Books

[Peregrine]

Haven't they been reprinting the Wild Card books? I thought I heard that somewhere. You may be able to find the reprints on Amazon or a regular bookstore.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Haven't they been reprinting the Wild Card books? I thought I heard that somewhere. You may be able to find the reprints on Amazon or a regular bookstore.

Yes, they have. I put my Amazon review under the new version...looked like it was published this year.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Glad you enjoyed it -- and I basically agree. I think he overdid it with the Diallo case (thinking that he really had uncovered something there, when I felt it was just conjecture) but overall I found the book rather compelling.

I finished The Tipping Point over the weekend. I liked it as much as I did blink. In much the same way, I enjoyed his clear analyses of the studies he examines, but felt he stands on some speculative ground with some of his overall conclusions (the smoking chapter in particular stands out). Also, as in blink, I felt the presentation of his overall case (the study of social epidemics) tends to fragment in the back half of the book.

Still, I've found both books greatly worthwhile. Lots of well written, thought-provoking material.

[CraigSca]

Sachmo, saw in your signature you recently read 1776 and I'm glad you found it interesting as I recently bought it from Amazon (just waiting for the next business trip to crack it open).

A couple months ago I decided that it's about I time I learned more of American history and decided to begin with David McCullough's Truman. The reason? Oddly enough Mike and the Mad Dog of sports radio WFAN in New York were talking about books one day and they both mentioned that Truman is one of their favorite reads of all time (and won the Pulitzer Prize in '92, I think). It's a little daunting at almost 1000 pages, but is a book that you will find hard to put down. The first chapter describing how the early settlers came from Kentucky into Missouri was a little tedious, but when Harry is born it transforms into an incredible page turner. One reviewer said it best (and I echo his sentiments) - you will not want the book to end, and it's a biography that will sadden you if you never had a chance to meet the man. Harry Truman was a no nonsense, do-what's-right kind of guy who happened to fall into the presidency, WW2 and the nuclear age. It's an incredible story.

Because of Truman, I'm a huge fan of McCullough's and can't wait to read the rest, particularly his bio of John Adams.

[sachmo71]

Next up is Aces High edited by George R.R. Martin.

This is the second book in the Wildcards series. This book focuses on the lives of many of the aces of the wildcards universe, with the main unifying plot of the stories being the threat of an alien invasion.

Aces High is a more focused book, dealing with a smaller group of aces and returning to them more often rather than the sampler that the first book was. Many of the favorites return; Fortunato, Dr. Tachyon, The Great and Powerful Turtle, but there are some really nasty villians that appear in this book, as well. The villians are not nice people, so be warned, but they are interesting characters. The leader is pretty much evil to the core, but his hirelings are much more human, each with their own motivations which are explained pretty well in the book. They aren't all evil; many are just looking to get ahead and backing the team that they think will win. Well, and perhaps are a bit more accepting of the "win at any cost" mentality.

I can't think of a story I didn't enjoy in this book, either. All were well written, and were tied together well. I think my favorite story may have been the exploits of Modular Man, but Captain Tripps is a very interesting character as well. I hope to see more of them in future books.

So far, it seems that these books should be read in order, so if you skip Wildcards 1 and start here, you may be lost. Just a word of warning, since I know the books can be hard to find.
I recommend this book to all Wildcards fans and any superhero fan that has not read this series yet is doing themselves a disservice.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I've finished Jefferson's War and, am currently reading Patton: A genius for war.
Jefferson's War chronicles The Barbary Wars and, America's decision to fight the war against state sponsored piracy. It was a pretty easy read, written in prose style, might I add that te book also tweaked my curiosity on the almost unknown Tripolitan War and, America's road to becoming a world power.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Agreed, and outstanding book. I struggled through Pressfield's book Tides of War about Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War, but am still eager to read Virtues of War (from the era of Alexander the Great).

The movie for Gates of Fire was actually in the works awhile back (see this link) but it may have died. Do you have any current news, CHEM?

All I've heard is that: the studio has just been sitting on it and, nothing else. If anything we will probably see it in 3 years, But I heard there is an adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 (comic book adaptation of Thermopylae). that is being filmed in Nova Scotia currently and, is due for a summer/fall 06 release.

[sachmo71]

Last night I finished reading Joker's Wild, the third installment in the Wildcards series.

Joker's Wild reads a bit differently than the first two books of the series, in that instead of a collection of related short stories, this book reads like a regular novel. At the end of the book they have credits stating who wrote and invented what character, and each chapter is divided up into sections, so I'm guessing that each author wrote a "section" pertaining to one of their characters. It may be my untrained eye, or the fact that I was so into the subject matter, but I had a hard time telling the authors apart in this book. As I said, it read like a novel, but it was also quite a page turner, so I was swept up in the story most of the time, and perhaps not paying enough attention to the techniques of each particular section.

The plot centers around the Wild Card Day celebrations in New York City in 1986. I can't really get much deeper into it than that, because I don't want to add spoilers, but I really enjoyed the story. It spans a little more than 24 hours, but there is a ton of action and intrugue in that twenty-four hour span. As I said, I found myself swept up in the story many times, and can't really think of a part that I didn't enjoy.

All of the best known aces appear in this book, but we learn more about some of the jokers as well. I found myself watching the line between joker and ace blur in this book; for example, the character of Spector (aka Demise) is a big part of this book, but at times I could see how his power would be considered an ace power, but to others it would definately be seen as a joker. A deadly one, but still unwanted. Incedentally, I really like the character of Spector. He's very interesting and well written.

At times I found the focus on sex a bit much. Yes, I understand that Fortunato's tantric power relies on sexual energy, but we also have sexual murderers, sexual ice sculptures, old aces wanting to have sex with young aces, etc. I'm not a prude, but it was a bit much at times.

Other than that, this was a very satisfying addition to the Wildcards series. Now if I can just get my hands on the next book....

[sachmo71]

Just wanted to wite up a quick review for Art of A Song of Ice and Fire


I bought this when ordering A Feast of Crows off of Amazon, and I actually got this book first. Simply put, the artwork is wonderful. All of the major characters are represented, as well as places and events, most with a bit of prose from the book as flavor text.
It appears that most of the pictures are taken from the wonderful artwork from the collectable card game, which is nice for those of us who don't have the time or money to try to keep up with it but want to see the artwork.
There are a couple of comics added at the end of the book, which are amusing, but the artwork is the key here.
The book is nicely printed and bound well, which I was a little worried about since it was from an independant publisher.

[sachmo71]

I finished The Postman by David Brin yesterday.



First, don't let the horrible movie spoil this book for you; they are very different bodies of work. In fact, if I were Brin, I'm not sure how I would have let that movie hit the screens, but that's not really relevant to this review.

This is a post-apocolyptic tale of a survivor who runs across the remains of a US postal worker, and dons his uniform to stay alive. Soon he discovers that the uniform gives him an instant authority with people which allows him access to places he might otherwise be shut out of. He discovers that this authority comes with a price, and he finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of the people he's met and trying to defend against the attacks of an army of ruthless survivalist armies.

Brin only briefly describes how the world ended in this book, and that is only over time. Since the reasons for the apocolypse are not very important to the story, it probably would have seemed out of place to have added them. I wanted to point that out because at times fans of post-apocolypse works tend to be looking for a new and imaginative way for humanity to destroy themselves, so be warned you won't find it here.

Brin doesn't go very deep into his character development. Other than Gordon, we don't learn very much about the supporting cast, even though a few of them have very prominant roles in the book.

The story itself was entertaining for me, and I found it to be a quick read. It was interesting to watch Gordon get himself deeper and deeper into his charade, and to see the desperation of many of the survivors to find something to believe in. I think Brin really captured what life may be like for the early survivors of a world-ending war who remember the past but may not have totally lost hope that the old world would rise again.
Also, as Gordon got back into touch with more survivors, he began to morph back from the survivor to "the idealist", which often put his life in danger, which was the opposite of how he would have acted before he found the postman's uniform.

Mr. Brin does not seem to be a big fan of the survivalist movement, and one of the heroes of the story is femenisim; so if these things bother you, you might want to avoid this book. I was worried that Brin was going to end the book laying this on a little too thick, but in the end it was well put together.

I've seen reviews stating that this isn't Brin's best work, but I thought he did rather well. It was concise; perhaps a bit spare on the character development, and I thought the whole plot was imaginative, so I'm looking forward to reading more books by him.

I would recommend this book to anyone.

[sachmo71]

Finally finished A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin.


I was a little nervous about the book after reading some of the reviews of the book...mostly because I was afraid to see Martin head down the Jordan path, but things were jumping out at me like "too many characters"; "not enough plot progression"; "boring"...but I had to find out for myself.

While I did find a few things a little disappointing, overall I very much enjoyed the book. (BTW...I can't stop calling the book A Feast OF Crows. I just realized the actual title when I was typing it on this page. Sheesh.)

While I can see an argument being made that some of the chapters were not essential to carrying the plot forward, most of the book helped to build the world up more for me. This is something I have been craving for in this series; characters that are so beloved or hated in an interesting world that I really didn't know much about. This book, while slower in action, fleshed out some of the areas of Westeros that did not get as much attention in the first three books. I particularly enjoyed following Brienne's quest, trying to bring honor to her world even as those around her flee from it. Jamie is always fun to follow, as he is such an interesting character. Arya and Sansa are starting to make their way as the shock of their new lives wears off. I never much worried for Arya, but it's nice to see Sansa begin to grow up. I think she's going to be quite a dangerous woman as the years progress. I enjoyed the politics in King's Landing for the most part, although watching Cersi melt down was a bit of a letdown. In the proceeding books she seemed smart as well as strong, but in this one she makes mistake after mistake for the sake of advancing her own cause...even taking into account her grief from her recent losses, I thought Martin owed her better. I know he won't end it here for her, but I just felt like her actions in this book were less than she was capable of.
Another thing that struck me in this book was that there seemed to be talk of sex in this book, and I wasn't really sure if much of it was necessary. I'm not a prude, but I think sex in the fantasy genre should be woven into the story, and can easily be overdone. I never thought I'd say that about Martin, but I think it was overdone a bit.

So, for Martin fans, all I can say is I think the book is good enough to recommend to everyone so that you can judge for yourself. It appears that people are falling all over the spectrum on this book, which is the next best thing to the book being universally hailed I suppose. Aside from the few drawbacks that I found, and they were minor, I was very happy with the book and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the series.

[3ric]

It's hard to imagine what GRRM could have done in Feast to top book 3, Storm of Swords. I think the letdown was unavoidable after such a brilliant chapter of the series. The story probably needed to take a step back and rebuild until the second climax. Think of it as the Two Towers being slower and building up the tension again after a brilliant Fellowship and leading into Return of the King.

[sachmo71]

Each year to commemorate out mother's birthday, my siblings and I buy a book. this year, thanks to a sale and $15 gift card, I was able to get 4.

Illium by Dan Simmons
Blood Bowl (I forget the author)
Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon (FOFC recommendation)
Serenity (I forget the author)

The good news is that my WANTED book list is down to 34 books. The bad news is that my active to read queue is right at about twenty books right now. I should cancel Tivo to catch up.

[sachmo71]

I finished In Death Ground a few weeks ago, but I had some free time at work to write the review!


David Weber is a master of space combat writing. His descrptions convey the brutality of war in his universe. The behavior of the forces in conflict is consistant. Thankfully, the book is filled with battle, from the first chapter to the last. This is a good thing, because outside of war, Weber isn't much an author.

I find his characters to be very thin and unimaginative, his politics are transparent, and some of his interactions silly, but I don't read Weber for this. All of the character exist to prop up the real meat of the story...an intergalactic war of epic proportions.

If you enjoy sweeping space combat and lots and lots of exploding ships, this is a series for you. Avoid it if you are looking for anything else.

[QuikSand]

My latest read was Birds from the Baby Einstein collection. Highly recommended, quite a twist at the end.

[KWhit]

But it's no "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go."

[SirFozzie]

I've read Blood Bowl and the sequel Dead Ball (by Matt Forbeck), funny stuff, although as a soccer fan, all the soccer references in the 2nd book started to grate a bit

[sachmo71]

I finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman a few days ago.


This was my third Gaiman book, with Good Omens and Neverwhere being the others. (I think I reviewed them both here...not sure) I really love his stuff, and I think this is his best book yet.

The plot summary is that a man named Shadow is just getting out of prison after serving three years for assault. Just before his release, he finds out his wife has died. Not knowing what else to do, he heads home. On the plane, he meets Mr. Wednesday, who offers him a job and a glimpse into the world of living mythology.

Gaiman is a wonderful author. His writing style is engrossing and funny and very addictive. I found myself losing hours with this book. The characters are well constructed with very little cheese or cliche propping them up. The way he constructs the gods leads one to believe that it's not such a great thing to be immortal, especially if no one remembers you.

The plot was interesting, and kept me guessing. I can't think of an instance where I was able to guess what happened next, and expected the book to end differently than it did. I was a bit disappointed with the final "battle"...it was sort and I almost missed the resolution. That was really my only knock on the book. There was a continuation that I did not expect and wrapped things up nicely. Still, I would have liked to have seen more of the old vs new conflict.

Overall, this is just a great book. If you like Gaiman or fantasy books in general, I would recommend it to you.

[biological warrior]

Im currently reading Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August. Its about the first few weeks of WWI, and how failures in communication caused the start to the massacre.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by biological warrior

Im currently reading Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August. Its about the first few weeks of WWI, and how failures in communication caused the start to the massacre.

Excellent book! I read it for a history class once and really enjoyed it.

[Wolfpack]

Just finished 1776 and thoroughly enjoyed it. After it's finished, you truly do feel as if American independence was indeed a "miracle".

Have now moved on to Governor Reagan by Lou Cannon, and I spent a returned book card at Barnes and Noble picking up the entire Shelby Foote Civil War trilogy as all the books were marked down to $15 apiece. Considering the paperbacks are still going for $25 each and there were only a few of the hardbacks left, I decided to get them rather than risk not getting them because it was a one-time-only deal. I'm a slow reader, so I'm pretty well stocked until sometime later this year.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

I finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman a few days ago...

This was an excellent book.

Also wanted to recommend Singularity by Bill DeSmedt... an apparently obscure but recent book that mixes a spy story with science fiction and KGB-era Russia very effectively. I really enjoyed it, and don't recommend many books but this one was a very good read.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

I may have made this recommendation somewhere else already, but I can always add it here since this is a damn fine book IMO.

I will highly recommend The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. I read it two weeks ago, but I still find myself thinking about it often and the kinds of questions it raises about how we live our lives and what should be considered a "normal" life.

I initially heard about it after it won the 2003 Nebula Award, but it is barely science fiction at all in my opinion, the only sci-fi touches, if you can call them that, is that it's set in the near/mid future and there are a couple references to how society is different then, but really this is just a book about a person, Lou Arrendale, and how he lives his life as a high-functioning autistic. The author's son is autistic, so I'm sure that prodded her to explore this topic, but she really does an amazing job of presenting how Lou sees the world, and it is very different from "normal" people. Yet he has to face the same kinds of decisions everyone does, about his hobbies, friends, relationships, and most especially when he is presented with the possible opportunity to be cured of his "illness" and become normal. How he struggles with that was extremely moving to me, and extremely well written.

My only complaint was that the ending is a bit abrupt, but I understand why the author set the book up this way, so I won't ding her much for that.

finished Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon


Ever since I read this recommendation I've been itching to read this book. Why? Well for starters, I have a brother who is high-functioning autistic. The oppouritunity to understand the way he works was something hard to pass up.

Moon understands the autistic world very well. I found myself running down a mental checklist as the story went on, and I think I checked off most of the things I was looking for. Lou is a very interesting character, and reading about him is quite a journey. I'm really not sure how much research she did, but she definately has it down.

The story itself is enjoyable, though I found myself jumping to conclusions about where the book was going, and often those conclusions were wrong. It's nice that there are authors out there who are writing books for the sake of the story, and not trying to sneak something past you.

This is really an enjoyable book. For anyone who is interested in reading a book from a very unique angle, I highly recommend it. And thanks for the rec, Peregrin.

[biological warrior]

Pk guys I've just read The War to End all Wars by Coffman (for us mil hist) and am very impressed. The book is about how Gen Pershing delegated tasks of organization to his staff officers to coordinate planning and logistics of the AEF. The book also delved into the American and Allied joint offensives from spring of 198-the end of the war.

My critique regarding the bookare:
a. For a book about organization it was pretty disorganzed, there are only 14 chapters and he bounces back and forth between different topics and goes off into tangents. I would have prefered the offensives and their goals seperated into chapters instead of meshed into 3 chapters, and a seperate chapters on US troops under British command.

b. Lack of an order of battle list for both sides and for each offensive: Again, it was pretty confusing trying to keep track of which unit was fighting which and where in coordination to other units etc.

c. Lack of tactical (brigade level) maps and objectives.

Its a great book on US experience during the war but lacks organization.

[biological warrior]

Dola: The book I mentioned above also needs a new cover and new font and preface. The 1997 edition looked like the 1968 edition, this time re issued on paperback. Hopefully an update (if any will settle this issue).

[WSUCougar]

Just finished Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara. This of course is the son of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara, who authored Killer Angels. Jeff did both a prequel and sequel to Killer Angels, and I wasn't especially impressed with his writing. As a result I was skeptical going into Rise to Rebellion, driven to read it only because of the topic kind of hitting the spot for me right at the moment.

Well, let me say that I soaked it up like a sponge. I am a pretty fast reader anyway, but this was a true page-turner for me and I devoured it. Like the other books I mentioned above, Rise uses several main characters' perspectives as chapters, covering events from different angles as time progresses along. In this instance, it is the period leading up to the American Revolution, from 1770 to August 1776. Characters include John Adams, Ben Frankin, George Washington, and British General Gage, among others. It is a period of history which I know quite well, but this fictional book provided a great, fresh look at the key events, and I really got a good sense of what those individuals were facing. Fascinating stuff and a big thumbs up.

Now I move on to the second volume, which picks up in August 1776 and follows through to the end of the war.

[sachmo71]

Wow, more books to add to my queue.

[sachmo71]

A couple of weeks ago, I finished Wildcards 4: Aces Abroad

A number of high profile aces and jokes set off on a fact finding mission across the globe. High drama follows as they encounter not-so-friendly governments across the world, along with some not-so-friendly aces as well.

I liked most of the stories in this book, but the writing seemed below average. It's a shame, and hopefully some of these plotlines will be revisited in future books...seems like most of them were left very open ended.

I expected better from this team, but it just wasn't up to par for them. My biggest problem may have been that the stories didn't seem to fit with one another, and too many details were left out. I can see the promise of resolving them in future books, but there are limits. Give me something to work with, rather than "you'll see in a few books"!

With that in mind, I don't think it would be a good idea for a wildcards fan to skip this book. Lots and lots of things happen that will be important to continuity. Who knows...maybe you will get more out of it than I did.

[Neuqua]

To keep me busy this summer, I'm going to try to complete a book every week.

Today, I finished Velocity by Dean Koontz.

I thought the premise of the book was interesting in the what would I do in the lead character's position sort of way and it's the reason I selected the book.

Overall, I give it about a 6/10. As I said, the general storyline seemed interesting enough for me to give it a look but I noticed that half way through I was more forcing myself to finish it just so I can get it done and over with and I can begin on my next story for summer.

I certainly was not a big fan of the ending, and I won't spoil it for anyone who is going to end up reading it.

Not sure what is next up on the list but this thread (among others here at FOFC) will be a good place to find some material.

[finkenst]

just finished "Final Jeopardy", "Entombed", and "Likely to Die" all by linda fairstein and working on "Death Dance".

Also on the docket is Raymond Feist's latest trip to Midkemia "Flight of the Nighthawks".

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by finkenst

Also on the docket is Raymond Feist's latest trip to Midkemia "Flight of the Nighthawks".

let me know how this turns out...specifically if it reads like a script. that was quite a beatdown in Talon of the Silverhawk.

[finkenst]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

let me know how this turns out...specifically if it reads like a script. that was quite a beatdown in Talon of the Silverhawk.

i have it on a 7-day checkout from the PPL.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by sachmo71

let me know how this turns out...specifically if it reads like a script. that was quite a beatdown in Talon of the Silverhawk.

The book is Excellent, I read it on my plane flight from Utah to Fayetteville.....If you haven't read the Conclave series through the end, this may confuse you a bit

[finkenst]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

The book is Excellent, I read it on my plane flight from Utah to Fayetteville.....If you haven't read the Conclave series through the end, this may confuse you a bit

frankly, i thought return of the exile wasn't very good....

but that's just me.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by finkenst

frankly, i thought return of the exile wasn't very good....

but that's just me.

You could tell he rushed it a bit, but his deadline was crazy...I am on his mailing list and he talks a lot with the people there.

I wasn't to thrilled with Exile either, but he is one of my favorite authors, just based off of the stuff he has done with Midkemia....

[sachmo71]

I actually finished When the devil dances by John Ringo a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't had time to do a write up.


Out of all of the books in the human-posleen war series, this has been my favorite by a long shot. This volume jumps ahead five years, and most of the earth is under posleen control...or on the dinnerplate, so to speak. Except for the good ol' US of A (and a few other spots), where the slaughter continues. That is, until the Posleen change tactics....

I think I really liked this book because he didn't feature much of the antics of Mike O'Neal. This guy takes military sci-fi to a new level, and that's saying a lot. he actually followed a number of actual humans in this story, who even have some depth. By some depth, I mean very little, but again, what do you expect?

All in all, you get what you pay for. It's an adventure rag, but this one is better than the preceeding entries into the series. If you are a Ringo fan, pick it up!

[KWhit]

Wild Cards sounds very interesting. I'll have to try to find a copy of that.

[SirFozzie]

BTW, I've read the Paladin of Shadows series. Definitely not vanilla, the main character is a ex-SEAL(the Rogue Warrior type), with a very dark side.. (book does not shy from D/s issues and a BDSM lifestyle).. but he hunts the real sickos.

Book definitely has a political viewpont, but if you've read Ringo's books, that's an ongoing thing with him, and it won't be such a slap in the face as new folks who may not agree with him would be.

[bosshogg23]

Ive been on a big non-fiction kick recently. I just finished reading Masters of Doom by David Kushner
which is about the guys who created the game Doom(and 100 other games). Anyone who has interest in computer games will enjoy the book. I dont like Doom or shooters but I found the book to be great. The book even prompted me to Google the 2 main characters and read their blogs to find out what they have been up to since the end of the book.

The book im currently reading is Between You and Me: A Memoir by Mike Wallace. I'll post if it turns out to be any good.

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by bosshogg23

The book im currently reading is Between You and Me: A Memoir by Mike Wallace. I'll post if it turns out to be any good.

Got that for my dad for father's day!

[bosshogg23]

I finished reading Between You and Me: A Memoir by Mike Wallace. It was uneven at best. It doesnt recap his life(or anything personal) and it doesnt sum up his experiences as a reporter or even as a 60 Minutes reporter.

Wallace spends considerable time discussing the Middle East from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. Yet almost nothing in the 5 years before this period and the 5 years after.

Mostly Wallace spends time discussing who and what he wants and hell its his memoirs so I guess he can It certainly is not as entertaining as another great reporters memoirs Reporter's Life by Walter Cronkite

I picked up a book from the library that im looking forward to, Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad by Mike Greenberg.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by bosshogg23

I finished reading Between You and Me: A Memoir by Mike Wallace. It was uneven at best. It doesnt recap his life(or anything personal) and it doesnt sum up his experiences as a reporter or even as a 60 Minutes reporter.

Wallace spends considerable time discussing the Middle East from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s. Yet almost nothing in the 5 years before this period and the 5 years after.

Mostly Wallace spends time discussing who and what he wants and hell its his memoirs so I guess he can It certainly is not as entertaining as another great reporters memoirs Reporter's Life by Walter Cronkite

I picked up a book from the library that im looking forward to, Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot: The Life and Times of a Sportscaster Dad by Mike Greenberg.

I've been tempted to check out Greenie's book, just because he seems like such a tool on Mike & Mike, I have to know how much it's true.

I'd be interested in your opinions of it.
/tk

[Peregrine]

I'm currently reading Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson. He put years of research into this and it really shows, I think this is going to become the definitive book on John Wilkes Booth's plot, and more specifically his escape and capture/death. The book is loaded with details that make it very interesting reading even if, like me, you already know a lot about the Lincoln assassination. I've heard it's already set to be made into a movie, also.

[bosshogg23]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I've been tempted to check out Greenie's book, just because he seems like such a tool on Mike & Mike, I have to know how much it's true.

I'd be interested in your opinions of it.
/tk

The book was entertaining, not great but worth reading if you enjoy Greeny's schtick on the radio. He has a dozen or so stories that make you laugh out loud and they all follow the same formula. Greeny has too much to drink, Greeny does something stupid, Greeny writes in his journal how it was the worst day of his life.

He spends the first 100 pages describing life with his newly pregnant wife and thats the best part of the book. Anyone who is married can relate to some of the marriage stories that are detailed.

The second half of the book takes places immediately after his 1st born child and immediately after his 2nd born child. This part is definitely less interesting than the 1st half or so of the book. He spends alot of time describing how he wants to be alone for a few minutes and cant get any peace, or he isnt getting the total satisfaction he expected to get from being a dad. Then the following day in the book he will write that "I cant believe I wrote that" I dont feel that way at all.

I should mention that there is absolutely nothing that relates to ESPN in the book. Mike Golic isnt mentioned by name until the Acknoledgements and no other ESPN personality is in the book. That isnt necessairly a bad thing, I was surprised though.

Its worth reading......especially if you pick it up from the Library or deeply discounted book rack

[sachmo71]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to review audiobooks or not, but since I received my ipod for father's day, they have become a big part of my commute. So, here goes...

Audio Book Review: Sea of Glory : The Story of the US Exploring Expedition 1838-1842 by Nathan Philbrick


I didn't even know this expedition existed before I bought this CD. As it turns out, this is something that should probably get some more attention in history class, since it can be argued that it helped launch the scientific effort of the United States.

The story is about an ad-hoc, last minute expedition of discovery that launches from New York, heads to around the world and down to Antarctica, back around the world to the west coast, then once again around the world back to new york. Along the way, the expedition encounters natual obsticals, inexperienced officers, natives, and all manner of challenges. The story is wonderful, especially when you put yourself on the decks of these wooden ships, trying to imagine the situations these people found themselves in. The legacy of the expedition includes the creation of the Smithsonian Institute, charts that were used as last as WWII, and countless samples of plant and animal life. Further, in the following years, fifteen more expeditions were launched, amounting to an effort that consumed up to 1/3 of the annual United States budget if the narrative is to be believed.

On the negative side, the narrator was a bit dry, and some of the nautical terms left me behind. However, the historical content more than offset the negatives, and I recommend this to anyone with an interest in the subject of exploration and\or US history in general.

[Barkeep49]

I think Philbrick is one of finest writers of nautical events around. I've really enjoyed the two books I've read by him.

[Wolfpack]

I got Sea of Glory the day before my first daughter was born and thoroughly enjoyed it (even spent part of the night that night reading it to my wife as a way of taking her mind off the beginnings of the induction process). It's rather astonishing that there are all these places and objects tied to this expedition, yet hardly anyone would know that it ever happened.

We checked out his new book on Plymouth Colony from the library, but I haven't had a chance to read it. I'm too busy finally catching myself up on the Harry Turtledove alt-history that started with How Few Remain. I had previously gotten as far as the first book of the Great War series, but stopped for a long while before starting up again a few weeks ago. I'm now up to the inter-war years with Blood & Iron. It's a great bit of escapism, though I'm beginning to pick up on Turtledove's idiosyncracies in his writings and some of them are starting to annoy me a bit. Still a good way to kill a summer.

[sachmo71]

Yes, Turtledove is best digested in small bites.

[Peregrine]

I listened to Sea of Glory a while back on audio and really liked it, it's one of those bits of history that were huge for their time but were later almost forgotten.

[mooreadamc]

I thought that this might be the best spot to ask for a recommendation:

I am looking to do more reading and wanted to ask about some recommendations. I am looking for a series of 3 or more books that have the same characters/story line. Typically I am into suspense, mystery, and action novels.

Anyways let me know of any ideas.

Thanks.