Truth About the Titanic by Archibald Gracie,… good first hand account.

Now starting A Chain of Thunder by Sharra. I read the Killer Angels triology and have the revolution books but I read A Blaze of Glory a couple years ago and never got around to the second book,… I’m sure I’ll enjoy it

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I just finished History Through the Headsets by Reed Gregory and John Mahoney. They were the 2 main hand signalers from the sideline for the defense in the ‘20 season.

It was basically a memoir and recap of the ‘20 season. It’s a very quick read.

A couple takeaways I took regarding the coaching staff:

-Clark Lea was a great coach

-Nick Lezynski was the man. They give him a lot credit for his communication abilities and willingness to go the extra mile for any and all of his players. He will be sorely missed and ND’s loss is certainly Lea’s gain.

-Burnt Ends is essentially who we thought he was. The guy’s experience will definitely be lost next season. He knew when to dial it up, when to tone it down, and how to run a program. He was definitely a CEO. He also was an arrogant ass and I don’t think any players loved him. Was not the type of coach (like Lea and Lezynski are) for which a player would ever run through a brick wall.

-Walk ons at ND are a unique bunch. They’re part typical ND student, part ND football player. It was really cool seeing that dynamic for “regular” guys like us, and living a bit vicariously through them for 220 pages.

I just snagged this for my Kindle at $3.99. Sounds pretty cool.

 

[Blazers46]

 

[Armyirish47]

I'm about to crank up Dead Lions by Mick Herron. I read the first book in the series to get ready for the show on Apple TV and it was awesome. Still haven't gotten around to the show yet though.

 

[Irishdrunk]

The rise of the Porn Industry

 

[IrishLion]

Anybody read Wheel of Time recently enough, or at least remember it in enough detail, to answer a question or two?

I've had a few big plot points spoiled about certain characters, though not the actions or actual outcomes of the series, so a minor spoiler here or there in response would be okay, up to book 5.

Spoiler: Plot Details

At what point is the reader supposed to have learned that The Dark One (Shai'tan) is different from Ba'alzamon? There was a throwaway line about Ba'alzamon's body at the end of book three, so you know something else is going on with the Big Bad where he isn't really beaten. There's ten books left still! Then I read about a weird pilot/teaser from the Sci-Fi Network for a WoT series that never happened, where the big bad confronting Lews Therin is Ishamael. So I thought maybe Ishamael is just another name for Ba'alzamon/Shai'tan during one of the Wheel's cycles... so then I wiki'd Ishamael, only to find that he is Ba'alzamon, and is different from The Dark One, who was also known as Ba'alzamon. Is that supposed to be clear by book 5? Ishamael is discussed among the other forsaken as a separate entity, so I guess the reader is supposed to connect the dots. But it just seemed kind of clunky, and easily overlooked, rather than a well-written "aha" moment from Jordan.

Also... so every book is just going to end in a convergence where he defeats a forsaken or two until he gets to the final boss, huh?

 

[zelezo vlk]

So lately I read two short story collections by Sandra Cisneros, The Houe on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek. Loved them both. Just finished The Urth of the New Sun and so much of Gene Wolfe goes past my head, whoosh.

A few chapters into Wuthering Heights so far.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I just picked up:

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

I will report back

 

[Armyirish47]

Anybody read Wheel of Time recently enough, or at least remember it in enough detail, to answer a question or two?

I've had a few big plot points spoiled about certain characters, though not the actions or actual outcomes of the series, so a minor spoiler here or there in response would be okay, up to book 5.

Spoiler: Plot Details

At what point is the reader supposed to have learned that The Dark One (Shai'tan) is different from Ba'alzamon? There was a throwaway line about Ba'alzamon's body at the end of book three, so you know something else is going on with the Big Bad where he isn't really beaten. There's ten books left still! Then I read about a weird pilot/teaser from the Sci-Fi Network for a WoT series that never happened, where the big bad confronting Lews Therin is Ishamael. So I thought maybe Ishamael is just another name for Ba'alzamon/Shai'tan during one of the Wheel's cycles... so then I wiki'd Ishamael, only to find that he is Ba'alzamon, and is different from The Dark One, who was also known as Ba'alzamon. Is that supposed to be clear by book 5? Ishamael is discussed among the other forsaken as a separate entity, so I guess the reader is supposed to connect the dots. But it just seemed kind of clunky, and easily overlooked, rather than a well-written "aha" moment from Jordan.

Also... so every book is just going to end in a convergence where he defeats a forsaken or two until he gets to the final boss, huh?

I'm not sure what the exact language was but I think Moiraine is the one who dumps a little exposition to the effect that the Dark One isn't dead or some such around the same time Ba'alzamon's body has smoke coming off it. It's been a while.

And yes, Robert Jordan is basically Lucy with a football. Enjoy!

 

[OhioIrish]

Started Rick Atkinson’s Revolutionary War Trilogy, vol. 1, “The British Are Coming”. About a 100 pages in and we are just past Bunker Hill, so it’s pretty detailed. Good, though.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Finished.

Started.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Finally finished Pride and Prejudice. Starting Log Book for Grace, about a whaling expedition in the last few years before WW1

 

[ACamp1900]

For my spooky reading this year:

Those Across The River by Buehlman,… much slower than Between Two Fires but it’s getting really good near the end

 

[Irish#1]

Finished Notre Dame vs. The Klan a couple of weeks ago. It was a decent read, but I was a little disappointed that the book was more centered around the leader of the Indiana Klan, D C Stephenson and not the university. Having said that, If you're interested in reading about the Klan's rise to power in the 20's, this is a very good book. Amazing how many Klan members held very high positions of power in Indiana and Indianapolis at that time.

 

[IrishLion]

'Wheel of Time' book 6, Lord of Chaos.

Global Warming is a thing, everyone is grumpy, and no one will speak directly to one another despite being allies in a very obvious good-vs-evil battle. I get the idea that humans don't always communicate clearly or effectively... but some simple conversations would solve a lot of problems for our [ever expanding] groups of good guys.

I'm 20% of the way into the book, and there's been like two interesting chapters.

Someone please motivate me to keep reading this series, or at least tell me that the final book being one giant convergence is a good enough reward to struggle through 7 more of these.

I don't know that I've ever NOT finished a book/series that I've started, just out of stubbornness, but I'm struggling here.

Edited to add that @Whiskeyjack and @Armyirish47 already warned me about some of the problems I'm venting at here. I should have listened lol

 

[zelezo vlk]

Finally finished Pride and Prejudice. Starting Log Book for Grace, about a whaling expedition in the last few years before WW1

Finished Logbook for Grace last week, it was a lot of fun especially considering my experience reading the Aubrey-Maturin naval novels.

Now I'm on Chronicle of a Death Foretold, a novella by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. If I enjoy all his works as much as this one, I'll be getting into quite the Marquez kick.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Other than Liverpool, Celtic, Boca Juniors and Marseille I've never heard of the clubs in this book.

 

[ACamp1900]

A guy I played football with wrote a book about growing up in our fairly depressed circumstances and taking it to west point and finding success,… my wife found it and bought it for me for Christmas. That’s my next read: Victor Valley to West Point.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Finished Logbook for Grace last week, it was a lot of fun especially considering my experience reading the Aubrey-Maturin naval novels.

Now I'm on Chronicle of a Death Foretold, a novella by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. If I enjoy all his works as much as this one, I'll be getting into quite the Marquez kick.

Finished the novella, excellent stuff. Now I’m reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion


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[Veritate Duce Progredi]

I just picked up:

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

I will report back

This book was absolutely fantastic!!! If you want to know more about the late IRA surge in Ireland and you want some of it's history sprinkled in as the story unfolds, this is the book for you. I devoured this book in 3-4 days IIRC. I'd put this in the "strongly recommend" category

 

[Old Man Mike]

Entered this thread out of mild curiosity: It reminds me of the opening scenes of a REALLY TERRIBLE Dr.Who movie I saw
50 years ago. As the camera panned, a granddaughter was reading some Theory of Cosmology text, and then a second
granddaughter reading a mathematical treatment of General Relativity. Finally getting to him, he was riveted by a flashy
superheroes comic book.

At age 82, I'm The Doctor. I don't get the entertainment in any of these things I'm seeing pumped here. But bless you guys if this is what entertains you. I'll take the "Comic Book." Read about all that "real" stuff a few decades ago. I guess you young guys still need to put yourselves through it, so "go go go." ... better than the gaming thread material for growth I'll agree.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Look at OMM calling us a bunch of nerds


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[Whiskeyjack]

My spiritual director challenged me to memorize the Gospels. I’m on my 9th reading of Mark.

 

[TorontoGold]

Entered this thread out of mild curiosity: It reminds me of the opening scenes of a REALLY TERRIBLE Dr.Who movie I saw
50 years ago. As the camera panned, a granddaughter was reading some Theory of Cosmology text, and then a second
granddaughter reading a mathematical treatment of General Relativity. Finally getting to him, he was riveted by a flashy
superheroes comic book.

At age 82, I'm The Doctor. I don't get the entertainment in any of these things I'm seeing pumped here. But bless you guys if this is what entertains you. I'll take the "Comic Book." Read about all that "real" stuff a few decades ago. I guess you young guys still need to put yourselves through it, so "go go go." ... better than the gaming thread material for growth I'll agree.

Mike, showed the GF your book....she was pissed I didn't buy it for her for Christmas. Some hosers in Toronto are new fans.