BOOKS THREAD

[cranberry]

Started Instant Replay today. Little embarrassed it's taken me this long to read it.

Ha. Instant Replay may have been the first "grown-up" book I ever read. Either that or Catcher in the Rye. I thought Catcher in the Rye was going to be about a baseball player but I kept reading because I enjoyed the swearing, rants and rebellion.

 

[JackReacher]

Interesting passage from Instant Replay....

"Newspaper reporters seem to have a habit of looking for sensationalism, of distorting and stretching the truth. Of course, there are exceptions, but sometimes I'm afraid they're few and far between."

Maybe the 60s weren't so different after all!!

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Make sure you pick up this one!

 

[3_Octave_Fart]

Recently finished Jim Lehrer's Super.
It's a short, humorous, nostalgic murder-mystery novel set in 1956.
Clark Gable one of a few non-fiction characters skillfully fictionalized by Lehrer.
Lehrer's techniquie is quick, organic and concise.
Perfectly light reading at 200 pages.
I like tight bodies and tight writing.

 

[Huggy]

Read Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin, to me the best, most thorough and objective book we are likely to get about Springsteen's life and career. I used to think Marsh's books were definitive and while they were great for their time, in hindsight, he was way too close to the subject and probably too much of a fanboi to delve as deeply into the back story of Springsteen's family and his scuffling early days and the inner workings of the E Street Band as Carlin was able to. Mike Appel comes off much better here - in the words of Bruce and others - than he does in Marsh's first book.

Also read Over Time by Frank DeFord, a very entertaining read.

 

[Flip Wilson]

Finished this tonight. Really enjoyed it. Concurrent time lines of both MLK and his killer ran throughout the book, and, obviously, they both ended up in Memphis. But then the killer goes on the run, and the book then talks about the efforts of the FBI -- under Hoover, who hated MLK -- to find him.

 

[micropolitan guy]

JUst finished "The Blackbird Papers" by Ian Smith (not sure if it's mentioned previously, did not go back through 160 pages). It's an excellent read.

 

[JosephC.Myers]

Have read a pair of early Patricia Cornwell novels, "Postmortem" and "Body of Evidence", over the past few weeks. I enjoyed both of them and have "All That Remains" still to go. I got one of those 3-in-1 hardbacks and decided to tackle all of them at once.

 

[JosephC.Myers]

Just got a book called "Soldiers First: Duty, Honor Country and Football at West Point" by Joe Drape. Looking forward to reading it.

 

[micropolitan guy]

Just got a book called "Soldiers First: Duty, Honor Country and Football at West Point" by Joe Drape. Looking forward to reading it.

You'd also love the book about the 1958 Army team, Blaik's last at The Point. I have it but cannot remember the name.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

"James Conway"'s "The Last Trade" . . . A-OK financial thriller. Rip 'n read.

 

[Tarheel316]

Just finished The Outpost by Jake Tapper. Powerful read about Afghanistan combat.

 

[Flip Wilson]

Moddy/Moddies: If this isn't the right place for this, I'll be happy to move it, but figured I would start here.

Any of you folks used a software program to catalog your book collections? An ad for collectorz.com popped up on my FB feed today, and it looks interesting.

Any recommendations for any other programs?

Thanks....

 

[HC]

I was wondering if anyone else is using "Goodreads"?

 

[PaperDoll]

I just finished reading "A Year of Biblical Womanhood," by Rachel Held Evans. She tries to follow all the passages in the Bible, both Old and New Testament, which relate to things women should do and be.

It wasn't as funny as A.J. Jacobs' male look at a similar topic, "The Year of Living Biblically." But it was definitely thought provoking.

I particularly liked Ahava, the Orthodox Jewish Israeli woman she consulted frequently via e-mail/Skype. I learned a lot of stuff I didn't know about my own faith practices... and I'm pretty sure there was at least one "girls don't count" reference. (That's an inside joke for most of you, FYI. ;-))

I'm certainly not going to follow the author's lead full-out, but there's always little things we can do to be <i>eshet chayil</i>, women of valor.

 

[T&C]

In regard to software for book collections, I have used an Excel file for many years. I have columns for the title, author, publisher and date of publication, edition, condition of the book and dust jacket, genre, date of purchase, location, purchase price and running total of annual purchases. I also have a column where I record when I read the book and how I rated it from one to four stars, and another where I can add any information I wish about the book, e.g., what number in a series, awards, if out on loan, donated, etc. Because I have such a large collection with many books in boxes, I wish I had thought from the beginning to indicate where the book is shelved, boxed, etc. Hope this is helpful.

 

[JosephC.Myers]

Just got a book called "Soldiers First: Duty, Honor Country and Football at West Point" by Joe Drape. Looking forward to reading it.

You'd also love the book about the 1958 Army team, Blaik's last at The Point. I have it but cannot remember the name.

Getting ready to read "Army vs. Carlisle" by Lars Anderson, which talks about the 1912 game between the two schools and the circumstances/environment surrounding it. Basically, it was Jim Thorpe vs. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Need I say more?

 

[Flip Wilson]

I read Holy Ghost Girl in one sitting last night/early this morning.

A memoir of a girl who grew up with a mother who played piano for a tent revival preacher, moving to a new town -- mostly in the South -- every few weeks. It was a times heartbreaking, and while every stereotype you can think of about tent preachers is pretty much true, some of the things she saw as a teenager could be classified as miracles, maybe.

http://www.holyghostgirlbook.com

 

[Gehrig]

I just started reading "The Umpire Strikes Back" (1982), by Ron Luciano with David Fisher (re-reading actually, I haven't looked at it since the 1980's). I can't believe how long Luciano got away with all of his antics...that would NOT fly in today's game. It's also a little sad knowing that he committed suicide in 1995, from Wiki: "In January 1995 Luciano was found dead at age 57 in his garage at his home in Endicott, a victim of suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning. He reportedly suffered from depression for many years, and he was hospitalized for its treatment in early 1994." Makes you wonder if mental illness was an issue during his umpiring days.

 

[Care Bear]

Just completed "The Devil All the Time" by Donald Ray Pollock. It was described somewhere -- and now I can't remember where -- as Flannery O'Connor meets "Kalifornia," and that's about right. It's absolutely beautifully written, and about as haunting as anything I've read. Highest recommendation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/books/review/the-devil-all-the-time-by-donald-ray-pollock-book-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

HC -- get on this. :)