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What are you reading right NOW?!?!

seawolf17 Jun 13 2005 09:59 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 13 2005 10:00 AM

Larry Kirwan's Green Suede Shoes -- if you're a Black 47 fan, this is an enjoyable read. Who knew Bridie and Gertie were real? Kirwan takes the songs and uses them as a backdrop to his autobiography. It's a neat read, drawing both from Irish history (James Connolly, Michael Collins, et al) and personal history. I'm only about halfway through it; it's one of the first books that I've really sat down and dug into in a long time. (Embracing my quarter-Irish heritage, I suppose.) Worth checking out. (And if you're not a Black 47 fan, then run, don't walk, down to your neighborhood record store and pick up "Fire of Freedom" or "Home of the Brave.")

Willets Point Jun 13 2005 10:00 AM

I always hoped that "Funky Ceili" was satirical, not autobiographical. So Bridie's a real person, huh? What about Maria? By the way, at one of the Irish Nights at Shea, Larry Kirwan sat in the row behind me. He really does have green suede shoes.

metirish Jun 13 2005 10:03 AM

very cool seawolf, I'll have to get that one..

seawolf17 Jun 13 2005 10:03 AM

Maria is, in fact, in the book. A lot of Black 47's songs are pretty satirical; so it could be that he's inventing these characters in his history to match the songs. But somehow, I doubt it. It really seems legit. As I started getting into it, my wife asked about Gertie (of "Czechoslovakia"). I told her there's no way that story was true, but sure enough, it's in there; she apparently married his friend Jim, and the story is true to the song.

Yancy Street Gang Jun 13 2005 10:07 AM

Dreadnaught by Robert K. Massie. Every year I try to read four or five big fat ambitious books. This is one of them, at 908 pages. It's billed as a look at the personalities that shaped World War I. So far it's living up to its billing, with profiles of the British and German royal families and Otto Von Bismarck. I'm hoping it won't eventually get too much into battle logistics. That kind of stuff is slow reading for me. The fact that the cover illustration is a battleship and not a human makes me wonder what the main focus of the book will turn out to be.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 13 2005 11:48 AM

It's a murder mystery set in Princeton. A light read, and I'm amused by all of the local places that are mentioned.

cooby Jun 13 2005 11:51 AM

Just so you're not the victim About a year or so ago, I read a murder mystery set in Hottie's home town too, and I asked him about some of the local joints and he assured me they do exist

jerseyshore Jun 13 2005 12:36 PM

Batty31 Jun 13 2005 12:44 PM

The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt (Anne Rice's sister)

TheOldMole Jun 13 2005 02:07 PM

The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder. Fifty cents in hardcover, yard sale. Published in 1968 - I would have thought he'd been dead by then. People have pretty much forgotten him as a novelist, but this is terrific.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 18 2005 05:23 PM

This arrived in today's mail - It's the third book of Unshelved comics, and it will almost catch me up to the time that I found out about the comic strip that's set in the Mallville Library (thanks WP!).

RealityChuck Jun 23 2005 03:47 PM

Polaris, by the vastly overlooked, Jack McDevitt. McDevitt has been publishing great hard SF novels for about a decade now, but no one seems to notice him.

Willets Point Jun 23 2005 03:56 PM

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by Jim Wallis.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 29 2005 03:11 PM

Sara Paretsky is one of the few writers whose books I will purchas right away in hard cover. I love her V.I. Warshawski series (don't judge it by the godawful movie that came out in the 90s - the books are much better). This just came out, and barnesandnoble.com delivered it today. I'm a happy camper - these are interesting stories with layered and rich characters.

metirish Jun 30 2005 10:53 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 01 2005 11:09 AM

not reading this but flipping through it, got the 2001 edition back then and now the 2005 edition, full of great facts, feats and firsts,and a lot of obscure stuff....

Willets Point Jun 30 2005 10:57 PM

On SW17's reccomendation, I'm reading Green Suede Shoes. To my relief, the story of the real Bridie is nothing like the song. This book is interesting to compare to Liam Clancy's Mountain of Women which tells the story of an earlier generation's Irish musician coming to America. Both Kirwan and Clancy seem like they're full of shit (at least) half the time, but their writing is so engaging you hang on every word.

Edgy DC Jun 30 2005 11:12 PM

Kirwan's plays all deal with mythology -- Cuchulainn, Stephen Daedelus, the Beatles -- so it's no surprise that he tried to mythologize himself. Clancy sounds like he's long forgotten the distinction between the facts and whatever makes the better story.

TheOldMole Jul 01 2005 05:17 AM

I just picked up a bunch of paperback mysteries, and since I keep forgetting where I put then down, I seem to be reading them all at once. A John Dunning "Bookman" myster. A Donald Westlake with Dortmunder, and a John Sandford with Kidd. A Donald Crais, who's new to me, but comes with impressive blurbs. So far, not sure I'm impressed.

seawolf17 Jul 02 2005 08:36 AM

I wanted Crossworld by Marc Romano -- a sort-of history of crossword puzzles and the National Crossword Puzzle Championships -- to be better than it appears to be, because I really, really enjoyed Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis, the Scrabble book. But it's pretty rambling (and I'm only about 60 pages in), and I'm not too impressed. But we'll see how the rest of it goes.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 02 2005 09:07 AM

My not-very-well-rounded library action: Just finished: THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON --Terry Leach discusses his life in baseball. Interesting perspective, told well. REading now: LICENSE TO DEAL, Jerry Crasnik --So far, overly friendly profile of a snotty baseball agent, Matt Sosnik, who represents Dontrelle Willis + lots of other guys. It's an interesting look inside the world of baseball agents but I so far don't think much of the main character or understand why Crasnick is so taken with him other than for the access. On the shelf: FORGING GENIUS, Stephen Goldman --MFY fan writes of the early years of Casey Stengel

metsmarathon Jul 02 2005 07:28 PM

[url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0689878451/103-3276842-6108638?v=glance]"And Tango Makes Three"[/url] a touching childrens story about a pair of gay penguins, who build a nest but cannot fill it with an egg, and the kindly zookeeper who helps them in their quest to build a family, introducing shell-bound, and titular, "Tango" to their life. a briskly entertaining read that teaches us understanding and apreciation of alternative aviary lifestyles, and also that "Wasabi" is an awesome name for a penguin.

seawolf17 Jul 06 2005 11:27 AM

Rereading this now, in preparation for July 16.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 06 2005 03:33 PM

My daughter is re-reading all five of them, in preparation for the 16th.

soupcan Jul 06 2005 03:55 PM

="metsmarathon"] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0689878451/103-3276842-6108638?v=glance]"And Tango Makes Three"[/url] a touching childrens story about a pair of gay penguins, who build a nest but cannot fill it with an egg, and the kindly zookeeper who helps them in their quest to build a family, introducing shell-bound, and titular, "Tango" to their life. a briskly entertaining read that teaches us understanding and apreciation of alternative aviary lifestyles, and also that "Wasabi" is an awesome name for a penguin. Gay penguins? Are you fucking kidding me?

seawolf17 Jul 06 2005 03:57 PM

[url=http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/cns/2002-06-10/591.asp]link[/url]

soupcan Jul 06 2005 04:00 PM

Two reasons my head is spinning: 1) That there is a children's book about gay penguins 2) That Seawolf had that link in his back pocket ready to fire at will.

seawolf17 Jul 06 2005 04:06 PM

Nah. Just googled gay penguins and it was the first thing that came up.

Iubitul Jul 06 2005 04:08 PM

But Soup - it's a true story.... OE (this is the one time I could have used the rolled eyes smiley)

soupcan Jul 06 2005 04:25 PM

The book and who its target audience is begs a question - Does a parent give that book to their child assuming that the kid will gain a better understanding of people and develop a greater sense of tolerance and acceptance? And if the child happens to be gay it will show them that it is 'okay'? That would of course be a wonderful thing. What happens though if the message the child gleans is one that teaches the kid that the very normal amorous feelings a developing adolescent heterosexual child can have for his/her same sex friends are fine and should be pursued? It's not such a simple issue for a parent and I think a children's book that attempts to address the question trivializes the complexities of the issue and does a disservice to those people who have struggled to be respected as openly gay men and women. All this being said I really don't know my ass from my elbow about any of it but I do have three kids and desperately want them to grow up happy healthy, respectful, tolerant, secure individuals. OE: a nip and a tuck.

Willets Point Jul 06 2005 04:37 PM

I think at least of part of the solution is that the parent does not give the book and then run away. They talk about it with their kids and that helps fill in the gaps.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 06 2005 04:38 PM

My kid had to learn about homosexuality from The Simpsons. Luckily, the Homer's Phobia episode aired shortly after a friend of ours had come out of the closet, so at least it gave us something to work with in explaining it to her. Which is probably the reason for those kind of books - to give parents/adults some kind of framework so that they can discuss the subject with youngsters.

soupcan Jul 06 2005 04:44 PM

Of course, but the book says its geared to Kindergarten through 3rd grade. Mine fall into that category. I think it's too young an age for this subject. I could be wrong I just don't know and it's my not knowing that is scary. As a parent you think that any mistake or error in judgement you make with your kids could very well scar them. I suppose just introducing the idea that men can like each other and be with each other as can women, is not a bad thing and since I haven't read the book I shouldn't make assumptions about its content. To sum up: Parenting is hard.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 06 2005 05:03 PM

To sum up - agreed! But we were in a position where a close family friend had just come out, and we were going to meet his significant other in the not too distant future. My daughter was in that age range at the time. A book like that would have served to open the discussion, which was a discusstion that we couldn't avoid having. So instead it was more like, "Remember when Homer was acting so dumb about that guy?" I think the book would probably have been preferable.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 06 2005 05:15 PM

The book doesn't make sense as a general reading item for kids, but I think a book like that could be helpful if a child has gay parents, or a gay aunt or uncle, or gay neighbors, etc. and is struggling to understand what's going on. But I don't see the point of introducing the concept to young children if there's no outside reason to do so.

soupcan Jul 06 2005 05:21 PM

You'd be surprised how much sexuality comes into your home through the media. It's freakin' everywhere. And again I'm not sure its a bad thing. It could be the greatest thing in the world for kids to have exposure to these issues at a young age. It could truly lead to a more tolerant society if people are growing up with these idealogies all around them since they were young. I'm not so concerned that exposure to alternative lifestyles would act as a 'recruiting device' as I am of the belief that being hetrerosexual or homosexual is not something you can choose, I'm more concerned about experimentation and a general confusion as to what a child believes he i/she is or 'should' be.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 06 2005 05:33 PM

I hear what you're seeing soup. I'm just not as worried that learning about homosexuality is going to make kids any more subject to experimentation than they would be anyway.

TheOldMole Jul 06 2005 08:51 PM

[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/movies/06sex.html?]Kids, sex, movies[/url]

Frayed Knot Jul 06 2005 11:06 PM

What are you reading right NOW?!?! Why this thread of course! Although when I'm not reading the CPF, I'm working on: Lance Armstrong's War -- Daniel Coyle Trying to be topical here with 'Le Tour' going on. I've never read either of the books that Lance wrote (or, more accurately, had ghost-written). I have a kind of knee-jerk aversion to auto-biographies to start with, and sports auto's in particular. I guess I'm too leery of them being so one-sided and uninteresting that I rarely bother. I read almost none of the plethora of '86 Mets books for instance. But this one is a journalistic look at Lance's attempt for TdF #6 ('04) and a brief view of bicycle racing in general and at one of the most amazing athletic stories (and life stories) of our time in particular. Pretty good so far. I haven't reached the part about the race yet. The front part of the book deals with the preparation and back stories that go into training for a race and on the types who go into bike racing in the first place (these racers, they're a strange lot). Combine a huge star who can be a tough boss to the "team" that surrounds him, then throw in a controversial medical "advisor", a rock-star girlfriend, some kooky yet determined opponents, a relentless and skeptical press -- and put it all together during an attempt to set an all-time record in a ridiculously demanding sport and you've got yourself an interesting story.

metirish Jul 07 2005 12:17 PM

Just started this....

Willets Point Jul 07 2005 12:34 PM

Reading this freaky book for a book club: If Margaret Atwood was that paranoid about right-wing Christians in 1986 then she must be stir-crazy now. I think that U2's song "Acrobat" was inspired by this book.

metsmarathon Jul 07 2005 04:38 PM

zero game is very good. they twist things up right in the beginning even! i think it was my second meltzer book, and it won't be my last. edit: i'm now reading: which while well written is coming along rather slowly. ploddingly i might even suggest. its not so much that the book itself isnt interesting and doesnt draw me in, its just that i've no real current vacation time during which to read, and i'm not riding the bike as much in the gym, so i've little reading time right now. but it is an interesting story of the fledgling new amsterdam, of its chaotic and fitful start, and of its possible influence on the shape of america to come, what with such nicities as religious tolerance and meltingpotness, etc.

cooby Jul 07 2005 06:05 PM

Now that looks interesting. Is that book new?

metsmarathon Jul 08 2005 09:08 AM

hardcover came out a year ago, paperback came out in april. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400078679/qid=1120827662/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-9890835-6055307?v=glance&s=books

cooby Jul 08 2005 09:09 AM

Very timely, I was about to order some books from them in the next few days. Thanks, marathon!

PatchyFogg Jul 12 2005 10:44 AM

Got this from the publisher: BROOKLYN, NY – Sports columnist Maury Allen will sign copies of his new book, Brooklyn Remembered: The 1955 Days of the Dodgers, on Friday, July 22 at KeySpan Park located at 1904 Surf Ave. as part of a weekend celebration honoring the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. Allen will sign for fans from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. The Brooklyn Cyclones host the Jamestown Jammers at 7:00pm. The Brooklyn Baseball Gallery at KeySpan Park will also feature a display with artifacts from the legendary 1955 team.

Willets Point Jul 15 2005 01:05 AM

Edgy DC wrote: Clancy sounds like he's long forgotten the distinction between the facts and whatever makes the better story. Rereading this I discovered that was an apt description of my late grandfather as well, but it was one of his most endearing traits. I mean we heard the same stories over and over again, so it was nice they got better each time.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 19 2005 04:14 PM

After finishing Harry Potter 6, I'm back to this - Honestly, it's a piece of trash. It's the first in the series (so far numbered at three) of mysteries set in Princeton, and it's by far the worst written. But I'm a completionist, so I'll tough it out. At least the recipe in the back looks like it's worth trying. After that, I have this, which I picked up on the sale rack at Barnes & Noble the night I bought the Harry Potter book - OE - the Waldron mystery was truly stupid. By far the worst in the series. Even the mention of local places didn't make this readible (so it would be torture for the rest of you). The Lupica novel, as expected, is an entertaining read (I'm only about 10% into it, but I like his style)

Yancy Street Gang Jul 28 2005 08:46 PM

The other day I finished The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. It's about the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and a serial killer who was active in the city at the time. Interesting and breezy, but not as good as its buzz indicated. Now I'm finally reading Moneyball. I'm about to start a chapter titled "Giambi's Hole." I'm not sure I want to read a chapter about that!

cooby Aug 02 2005 09:54 AM

A strange pairing, to be sure...

seawolf17 Aug 02 2005 10:04 AM

I like when people wake up threads like this to remind me to post. I wanted a paperback for bed (hardcover books are too heavy when your arms get tired), and this grabbed my eye. I enjoy Stephen King, but this is decidedly blah. Maybe it's Peter Straub's (his co-author) fault; I don't know. But I'm about 100 pages in, and it has yet to grab me at all. The main character, a twelve-year-old boy named Jack Sawyer, is completely unreal... he acts and is treated too much like an adult. It seems like a similar story to The Dark Tower, which I couldn't get into either. I don't know if I'm going to get much further in this one.

cooby Aug 02 2005 12:47 PM

Seawolf, try this one... I don't generally like Stephen King, and this one has some longwinded skip overable parts as usual, but I liked it...

metirish Aug 02 2005 01:19 PM

Sine I started reading Michael Connelly a few months ago I'm ripping through all his stuff...

metirish Aug 02 2005 01:19 PM

this one is next...

Elster88 Aug 04 2005 03:41 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Aug 05 2005 02:34 PM

The theme song to Magnum, P.I. OE: Oops, I thought this was the what are you listening to thread.

Sandgnat Aug 05 2005 11:05 AM

Just read two good books on my seven million hour flight back from Vietnam that I would recommend: - The Bad Guys Won! A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, The Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform by Jeff Pearlman I'm sure most of you probably read this already and there was probably a thread about it at some point. - Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen - Can't get enough of writers like Hiaasen, Tom Robbins, Christopher Moore, Christopher Buckley, Dave Barry, etc. If you like satire, you will enjoy this one.

Edgy DC Aug 05 2005 11:09 AM

I bought books the other day by Jonahan Lethem and Jonathan Franzen. I'm not sure which one I'm reading. Also, I grabbed this new at random. He effectively uses a voice I like to call the third person sympathetic.

TheOldMole Aug 06 2005 01:28 PM

Have you considered Jonathan Swift, Jonathan Kellerman, or Jonathan Safran Foer?

ScarletKnight41 Aug 06 2005 03:26 PM

I picked this up to read on vacation, and I've been enjoying it - It's a chick book, but a very well written one.

Edgy DC Aug 07 2005 12:01 AM

Jonathan Swift. Read most of his catalog. Excellent, when I can penetrate it. I am a former Irish Studies student after all. Jonathan Kellerman. No, I haven't. Jonathan Safran Foer. Actually recommended to me by the clerk who saw my Jonny-centered purchase.

ScarletKnight41 Aug 10 2005 05:09 PM

Getting a jump on my coursework. Especially since the IT course scares the heck out of me!

martin Aug 10 2005 05:17 PM

just finished: freakonomics: another overrated pop science book. not bad, but not worthy of the press it gets. i put it in the same boat with the tipping point. reading now: the bad guys won: i was kid in louisiana in 1986, a braves fan and a national league fan. i stayed up late and cheered for mookie wilson in game 6 because he is from my dad's hometown and played on the same high school team. it was awesome. the book is fun. i just read the part about lenny dykstra insulting a fat lady at an autograph signing and i was amused. also reading: the fabric of the cosmos by brian greene. this one is so hard to grasp i have to read a few chapters and let in sink in for a while. space/time, quantum stuff. interesting, bu too hard. next: i dunno, maybe i will read the latest michael crichton and see how cheesy he is now. i would prefer to go buy that new letters of richard feynman book.

ScarletKnight41 Aug 10 2005 06:15 PM

MK received this for his birthday, and he just offered to let me borrow it. Is that a good kid or what? :) OE - I'm still early into this one, but I'm finding it a bit too conversational and cursory for my taste. It should be a quick read, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone other than the most compulsive completionists.

cooby Aug 13 2005 09:44 AM

Almost through with "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" though I have to admit I don't know what's going on half the time. The scene seems to change at will.

TheOldMole Aug 13 2005 06:09 PM

I just finished reading too many mystery novels in a row...have to switch to something more substantial.

cooby Aug 13 2005 08:35 PM

Went to the library today and got and and

TheOldMole Aug 13 2005 09:33 PM

Dick Francis is great.

cooby Aug 15 2005 02:39 PM

www.jumptheshark.com My favorite way to waste time

Willets Point Aug 15 2005 03:09 PM

Just finished reading: A work of fiction, but full of historical detail. A great read for New York City history buffs like myself.

ScarletKnight41 Aug 21 2005 01:06 PM

I bought this for MK, but he hasn't shown any interest in it so far, so I figured taht I'd read it myself. On Edit - I looked this over today, and it's a nice instructional book for young pitchers with a lot of practical advice. Seaver is constantly advising the kids to figure out what works for them individually as opposed to mindlessly following one guideline, and he suggests a lot of exercises for building strength and flexibility. As the mother of a Little League pitcher, I feel that this is an excellent book for kids who want to learn how to pitch better.

Valadius Aug 21 2005 11:20 PM

Just finishing up "The Great Shark Hunt", by the late, great, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Soon to start up its sequel, "Generation of Swine".

Willets Point Aug 22 2005 04:05 PM

An odd little book with a new take on art appreciation. I think. It's all like post-modern and shit.

MFS62 Aug 26 2005 04:09 PM

I re-reading "War and Peace In the Space Age" by General James Gavin. It originally came out around 1960. The author looked at what had happened to the French at Viet Nam and predicted that future wars would not involve large armies in face-to-face combat. He argued for a Mobile, Air-Transportable force that could respond to small, non conventional wars anywhere in the world at a momemt's notice. It took the US several painful years after the book came out ot realize he was correct. But until that happened, he was considered an "odd-ball" by his Pentagon cohorts. The points he makes are still meaningful today in terms of being able to rapidly responsd to insurgencies and terrorism. Later

Rockin' Doc Aug 26 2005 09:09 PM

I started this one today. It is a historical look at near heroes, "goats", and those that were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lots of post-season history for the avid fans.

ScarletKnight41 Sep 17 2005 06:11 PM

This is one of Lupica's older books. I had it on my Barnes and Noble wish list for those times that I had an order that was just short of the $25 minimum for free shipping. That day came last week, when I had to buy an APA style manual for school. I figured I would start this one, since I'm taking MK to Shea on the train, and I need something to do while he's playing his Gameboy (there's no way I'm schlepping my IT textbook to Shea!). I've read three or four of Lupica's fiction books, and have found them to be good, entertaining reads.

seawolf17 Sep 29 2005 04:00 PM

They finally heard our pleas and released a Bill Simmons column anthology. It's only his best Red Sox-based ones, but I figure if we buy it, they'll eventually publish his complete works. He's doing a book tour stop at Holy Cross in Worcester, MA tonight; I will be there.

seawolf17 Sep 30 2005 06:36 PM

Good times last night at Holy Cross, at the Sports Guy book signing. He packed a ballroom... mostly HC students, but I sat next to two guys who drove out from UMass, and talked to two Met fans on the autograph line who had driven out for the event as well. Simmons was funny; he gave a quick twenty-minute speech with advice on college life, answered some questions, and signed my book with a "Let's Go Mets," which was funny. Big thumbs up.

cooby Oct 04 2005 08:19 AM

This seems okay so far. I took it off of a desk at work and brought it home with me

Edgy DC Oct 04 2005 08:29 AM

seawolf17 Oct 04 2005 03:38 PM

I enjoyed the Neyer/James book. I like how they included a Sidd Finch report.

cooby Oct 04 2005 09:47 PM

Picked this one off the same desk today, seems promising

seawolf17 Oct 04 2005 09:53 PM

Note to Cooby's colleagues: stop leaving books around, because Cooby's a bit of a klepto.

cooby Oct 04 2005 10:00 PM

Nah, it's an abandoned desk. Plus I thought I hit the motherlode in the lunchroom today until I noticed they all had titles like "Destiny" and "Passion Lasso" and "The Cowboy's Child". Shit like Jude Devereax, etc. Puke. So out of 250 books, I found two and felt good about it.

SI Metman Oct 05 2005 04:11 PM

I just went to the public library for the first time in well over 6 years since I've run out of books that I owned to read. I took out the old library card and the librarian looked at it like it was some kind of artifact since they evidently changed cards a few years back. I took out this book since I'm still on a Tom Clancy kick: This was the one I just finished:

Yancy Street Gang Oct 05 2005 04:32 PM

[url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684848090/104-8825738-3403108?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance]Pillar of Fire : America in the King Years 1963-65[/url] by Taylor Branch.

Willets Point Oct 06 2005 09:49 AM

Just started... I hope the actual book is less obtuse than the introduction.

cooby Oct 11 2005 02:16 PM

These were lying around the office and nobody was even looking at them, so I picked them up... I've probably already read this

metirish Oct 11 2005 04:09 PM

I just started this.. ]FROM THE CRITICS Patrick Smith - BusinessWeek John Le Carre's The Constant Gardener ranks with The Russia House as the best he has produced since hitting his peak. If this new book is craft rather than art, it is craft of the very highest caliber. It is no mean feat to entertain while also making a reader think. Yet Le Carre pull this off admirably, weaving together several themes—corporate power, underdevelopment, globalization—that will resonate with a wide audience. Book Magazine A young, beautiful Englishwoman, Tessa Quayle (think of Princess Diana's looks and Mother Teresa's missionary zeal) has been gruesomely murdered near Northern Kenya's Lake Turkana. Tessa had been traveling with Dr. Arnold Bluhm, a black African physician and fellow missionary who has since vanished. The police and Fleet Street have cast the attractive, charismatic Bluhm as her lover and murderer. Yet Justin Quayle, Tessa's devoted and much-older husband, a career diplomat at the British High Commission in Nairobi, has other suspicions. A decent, though not extraordinary, man, Justin is so devastated by his wife's brutal death that he begins a dangerous odyssey in hopes of understanding the mystery of her final days. Relentlessly following a trail of clues through Africa, Italy, Germany and Canada, Justin uncovers secrets about a multinational pharmaceutical firm and its new anti-TB drug, Dypraxa, which has been rushed to market in Africa despite serious side effects. Though the novel has a surfeit of beautiful women and not enough ambiguity between good and evil, Le Carré (author of The Russia House) delivers a deeply compelling and complex story, full of deceptions and betrayals. —James Schiff

Rockin' Doc Oct 11 2005 09:25 PM

Second book in a continuing series. I read the first book almost two years ago. When I received this one as a present, it ended up stored away in a box until I recently stumbled across it. Have been enjoying this one once I caught back up with all the characters. Hopefully, Santa will get me the third book for Christmas.

cooby Oct 11 2005 09:36 PM

Is this a new series? Did the first one end yet?

Edgy DC Oct 11 2005 10:01 PM

I didn't grow up on comics or really follow anything for a long time, but I had this one pushed on me back around 1991 and thought that David Mazzucchelli was born to draw Gotham in the same way that Alan Lee was born to paint Middle Earth. He changed the stakes for the artists that followed, swung things back toward DC. He and Miller changed the industry by going back to the beginning. I watched the Batman Begins movie and couldn't stop myself from comparing it to the graphic novel that inspired it.

rpackrat Oct 12 2005 03:19 PM

Just started it, but it's a good read. The book was written almost 50 years ago, but it remains highly relevant.

Rockin' Doc Oct 12 2005 06:07 PM

cooby - "Is this a new series? Did the first one end yet?" Babylon Rising is the newest series of books by Tim LaHaye. I believe the tenth and final book of the Left Behind series was written in the spring of 2004. I have not read any of the Left Behind books, but I have been told they are quite good. He was in the fourth or fifth book of the series when I first heard about them. To be honest, I was too lazy to start reading them when I was that far behind from the start. When I heard he was starting a new series, I decided to get on board at the beginning. I have fallen a little behind, but I'm currently making good time on book two and then I plan to read the third and latest book in January. Then I'll be back on track.

cooby Oct 12 2005 11:02 PM

Left Behind was good, for a while, in fact they were hot reading amongst my family. But I got the impression (wrong, perhaps) that they were milking that cash cow and what could have been a three or four book series turned into far more, and people just lost interest. Even my dad said that, and he rarely says a mean thing about anyone. I might give this new series a try

Willets Point Oct 19 2005 10:34 AM

The adventures of two brothers as they drive across Boston's suburbs to score some weed. During the Blizzard of 1978. Disguised as Red Cross workers. One of the funniest books I've read in a while.

ScarletKnight41 Oct 19 2005 10:38 AM

I took the boys to the middle school book fair yesterday, and we found this - It has a chapter on Turk Wendell. How could we not buy it <g>

Willets Point Oct 19 2005 10:46 AM

He's classified as "Just Plain Crazy" I hope. Who else is in there?

ScarletKnight41 Oct 19 2005 11:14 AM

I haven't had much of a chance to look at the book (my MLIS readings are taking up most of my time), but I did notice a chapter on Mark Fidrych, one of my favorites from the past.

TheOldMole Oct 29 2005 04:18 AM

An odd assortment: Lovely, sad, inspiring, the story of a beautiful young Cuban girl who becomes a cleaning woman in New York and grows old. Watching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead on cable the other night -- I saw the play on Broadway in its original run, thought it was one of the best things I'd ever seen in the theater. But Stoppard was just warming up. He's grown so much as an artist since then. Assigned reading for my blues class...a really significant piece of scholarly advocacy. Decided to try reading an online text, and went with this one, from the [url=http://www.infomotions.com/alex2/?cmd=authors]Alex catalog[/url]. Just started it...enjoying the old-fashioned storytelling.

seawolf17 Oct 29 2005 08:20 AM

Willets- I'm going to second the call on [u:0754f086ef]Puff[/u:0754f086ef]. Just finished it, and it's really well done. Thanks for the tip.

TheOldMole Oct 29 2005 09:36 AM

Looks good. I'll check it out too.

TheOldMole Oct 31 2005 07:52 AM

Any of you who have teenagers who don't yet know about these, the greatest of all baseball novels, by [url=http://www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/127/Kid%20from%20Tom.htm]John R. Tunis[/url]?

sharpie Oct 31 2005 08:54 AM

I read those books but I was in 5th or 6th grade, not a teenager. My teenaged son never read them. Prolly should have.

cooby Oct 31 2005 09:32 AM

I'm always looking for something good for my son to read, sports is one topic he hasn't lost interest in. Thanks for the hints, Old Mole. I also have to get a copy of Hahn Solo's book ordered for him

TheOldMole Oct 31 2005 12:28 PM

I gave them to my grandson when he was in 5th or 6th and he wasn't quite ready for them. But some kids will be. I just reread "The Kid Comes Back" and still loved it.

Edgy DC Oct 31 2005 12:42 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Nov 02 2005 07:01 PM

I cut some teeth on a few installments of Duane Decker's series following two generations of the fictional major league Blue Sox. Each book would be the story of how a player would find his way into the team's lineup --- often the player who is willing to sublimate his game to meet the team's needs would beat out a more arrogant multi-talented player who couldn't spell team without an I. Ms. Met would've loved them.

Willets Point Nov 02 2005 06:33 PM

I'm such a geek.

ScarletKnight41 Nov 02 2005 06:58 PM

Ooh - that looks good!

Willets Point Nov 02 2005 07:00 PM

You're such a geek!

ScarletKnight41 Nov 02 2005 07:01 PM

After a semester of IT and Human Information Behavior, I'm starved for something about actual libraries!

seawolf17 Nov 02 2005 08:21 PM

Hey, if you're going to be a librarian of the future, it's all about information, not books. Sounds like your program is on the ball. (I shoulda been a librarian.) Working my way through Michael Connelly's Detective Harry Bosch series right now. I'm up to book four, The Last Coyote, and it's really starting to get interesting. I think it's pretty basic police procedural novel stuff, but I haven't read anything else in that genre, so I'm enjoying them.

PatchyFogg Nov 04 2005 11:00 AM

Run, don't walk, and pick up[u:9b2ebaae9d] 52 Weeks [/u:9b2ebaae9d]by Dave Hollander. It contains 52 interviews with some of the giants (and not so giants) in the Sports World. The questions that he asks the athletes (past and present) are like nothing you've ever read before. The book just came out on Tuesday. He's also a longtime Mets fan to boot. Check out his website at www.davehollander.com

Willets Point Nov 08 2005 02:41 PM

Elster88 Nov 08 2005 03:12 PM

The Last Shot by Darcy Frey. An easy read and very interesting. Very sad too. I recommend. [url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618446710/103-1791422-4047062?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance[/url]

Rockin' Doc Nov 08 2005 08:27 PM

I started this last night. It is a collection of memories, interviews, and photos of the devastation that Hurricane Floyd wreaked upon our small city. This is of particular interest to me because I know many of the contributors as friends and neighbors. My family was among the fortunate that escaped the wrath of this storm with little more than inconveniences. I had many friends that were not as lucky. Many of my close friends lost their homes and/or businesses to the flood waters of Hurricane Floyd. Our entire city was changed forever by the damage left in the wake of the receding flood waters.

cooby Nov 11 2005 03:18 PM

This is pretty good. I found it in the breakroom, too. I sent for the book Patchy recommended above, 52 Weeks, along with Hahn Solo's book.

sharpie Nov 11 2005 03:24 PM

Cooby's colleague: Where'd my copy of Proof Of Intent go? I left in the break room while I went to the bathroom, came back and it was gone.

Yancy Street Gang Nov 11 2005 03:26 PM

You could have brought it into the bathroom with you, but then Larry David would consider it contaminated.

HahnSolo Nov 11 2005 03:32 PM

Cooby -- Thank you! I really mean it. Well, while I'm here, I just finished State of Fear by Michael Crichton. It's not his best book, but I think it's better than Prey, which was his most recent book. He also injected quite a bit of science fact into his fiction, even more than usual. Some of his revelations about the environment were quite eye-opening.

cooby Nov 11 2005 03:34 PM

My co workers would probably be quite surprised to learn that some of their abandoned books are temporarily distributed to various places in Pennsylvania, my mom has some, my daughter has one... The Martha Stewart book has proven to be quite popular in my family. Actually, though, except for a few of them lying on the break room table, and the ones on the unused desk, all of the ones I took were off the "borrowing shelf"

sharpie Nov 11 2005 03:54 PM

]Actually, though, except for a few of them lying on the break room table, and the ones on the unused desk, all of the ones I took were off the "borrowing shelf" I'm talking about those ones on the break room table. Having a nice break, reading Proof of Intent, leave it on the table for, like, two minutes, and poof it's gone.

Willets Point Nov 11 2005 04:03 PM

Cool book in which the author tries to expand on an historical event with passages written as if they were by the participants in the event themselves. Very controversial at the time of its release (1991) among historians.

Yancy Street Gang Nov 11 2005 04:09 PM

I read his book Citizens a few years ago and it was very interesting and very confusing. Is this book about one historical event in particular, or about a bunch of different ones?

Willets Point Nov 11 2005 04:33 PM

Two events: the death of General Wolfe in the 7 Years War and the murder of George Parkman at Harvard in the 1850's. They're slightly related in that Parkman's nephew Francis was an historian whose history helped mold the popular image of General Wolfe.

cooby Nov 11 2005 06:08 PM

sharpie wrote: ]Actually, though, except for a few of them lying on the break room table, and the ones on the unused desk, all of the ones I took were off the "borrowing shelf" I'm talking about those ones on the break room table. Having a nice break, reading Proof of Intent, leave it on the table for, like, two minutes, and poof it's gone. Hey, I'll put it back Monday...it's like messing with their heads

A Boy Named Seo Nov 16 2005 04:35 PM

John Albert was one time the drummer for Bad Religion and Christian Death and is also a recovering drug addict. Wrecking Crew is about how he and a bunch of other recovering junkies, alcoholics, sex addicts, and cross-dressers (okay, just one cross-dresser) form a hardball team here in LA, and how that team and the game of baseball gave all these guys something to care about, something to look forward to and work towards, and a supportive (if kinda fucked up) family that most of the guys on the team never had. It's a funny, often times sad, and strangely inspiring story. I think a lot of you would really dig it.

sharpie Nov 16 2005 04:39 PM

It was the suggested book for the CPF reading group but then that whole idea seemed to drift away.

A Boy Named Seo Nov 16 2005 04:40 PM

Oh, well it's a good one. You guys should read it.

A Boy Named Seo Nov 16 2005 05:17 PM

Here's another one I recently finished that most of you around here have probably read. If not, run don't walk to your nearest book dealer and secure yourself a copy. It's the first book I can remember immediately looking forward to the next read it as soon as I finished it. The Universal Baseball Association Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. by Robert Coover is about a single, lonesome 50-something year old guy who creates a dice baseball game that he soon becomes immersed in and before long, we don't know who is running the show, Henry over the game or vice versa. Cue eerie, dramatic music... Dum - dum- dum! Wonderfully written, very smart, incredibly funny, and if you were ever baseball dice guy/gal, you can sadly kind of indentify. One of my all-time faves. Here's an old cover.

sharpie Nov 16 2005 05:29 PM

A top 5 all-time baseball book.

Willets Point Nov 16 2005 05:33 PM

I'm doing some baseball reading too: First chapter is about Eddie Gaedal so I guess he decided not to build up to that.

seawolf17 Nov 16 2005 06:26 PM

Loved that Coover book. Big thumbs up.

sharpie Nov 16 2005 08:50 PM

Veeck - as in Wreck was also good. Not as good a the Coover book, but good.

Edgy DC Nov 16 2005 08:52 PM

A Boy Named Seo Nov 17 2005 12:53 PM Working only three days a week does not suck one bit...

Edgy, I dug that one a lot, though I've heard a bunch of critical critics didn't. Maybe it's because I was depressed when I read it and wished I was in their suicide gang. The only Hornby book I haven't really enjoyed was How to be Good and I loved the ending. I recently finished Silent Bob Speaks, and was pretty disappointed. I think Kevin Smith is really smart and funny, but this collection of essays from his weblog or whatever just provided a less-than-funny insight into the creator of a bunch of dick and fart jokes. I'd pass like gas on this unless you just love the guy. I've now just started Bob Dylan Chronicles, Vol. I and have Speaking with the Angel going on the side. That's another Hornby book, but it's really a bunch of short stories by a bunch of different writers. I think Hornby himself only has one contribution. This weekend my bro got me Music Lust by KCRW morning DJ Nic Harcourt. It looks like a book full of look-how-smart-I-am lists and I-know-all-these-bands-and-you-don't essays and I can't wait to jump in. I'm insecure like that.

sharpie Nov 17 2005 01:24 PM

Loved Dylan's Chronicles Vol. 1. Looking forward to Vol. 2 though I don't think anyone knows when that will be.

Edgy DC Nov 17 2005 01:32 PM

Is Boy Named Seo posting again? Should we restart the Parody Challenge?

A Boy Named Seo Nov 19 2005 03:50 AM

I'm trying to show my face more. Less so in the main forum because by the time I check in, somebody's already said what I'm thinking about this potential trade proposal, that free agent guy, or that crazy looking bowl of chili that Mrs. Ishii is proudly holding on display. And I like the flow of the Parody Challenge quite a bit more when I have nothing in the world to do with it. And if I never enter again, my winning percentage will still upper echelon, so I'm cool with dat.

Edgy DC Nov 19 2005 07:53 AM

Grover has a word for that. Nice to hear from you.

Willets Point Nov 22 2005 12:45 PM

That's Ann Benson not Anna Benson .

Edgy DC Nov 22 2005 12:55 PM

Something about that name makes them pose in repose. Funny thing about Speaking with the Angels, the collection of short stories Seo mentions above, is that the best story in it was the one by Colin Firth.

Frayed Knot Nov 22 2005 01:27 PM

So just what were the Americas like just before that Columbus guy bumped into the Dominican Republic on his way to somewhere else? (he was probably the last guy there for gold love rather than gold gloves) More speculation than cold hard facts, the author tries making the case that the new world was more populated and more advanced than widely suspected.

martin Nov 23 2005 10:54 PM

i forget which thread it was in, but all the praise for the coover book, the universal baseball association, from you guys convinced me to pick it up a while back. i have not read it yet and it was sitting on my shelf, and i let a friend of mine borrow it. i talked to him today and he is already crazy about it. i am really looking forward to it. gracias.

metirish Nov 24 2005 12:18 AM

I just bought this book, can't wait to read it,I'll save it for the plane ride to Ireland for Christmas...... ] Book Description When Hella Winston began talking with Hasidic Jews for her doctoral dissertation in sociology, she was excited to be meeting with members of the highly insular Brooklyn Satmar sect. Several Jewish journalists and scholars have produced admiring books describing the Lubavitch way of life and the group"s outreach efforts, but very little has been written about the other Hasidic sects, despite their combined greater numbers. Unlike Lubavitch, members of these other groups do not engage in outreach and are raised to avoid all unnecessary contact with outside society. Winston"s access was unprecedented. She never could have guessed what would happen next—that she would be introduced, slowly and covertly, to Hasidim deeply unhappy with their highly restrictive way of life and sometimes desperately struggling to leave their communities. First there was Yossi, a young man yearning to leave but, like most male Hasidim, a Yiddish speaker with only fourth grade English and math skills. Then she met Dini, a wife and mother called before the all-male modesty patrol because someone had spotted her outside a bar in a T-shirt and miniskirt. There were others still who had actually left. Unchosen tells the story of these and other "rebel" Hasidim, serious questioners who long for greater personal and intellectual freedom than their communities allow. In so doing, Unchosen forces us to reexamine the history of these communities and asks us to consider what we choose not to see when we romanticize them. Hella Winston is pursuing her Ph.D. in sociology at the Graduate Center for the City University of New York. She lives in New York City.

MFS62 Nov 25 2005 02:37 PM

Hey, literary folks. I have a question. I was in my local Barnes and Noble today and saw there is a series of mystery books called "Murder, She Wrote". They are co-authored by a guy named Bain and Jessica Fletcher!!! Of course, Jessica was the name of the woman crime solver and mystery writer in the TV series with the same name as the book series. Is this the first time a fictional character has been listed as the "author" of a book, muchless a series of books? Later

ScarletKnight41 Nov 26 2005 02:54 PM

I FINALLY finished the Lupica book (it was a very good read, as his fiction usually is), and I hope to polish this off this weekend - I was ahead enough in my studies that I felt I could take the long weekend off from schoolwork. I've read, I've gone to three movies, and I ran a 10K this morning. I feel like by Monday I'll be ready for the final few weeks of the semester :)

PatchyFogg Dec 05 2005 11:32 AM Book on the 2005 Mets

Not reading it yet, because it comes out in March 2006. But, it's never too early to think about it. [u:b61c0f39f6]Pedro, Carlos, and Omar: A Season in the Big Apple with "Los Mets"[/u:b61c0f39f6] by Adam Rubin [url]http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Bf2N7DeCY5&isbn=1592288758&itm=1[/url]

Willets Point Dec 06 2005 04:44 PM

Willets Point Dec 13 2005 02:10 PM

This travelogue has the unfortunate quality of being almost funny which for a book can be worse than being not funny. I'll read more and see if the tone changes to not irk me so much.

HahnSolo Dec 13 2005 02:36 PM

PANIC, by Jeff Abbott, published by Dutton. A young documentary filmmaker goes home and walks in on his mother being murdered. If that wasn't bad enough, he discovers that the life his parents led was a lie...and now the bad guys are after him. It's definitely not the standard mystery/thriller. This is the first time I've read Abbott, but he's had other novels in the past. I may check those out. Recommended.

cooby Dec 13 2005 09:27 PM

I got this for my Food Network-lovin'-daughter's-boyfriend I've been flipping through it and it's kinda neat

ScarletKnight41 Dec 19 2005 07:45 AM

I just finished this - Lupica's fiction writing is always good, and this book is particularly family friendly (I saw it on my son's middle school summer reading list last year). It's the story of a 12-year-old who loves basketball and can really play the game, but he doesn't make the travel team because of his size. What's fun about Lupica is that he throws in a lot of references to characters he created in prior books, so once you start reading his stories you come across a lot of familar faces, so to speak. Now I'm going to start In The Stacks, on Willets' recommendation. I'm up for short stories right now - something that's easy to pick up and put down without a huge time investment.

Willets Point Dec 19 2005 07:49 AM

Those short stories are hit & miss, but at least the bad ones are just as short as the good ones. This book is a lot like Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil except in Venice instead of Savannah. Chock full of eccentric people that the author seems to get to tell all the intimate details of their lives. Half the time I think he's making shit up, but it's well-written and entertaining.

Willets Point Jan 03 2006 08:50 PM

OlerudOwned Jan 03 2006 08:55 PM

Just recieved it from delivery today I always liked Klosterman's SPIN articles and finally got one of his books.

A Boy Named Seo Jan 04 2006 03:08 PM

Do not judge me, people. Just finished "Shopgirl" by Steve Martin. It's super short and I thought it was okay. He developed the characters pretty well, I thought, but ended it kinda abruptly. I still want to see the movie. I dig all of Martin, Schawartzman, and the lovely, lovely Claire Danes (more like Claire Daaaang!). Also reading "Timequake" right now by Vonnegut. So far my favorite Vonnegut book (edging "Breakfast of Champions"), but I read "Slaughterhouse- Five" and "Galapagos" so long ago, I remember now that I don't remember enough about them. The timequake causes a crack in the space-time continuum (hello, McFly?) forcing humans to relive a decade's worth of life from 1991-2001, knowing exactly how each day would turn out. All the successes and mistakes we've made would happen exactly the way they happened the first time, but we have no free will to alter the course of any of it. Can you imagine? Great, extremely funny commentary about mindless, robotic humans. Very neat.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 04 2006 03:35 PM

I'm reading Kiss it Good-bye.

TheOldMole Jan 05 2006 01:49 PM

Picked up two books at the same time, that were on my bookshelf and I had never read ... Griel Marcus' book on Dylan and the Basement Tapes, and a bio of Elvis, "Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley" by Peter Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske. I was finding Marcus's literary flourishes too much to take, so I settled in with the bio of Elvis, which was interesting -- not enough on the music, but seemed to be good on the life. I found out that Elvis has relatives named Richards, so we may be related. And it was written in a fairly neutral biographical style. I ran across a reference to Wilbur Clarke's Desert Inn, which I was fairly sure was wrong -- but just a typo, I assumed (it was, in fact, Wilbur Clark, although Wikipedia has it as Clarke). Then in the next paragraph, the authors refer to Billy Wood and the Dominoes, which started to bother me a little more. But OK, I guessed I could live with that. But now I'm at a point where the authors are saying that Elvis's first album, Elvis, contained "Heartbreak Hotel." Well, Elvis was his second album -- Elvis Presley was his first. And "Heartbreak Hotel" wasn't on either of them. So how much else are they getting wrong?

Edgy DC Jan 05 2006 02:53 PM

Fact-checking is dead. And you've got it right. When pointed out, authors and editors will often come back with, "OK, fine, it's an error." But the real problem is not that, but the lack of faith the reader will subsequently have in the details that he or she doesn't know better.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 05 2006 03:01 PM

And that was a big part of my problem with The Bad Guys Won. I spotted a bunch of errors and because of that, was suspicious about just about everything else.

sharpie Jan 05 2006 05:17 PM

The Greil Marcus Dylan book made my head hurt.

TheOldMole Jan 05 2006 08:14 PM

I went back to it again, after losing faith in the Elvis book, and it made my head hurt. I've come to the conclusion it's unreadable. So...time to move on to something else, which at the moment is an old John Dickson Carr mystery I picked up in hardcover for a buck from a local used bookstore. Carr specialized in locked room murders, but no one's gotten killed yet in this, so I can't give you any specifics.

sharpie Jan 06 2006 09:07 AM

A friend of mine has written what I think is a valuable Dylan book called "Keys to the Rain" which gives information and commentary on every song that Dylan has ever recorded or performed live (including one-offs, which there are many). Also contains info on who has covered every song. I find myself returning to this book often.

TheOldMole Jan 06 2006 08:02 PM

Looked it up on Amazon -- Oliver Trager -- isn't he the guy who has the Lord Buckley website?

sharpie Jan 06 2006 11:05 PM

He's the guy who wrote the Lord Buckley book, yeah.

TheOldMole Jan 06 2006 11:35 PM

Lord Buckley was a comic saint.

TheOldMole Jan 06 2006 11:44 PM

Yep - here's the website I've seen Trager's name on. http://www.lordbuckley.com/LBC/LBC_Misc_Pages/LBC.html[/url]

ScarletKnight41 Jan 07 2006 01:32 PM

My copy of Kiss It Goodbye arrived today. I should be able to finish it up before discussions begin at the end of the month.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 07 2006 01:59 PM

Fun challenge to anyone reading Kiss it Good Bye: See if you can spot the error in chapter 10.

Edgy DC Jan 07 2006 03:23 PM

I'm on Chapter Seven now, but a newspaper headline at the end of Chapter Six reads as "Pels Blow to Miracle team." I assume the Pelicans did bow, rather than blow before the mighty chicks. The funny thing is that Frank writes that "The headline said it all," and I'm thinking, "It didn't say anything." I don't know. Maybe that was good usage in 1952.

Willets Point Jan 07 2006 05:26 PM

I got my copy today too. It's one thick book, but at least it has lots of pictures. Anyone know why the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society are the only one selling a book about a man who never played for the A's or in Philly?

Yancy Street Gang Jan 07 2006 05:34 PM

One of the co-authors has a connection with the Philadelphia A's historical society.

TheOldMole Jan 08 2006 01:29 PM

Still waiting for my copy.

metirish Jan 08 2006 11:36 PM

My copy was waiting for me when I got back, I can't wait to read it.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 10 2006 10:49 AM

I finished Kiss It Goodbye last night. Hopefully now I'll stop having Frank Thomas dreams. I've read better and more compelling books that didn't invade my dreams. I can't imagine why this one has for two nights in a row.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 10 2006 10:55 AM

It's probably due to the amount of detail in this book.

Elster88 Jan 16 2006 10:03 AM

Harry Potter books... I've just recently started watching the movies over the past two months. Thought the first two were pretty good, enjoyed watching them though I wouldn't rewatch them. I thought the third was great. I'm looking forward to the fourth when it comes out on DVD. Haven't read the books yet. There's going to be seven all together right? Are they going to make movies for all seven? I saw on IMDB that the fifth movie is due in 2007.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 16 2006 10:34 AM

If you want to talk Harry Potter, talk to Impulse2.

Elster88 Jan 16 2006 10:52 AM

If she responds all well and good, but hopefully someone else knows the answers to my questions in case she doesn't get around to it.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 16 2006 11:00 AM

There's going to be seven all together right? YES. Are they going to make movies for all seven? YES.

Elster88 Jan 16 2006 11:07 AM

THANK YOU

Impulse2 Jan 16 2006 11:15 AM

I'll always reccomend reading the books over watching the movies. But that's because i'm a little obsessive over them. There are always a lot of fun details that are missing, but increasingly in movies three and four, they pass over a couple of relatively major plot points. Not things that have direct bearing on the particular movie, but things that become very important later on.

cooby Jan 16 2006 12:50 PM

I don't like it

ScarletKnight41 Jan 17 2006 11:17 AM

I just ordered this - Dave Barry is always good for a laugh. This may be the last book I read for recreation for a while - school begins again next week.

Rockin' Doc Jan 17 2006 11:38 AM

I'm enjoying an old baseball classic. The book offers a much more detailed recounting of the motives and actions of the 8 White Sox players than does the movie of the same name. A very detailed retelling of the actions that led to the throwing of the 1919 World Series.

metirish Jan 17 2006 08:20 PM

Just started skimming through this....it's quite a read with contributions form Rob Neyer, Bill James,Matt Welch and THT's Staff writers...

Impulse2 Jan 17 2006 09:49 PM

I started re-reading The Scarlet Pimpernel (after getting rather obsessed with the broadway adaption). I read it over the summer, didn't like it, and now I can't remember why I didn't. So i'm giving it a second shot.

OlerudOwned Jan 17 2006 10:47 PM

It's mind boggling how much he draws from seemingly stupid little things. Also, I'm waiting for this to be shipped: Just some reading about bands some bands I really love.

Willets Point Jan 18 2006 12:29 AM

Our Band Could be your Life is on my reading list. I look forward to your review. I'm currently reading: I'm a fan of Toni Morrison, took a couple of classes that included her work in college. My big coup was when I had an interpretation of Jazz contrary to my professor's view, but then I found a direct quote from Morrison that backed-up my interpretation (the next best thing to having Marshall McLuhan help settle an argument for you while in line for a movie). Anyhow, Love is Morrison's most recent novel (albeit, three years old) and is more accessible than some of her other works. Despite that, I felt like an idiot trying to figure out the relationship among the characters. All is revelaed on page 131 and it is jaw-dropping -- a total mindfuck.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 25 2006 03:06 PM

This is a murder mystery involving an Eastern Long Island high school basketball team. I enjoy Mike Lupica's fiction, so I'm working my way through the ones that I haven't read yet.

*62 Jan 25 2006 06:50 PM

Re-reading for the umpteenth time ......... Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut Probably my favorite work of fiction ever.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 29 2006 11:47 AM

I'm almost finished with Too Far. It was a fast and good read, although there is some disturbing graphic violence (but, since the topic of the book is hazing on a high school basketball team, the violence is intregal to the story). Lupica tells a good story. Most of his fiction is light reading, but this one is more haunting. Because I'm on a Lupica kick, my next book is going to be - I've actually read the sequel to this one already. It's fun reading these stories - Lupica tends to use and re-use his characters from one story in supporting roles in other stories, so it's like revisiting old friends when you read one of these books.

sharpie Jan 31 2006 10:39 AM

Reading EL Doctorow's THE MARCH, which came out last fall. Sherman's March told through various perspectives, lovin' it so far.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 31 2006 11:04 AM

After I'm done with the Lupica book, this is going to be my bible for the semster - My Multimedia Production professor recommended it. By the end of this semester I'm actually going to know something about web design, amazingly enough.

Willets Point Jan 31 2006 11:14 AM

Interesting book. I read it for my web course at grad school. It's amusing that Krug sites Amazon.com as an example of a web site with great usability but by the time I read the book Amazon had redesigned their site obliterating what Krug liked about it.

HahnSolo Feb 01 2006 10:57 AM

Last week I was able to check out CELL, by Stephen King, hot off the presses from my library. I've read some comparing it to The Stand, albeit much shorter. I understand the comparison, but it's definitely its own book. I've read a good chunk of it, and it's pretty good. A bit gorier than a lot of his recent stuff (at least since Desperation). If you're a King fan, you should give it a shot.

Rockin' Doc Feb 01 2006 11:42 PM

My daughter gave me this paperback for Christmas. Not much for reading material, but some interesting facts from the Mets history. Having some fun skimming through it real quick.

Rockin' Doc Feb 06 2006 09:28 PM

I'm still skimmimg through the Mets trivia, but needed something to read. Saw this at a discount book warehouse this weekend and just had to pick it up. It's pretty funny and makes some good points. There have already been a few tirades that remind me of Vic's "classic" rant against the Yankees from a few years back (2001 or 2002?).

Edgy DC Feb 06 2006 09:32 PM

The great thing is that The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, as gutty as it was to eulogize the Yankees while they were still breathing, looks more and more to have been a true enough title.

GYC Feb 06 2006 09:37 PM

="Rockin' Doc"]I'm still skimmimg through the Mets trivia, but needed something to read. Saw this at a discount book warehouse this weekend and just had to pick it up. It's pretty funny and makes some good points. There have already been a few tirades that remind me of Vic's "classic" rant against the Yankees from a few years back (2001 or 2002?). Heh, I picked up at B&N sometime last year. Not bad, pretty funny, but pretty biased, too. Tomorrow, I'm starting:

Willets Point Feb 07 2006 04:32 PM

In More Book Lust, public librarian Nancy Pearl makes the following reccomendation that Scarlett at least will appreciate: "Michael Lewis's Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game looks at the Oakland Athletics, on of the least wealthy teams in Major League Baseball, and analyzes why they win year after year. (This book turned me into a big fan of the Oakland A's, which is not a good thing to be when you live in Seattle)." p.74

Willets Point Feb 13 2006 05:14 PM

Just finished: Abraham Lincoln suffered two major depressive episodes as a young adult and chronic depression throughout his life. As opposed to the modern day belief that depression is an illness that must be cured to live a normal life, the author contends that Lincoln's depression actually helped mold him into the type of person who could handle the crises of secession and the Civil War as well as he did. This fascinating and illuminating book taught me a lot about Lincoln and his times as well as mental health in general. Just started: Mahler writes about New York CIty in 1977 focused around the battle for mayor between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo and the battles at Yankee Stadium between Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson. So far the book is bringing back memories of the New York of my childhood and making me a bit nostalgic. Not that I particularly miss widespread crime and arson, I just think that some good parts of old school New York were lost in the yuppification of the 80's and 90's.

willpie Feb 13 2006 05:59 PM

I got sucked into the Aubrey/Maturin series a couple months ago. I've completely lost track of voume numbers.

Yancy Street Gang Feb 13 2006 06:00 PM

I'm reading some recent urban history, too. A Prayer for the City by Buzz Bissinger. It's about the first administration of Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell. (Took office in 1992.) I've read so many times that it's something that everyone in the Philadelphia region should read, that I decided to read it. It's pretty good so far, but it's not exactly a "must read." The same author shadowed Tony LaRussa as he did Ed Rendell, and wrote "Three Nights in August." I'm sure I'll be reading that one too, eventually.

Scrapple8 Feb 14 2006 08:43 PM

i read volume one of boston by upton sinclair, but they can't find volume 2 in the bpl. anyone seen it in queens or the bronx or manhattan?

Willets Point Feb 23 2006 10:37 PM

Yet another novel with a librarian as a protagonist, and a pretty darn good one too. Lots of sex and mystery, just like my life.

sharpie Mar 06 2006 10:51 AM

Just finished TRANCE by Christopher Sorrentino (the other guy who, along with Jonathan Lethem, wrote BELIEVENIKS!) A fictional account of the Patty Hearst affair. Dense, weird, fascinating book. I lived near the town she was kidnapped from and knew people who knew people who were affected so maybe it has extra resonance for me but I really dug it. Seeing him read tomorrow night. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374278644/sr=8-6/qid=1141660107/ref=pd_bbs_6/002-4322401-9239225?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Willets Point Mar 13 2006 12:19 AM

The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage by Paul Elie. I've read the first chapter and I'm already impressed. This a quadruple biography of Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor, and Walker Percy. Their common thread is that they were all American Catholics of the mid-20th century who found their religious experience best through writing. I've read a little bit by each of these authors but never new they were friends who corresponded and read each others work and were nicknamed "The School of the Holy Ghost". Quite fascinating so far.

Edgy DC Mar 13 2006 12:21 AM

My friend Kimberly reviewed that book for Sojourners and got blurbed on the paperback cover.

ScarletKnight41 Mar 23 2006 10:59 AM

My daughter was on a field trip yesterday, and she brought this back for us. It's hysterical looking at Shakespeare's quotes within the context of baseball.

Rockin' Doc Mar 25 2006 08:18 PM

Challenges the basic tenets of financial success and offers a different view of what is needed to become financially self reliant. Just getting started, but it's an interesting read thus far.

ScarletKnight41 Mar 25 2006 08:29 PM

Thanks Sharpie - I'm going to start this tonight!

Willets Point Mar 28 2006 01:57 PM

sharpie Mar 28 2006 02:21 PM

I'm a huge Murakami fan. "Wind Up Bird" not my favorite of his, but they're all good.

Willets Point Mar 29 2006 10:23 PM

="sharpie"]I'm a huge Murakami fan. "Wind Up Bird" not my favorite of his, but they're all good. This is why I love the Crane Pool community. I can't imagine many other sports discussion forums where someone would say "I'm a huge Murakami fan" unless Murakami were the name of a professional wrestler. I've previously read The Elephant Vanishes and A Wild Sheep Chase but that was a while back so I don't remember them well. What's your favorite(s)?

sharpie Mar 30 2006 10:16 AM

The latest one, Kafka On the Shore might've been my favorite book of '05. I liked Dance Dance Dance (which is sort of a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase but I read it first) and Norwegian Wood (very conventional for him but I liked it a lot). Sputnik Sweetheart was also good, though not as good as the others or the one you're reading now.

Frayed Knot Mar 30 2006 10:26 AM

Don't get so elitist, [url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/murakma01.shtml]Murakami is brought up on baseball boards[/url] all the time.

ScarletKnight41 Mar 30 2006 07:01 PM

My daughter just loaned this to me because she thinks I'll like it -

Willets Point Mar 30 2006 11:14 PM

Total crap from begininning to end. And yet I couldn't put it down. I just kept turning pages saying "This is stupid, this is stupid."

cooby Apr 23 2006 11:43 AM

Pretty good

HahnSolo Apr 24 2006 02:40 PM

Gotta figure out how to link images, but I just finished... THE FALLEN, by T. Jefferson Parker I had the pleasure of working with Jeff on campaigns for three of his earlier books at two different publishing houses. In addition to being one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, his novels are fantastic. He's in elite company as he has won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery novel twice, for SILENT JOE and CALIFORNIA GIRL. I wholeheartedly recommend both of those in addition to his latest

Yancy Street Gang Apr 24 2006 02:46 PM

I'm reading Going to Extremes by Joe McGinness, the first of four books about Alaska that I plan to read in the next two months. (McGinness also wrote one of the books, recommended by the future Johnny Dickshot, that I read prior to going to Italy.) The author travels around Alaska and talks to and writes about the various people he meets there. A good little book. I'm enjoying it.

Yancy Street Gang May 03 2006 10:11 AM

Reading Frank Thomas' book inspired me to purchase The Long Season, by Jim Brosnan. This is the third baseball book I've read this year, which is a lot for me. It's rare that I read more than one or two per year. I have three more coming up that I'll probably read in 2006: Game of Shadows, Three Nights in August, and You Gotta Have Wa.

Frayed Knot May 03 2006 10:24 AM

Not sure if Jon Krakauer's 'Into the Wild' is on your Alaska book list. It's not exactly a book about Alaska, but the 49th state is the backdrop for a very interesting story. Krakauer - who later became famous via 'Into Thin Air', his book about an ill-fated Everest expedition - traces the story of a kid/young man who chucks it all to live among the wilds of Alaska. Been a handful of years since I read it but it was good stuff as I recall.

Yancy Street Gang May 03 2006 10:29 AM

No, it's not, but I'll check it out, and maybe I'll try to squeeze it in. We leave for Alaska at the end of next month, so I may not have any openings. Thanks for the recommendation.

seawolf17 May 03 2006 10:32 AM

"Wa" is a great book; one of my favorite baseball books.

Willets Point May 03 2006 10:58 AM

My book club's selection of the month: It's a sweet book in kind of a hokey way. Sort of like Huckleberry Finn meets To Kill a Mockingbird.

Willets Point May 08 2006 08:36 PM

Finally finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (read some other books in-between). I don't know when I'll begin to understand all that happened. Lots of loose ends. I'll have to sit in the bottom of a well and think it over.

SI Metman May 13 2006 11:05 PM

Just started: Didn't realize how Metcentric it is, despite being fictional. How did we not win in '88 with Charlie Stoddard?

ScarletKnight41 May 14 2006 07:16 AM

Lupica's fiction is always entertaining. And his books usually include cameo appearances by characters from his previous books, which is a nice touch for those who have read a few of his books.

RealityChuck May 15 2006 09:19 AM

I'm currently reading Will Eisner's Contract with God trilogy, one of the greatest graphic novels ever (and the first to be billed as such). Only Maus is better.

Rockin' Doc May 15 2006 01:21 PM

Received this as a Christmas present from a friend. I picked it up an started reading through the collection of short stories and observations last week. It goes by pretty quick and it is the last of the stash of books that I received at Christmas, so I'll be heading to the library this weekend.

ScarletKnight41 May 16 2006 10:08 PM

cooby loaned me her copy of Game of Shadows, so I'm just starting to read it.

Vic Sage May 17 2006 04:45 PM

hey Chuck, at one point, we had a lengthy discussion about graphic novels. if that thread can be found, you might find it interesting.

Bret Sabermetric May 18 2006 06:25 AM

As part of my self-improvement program, I read Anne Tyler's SAINT MAYBE last night in lieu of the Mets-Cardinals game. I got jobbed worse than Traschel did. I mean, I like her and all, there's just so much I can take of that setting, those characters, that style. Write a new book awready, wouldja?

cooby May 21 2006 09:41 AM

My husband got me "The DaVinci Code" and another book about the Last Supper (it's upstairs and I foget the name) for our anniversary. I've been piecing at it. My dream is to go out in the sun and read

ScarletKnight41 May 23 2006 11:06 PM

It's aimed at a teen audience, and it's a quick read. Lupica, as always, is a great storyteller.

ScarletKnight41 May 24 2006 03:02 PM

I finished Heat in less than 24 hours, which is very fast for me (I'm not a fast reader in general). It was enjoyable, although a bit heavy on the MFY worship. But, in general, it's a good read for young adults as well as older ones. Now I'm moving on to this -

ScarletKnight41 May 25 2006 10:39 AM

Designated Hebrew is also a quick read. I think it's self-published - it's not the most smoothly written or edited book. It also reminds me a lot of Frank Thomas' Kiss It Goodbye - a nice little memoir by the MFY's first openly Jewish ballplayer that strives to speak highly of the people on the author's life. It's an interesting enough little read. Next up - I need something light that I can pick up and put down easily, since my summer class starts next week.

metirish Jun 02 2006 10:52 AM

I just picked this up, looks interesting.

Elster88 Jun 09 2006 01:37 AM

Just finished the most recent book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Pretty good stuff. I still think I like the The Wheel of Time series better.

A Boy Named Seo Jun 10 2006 06:51 PM

Got this one at the library after getting Willets' thumbs up. I'm only a quarter of the way through or so, but already very interesting, shocking, and sometimes sad. The author acknowledges when the truth doesn't seem attainable when it comes to certain events pertaining to Lincoln's mental health, possible causes for his depression, and even speculation about his sexuality. Instead of attempting to make up a truth based on facts or events that paint a partial picture, he does a good job of presenting all of the information and putting forth a few theories that may explain things that happened. In other words, he doesn't try to re-write history, just give us all the information he has. He uses accounts from Lincoln himself in letters to friends and co-workers, Lincoln's personal writings, and accounts from people who knew him well. He cross-references these accounts with medical information, both from Lincoln's time as well as now, to try to depict what Lincoln might have been going through and how he might have been (mis) diagnosed or (mis) treated. So far seems like an important look at a side of this President that most people don't know about, and an enlightening look at depression, which I think a lot of people deal with directly or indirectly all the time, but may not know much about. ABNS sez thumbs up.

cooby Jun 11 2006 07:47 PM

That Lincoln book looks good, I will have to look for it I am reading this, although that Jack the Ripper book made me want to slap her

Yancy Street Gang Jun 11 2006 07:47 PM

Just starting Game of Shadows.

Willets Point Jun 12 2006 07:27 PM

="Elster88"]Just finished the most recent book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Pretty good stuff. I still think I like the The Wheel of Time series better. My wife loves those books. She read them all and then read them all again over the past year. ABNS, I'm glad you like the Lincoln book. I think it's a great work of history.

Elster88 Jun 18 2006 05:24 PM

="Willets Point"] ="Elster88"]Just finished the most recent book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Pretty good stuff. I still think I like the The Wheel of Time series better. My wife loves those books. She read them all and then read them all again over the past year. Which series?

Elster88 Jun 18 2006 05:25 PM

I read a Cornwell book once. Sorta liked it. Tried a second but failed. Haven't been back since.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 21 2006 11:54 AM

I haven't read it yet, but apparently I need to. My friend called me to tell me that her daughter gave her a copy, and she saw a story by me in there.

Willets Point Jun 21 2006 02:04 PM

="Elster88"] ="Willets Point"] ="Elster88"]Just finished the most recent book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Pretty good stuff. I still think I like the The Wheel of Time series better. My wife loves those books. She read them all and then read them all again over the past year. Which series? A Song of Ice and Fire. I don't think I'll tell her about the other ones. She tends to get absorbed. I'm currently reading two books: The Best of Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay &

seawolf17 Jun 22 2006 02:27 PM

="ScarletKnight41"] I haven't read it yet, but apparently I need to. My friend called me to tell me that her daughter gave her a copy, and she saw a story by me in there. Page 121, your story about Bobby V's. I flipped through it today in the store.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 22 2006 02:43 PM

Cool - I'll look forward to seeing my name in lights, as it were <g>

Yancy Street Gang Jun 22 2006 02:45 PM

I found a small error in Game of Shadows that had me confused for a while. The raid on BALCO took place in September of 2003, but at once point the book says that it was December. It then mentioned that the Giants were playing the next day, which led me to start flipping through the pages trying to make sense of the timeline.

ScarletKnight41 Jun 23 2006 01:33 PM

="ScarletKnight41"] My book just came. Now I understand my friend's confusion when she told me about the story - Wolfe edited the story, and did so badly. In the book, it says that I'm married to Kase! [url=http://www.kcmets.com/Feature111201.html]Here's the Full Story[/url].

Willets Point Jun 23 2006 01:35 PM

Eeeeeeeew! That's incest!

ScarletKnight41 Jul 01 2006 08:04 AM

I haven't had too much time to read For Mets Fans Only, but it's a frustratingly bad read. I can understand that people's memories fade in time, but you have an author who doesn't really understand Mets history picking a lot of casual fans to tell their stories, and the inaccuracies are mind-boggling. It's easy to pick up and put down, which is good for me while I'm in school, but it is not a good read - don't waste your money on this one.

Elster88 Jul 01 2006 09:08 PM

="Willets Point"]Eeeeeeeew! That's incest!

Rockin' Doc Jul 05 2006 01:27 PM

I'm probably one of the last people left in America to get around to reading The DaVinci Code. My wife had bought it a year or so ago and then never got around to reading it. Finally, my daughter picked it up and read it. I was out of reading material, so when she finished it, I picked the book up and started reading. I'm roughly 2/3 of the way through it. Interesting, but not as great as one would expect considering it's sales and notoriety.

Willets Point Jul 05 2006 01:58 PM

A modern novel a la James Joyce or Thomas Pynchon written from the perspective of the characters from Gilligan's Island.

Centerfield Jul 05 2006 02:23 PM

="ScarletKnight41"] ="ScarletKnight41"] My book just came. Now I understand my friend's confusion when she told me about the story - Wolfe edited the story, and did so badly. In the book, it says that I'm married to Kase! [url=http://www.kcmets.com/Feature111201.html]Here's the Full Story[/url]. Congratulations! Both on getting printed and on your unexpected nuptials!

ScarletKnight41 Jul 05 2006 02:24 PM

I never figured that I'd be a polygamist. The more I read this book, the more I hate it. The footnotes are absolutely insipid - they aren't even related to the book's subject matter most of the time.

Elster88 Jul 06 2006 10:43 AM

Elster88 Jul 06 2006 10:46 AM

[url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/07/17/121258.php]A fairly accurate, if harsh, review of The Traveler (pictured above).[/url]

ScarletKnight41 Jul 15 2006 08:21 AM

I just finished this - It's not my normal choice of reading, but my daughter was given the book as part of an award she received in school. Riding the Bus With My Sister is the memoir of a woman and the time she spent getting to know her mentally retarded sister. It's not a bad read, but it's probably the book equivalent of a chick flick. This is what's next, as soon as it arrives from Barnes & Noble.com - It's the second Peter Pan prequel written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. I enjoyed the first prequel, Peter and the Star Catchers, which was an enjoyable mix of humor and adventure. I expect similar things from this book.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 18 2006 03:51 PM

While I'm waiting for the Peter Pan prequel to arrive, I started this - It's a paperback, it's portable, and Grisham is usually an entertaining enough read. After The Brethren, I'll move onto this - There was a while when I OD'd on Grisham, but I've had a break, and I was in the market for some portable books to take along on vacation. They'll pass the time during my break between my summer class and the start of the fall semester.

Willets Point Jul 18 2006 04:08 PM

Kevin Baker is an author of historical novels who seems to be interested in the same aspects of New York City history that I am. The first novel I read by him Dreamland is about Coney Island, immigrants in the Lower East Side, Tammany politics, and the labor movement, among other things. Paradise Alley is set in New York during the Civil War Draft Riots focusing on the interlocked stories of the mixed Irish and Black neighborhood during the riots with lots of flashbacks over the 20 years preceeding. I think Dreamland is the better novel, but Paradise Alley is gripping all the same.

ScarletKnight41 Jul 19 2006 08:55 PM

Peter and the Shadow Thieves arrived yesterday, and I'm already 2/3 of the way through it. It's a quick read, entertaining, and family friendly. You can often identify the parts of the book written by Ridley Pearson and those written by Dave Barry, but it all comes together nicely. Fans of the James Barrie Peter Pan will enjoy certain plot twists that are shout-outs to the original story. The first prequel, Peter and the Starcatchers, is available in paperback. Pick it up to read to your child (if you don't have a child of your own, then borrow a kid who enjoys stories). It's a fresh look at a beloved old story.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 21 2006 02:32 PM

Received this yesterday: Awesome piece of research, even if it overlooks Hubie Brooks was #61 for a short while in 1980. Gotta double check everything, discovered a few discrepancies between his data & mine already

Yancy Street Gang Jul 21 2006 02:34 PM

Wow, is that the book for you or what? Did you hear from the author at all before the book was published? I'd be surprised if he wasn't aware of MBTN.

Edgy DC Jul 21 2006 03:04 PM

You should submit a review. It'll definitely get blurbed on the paperback.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 21 2006 03:47 PM

I did contact him a few times several years ago. I was interested in determining Dyar Miller's 56-to-49 switch and the other odd goings-on of 1980 as I recall it. I got to him through the retrosheet guy. I think he was worried a bit that I was moving in on his territory, or maybe he was just too busy, but we didn't get very far helping one another. Maybe we can now.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 21 2006 04:17 PM

Target Tokyo This is the first of several books that I'm reading in preparation for my Japan trip this fall. I got this in 1989 as a free gift for listening to an encyclopedia sales pitch, and it sat on my bookshelf unread for 17 years. I didn't buy the encyclopedias, but I did consider it. Now, in the Internet age, buying a printed encyclopedia seems so quaint.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 21 2006 04:59 PM

I read a few books about Japan before -- Tokyo Underworld is Robert Whiting not writing about baseball: It tells of a seedy guy from the Bronx who struck it rich by starting a pizza joint in potswar occupied Japan, and his -- and japan's -- ties to organized crime. Not bad, I think they're making a movie... The other one was about a canadian teacher who hitch-hiked the country following the cherry blossoms. This was a sweeter book, since he met regular folk. I believe it's called Canadian Guy Hitch-Hikes to Hokkaido or something.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 21 2006 05:02 PM

I have "You Gotta Have Wa" coming up soon. I also have a book about some guy walking across Japan, don't know if it's the one you mentioned or not.

Willets Point Jul 21 2006 05:07 PM

I read the book about the guy walking from one end of Japan to another. He absolutely refused to get in a car so it's a different book from one with hitchhiking.

sharpie Jul 24 2006 04:54 PM

]I didn't buy the encyclopedias, but I did consider it. Now, in the Internet age, buying a printed encyclopedia seems so quaint. About 5 years ago mrs. sharpie got a used set of World Books from a library (don't remember how much, but cheap). As most of our books are in our dining room, volumes are often taken out during family dinners. Just last week we got in a heated discussion about llamas and it got us the info we wanted right away. The computer is a floor away and if that set of encyclopedias wasn't handy we wouldn't have bothered to look up whatever it was we wanted to find out about llamas.

Willets Point Jul 24 2006 05:02 PM

¡ Cuidado estan llamas!

cooby Jul 24 2006 08:34 PM

Shirley Jackson is just about as eclectic as Paul Gallico. Love them both, and this old book, which I found at the library last week (744 pages, including short stories, "The Bird's Nest, "Life Among the Savages", "Raising Demons"....) just has me keep saying "wow"

Willets Point Jul 24 2006 08:47 PM

Paul Gallico is terrific. I still remember when I was little I went to the library with my Mom and sister and we all ended up each with a Paul Gallico book - I had a children's book, my sister had a novel and my mom had a non-fiction book. We were surprised they were all by the same author.

SteveJRogers Jul 27 2006 08:49 AM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I did contact him a few times several years ago. I was interested in determining Dyar Miller's 56-to-49 switch and the other odd goings-on of 1980 as I recall it. I got to him through the retrosheet guy. I think he was worried a bit that I was moving in on his territory, or maybe he was just too busy, but we didn't get very far helping one another. Maybe we can now. Yup, you should, he neglected Hojo's brief stint as Johnson44! And I do believe that change garnered quite a hubub here in the area (44 being a sluggers number, ect)

SteveJRogers Jul 27 2006 08:52 AM

="Johnny Dickshot"]Received this yesterday: Awesome piece of research, even if it overlooks Hubie Brooks was #61 for a short while in 1980. Gotta double check everything, discovered a few discrepancies between his data & mine already Heh, do you have a book that I've been trying to find a cheap copy of for years (hell the Westchester Library System doesn't even have it) it came out around, eh I want to say 1996-1997, called "Baseball By The Numbers" or something to that effect. The only copy I ever located was through my college's library network system and it had a cover price of around 80-90 bucks! Probably outdated by now though

Johnny Dickshot Jul 27 2006 09:39 AM

Outdated and inaccurate, or at least parts. Plus it's basically just an encyclopedia without any actual writing.

Willets Point Jul 27 2006 09:47 AM

Reading one of the classics I never read in school.

Frayed Knot Jul 27 2006 10:01 AM Edited 3 time(s), most recently on Jul 27 2006 10:09 AM

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer ** SPOILER WARNING** Lincoln dies and Booth gets caught!!!! Interesting slice of American history that brought out a couple of things I didn't know: - I hadn't realized is how famous Booth was even prior the the assasination. He was one of the country's best known actors at the time so this was the equivelent of say Tom Cruise deciding to murder George Bush (maybe not a stretch if Tom keeps flipping out). OK, so the concept of "fame" in that day doesn't exactly translate to the same thing today (Booth never stooped to doing Oprah for instance) but, because the murder took place in a DC theatre where Booth was well known, there were dozens of people who recognized as he jumped and ran so it was never a question of who did it, only where he went and to what extent he had help. Many in the Gov't thought he had Confederate Gov't help (he didn't) and the atmosphere smacked somewhat of the initial conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy's death where LBJ's first thought was that Russia and/or Cuba was involved. - it's striking to read about how tough travel was in those days. Booth didn't get much more than 50 or 60 miles in those 12 days. Of course his broken leg didn't help but at one point he's held up for 4 days trying to get across the Potomoc River. Guess he forgot his EZ-Pass. - the author doesn't say whether the expression; 'Your name is Mud(d)' eminated from Dr. Mudd, the physician who fixed Booth's broken leg and later spent time in prison because of it (he was later pardoned). At various times over the years I heard both that it is and is not true - but the author never offers an opinion here. Mudd's family long propped up the story that he was an innocent who had no idea of Booth's identity. Oh he knew all right, he even knew Booth before hand and Booth headed to Mudd's place specifically because he knew he was sympathetic to the Southern side. Mudd also knew what Booth had done before sending him away and was clearly guilty of aiding and abetting an assassin and lying to the gov't on his whereabouts.

seawolf17 Jul 27 2006 10:04 AM

Credit both of you with good selections; I loved [u:336de5c217]The Inferno[/u:336de5c217], and I'm about to start [u:336de5c217]Manhunt[/u:336de5c217], which my wife LOVED.

Willets Point Jul 27 2006 10:08 AM

="Frayed Knot"] ** SPOILER WARNING** Licoln dies and Booth gets caught!!!! Damn you! Next you're going to tell me the ending of Titanic. I've heard it said that Booth's apperance on the stage was thought to be a cameo appearance by some in the audience. He also knew the play and timed the assasination to be at the moment when the audience was laughing at a good joke.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 27 2006 10:22 AM

Dr. Mudd's grandson was still alive (at least until recently) and working to get his grandfather's name cleared. I read an article about him only a few years ago but don't remember if he lived to see his goal realized. Grandson Mudd was in his 90's, and was born after his grandfather had died. During the whole O.J. Simpson thing a few years ago, I wondered about other famous people who had become killers, and my first thoughts were of Booth and Aaron Burr. Maybe I should have also thought of Fatty Arbuckle. (Was he charged with murder or rape? I can't remember.) Robert Blake is another, of course.

Frayed Knot Jul 27 2006 12:41 PM

]I've heard it said that Booth's apperance on the stage was thought to be a cameo appearance by some in the audience. He also knew the play and timed the assasination to be at the moment when the audience was laughing at a good joke. All true.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 28 2006 10:04 AM

Oh, hey, I did get an acknowledgement in the Numbers book. Hoorah!

Willets Point Jul 28 2006 10:07 AM

seawolf17 wrote: Credit both of you with good selections; I loved The Inferno, I'm feeling pretty dumb because I'm reading it but not really comprehending it.

Yancy Street Gang Jul 28 2006 10:18 AM

="Johnny Dickshot"]Oh, hey, I did get an acknowledgement in the Numbers book. Hoorah! Cool! I've heard from a few authors who were writing books but the UMDB hasn't gotten any acknowledgements that I'm aware of. (Jeff Pearlman had told me there would be one. Oh well.) Congratulations! And Willets, don't feel dumb. I suspect I wouldn't understand much of Dante's Inferno either. (I have trouble understanding The Towering Inferno!) Good for you for giving it a try.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 28 2006 10:52 AM

My website is not listed among the resources but my name is in the acknowledgements. I'll take it, along with a credit in that film, as my rep as a basball magnate grows.

SteveJRogers Jul 28 2006 11:09 AM

I'm afraid to say this, but I finished listening to this on audio-books Nothing earth shattering or new. Montville does try hard though but says quite often that there is alot of "fog" with certain portions of Ruth's life. Obvious his childhood prior to St. Marys, his parent's and how they died and Helen's life. A decent upgrade of Robert Creamer's Babe: The Legend Comes To Life but mostly just an upgrade. Probably the only thing of note that is new that the book debunks the debunking of the link between the selling of Ruth and the production of No No Nanette, and essentially agreeing with past thinking that said Ruth was sold in part because Frazzee needed the money to finance his Broadway productions. Good read (or listen as the case may be) though

ScarletKnight41 Jul 30 2006 02:53 PM

Someone gave D-Dad a copy of Big Bam, so I'm just starting it. It looks like it should be skimmable. I wouldn't have gone out of my way to buy it, but since it's around, I'll look it over. BTW, The Brethren was a good read. In typical Grisham fashion, it was an interesting premise with interesting enough characters, but Grisham seemed to write himself into a corner and came up with a less than satisfying ending. It was still worth reading, but this is one of the reasons that I had taken a break from Grisham for a while. ON EDIT - I'm finding Montvilles speculation about Ruth's early childhood, differentiated from established fact by use of italics, to be highly annoying. Was the father reading a newspaper? Wasn't he? Who the heck cares?

cooby Jul 30 2006 05:47 PM

Is The Brethen the one about the lawyers in prison? If so, that was my favorite Grisham On edit: I don't mean that the way it sounds

ScarletKnight41 Jul 30 2006 05:56 PM

cooby wrote: Is The Brethen the one about the lawyers in prison? If so, that was my favorite Grisham On edit: I don't mean that the way it sounds Yes, it was. Disbarred judges, actually. And it sounded just fine to me.

SteveJRogers Aug 02 2006 12:54 PM

Listening to this one now Up to 1940, much more info on the young Ted obviously than the young George Ruth So far a good listen

Willets Point Aug 07 2006 09:34 PM

cooby Aug 09 2006 02:03 PM

A little more Shirley

ScarletKnight41 Aug 09 2006 05:34 PM

I actually haven't started this yet, but my textbook for one of my fall classes arrived today. I'll probably start perusing it once I finish The Testament.

Willets Point Aug 09 2006 05:36 PM

Ooh a page turner...at first I thought you were refering to it as the testament as if it were scripture for librarians

cooby Aug 09 2006 05:41 PM

lol, so did I... Scarlet! Start a thread and report on the RIS book!

ScarletKnight41 Aug 09 2006 06:31 PM

cooby - come September you'll be hearing about this course ad nauseum <g> The good news, though, is that my favorite teacher from last fall is teaching this class, so I'm totally psyched :)

ScarletKnight41 Aug 18 2006 08:22 AM

I finally finished The Testament. It wasn't a great read, by Grisham standards, but it had a better ending than most of his books.

Yancy Street Gang Aug 18 2006 08:30 AM

You Gotta Have Wa by Robert Whiting. The second of about a half dozen Japan books I intend to read, and the only one about baseball. A fun, interesting read. It was written in 1989, so it's perhaps a little bit out of date. But worthwhile for any baseball fan to try. I recommend it. More than once while reading this book it's occurred to me how great a well-written Bobby Valentine autobiography would be. His Mets years would interest me the most, but I'd also love to get his insight about his years managing in Japan, and the cultural issues he dealt with. As of the writing of Wa, there hadn't been a successful gaijin manager in Japan, but Bobby's obviously found the secret formula. I really hope that he one day shares his stories. Also, the mental (and physical) preparation that ballplayers go through in Japan is so very different from what happens here. The differences are more than I had ever realized. I have to wonder if that's the real reason why Kaz Matsui flopped in the United States. Maybe his ability wasn't overrated. Perhaps instead he had difficulties adapting to such a very different culture, both in the clubhouse and away from the ballpark, that it got inside his head and affected his game. Something to think about, anyway.

Johnny Dickshot Aug 18 2006 09:23 AM

I'd like to be his biographer, so if you see him when you visit, let him know.

Yancy Street Gang Aug 18 2006 09:25 AM

I'll put that on my to-do list!

Elster88 Aug 18 2006 03:52 PM

="Elster88"]Just finished the most recent book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. Pretty good stuff. I still think I like the The Wheel of Time series better. Finished a reread of aSoIaF. Good stuff. I like doing a reread and catching the hidden details.

cooby Aug 18 2006 04:51 PM

Last night, I went down in the basement and found "A Perfect Storm" (which so far seems to be about bars in Gloucester, boring), "A Pirate Turns Fifty" by Jimmy Buffett, three Harry Kemelman "Rabbi" books, and "Losing Isaiah", which I am reading first.

Willets Point Aug 18 2006 04:53 PM

="cooby"]Last night, I went down in the basement and found "A Perfect Storm" (which so far seems to be about bars in Gloucester, boring), " That's because you've never been to a bar in Gloucester.

cooby Aug 18 2006 04:54 PM

I don't mean the bars sound boring. But I'm waiting for this big storm to start and they just keep drinking and, you know, going upstairs.

SteveJRogers Aug 18 2006 06:01 PM

Pretty entertaining book about the ins and outs of the TV biz over the last few years. The reality revolution is covered, along with the big turnover of all three network news lions (4 counting Ted Koppel) Good quick read, especially if you like to see how the sasauges are made in the entertainment industry

SteveJRogers Aug 18 2006 06:03 PM

Oh, the title comes based on the fact that "Desperate Housewifes" got turned down by NBC before going to ABC, the whole downfall of NBC and "Must See TV" and the rise of CBS in recent years is the framework of the book.

MFS62 Aug 20 2006 03:16 PM

Born to Kvetch by Michael Wax No, it isn't a book about callers to sports talk shows. It is a book about the Yiddish language. The notes say the author is , among other things,a "translator", "humorist" and an "entertainer". As compared to The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten, this book was neither funny nor entertaining. It is more like a textbook, educating the reader on the origins and nuances of the language. Wax tries to explain the differences between the traditional language itself and its popular usage in current life. There is a pronumciation primer and even a glossary. But the book is difficult to read, with many similar words in the same sentence sometimes obscuring the point the author was trying to make. And if you're looking in the glossary for definitions of those words you sometimes use to describe your boss (schmuck, putz) they aren't there. Its a tough read, even if you thought you had an interest in the subject. But if you're a curious etymologist, you might want to give it a try. Oh, in case you don't know, a kvetch is a chronic, nagging complainer. Later

Rockin' Doc Aug 30 2006 10:13 PM

I read this during our recent vaction on Ocracoke Island. A disturbing and humorous memoir of a truly troubled childhood. It's practically a miracle that the author lived to tell the tale of his completely screwed up family and bizarre journey to adulthood.

Yancy Street Gang Aug 30 2006 10:19 PM

I read that one earlier this year. Weird and entertaining. It's hard to believe that family he stayed with is for real.

cooby Aug 31 2006 02:15 PM

Went to the library today (I almost hit a peacock!) and got some more good stuff

Yancy Street Gang Aug 31 2006 02:16 PM

I hate those sassy peacock librarians. I would have hit him too!

cooby Aug 31 2006 02:16 PM

Stupid thing kept waving his tail in my face. I had to do something

MFS62 Aug 31 2006 02:59 PM

cooby wrote: Stupid thing kept waving his tail in my face. I had to do something There are a lot of them at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport. They let them run around all over the place, and they will follow you to the parking lot. Considering its Bridgeport, I'm surprised one of them hasn't been mugged yet. Later

Willets Point Aug 31 2006 03:56 PM

cooby Aug 31 2006 08:55 PM

cooby Aug 31 2006 08:57 PM

Is there a Fairfield County in Massachussetts?

Willets Point Aug 31 2006 09:31 PM

Nope. Connecticut, Ohio and South Carolina all have Fairfield Counties though. I'm curious at what prompted the question.

cooby Aug 31 2006 10:28 PM

The Harry Kemelman book (on previous page) that I am reading now refers to "Fairfield County" a lot. I know all his rabbi books are set in Massachussetts but I am fairly sure that town is fictional. (I forget the name or I would ask you. When I have one handy I will) Not that I am an expert on Fairfield County, CT, but none of the town names sound right for CT either(though there is a Gorten in the book, a play off of Groten?) Ohio and Carolina are out. Just curious. You know what? Here is how weird I am; when I read a book, I often have my atlas there with me...

cooby Aug 31 2006 11:17 PM

Barnard's Crossing, Mass

SteveJRogers Aug 31 2006 11:18 PM

Entertaining read about New York City in 1977. A very pivitol year in the city's history. Sadly, no mention (well so far) of an event that happened on 6/15 but then again, that ship, much like NYC itself, was allready long since sunk So clearly Reggie v Billy and that championship ride are covered heavily (the project actually started out as a baseball book, but grew once Mahler realized how much other interesting things were going on that year) Also a pivitol mayorial race, blackouts, urban decay (title comes from Howard Cosell's comment about seeing fires go up from an overhead blimp shot during the World Series that year) the Son of Sam case was that summer (Spike Lee even made a film called "Summer of Sam" as well as Murdoch's taking over the Post are the main storylines of the book Good read for those who love NYC's history.

Willets Point Aug 31 2006 11:22 PM

Cooby, that town is as real as John Nash's Princeton roommate. Steve, that's an excellent book I read earlier this year.

cooby Aug 31 2006 11:38 PM

Thanks Willets, that's what I figgered. Son of Sam, that seems like yesterday. I might have to pick that one up.

SteveJRogers Aug 31 2006 11:43 PM

Willets Point wrote: Steve, that's an excellent book I read earlier this year. Cool. I was born that exact year so the 70's really WERE a blur to me (no mind altering drugs neccessary!) I love reading up on past times though Baseball wise though, you can't beat the 50's in NYC. 47-64 a New York team was represented in all but 2 of the World Series (yes I'm aware the 1959 Dodgers won the World Series, but very much in LA) I mean 1999-2000 and this coming October probably couldn't come close to matching the addreneuline that time had. But then again, maybe I am falling prey to the nostalga waxers. No internet, no TALK radio let alone sports radio, TV station program directors wondered if the games could just STOP right at the time for the next show on the schedule so clearly no sports dominated TV, so maybe there is more now... ANYWAY, the tectonic plates that were shifting both politically and culturely at that moment (late 1970's) is quite facinating.

Frayed Knot Aug 31 2006 11:59 PM

]I mean 1999-2000 and this coming October probably couldn't come close to matching the addreneuline that time had. But then again, maybe I am falling prey to the nostalga waxers. In part you are. I mean I'm sure it was a great time to be a NY baseball fan but sports simply commands a much bigger slice of America's attention now than it did then. NYC might have had nearly 20% of the teams in MLB at the time as well as a stranglehold on the post-season tourney most years, but attendance also spent much of the '50s in particular plummeting for all 3 teams (and attendance in the Bronx continued to fall even after the Dodgers & Giants left). Shea & YS will draw over 7 million paying fans this year while I don't think the 3 stadiums then ever drew 5mil combined even at their peak. People writing about sports frequently pick the era of their youth as the best ever and the elder spokesmen of the NYC scene are of the age that trumpets the late '40s thru the '50s as that time.

cooby Sep 26 2006 04:04 PM

Pretty good

Yancy Street Gang Sep 26 2006 04:15 PM

Then you seem to agree with the quote printed on the cover.

cooby Sep 26 2006 04:20 PM

What does it say? I can't see that far

Yancy Street Gang Sep 26 2006 04:33 PM

It's "so good."

cooby Sep 26 2006 04:37 PM

No, I wouldn't say that. I'll stick to pretty good. But not bad. I've read worse. Far worse.

seawolf17 Sep 26 2006 04:39 PM

No wonder all the advertisers pulled out of the "Cooby & Yancy Book Review Hour."

cooby Sep 26 2006 04:42 PM

It's better that Clink and Clank or whatever their names are.

Yancy Street Gang Sep 26 2006 04:48 PM

What could be more fascinating than a debate between "so good" and "pretty good"?

cooby Sep 26 2006 07:58 PM

That's weird. Here at home, I can read that book cover perfectly. You musta thought I was blind as a bat

cooby Oct 21 2006 09:56 PM

This is the time of year I like to trot out my ghost stories, my folk tales, Washington Irvin, and my beloved Poe

Vic Sage Oct 23 2006 11:59 AM

Mark Twain's ROUGHING IT. So far i'm disappointed. I thought it was about 19th century S&M.

seawolf17 Oct 23 2006 05:29 PM

="Vic Sage"]Mark Twain's ROUGHING IT. So far i'm disappointed. I thought it was about 19th century S&M. You've confused that one with A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur.

cooby Nov 09 2006 04:59 PM

Has anybody read this? I picked it up today, along with some Nathanial Hawthorne

SteveJRogers Nov 19 2006 04:10 PM

An exhastive book on the Finley A's (400 pages). Book came out sometime in the late 1990's so obviously the title is outdated and all. Started reading it a year ago on my last company trip, only got up to the 1972 World Series, picking it up again now, hopefully I'll finish it by the time I get to the 2007 trip!

OlerudOwned Nov 20 2006 06:08 PM

Dave Eggers "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius" Another book I'd been meaning to get to for a long time, as a reader of McSweeney's (the online edition anyway, I'm looking for issues of Quarterly Concern).

Rockin' Doc Nov 20 2006 10:59 PM

My copy has a simple two-tone leather cover. It is a chronologically ordered collection of John Steinbeck Novellas published between 1935 and 1945. I have so far read Tortilla Flats, The Red Pony, and Of Mice and Men. I am currently in the midst of The Moon Is Down with Cannery Row and The Pearl to follow.

cooby Dec 01 2006 11:43 PM

I like these books, I learn a lot about both Judaism and Christianity from them, and there's plenty of dead bodies. I hate his wife though; she's a bitch.

SteveJRogers Dec 07 2006 08:36 PM

Pretty funny book, has transcripts of the big name routines. More of a flowing thoughts book than a straight bio but a good fast read.

cooby Dec 08 2006 09:48 PM

Dick Francis has a new book. Life begins again.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 08 2006 09:53 PM

Several classmates suggested that I should read Janet Evanovich, because the Stephanie Plum mysteries are set in Trenton. But I'm not enjoying the book - Stephanie Plum seems like a poor imitation of V.I. Warshawski (whom I love - I can't wait for Sara Paretsky to publish the next mystery in June).

ScarletKnight41 Dec 13 2006 09:03 AM

I'm putting Janet Evanovich aside to read this - Mike Lupica has taken to writing Young Adult novels lately, and I have found them to be good reads.

cooby Dec 14 2006 12:02 PM

Edgy DC wrote: Something about that name makes them pose in repose. Funny thing about Speaking with the Angels, the collection of short stories Seo mentions above, is that the best story in it was the one by Colin Firth. Scratching her head

Edgy DC Dec 14 2006 12:10 PM

Colin Firth --- a friend of editor Nick Hornby going back at least to his starring role in Fever Pitch --- wrote a good story, that was indeed better than the rest of those submitted by that McSweeney's crowd.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 19 2006 04:09 PM

I finished the Evanovich mystery. Readable, but nothing special - I'll wait for the next V.I. Warshawski mystery to come out in June rather than read another Evanovich book. Next I'm going to start this - A couple of classmates recommended this to me because it's a mystery set in Princeton.

cooby Dec 19 2006 10:25 PM

I've been reading a couple of books about the Tower of London, but after awhile they read a little like textbooks