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coolhandgopher

coolhandgopher

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Since we're talking Christmas music, I figure it's time to rev up a book recommendation post again, with holiday wish lists needing to be made soon.

I'll start it off with The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer, a memoir from a few years back that I just recently read. I'm not usually a fan of memoirs, but loved this book-great tales spun of a young man being raised by a single mother and the guidance provided by the men of the bar. I really enjoyed this book and so did Andre Agassi-after I finished and was digging for a little more info on the author, I discovered that Agassi contacted Moehringer after finishing the book to ask him to assist him with his autobiography.

I believe jamiche is the one who's been touting this book forever, but I recently read What is the What by Dave Eggers and was pretty astounded by the entire tale of the young Sudanese refugee from his survival during the Sudanese Civil War to the adjustment of life in the U.S. Really solid book.

I'm curious if anyone's read any good sports books lately; I'm going to give you my favorites of a specific sub-genre, the "high school basketball in tough circumstances"
1. The Last Shot by Darcy Frey (possibly my favorite sports book, all-time)
2. The Miracle of St. Anthony by Adrian Wojnarowski
3. Eagle Blue by Michael D'Orso (when I was searching for the author's name, I came across my long ago book review posted on the Hole: http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=566)
4. The Assist by Neil Swidey (based in Charlestown, MA which is the location for the recent hit movie "The Town")

If you like sports books, any of the above is a strong rec. from me. Looking forward to hearing others recommendations.
 

If you like music and life, Rob Sheffield is awesome. I've read Love is a Mix Tape and Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. Really good stuff.
 

oh well, I hate music and I hate life. ;) Is Sheffield somewhat like Klosterman in his writing style? Also, were you the one touting Cardboard Gods awhile back? If so, I believe you were in the midst of the book, did it finish strong for you?
 

I recently read "A Dog's Purpose" by W. Bruce Cameron, a sweet fable of life through the eyes of a dog. It's a quick read and you don't have to be a dog owner to love the book.
 

I have read both The Tender Bar and What is the What. Both are quite good though What is the What is astounding in subject matter. It was a great book but a complete relief to finish it.

Just yesterday I finished reading Rachel Sontag's House Rules, a memoir of growing up with an overbearing controlling doctor father. It is very well written but when reading it you kind of wonder how terrible her father was. I did a little research after finishing the book and found his website http://sontaghouserules.com/ where her Dad does come across a very odd duck.

For those of you of a certain age who grew up around the punk scene in the late 70s/80s I strongly recommend Chris Walter's Mosquitos andWhisky and I was punk before you were punk, autobiographical novels about coming of age during the beginning of the Winnipeg punk scene. Walter has a similar writing style to Bukowski and really pulls off recreating the Winnipeg punk scene. Mosquitos and Whiskyis the best book I have read in a long time.

http://www.punkbooks.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Walter_(author)
 


coolhandgopher said:
oh well, I hate music and I hate life. ;) Is Sheffield somewhat like Klosterman in his writing style? Also, were you the one touting Cardboard Gods awhile back? If so, I believe you were in the midst of the book, did it finish strong for you?
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I thought those might be topics you were interested in.

I did enjoy Cardboard Gods. I finished feeling like there could have been a little more or something was missing, but overall, it was definitely worth my time.

BTW, I know you like Wilco. Did you ever read Learning How to Die by Greg Kot about them. It was excellent, as was the documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.
 

These are older books but here goes:

Best sports book I can reccomend is about baseball just after the turn of the century
"The Glory of Their Times"

A biography
"In Search of History" by Theodore White

David Halberstam - many of his books are excellent but my favorite is
"The Reckoning" - book about Ford Motor and Nissan - fascinating read


If you like mysteries/suspense read Harlan Coben.
 

Have you read Outliers by Malcom Gladwell? I just stumbled across it in a video I was watching and it looks interesting to read.
 

Outliers is good and Gladwell's books are quick reads which is nice. Keeps the books suggestions coming. I like to see these.
 



Palin is about to release a new book. Beck has another one out. Savage had one at the top for awhile. Same with O'Reilly. Don't forget Coulter. Hannity's due. So is Levin. Everything else is literary fluff. ;)
 


Wheel of time series just released another book.

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Sheffield

Funny you should ask if Sheffield is like Klostermann. Klostermann invterviews Sheffield in his most recent book, Eating the Dinosaur. I get the impression that Sheffield is a fantastic interviewer which is something Klostermann has by his own omission gotten away from.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Wish I had a "must read" suggestion but most of what I have read lately has been good but not great. Probably the most interesting work has been In the Heart of the Sea, the story of the whaling ship the Essex, which inspired Moby Dick.
 

Hope to get some good recommendations again. The last thread on books got me to read some authors I thoroughly enjoy.

I wouldn't call it a great book, but Sebastian Junger's War is worth reading. It's his account of being embedded off and on with a unit in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. As a veteran from another time, it was really interesting how in this unusual war so many things are basically the same. I'm reminded of the book because of the ceremony yesterday where President Obama gave the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Giunta. The book has a vivid account of that battle. The veteran and cynic in me makes me wonder if the medal would have been given if Junger hadn't been there writing about it. Isn't to disparage what Giunta did; he obviously deserves it, but I'm guessing the first-hand account didn't hurt.

Also will recommend The Long Run by Leo Furey though that is a book that will get a wide range of reaction. I really liked it but the writing style was a little ponderous. It's a story about boys in a Catholic orphanage in St. John's, Newfoundland. I thought the characters were great and the plot was a good reworking of stories about loyalty and the fight against authority. It's an offbeat book, but I know some of the people on this thread would like it.

Finally, has anyone read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote Seabiscut? Just about picked it up yesterday but changed my mind. From the jacket it looked interesting. It's about a former Olympic runner whose ship is torpedoed during WWII and the hell he went through surviving the rest of the war.
 

I just finished Unbroken.

What an amazing story and I am now very excited to see the movie. Laura Hillenbrand is an incredible author, and her personal story alone would make for an amazing read with the health issues she suffers from.

Louie Zamperini is an amazing man and what he and so many POWs went through is incredible. The amnesty granted by the U.S. to Japanese war criminals was something I knew little about and I would be curious to read more about the reaction of our citizens to that news. I can't imagine that going over too well in today's world.

I highly recommend this book. It's just fantastic.

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
I just finished Unbroken. What an amazing story and I am now very excited to see the movie. Laura Hillenbrand is an incredible author, and her personal story alone would make for an amazing read with the health issues she suffers from. Louie Zamperini is an amazing man and what he and so many POWs went through is incredible. The amnesty granted by the U.S. to Japanese war criminals was something I knew little about and I would be curious to read more about the reaction of our citizens to that news. I can't imagine that going over too well in today's world. I highly recommend this book. It's just fantastic. Go Gophers!!
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It is a great book and the movie is worth seeing. However, I think the book and the subject matter deserved better than a rookie director, even one as spectacularly beautiful as Jolie.
 

Tiny, you've been kind of quiet on this thread. Do you have a Good Book you'd like to recommend?
 

BleedGopher said:
I just finished Unbroken.

What an amazing story and I am now very excited to see the movie. Laura Hillenbrand is an incredible author, and her personal story alone would make for an amazing read with the health issues she suffers from.

Louie Zamperini is an amazing man and what he and so many POWs went through is incredible. The amnesty granted by the U.S. to Japanese war criminals was something I knew little about and I would be curious to read more about the reaction of our citizens to that news. I can't imagine that going over too well in today's world.

I highly recommend this book. It's just fantastic.

Go Gophers!!
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I second the motion- this is a book that I couldn't put down once I got going on it. Great read.
 

I just scrolled back on this thread and saw that G4L posted (with his usual sardonic wit). Sad.
 

I am on book 14 of the Jack Reacher series. It makes me think of Batman, and since I'm a superhero fan I am hooked on his vigilantly approach to his problems.
 

Book recommendations.

Unbroken was amazing.
Miracle of St. anthony, my favorite sports book.
We don't have any dogs and i also liked " A dog's Purpose.
"Play their Hearts Out" made me sick to my stomach, but it was interesting for sure.
Junger's "War" was inciteful. Gave a good account of the draw/high of warfare.

Some recent reads that i enjoyed:
Rape of Nanking was eye opening.
"War is a force that gives us Meaning" by Chris Hedges I really liked.
11/22/63 by Stephen King was very enjoyable.
At the Devil's Table: ..." William Rempel, nonfiction as exciting as any fiction i have read.
"Things We couldnt say" by Diet Eman. Great nonfiction dutch christian nazi resistance story.
 

monk10 said:
I am on book 14 of the Jack Reacher series. It makes me think of Batman, and since I'm a superhero fan I am hooked on his vigilantly approach to his problems.
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I haven't followed the series since like 2009 or so. How have the recent books been?
 

Dune. The six original novels written by Frank Herbert. Not the subpar books written by his son.
 

I just read "Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws: My Infiltration of America's Deadliest Biker Gangs" which is a true story about an FBI informant who rose through the ranks of the Vagos Biker Gang, which at the time was the deadliest biker gang in the U.S.

The first half of the book was really interesting - the second half became a bit redundant. If you liked the show Sons of Anarchy or are interested in this type of thing, it's a good, quick read.

Go Gophers!!
 

I read Lost Girls. It reads like fiction, but it's a true story of a serial killer on Long Island who killed a bunch or Craigslist hookers and is still unsolved. It goes into detail about the girls and how they got into the life, too. I found the whole thing fascinating.
 

Is anyone going to read Harper Lee's new novel?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'Go Set a Watchman,' new Harper Lee novel, sells more than 1 million in first week
<a href="http://t.co/hBgJvFKMH0">http://t.co/hBgJvFKMH0</a> <a href="http://t.co/b0F5PaSy68">pic.twitter.com/b0F5PaSy68</a></p>— NBC News (@NBCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/623173212629811200">July 20, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Go Gophers!!
 

I just finished the book Donnie Brasco. I know this was a widely watched movie starting Johnny Depp (I never saw the movie, though I will now) years ago and I didn't know the story. If anyone is interested in the Mafia or FBI undercover work, this is a great read. It's probably a tad longer than it needed to be, and I would have liked a little more about him testifying in the trials that brought down so many Mobsters, but amazing how Donnie was able to work his way up the Mafia chain. I look forward to watching the movie.

Go Gophers!!
 


We have threads for movies and TV shows. I thought a thread on books might add something. Also thinking that people might just be reading a little bit more during the stay-at-home period.

So, looking for comments and feedback on any type of book - fiction, non-fiction, etc.

To kick things off - I recently read "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. Although I'm a monster-movie fan, I had never read the whole book before. It's been sitting in a bookshelf for years, and I finally decided I was going to read it from start to finish.

I enjoyed it more than I anticipated. Dracula is written as an epistolary novel. that means it's presented as a series of letters or entries in diaries and journals by various characters. Stoker does a good job of giving every character a unique voice.

for people only aware of the movie versions, the novel is quite a bit different. the focus is not on Dracula - but on the people who are hunting Dracula. the character of Van Helsing is also very different than the movie versions - because English is not his native language, his dialogue is amusing at times as he tries to express himself in English. Renfield is also much more literate than he's been presented in the movies. the real heroine of the book is Mina Murray Harker, who is presented as a more 'modern' woman than other literature of the era.

so, if you are a fan of classic horror movies or novels, I would think that Dracula would be a fun way to pass some time.
 

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