The Swamp

Got Alex Trebek's autobiography for my birthday.

Some interesting stuff about growing up in Northern Ontario and his early days at the Canadian Broadcasting System, and the last bit was oddly touching.

Just comes across like a bland, slightly arrogant but very decent guy. And dare I say it, his last few chapters were touching.

In order to return to my usual cynical self, reading some Graham Greene:


Always forget about him when I'm looking for books. A great writer.

Just finished



now



with parts of this read as time permits

Liked that Chitlin' Circuit book.

I've been meaning to read Brighton Rock for a long time. And, the Chitlin' circuit one looks interesting, too.

Right now, I'm reading Ron Chernow's Grant. Interesting, but it's a 1,000 page slog.

Next up:

cruising through this:

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 5:15 pm cruising through this:

I'm reading The Wandering Hill, which is a historical fiction by Larry McMurtry and features carson as a character. I do love some Hampton Sides, too, so I am interested in your book as well.

I'll send it your way when I'm done. (Assuming you still read the physical books.)

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 5:40 pm I'll send it your way when I'm done. (Assuming you still read the physical books.)

All I read. I’ll listen to audio books but I can’t do ereaders.

I read Blood and Thunder a couple years ago. I thought it was great.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 5:10 pm I've been meaning to read Brighton Rock for a long time. And, the Chitlin' circuit one looks interesting, too.

It is. I think he dives a bit into the weeds at times, but just being able to pull a list of musicians to listen to is worth it.

and James Brown started out as a Little Richard impersonator of sorts..LR was so huge he was getting overbooked so James and the Flames would take dates when LR was double-booked, or travel didn't make sense. He would play the Little Richard tunes than end the show with Please, Please, Please (which is supposedly inspired by something Little Richard wrote on a napkin James had.

Just started and am devouring this one



Fantastic so far - reminds me of "Bonfire of the Vanities" and that is high praise.

Must give a trigger warning - there are some heart rending scenes involving a severely autistic child.

Reading this before I send it to AB for his Christmas present:

Just ordered that from the library.

It looks hilarious.

and



(It's not that great but a good nerd beach read.)

I’ve been greatly enjoying the Joe Abercrombie ‘First Law’ trilogy. GoT(ish), but good characters and legitimately non-predictable so far, which I’ve enjoyed.

Heard an awesome interview with the author on NPR so reserved the book. Just a great read

EdRomero wrote: ↑Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:34 pm
Heard an awesome interview with the author on NPR so reserved the book. Just a great read

I'm just finishing this...its great.

Switching back and forth between


And



Ready player two is not good

I'll eventually read Ready Player Two. I read Ready Player One only because the movie was coming out. It was an ok book, but I can totally get the criticism it received.

Deacon King Kong is on Obama's list for 2020, amongst others.

RP2 is even more of a nerd beach read, but hey it's fun.

as for RP1, not nearly enough Rush content in the movie as opposed to the book. Fail.

curious why we haven't seen a current president's 2020 reading list.

I finished the last book of the Dresden Files the day after Christmas. I ugly cried so hard at the last page when, on Christmas morning, the first line of that page is "I love you, Dad" to his dead Dad on Christmas morning. I held it in for like 5 minutes before a good 20-minute cry.

Grandma Gatewood's Walk was probably the last book I finished. Really dig Ben Montgomery.

Finally got the library card/Overdrive set up, and I've got Tyll reserved. Heard that one was good.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Fri Jan 01, 2021 5:51 pm

EdRomero wrote: ↑Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:34 pm
Heard an awesome interview with the author on NPR so reserved the book. Just a great read

I'm just finishing this...its great.

Thanks for the recommendation, boys. Just read (listened) to this and really enjoyed it. It's a unique story with some quirky characters and really paints a picture on the lives of the oddly connected characters. A fun read that really pulled me into their world.

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:42 pm
Finally got the library card/Overdrive set up, and I've got Tyll reserved. Heard that one was good.

It is good.

I'm halfway through this one and really enjoying it.

Pruitt, meant to thank you on the game the other night for the Brighton Rock mention. It was an outstanding book.

Giff wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:45 am Pruitt, meant to thank you on the game the other night for the Brighton Rock mention. It was an outstanding book.

Greene just evokes setting so well.

Pinkie is such a nasty character.

I guess it's due to my listening to a crapload of music because of working from home, but I've been into these lately.

and this was interesting. Fritos, Doritios, and Cheetos are all the same thing (which makes perfect sense.)

:Looks bitterly at you all reading for fun:

Gets science-y but enjoying it 3/4 through. Really drives home how misunderstood and maligned Darwinian natural selection is. Also feeling like I never have to bother reading Origin of Species as this is almost like an annotation of it.

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 4:53 pm

Gets science-y but enjoying it 3/4 through. Really drives home how misunderstood and maligned Darwinian natural selection is. Also feeling like I never have to bother reading Origin of Species as this is almost like an annotation of it.

I read that back when it came out. I loved it.

Bill Browder's Red Notice. I've heard Browder on a number of podcasts, and it's a fascinating story. Browder was a fund manager who was one of the first to go into Russia after the fall of communism and invest in the newly privatized companies. He stood up to some oligarchs that tried to sabotage some of his holdings, and his accountant, Sergei Magnitsky, uncovered schemes by low level bureaucrats and police officers to essentially steal ownership of corporations and take $100s of millions in fraudulent tax returns from those corporations. Magnitsky uncovered the scheme and was arrested, tortured and eventually died in a Russian prison without ever facing charges. Browder worked to get Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act, which held the Russian officials involved responsible (and likely froze up to a $1 Billion dollars of Putin's stolen wealth). The Magnitsky Act was the subject of the inafamous Trump Tower meeting in which Don Jr and Paul Manafort met with a Russian agent offering dirt on Hillary. The book didn't go into the Trump Tower meeting, but was a fascinating look into early Russian investment markets and more importantly the depths of corruption in the Russian government, and Putin's willingness to target or assassinate anyone who stands up to him.

Rush2112 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:57 am RP2 is even more of a nerd beach read, but hey it's fun.

I thought Ready Player Two was fun but a lot depends on what you're interested in because it gets boring when he nerds out about stuff you don't care about.

[+] spoiler

Loved the stuff about John Hughes movies but got bored with the LOTR stuff

I really enjoyed this book. It was years since I read the series and forgot most of the details of the previous books but that didn't matter. Really a good read if you enjoyed the Hunger Games series.

Something a bit different - huge collection of updated mythological stories and legends. Some fantastic stories in here.

I'm halfway through What's the Master with Kansas?

It's good, but it's kinda like reading everything I've witnessed over the past several years and being reminded that some Americans are just trash human beings -- as if I could ever forget.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:14 pm I'm halfway through What's the Master with Kansas?

It's good, but it's kinda like reading everything I've witnessed over the past several years and being reminded that some Americans are just trash human beings -- as if I could ever forget.

I read that 15 years ago and all I remember about it is being pissed off about everything. Good thing everything has improved since then.

The books I've read most recently:

"Gomorrah" is unbelievably good. Especially because it's true.