Book recommendations

Just finished Towles "A Gentleman in Moscow" and really liked it. I'm a bit of a history fan, and it's in that genre. Carries you through life in Russia right after the 1917 revolution.
 
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I almost exclusively read sci-fi books. Just finished 'Cibola Burn', which is the fourth of nine (I am reading the series straight through) in 'The Expanse' series. There is another full novel worth of short stories/novellas that were written as side stories/companion pieces for the series....a few meant to be read prior to the first book and then several more for in-between certain books in the series. Love the idea. So far they've been very good....and I like that these exist to take a short detour from the main story every once in a while. Anyways....this is an excellent book series if you are a sci-fi fan.

An amazon series exists for the show as well. Believe they did six seasons. Never watched it as I always planned to read the books prior....but I will be looking forward to that when I am finished. But in no real hurry for that.....as I am really enjoying the books.
Sort of a "deep thought" vs "action packed" scifi book I liked is Chaing's "Stories of Your Life". It's a collection of short stories, one of which is the basis for the movie" Arrival".
 

I just finished "Our Woman in Moscow" by Beatriz Williams. It's a very good Cold War mystery, though the author would have benefited from tighter editing.

About a year ago my wife finally convinced me to start borrowing books electronically from the Hennepin County library system. It's the greatest! I'm reading more than ever, it's free and I return books that don't interest me with no guilt. I highly recommend it.
 

Sort of a "deep thought" vs "action packed" scifi book I liked is Chaing's "Stories of Your Life". It's a collection of short stories, one of which is the basis for the movie" Arrival".
I really enjoyed "Stories of Your Life", especially the Arrival one. (love the movie too btw).

I'll have to check out those books that "The Expanse" is based off of. I watched a couple seasons of that show, but then I didn't for a long time when I just didn't have time I guess. It was an interesting show.

If anyone is a Cormac McCarthy fan, he just released a new book a couple days ago. If I read it right, it's his first book in 16 years since he finished "The Road". I really liked The Road, so I'll probably check this one out here soon.
 



Celebrated the Gophers win by purchasing a special edition leather bound copy of Hyperion. Just became available in the past couple of weeks. 😻

Actual hardcover copies with the dustjackets are so rare that they typically sell (or at least are priced) for a grand or more on ebay unless you want an import version....which still fetch a couple hundred....

Hyperion_3815009_a_cvr.jpg


 

Just finished Towles "A Gentleman in Moscow" and really liked it. I'm a bit of a history fan, and it's in that genre. Carries you through life in Russia right after the 1917 revolution.
It was so wordy. I could picture everything from the meals to the barbershop but so wordy. Amazingly written. I recommend the book The Plot.
 

Just picked up a copy of a book I read many years ago, and always wanted to re-visit.

"The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter.

the book features transcribed interviews with 26 former Major League Baseball players. Most of the players featured in the book played in the early years of the game - from the turn of the century through the teens and 1920's. There are a few interviews with players from the 30's.

to me, the best aspect of the book is that you 'hear' the players' stories in their own voices - what baseball was like in those days and the various characters in the game.

a must-read for a baseball fan.
 

This is a bit of a specific request. But does anyone have any good recommendation for books like Michael Crichton used to write?

The way he could take advanced technology, incorporate it into a story as the plot device ... I haven't found anything close.
 




Celebrated the Gophers win by purchasing a special edition leather bound copy of Hyperion. Just became available in the past couple of weeks. 😻

Actual hardcover copies with the dustjackets are so rare that they typically sell (or at least are priced) for a grand or more on ebay unless you want an import version....which still fetch a couple hundred....

Hyperion_3815009_a_cvr.jpg


I really wanted to like this, but I struggled with the real slow pace.
 

A few that I've recently liked:

Long Bright River--Liz Moore
The Unseen World--Liz Moore
Domestic Violets, All Together Now, Last Couple Standing--Matthew Norman
The Broken Heart of America--Walter Johnson
I Must Betray You--Ruta Sepetys
 

I think Trump is a fargin idiot, but I have more respect for his list than I do Obama’s. (Though my guess is both lists are fake news).

Trump’s list reads like an expert trying to increase his expertise. Obama’s reads like a dilettante trying to sound impressive.
I doubt that Trump has a read list. He has always stated that he hates reading and therefore doesn't read books. I personally like to read. I better not list my books, or a poster will blast me for trying to be impressive by appearance. Kudos to all the readers who read a variety of books to educate the mind that we all need.
 



I doubt that Trump has a read list. He has always stated that he hates reading and therefore doesn't read books. I personally like to read. I better not list my books, or a poster will blast me for trying to be impressive by appearance. Kudos to all the readers who read a variety of books to educate the mind that we all need.

I'm guilty of not reading much of a variety. I stick to only 3, maybe 4 authors tops, and that works for me. At some point, sure, I'll branch out a little bit more but right now, I'm bouncing back and forth between 2 or 3 that I really like
 


I just finished "Our Woman in Moscow" by Beatriz Williams. It's a very good Cold War mystery, though the author would have benefited from tighter editing.

About a year ago my wife finally convinced me to start borrowing books electronically from the Hennepin County library system. It's the greatest! I'm reading more than ever, it's free and I return books that don't interest me with no guilt. I highly recommend it.
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the most part. There have been instances where they just don’t offer the book however. But all in all, very pleased. (Think it was suggested by someone on here about 5 years back or so is how I came upon it.)
 

I'm guilty of not reading much of a variety. I stick to only 3, maybe 4 authors tops, and that works for me. At some point, sure, I'll branch out a little bit more but right now, I'm bouncing back and forth between 2 or 3 that I really like
I commend you for reading though. Thats the main thing. "The Glory of their times" sounds like a great book to read. I tend to bounce back and forth between a history book of sorts and a fun book. My brain can shut down if all I read is serious information for a long while.
 

I have not read Carrion Comfort. I'll add that to the list.

I almost never read multiple books at a time. Occasionally if I want to read a business book, I'll do so at the same time I'm reading a novel.

Also, a shoutout to the Hennepin County Library system, which lets you check out ebooks. Very handy.

https://hclib.overdrive.com/
Big shout-out to the app Libby. Connect your library card and fill your personal library. Audio books also available. I just think it’s funny that they limit the number of digital books…it’s digital, how is there a limit?
 

Big shout-out to the app Libby. Connect your library card and fill your personal library. Audio books also available. I just think it’s funny that they limit the number of digital books…it’s digital, how is there a limit?
I believe the limit is in accord with publisher/author contracts.
 

Big shout-out to the app Libby. Connect your library card and fill your personal library. Audio books also available. I just think it’s funny that they limit the number of digital books…it’s digital, how is there a limit?
I gotta have a good ol' hardcover book in my hands, maybe that's old school, who knows. I think it's just easier to read, but I guess I haven't really read a book on a Kindle or electronic device yet.
 

I gotta have a good ol' hardcover book in my hands, maybe that's old school, who knows. I think it's just easier to read, but I guess I haven't really read a book on a Kindle or electronic device yet.
Oh, you need to ‘turn the page’. Everything is better with e readers. At minimum the end of the achy thumb pad from holding the book open.
 

I gotta have a good ol' hardcover book in my hands, maybe that's old school, who knows. I think it's just easier to read, but I guess I haven't really read a book on a Kindle or electronic device yet.
I have found a nice balance between fiction and non-fiction. For my fiction books, I stick to the paper copy and indulge in that tactile sensation. But for non-fiction - business, programming, self-help, etc - I use my Kindle. Reason being, you can quickly look up definitions and add notes, which makes reviewing material a cinch. I can't bring myself to mark up an actual book with my dirty handwriting.
 

I gotta have a good ol' hardcover book in my hands, maybe that's old school, who knows. I think it's just easier to read, but I guess I haven't really read a book on a Kindle or electronic device yet.

Same. I've read books on a tablet and it just isn't the same. Worth the cost for a hardcover....especially if it's something that I know I'll reread. While I ended up buying all of the Expanse books new.....I've also bought good condition hardcovers of older books for as little as three or four dollars shipped on ebay.
 

I buy a lot of used books online.

two sites where I've found a lot of good deals are Thrift Books and Abe Books. with one of the sites, if you buy a certain amount of stuff, you can qualify for a free book.

both sites do a good job of listing titles by the condition of the book - very good, good, fair, acceptable and so forth, so you can pay a little more for a book in better condition, or save a little on a book that might be a little more beat-up.
 

RIP to author Martin Amis. I read few of his books about 10 years ago. His takes on a lot of modern life both insightful and harsh. I'll have to go explore a little bit more of his work.

I'm also a fan of his dad Kingsley Amis whose books seem to include a lot more absurd humor rather than Martin's dark takes. For example kingsley's Green Man was about a village hotel owner whose liver is collapsing, his father dies hotel is haunted. None of which stops him from focusing on trying to get his wife and her best friend into a three-way.
 

Well, I'm diving into a classic that - I must admit - I have never read.

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne.

I hate to make a terrible pun, but the book is a little drier than I expected. a lot of scientific information about oceans, aquatic plants, fish, etc. Not a bad book - but different from what I expected. then again, it's a very old book that was written in French and translated to English. I get the sense that Verne was trying to make it as realistic as possible.

(I was at my mother's house last summer and found a lot of old books from my high school days. That included a book of HG Wells stories and a book of Jules Verne. For some reason, never read the Verne book)
 

Well, I'm diving into a classic that - I must admit - I have never read.

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne.

I hate to make a terrible pun, but the book is a little drier than I expected. a lot of scientific information about oceans, aquatic plants, fish, etc. Not a bad book - but different from what I expected. then again, it's a very old book that was written in French and translated to English. I get the sense that Verne was trying to make it as realistic as possible.

(I was at my mother's house last summer and found a lot of old books from my high school days. That included a book of HG Wells stories and a book of Jules Verne. For some reason, never read the Verne book)
Curious to hear what you think of it at the end. I've never read it either though I am a fan of the early roots of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy. Oddly the only H.G. Wells in that vein I have read is The Invisible Man. I've got a copy of his book The Outline of History around and when I read it 30 years a go it really expanded my way of thinking about the world. Interestingly it did the same for my Great Grandmother in Foley MN and Malcolm X during his prison term.

Also recently read book called Treasury of the Fantastic. It's a collection of various Fantasy themed stories before Fantasy became a separate topic after Tolkien. It includes Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Wells, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton and of course Mary Shelley and Lord Byron.
Byrons's apocalyptic poem Darkness is a stunner.

 

I buy a lot of used books online.

two sites where I've found a lot of good deals are Thrift Books and Abe Books. with one of the sites, if you buy a certain amount of stuff, you can qualify for a free book.

both sites do a good job of listing titles by the condition of the book - very good, good, fair, acceptable and so forth, so you can pay a little more for a book in better condition, or save a little on a book that might be a little more beat-up.
I saw this post today. My wife bugged me for years to use the Libby app. I finally listened to her. I can't recommend it enough. I hope that I never buy another book again. Libraries are part of what we do best. I hope they survive in some form.
 




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