Books Thread

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Bon Scott's AC/DC
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Bon Scott's AC/DC »

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Really surprised by the last page of this book... never thought it would happen to Philip Marlow...

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Beaverdam
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Beaverdam »

I finished Hillbilly Elegy at the beach and really enjoyed it!

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Re: Books Thread

Post by beantownbubba »

Beaverdam wrote:I finished Hillbilly Elegy at the beach and really enjoyed it!
I wouldn't have classified it as beach reading but glad you enjoyed!
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

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Re: Books Thread

Post by beantownbubba »

The Thirst by Jo Nesbo - IMHO one of the best of the Harry Hole mysteries, which is saying a lot. Great character development & exploration and a solid mystery w/ some good twists.

The Assassins trilogy by Robert Ferrigno - I'm not really into the futurist or alternative history genres so I think it says all that needs to be said that after I read the first of these I sought out & read the other 2 as quickly as i could. Not quite "must read" level but typical Ferrigno quality, an interesting premise and good main characters that I enjoyed following through multiple books.

Huck Out West by Robert Coover - A sequel to Huck Finn by the very good novelist, Robert Coover. It was interesting and parts were excellent but the last 50 or so pages really flagged and some of his imagined character developments (especially becky thatcher) didn't resonate for me. The biggest problem that Coover often uses a hammer when a gentle tap would be more than enough as he emphasized the classic distinctions between Tom and Huck and their meaning in the modern world. Worth a read, especially if you're a big Huck Finn fan (and who isn't?) and if you don't expect too much.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

dogstar
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Re: Books Thread

Post by dogstar »

Just finished this.

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Re: Books Thread

Post by dogstar »

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Really thought provoking book about how the current shape of economics courses in Universities limits the debate around how we deal with the economy. The authors main point is that by focussing exclusively on the neo-classical view of the economy (perfect markets, optimisation, equilibrium) that economists aren't equipped to deal with real world matters. As someone who studied economics at University back in the 80's i don't actually recognise this as being true but the authors also outline how the expansion in student numbers in the UK has lead to a move away from the classic sceptical liberal education; when I was at University this was just starting happen.
"Guitars talk. If you really want to write a song, ask a guitar." Neil Young

jr29
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Re: Books Thread

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Tequila Cowboy wrote:Image

I've been working my way through this for several months but couldn't really take more than 100 pages at a time, just too tough a story. One of the absolute saddest tales I've ever heard and when i finished it on a flight last night there were tears in my eyes. I hope no one noticed. That said it was an amazingly researched and beautifully written account of the band and probably the best Rock & Roll biography I've ever read.

Finally finished this after starting and stopping a few times.
It was heartbreaking.

There were a few laugh out loud passages though. Westerberg telling Patti Smith, "Why don't you go write another one of yer fuckin limericks", is priceless.

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Re: Books Thread

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Tequila Cowboy
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

dogstar wrote:Just finished this.

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I've never read the Underworld Trilogy. I should probably get back to Ellroy one day. I really loved the L.A. Trilogy but I stopped reading him at a time in my life where his darkness did not jibe with my deep depression. Always loved his writing though, the man's a master.
We call him Scooby Do, but Scooby doesn’t do. Scooby, is not involved

Bon Scott's AC/DC
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Bon Scott's AC/DC »

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I read this to get some insight into JFK and the White House then and also why some people have affairs with famous people. Its to be expected that there is a fair chance for some negative consequences and fallout in the subsequent years after an affair is revealed. But what surprised me was that a lot of the writer's anger is directed at her husband (whom she met during the time of her affair with JFK - he didn't work at the White House or know that she was having it off with JFK - she continued with JFK during their courtship and after he proposed to her) and subsequently married after JFK's death, and yet to this day she still idolises JFK and no blame for the negative affects of the affair are left at JFK's door.
Last edited by Bon Scott's AC/DC on Fri Aug 11, 2017 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

Bon Scott's AC/DC
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Bon Scott's AC/DC »

jr29 wrote:
Tequila Cowboy wrote:Image
There were a few laugh out loud passages though. Westerberg telling Patti Smith, "Why don't you go write another one of yer fuckin limericks", is priceless.
So, did Westerberg think Patti Smith was over-rated musically and lyrically?

Bon Scott's AC/DC
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Bon Scott's AC/DC »

dogstar wrote:Image

Really thought provoking book about how the current shape of economics courses in Universities limits the debate around how we deal with the economy. The authors main point is that by focussing exclusively on the neo-classical view of the economy (perfect markets, optimisation, equilibrium) that economists aren't equipped to deal with real world matters. As someone who studied economics at University back in the 80's i don't actually recognise this as being true but the authors also outline how the expansion in student numbers in the UK has lead to a move away from the classic sceptical liberal education; when I was at University this was just starting happen.
As the Queen of England said to some economists as she was being walked around the London School of Economics in 2009, if this it the biggest financial crisis since 1929, how come the (vast?) majority of Economists never saw it coming? :shock:

jr29
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Re: Books Thread

Post by jr29 »

Bon Scott's AC/DC wrote:
jr29 wrote:
Tequila Cowboy wrote:Image
There were a few laugh out loud passages though. Westerberg telling Patti Smith, "Why don't you go write another one of yer fuckin limericks", is priceless.
So, did Westerberg think Patti Smith was over-rated musically and lyrically?
Probably not. It was an argument over stage time.

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rlipps
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Re: Books Thread

Post by rlipps »

Finished up my last round of summer reading before school started back:

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211poundsofpork
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Re: Books Thread

Post by 211poundsofpork »

Wow, I actually read two of those below. Story of the Band: interesting. Skydog: awesome!

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Re: Books Thread

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Jonicont
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Re: Books Thread

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The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin comes out tomorrow. It's the last book in her Broken Earth trilogy. The first two books won the 2016 & 2017 Hugo award. She is turning the science fiction world on it's head. A woman and a black girl from Brooklyn. Check it out if this is your genre
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Re: Books Thread

Post by whatwouldcooleydo? »

Son, this ain't a dream no more, it's the real thing

beantownbubba
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Re: Books Thread

Post by beantownbubba »

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch: Interesting and well worth reading but to me ultimately disappointing. It starts out as a thriller, morphs into a sort of alternative history/science fiction thing and then resolves the thriller aspect in kind of an anti-climactic way. But the early suspense is riveting and the questions raised by the alternative history/SF aspects are really compelling. Even though I come to a book like this from the thriller side rather than the SF side, I wish the author had gone further in exploring the philosophical questions he raises rather than getting a big bogged down in getting the plot to work. As it is I found his conclusion a little too pat and unexamined to be satisfying. But again, a very good read well worth the time.

Moskva by Jack Grimwood: An inside the Cold War Soviet Union mystery/thriller in the Child 44 or Gorky Park vein. Not quite up to the brilliant standards of those 2 books, but definitely worthy of being considered in that kind of company. I believe this is intended to be the kick-off to a series, which is good news. If you liked those other 2 you should read this one as long as you lower your expectations a notch or 2.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

dogstar
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Re: Books Thread

Post by dogstar »

Jonicont wrote:The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin comes out tomorrow. It's the last book in her Broken Earth trilogy. The first two books won the 2016 & 2017 Hugo award. She is turning the science fiction world on it's head. A woman and a black girl from Brooklyn. Check it out if this is your genre
I'll add it to the list - thanks for the recommendation.
"Guitars talk. If you really want to write a song, ask a guitar." Neil Young

Cole Younger
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Cole Younger »

I Was Told To Come Alone, My Journey Behind The Lines of Jihad.

Odd that I am reading this while the current discussion in the political thread is going on. This is about recruitment procedures etc in radical Islam but it could be about neo Nazis or antifa.
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

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Beebs
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Re: Books Thread

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Cole Younger wrote:Nazis or antifa
Keep beating that drum, Cole.
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Cole Younger »

Beebs wrote:
Cole Younger wrote:Nazis or antifa
Keep beating that drum, Cole.
Read the book and see for yourself.
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

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Re: Books Thread

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

Cole Younger wrote:
Beebs wrote:
Cole Younger wrote:Nazis or antifa
Keep beating that drum, Cole.
Read the book and see for yourself.
I haven't read the book, but I would be surprised if the means of recruiting young men to a cause varied much by the cause. Nazis, frats, leftists, rightists, Isis, the military: They're all working with the same raw material.
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

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Beebs
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Re: Books Thread

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scotto
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Re: Books Thread

Post by scotto »

Like one of Patterson's murder ballads come to life.

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Kudzu Guillotine
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Re: Books Thread

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

A few months ago, someone in an 80's New Wave discussion group on FB asked what Suzanne Vega was up to, which led me to discover her latest record, Lover, Beloved, a song cycle of sorts inspired by the life and works of Carson McCullers. Being somewhat enamored of the Southern Gothic, this sent me down the Carson McCullers rabbit hole. I started with The Member of the Wedding then sought out The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. I'd seen this on the shelf of a local bookstore not long ago and could not resist any longer. I'm not quite finished with it but have been reading it most of the summer. Back in July, there was a week long celebration of Carson held in Italy that I would have loved to have attended but it just wasn't possible. A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud., one of the short stories from this book, was recently turned into a movie by Karen Allen of Raiders of the Lost Ark fame. I believe I also read somewhere recently that there's going to be yet another big screen adaption of The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. I have yet to see any of the movies based on Carson's works. I do know one thing and that's that she has inspired my own writing in ways few other authors have. As part of the centennial celebration of her birth this year, a box set of some of her works was released back in January that is on my wishlist.

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Re: Books Thread

Post by dogstar »

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"Guitars talk. If you really want to write a song, ask a guitar." Neil Young

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scotto
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Re: Books Thread

Post by scotto »

Recently finished this... Holy fucking yikes!

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Currently enjoying this:

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beantownbubba
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Re: Books Thread

Post by beantownbubba »

scotto wrote:Recently finished this... Holy fucking yikes!
Haven't read the book but am aware of the story in general terms. Holy fucking yikes is right.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

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