BOOKS THREAD

Finished two books in recent weeks.

The SI excerpt of Pearlman's Payton book brought in a lot of opinions on a thread, but after reading the book I am inclined to think it is probably the most definitive look at Payton's life we are likely to get.

Yes, there is plenty about Payton, the womanizing pill popper who wasn't the world's best husband and father, but there is also plenty about the Payton who got his name on the NFL's Man of the Year award. He comes across as a tireless worker on and off the field for the Bears and an occasionally selfish teammate who was let down by the organization he carried for so many years in the biggest game in its history.

The House That Ruth Built by Robert Weintraub is an entertaining look at the 1923 baseball season, focusing on the Yankees and Giants and featuring the building of Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth, John McGraw and loads of other characters. Great look at baseball in that era.

 

Just finished John Green's "The Fault In Our Stars" .... young adult novel, but solid nonetheless ... if you're in the mood to read about teenagers with cancer who live in Indianapolis. Who isn't?!

Can anyone recommend some hockey books?

 

Hockey bios? History? Lotta options out there.

 

Either or, just looking for quality.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Only-Played-Home-Games-Michigans/dp/0971805008
Great book on sports life in a prison, lots of hockey mentioned.

 

Can't go wrong with anything by our own Gare Joyce, I would highly recommend his latest, The Devil and Bobby Hull, When the Lights Went Out, about the Canada-Russia brawl in the 1987 worlds juniors, and Future Greats and Heartbreaks, about hockey scouts.

Ken Dryden's The Game might be the best hockey book ever written.

The Game Of Their Lives, Peter Gzowski's book on the Gretzky-era Oilers, is probably long out of it print, but any chance to get it must be seized. I also liked Stephen Brunt's Searching For Bobby Orr and Gretzky's Tears.

Also worth seeking out: Zamboni Rodeo about life in the minors and of course our man JJ's The Making of Slap Shot, the best book ever about the best hockey movie ever.

I am sure more will drift through the transom tomorrow.

 

These are great, thank you!

 

My wife tore through all three Hunger Games books in less than a week.

Currently I am reading Invasion of the Body, Revolutions in Surgery by Nicolas Tilney. Grabbed it from the library and its a surprising good read about the history of medicine and hospitals from the late 19th century through today. The guy started at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in the 50s (before the mergers created Brigham and Women's Hospital). It also has great background on the development of teaching hospitals and the advancements in medicine.

I am not really into the subject matter, but it is a facinating read.

 

Been on a Scandinavian thriller kick for the past year -- mostly Mankell, Larsson, and Nesbo. Over the weekend I finished "The Hypnotist," by Lars Kepler (pseudonym for Swedish husband/wife team). Really fantastic and incredibly horrifying. Probably one of the faster 500-page-reads I've ever encountered. Learned a bit about hypnotism (and Pokemon?!), which was kind of cool. Would highly recommend. There is some crazy evil described in this book.

Slight Spoiler: There are enough characters featured that the following statement shouldn't reveal too much, but it was interesting to read a Swedish mystery where the perpetrator is the anti-Salander.

 

Thank you for the segue, CB. On a separate thread a few months ago, a member asked for mystery/thriller recommendations, and lots of folks mentioned Mankell. I'm OCD enough that I don't want to start a series I won't stick with, so I tried a one-shot Mankell, The Man From Beijing.

Hated it.

I ask the board: is this proof that I shouldn't read Mankell, or that I picked the worst possible book to start with?

 

If you're going to read Mankell, I suggest you read the Wallander series. The first one is "Faceless Killers" and an excellent place to start.

 

L. Jon Wertheim's "Strokes of Genius" is an excellent read. Since tennis is the only (major) sport I have never covered, it has always interested me. Wertheim's writing about the off-court stuff is even more compelling than the game action. Highly recommend.