Just starting Good Omens...

hehe

Finished The Glass Castle: memoir about a successful woman who grew up with an extremely dysfunctional family.


I'm now reading What is the What by Dave Eggers. It's the novel (finally someone has the good grace to admit that their memoir isn't a completely accurate retelling of history) about a Lost Boy of Sudan. It was written through conversations he had with Dave Eggers. So far, it's pretty danged good.

Request:

A very good autobiography, biography, or memoir about a coach.

A book that displays a coach's management/leadership abilities or lack thereof.

Thanks in advance.

Brian Billick's book is great in that regard. You shoulod check it out.


...and I'm serious.

Lincoln's Melancholy, pretty interesting thus far. Haven't had much free time for reading though.

"The Road Home" by Jim Harrison. About an old half white/half lakota rancher in Nebraska recounting his life. Pretty interesting, but hard to follow at times, Harrison (also wrote "Legends of the Fall") tends to drift a little.

Next Man Up by John Feinstein follows the entire Baltimore Ravens organization.

A great look from the owner down on how a NFL franchise is run.

Good book, quick read, and gives insight on how decisions are made year-round.

"When Pride Still Mattered". It's a fantastic biography of Vince Lombardi.

http://www.amazon.com/WHEN-PRIDE-STI.../dp/0684844184



One of the funniest things I've ever read. Pratchett is the best satirist writing today, IMO.

This may not be exactly what you are looking for, but I think you would enjoy it. I recently finished a fiction work about the subject that was fantastic. "Evolution" by Stephen Baxter.

Think of a James Michner style novel starting about 65 million years ago, moving to about 500 million years from now. Relax...the book is only about 500 pages. The early sequences read like "Watership Down" written by a biologist and anthropologist. It really brings the idea to life, IMO.

Excellent choice, one of the best sports books or biographies I've ever read.

Not high brow but I'm currently enjoying A Painted House, John Grisham. Just finished Playing for Pizza which was a great book. I've recently been reading lots of Louis L'Amour books because I'm a simple guy.

I started listening to Digital Fortress by Dan Brown a few days ago...I've come to the opinion I do not like his books or even have a very high regard for his writing abilities.

That book sucked. The book was depressing from cover to cover except the last 7-8 pages. His first book was real good though.

I'm going to read Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob by Bob Delaney next.

While Europe Slept

I'm 200 pages into Stephen King's Cell,not high brow but when I was younger I read everything by him and then stopped and got way behind.It's basic King and I'm enjoying it.

A decent read. Very Stand-ish.


I'm trying out a Clive Cussler - Inca Gold. A good book to read while on the crapper.

I enjoyed Cell, but he kind of lost me as the story wore on.

I also would like to figure out how to send a similar signal to make people think they are Koala Bears.

Finished it this morning,definitely Stand-ish,all I could keep thinking of towards the end was Trashcan Man.

As for being lost I was just the opposite,King had me engrossed in the characters and the story and although quite sci-fi I bought the idea of the worm in the program and the possibility of reprogramming the mind.

Over all it was King,not at his best but still a page turner for me.

About 1/2 way through The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Very interesting book about highly improbable events that affect our lives.

I finished The Kite Runner a couple of days ago. Not the kind of book I'd buy on my own, but a friend gave it to me. Wonderful book - hooks you immediately. Gives great insight into the completely fucked mess that is Afghanistan, too. I may well read the author's next book.

I just started reading a biography of Aaron Burr.

Ironically, I paid for it with a $10 bill. :D

Just finished:

Anthony Loyd's My War Gone By, I Miss it So

Evan Wright's Generation Kill

Even though Loyd is a better writer than Wright, the account of what happens in the fog of war, and the unbelievable incompetence displayed by the leadership in Generation Kill made for a more interesting read.

I'm interested to see what David Simon does with Generation Kill.

And saving the best for last, Michael Herr's Dispatches.

Also recently finished:

Michael Lewis' The Blind Side
Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Daniel Levetin's This is Your Brain on Music

About to start:

John Dower's Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia
Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself

"Home By Another Way"

A series of sermons by Barbara Brown Taylor.
Very creative, interesting, and inspiring.

Volkswagen Jetta, Golf, GTI Service Manual: 1999-2005
1.8L turbo, 1.9L TDI diesel, PD diesel, 2.0L gasoline, 2.8L VR6
by Bentley Publishers
Softcover, 8 3/8 in. x 11 in.
1976 pages, 24 color
4140 photos, illustrations and diagrams
Bentley Stock Number: VG05
VW Part No. LPV 800 120
ISBN-10: 0-8376-1251-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-8376-1251-5

The suspense killed me.

Finished a few Young Adult books for my students:

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Meyers: great Vietnam book for any age).
City of Ember by Jeane Duprau: not very good, imo.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez: not my cup of tea, but I try to read "chick" books from time to time so I don't leave out my female students on book recs:
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff: it was a Printz finalist, and it wasn't bad. WWIII breaks out, teens survive in the English countryside, anorexic Yankee falls in love with her British cousin, angst ensues.

For my own reading, I did What is the What by Dave Eggers: It's the story of one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan, Valentino Achak. I'm not going to go into it here, as most people know about the book. It's compelling and important, but I didn't really enjoy or love reading it.

I'm hitting Freakonomics (finally) over Spring Break as well as 3 or 4 other YA reads.

And once again, I'll plug GoodReads for the readers out there. Excellent way to keep track of your books you've read, are reading, and want to read. Also allows you to put up a neat little bookshelf widget on your facebook page to show off what you're reading. Very active discussion community for a variety of genres, authors, etc. The best part about it, to me, is that I can easily flag books that I've read and move them into shelves (like Read in 2008) to see what all I've read and when I read it. I can also easily flag books that I want to read to go in my "to read" shelf. It's definitely kept me motivated and reading.

You guys were right. The book was GREAT!

Thanks for the recommendation.

In light of having met the spectacularly talented playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, I re-read some plays of hers, including: "In the Blood," "****ing A," and my beloved "Topdog/Underdog."

I'm about ready to begin Patricia Foster's "Just Beneath My Skin: Autobiography and Self-Discovery," which I'm very excited about. She's a great writer who I hope to work with next year if I get into Iowa's Nonfiction MFA program, where she teaches.

For classes: I'm in the middle of "Vanity Fair," and will re-read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" this weekend. Aside from that, it's been a lot of philosophy (Aquinas, Leibniz, and Descartes, mostly).

Oh, and some poetry:

"The Little Book of Guesses," by John Gallaher

"Creature, Creature," by Rebecca Aronson

Had you seen the movie before reading the book?

So, what you think? I'm midway through (pacing myself because it's paired with a business class I'm taking so I don't want to read it and then not remember for the quizzes.). It's fascinating and I'd fly through it if I wasn't holding myself back for school. (That's a new one isn't it....)




On another note, I just finished The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. I cannot recommend it enough. It's fascinating and profound. It really should be a required read for any biz savvy people. And it's EXTREMELY accessible. Such an easy read, I cannot underscore it enough. I listened to his Blink audiobook but I'm thinking I need to pick it up in print because I tend to comprehend more when I'm reading as opposed to listening. (At least in non-fiction.)

Now I have to choose between The Kite Runner, the Second Golden Compass book or one on my WishList. Any recommendations based on my WishList?

No. And while it was an excellent book, it was also a very depressing and disturbing book, and I really don't feel the need to relive it with the film version, so I think I'll take a pass on that.

Actually, I really, really enjoyed the film. But I'm hung up on the fact that I know the twist and I wonder if that ruins the book for me. I wonder if I'm just rationalizing not reading it because a) I've seen the movie and b) I'd rather start with Two Thousand Splendid Suns.

I'll definitely check out the new book, but I need a break from anything that dark. I kind of fizzled out on the Aaron Burr biography I started a couple of weeks ago. I think I'll give myself a few days off before picking it up again.

I just finished "Getting Mother's Body," the 2003 first novel of Pulitzer winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks.

I tore through it in a couple of days and absolutely drove my wife nutty relating anecdote after anecdote from the book while I was reading. I'm usually not the annoying type of reader who has to share every little interesting thing with other people around me while I'm reading (yes, Ms. NewPhin I'm talking about you if you happen to read this), but I just couldn't resist with this book. There is so much thought provocation in the book that it's unbelievable. To paraphrase the inside cover: this will keep you in material at cocktail parties for years.

I've heard very good things about Water for Elephants, and it's on my to read list for the near future. The Kite Runner is excellent. It's one of those books that will stick with you, and it makes you feel like you've really read something meaningful once you finish it. The Subtle Knife was a disappointment to me, as I was so in love with the world of the GC that I hated the broader scope that the second two books took on as they moved into alternate worlds in expanding the story.

I also finished the Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci. It's YA literature, but it's an absolutely excellent mystery that also deals with a lot of social issues relevant to high school kids (bullying, popular kids vs. outcasts, the falsehoods of the perfect appearance).

Currently reading Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner, and I have about 10 pages left. Tore through it in a couple of nights before bed. Hilarious book that is great for any teenage boy who you don't mind reading something a little edgy. Sort of similar in tone and theme to my other favorite YA read of this year, King Dork by Frank Portman.

For more weighty fare, I have the Omnivore's Dilemma lined up in the queue.

If there are any Arthur C. Clarke fans out there, I'm about 200 pages into his last work and loving it. It's a collaboration with Stephen Baxter (British Hard Sci-fi author) called "A Time Odyssey". The trilogy is "Time's Eye", "Sunstorm", and "Firstborn". I think Baxter had the most to do with book 2, it's not as good as the first and last (so far).

Clarke called it an "orthoquel". In "A Space Odyssey", the intelligences that sent the Monolith were cultivating "mind" throughout the galaxy. In "A Time Odyssey", their goals and methods are considerably different.

It's no "Childhood's End", but what is?

Hey, what were the other Roth books you picked up? Did you read them? I just finished The Human Stain and thought it was excellent. Thought the stuff about Clinton was hilarious and outstanding. He really does a great job of setting up all the characters so you think you know who you like and dislike, and then as he tells you the story of each person, you understand them and gain compassion, and it becomes much more complicated. I love that.
I think this was one of my favorites of his, along with American Pastoral.
His early writing seems to be whimsical and funny, while the later writings have a lot more anger and emotion. Reading the Human Stain and American Pastoral just got me really riled up and got me to think a lot about our country. He is definitely my favorite author. Hopefully you got around to a book of his that you actually like.

I just started rereading "A Game of Thrones", first in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire".

I really liked the series the first time I read it. On this second go-through, I'm about 325 pages in, and I'm not sure this isn't the best fantasy book I've ever read. And that's with about 500 pages to go...

The last four I've read are:

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman
Power Play by Joseph Finder
The Collectors by David Baldacci

Collectors and Power Play were easily the best of the four, followed by The Street Lawyer, and I didn't care much for Obsession

I am now reading Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child and it is good so far

"Overhearing the Gospel" by Fred B Craddock.
It's about how to preach.
It's kinda long winded and dry so far, and I'm not even sure why I'm reading it. But my wife got it for her birthday, and I picked it up and started reading it.

Still reading The Client. I wake up at 6:00AM and get an hour of reading in before the rest of the family wakes up. I make a fresh pot of coffee, sit at the kitchen table in my robe and read for an hour. Its' quality time. I try to read at night, in bed, but after about 10 minutes, I'm nodding off.

Nelson's Trafalgar by Roy Adkins.

I know...ZZZZZzzzzzz

Seriously though, it really helped in explaining the situation in Europe between England and France and naval warfare at that time. Easy read.

Nelson took a very bold move in this war to a unheard of major naval maneuver.

Make sure you check out some great historical fiction from that time period (a few decades after Admiral Nelson) in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series.

Finished James Crumley's The Final Country about 3 am this morning. Not his best novel (that would be 'The Last Good Kiss' or 'Dancing Bear') but very good 'hardboiled' detective fiction.

It's brilliant; I recommend it to everyone.

I've been re-reading some of August Wilson's plays from his Century Cycle: Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Jitney, Radio Golf, etc).

I'm about to start on some things I picked up at the North Kansas City Public Library book sale: "Last House," by my beloved M.F.K. Fisher, and "The Eleventh Draft," a book on the craft of writing by former students and faculty of the Iowa Writer's Workshop.

I have only read Rama and 2001 so far but enjoyed both of them. I have "Childhoods End" and "The City and the Stars and the Sands of Mars" up on my soon to read list.

i have been reading "the new birth" by david k bernard. very interesting theology.

I read his next book A Thousand Splendid Suns, I didn't care for it at all. It was too depressing and it just kind of went on and on like that through most all the book. Big thumbs down IMO.

I did like Kite Runner though.

For anyone who'd like a little sample of Arthur C. Clarke, here is The 9 billion names of God

Thanks. I hadn't read that in years. :D

I did read the Human Stain and really enjoyed it. I may get back to some other Roth books in the future, but I'm pretty backed up on my reading list.

Currently reading Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card because my students keep bugging me to read it and discuss it with them. I loved Ender's Game, and I'm unsure why it's taken me so long to read this one. I'm loving it as well.

Just Started "World Without End", Ken Follett. Sequel to "Pillars of the Earth".
I read "Pillars of the Earth" in 1991, when I was in Iraq for the first time, it is still one of my all-time favorites. I hope this one lives up to it.

I've been on the waiting list for 'In the Courts of the Crimson Kings' by S.M. Stirling, JoCo library just came thru for me today. I like Stirling as a collaborator w/David Drake mo' bettah than I like some of his 'straight up, no chaser' stuff, but these recent Mars/Venus books are pretty good. They're a homage to the old John Carter of Mars - and every other 'jump between planets inhabited by beautiful girls in skimpy duds, dinosaurs and bad green MoFos' book you ever read as a kid. If you didn't read those books...it's not too late.

Took me ages to find this thread without the search feature. Someone rep me (neg or positive, I don't give a shit), so I can easily find it again to bring back to the top.

Anyway:
Read a bunch of stuff, but the one of note would be A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleid Husseini, author of the Kite Runner. I know a lot of people on here didn't like it, but I thought it was brilliant. It's centers on women in Afghanistan instead of men, which is why I think a lot of people don't like it as much. Excellent, though.

Over the last two weeks I read the first 960 pages of The Pillars of the Earth, and no shittin' you, my dog ate the damn thing while I was gone to a wedding.

I read the last 20 pages in a book store and have moved on to McCarthy's The Road. Jesus, this thing is depressing. I really like McCarthy and I think I'll move on to The Border Trilogy next.

I dug The Road, which I read pretty recently. I went through a McCarthy phase about 10 years ago, but I think I need to revisit his work again. He seems like he'd stand up to rereads.

I'm about halfway through [I]The Road[I] right now and yes, it is depressing but it's also hard to put down.

An observation about getting older - It was only a few years ago that I had a problem with putting a book down when I needed to sleep. I'd know I was going to suffer for it in the morning but I'd just keep turning the pages.

Today I have the opposite problem. No matter how badly I wan to stay awake to read I just can't do it. My eyes get heavy and after trying to read the same paragraph three times I finally put down the book and turn off the light. Lately, I'm finding that the book that used to take me 2-3 days to read now takes me 2-3 weeks.

The mind is willing but the eyes are not.

I have some stuff that I'd like to be reading, but am forced to write papers for classes and read Dickens' "Bleak House."

Once school ends, I have two delicious looking pieces memior/creative nonfiction: "The Boys of My Youth" by JoAnn Beard, and "The Florist's Daughter" by Patricia Hampl.

I think you have to stop trying to read in bed, unfortunately.

Working my way through SHOOTER...great stuff. The guy formed a mobile sniper strike team in Iraq. He spent several days riding on the back of an armored Humvee shooting crap.

After that I'm going to read some trashy UFO "nonfiction." :D

I picked that one up a few months ago but haven't gotten around to reading it. I have read other McCarthy and imagined its just as you said. Depressing and hard to put down, plus the free flow lack of punctuation.

I'm about halfway through "The Kite Runner." I know folks have been talking about this for a couple of years, but...wow! What a well written book. There has been a couple of times I've had to put the book down for a few moments, because it can be absolutely gut wrenching. This morning, reading about his father dying had me in major tears. But I can't wait to pick it up again every time I put it down. I recommend this book for ANYONE!

A student really wanted me to read Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Phillip K. Dick because he's doing an independent study on PKD. I think I'm going to have to read some more stuff by this guy. This particular book is a little... sloppy in the way it's put together. Sort of reminds me of Pynchon in that you have to infer lots and lots of meaning and reality, like putting together a puzzle from subtle little hints and clues the author leaves you. I'm not sure I'm particularly buying the world that PKD is selling in this book, but it's interesting anyway.

Dick's one of the best and most influential writers of the 20th century, science fiction or otherwise. He's worth your time.

This particular book is, seriously, like reading a David Lynch movie or something.

I use the subscription feature, so I can easily find threads like these

You can set it up so you don't get emails and they all will be in your list subscriptions area

I might add that I'm going to avoid stories about starving people on roads for a while as Pillars and the Road have satiated my desire for this particular subject.

Yes indeed. "The Man in the High Castle" is one of my favorite novels. I've been told VALIS is also superb, but it's still in the "to read" pile.

Black Rednecks & White Liberals - Thomas Sowell

I am America, and so can you. Steven Colbert. It's very inlighten..........ahh **** it it's funny.

Mornings On Horseback by David McCullough

I'm just starting to read Ringworld by Larry Niven. One of the sci-fi 'classics' that I'd just skipped over for some reason. Odd, considering how many Niven/Pournelle books I like.

Just finished reading the latest in David Drake 'Lt. Leary' series, and the Court of the Crimson King by Stirling. Both are good, if you like the authors (I do). The Drake novel is just like all the others he writes...I happen to like the formula.
But the latest 'Mars and Venus' series from Stirling is an homage to all the 'life on nearby planets' books by authors like ER Burroughs that I grew up reading. I'm not Stirling's biggest fan, but these Mars and Venus books, I like.

'Flow My Tears' - mentioned above - is a tough read. It'll make more sense as you plow thru it but it's not an easy book.

One more book I read recently that I should mention. "Quartered Safe Out Here" by George MacDonald Fraser. GMF passed away this year, you may know him as the author of the Flashman series of historical fiction. Funny, funny stuff. He also wrote a few screenplays - the three musketeers/four musketeers is worth a rent sometime, just to see Rachel Welch fall down a lot...she looks GOOD doing pratfalls.
Anyway, QSOH is about Fraser's time in the British Army, fighting the japanese in Burma. A great 'common man' war diary, an excellent read, highly recommended. For the record, Fraser is opposite of political-correctness. If you can't stand that heat, stay out of his kitchen.

Ringworld and its sequels were great. The last one wasn't quite as good as the last three, and based on the ending I suspect he wrote it to show off. Louis Wu and Teela Brown are two of Niven's best characters, IMO.

I'll have to give Stirling's Mars/Venus a try. I...enjoyed doesn't seem the right word...his Draka novels (great dystopian writing), and the "Change/ISOT" series are fun, if a bit silly in places.


Thanks for the Fraser recommend, I liked the Flashman books, but haven't read that one.

QSOH might be Fraser's best book, really. Since he passed, they're releasing a new edition of it so it'll be easy to find.

There's another book coming out soon called 'Reavers' that's set in the border country between Scotland and England. It may be the last thing we'll see from him, which is a shame. I've waited a long time to find out how Flashman wound up on both sides in the US Civil War.

I thought Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers were okay, but I couldn't make it through Ringworld Throne.

I'm re-reading two series simultaneously right now. On paper I'm going through A Song of Ice and Fire. When I walk or jog I'm listening to Audio Renaissance's new unabridged recordings of the Dune series. They've released up through Children of Dune, and I think the plan's to release the entire series through Chapterhouse Dune by year's end.

Fraser died?

Niles, and Daphne must be devastated.

Finally delving into it. Can't believe I waited this long. I knew it was a classic, just never got around to it. I actually laughed out loud [laughing out loud, at a book] reading Iggy's letter to the adominable vendor in Kansas City who had the temerity to complain about a shipment of pants too short to sell.

Read The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. It was cool, and I like the way he mixes history of the game with the biography of Oher.

I also read The Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card. I'm mainly familiar with Card through his Enderverse books, so I was surprised to hear about the premise of this alternate history with a fantasy twist. Anyway, I like the concept better than the execution, but the book was a quick read. I'll probably read a few more in the series.

I'm going to start Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver now, since it's Farmer's Market season. It should keep me motivated to center our diets around fresh, seasonal food throughout the summer.

The Last Days - Joel C. Rosenberg