BOOKS THREAD

Read Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin, to me the best, most thorough and objective book we are likely to get about Springsteen's life and career. I used to think Marsh's books were definitive and while they were great for their time, in hindsight, he was way too close to the subject and probably too much of a fanboi to delve as deeply into the back story of Springsteen's family and his scuffling early days and the inner workings of the E Street Band as Carlin was able to. Mike Appel comes off much better here - in the words of Bruce and others - than he does in Marsh's first book.

Also read Over Time by Frank DeFord, a very entertaining read.

 

Finished this tonight. Really enjoyed it. Concurrent time lines of both MLK and his killer ran throughout the book, and, obviously, they both ended up in Memphis. But then the killer goes on the run, and the book then talks about the efforts of the FBI -- under Hoover, who hated MLK -- to find him.

 

JUst finished "The Blackbird Papers" by Ian Smith (not sure if it's mentioned previously, did not go back through 160 pages). It's an excellent read.

 

Have read a pair of early Patricia Cornwell novels, "Postmortem" and "Body of Evidence", over the past few weeks. I enjoyed both of them and have "All That Remains" still to go. I got one of those 3-in-1 hardbacks and decided to tackle all of them at once.

 

Just got a book called "Soldiers First: Duty, Honor Country and Football at West Point" by Joe Drape. Looking forward to reading it.

 

You'd also love the book about the 1958 Army team, Blaik's last at The Point. I have it but cannot remember the name.

 

"James Conway"'s "The Last Trade" . . . A-OK financial thriller. Rip 'n read.

 

Just finished The Outpost by Jake Tapper. Powerful read about Afghanistan combat.

 

Moddy/Moddies: If this isn't the right place for this, I'll be happy to move it, but figured I would start here.

Any of you folks used a software program to catalog your book collections? An ad for collectorz.com popped up on my FB feed today, and it looks interesting.

Any recommendations for any other programs?

Thanks....

 

I was wondering if anyone else is using "Goodreads"?

 

I just finished reading "A Year of Biblical Womanhood," by Rachel Held Evans. She tries to follow all the passages in the Bible, both Old and New Testament, which relate to things women should do and be.

It wasn't as funny as A.J. Jacobs' male look at a similar topic, "The Year of Living Biblically." But it was definitely thought provoking.

I particularly liked Ahava, the Orthodox Jewish Israeli woman she consulted frequently via e-mail/Skype. I learned a lot of stuff I didn't know about my own faith practices... and I'm pretty sure there was at least one "girls don't count" reference. (That's an inside joke for most of you, FYI. ;-))

I'm certainly not going to follow the author's lead full-out, but there's always little things we can do to be <i>eshet chayil</i>, women of valor.

 

In regard to software for book collections, I have used an Excel file for many years. I have columns for the title, author, publisher and date of publication, edition, condition of the book and dust jacket, genre, date of purchase, location, purchase price and running total of annual purchases. I also have a column where I record when I read the book and how I rated it from one to four stars, and another where I can add any information I wish about the book, e.g., what number in a series, awards, if out on loan, donated, etc. Because I have such a large collection with many books in boxes, I wish I had thought from the beginning to indicate where the book is shelved, boxed, etc. Hope this is helpful.