What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[Finance Dave]

I don't have the attention span for novels...so I read magazines....related to my hobbies...cars, woodworking, and personal finance. 10 magazines a month.

 

[TromboneAl]

I just finished another Laura Lippman novel, What the Dead Know.

I didn't like it that much, and rate it at 6/10.

The story idea is a good one, but the book annoyingly draws out the answers to the mystery. Every time something is about to be revealed, the book skips to some other point in time and space.

It also does something that I don't like in books: makes things intentionally unclear. For example, you'll be reading about something that happened in Baltimore, and in the next chapter it's talking about someone in Mexico, gradually dropping hints so that you can eventually understand that this is something that happens 20 years later to the mother of some character.

Why do authors think this makes the book more fun to read?


I wanted to just skip to the end to find out what happened, but that usually doesn't work, so I was forced to slog through it.

 

[Lsbcal]

Read A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley. The best reason to read this mystery book is its discussion of the land and society in Botswana. Great background material for a police detective investigating the circumstances surrounding the finding of a body partially dismembered by hyenas at a game reserve. This is the authors' first book and is a collaboration of two writers. I thought the book was a bit uneven in the first half but actually got better in the second half. Normally I find that the reverse is true.

DW tells me the second book in this series is even better. Both books got good reviews by readers at Amazon.

 

[haha]

I just finished The Lesson of Her Death, by Jeffrey Deaver. It is a novelistic thriller/mystery, not part of a protagonist series.

I like this type of book, and this one is very good.

Ha

 

[NW-Bound]

I don't have the attention span for novels...

Same here. I have not read novels in a long time, and prefer non-fiction works.

But I have found short stories published as a collection in a book a good read at bed time. A short novel of less than 30 pages works well as that is the limit of your time investment, if it does not turn out to your liking. I have found some short stories written by unknown writers surprisingly good.

One of these days, I will pick up Doctor Zhivago, something I have always wanted to read.

 

[vicente solano]

Listening to "Gone for good" by H. Coben, Not bad.

 

[haha]

I always read novels. I have found that reading non-fiction that you feel is important for your life after 6PM disturbs sleep.

Also novels can open your mind in ways that non-fiction cannot. With non fiction you are always in charge, evaluating, weighing, letting some info in, and keeping some out. Good novels sneak into your heart and change a little bit of you.

And most of us could use some changing.

Ha

 

[vicente solano]

I don´t read non-fiction either. I had enogh of that genre when I was a practising lawyer....Well, that is if what had to read then could be called non-fiction

 

[NW-Bound]

Also novels can open your mind in ways that non-fiction cannot...

The short stories, especially the really good ones, do that for me. I would remember good ones for quite a while, some even since 16.

My wife reads a lot of fiction. She reads so many of them and so fast that she forgets what she has read. We would go to the public library shelves where books discarded by the library or donated by the public were sold for $1. She would look at a book cover and wondered if she had read it. No, no, no...

I believe gluttony is bad when applied to books just as with food.

I don´t read non-fiction either. I had enough of that genre when I was a practising lawyer....Well, that is if what had to read then could be called non-fiction

Right. I count no lawyers amongst friends or family, but suspect that there would be plenty of fiction in the testimonies and depositions that you read. I guess that kind of fiction is not too entertaining.

 

[Lsbcal]

...(snip)...
My wife reads a lot of fiction. She reads so many of them and so fast that she forgets what she has read. We would go to the public library shelves where books discarded by the library or donated by the public were sold for $1. She would look at a book cover and wondered if she had read it. No, no, no...
...

My DW reads a lot of books and reads a lot faster then I do. I admire her for this. Regarding remembering what you've read, I keep an Excel file with one sheet devoted to what I've read and another sheet for new reading ideas. Can't get DW interested in this organization technique. Here's an example of the already-read sheet, note the split so I can see the non-fiction and fiction sections at a glance:

 

[harley]

I recently finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Typically educational and interesting, although with a pretty weak finish IMHO. I guess there's a limit on how often you can buy into the theories. I also read Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn. A fun "suspend the laws and kill the terrorists" thriller.

I just checked out The Gathering Storm from the library. This is part one of the 3 part 12th book rofl in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (and now that he's dead, by Brandon Sanderson). I'm going to go back and skim through parts 9-11 to catch up on the dozen or so main characters and plots so I can remember what was going on. This should keep me busy for a wek or so. Part one here is only 783 pages. I guess they couldn't fit the whole 2000+ pages in a single book.

 

[Martha]

The short stories, especially the really good ones, do that for me. I would remember good ones for quite a while, some even since 16.

My wife reads a lot of fiction. She reads so many of them and so fast that she forgets what she has read. We would go to the public library shelves where books discarded by the library or donated by the public were sold for $1. She would look at a book cover and wondered if she had read it. No, no, no...

I believe gluttony is bad when applied to books just as with food.



Right. I count no lawyers amongst friends or family, but suspect that there would be plenty of fiction in the testimonies and depositions that you read. I guess that kind of fiction is not too entertaining.

I could be your wife.

You don't get fat on fiction.

 

[NW-Bound]

My bad, for comparing reading books to eating food.

Anyway, I told my wife as she stood undecided before the bookshelves full of good-as-new $1 books, "Well, if you don't remember if you have read it, then it is good as new".

 

[Moemg]

Also novels can open your mind in ways that non-fiction cannot. With non fiction you are always in charge, evaluating, weighing, letting some info in, and keeping some out. Good novels sneak into your heart and change a little bit of you.

And most of us could use some changing.

Ha

Great post Ha !

 

[Moemg]

Just finished "The Help " . I heard mixed reviews but I thought it was good .

 

[Moemg]

Anyway, I told my wife as she stood undecided before the bookshelves full of good-as-new $1 books, "Well, if you don't remember if you have read it, then it is good as new".

No ,there is nothing worse than reading a chapter and realizing you read it before .

 

[traineeinvestor]

I just finished "The Myth of the Rational Market" by Justin Fox - an interesting history of the development of theories of how financial markets work and the related investment theories. Quite interesting but not exactly a bodice-ripper.

Currently reading "The King of Oil: The Secret Lives of Marc Rich".

I'll go back to some light fiction after I finish that one.

 

[Walt34]

"Windows 7 Secrets" by Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera. Okay, it's a geek book. I think it's interesting.

Yesterday's cool discovery: Windows Live Photo Gallery can automagically stitch together a panoramic photo of adjacent photos. I tried it out in the basement workshop and it works!

 

[harley]

Yesterday's cool discovery: Windows Live Photo Gallery can automagically stitch together a panoramic photo of adjacent photos. I tried it out in the basement workshop and it works!

Yes, pretty cool. A number of digital cameras these days do that too, some internally to the camera, some in the software afterward. If you do some minor tweaking, these can come out looking really great!

 

[vicente solano]

Harley: It seems Vince Flynn likes that sort of character: tough, screw the politicians, no nonsense, cut the legal crap and political correctnes sort of counter terrorist agent. Aother example of this sort of vigilante in Memorial Day. I empathyze with the guy

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Christie, Murder at the Vicarage.

 

[JacqJolie]

Christopher Hitchens - Letters to a Young Contrarian - excellent read!

 

[harley]

More important news from MA. Two famous authors died yesterday. Erich Segal (Love Story, which I never read), and the man who holds 2nd place (behind Louis L'amour) in the number of volumes in my library, Robert Parker. RIP, both.

 

[Moemg]

More important news from MA. Two famous authors died yesterday. Erich Segal (Love Story, which I never read), and the man who holds 2nd place (behind Louis L'amour) in the number of volumes in my library, Robert Parker. RIP, both.

Robert Parker is one of my favorites . I will really miss Spencer .

 

[Lsbcal]

Having enjoyed the movie staring Matt Damon, I tried to read The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. This novel was written in 1955 and is very well done. Tom Ripley is a true sociopath and you experience things from his point of view. I feel a little guilty for putting it down after about 75 pages, maybe it's just the winter rains now, but I just couldn't enjoy the strange views Ripley had. I'd still recommend it and the two other books in the series. DW read them and liked them.

At least try the DVD .