posted by justincredible

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is an outstanding short story/novella. Different Seasons was a great book, it combined that, Stand by Me, Apt Pupil, and some other throwaway story. The three listed by name were great stories. Apt Pupil was...messed up, but very good.

His Bill Hodges trilogy is also very good (Finders Keepers, Mr Mercedes, End of Watch).

Agreed on Diff Seasins, solid read. Misery was also weird but good. I haven’t read any of the Bill Hodges trilogy, might have to try one of those next.

posted by iclfan2

Agreed on Diff Seasins, solid read. Misery was also weird but good. I haven’t read any of the Bill Hodges trilogy, might have to try one of those next.

Haven't read Misery, but the movie was probably the most memorably terrifying movie I remember watching as a child. Watched it again a few years ago and it's still good.

I think I'm going to read Under the Dome next. Also have It and The Shining on my list to read soon.

Finished The Stand.

Started The Pioneers by David McCullough, about the founding of the Northwest Territory, Ohio, and specifically Marietta as the first settlement. 

Also started No Country for Old Men as my beach read for vacation. 

posted by justincredible

Finished The Stand.

Started The Pioneers by David McCullough, about the founding of the Northwest Territory, Ohio, and specifically Marietta as the first settlement. 

Also started No Country for Old Men as my beach read for vacation. 

I have the Pioneers on my Wish List. 

I love No Country. I also watched the movie after reading the book. Both are near perfection. 

I finished John Adams, which was a nice companion book from Hamilton. After reading both, it is a nice reminder that the Founding Fathers were flawed and had really, really, sharp disagreements. 

I've now started Robert Ludlum Bourne book trilogy: Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum.   

posted by ptown_trojans_1

I have the Pioneers on my Wish List. 

I love No Country. I also watched the movie after reading the book. Both are near perfection. 

I finished John Adams, which was a nice companion book from Hamilton. After reading both, it is a nice reminder that the Founding Fathers were flawed and had really, really, sharp disagreements. 

I've now started Robert Ludlum Bourne book trilogy: Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum.   

Yep. Watched the movie last night. Forgot how great it was. Bardem was awesome.

Also started Commander in Cheat by Rick Reilly. 

posted by justincredible

Haven't read Misery, but the movie was probably the most memorably terrifying movie I remember watching as a child. Watched it again a few years ago and it's still good.

I think I'm going to read Under the Dome next. Also have It and The Shining on my list to read soon.

Under the Dome was probably my favorite of anything he's done recently. A little while ago, I went through his most recent short story collection (Bazaar of Bad Dreams) and it was so over the place. Some of them were good, but so many of them just felt like filler in that "getting older, might as well publish these now because MY STUFF shouldn't just lay in some box in the back of my study" sort of way. But Under the Dome was long as hell, but read really quickly for me and kept me enthralled. It and Shining are also pretty essential reads if you like King. Two of his best.

Bringing it back. 

I finished reading the Bourne Trilogy. The first book was great and the other two were fine. They dragged it spots. I knew they were different than the movies, but they were really, really different. 

Over the Holiday I finished Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues. I really enjoyed it and it felt like it was the same world as Justified. 

I'm now about a quarter of the way through Stranger in a Strange Land. It's been on a my list for a while. Great story so far. 

posted by justincredible

Haven't read Misery, but the movie was probably the most memorably terrifying movie I remember watching as a child. Watched it again a few years ago and it's still good.

Finally saw the movie and yea, it’s pretty messed up. Pretty good though. 
Haven’t read anything good in awhile, bunch of the free Amazon books of the month. 

posted by ptown_trojans_1

I'm now about a quarter of the way through Stranger in a Strange Land. It's been on a my list for a while. Great story so far. 

I just started Time Enough for Love yesterday. Read Stranger in a Strange Land last year, I think. My favorite book is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Heinlein is awesome. I can't think of a more influential libertarian in popular culture.

I'm also reading an old sci-fi book called The Joy Makers. Pretty wild, but great story.

Finished The Joy Makers. Getting pretty deep into Time Enough for Love. Lots of Heinlein philosophy, so I'm loving it so far.

Also started Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick last night.

Recently finished "Runnin' With The Devil" by Noel Monk, an account of Van Halen's early years, from their formation to 1985, when DLR left the group.  Monk relates that he started as their road manager and helped them become rich through some shrewd dealing by him.  The usual tawdriness and debauchery, of course.  But it's an interesting look behind the scenes of where money goes in the music business, at least back in the late 70's and early 80's.

Currently reading "Caddyshack:  The Making Of A Hollywood Cinderella Story" by Chris Nashawaty.  130-some pages in, and they haven't even go to the filming of the title movie yet. Lots of detail how it began with the Harvard Lampoon, and the strange sequence of events that created so many iconic names and characters that now seem ancient.  That Hahvahd mystique, I guess.

I will be finishing The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous tonight. Not sure what I'll jump into next.

Finished Stranger in a Strange Land. Really good. I wasn't expecting so much religion and takes on religion in the book. 

I'm about to start a John le Carre run now: Little Drummer Girl, Night Manager, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy and the Spy Came out from the Cold. 

Reading Harry Potter for the first time. I'm almost done with book two.

posted by ptown_trojans_1

Night Manager

Great choice.  I don't read a lot of fiction these days, but I read this a few years back, and it's excellent.

Just finished:

- "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future", by Ashlee Vance.  Interesting to see what drives him.

- "Cleaning The Gold" by Karin Slaughter and Lee Child, a short story where Jack Reacher and Will Trent work together on a case

Working on two titles right now:

- "Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon To White America" by Michael Eric Dyson"

- "Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted" (behind-the-scenes look at how the Mary Tyler Moore show came to be) by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

Reading The Ghost Brigades, the 2nd book in the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi. Great stuff if you like sci-fi. Also reading a book called The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains: An Introduction to Cryptocurrencies and the Technology that Powers Them.

Just started up a book club with a few old co-workers. We're going to read Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough.

Just started re-reading Robert Cialdini's 'Influence' this morning.

Should be in the library of every person with a career in sales or marketing.

I finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy recently. It was very good and if you liked the movie, it follows closely. 

On Amazon I got the Kindle version of the Watchmen for like $1.99. I know the story, but never read the comic. I loved the show last year and figured I would go back and read it. I'm 25% of the way through and it is fantastic. 

Finished the Watchmen last night. As good as advertised. 

Given the current state of affairs, I will start Station Eleven next. I've heard it is pretty good. 

What's the gist of Station Eleven? I know it's some sort of apocalyptic story. I've also heard good things.

posted by justincredible

What's the gist of Station Eleven? I know it's some sort of apocalyptic story. I've also heard good things.

That's all I know too. I haven't started it yet. I know it won a lot of awards a few years ago. 

From the blurb: "An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. 

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed."