BOOKS THREAD

I've got Tim Sandlin's "Rowdy In Paris" coming through Amazon ... hopefully in time for my upcoming Arizona trip.

 

Yesterday, I ordered Boys will be Boys and Meat Market for my upcoming vacation.

I stopped short of getting Dixieland Delight, but I'll probably order it eventually. Anyone read that yet?

 

At the recommendation of a thread on here, I bought "I Love You, Beth Cooper" by Larry Doyle and have about died laughing the entire book thus far. I'm about halfway through it and it's great.

I also just finished the inaugural reading of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I had never read it. You may now be appalled at what they really didn't teach me in high school.) and I spent the first 275 of 330 pages of the book going, "GOOD GOD ARE MR. DARCY AND ELIZABETH BENNET EVER GOING TO GET IT TOGETHER?!?!?!" to going, "Awwwwwww....." every five sentences for the last sixty pages.

 

Geez, you could have put a spoiler alert here or something. T'anks for nothin'. 8)


Seriously, there is no author whose books I hate more than Jane Freakin' Austen. I had too many penis-hating English teachers in high school and college who adored the shit out of her, and they ruined it forever. God, I hate Jane Austen.

(Although she gets bonus points for being one of the very first writers to mention "base ball" in 1818. Just don't ask me to read more than that one graf from me.)

 

I just finished Jane Leavy's bio of Sandy Koufax, but my searching skills are too limited to find what surely was a spirited discussion somewhere on SportsJournalists.com.

Overall, I liked it a lot, but I was taken aback by her proud proclamation that she decided not to talk to any of Koufax's ex-wives, and had agreed with his request not to talk to his closest surviving relatives, a niece and nephew.

The latter I can maybe understand -- her subject (although still not overtly cooperating) made the request; the other -- a unilateral decision that such stuff wasn't worth doing -- is odd. The ex-wives aren't worth at least talking to?

(I'm aware there's some theory that she agreed not to bring up gay rumors in return for Koufax's semi-help; I don't know enough to buy into that or not.)

Anyway, good book that's a quick-enough read I finished it in an afternoon.

 

For anyone who may be spiritually inclined, or questioning their faith/beliefs, "The Shack" by William Young is an amazing book.

It fizzles slightly at the end, but that's only because of the unknowable nature of the subject matter, and the fact that the rest of the book has the potential to knock you over with its power and you won't want it to end.

You'll want to know what happens to the family, and be in on their discussions of the weekend in question, after the weekend. And you don't get to do that. That was the only disappointment for me.

 

With fewer and fewer NBA playoffs games to watch, I am filling my nights with filling up on basketball history. Finished a couple of biographies this week, have three more on the list for the next month or so.

-- "Mr. Basketball: George Mikan, the Minneapolis Lakers and the Birth of the NBA" drags in some points but Michael Schumacher provides an ample look at the life of the first professional basketball superstar and the events that surrounded his career. Keep reading, or just skip ahead to the end, because the best chapter deals with how the NBA Players Association shorted players from the 1940s, '50s and '60s out of a pension worth a living wage. A lot of history, a little dry, but worth at least a cursory read.

-- "Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era" was published in 2005 and, as such, is not a new book. But I had never bothered to pick up before this week. Silly me. Gary M. Pomerantz turned in plenty of legwork and research, traveled to Hershey, Pa., checked out the old floor from the Sports Arena (now in an attic), interviewed more than 50 folks who were actually at the game and one of Wilt's longtime lovers ... and on and on. But it never drops off. Every page is full enough of stuff that I now have a better understanding of an event that happend 21 years before I was born. Good stuff.

-- Up next, because I will be running the Cleveland Marathon on Sunday, the second reading of "Once a Runner", the classic distance running novel by John L. Parker Jr. Read it about seven years ago, back when I was a freshman in college and still capable of churning out a series of 4:45 miles. Now, not so much. And, because of my lack of speed, I have a different perspective on this book. But it is still damn good. Then, finally, finishing "Infinite Jest."

 

I finished this book last night. It was pretty good. I learned a lot about RFK and a ton about LBJ, though he appears to be one of the craziest motherfuckers out there.

On to part two of Taylor Branch's MLK trilogy.

 

FWIW, they are making a movie out of "I Love You, Beth Cooper." Such a funny book, glad to see others are enjoying it as much as I did.

 

I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 — for the first time, I'm ashamed to say — and I find the similarities to so much of today's world rather disturbing.

 

If the LBJ stuff caught you, you definitely want to check out Robert Caro's LBJ trilogy (so far) on him. Best political bio ever, and as with the MLK book, a lot more to it than just the main character.

A lot of Texas history you'll probably get a real kick out of.

 

thanks for the heads up. LBJ interests me because he grew up pretty close to where I presently live.