Spring Thaw Reading Thread

Post by **Shirley** » Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:56 pm

I found myself wanting to like Sex on the Moon more than I actually did like it. It's a cool story - I love a good heist story - but as others mentioned, the facts didn't all add up. Honestly, the story should have been good enough on its own. It didn't need to pretend that everyone involved was a genius intellect who looked like a model and loved to party.

howard · Post by **howard** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:30 am

The Sybian wrote:Finally got around to listening to Swamp Favorite Omnivore's Dilemma. Fucking cheap corn bringing down the Empire. Mother fucker.

I am not sure a single book has had greater impact on my life than this one. Maybe Ball Four as a kid. Yeah, baseball and food; I'm a pretty simple man.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:46 am

howard wrote:I am not sure a single book has had greater impact on my life than this one.

There's a thread just waiting to happen.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 7:52 am

Wild book. A bit too much about the author, but mind blowing.

Any Michiganders read this? Thoughts?

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Wed Jul 10, 2013 10:24 pm

The Fifth Wave was really good. Just started this:

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:22 am

This book kept showing up on lists of great soccer/football reads. So I grabbed it from the library. 70 pages in and enjoying it.

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 12:42 pm

The Interestings was excellent. Based on rush's recommendation I started this today:

Post by **Sabo** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 12:51 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote:This book kept showing up on lists of great soccer/football reads. So I grabbed it from the library. 70 pages in and enjoying it.

The first guy mentioned in the book is from Blackpool. It's an instant classic right away (even though said Blackpudlian is a Man U fan).

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 12:56 pm

The Book of the Thousand and One Nights (Harvard Classics)

Never read it before. Should have. It's loaded with bits other writers borrowed or riffed on. Just one of those great cornerstones that I never sat down and devoured before.

There's an abridged eBook version here: http://www.bartleby.com/16/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 2:27 pm

Sabo wrote:
wlu_lax6 wrote:This book kept showing up on lists of great soccer/football reads. So I grabbed it from the library. 70 pages in and enjoying it.

The first guy mentioned in the book is from Blackpool. It's an instant classic right away (even though said Blackpudlian is a Man U fan).

I want to say this is the first book I read that was recommended by Swampers.

Just finished that Drink book someone mentioned earlier. Took a while to get going, but really started enjoying it the more it moved through history. Reading The Humanity Project by Jean Thompson now.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:11 am

Bensell wrote:[
I liked that bio quite a bit. I'm halfway through this novel:

Another really well written book with main characters I hate

Started Double Feature yesterday.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:53 am

Just finished this comprehensive and fairly interesting history of Spanish Soccer.

Recommended, but not ver enthusiastically.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:16 am

Pruitt wrote:Just finished this comprehensive and fairly interesting history of Spanish Soccer.

Recommended, but not ver enthusiastically.

If you're interested in a good Spanish soccer book, check out Morbo by Phil Ball.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:05 am

Interesting, but written by a type of person I would hate if I met him in real life.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:36 pm

govmentchedda wrote: If you're interested in a good Spanish soccer book, check out Morbo by Phil Ball.

That I will - thanks for the recommendation.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 7:07 am

I've just started reading this:

So far its ok....I'm not really a fan of the guys writing style, but its interesting.

One thing I have learned is that back in '68, you could bring your own booze into Tiger Stadium, as long as you kept it in a paper bag. Mickey Lolich (who was serving in the Michigan National Guard at the time) said people didn't need basic training, that playing the outfield in Tiger Stadium would be enough.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:54 pm

Saw that in my Kindle and almost went with it AD. Chose "Brainiac" by Ken Jennings instead.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Jul 29, 2013 7:44 am

Finished Double Feature. Really enjoyed it. Thought it was the best book I have read this year.

Finally found The Devil in the White City at the library. Great so far. Structured beautifully.

Have an audiobook of Our Kind of Traitor for travel this week. That is if I don't listen to the Dave Barry one I got first.

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:15 pm

This book was great - finished it in one day:

Started this last night and liking the first 50 or so pages:

Post by **brian** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:18 pm

Pruitt wrote:Wild book. A bit too much about the author, but mind blowing.

Any Michiganders read this? Thoughts?

I missed that you posted this. The author is actually my cousin so I read it right after it came out. Sadly, it's all too true.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:05 pm

brian wrote:
Pruitt wrote:Wild book. A bit too much about the author, but mind blowing.

Any Michiganders read this? Thoughts?

I missed that you posted this. The author is actually my cousin so I read it right after it came out. Sadly, it's all too true.

Appalling. This book could have been written about a city in Africa or a poorer Asian country.

Post by **brian** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:31 pm

Inasmuch as I really like Charlie, he can be kind of a drama queen though. I'd recommend this book for a much more nuanced look at the state of Detroit right now.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Jul 30, 2013 7:39 pm

Listened to a Dave Barry book, I'll mature when i'm dead.

Solid, if unspectacular, Dave Barry. His twilight satire was phenomenal, though.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Jul 31, 2013 8:36 am

Steve of phpBB wrote:
Bensell wrote:Reading these two:

I read that after getting it for Christmas.

Quite interesting. It's a part of history that doesn't get much play, including the ethnic cleansing of Germans from Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia right after the war.

Finishing this one up today. It's really sad how little I knew about all of that.

bfj · Post by **bfj** » Fri Aug 02, 2013 12:27 pm

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

My 12 year old and I read this together so we could discuss it. This was assigned reading across all grades of his middle school. A great book if you want to have a wide range of interesting discussions with your 5-12th graders. This book hits on lots of issues that they face as they hit this age range. My reading now is almost exclusively books that he reads so I can make sure he is doing the reading and it gives him someone to talk books with.

So if you have any questions about Percy Jackson or The Kane Chronicles, feel free to ask away.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:35 pm

Devil in the White City was superb. What does it say about me that two of my favorite Non-Fiction books(The Professor and the Madman being the other) both were tales about the building of something gargantuan, with a man on one side of each story who was clearly insane?

Very well researched. I liked TPATM a bit better, but this was very well done. Structured beautifully.

vandwagon · Post by **vandwagon** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 3:29 pm

Pruitt wrote:
brian wrote:
Pruitt wrote:Wild book. A bit too much about the author, but mind blowing.

Any Michiganders read this? Thoughts?

I missed that you posted this. The author is actually my cousin so I read it right after it came out. Sadly, it's all too true.
Appalling. This book could have been written about a city in Africa or a poorer Asian country.

I have this book on my list to pick up sometime soon. I'm very interested in reading it.

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 3:40 pm

Set in Hong Kong between the 1930s and 1990s. Good summer reading.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Aug 05, 2013 7:34 pm

Georges Simenon is probably my favourite author of all time. And considering the fact that he wrote 400 novels (giove or take), it is nice to know that I can keep discovering new books that he wrote.

This one is really good:

BTTG · Post by **BTTG** » Tue Aug 06, 2013 2:20 am

Amazing, a one-month old child has not really slowed reading down, have plowed through these the last month:

Quick thoughts:
Millennium - a complete slog, interesting and enlightening in parts but really hard going
A Delicate Truth - among the best post-Smiley books by Le Carre, even if he does write dialogue in a way that people never have and never would speak
Levels of Life - heartbreaking and touching, but surprisingly forgettable
Brief History of Time - might need another read, it's obviously pretty expansive - still, well worth the effort

On to:

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Aug 06, 2013 12:16 pm

I read Night in the past 20 hours or so. Chilling and powerful. Should be required high-school reading before the likes of any fiction.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Tue Aug 06, 2013 1:23 pm

Bensell wrote:The Interestings was excellent. Based on rush's recommendation I started this today:

The Cardinal bias may turn you off :D

phxgators · Post by **phxgators** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:39 am

BTTG wrote:Amazing, a one-month old child has not really slowed reading down

Just wait a few months...

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 11:45 am

Currently

Then on to

and

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:22 pm

I can't make it through half of a Matthew Berry column. I can't imagine attempting his book.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:36 pm

It's not all that bad, it's fluff, so started last night and will probably finish at lunch today.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 3:31 pm

Rush2112 wrote:It's not all that bad, it's fluff, so started last night and will probably finish at lunch today.

I just find him painfully unfunny and annoying. I just read his column to do the exact opposite of what he advises.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:41 pm

The Sybian wrote:
Rush2112 wrote:It's not all that bad, it's fluff, so started last night and will probably finish at lunch today.
I just find him painfully unfunny and annoying. I just read his column to do the exact opposite of what he advises.

As do I.

The guy has the easiest gig in sports media - being a fantasy football "expert." Recommend seven QBs and hey, presto! one of them will have a big week.

This book is a riot.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:36 pm

Pruitt wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
Rush2112 wrote:It's not all that bad, it's fluff, so started last night and will probably finish at lunch today.
I just find him painfully unfunny and annoying. I just read his column to do the exact opposite of what he advises.
As do I.

The guy has the easiest gig in sports media - being a fantasy football "expert." Recommend seven QBs and hey, presto! one of them will have a big week.

This book is a riot.

Cool, I had no idea Mary Roach had a new book out. I read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers and have two of her other books downloaded. I think she would be a fascinating person to hang out with. Stiff is a phenomenal read. Tells some amazing and disgusting and shocking uses for cadavers that are donated "for science." Some of the military experiments were awesome, but i have a feeling the families of the deceased wouldn't be happy to know that is where their loved one's body ended up, exploded on an artillery range or shot the fuck up.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 2:30 am

Started reading Born To Run finally. I'm about a third of the way in and I like it a lot.

Overall, I have this knack for owning books and never actually bothering to read them. It's like I think I'll get to them through osmosis or something. It's funny when people look at my bookcase they make this weird face and can only go "Wow...what a wild set of books you have. There's no particular genre and they all seem pretty cool." Then I say "I have yet to read most of these, so I'll let you know....eventually." For a moment I feel smart and then I'm too much of an honest person to keep the lie afloat.