BOOKS THREAD

My boyfriend looked at me this week and said "You read more books about things you don't like than anyone I know."

That's because I polished off "Rattled!" by Christine Coppa in a single night (which is highly unusual for me). Roll your eyes when you hear she's a blogger for Glamour magazine's website, but she's a talented writer and a strong voice. The blog is about single motherhood, and the book is a memoir about getting pregnant with a guy she had just begun dating, he splits, she has a kid on her own. Since you all know how well I can relate to books about motherhood and children, you can see where my BF's quote came from.

I also recently finished "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz. I could care less about war history and the Civil War, but I enjoyed the book and his sense of humor. I think I would have gotten more out of it had I ever visited a Civil War site, but there was enough to keep a non-war junkie hooked.

In keeping with the theme, next on the list is "Secrets of the Tomb" by Alexandra Robbins, about Yale's Skull and Bones group. This follows her "Pledged," about the inner workings of the college Greek system, which I also despise but read the book nonetheless.

 

Reading:



Just finished:



Yes, I'm on a bit of a crime/mob kick.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I slogged a bit through the first 150 pages of Parting the Waters, but it is rolling now and I will probably finish it in the next week.

This book is absolutely amazing and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the Civil Rights movement, especially because it is so much more than just a biography on MLK.

Anyway, I'm thinking I want to read about Robert Kennedy next. Anyone have any good recommendations?

 

I've pimped this book on this thread before.

http://www.amazon.com/Mutual-Contempt-Johnson-Kennedy-Defined/dp/039304078X

 

Glad you enjoyed it.

The classic RFK book is Arthur Schlesinger's "Robert Kennedy & His Times," but some consider it too fawning, and it can be slow and overdetailed at times.

 

I am about 100 pages in on this book and it is very good. My only beef is the first page and a half was written almost verbatim to a passage in Parting the Waters.

 

Angola, I'm sure you realize this, but in case you don't -- Parting the Waters is the first book of a trilogy, and the other two books have been published. (I have to admit I haven't read them.)

 

You know, initially I didn't.

I was reading Parting the Waters and JFK had just died and I had about 50 pages left and I'm thinking: Wow, for how in-depth this is, he is apparently going to just gloss over a big chunk of his life.

Then I realized there were other books. Whoops.

Anyway, I ordered them, I just happened to get the LBJ-RFK book first.

 

Just started Chuck Culpepper's "Up Pompey," the UK version of "Bloody Confused," which you can find at your local B&N.

Chuck sent me an autographed copy from England, where he returned after covering the West Coast Swing for the LA Times. As I expected, I'm enjoying it thoroughly thus far.

BTW, I just finished John Gilbert's bio on Herb Brooks that a co-worker of mine lent me. In the book, Gilbert mentions something about leaving the Minneapolis Tribune ( just before it became the Star-Tribune) over some kind of UM scandal.

According to his cryptic blurb, someone at the U went to the paper's management and got him first in trouble, then eventually bought out. Can anyone in the Minnesota chapter of SportsJournalists.com elaborate on this?

 

I have about 100 pages left and I'm just wondering this: is LBJ getting a fair shake? I really don't know. The author makes him seem like he is crazy.