BOOKS THREAD

"Gone Girl" definitely lived up to all the hype. It zipped along despite tons of detail and myriad plot twists.

 

Almost finished with "Criminal" by Karin Slaughter. Really well-written.

 

I breezed through this as well, but I found myself extremely disappointed. It was like an "I love the 80s" clip show, not art. The writing was so, so shitty. ("And then, I was in a simulation of Knights of the Holy Grail! And then, I was in a simulation of War Games!") Name-checking nostalgia isn't art. It's a clip show disguised as writing.

I think the idea was kind of fascinating, but this was a Young Adult novel. Not a novel.

 

Ann Patchett "State of Wonder." Not flawless - it suffers because the main character is far less interesting than her foil. But a good read if you liked "Heart of Darkness." Kind of an update for the scientific age.

 

Yeah, the plot (intentionally or not) had about the same depth as a 1980s sitcom. And I agree that the concept of a 2040s, post-energy crisis world of poverty and escapist apathy was crying out for more attention.

But as late-night, after-copy-desk-shift reading, I was entertained by "Ready Player One."

 

Read a quarter of Chabon's "Telegraph Avenue" ... love it

 

Downloaded it from Amazon but haven't started it yet. Loved the sample.

 

It's great (so far). He does struggle a little with "ghetto" speak, if you will.

 

Not sure if anyone's posted it on here, but Jon Wertheim has a couple of really good ones out there: Strokes of Genius, which is about the epic Federer-Nadal match at the height of their careers is a must-read. Its flow through the course of the match, coupled with such intense backstory and detail, is pretty special.

He also wrote Scorecasting, a Freakonomics-type book that focuses on sports. He partnered with a University of Chicago economics professor for it, one of the foremost in his field. While it doesn't have the humor that's packed into Freakonomics or Superfreakonomics, it's very interesting because it tackles questions like "is there actually a home field advantage," "do superstars get no-calls and calls in their favor," and other questions like that.

 

Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi - Starting listening to this in audiobook form in the car. The minute-by-minute account in the first chapter is some of the best historical writing I've read. Bone-chilling stuff. Attention to detail is incredible.

 

Vincent Bugliosi is an excellent writer. His book on the 2000 election was among the best I read on that topic.

 

Just read Jo Nesbo's "The Headhunter." Guy is the Norwegian version of Stieg Larsson/Henning Mankell. Very enjoyable read.