BOOKS THREAD

Books I've read and loved of late:

"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
"Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn
"The Leopard" by Jo Nesbo
"The Art of Fielding" by Chad Harbach

Book I read, hated and thought overrated:

"Lifeboat" by Charlotte Rogan

 

Worst of all, it solved virtually nothing, Germany and Japan came back as Assholes on Steroids, and we had to do it again.

 

Chewed up the Art of Fielding like it was a 20 oz. bone-in Ribeye. Loved it. As a lifelong baseball infielder, the story of Skimrsander was oh so compelling.

 

Finished "behind the beautiful forevers" by Katherine Boo last night. It's a nonfiction account of life in a slum near the Mumbai airport; focused on two families. It is one of those nonfiction books that reads like a novel. I thought it was terrific.

 

Read that a little while ago and really loved it. Am giving a copy to a friend who is travelling to India, in fact. He wants to see more than just Tourist India and I thought this would be a good introduction.

 

Great one for him to read. Much better than Shantaram, which so many people seem to love but annoyed the crap out of me.

 

I am currently reading "Fifty-nine In '84" Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and The Greatest Season A Pitcher Ever Had by Edward Achorn. An excellent read about one of the games greatest pitchers and what is was like to play in that era.

 

Had trouble getting into Winslow's "Dawn Patrol," but enjoyed "Savages."

 

If any Winslow fans haven't read "Power of the Dog" I recommend it highly. It's a novel set against a big sprawling history of the drug war in the US and Latin America, and it's brilliantly done.

 

Finished off "Kings of Cool" finally last night and enjoyed it. Like Savages, it was an easy read once I got going ,and pretty interesting how Winslow did the backstories on the three main characters. Debating on whether to see Savages the movie given its somewhat lukewarm reviews and my general dislike of most books made into movies (especially in this genre).

 

"Let's Pretend This Never Happened," a novel of sorts by blogger Jenny Lawson, had me laughing out loud on the subway.

I've never even heard of her blog -- an improbable slice of life in the Texas Hill Country -- but the book was fantastic. Particularly if you think taxidermied animals are appropriate housewarming gifts.

 

Bought the Lawson book for my lady for her birthday. Not sure if she finished it.