BOOKS THREAD

I'm into a book called "American Lightning," a novel about LA in the early 20th Century, with the bombing of the LA Times in the middle of unionization and water fights. Features real-life characters like the Times' publisher and director DW Griffith.

So far it's pretty good, and it's relatively short -- maybe a third of the length of "The Given Day," which it is somewhat a West Coast version of.

 

Just finished Dennis Lehane's "The Given Day". Has this man written anything that isn't stellar?

 

Sorry if this has been asked before, but is there a good book out there on the `69 Mets? I'd love a version of "The Bronx is Burning" but I'd settle for any well-written, non-stat-heavy account that puts the season in context of NY at that time.

 

In the middle of "The Hot House" now. Written in the late 80s. Pretty much the story inside the walls of Leavenworth. Pretty good read so far. The wife read it first and enjoyed it.

 

Best book on the '69 Mets is one that just came out last month: "The Miracle Has Landed."

It's not a Maraniss-style cultural history; it's a collaborative effort that came out of the SABR Biography Project, which includes comprehensive profiles of every player and coach on that team (and others), plus essays on the season.

(Full disclaimer: I didn't contribute to this book, but I have contributed to a different BioProject book that's due out in 2010.)

Trust me, this is a fun read -- and I hate the Mets. You'll learn more than you ever thought you needed to know.

For more on the BioProject: http://bioproj.sabr.org/

 

Thanks -- I heard about that book and that's what made me think to ask. To be honest, the SABR part led tme to believe it'd be pretty dense, stat-packed reading. But I might pick it up.

 

Honestly, SABR sometimes gets a bad name because of sabermetrics -- which is a Bill James creation (tribute) and has nothing to do with the organization. Most members are just fans; the math geeks are a distinct minority. There are just as many word-oriented folks (like me) as there are numbers guys, and SABR publications usually reflect that.

 

A good one that's sparked plenty of discussion where I live:

"Searching for Whitopia" by Rich Benjamin

The author is a black journalist/college instructor/think tank writer from NYC who lives for several months in places where, during the first eight years of the 2000s, the population grew by at least 10 percent AND the inhabitants are at least 90 percent non-Hispanic whites.

He contrasts this with the overall population trends in the country, where there will be "no majority" of any race by 2042.

It's a an interesting book and an easy read -- not as "academic speak" as I thought it would be.

Benjamin does very well at describing the "whitopias" where he chooses to live and arguing that, while "person-to-person" incidents of racism are almost non-existent, the real estate market and other aspects of these communities remain rooted in a racist past and present.

The book falters a bit at the end, as Benjamin tries to tie his experiences into The Big Picture, but overall, I thought it was a pretty good read.

 

On Christmas day three books were added to the "to be read list"

"Atlas Shrugged" By Ayn Rand
And two alternative history books
"1942" by Robert Conroy
"Marching Through Georgia" By S.M. Stirling

 

Just picked up "The Given Day" with a giftcard from Christmas. I'm hoping it reads as well as "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair, which is my favorite book of all time.

 

I think you'll find it reads more like "Paradise Lost," by John Milton.

(Seriously, what kind of random comparison is that?)