Started Swan Song by Robert McCammon. I'm not too far into it, but it's very interesting so far.

posted by justincredible

Started Swan Song by Robert McCammon. I'm not too far into it, but it's very interesting so far.

I really liked that book. Sure, it's a bit derivative of The Stand (with nuclear war replacing military-grade superflu), but it was a fun romp.

Finally finished Ron Chernow's Grant over the weekend. Fantastic read. He really sheds a great light into Grant's underrated Presidency. Grant had scandals due to his poor choices of cabinet posts, but it was offset by the great work he did during Reconstruction. 

In the 19th century, Grant's two terms were rare in that outside of Jackson and Lincoln, it didn't happen. He also had a high approval rating by the end of his second term, and tried to go after a third term as well. (But, failed to get the nomination)  Chernow writes that history has forgotten how popular he was and all the great work he did during his Presidency. He blames a lot of that on the failure of Reconstruction after Grant, the constant rumors of Grant being a drunk (He wasn't and rarely if ever had a drink while President),  the rise of Jim Crow laws, and just how America seems to have forgotten the time after the Civil War. 

Next, I have on the bookshelf, Malcolm Gladwell's Blink.

posted by Heretic

I really liked that book. Sure, it's a bit derivative of The Stand (with nuclear war replacing military-grade superflu), but it was a fun romp.

I'm about 25% or so into it. I'm really enjoying the book. Roland is savage.

Finished Gladwell's Blink, a nice change of pace and quick read about how we think without thinking. 

Now started David Finkel's two books, The Good Soldiers and Thanks You for Your Service. Both are about troops experience during and after the Iraq war surge. I saw the movie last year and both books have been on my list for a while. 

Finished Swan Song. Great book. Also read Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A Heinlein. Good book.

I've started Guns of the South (on your recommendation, ptown) and I am enjoying it so far. I'm about a third of the way in.

posted by justincredible

Finished Swan Song. Great book. Also read Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A Heinlein. Good book.

I've started Guns of the South (on your recommendation, ptown) and I am enjoying it so far. I'm about a third of the way in.

Nice. Glad you like it so far. 

I finished Good Soldiers over the weekend and now am 1/3 of the way through Thank You for Your Service. It follows the movie closely so far. Deep and tough to read in spots. 

Just started Origin by Dan Brown, we will see if it is as good as Angels and Demons (doubtful, great book) or Da Vinci Code (good book, but AnD was better). 

Yes, he has other books but this is another Robert Langdon story (I didn't like Inferno or the other one about Freemasons that well).

Finished Thank you for Your Service. It is a sobering read about soldiers returning home from Iraq. 

I needed a change of pace from that. Since the Deuce is back, I started George Pelecanos' book the Sweet Forever. He was writer/ producer of the Wire, Treme, and Deuce.

Story is set in 1980s DC and is set around the death of Len Bias, police corruption, and urban drugs and gangs. I'm 20 or so pages in and I feel like I am reading the Wire...for DC. 

Finished A Place Called Freedom this morning. Great book.

Started How Do I Tax Thee? this afternoon. So far, so good.

Lies We Believe About God by William Paul Young

Good piece of writing.  All chapters make you think, which is pretty much what I was going for.

I finished George Pelecanos' book the Sweet Forever. It was great, just like the Wire, just set in DC in 1986. 

I just started Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die Hardcover.

It goes into the secret history of all the U.S. government plans to survive a nuclear strike and continue Governmental Operations during the Cold War and even now. 

I'm still working through Guns of the South. It's a great book, but the kindle version has piss-poor editing. Chunks of sentences missing, random periods and capitalizations. Really distracting.

Also started Game of Thrones on my way in to work this morning.

posted by justincredible

I'm still working through Guns of the South. It's a great book, but the kindle version has piss-poor editing. Chunks of sentences missing, random periods and capitalizations. Really distracting.

Also started Game of Thrones on my way in to work this morning.

Guns of the South was very good, if you like it you need to continue the series. I read all the way through WW2. 

The second book, about the second civil war is actually better in my opinion. 

Harry Turtledove taking real historical characters and trying to predict how they would react in a vastly different "timeline" is a great read. I think he did very well.

It has been a few years but after how well received Guns of the South was, he decided to make it a whole storyline/timeline at least through WW2 (if he has done more since I read the most current one years ago I missed it). The only difference is at the very beginning of the next book (How Few Remain) about the second civil war, he has an introduction that explains how the South could have/would have won the war without the time traveling AK-47s.

The whole series is really just amazing. Seeing how the North and South would react as separate nations in the 2 world wars was really interesting.

I'm reading over my lunch break. Lee's inauguration. Holy shit.

posted by jmog

Just started Origin by Dan Brown, we will see if it is as good as Angels and Demons (doubtful, great book) or Da Vinci Code (good book, but AnD was better). 

Not sure what your take will be, but I thought Origin was a great disappointment.  Had a nice opening premise, though.  The Lost Symbol was interesting if only for the historical locations and artwork described.

I finally finished the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, at least what he's written up to this point.  Just re-read "Never Go Back", which was Tom Cruise's second portrayal of Reacher.  The book is so much more interesting than the movie, which really wasn't awful.

Am now re-reading the Jurassic Park sequel "The Lost World" by Crichton.  Forgot how good it was, even after the initial thrill of reading JP had faded.

posted by justincredible

I'm reading over my lunch break. Lee's inauguration. Holy shit.

Good stuff, you REALLY need to read the next one, How Few Remain. Good stuff, you will get hooked all the way through WW2.

posted by Zunardo

Not sure what your take will be, but I thought Origin was a great disappointment.  Had a nice opening premise, though.  The Lost Symbol was interesting if only for the historical locations and artwork described.

I finally finished the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child, at least what he's written up to this point.  Just re-read "Never Go Back", which was Tom Cruise's second portrayal of Reacher.  The book is so much more interesting than the movie, which really wasn't awful.

Am now re-reading the Jurassic Park sequel "The Lost World" by Crichton.  Forgot how good it was, even after the initial thrill of reading JP had faded.

The JP original book was amazing, I liked The Lost World book as well. To be honest the Lost World movie was absolutely terrible, but the book was still good.

About a third through Game of Thrones. Obviously a great book. 

Also started a dystopian book called Wool 2 nights ago. It's pretty interesting so far. Essentially a bunch of people have been living in a massive underground silo for generations because above ground is uninhabitable. 

Currently in the middle of "Flight Or Fright - 17 Turbulent Tales", a collection of short horror stories involving airplane travel, edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent.

If you ever saw the movie "Millenium" with Kris Kristofferson, the short story it is based on is in this collection - I haven't gotten that far yet, but have read some good ones so far.  One involves  an Air Force loadmaster on a C-41 hauling coffins from the Jonestown massacre.  Would have made a nice "Night Gallery" episode. 

Another one involves an engineer who keeps picturing himself riding a roller coaster in his mind, the coaster flying off the rails into oblivion, his suddenly weightless body being held in by the seatbelt, and a time frame of 2 minutes and 45 seconds keeps going through his head,   The story is disjointed at first, as you "see" various thoughts and mental images go thru his mind, and hear him mentally replay snippets of dialogue.  You're almost at the end of the story before you suddenly realize he's one of the Morton Thiokol engineers who advised postponing the Challenger launch because of the weather- and how he is dealing with the aftermath.

Just passed the 50% mark in Wool. It is a fantastic book, one of the more entertaining books I've read in a while.

Also about 55% through Game of Thrones. Also great.

Finished Wool last night. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes dystopian sci-fi.

posted by justincredible

Finished Wool last night. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes dystopian sci-fi.

I just looked it up, it is a few book series. I may have to start it once I finish Origin (slow read, maybe the worst Dan Brown book I have read so far).

posted by jmog

I just looked it up, it is a few book series. I may have to start it once I finish Origin (slow read, maybe the worst Dan Brown book I have read so far).

Started book 2, Shift, last night. So far it's all about events leading up to the first book. No drop off in quality, I had to force myself to stop reading.

Halfway through Shift. Great book so far, I should be able to finish it by this weekend looking at the upcoming weather. Also should finish Game of Thrones this week.