Yet Again! Book Suggestion Thread

[DeToxRox]

Have a bunch of gift cards to Borders and such, so it's about that time to go in for a new haul of books.

Basically I'm in the mood for non fiction, mostly sports, true crime or history related things.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

If there is a good fiction book out there, do elaborate. I am not totally closing the door on that, plus others might find it beneficial too.

Thanks.

[rowech]

When Pride Still Mattered -- Biography of Vince Lombardi
America's Game -- Biography of the history of the NFL
A Team of Rivals -- Biography of Lincoln

[Scoobz0202]

David Liss - The Whiskey Rebels

Historical fiction. David Liss can really tell a good story. Paints a really good picture of the scene and the people.

[rowech]

Another couple of books come to mind given history and true crime. While they are Fiction, give any of the following a try:

The Alienist -- Caleb Carr -- murderer on the loose in 1890s New York -- outlines the beginnings of forensics.

Instance of the Fingerpost -- Ian Pears-- hard to describe science/history/murder intrigue in 1600s England.

Speaks the Nightbird -- Rober McMannon -- witches on trial in South Carolina where the main character is trying to save one of those accused.

In the Name of the Rose -- Umberto Eco -- tough read with a lot of Latin but still a classic about investigation into murder at a Monestary in the 1400s.

Pillars of the Earth -- Ken Follett -- My all-time favorite book...building of a cathedral in the 1400s and all that goes with it.

[Logan]

Manhunt by James Swanson chronicles the chase for Lee Harvey Oswald after he assassinated Lincoln. Really enjoyed it a lot.

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is kind of a blend of stories. It's about the building of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, which was really fascinating to read, the success/troubles of the fair itself, and then the serial killer who was preying on Chicago during all of this.

I think both these are right up your alley.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Logan

Manhunt by James Swanson chronicles the chase for Lee Harvey Oswald after he assassinated Lincoln. Really enjoyed it a lot.

So this is time-travel fiction, I take it?

[Toddzilla]

holy shit I LOL'd

[Logan]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So this is time-travel fiction, I take it?

Too much egg nog.

JOHN WILKES BOOTH FUCKERS!

[cartman]

Playing for Pizza - John Grisham

It about an NFL QB that blows the AFC Championship game, and the only gig his agent can get for him is playing for an Italian league team in Parma. Not your typical Grisham law story.

[CamEdwards]

I'd second Logan's picks. I'd also add:

Civilization by Robert Osborne

The First American by H.W. Brands (Benjamin Franklin biography)
The Unknown American Revolution by Gary Nash

[Buccaneer]

Do you have a specific era or topic of history you are interested in?

[terpkristin]

I don't know if it fits your criteria exactly, but I was truly fascinated by:

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins (wikipedia entry)
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

/tk

[st.cronin]

If you haven't already read it - Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby's memoir of life as a sports fan.

[TimGuru]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I don't know if it fits your criteria exactly, but I was truly fascinated by:

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins (wikipedia entry)
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

/tk

Legacy of Ashes was excellent.

Amazon.com: Gomorrah: Roberto Saviano, Virginia Jewiss: Books
Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano, true crime about the mafia in Naples. "Now a major motion picture", LOL

[Logan]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

If you haven't already read it - Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby's memoir of life as a sports fan.

Screw Jimmy Fallon!

Danny, not sure if you're interested in true *financial* crimes but Den of Thieves was a really interesting read, one in which you get angry because of what these guys were getting away with. Basically depicts the insider trading scandal uncovered during the late 80s that involved major, major players like Mike Milken, Dennis Levine, and Ivan Boesky (screw you all, those names are right this time ). I don't think you need anything close to extensive financial industry knowledge to follow what's going on, if that's a concern. The WSJ reporter who documented the whole operation did a pretty good job on keeping it basic.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Logan

Screw Jimmy Fallon!

Danny, not sure if you're interested in true *financial* crimes but Den of Thieves was a really interesting read, one in which you get angry because of what these guys were getting away with. Basically depicts the insider trading scandal uncovered during the late 80s that involved major, major players like Mike Milken, Dennis Levine, and Ivan Boesky (screw you all, those names are right this time ). I don't think you need anything close to extensive financial industry knowledge to follow what's going on, if that's a concern. The WSJ reporter who documented the whole operation did a pretty good job on keeping it basic.

British movie version is 100% better than the stinking American version.

[Draft Dodger]

I was just given The Boys of Winter about the 80 US Olympic team. It looks pretty good. I assume you've already read Ken Dryden's The Game. If not, I highly recommend it. There's also Blood Feud about the Avs - Wings rivalry (timely, eh?).

[ISiddiqui]

"Fever Pitch" is excellent.

I recommend Amazon.com: Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China (P.S.): Peter Hessler: Books which is a New Yorker journalist discussing the rapid changes going in China, through a series of personal stories with ordinary people Hessler met while working in China. Fascinating stuff.

Also, Amazon.com: Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America: Thomas Fleming: Books which is on my reading list. It's about the politics and rivalries behind the famous Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton duel. And how the Federalist vs. Democratic-Republican fight culminated in that fateful event.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Also, Amazon.com: Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America: Thomas Fleming: Books which is on my reading list. It's about the politics and rivalries behind the famous Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton duel. And how the Federalist vs. Democratic-Republican fight culminated in that fateful event.

Yep and how that partisanship makes today's look like squabbling between toddlers.

There are many books I can recommend but I'll just list a few of my favorite authors:

Tony Horwitz Amazon.com: tony horwitz: Books

Stephen Sears Amazon.com: stephen sears: Books


David McCullough Amazon.com: david mccullough: Books

Jeff Shaara Amazon.com: jeff shaara: Books

[Yellow5]

Amazon.com: The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero: William Kalush, Larry Sloman: Books

and

Amazon.com: The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan: Ben Macintyre: Books

Got both for the holidays and they are excellent!

[RainMaker]

I would also recommend Legacy of Ashes.

For a history/science mix, check out Jared Diamond's stuff. Particularly Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Otherwise, here are some of my favority history books:

John Adams - David McCullough
1776 - David McCullough
American Caesar - William Manchester

[Logan]

If you like the HBO Hard Knocks series, you'll like this:

Amazon.com: Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today's NFL: John Feinstein: Books

Feinstein follows the Ravens from training camp throughout the 2004 season. This was when the Niners tried trading TO to Baltimore but the NFL blocked it, so you get some behind the scenes on that.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Logan

If you like the HBO Hard Knocks series, you'll like this:

Amazon.com: Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today's NFL: John Feinstein: Books

Feinstein follows the Ravens from training camp throughout the 2004 season. This was when the Niners tried trading TO to Baltimore but the NFL blocked it, so you get some behind the scenes on that.

I actually did not like that book at all. It was bland and nowhere near as in-depth as it should have been. There was little information "behind the lines". It read like a year in review.

I didn't learn anything new from the book and I wouldn't compare it to Hard Knocks. Hard Knocks showed the trials and tribulations players went through behind the scenes. It chronicles how the business is run. This book rarely does that and misses tons of opportunities to give behind the scenes info.

The guy had a phenomenal opportunity to write a great book and left out the stuff that we crave and filled it with stuff you could find in any local newspaper.

[Logan]

Fair enough.

[lcjjdnh]

All of David Halberstam's sports books I've read are worth reading (Summer of '49, October 1964 and a few others). His non-sports books are worth reading, too.

Michael Lewis' Moneyball and The Blind Side are good if you haven't read them. Also from Lewis (and somewhat connected to Den of Thieves) is Liar's Poker, which is especially worth reading in the midst of the financial crisis going on right now. It's a pretty hilarious account of his time spent as a bond salesman on Wall Street.

Wait 'Til Next Year by William Goldman (writer of Princess Bride) and Mike Lupica is another favorite (which might not even be in print). Basically, Goldman writes from the fans prospective about the year of 1987 in New York sports from the fan's perspective, while Lupica writes from a reporter's view. The year included the Mets coming off of the '86 World Series, and the Knicks entered their first season with Pitino as coach, I believe.

Robert Caro's books are also great if you're looking for historical reading. The Power Broker, about Robert Moses, and the Master of Senate, about LBJ's time in the Senate (it's part of three of a still incomplete four-book series on LBJ), are both classics. They are thousand-plus page books (with tiny print), but worth reading. The level of reporting and research he's done about both men is amazing.

[Logan]

Did you read Halberstam's book on Belichick ("Education of a Coach" I believe)? I heard it's supposed to be very good too but I had trouble getting into it and haven't given it another shot.

[lcjjdnh]

Yeah, I have read Education of a Coach. It was not one of my favorite Halberstam books, but I guess it's probably still worth a read.

My biggest complaint was that I think it glossed over some of Belichick's shortfalls and failures , while fawning over him a bit too much (I guess to be somewhat expected, since they were neighbors, I believe). I felt like I didn't really learn as much about Belichick as I learned about the subjects of many of Halberstam's other works.

It might just be worth reading at this point to see how it reads now, given what we know about Belichick these days.

[bignej]

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I love all of his books and this is probably my favorite. The book talks about various issues including why most professional hockey players are born jan-march as opposed to later in the year and why Asian pilots have more crashes. Its in the Freakonmics mold and, if that's your thing, I highly recommend it.

[Logan]

Just got Outliers from Amazon, looking forward to getting started.

Also picked up The Chris Farley Show.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by bignej

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I love all of his books and this is probably my favorite. The book talks about various issues including why most professional hockey players are born jan-march as opposed to later in the year and why Asian pilots have more crashes. Its in the Freakonmics mold and, if that's your thing, I highly recommend it.

I like Gladwell's concepts but think they are better off as essays instead of books. I believe Tipping Point was originally a long essay. It just seems like he drills the same ideas over and over in your head.

[bignej]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I like Gladwell's concepts but think they are better off as essays instead of books. I believe Tipping Point was originally a long essay. It just seems like he drills the same ideas over and over in your head.

I would agree with you. I look at his books as a collection of his essays based on a similar theme. Some of his ideas are better than others but some of the things in this book are simply amazing.

[molson]

Crazy '08 is a fun read. (It's about the 1908 MLB Season).

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by molson

Crazy '08 is a fun read. (It's about the 1908 MLB Season).

That looks real good (especially since I'm a Cubs fan). Thanks for the suggestion!

[ISiddiqui]

Oh yeah, Crazy '08 is a FANTASTIC baseball book. Perhaps the best book detailing a single season I've ever read (no hyperbole there).

[st.cronin]

Water for Elephants is reportedly a terrific read. I haven't read it myself, but some folks I like have recommended it highly.

[st.cronin]

I am about 2/3 through Kitty Ferguson's The Music of Pythagoras and highly recommend it to everybody.

[Peregrine]

I recently finished reading Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball by Norman Macht. Quite an interesting read about Mack and more generally about how early baseball was played. There's a lot of great stories in here and it's amazing how different baseball is today from in the early 20th century.

A fiction book I always recommend is one that blows me away every time I read it - The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. The book tells the story of a high-functioning adult autistic man in a near future setting, where he works with other autistics doing pattern recognition for a high tech company. When the opportunity to be "cured" of his autism comes along, he is faced with a question of his own identity, and what it means to be normal. I really can't speak highly enough of this book, which was inspired by Moon's own autistic son.

I just finished reading The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer. Of course with a book on this topic, your own personal politics can come into play, but I think this is a book that will scare the hell out of most anyone who reads it - I know it did me. Some of this information is already out there in the press in terms of "enhanced" interrogation techniques, extraordinary rendition, secret CIA prisons, etc - but what really surprised me was how to a large degree our government's decisions and policies in these areas were determined by a small number of people most of us have never heard of, based on their absolute belief in virtually unlimited presidential power. Great interviews that run the gamut from current and former administration personnel, CIA agents, military officers and politicians of all stripes. It's a hard book to read at times (fairly graphic descriptions of the torture some detainees experienced) but I found it insightful and gripping.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

Water for Elephants is reportedly a terrific read. I haven't read it myself, but some folks I like have recommended it highly.

One of my favorite books ever. The writing is just a real treat. In fact, I started re-reading it again the other day.

[MylesKnight]

A sports related choice that I recently picked up myself, Runnin' Rebel by legendary Coach Jerry Tarkanian. Great read.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Logan

Also picked up The Chris Farley Show.

Finished this last night...anyone who enjoyed Farley's work has to read this to learn more about the guy. His rise and fall is documented by interviews his brother conducted with friends, family, comedy associates, etc. Some touching stuff.

[kserra]

What I've gotten really into lately (outside of re-reading Song of Ice & Fire):

Genghis Khan (and the making of the modern world)-- by Jack Weatherford. Just got around to finally reading it-- wow, reads like a novel, but is purely historical... such an amazing figure in history, and one that has so many versions-- this seems really well balanced. Gotta love the intrigue with his kids... damn boys!

A Few Seconds of Panic-- by Stefan Fatsis-- 40- year old sportswriter tries kicking for the Broncos... not bad... didn't really care for any of his parts as a "kicker" but found the conversations with the "fringe" guys fascinating... quick read, worth it.

Living on the Black-- Feinstein. Glavine and Mussina. Decent.

The Years of Rice and Salt-- Kim Stanley Robinson. Alternative history-- sci-fi. What would have happened if the Black Death wiped out almost all of Europe? How would history have evolved? 700 years of history and inventions told in a really good story. All plausible, given the premise. For some reason it just clicked with me... course I love his other work as well.



Happy readings.

[OldGiants]

I just finished up logging in the last book I read in '08 and ran an eye over the list to put up my favorites, many of which aren't heralded at all.

In the order I read them:

Master of Verona by David Blixt -- Dante comes to Verona with his family. Battles, excellent duel descriptions, Shakespearean references and characters are on the fringes and you know the story, so its interesting that Dante does not. A terrific horse race in the Italian style through Verona.

Don't Point That Thing at Me; After You With the Pistol both by Kyril Bonfiglioli
James Bond type spoof from the 1970's. Very funny in the witty, British way.

Philip Kerr books, mostly the Bernie Gunther books beginning with March Violets. A PI in Berlin in the 1930's. First book is about Reinhard Heydrich looking to get his stolen painting back from Goering. Its funny and horrific and quite real.

Last but not least of the best, Anathemn by Neal Stephenson

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by kserra

Genghis Khan (and the making of the modern world)-- by Jack Weatherford. Just got around to finally reading it-- wow, reads like a novel, but is purely historical... such an amazing figure in history, and one that has so many versions-- this seems really well balanced. Gotta love the intrigue with his kids... damn boys!

I will pick that up, fascinated by his life. Seen a couple biographies on him and have the movie Mongol in my Netflix queue. From the reviews, it seems like they don't talk about the fact that he may have fathered a crapload of kids. I think that's they most fascinating aspect of him. I've read that there may be 10% of the Asian population that is from him.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by OldGiants

Last but not least of the best, Anathemn by Neal Stephenson

I usually love Stephenson, but honestly, Anathem was a bit of a let-down. I felt it was a little too long and, as such, the story felt really drawn out. I liked the idea of Anathem, but I really had to struggle to finish it.

I listened to the audio version of the book. Words can't express how sad I was when I thought I was at the end of the book only to realize I had one more section of it that I hadn't put onto my iPod.

/tk

[rowech]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I usually love Stephenson, but honestly, Anathem was a bit of a let-down. I felt it was a little too long and, as such, the story felt really drawn out. I liked the idea of Anathem, but I really had to struggle to finish it.

I listened to the audio version of the book. Words can't express how sad I was when I thought I was at the end of the book only to realize I had one more section of it that I hadn't put onto my iPod.

/tk

Agreed...if you've never read anything by him and you read that first, you'll never go back.

[RainMaker]

Couple of you mentioned Crazy '08 which I picked up and read. Really liked it and learned a lot about the early days of professional baseball.

What I did want to mention is that I noticed it's listed at a bargain price on Amazon. $6.50 for the hardcover. I wish I had seen that a month ago.

Amazon.com: Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History: Cait N. Murphy: Books