BOOKS THREAD

In addition to Great Expectations, I picked up A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Red Badge of Courage, Silas Marner, The Lost World, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Crime and Punishment and All The Presidents Men.

I read most of them in school, but now I'm going to read them because I want to, not because I have to.

I also picked up The Beer Lover's Rating Guide. That one's just for fun because I belong to this drinking "club" at Taco Mac where I drink different ones each time I go.

 

Always did love that book when I was a kid. Haven't read it again in years, though.

 

I was 12 the last time I read it, but I remember loving it then.

 

For some reason, I had read nearly every book Steinbeck had written but never "Grapes of Wrath." I guess I was sort of saving it because I knew it would be special. I finally decided to make it the finishing touch for an all-classics summer. Blew me away.

Also read "The Great Gatsby" and "Dharma Bums." Now I'm back to slogging through "Master of the Senate," which is like carrying a five-pound dumbell in my backpack.

 

Try carting it on a plane several times, Cranberry. I did this throughout the spring and early summer of '06.

If you have any political junkie DNA, "Master of the Senate" will be one of the most enjoyable 1,200-plug page trips you ever take. It is my favorite of Caro's LBJ trilogy and a perfect distillation as to why LBJ was the greatest pure politician of the 20th century.

Meanwhile, I just finished Maraniss' Clemente bio -- which I picked up after "15 Stars" just got too, freakin' tedious and minutiae-driven. I mean, how do you make Pearl Harbor boring? Didn't think it was possible.

I'm glad I read "Clemente", but I didn't think it was up to Maraniss' Lombardi bio. Now, it's on to PopeDirkBenedict's recommendation of "1920 The Year of Six Presidents."

 

I hauled it through spring training in both Florida and Arizona and now I'm determined to plow through it before having to carry it around in the postseason. I also enjoyed Paths to Power and Means to Ascent.

 

That's funny, Birdie, you and I are on the same path -- just opened "Clemente" two days ago (after buying it at the Seattle outing, on dreunc's recommendation, two months ago. 8))

 

I read the Great Gatsby one summer and didn't care for it. Turned me off F. Scott forever.

 

Mr berry,

I read all of Stinbeck as a teenager and still reserve a special place for In Dubious Battle. Just ahead of G of W at the top of the list.

YD&OHS, etc

 

I tend to put Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden in a separate category -- the BIG books -- as opposed to his less-ambitious-but-equally-masterful smaller books. In Dubious Battle, Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat are my Top 3 among the smaller books.

 

?

 

The Great Gatsby is OK. Didn't blow me away.