Bobby Fischer Goes To War
Billed as a battle between the liberal free thinker from the West against the regimented automaton from the East...The truth, as this book reminds us, was far different
Clint Eastwood - A Biography, by R. SchickelO0
The Jordan Rules - The inside story of a turbulent season with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, by Sam SmithI used to support the Bulls, that is when they won ;D, and I really LOVED MJ, but well reading this book, I came to see him in a completely different light: selfish, show off ... basically he was not a team player, and well the Bulls weren't really a team. It was all for him and nothing for the others. HE got the balls (and got really angry when he didn't), HE scored ...
The 9/11 Commission ReportInformative.
Forensics for Dummies:D
Forensics for Dummies
VERY cool book. Interesting, especially if you wanna know how CSI teams work, that is collecting evidence, establishing time of death, perform autopsies, fingerprints, DNA ... :o ;D
I used to support the Bulls, that is when they won ;D, and I really LOVED MJ, but well reading this book, I came to see him in a completely different light: selfish, show off ... basically he was not a team player, and well the Bulls weren't really a team. It was all for him and nothing for the others. HE got the balls (and got really angry when he didn't), HE scored ...I don't think I buy that. Yeah, all great basketball players have to be a little selfish. That's how they score lots of points. But that Bulls team was great that was around Jordan, and that's why they won 6 championships in the 90s. Teams that don't work together won't win championships. That's a fact.
It's a pity that your classes are interfering with your education, Christopher! (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/Lol.GIF)In a way, that might be right. ;D
"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Great. O0 Keep meaning to see the film.
I have just finished reading Clint Eastwood. Interviews. Excellent!! One I will dip into again and again.
I don't think I buy that. Yeah, all great basketball players have to be a little selfish. That's how they score lots of points. But that Bulls team was great that was around Jordan, and that's why they won 6 championships in the 90s. Teams that don't work together won't win championships. That's a fact.Yeah you're right about that, but the thing is they had a great coach.
I agree. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those rare films that lives up to the book. The performances are fantastic all around--it's my favorite Gregory Peck performance, and Mary Badham as "Scout" was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the age of only 10 years old! And look for Robert Duvall in his very first movie role as Boo Radley. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardsmile.gif)I've never seen the movie, but I loved the book O0
I have just finished reading Clint Eastwood. Interviews. Excellent!!Yeah great job KC (and Mr. Kapsis) 8) O0 O0
and lastly, I'm reading a Dirty Harry book by Dane Hartman ;DHow is it ?
"The Long Death"
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/F_M_U/DH3BOOK.jpg)
Yeah you're right about that, but the thing is they had a great coach.
And yeah the team was great, but all the players didn't always get the opportunity to play their best basketball, mostly because of MJ.
Plus there were a lot of conflicts.
Jordan's behavior really disappoints me ... I didn't know he was like that >:( As always when you admire someone you tend to see only his/her qualities ...
And yeah the team was great, but all the players didn't always get the opportunity to play their best basketball, mostly because of MJ.
Yeah you're right about that, but the thing is they had a great coach.
... then you never really followed the Bulls during their run. Both the first three championships or the second three.Well, considering that I was only 8 in 1991 ... :-\
The biggest example is Pippin ... who was honored as one of the top 50 players of all-time, an honor I argue he would have achieved had he not been Jordan's team mate.Of course he would have.
How is it ?
I have Dealer of Death (DH#12), but haven't read it yet...
Hey I loved the guy, and still do.
To me he is THE best basketball player of all time ;)
He was (and still is) special to me ...
He made everybody on the team better, by being a role model/leader, motivator, and teacher.Yeah, that he was, no doubt about it.
And I'm reading at the minute...
The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
(http://www.fourth-millennium.net/space-exploration/war-of-the-worlds-cover-sm.JPG)
I read The Dealer of Death today (Dirty Harry series #12)You read the whole thing in a day? How long are the books?
Are you reading the book, or the Classics Comic? ;)
Animal Farm is one of my favorite books of all time.
Did you enjoy The Da Vinci Code masterchief ? I havn't but I have read somewhere that the authors claims that a lot of it is true have been rubished.
You read the whole thing in a day? How long are the books?;D This one is 221 pages long
This was the very first book I read as a child aged 7 and I have never forgotten it. It started me reading. The story is of smugglers and fishermen on the Dorset coast in the UK. There is such a place as Moonfleet only the name has been changed a little. You can stay in Moonfleet Manor Hotel in Fleet near Weymouth Dorset. The hero is 15 year old John Trenchard. J. Meade Falkner takes you right into Trenchard's world and you can 'feel' his fear and excitement. I owe the author a lot for setting me on the road to writing. Yes it is a kids book but there is plenty in to for adults too.
Makes you want to share those special books with today's kids.
i started rereading the exorcist last night, scary book. i went to sleep with the lights on.
Death and the Sun..a matador's season in the heart of Spain
bill bryson - a short history of nearly everything
and i'm a stranger here myself
good beach reading
I'm now reading a translation of three of Lorca's most well-known plays. O0
French translation of "What I loved" , by Siri Husvedt.
And I've just begun another one of her novels, "The Blindfold"
I didn't know this writer until I read an article about this woman, a few months ago.
She's Paul Auster's wife, and as he's one of my favorite authors, I've wanted to read her books.
HamletI love Shakespeare O0
Christopher, you are obviously not spending enough time hanging out on the Internet! :o(http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/sally/lol.gif)
(http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/sally/lol.gif)
Circumstances have been a little different this summer than they've been in the past, so I've tried to take advantage of it.
Build your own Database driven website using PHP and MySQL
handy way to teach yourself PHP from the begining
(http://www.sitepoint.com/images/books/phpmysql1/book.png)
in case anyone is on their way to san fransisco
sites of 41 movies
http://www.canada.com/travel/story.html?id=12851c29-f862-4fca-8975-70e258944c34
next up...... a bio of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
So long, Frank Lloyd Wright.
I can’t believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.
I’ll remember Frank Lloyd Wright.
All of the nights we’d harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.
Chorus
Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you
So long, Frank Lloyd Wright
All of the nights we’d harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.
I am so waiting for the movie on that one. I hear they have Angelina Jolie signed to play MySQL, and they're talking to Sam Jackson about PHP. George Lucas will direct, of course.I see it as a musical! (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/Lol.GIF)
I just finished Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. It was really good. Totally different from the movie, but it was wonderful.I read a little bit of Trainspotting a while back, but can you please explain to me why the sequel is called Porno? ;D I'm sure it would be good just like the original, but is there a significant factor in Porno and why how that name was even suggested? It just sounds a bit bizzare and hilarious, but also interesting at the same time. Thanks for sharing anyways!
I'm reading Porno now, the sequel to Trainspotting, it's very good.
I recommend them both. ;D
I picked up the BFI Modern Classcis book on Unforgiven today.I received mine in the mail a few days ago, haven't found time to read it yet.
Christopher, you are obviously not spending enough time hanging out on the Internet! :o
Circumstances have been a little different this summer than they've been in the past, so I've tried to take advantage of it.
Your ISP banned those Lindsay Lohan websites again?
Hey, by coincidence I also picked up The Blindfold recently, also because I'm a huge Auster fan. It's near the top of my to-read pile, and now I'm looking forward to it even more.
Holden how was Man Without A Country? Was it any good?
I'm gonna look out for this.. read the New York Trilogy years ago and enjoyed it.. Time for some more of Mr Auster's work..
Holden.. Whats "Live at The Apollo" about ?
The "331/3" series, printed in the U.S. and the U.K. by Continuum Books, is a line of small books devoted to individual albums, exploring the musical history and larger context surrounding the recordings. This particular edition is looking at James Brown's Live at the Apollo recorded October 24, 1962, but other books in the series look at The Beatles' Let It Be, The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Neil Young's Harvest, The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico, Elvis Costello's Armed Forces and Radiohead's OK Computer among many others. They retail for $9.95/£6.99 each.
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0826416349.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg) (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/082641673X.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg) (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0826416705.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0826414958.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg) (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0826415504.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg) (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0826416748.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg) (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0826416632.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Just finished Harry Potter, The Half Blood Prince (came out in Finland a while ago).. Very exciting book, wonder if there will be more Potters coming out.. ::)
This Is London by Miroslav Sasek
I think we had a thread about who's reading what... but I couldn't find it, so started a new one. :)
Nice to see you again, Ally. Been gone awhile myself.... :)
(http://images.play.com/bc/514489m.jpg)
All part of Gants new healthier lifestyle... ;)
Hangover Square.. A story of darkest earls Courtby Patrick Hamilton.
Just finished Motörhead`s Lemmy Kilmister`s biograph Lemmy
(http://www.likekustannus.fi/kirjakeko/kannet/952471678X.jpg)
Very funny,entertaining and intresting book to read.
Does Lemmy talk about being a roadie for Hendrix? Thanks for the tip Hemlock. Motorhead does not get enough credit for the development of metal.
tgy, I take it that's not by THE Gene Hackman! Sounds cool though, it's always fun when you get really into a novel.
What's the differance between the "adult" Harry Potter books and the childrens ones? Do the kids perform in underage drinking parties? Do they smoke weed? Have promiscuous sexual relations? Or is the cover just differant so other adults won't think you're reading a kids book?
::) Some people never open their minds. Compare the normal editions to the adult editions and then you will see what I mean man.
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
I must check out more of Donne's work; those lines are so true.
Just finished Truman Capotes book.. "In Cold Blood" which I found very compelling.. I havn't seen the recent film but I do remember many years ago seeing the adaption starring Robert Blake. I guess I was quite young but I've never forgotten that movie..
This is a bit creepy.. For the 1968 movie poster they used the real killers eyes.. :-\
Night in the lonesome October by Richard Laymon.
Night in the lonesome October by Richard Laymon. Fast paced well written and creepy as hell. An amazing read by a great author.A fellow Laymon fan! :D :) I've been wanting to read After Midnight, the most recent Laymon novel I bought.
Now I've read the book I'll rent the movie..don't look at me, i've been stuck babysitting this week, all i've read is barney goes to bed and spot the loveable dog :D
I'm off to Finland for a few days next week and need a new book for the trip. Anyone got any suggestions.. ?
A fellow Laymon fan! :D :) I've been wanting to read After Midnight, the most recent Laymon novel I bought.
Have you read One Rainy Night, No,namedfan? That's one of my favorites.
don't look at me, i've been stuck babysitting this week, all i've read is barney goes to bed and spot the loveable dog :D
Well little_bill your education is now complete. ;D ;D ;D ;D
You've read all his stuff? Cool. I've only read around 13 or 14 of his novels. Island was one of those, too, and yes, that one is great. I loved the ending.Nice one. what do you think of the beast house trilogy.
I just finished "A Scanner Darkly". Oh my God!! Probably the best book I've ever read. I highly recommend it.
They are also making a movie adaptation of the novel which looks amazing.
I'm off to Finland for a few days next week.
What i like about Bernard Cornwell is that while he may have an vivid imagination, and a good way of writing, he always posts a historical note in the end of his books where he writes what is facts in the book, what is myth, and what he made up. A lot of authors who write books based on history could learn from that. O0
A lot of authors who write HISTORY could learn from that too ...
(http://images.play.com/bc/475035m.jpg)
I just finished reading James Ellroy's "The Black Dahlia" today .
Did you like it??
As I´ve mentioned many times earlier on this particular website and thread I´m quite a big fan of James Ellroy.
Are you planing to read more Ellroy`s books?
I read In Cold Blood recently and thoroughly enjoyed it, What did you think American beauty ?I liked it too O0
I recommend this one. O0go that for my brother as part of his christmas present, looks good, i also finished Darren Clarkes, Heros All: My Ryder Cup Diary (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heroes-All-2006-Ryder-Story/dp/0340937165/sr=8-1/qid=1168907614/ref=pd_ka_1/203-0638304-7217550?ie=UTF8&s=books) (http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0340937165.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V34863817_.jpg) which was very good, short though, maybe wait for it in paperback, €27/£18 is a bit steep as its short,
(http://images.seekbooks.com.au/1741665388.jpg)
Greg Norman:The Way Of The Shark.
Do you see it as a musical, Conan? ;)
Just finished Mosley Little Scarlett which was great.I really enjoyed Devil in a Blue Dress and am looking forward to getting around to reading some more Walter Mosley. Have you read the other Easy Rawlins books, Hemlock?
The Look, Adventures In Rock And Pop Fashion
An essential purchase for anyone who has ever cared about offending his or hers parents
Miles, The Autobiographyby Quincy Troupe
Gosh, I remember Foyles! From ages ago when I was last in London! It's still there! :o
And of course, they have a website now ...
http://www.foyles.co.uk/foyles/index.asp
I'm looking forward to reading some more books in the Easy Rawlins series. O0
- "Persistence of Double Vision: Essays on Clint Eastwood" (http://www.amazon.com/Persistence-Double-Vision-Essays-Eastwood/dp/088864356X) by William Beard
Interesting read, but way too technical at times.
See above when I talked about "over-analytical and head-bangingly complicated" books about movies? Well this one is a very good example ;) Still worth reading. For the die-hard Eastwood fan only.
Nice review of If You Ask Me, AB! Was it done for a class? (Just curious ... and I'd give you an A.)Well, thanks a lot! :) Yes, it was done for a class (my reporting class). I'm supposed to submit it next week. I thought I'd post it here first and see what you guys thought of it, and then make of few changes depending on the feedback I'd receive ;)
You neglected to mention that Libby Gelman-Waxner is the alter ego, or as you might say nom de plume, of the screenwriter Paul Rudnik. ;)Yeah, I know. I left it out on purpose actually. The review can only be 3 pages long and I'm already a little over that. Do you think I should include it? I was wondering if it was really relevant to understanding the book :-\ If I mention it, what should I call the author on second reference: Rudnik or LGW?
Personally, I feel that Beard's book is one of the least jargon-ridden film books by an academic that I've read. I liked it a lot. But it certainly does help to be a die-hard Eastwood fan! :)It certainly does ;) Maybe I was a little harsh. I guess me being a non-native speaker probably didn't help, but I did have to re-read some sentences a few times before understanding what he was trying to say.
On the Road by Jack KeroaucDid you like it, Alcy?
Recommended by a friend. Also gave me his extra copy of the book.
Bermondsey Boy
Tommy Steele
(http://images.play.com/bc/3251976m.jpg)
Thirties Bermondsey was a thriving place, and it was in this bustling London borough that Thomas Hicks was born. Later, this Bermondsey boy would become known as Tommy Steele ...In this engaging memoir Tommy recalls his childhood years growing up in Bermondsey. He relives with great fondness Saturdays as a young boy, spent gazing at the colourful posters for the Palladium and days spent wandering up Tower Bridge Road to Joyce's Pie Shop for pie and mash. But he also brings to life with extraordinary vividness what it was like to live through the devastation of the Blitz. Yet it was once he joined the merchant navy and began singing and performing for his fellow seamen that his natural ability as an entertainer marked him out as a favourite. And it was while ashore in America that he became hooked on rock'n'roll and a legend was born ...From Tommy's humble beginning to life at sea and finally as a performer, "Bermondsey Boy" is a colourful, charming and deeply engaging memoir from a much-loved entertainer.
KC, you're right about the dictionary. If I would start to check every word I don't know, it wouldn't work. I'd probably read the dictionary more than the book itself.Oooops ;D This is exactly what happened to me. Once I had finished the book, I wouldn't have been able to tell you what it was about -or even the names of the characters :D
The funny thing is, after you see the same unknown word a second or third time, you figure out what they mean! The context is everything. ;)That certainly helped this time ::) And by then I had learned the lesson: you must choose between reading the book, or reading the dictionary :D ;D
The funny thing is, after you see the same unknown word a second or third time, you figure out what they mean! The context is everything. ;)
I had a notebook -still have it somewhere- where I used to write all the hard words -that is, in the beginning, EVERY.SINGLE.WORD :D Once it was full -and that happened pretty quickly as you can imagine, I started writing things down on pieces of paper -which I kept as well ;DDoes that mean you have your very own handwritten copy of The Shawshank Redemption? ;) ;D
How many languages do you know, AB?I know French and English -I used to know quite a bit of German too -studied the language for 7 years, but I lost practically everything when at the end of my high school years, I decided to study English only.
I like Patricia Cornwell's books. I have not read Cause of Death. That will be the next one I read.I LOVE Patricia Cornwell. The Scarpetta series is brilliant. I read the first 8 in French -just before my baccalauréat - I actually didn't read them, it was more like I devoured them :D I was so stressed out, I don't know but reading sort of helped me get my mind off the exams. I was offered this compilation -2 books with 4 stories each, for my birthday.
I'll read it after but I already know that at the end of the book Harry has a sex change operation, Harriet marries Voldermort and they have a huge wedding at Hogwarts so no surprises there!
So, who's finished the latest Harry Potter book yet? ;)
So, who dies? ??? ;)
Me....... Yes satu, I collected it at one minute past midnight on July 21st and finished it 15 hours later.Holy crap! :o ;D I had wondered how long it would take some people to read the book.
Are you under Harry's spell Lin ? :)
Philo .
You've been fast, Lin. :o I haven't finished yet. Starting with the chapter 33. Sooo exciting! :D :D I went to get mine at 10 am before going to work, I'm not that big of a fan to get up in the middle of the night for a book. ::) I can't wait to talk about the book. Have to be careful, not to spoil anything. Maybe PM's? Or a new thread with spoiler warning?! ;)I would definitely join you guys in that thread but at the moment I'm only on about page four hundred.
THE GOD DELUSIONBy Richard Dawkins
By Richard DawkinsGreat book!!!
(http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:DUoWhbLKc1bZUM:http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/11/24/2_God_061103114531654_wideweb__300x460.jpg)
Winner Takes All.. A Life Of Sorts
Your previous orders may only be Marketplace orders. Items purchased from another seller through the Amazon site do not qualify at this time.
You'll have fun, Christopher! Dickens is a whole world unto himself.Indeed, it has been fun. I finished Great Expectations last weekend. Now all there's left to do is a 12 page paper due in two weeks. :o :D
Did he in Xanadu a stately pleasure dome decree? ???
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 1772–1834
Kubla Khan
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills
Where blossom'd many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
But O, that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced;
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reach'd the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she play'd,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me,
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner is my favorite of Coleridge. It sends chills down my spine.Not a bad song by Maiden either. lol
Not a bad song by Maiden either. lolThat song got me into Coleridge.
(http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/Lol.GIF) And here I thought most people only knew Kubla Khan from the Coleridge poem!
It's also a 58 foot (18m) column in one of our nearby caves.
Kubla Kahn (http://www.terrain.org/columns/15/guest.htm)
Recently read Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes the second time. I love it! O0 Bradbury's style is different from a lot of what I usually read, but he pulls it off wonderfully, and is becoming one of my favorite authors. I've read a little about his story collection called The October Country that I'd really like to read, but for the next couple weeks, I'll be steeped knee-high in criticism about him and Something Wicked. If anybody has anything to say about the themes of the book and their connection to the carnival, let me know (I'm kidding! ;) ;D).If you get a chance to read any of Ray's short story work's , do so. He is a true master of the short story genre.
"Hacksaw" is about a guy who escaped 14 times from various prisons throughout the United States. He was the only non-violent criminal ever to top the FBI's most wanted list.At least he wasn't dangerous, but what was he in prison for? ??? :o :D
At least he wasn't dangerous, but what was he in prison for? ??? :o :D
Poe: A Life Cut Shortby Peter Ackroyd
Billy Hill ..... Godfather of Londonby Wensley Clarkson
I'm gonna make that my holiday read this year Sylvie, on your recomendation. :)
The upcoming movie could be good ... it stars Viggo Mortensen as the father. The New York Times did a feature about it recently:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/movies/27road.html
:) hello Gant,
You won't be disappointed, it's a fantastic story.
The upcoming movie could be good ... it stars Viggo Mortensen as the father. The New York Times did a feature about it recently:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/movies/27road.html
John Dies At The End - David Wong
John Dies At The End - David Wong
(http://image.evene.fr/img/livres/g/9782879295916.jpg)
"The Road", Cormac Mc Carthy, today.
From start to finish, all afternoon long, I just couldn't stop reading.
Exceptionnal, deeply moving, the "after apocalypse" world described by Mc Carthy totally scaring, wide, strange ... this Father and Son, I could see them, feel them in their loneliness, their cold and damp clothes, under the thin grey dust coming from nowhere ...
When I closed the book, I realized I was on the terrace, in the garden, I could hear the children laugh and play in my neighbours' home, there was Sun shining, flowers everywhere ... but I can't stop thinking of that story, that book : after this post, I will call my 17 years old daughters who are in Disneyland Paris today to have fun, then prepare the meal for tonight.
This kind of book makes you feel how Life is thin, fragile and ... fantastic, with the ones we love !
Every year, I buy the Pulitzer Prize, this one in the best one I 've read for years and years, maybe the best book read these last few years.
Leon. Ingredients and Recipiesby Allegra McEvedy
2. There is a man punching a gorilla on the front cover.Maybe sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. ;D
The story of Harry Patch who is 110...He went out to Passiondale last year to see the place he 'went over the top'.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51llt7Y4eaL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
The story of Harry Patch who is 110 and still able to talk about his life. He went out to Passiondale last year to see the place he 'went over the top'. He is a lovely man and has gone to schools talking to children about war and what it does to people. The book is excellent and very simmilar, I am sure, to Somme Mud.
I am going to have to read that one Lin. I want to hear what this man has to say about a time that is long gone.
Doug,I am curious on your thoughts after you read The Road. I loved it.
(http://www.thechessdrum.net/historicmoments/HM_Simutowe/photos/The_Alchemist2.jpg)
Not my usual kinda read but recomended by a friend..
(http://www.simonsays.com/assets/isbn/1416961151/C_1416961151.jpg)Well, that looks interesting. ;D What's the basic premise, Conan?
I needed something light and easy after the good, but gloomy and lengthy Berlin: The Downfall 1945.
Well, that looks interesting. ;D What's the basic premise, Conan?
Strange Disappearances, Unsolved Murders & Inexplicable events.
I just finished this one last night.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41PG60V7B2L._SL500_AA240_.jpg)
Any stories we might know about SK?
Doug,I am curious on your thoughts after you read The Road. I loved it.
There are three kinds of single women:
1- the ones single by their own choice: beautiful, free and fabulous
2- the ones single by lack of option: desperate, gnawed fingernails, monstrous dark circles under the eyes, share the life with a cat or a dog
3- the ones single by soul: even living with someone in a regular basis, has a luxurious free spirit
Nice cover.
Anyone can't blame me, if any of you saw a book with your name printed on it I'm sure you'd buy too.I can relate, Aline. Though I didn't buy the book, I was sorta tempted to when I saw the title The Christopher Killer. :o
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I'm in the midst of this crazy adventure; good stuff O0
The Talented Mr Ripley...
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Thoroughly enjoyed this.. at last.
I'm gonna read more of her books.. starting with a collection of short stories..
Doug, have you ever seen Purple Noon (Plein soleil), the René Clément adaptation (in French) of The Talented Mr. Ripley, starring Alain Delon? It's been years since I saw it, but I recall finding it a very striking film at the time. (I've never read the books, but maybe this will inspire me.)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Secret_Adversary_First_Edition_Cover_1922.jpg)(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/The_Secret_of_Chimneys_First_Edition_Cover_1925.jpg)
Just re-read The Secret Adversary and right now going through The Secret of Chimneys.
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Gray Ghosts of the Confederacy is a history of the Confederate guerrillas who- under the ruthless command of such men as William C. Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson- plunged Missouri into a bloody, vicious conflict of an intensity unequaled in any other theater of the Civil War. Among their numbers were Frank and Jesse James and Cole and James Younger, who would later become infamous by extending the tactics they had learned during the war into civilian life.
The real secret of their success in combat against their more numerous Union enemy, aside form their guerrilla tactics, lay in their superior weapon, the Colt revolving pistol. The revolver was the primary weapon of Quantrill’s men, and there is abundant evidence that they were deadly with this frontier weapon. It became customary for the guerrillas to carry from two to eight revolvers in their belts and on their saddles. These rapid firing, five and six shot weapons, in addition to the customary Sharps carbine, gave them a tremendous volume of fire power.
The “guerrilla shirt” was patterned after the hunting coat of the Western plainsman, was cut low in front, the slit narrowing to a point above the belt and ending in a rosette. The garment had four big pockets, two in the breast, and ranged in color from brilliant red to homespun butternut. They were made by the mothers, wives, and sweethearts of the guerrillas, and many were elaborately decorated with colored needlework.
James Ellroy has been on a lot of French TV and radio for several days to promote his last book called "Underworld -USA", and that has just been traslated in french : does anybdy here have already read it ? What do you think about it ?
I'm hoping Great Expectations is just as good?
I wonder what I'll pick up next?
Try the movie. (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0022879/) ;)
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My third book for the year was a little disappointing. I know it wasn't the Hemingway book that Doug recommended but it was the only one I saw at the library. Romance novel fans may like it more and I only found it got interesting in the last half.
And it seem to end quite abruptly to me. When I finished, I turned the page expected more and thought, what is that it?
Oh well, they can't all be great. Back to the library tomorrow.
How'd you like the Kafka? :)
EDIT: Actually, Hemlock, isn't your book the second in the so-called "Millennium-trilogy" by Larsson?
Yup,you`re right KC (as always ;) ) I put the wrong cover up (and have now changed it).
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The 1977 Craig Thomas novel Firefox. I must say that knowing the Eastwood movie after all of these years I was surprised at how true to the novel to the movie actually was. The movie is really true to the novel with the exception of the physical appearance of the Firefox The only real difference is that the MIG 31 in the novel is a more conventional aircraft were as the movie was a little a bit ahead of it’s time with the Foxfire resembling the not yet reviled Stealth fighter/bomber. It’s a really fast read and hard to put down. The novel starts with Gant entering the Soviet Union and the goes from there. All the movie preliminaries are really just flash backs in the novel. Half of the novel is Gant flying the MIG were as in the movie it’s just the last act. For the longest time I always thought that the movies ending was weak but after reading the novel it’s exactly the way Thomas ends the book. It’s really a great cold war yarn and after reading it I actually appreciate Clint’s attempt to put it to celluloid. As Clint has said in the past, he should have laid off the special effects and let the story do the telling. 9 out of 10.
I'm really intrigued with who Forrest Carter really was! I remember the point was made once on this board how a theme of the book is actually that all people can live peacefully together, and I got the same sense from the book. I do get a sense of the "hatred of government" that Kaufman talked about, but that really doesn't bother me.
I like the fact that the movie added to the ending, to make it a more satisfying movie or perhaps to give it a sense of closure. I did like the ending of the novel though. This is one instance where the movie actually darkened up the ending a bit since Wales actually does go off by himself in the end. I also liked the additional information about Ten Bears. He is a very interesting character and much of that was left out of the movie (and probably for good reason--it just may not have fit).
Who else has read the novel?
Alcatraz, you read many interesting books..... Do you study philosophy ? 8)
Yes.
Schofield, The Road was one of my favorite contemporary works of fiction in quite a long while. It's quite surprising to me that you hated it as much as you did.
I believe that Litterature as well as Cinema, Theatre, Artists are essential in a life, because they can create deep and very interesting points of views ... and long discussions sometimes ! :)O0
The Road is , to me, one of the best novels of the last years, maybe the best one ...
Thanks, Elizabeth! Posting images is easy, check the link SC posted. Meanwhile ...
(http://www.nordiskfilm.fi/images/uploaded/article521MiehetJotka-loisto.jpg)
"Män som hatar kvinnor"
Good read and there`s also a good film made out of it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132620/
Those eyes on the cover make him look scary!!I reckon so! :)
I reckon so! :)
Lin, he looks more like Lee Van Cleef! :o
How did you happen to "discover" this work? ???
I'm reading this now. (In Swedish, not in Finnish.) It's the first long book I've read in a long time. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
So far: A good read as Hemlock says, an absorbing story, but nothing extraordinary. (And I've seen the movie, so I know how it comes out.)
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Meanwhile, I've seen the first two Swedish movies and am awaiting the opening of the third one here, sometime this month I believe. And I'm NOT looking forward to the Hollywood remakes!
"The Island" by Richard Laymon.I love Island! I found the ending to be very unsettling, and it really stands out as being one of Laymon's best out of what I've read. Have you read many of his novels, Walt? Favorites?
Not one for the squemish but I enjoyed it whilst sunning myself in Egypt.A great holiday read.
I love Island! I found the ending to be very unsettling, and it really stands out as being one of Laymon's best out of what I've read. Have you read many of his novels, Walt? Favorites?
Meanwhile, I've seen the first two Swedish movies and am awaiting the opening of the third one here, sometime this month I believe. And I'm NOT looking forward to the Hollywood remakes!
To me the third film was highly disappointing after the first two which were great.The problem is that the second and third movie was originally planned to be one long TV serie, but when Men who hate women became such a big success, the plans were changed and it was made into two movies instead. Lisbeth Salander is by far the most interesting person, and her lack of screentime in the third clearly shows :(
I've never read other books by this writer, would you recommend some of them to me, please ?Certainly Sylvie :)
Thank you so much Dane for this long and brilliant answer ! I will try to find Sandman, here in Clermont Ferrand where there is a famous comic/ graphic bookshop ! Thumbs Up I will let you know about it !You're welcome Sylvie :)
;D Naughty TwoMules!
The story of the sensitive daughter of divorced and irresponsible parents, What Maisie Knew has great contemporary relevance as an unflinching account of a wildly dysfunctional family. - Wikipedia
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Hopalong Cassidy and Red Connors had made the 1500 mile ride from Montana to visit the old Bar-20 and Johnny Nelson’s ranch. They were ready to head back up to “Montanny” when they ran into a 5’7″, 150 pound cyclone named Mesquite Jenkins. The first thing the kid did was shoot Hoppy, the bullet grazing his skull. Red Connors pursuing him and leaving him for dead with a bullet in him.
Nice way for a friendship to start.
The novel is about the three men's ride those fifteen hundred miles back to Buck Peters’ ranch in Montana, with stops in Dodge, Ogallala, and Laramie, dealing with the kid getting into troubles, his maturing under the two men's tutelage, crooked lawmen, gamblers, avaricious bartenders and women. Mesquite was a trial, but Hoppy was determined to help the kid grow up. He hadn't made any new friends in a long time. All his others were married (he'd lost his wife and child) and he wanted him “right” by the time they reached Montana.
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I got recommended this by a friend at work and knocked it over in less that a week. This is the first in a series of books with the same characters from a fictious town in Georgia. The coroner, her ex husband the police chief are on the hunt for a serial killer, who likes to drug then crucify his victims.
I'll be heading to the library tomorrow looking for the second book.
4/5.
You will enjoy the other books SK. BTW you are getting into reading now in a big way. Keep it up as there is a huge world out there for readers. ;)
Someone told me that reading is supposed to help the memory too. :)
Since when is murder "too politically sensitive"?
In a state as rich in political corruption as Illinois, it's more of a reality than a question. This true story starts with a murder in a small town and the wrongful conviction of two men, but quickly escalates into a conspiracy of deceit, hypocrisy, misconduct, and cover-up by one of the most corrupt states in the United States.
In 2000, Michale Callahan was the newly promoted Investigations Commander over a nine county area in East Central Illinois. His first assignment was to review the fourteen-year-old murder of a young, newlywed couple, Dyke and Karen Rhoads. Rumblings from the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, The Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, and an upcoming show on CBS's 48 Hours were that two men had been wrongfully convicted for these murders. This true story is about his fight to search for the truth and free the two innocent men he learned were railroaded into prison. Callahan's fight continues with his personal battle against a corrupt and powerful state that is more interested in covering up the scandal and silencing its employees than seeking justice.
This book is about everyone's worst nightmare, when the cover up of any crime becomes more important than the injustice done to the victims. This true story is a warning and foreboding example of just what can happen now that a government can muzzle its employees to cover up its criminal acts. When you're done reading this book, you'll ask yourself this important question: just who will police the police when they refuse to police themselves?
To Dad who only reared twelve children and
To Mother who reared twelve only children
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The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind by Katharine Hepburn
This was a fun read. It's style is such that you feel she is sitting across from you and reminiscing about this adventure. The photographs round out the story nicely.
Right now I'm in love with a book called Uncommon Places: The Complete Works (http://www.photoeye.com/bookstore/citation.cfm?catalog=AP472&i=&i2=&CFID=12984298&CFTOKEN=90036247) by photographer Stephen Shore. It's a photo book with some essays. The pictures portray these seemingly mundane views of small town streets and motel rooms, but are really fascinating and beautiful shots of places that no-one else seem to be interested in. The pictures were taken between 1973 and 1979 across the U.S. Highly recommended for anyone with a love for photography! :)
That does sound an interesting book. I bet AB would like to see it. Me too.
If you see it in a book store leaf through it, I got hooked that way! Then I went and bought it from Amazon for half the price... 8)
In the matter of engaging new skippers or discharging old ones Mr. Skinner had to be very careful. Cappy always declared that any clerk can negotiate successfully a charter at the going rates in a stiff market, but skippers are, in the final analysis, the Genii of the Dividends. And Cappy knew skippers. He could get more loyalty out of them with a mere pat on the back and a kindly word than could Mr. Skinner, with all his threats, nagging and driving, yet he was an employer who demanded a full measure of service, and never permitted sentiment to plead for an incompetent. And his ships were his pets; in his affections they occupied a position but one degree removed from that occupied by his only child, in consequence of which he was mighty particular who hung up his master's ticket in the cabin of a Blue Star ship. Some idea of the scrupulous care with which he examined all applicants for a skipper's berth may be gleaned from the fact that any man discharged from a Blue Star ship stood as much chance of obtaining a berth with one of Cappy Ricks' competitors as a celluloid dog chasing an asbestos cat through Hades.
The reader will readily appreciate, therefore, the apprehensions which assailed Cappy Ricks when the Blue Star Navigation Company discovered it had on its payroll one Matthew Peasley, a Nobody from Nowhere, who not only had the insufferable impudence to apply for a job skippering the finest windjammer in the fleet, but when rebuffed in no uncertain terms, refused to withdraw his application, and defied his owners to fire him.
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The Making of the African Queen: Or How I Went to Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind by Katharine Hepburn
This was a fun read. It's style is such that you feel she is sitting across from you and reminiscing about this adventure. The photographs round out the story nicely.
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This book practically reads itself. Delightful. And for anyone who was wondering ... the new Coen brothers film is very close to the book in spirit and in substance. And I can confirm what I'd read previously: Much of the film's dialogue was taken directly from the book.
Hey, Hemlock, I have a friend who loves that series and tries to get everyone to read it. I finally picked one up ...
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... but I haven't started it yet. Just now I'm involved with Henning Mankell's "Wallander" novels. I'm on the seventh of the original series of eight (he's since turned out a few more, I'm told).
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This book practically reads itself. Delightful. And for anyone who was wondering ... the new Coen brothers film is very close to the book in spirit and in substance. And I can confirm what I'd read previously: Much of the film's dialogue was taken directly from the book.
I also think the Coens made better use of the novel's rather distinct dialogue and they were smart, I think, to cut out the "baby sister" phrase that was so Wayne-like I though for sure the original had added it in there, but nope, it was in the novel, too.
I really should read the book again--a fascinating discussion here about it! I do remember thinking that the original movie follows pretty closely until the very end.
Isn't it mostly just "Sis" in the book, though? I kind of liked that.
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I just finished The Great Gatsby. I read it about eight years ago for an American lit class, and I've actually read it this time for the same exact class, except I'm teaching it this time around. This is one classic that seems to get quite a mixed reaction, but I enjoyed it both times. Maybe not an all time favorite but a good book nonetheless. It's considered a classic largely because of its portrayal of 1920s America. I haven't read much Fitzgerald but would like to read some of his other stories/novels.
The Plague by Albert Camus
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I'll probably read his The Stranger next.
I recently finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. It was her only novel, and she killed herself shortly after its publication, which makes the book all the more tragic to read. The main character Esther Greenwood is based on Plath's own experiences as a young woman with a bright future but feels as if she lives under a "bell jar." The book feels a little like The Catcher in the Rye and reminded me of one of my favorite short stories of all time, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper."
(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1273944449l/4671.jpg)
I just finished The Great Gatsby. I read it about eight years ago for an American lit class, and I've actually read it this time for the same exact class, except I'm teaching it this time around. This is one classic that seems to get quite a mixed reaction, but I enjoyed it both times. Maybe not an all time favorite but a good book nonetheless. It's considered a classic largely because of its portrayal of 1920s America. I haven't read much Fitzgerald but would like to read some of his other stories/novels.
"What is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"
It's one of the great books of Western literature! And it has one of the best lines ever ...
They very soon came upon a Gryphon, lying fast asleep in the sun. (If you don't know what a Gryphon is, look at the picture)
If it had been a book without pictures, how would you have ever known? ;D
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MY GOD!! What a bore. I'm sorry classic book fans but this was torture. 540 pages of sheer torture. I'll probably get bashed for saying that but fair dinkum, this was like watching a bad movie and I look my watch to see how long there is to go and we're not even half way through yet. Of course stupid me, doesn't flick the book. Just like a film I have to stick it out to the end. It took over a month but geez, I didn't think it was ever going to end.
My biggest problem with this book was when it went from a novel to a text book on whales. Hellooooooooo, if I wanted to read about every different type of whale and their habits and what have you, I would've gone to the library and got a book on that.
1/5.
Derren Brown, Confessions of a Conjuror
I've never read Of Mice and Men yet but would like to eventually. I read The Grapes of Wrath some years back and liked it.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Capt. Ted W. Lawson
Captain Lawson took part in the Doolittle raid on Japan on 18 April 1942. This is his account of his participation in the raid and its results, primarily as it affected him personally. The first five or so sentences of the book succinctly summarized the story, but I'm glad he chose to go into greater detail.
(http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1273944449l/4671.jpg)
I just finished The Great Gatsby. I read it about eight years ago for an American lit class, and I've actually read it this time for the same exact class, except I'm teaching it this time around. This is one classic that seems to get quite a mixed reaction, but I enjoyed it both times. Maybe not an all time favorite but a good book nonetheless. It's considered a classic largely because of its portrayal of 1920s America. I haven't read much Fitzgerald but would like to read some of his other stories/novels.
Now I've gotten a good start into Peter Falk's Just One More Thing. The book is not a typical autobiography, as he explains in the beginning. For the most part, he is just telling little stories in the book relating to his life and career. Or even stories friends of his have told him that he really likes.I finished Just One More Thing a few days ago. I did enjoy it but like I said, it wasn't a typical autobiography, and I think I would have enjoyed a little more typical autobriography in it. Some of the stories Falk tells are great, and I probably read most of the book with a smile on my face. But when I got to the end, I felt like I would have liked to have had more.
I just finished this [The Great Gatsby] after reading Christopher's recommendation back in February. After a slow start I quite enjoyed it. Not sure why it's considered a classic but at least it didn't bore me like Moby Dick.
My edition had an introduction in it by Tony Tanner. A 70 page introduction! I gave up on that after about 20 pages and just read the novel. Maybe the intro may have explained why it's a classic but seriously, 70 pages to introduce a book?
It's considered a classic largely because of its portrayal of 1920s America.
The Outlet (1905) by Andy Adams
This is the story of a cattle drive from Medina County, Texas to Fort Buford (North Dakota) in 1884. ...
You Never Give Me Your Money
"Risking their lives"? I guess that's close enough. The Reacher titles never seem to be very meaningful ... I can never remember which book is which.
But regardless ... I ate them all up! I've become a Reacher fan.
Have you read them all now, too, Hemlock?
The Cover Art Of Blue Note Recordsby Graham Marsh and Glyn Callingham
"WORLD WITHOUT END", Ken Follett
Taking place in the Middle Ages in England, a fantastic saga and a thick book, perfect for Summer time ;) !
I had loved "THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH" a few years ago.
Looks good.. I might give that a try.. :)
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Finished it while on holiday. It was brilliant.
FREAKONOMICSby Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
We all died in that [email protected]#king war - some of us are just taking longer to stop breathing
I like the look of Ghost Platoon, think I'll order myself a copy. Looks like the kinda book my Dad would enjoy. He fought
Alongside Australian soldiers in Korea and thought very highly of them.
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I just couldn't get into this, but like a bad movie I see it through to the end. Very disappointing after the other two Chandler books I read were good.
2/5.
^ Is that one of the features of the series? I once read a series of Swedish book where the cop who was the hero (narrating in the first person) got terribly tortured in some way right at the end of the book. Always in a different way, and he always gave the readers all the gory details. (But he still always got his man.)
You can also get it from the library ... ;)
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/709683300
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Ally, it's real easy to post images. Just put the URL between [ img] [ /img] tags (without the space after the opening bracket). :)
It's quite bizarre how some books will put me to sleep after a half dozen pages while others I can read and read and read for a couple of hours.
Schofield, you've read all of these Kathy Reich books one after the other, in a relatively short period of time. How do you do that? I understand the appeal of a series, but not in reading them all at the same time. Don't you get tired of reading the same thing over and over again? It's the same characters, with variations on the same stories, right? That doesn't get old for you?
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Red Harvest
Notice any similarities to A Fistful of Dollars? ???
Ever read Lee Child, SK? A few of us in my set are big fans. They're a little improbably plotted, but there's lots of action, and the hero bears a certain resemblance to Clint in his "Man with No Name" days.
I started out with Echo Burning, which I think is the fifth in the series, then went back and read them more or less in order, starting with Killing Floor, which was the first. But I don't think the order matters too much. There are things that sometimes get carried over from book to book, like in one of them he acquires a girlfriend and a house, so in the next one he'll have to find out a way to lose those encumbrances. But you figure he would, anyway, because that's his nature.
Only thing is, two of the latest ones, 61 Hours and Worth Dying For, really should be read in that order because 61 Hours ends in a cliffhanger.
There are two "prequels" in the series, going back to Reacher's days as an Army M.P. They're The Enemy and the latest to date, The Affair. I think you get more out of them if you read them when you already know the character, though you could argue that if you start with them, you would be following strict chronological order.
Anyway, by all means, pick up any one you can find from the library or buy a cheap paperback if you come across one, and see if they're to your taste.
I would prefer to read them in order and Killing Floor isn't on that list so I might see if I can find it cheap somewhere and go from there.
I've started reading a new author that I've really been enjoying and wanted to recommend to you all. Her name is Gillian Flynn. The first book I read that she wrote is actually her newest, which is called "Gone Girl." It has recently been optioned by Hollywood. Her second book that I read was called "Dark Places." It has also been optioned by Hollywood, as a potential starring vehicle for Eastwood's soon-to be co-star, Amy Adams. Gillian Flynn is a very talented writer. Her stories are very expertly plotted and her characters are rich and well developed. If you're looking for a new writer to thrill and excite, terrify and enlighten you, pick up one of her books today! Once you pick one of her books up, you won't be able to put them down. I read a lot, but her work really is unique.
What are the books about AKA?
Gone Girl: On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
Dark Places: Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.
The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club . . . and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.
As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.
You might want to switch to a different series of books! :o ;) :D
Reacher and FBI Agent Holly Johnson are in the woods and come across a body that has been crucified. Of course she can't handle the sight of it and throws up. Reacher cuts the body down and buries it. Before the end of the page, they're naked and having sex in the dirt! I mean, come on, are you kidding me?:o :D
That's what I'll be doing.If I recall right, that was the one where Holly was abducted because she's the daughter of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Reacher gets abducted with her because he just happens to bump into her at the wrong time. They're taken off to a site where a paramiltary cult is plotting to overthrow the US government. I don't recall the sex in the sand at that particular juncture, but I do remember thinking it was pretty improbable that they would let Reacher escape, recapture him, then let him escape again ... over and over.
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This didn't improve on the first novel. The same drawn out feeling like it was a chore just to get through it.
I know it's only fiction but there was one page in this book that I just couldn't stop shaking my head in bewilderment.
Reacher and FBI Agent Holly Johnson are in the woods and come across a body that has been crucified. Of course she can't handle the sight of it and throws up. Reacher cuts the body down and buries it. Before the end of the page, they're naked and having sex in the dirt! I mean, come on, are you kidding me?
2/5.
:o :D
And I see these are the Jack Reacher novels that the new movie is adapted from!
It's adapted from a later novel in the series ... and Tom Cruise is starring. A lot of Reacher fans are up in arms about that. That little superannuated shrimp is going to play Jack Reacher, six foot four and two hundred and forty pounds of brute strength and intelligence?
Did you see either of the movies based on this first book (which in the original Swedish was titled Män som hatar kvinnor, "Men Who Hate Women")?
Did you see either of the movies based on this first book (which in the original Swedish was titled Män som hatar kvinnor, "Men Who Hate Women")?
No, I haven't. Are they worthwhile and which is better?
You read pretty fast, SK! I hope you enjoy the rest of the trilogy.
The library only has the second book of the trilogy on CD and I haven't been a fan of listening to someone read to me since I was about 8.I'm not a fan of audio books either. I don't seem to get as much out of it while listening.
Nina Simone I Put A Spell On You
An absolutely unique artist... Amazing pianist, songwriter, political activist.. We lost her too early.. We just don't seem to get talent like this any more..
Yeah... I was a bit dissapointed how good Kyle's drummer is... I was hoping to get in there.... :)
I think I'll give that a go Kid....
Laconic Joe Pickett returns to his slightly offbeat duties in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains in C. J. Box's Savage Run. Joe is called to the scene when an exploding cow kills a famous ecoterrorist, Stewie Woods, and his bride of three days, who were peacefully spiking trees. A visit to the cow's pugnacious owner leaves Joe defensive, angry, and curious: Why doesn't the rancher ask any questions about the bizarre accident that happened on his land? Then Joe's wife, Marybeth, begins receiving phone calls from her high-school boyfriend—-the peculiarly healthy-sounding Stewie Woods. Stewie may or may not be alive, but his old pal Hayden Powell and other environmental activists are all turning up deceased in strange circumstances. As the body count climbs, Joe tries to sort out the bad guys, the good guys, and the truly dead guys in this sometimes funny, sometimes angry sequel to Box's award-winning first novel, Open Season. Box depicts the spare beauty and cussed individualism of the intermountain West with the sure hand of a seasoned writer. --Barrie Trinkle
The third Joe Pickett outing from CJ Box finds our (still slightly unlikely) game warden hero once caught up in intrigue in the Bighorn Mountains. ‘Beyond the rim to the west was Battle Mountain, separated from the Wolf Range by the Crazy Woman Creek, which flowed, eventually, into the Twelve Sleep River.’ The novel opens with a drunken federal employee called Lamar Gardiner gunning down more elk than he is legally supposed to. Joe tries to take him in – only to find himself handcuffed to his steering wheel and trying to give chase through the beginnings of a blizzard. But Lamar’s getaway proves his undoing. Joe eventually finds him:
‘…held to the trunk of the tree by two arrows that had gone completely through his chest and into the wood, pinning him upright against the tree. His chin rested on his chest, and Joe could see blood spreading down from his neck. His throat had been cut. The snow around the tree had been tramped by boots.’
It's an idyllic late summer day in Saddlestring, Wyoming, and game warden Joe Pickett is fly-fishing with his two daughters when he stumbles upon the mutilated body of a moose. Whatever-or whoever-attacked the animal was ruthless: Half the animal's face has been sliced away, the skin peeled back from the flesh. Shaken by the assault, Pickett begins to investigate what he hopes is an isolated incident. Days later, after the discovery of a small herd of mutilated cattle, Pickett realizes this is something much bigger. Local authorities are quick to label the attacks the work of a grizzly bear, but Joe knows otherwise. The cuts on the moose and the cattle were too clean, too precise to have been made by jagged teeth. Are the animals only practice for a killer about to move on to a different, more challenging prey? Joe's worst fears are realized when the bodies of two men are discovered within days of each other, their wounds eerily similar to those found on the moose and cattle. There's a vicious killer, a modern-day Jack the Ripper, on the loose in The Bighorn Mountains - and it appears his rampage is just beginning.
Joe Pickett is attempting to survive his mother-in-law's wedding to a wealthy local rancher when he receives some disturbing news: Will Jensen, a fellow Wyoming game warden and a good friend, has killed himself. And Joe's been picked to temporarily run Jensen's Teton district.
Jackson Hole is a far cry from Joe's hometown of Saddlestring -- it's the epicenter for many environmental extremists and an elite playground for the rich and powerful -- and Joe quickly finds himself over his head. Yet despite the pressures of his new job and his surprising and disturbing attraction for a married woman named Stella, he can't get his friend's suicide out of his mind. By all accounts, Will had changed in the last few months of his life, becoming violent and unpredictable.
Meanwhile, back at home, Marybeth is frightened by threatening phone calls and asks the outlaw falconer Nate Romanowski for assistance, not realizing she has opened the door to much more than help.
The closer Joe comes to the truth about Will's death, the more his own life begins to mirror Will's and spiral out of control -- and he realizes that if he's not careful, he may end up as Jackson's next victim.
J. W. Keeley is a man with a score to settle. He blames one man for the death of his brother: Joe Pickett. And now J.W. is going to make him suffer.
Spring has finally come to Saddlestring, Wyoming and game warden Joe Pickett is relieved the long, harsh winter is finally over. However, a cloud of trouble threatens to spoil the milder weather—local matriarch and ranch owner Opal Scarlett has vanished under suspicious circumstances. Two of her sons, Hank and Arlen, are battling for control of their mother's multi-million dollar empire and their bitter fight threatens to tear the whole valley apart.
Everyone is so caught up in the brothers' battle that they seem to have forgotten that Opal is missing. Joe is convinced, though, that the local outfitter who was the last to see her alive isn’t responsible for her murder. He begins to believe the reason for Opal’s disappearance is much more twisted and sinister.
Joe Pickett, recently fired from his job as a Wyoming game warden, is working on his father-in-law’s ranch when he receives a visit from the governor. Governor Rulon – a devious but down-home politico – has a special request, one Joe knows he can’t refuse. For weeks, the headlines have been abuzz with the story of Clay McCann, a lawyer who slaughtered four campers in a far-off corner of Yellowstone.
After the murders, McCann immediately turned himself in at the nearest ranger station. Seemed like a slam-dunk case for law enforcement – except that the crimes were committed in a thin sliver of land with zero residents and overlapping jurisdiction, the so-called free-fire zone. McCann has taken advantage of an obscure loophole in the law: neither the state nor the federal government can try him for his crime. The worst mass murderer in Wyoming history walks out of jail a free man.
It’s elk season in the Rockies, but this year one hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. When the call comes in on the radio, Joe Pickett can hardly believe his ears: game wardens have found a hunter dead at a camp in the mountains—strung up, gutted, skinned, and beheaded, as if he were the elk he’d been pursuing. A spent cartridge and a poker chip lie next to his body.
I like how in these books, characters from earlier books pop up and are connected to the current story.
“Tell Sherry April called.” That simple phone message shakes Joe Pickett’s oldest daughter Sheridan and the rest of the family to the core. To Joe, it doesn’t seem even remotely possible that April could have survived the massacre described in Winterkill six years before. He was there, and he was unable to save her. But Sheridan starts to believe there’s a chance that April is still alive, and her suspicions are confirmed when the person sending texts to her cell phone is able to recall family incidents only April could know.
Joe Pickett’s in his last week as the temporary game warden in the isolated town of Baggs, Wyoming, but there have been strange things going on in the surrounding mountains, and his conscience won’t let him leave without checking them out: reports of camps looted, tents slashed, elk butchered. And then there’s the runner who’s gone missing – an Olympic hopeful who’d been training in the region and then just…vanished. Joe doesn’t mind admitting that the farther he rides, the more he wishes he could just turn around and go home. And he is right to be concerned. Because what awaits him is like nothing he’s ever dealt with, like something out of an old story, except this is all too real and all too deadly. When he’d first saddled up, he’d thought of this as his last patrol. What he hadn’t known was just how accurate that might turn out to be.
When Earl Alden is found dead, dangling from a wind turbine, it's his wife, Missy, who is arrested. Unfortunately for Joe Pickett, Missy is his mother-in-law, a woman he dislikes heartily, and now he doesn't know what to do - especially when the early signs point to her being guilty as sin. But then things happen to make Joe wonder: Is Earl's death what it appears to be? Is Missy being set up? He has the county DA and sheriff on one side, his wife on the other, his estranged friend Nate on a lethal mission of his own, and some powerful interests breathing down his neck. Whichever way this goes...it's not going to be good.
I finished Frankenstein. I'd read it a long time ago, so this was my second time with the book--it was as uplifting as I'd remembered! ;)
Recommended if you haven't read it before. The creature is both very sympathetic and terrifying in the book.
I'll agree about the creature. It's the creator that I had little use for. He was so irresponsible, like some parents I've encountered over the years.Yeah, Victor certainly seems to go from one extreme to another! He's so obsessed with his quest and then rejects him as soon as he sees him live.
I read the three of them in Swedish
Joe Pickett never wanted to know about it, but Nate Romanowski always knew trouble was coming out of his past. Now it's here, and it may not only be the battle of his life -- but of Joe's.
In 1995, Nate was in a secret Special Forces unit abroad when a colleague did something terrible. Now high up in the government, the man is determined to eliminate anyone who knows about it, and Nate knows exactly how he'll do it-by striking at Nate's friends to draw him out. The entire Pickett family will be a target, and the only way to fight back is outside the law. Nate knows he can do it, but he isn't sure about his straight-arrow friend-and all their lives could depend on it.
The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex.. whats wrong with modern movies by Mark Kermode
The Shack is a Christian novel by Canadian author William P. Young, a former office manager and hotel night clerk, published in 2007.[1] The novel was self-published but became a USA Today bestseller, having sold 1 million copies as of June 8, 2008.[2] It was the #1 paperback trade fiction seller on the New York Times best sellers list from June 2008 to early 2010,[3] in a publishing partnership with Hachette Book Group USA's FaithWords imprint (Hodder & Stoughton in the UK). In 2009 it was awarded the "Diamond Award" for sales over 10 million copies by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.[4]
The title of the book is a metaphor for “the house you build out of your own pain”, as Young explained in a telephone interview.[5] He also states to radio host talk show Drew Marshall that The Shack "is a metaphor for the places you get stuck, you get hurt, you get damaged...the thing where shame or hurt is centered."[6]
In 1833 the hellhole Sarah Island penal settlement on the jungle-dense southwest coast of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) was finally judged to be too barbarous even for the soldiers guarding the prisoners, and was ordered closed. The last group of ten prisoners to leave overpowered their captors and left them behind while commandeering a frigate and sailing for liberty in Chile. Hard weather sank their ship but make port they did in Valdivia. First thrown in prison, they were released to become shipwrights and then settled down to the heavenly delights of Spanish culture and family life. Nonetheless, the British navy sought them out and all died or were shipped to the even more horrible penal settlement of Norfolk gland in the mid-Pacific. Butler tells his minor tale swiftly and colorfully, with adequate characterizations; it is fictionalized nonfiction, rather four-square and without the sweep of the great mutiny and escape novels.
(http://books.google.com/books?id=33dZAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE70_mTU6vqKnanzya6oHPvbKl6Oq0pR-mLpK0_C8M2NY1ll23k06kUwOfAQyrGWicR9Oje_8epfviZR06VF58q-LxbUx_qTQ2jhTvvrpkKODvM4GboLXF7zd2mEvxd7X3tIpkGUy)
OK, I'll be honest. I didn't read much of this book. I started to but it was written in a way that went way over my head. Sort of textbook style I suppose you could call it because it wasn't fun, it was like something from a film course. Even the chapter on Unforgiven didn't do it for me.
1/5. :(
Sk, I did read a review on this some time ago which said, " the genre tends to be a background to the articles rather than their central subject matter: they tend to be essays about Westerns rather than the Western" :(
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http://jonesbo.com/#!/books/batman
Great book,great writer.
^ That was his first book. I read it several months ago (in Norwegian), and I wasn't very impressed.
^Both Swedish and Norwegian ??? I can`t read or speak swedish even though it`s Finland`s second language and we`re tought in the school to speak swedish.So (even though this is going to be slightly off topic) what made you learn to read those particular languages,KC?
Still hate the fact that they choose tom Cruise to play Reacher even though the film was quite decent.He is just wrong for the role.
I would have been duty-bound if I had recognized Elvis' alleged drug abuse
Yeah, I read the Swedes and Norwegians in the original. Not Finnish, though!
I just picked up Nesbø's third Harry Hole book, Rødstrupe ... Since The Cockroaches is set in Thailand, I decided I'd skip over that one for the moment and go to the next one, which is set back in Norway. Norwegian books are expensive, even as e-books!
(http://magento.aschehoug.no/media/catalog/product/cache/2/cover/281x/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/9/7/9788203193682_Nesbo_3.jpg)
What does that quote even mean? Is it even English? ???
You can be duty-bound TO do something, i.e. your (legal or moral) duty obliges you to do it. But you can't be duty-bound "if" anything.
If he's trying to say his duty obliged him TO DO something in regard to recognizing "Elvis' alleged drug abuse" ... just what would it be? To recognize it, that is acknowledge it, in print? And if it's only "alleged" ... how can one recognize, that is see/notice/understand it? Or does he mean his duty obliged him to recognize that others have alleged that Elvis abused drugs? Or that in his personal relationship with Elvis, his duty would have/could have/should have obliged him to recognize that Elvis did, in fact, abuse drugs, as others alleged (and do what in consequence)?
I feel quite dizzy. (And I really don't care what the answer is, so don't bother, Jed.)
I finished Rødstrupe a while back. I really liked it, much better than his first book. It was a very complex tale and he kept juggling all the various parts in a believable way, while keeping you guessing the answer to the mystery almost to the end.
I'd like to continue with the saga of Harry Hole, but Norwegian e-books are so expensive compared with Swedish! I think I'll stick to Svenska for a while.
I could say more but dont wanna spoil the read...
I heard they both died in the end. ;)
Hi Lin.. Yeah, I got it from Amazon, tho with a different cover...
I thought it was really well written and researched.. No wild flights of fancy... just the facts..
I'd be very interested what you make of it..
I could say more but dont wanna spoil the read...
^ That's quite a combination! ;D
Star Trek: No Time Like The Past
By
Greg Cox
So far it's a pretty good book. It "feels" like a Star Trek episode.
SK has illustrated his post with the title page of the first edition, which is probably worth a fortune ... I assume you actually had something of a bit more recent vintage with you out in the bush, SK! :D
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Jane_Eyre_title_page.jpg/220px-Jane_Eyre_title_page.jpg)I read Jane Eyre a few years ago and enjoyed it a lot too! I got into a discussion with two girl friends, one preferred Jane Eyre, and the other preferred Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. So I said I'd read both and determine who was right (because my opinion would be right, of course :D ;D ;) ). I liked both, but did like Jane Eyre better.
This is my wife's favourite book. I decided to give it a go while we away camping last week and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. Usually I can only read about a dozen pages at the most before I fall asleep or my attention span wans but I was ploughing through 60-70 pages at a time.
4/5.
Black Boyby Richard Wright.. 1946
^ How was it cataloged by your local library? Did they have "Kirk, James T." as author? Did they give his birthdate and death date?Haha That's strange! :D I looked the book up on Amazon to see who the writer actually is. It sounds like an interesting book at any rate.
My library has "Kirk, James T., 2233-2371, author." Which I think is very odd.
^ How was it cataloged by your local library? Did they have "Kirk, James T." as author? Did they give his birthdate and death date?
My library has "Kirk, James T., 2233-2371, author." Which I think is very odd.
The First Bohemiansby Vic Gatrel
Shannon, if you are going to quote summaries and reviews from other sources, you should give the source and provide a link, please. Also, please use either quotation marks or the [ quote] [ /quote] formatting to indicate the quotation.oops sorry I'll go edit the link now
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Gone_with_the_Wind_cover.jpg)Great, and you finished it about five months sooner than said! ;D
This was fantastic. I've only seen the film once about 20 years ago so I couldn't remember much about the story. I started reading this towards the end of April and I joked with Christopher that I might finish it before Xmas. At 1000 pages, it is a long long story. I read about 500 pages on the two week vacation I had in May and I had slackened off in the last few weeks but it didn't take me as long as I thought it would.
Even with the end of the civil war at around page 300, I was thinking what is going to take place for the next 700 pages. So so much. I'm definitely going out to buy the DVD of this soon and watch it again. Has there ever been a more despicable selfish character in literature as Scarlett O'Hara?
5/5.
Anyone hear studied or interested in Philiosophy ?
I've always kinda had an interest so after reading a couple of study type books I'm reading this..
Nausea by John-Paul Sarte
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When I've finished I'll hopefully be able to find a book that explains it all to me... ;)
Walking Back To Happines
Girl on a Train by A J Waines
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I havn't seen the movie but found this an easy to read well written thriller... passed a long journey, did the job..
Reading naturally seems to almost put me to sleep as well.
What do you teach in college? It took me quite some time to figure out what you meant there.So if I had said, "Reading typically puts me to sleep," you would have asked, "How do you read atypically (or untypically)?"?
I didn't have any trouble with that ... "naturally" meaning "in a natural manner, in particular. Synonyms: by nature, by character, inherently, innately, congenitally." (The definition that Google gives you when you search "naturally.")
So if I had said, "Reading typically puts me to sleep," you would have asked, "How do you read atypically (or untypically)?"?
Crikey, didn't I open a can of worms talking about some books putting me to sleep. :D
Well, maybe Christopher should have said, "There's just something inherent in the act of reading that puts me to sleep."
Do No HarmHenry Marsh
Sombrero Fallout by Richard BrautiganThat does sound good.
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A really strange, quirky little read.. Two stories melding into one. A writer gives up on writing a story and throws it in the wastepaper basket.. where it proceeds to continue writing itself..
A mix of realist absurd and whimsical.. I really enjoyed it and I'll return to it again at some point..
Cromwell's Headby Jonathan Fitzgibbons
NIGHT TRAIN.. The Sonny Liston storyby Nick Tosches
Morrissey