OS Book Club Pt II

[AC]

Summer reading list:

-Finally reading "The Book" by Tom Tango and co. Must read for every baseball fan who wants to get into stats and have their entire view on the game revolutionized.
-A likely terrible dystopian romance my gf wants me to read but she's reading one of my favorite books so it's fair (It's Kind of a Funny Story; incredible read)
-The Sports Gene
-The Sabermetric Revolution (an update on the book)
-The Wealthy Barber Returns
-Thinking Fast and Slow

[Gibbz]

Just finished The Brothers Karamazov. A very long and exhausting but satisfying read. It has some of the greatest passages I've ever read.

[Perfect Zero]

Quote: Originally Posted by AC

Tell me about Crazy '08! Sounds interesting.

I forgot to get back to you on this one. I finished it back in June, but it's a retelling of the 1908 MLB Season. Actually, it's really just the National League as the author focuses on the American League for one chapter. It's really a story about the Cubs and Giants rivalry that year, but I thought that it was well written and I really loved the real-life characters that made the book shine.

If you're not a Baseball fan it might be a stretch of a read. However, if you like Baseball and love its history, I highly recommend "Crazy '08"

Right now I am reading "The Magical Chorus," which is a history of Russian culture from the fall of the monarchy to the beginning of federalism. It's a difficult read if you aren't into Russian history, but if you have had a primer before then it's a good read. After this, I am going to read "Mutiny on the Bounty;" one of the classics that I have yet to get to.

[Fresh Tendrils]

I don't think I could have picked a better book to take to the beach. Other than knowing this was being turned into a movie with a stoner protagonist I wasn't sure what to expect from this. My God, this was on the greatest things I've ever had the pleasure of reading and falling in love with. I don't ever remember finishing a book and immediately want to flip back to the first page to start again.

Having never read Pynchon before I immediately became a fan from the first chapter on. He creates an atmosphere and convincingly connected world with such ease its almost like you're standing in the same streets and cafes as the characters that inhabit the story sifting through second hand stoner's haze and drifting along from page to page. It made me long to venture to this setting with each hazy locale. The characters themselves are just as lively. Doc Sportello comes sauntering in as one of my most immediate likable protagonists a fine blend of Sam Spade and The Dude a mix I never thought would have been possible.

The storyline itself is a little trite as PI stories often are, but the characters (specifically Doc, Denis, and the myriad mix of California archetypes) and setting is where the book really shines. There's off-beat humor and some shining social and political commentary that seems to reinforce how little we've come since these "golden days" of the 60s.

[HealyMonster]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fresh Tendrils

I don't think I could have picked a better book to take to the beach. Other than knowing this was being turned into a movie with a stoner protagonist I wasn't sure what to expect from this. My God, this was on the greatest things I've ever had the pleasure of reading and falling in love with. I don't ever remember finishing a book and immediately want to flip back to the first page to start again. Having never read Pynchon before I immediately became a fan from the first chapter on. He creates an atmosphere and convincingly connected world with such ease its almost like you're standing in the same streets and cafes as the characters that inhabit the story sifting through second hand stoner's haze and drifting along from page to page. It made me long to venture to this setting with each hazy locale. The characters themselves are just as lively. Doc Sportello comes sauntering in as one of my most immediate likable protagonists a fine blend of Sam Spade and The Dude a mix I never thought would have been possible. The storyline itself is a little trite as PI stories often are, but the characters (specifically Doc, Denis, and the myriad mix of California archetypes) and setting is where the book really shines. There's off-beat humor and some shining social and political commentary that seems to reinforce how little we've come since these "golden days" of the 60s.

Your review has caused me to queue this one up. "It's on deck" as they would say in the baseball community.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Quote: Originally Posted by HealyMonster

Your review has caused me to queue this one up. "It's on deck" as they would say in the baseball community.

Its really a fun book to read and not too heavy with its commentary, but there's enough there to not be a dead-head entertainment pulp.

Also, trailer for the upcoming movie is finally out:

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

I really love Dan Brown's books, so now that I've finished them all, I've moved into reading David Baldacci's Will Robie series. Is this a good idea?

[longshadow11]

Baldacci is very good.