BOOKS THREAD

I had a big orgasm over Nelson DeMille's "Charm School" when I first read it about 10 years ago. Upon completion, I immediately read every single thing he had ever written, and I have continued to do so, even when his books have completely sucked. Sadly, that has been the case with most of DeMille's efforts as of late.

I just finished "The Panther" over the weekend, and I have to say, I kinda enjoyed it. If you like speeding through Jack Reacher novels, you will enjoy flying through John Corey books. DeMille is really, really good at snappy dialogue and the book moves along very quickly. I found the ending a little less than desirable, but I thought this was DeMille's best novel since "The Lion's Game" from some years ago.

I would absolutely recommend for a fun read or as a nice little stocking stuffer gift.

 

Loved Charm School (no orqasms - that I can recall - but it was entertaining), last book of his I read was Night Fall, thought it was really good, especially the ending.

 

Then you weren't reading it right.

 

Got The Twelve from the library so went forward.

Enjoyable read. Not a bad follow up but did not feel "new" like the original (as someone said earlier, the first 140 or so pages of the Passage was breathtaking.) So many characters, there was quite a bit jumping around that it felt disjointed in the middle. Not as good a middle as "The Empire Strikes Back" but sufficient, I'd say 3/5.

 

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is a very good, smart book. Walter is a former journalist (Spokesman Review). Plays with time a memories in a smart way.

 

Was just talking about this with a colleague. My favorite author Richard Russo blurbed it, so it's on my radar.

 

Beautiful Ruins is on my wish list.

I read lots of police procedural type books. Somehow I missed Michael Robotham and Peter May until very recently. I just read "Say You're Sorry" by Robotham, one of his Joe O'Laughlin series, and have started May's The Blackhouse, the first of the Lewis Trilogy.

I've also been reading the Simon Serrailler series by Susan Hill and have a couple of books from this series on my kindle. I have mixed feelings about these books but I keep reading them.

 

I enjoy Russo as well, what was his last, that book about a diner in Maine?

 

Russo just published his memoir. Prior to that, he wrote a book that is in some ways the spiritual sequel to Staight Man called "That Old Cape Magic." He also wrote a novel about Italy called "Bridge of Sighs" that is, in the opinion of pretty much everyone, his worst book.

The diner book you're referencing, Empire Falls (generally thought of as his best, except by me), is a few books ago.

 

Question for the board and/or Caro experts.

My mom said my dad wants a book I had been talking about. A Lyndon Johnson book. The one I was talking about with him was Master of the Senate. Dad told mom that he thought there was more than one book in the series. Mom wants to know if she should get the first book and go from there.

Dad's a big reader but usually just fiction. Can't remember him reading a big nonfiction book that wasn't about sports. So I don't know if I can see him wading through all of Caro's books. I'm thinking of telling her to get Master of the Senate. That's the one I started with, actually. And you don't have to have seen the first movies to understand that one -- if you will. Does that seem like a good one to get him? He really enjoyed some of the crazy anecdotes in that one. That said, I don't know if he realizes it's 1,000 pages.

Thoughts?

 

I would read Caro's Johnson books in order because they build on each other. Path to Power sets the stage for everything that happens in Johnson's life. Means of Ascent, maybe my personal favorite, details the Senate race Johnson stole from Coke Stevenson in 1948.

 

EF is probably my favorite book of all time. It's between that and The Brothers K by David James Duncan. But you can't go wrong with any Russo book. I do have his memoir sitting on my pile at home. My Russo rankings:

1) Empire Falls
2) The Risk Pool
3) Nobody's Fool
4) Mohawk
5) That Old Cape Magic
6) Straight Man
7) Bridge of Sighs

Plus he wrote the Twilight movie. (No, not that one.)