BOOKS THREAD

I just got this today; pre-ordered it (first book ever) and forgot I had done so.

I'm so excited to dig in (really enjoyed 1st, 2nd not so much)

 

Have my copy as well. Halfway through Everybody's Fool. Maybe I'll get in this one by the weekend.

 

King's Finders Keepers and David Spade's Almost Interesting.
Solid non-supernatural, non-horror effort from King. The book stays in the land Mr. Mercedes and Uses some of the same characters.
Spade's effort was ok, it was quick, shallow and juvenile. Though, I LOL'd a couple of times. He doesn't come off like a dick. I had no idea he was so poor as a kid. No real revelations about SNL, Farley or anything though.

 

Reading Kelly Link's short story collection Get in Trouble. Read four of the stories so far, and wow. Not sure I've read anyone like her before.

 

Finished the Justin Cronin trilogy; not bad but nothing like the opening of The Passage (does the end of a trilogy/sequel ever evoke as much enthusiasm?) Don't want to spoil it for anyone so happy to discuss spoilers with anyone else who's finished (please PM me).

 

For more than 20 years I had been looking for a copy of the Rick Heinz book "Many Are Called ... Few Are Signed" and I finally got my hands on one.

The subtitle is "The Hard Realities Of Professional Hockey" and that pretty much is the theme of the book. I guess I didn't expect it to be an autobiography and it's not but the author uses so many of his own experiences as examples, you really do learn about him. Awesome insight into the late-1970s/early-1980s St. Louis Blues and Salt Lake Golden Eagles; and there are several stories on Emile Francis and the real Mike Liut. I was aware of his very brief but rewarding stint in Vancouver before being shipped back to St. Louis, but he shares several memories of his three or four months as a Canuck.

My only quibble is the book needed better editing. Examples: Glen Hall, Jigs McDonald, Gary Unger, Eddy Staniowski, Witchita Wind, Binghampton (as in New York).

But "Many Are Called ... Few Are Signed" is a heck of good read and for me personally quite a stroll down memory lane.

 

Was just thinking it was time for another Jack Ryan book by the folks carrying the Tom Clancy banner... and pleasantly surprised to find "Duty and Honor" was released on Tuesday. Score!

 

Just finished "Pretty Girls" by Karin Slaughter. Enjoyable read. Definitely a page-turner. There's a big surprise midway through the book, plenty of suspense/action.

But the story's strength is how it deals with the relationship of three daughters and their parents, and how some of them reunite as adults after years of separation.

As someone who is in his 40s, that resonated with me more than the crime and whodunnit stuff.

 

Finished "Ordinary Grace". Wonderful book examining how to deal with loss through the eyes of a 13 yr old son of a preacher in Minn.

 

Finished "The Fireman" by Joe Hill. Good stuff - takes after his old man.

 

Neither did Hill's agent.
It was a tightly-guarded secret.