BOOKS THREAD

As a matter of fact, my aunt just sent me that book a couple of days ago. I'm not very far into it yet, but so far it is intriguing.

 

I'm about halfway through the new Hornby and I'm lovin' it.

 

new klosterman came in the mail today, i am a happy man

 

Just saw t_b_f mention The Lovely Bones, and this is one I've really wanted to read for a while, just wondering if anyone else has an opinion on it.

 

Wonderful book. I recommend it without hesitation.

 

Just finished Olney's book and just started The Natural. I'm trying not to picture Robert Redford, but it's hard. He's just so dreamy.

 

Just finished Pat Conroy's "My Losing Season," an autobiographical account of his senior basketball season at The Citadel. He's right when he says few books are written about losing seasons.
The only two books I've written have been about winning teams, but Conroy's insight into his losing season tells more about the human condition than any book I've read -- or written -- about championships and winning seasons.
A brilliant book that also offers real insight to the man who wrote "The Great Santini," "Lords of Discipline," "Prince of Tides" and "Beach Music," among others.

 

Agreed. It wasn't the happiest book I've ever read, but I very much enjoyed it. I'm a fan of most of his other books and My Losing Season certainly provided a lot of backstory for them.

 

Conroy is my favorite author, but I didn't like "My Losing Season." Too much of the same ground covered for a writer who isn't exactly prolific. It was better than the mess that was "Beach Music" but it's time for Pat to stop writing about the same topics.

I read two books this week. "Under the Banner of Heaven" was great. Not only gripping factually and historically, but some good discussions about the role of religion in our lives. Another great book by Krakauer (sp).

I also read "The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King" about the high stakes heads-up limit hold-em matches between Andy Beal (the Banker) and a group of Las Vegas pros (including Howard Lederer, a.k.a. the Professor). A fun read that provides some insight into the world of professional poker players. I would have liked a little more context and discussion of the surge in poker generally, and what it has meant to some of these players.

 

Some very random stuff:

Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series -- These are the novels that the Russell Crowe movie “Far Side of the World” was taken from. A fascinating look at the world of sail and English society at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. I tried one of these years ago and couldn’t get past all the “mizzenmast” and “sprit jib” nomenclature, but recently gave it another try and just ignored the technical stuff. I ended up ripping through all 20 books as quickly as I could.

Bernard Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe series -- After that, someone suggested this series, which is the Army equivalent of the same war. The books are far less elegant than O’Brian’s but do offer some good insight into what it was like to be in the infantry back then.

I know he’s been mentioned on other book threads, but just about anything by Bill Bryson is worth reading. “A Brief History of Nearly Everything” (I may have the title a little wrong) is a breezy look at science, and his Australia book (“In a Sunburned Country”) is also great.

Has anyone read “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning”? It sounds intriguing, but I might wait for the paperback.

 

I recently polished off "Crossworld" by Marc Romano. I expected it to be a crossword version of Word Freak - Fatsis' incredible journey up the scrabble ranks. In some respects, it was. But where Fatsis started out in the scrabble basement, Romano is born into the elite family of crossword solvers. You won't soon forget, after reading half the book, that he can solve a Sunday-level NYT crossword in 17-25 minutes. You have to get past two facts to have a chance to enjoy this book:
- The fact that, unless you're one of those who travels to the national scrabble tournament, you'll want to throw shit around when he's writing about the upper-upper tier of crossword solvers.
- His word usage. The book is FULL of major league words that don't appear in most books, ones that you think "why didn't he just use this simple word instead?" What may seem like him trying to sound smart may actually be him being an incredibly word-knowledgable writer.

Anyway, past those two facts, the book is pretty good. It provides a history of crosswords, a deep view into constructing them, a little bit of both solving and competition (i would've liked to read more about these), and Romano's views on the crossworld's place in the world. It's worth it if you're heavily into crosswords like me, but it may turn the average person off.

 

Reading Buster Olney's Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty now. Very impressive.

It lifts my spirts after wasting a week on Bissinger's Three Nights in August. What a disappointment.

I've thought about reading about Conroy's losing season. Is it worth reading? What about the Hurley book, although I cant seem to find it. Anyone read the SI writer's book (cant remember his name right now) on Indiana basketball?