Books Thread

[jr29]

The Storyteller's Nashville by Tom T. Hall.
It's great. I'm embarrassed that it's taken me this long to read it.

[beantownbubba]

The McMurtrie & Drake series of legal thrillers by Robert Bailey are pretty good; worth reading w/out being must reads. But by far the thing that strikes me the most is the absolute deification, and the portrayal of the deification of Paul "Bear" Bryant. You don't have to be from 'Bama to know that he's a legend and a hero, but my goodness, his name is invoked pretty much the way a person would invoke a deity. And it's consistent through all demographics. Very strange to read but I don't doubt it and assume it's largely true. I assume the "McMurtrie" thing is a nod to one or both of the McMurtry's, I'm guessing Larry.

[Clams]

Have read a couple of books this summer by Peter Heller, The River and The Guide, and I'm about to start The Dog Stars. The thriller aspects are kinda weak but Heller is incredible in his depictions of the outdoors. He really brings to life things like running a remote Canadian river and fishing for trout in the Rockies. If you're into the outdoors, I'd definitely recommend reading some of Heller's books.

I've also got Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare on my night table. The author is a new neighbor of mine and he's a DBT fan who recognized the Cooleybird sticker on my car. Turns out he's an author in the young adult horror genre. He's written a bunch of books and Clown in a Cornfield has been optioned into a movie deal.

[beantownbubba]

I've also got Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare on my night table. The author is a new neighbor of mine and he's a DBT fan who recognized the Cooleybird sticker on my car. Turns out he's an author in the young adult horror genre. He's written a bunch of books and Clown in a Cornfield has been optioned into a movie deal.

Well that's exciting!

[beantownbubba]

The DI Helen Grace series by MJ Aldridge features some of the spookiest villains I can remember. The first one, Eeny Meany, in particular. The series elements including the development of the main character and her colleagues on in the major incident team are interesting and keeps one invested.

[chuckrh]

this is quite good

[beantownbubba]

this is quite good

I was wondering about this and must have missed this post. I'm always skeptical of multi-author marketing concepts, but I do like Meg Gardiner so I was hoping for the best and it sounds like I should check it out.

I'm pretty sure I've sung the praises of David Gordon's Joe the Bouncer series before but the latest entry in the series, The Wild Life may be the best one yet. The plot, ummm, stretches credulity but the ride is so cool and so sharp and the momentum so compelling it almost doesn't matter. The villains' similarity to a certain NY real estate family dynasty is mostly amusing until it gets to be "enough already" but the heart of the book and the series is Joe and his anti-hero friends, as well as NYC itself and Gordon nails all of that again.

[beantownbubba]

this is quite good

I was wondering about this and must have missed this post. I'm always skeptical of multi-author marketing concepts, but I do like Meg Gardiner so I was hoping for the best and it sounds like I should check it out.

I'm pretty sure I've sung the praises of David Gordon's Joe the Bouncer series before but the latest entry in the series, The Wild Life may be the best one yet. The plot, ummm, stretches credulity but the ride is so cool and so sharp and the momentum so compelling it almost doesn't matter. The villains' similarity to a certain NY real estate family dynasty is mostly amusing until it gets to be "enough already" but the heart of the book and the series is Joe and his anti-hero friends, as well as NYC itself and Gordon nails all of that again.

[Flea]

Revisiting Frank Herbert's Dune

[chuckrh]

Revisiting Frank Herbert's Dune

As opposed to James Patterson's Dune?

[chuckrh]

Good so far. About halfway through.

[Zip City]

Good so far. About halfway through.

There was a time when I could say that I had read everything King had written, but I have fallen behind these last several years. I read The Outsider while on vacation this summer, but the last book I had read before that was maybe Mr. Mercedes. Maybe I'll make it a goal to catch up next summer.

[chuckrh]

[beantownbubba]

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe: Excellent balancing of history and "true crime." I would call it an account of the Troubles in Ireland except it's a pretty narrow slice of that time period seen mostly through the eyes of a few principal players on the Catholic side including the mysterious disappearance of a mother of 10. So if you want an overview of the time period this probably isn't the book, but if you want to be immersed in what it was like and want to know why at least some people did what they did, you'll enjoy this. Impeccably researched, too. Keefe also raises fascinating questions along the lines of "was it [the violence] worth it?" which are more or less answered by participants in the now as opposed to academics or philosophers later, which is a much more interesting perspective. In my view, Gerry Adams comes off pretty badly (I phrase it that way because I'm not 100% sure Keefe intended that message) but Keefe then pulls his punches and again imho, let's Adams off easy at the last minute. On the whole a great story, marvelously told with some incredible first person accounts.

Blood Sugar by Sascha Rothchild: A very impressive debut. It's really hard to pull off the whole anti hero thing (you know, the protagonist really isn't a good person but you root for them anyway) but Rothchild does it with ease, style, humor, confidence and aplomb. The main character is just terrific.

[beantownbubba]

Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan - Excellent bio of the Marquis de Lafayette. A little long, I had certainly had enough by the time I approached the end, but really well researched and well presented history/biography that did a good job straddling the line of having a modern perspective w/out judging historical figures by modern standards. I learned a lot about Lafayette, the American Revolution and the French Revolution. I would never have said that I had much of a handle on Lafayette beyond the broadest strokes but I thought I had a pretty good sense of the revolutions. Turns out not so much.

[chuckrh]

Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan - Excellent bio of the Marquis de Lafayette. A little long, I had certainly had enough by the time I approached the end, but really well researched and well presented history/biography that did a good job straddling the line of having a modern perspective w/out judging historical figures by modern standards. I learned a lot about Lafayette, the American Revolution and the French Revolution. I would never have said that I had much of a handle on Lafayette beyond the broadest strokes but I thought I had a pretty good sense of the revolutions. Turns out not so much.

I went to Lafayette Elementary School. They haven't cancelled that one yet.

[brettac1]

Hero of Two Worlds by Mike Duncan - Excellent bio of the Marquis de Lafayette. A little long, I had certainly had enough by the time I approached the end, but really well researched and well presented history/biography that did a good job straddling the line of having a modern perspective w/out judging historical figures by modern standards. I learned a lot about Lafayette, the American Revolution and the French Revolution. I would never have said that I had much of a handle on Lafayette beyond the broadest strokes but I thought I had a pretty good sense of the revolutions. Turns out not so much.

Mike Duncan is great. I love his podcast, "Revolutions." He just wrapped up over 100 episodes on the Russian revolution, which I am woefully behind on listening to.

[Flea]

Even though the science is rather old hat for me, I truly love her writing style.

[chuckrh]

this one is disappointing. i've enjoyed the series but this one is a thousand pages & shouldn't have been. i'm slogging through it because i can't stand to leave a book unfinished.

[beantownbubba]

i've enjoyed the series but this one is a thousand pages & shouldn't have been.

I'm still on the waiting list for this at the library but I guess I'll lower my expectations. No doubt that Galbreath can use a better editor wielding a far sharper scalpel, but I guess when you're a one woman industry nobody's gonna dare mess with you too much.

[Beaverdam]

David Sedaris-Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls

The book is a collection of short, humorous vignettes which are great for a reader with a short attention span such as myself!!!

[phungi]

Just finished Stephen King's "Fairy Tales"... if you like King you will like/love this... similarities to 11/22/63 and From a Buick 8 for those who know.

Also the entire book is from one character's perspective, which I found interesting.

[chuckrh]

Just finished Stephen King's "Fairy Tales"... if you like King you will like/love this... similarities to 11/22/63 and From a Buick 8 for those who know.

Also the entire book is from one character's perspective, which I found interesting.

He didn't blow the ending on this one which has been issue at times in the past.

[Flea]

Just finished Stephen King's "Fairy Tales"... if you like King you will like/love this... similarities to 11/22/63 and From a Buick 8 for those who know.

Also the entire book is from one character's perspective, which I found interesting.

He didn't blow the ending on this one which has been issue at times in the past.

That is refreshing to hear. He has too damn many books concluded via Deus ex machina. I may move this one forward in my reading queue.

[beantownbubba]

It is no surprise to anyone that James McBride writes really, really well. Even so, Deacon King Kong exceeded my expectations. He recreates a very specific time and place (housing projects in Brooklyn in the late 60's) and populates it with an incredible array of fully drawn, fully realized, very human characters. A couple of the plot devices are a bit clunky, but that's ok because they're not the point. It's really about the people and they are marvelous, flaws and all.

I have to assume that McBride deliberately isolated his characters from the influence/impact of the civil rights movement and late 60's riots that one might think would significantly impact the lives and thoughts of these characters and I'm not sure why. Maybe he was trying to focus on that which is lasting v. that which is temporary but that isn't a very satisfying answer. Maybe the implication is that big social movements don't really have much impact on the day to day lives of "real people," in which case I'd have to take exception. Most likely I'm just overthinking it. Maybe one day I'll get to ask him, lol. In the meantime we still have this most excellent book.

I thought I had read all of Dennis Lehane's novels but I apparently missed the 10 year old Live By Night. While it's been clear for a very long while that Lehane is unlikely to regain the heights he reached with the best of the Kenzie and Gennaro mysteries, this is still a pretty good yarn, moving from New England to Tampa to Havana with a little taste of New Orleans. The main character is very likeable. Enjoyable in an airplane read kind of way.

[pearlbeer]

David Sedaris-Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls

The book is a collection of short, humorous vignettes which are great for a reader with a short attention span such as myself!!!

His new book, Happy Go Lucky is even better IMO.

[chuckrh]

Just finished new John Sandford book. Really enjoy his stuff. Good plots with lots of snappy dialog.

[beantownbubba]

Just finished new John Sandford book. Really enjoy his stuff. Good plots with lots of snappy dialog.

Just brought it home from the library yesterday. Looking forward to cracking it. His early stuff is just fantastic, then he had a middle period where I thought he was mailing it in (although some of his "side projects" weren't bad) and now he has seemed to reach a comfortable plateau of good, fun reads that work w/out reaching the levels of his best work. That's definitely good enough for me.

[beantownbubba]

Just finished new John Sandford book. Really enjoy his stuff. Good plots with lots of snappy dialog.

Agreed. Definitely one of his better "late period" books, especially the snappy dialog. I was a little surprised but not bothered by how overt some of the politics was. It is very interesting how Sandford gets across the point that it's possible to be a gun loving, macho, leaning towards traditional conservative while not being a kneejerk asshole.

It seems to me that "the fictional literature" is split about 50/50 between portrayals of the FBI as supercompetent, no nonsense professionals at the cutting edge of, well, pretty much everything or as incompetent, kind of brutish bureaucratic ass covering bullies w/out much common sense. Some grad student should probably do a survey to see how the numbers actually stack up. And I wonder where the truth lies.

Extra points for the Travis McGee/John MacDonald reference balanced by a loss of points for the self reference to that "crime writer guy in Minnesota" (or words to that effect). I hope the reference to Kidd means that we might see another Kidd-centric book soon.

[beantownbubba]

Suspect by Scott Turow. I don't think Turow does bad books and this was a satisfying read w/out reaching the level of his best work. Loved the character Pinkie/Clarise and hope we see more of her.

I didn't know that Sarah Paretsky was still writing VI Warshawski books, but at least for the moment she is. Overboard isn't great but VI remains a great character and if you like the series at all this is worth reading. Plus Turow's fictional Chicagoland and Paretsky's real Chicago are both worthy characters in themselves.

Whoops already "reviewed" this one (Blood Sugar). Still really like it though.

Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. This was an enjoyable read other than the unnecessary repetition of the main characters' internal thoughts. I'm curious to see how "they" made it into a tv series which I think is out now - it doesn't seem easily translatable to me. It takes some inspiration from the Gillian Flynn/Gone Girl school of mysteries which in my minority opinion is not a compliment. The score settling is vicious fun and the funny parts are definitely funny but overall I'm really not sure what to say about this one.