What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[Purron]

There was a remake of The Shining. If I recall correctly, this time, King was more involved in the filming, and was said to be happier.

I liked Stanley Kubrick's first movie better, but that was probably because I never read the book.

The remake was a TV mini series and was more true to the book. Not sure it was happier though

Continuing on my King jag, I picked up a copy of The Stand at the local library today. 1152 pages will keep me out of trouble for a while and keep me the the October/Halloween mood for sure.

 

[Moemg]

Being a huge Grisham fan I couldn't wait to read his newest book "The Racketeer " . It was a disappointment . It rambled and frankly it was hard to believe Grisham wrote it . It was not one of his better books .

 

[NW-Bound]

The remake was a TV mini series and was more true to the book. Not sure it was happier though

No, not the film. I meant King was happier with the remake than the first starring Nicholson.

 

[donheff]

Just finished Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise. He is the guy who accurately predicted the election outcome in all 50 states. Good read if you like statistics and a nice intro to Bayesian analysis.

 

[Marathoner]

I just finished The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky. Highly recommended. It was very funny and had me frequently laughing out loud.

 

[Lsbcal]

Just finished Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise. He is the guy who accurately predicted the election outcome in all 50 states. Good read if you like statistics and a nice intro to Bayesian analysis.

This book is exceedingly popular at our library. I'm number 85 on the list but there are more books on order in the system.

 

[scrabbler1]

I have just begun reading Bruce Bartlett's, "The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform, Why We Need it and What it will take" and so far it is a great read. Tax reform arises often in this forum so this new book should be of interest to many of us.

 

[donheff]

This book is exceedingly popular at our library. I'm number 85 on the list but there are more books on order in the system.

I got mine from the library but I put the hold in months ago. I suspect the wait has gotten very long now that The election results have highlighted Silver as the golden boy of forecasts.

 

[Nords]

I read Peter Singer's "The Life You Can Save" book on philanthropy, and posted a Thanksgiving review:
Book review: The Life You Can Save

It did a great job of laying out the problem, but not so much for "solving" it. It's more of an ethical basis for rationalizing emotional heuristics.

 

[Walt34]

I just finished The Passionate Photographer by Steve Simon. Now I get it - being good isn't being good with my Nikon D7000, which is built to last 100,000 shutter releases. I'll have to wear it out. Perhaps, maybe, by then I'll have a slim chance of being good.

Which kind of corresponds to what I told a new police officer when he got a take-home car, which they got after a year or so on the PD: "You're not gonna be really good until you wear that car out" which usually takes another three or four years.

And I just started Mastering the Ride by David L. Hough. It's basically about staying alive on a motorcycle.

 

[donheff]

I enjoyed Hell or High Water by Joy Castro. The protagonist is a troubled 27 year old Cuban American reporter working at the Times Picayune after Katrina. She is assigned to write a piece about the the sex offender registry - impact on ex-cons' lives; what about the thousands who went off grid after Katrina, etc. She begins interviewing offenders at the same time that young women are turning up dead and mutilated at the hands of one of these predators. The novel digs into the minds of sexual predators and the impact on their victims and, on the way, explores a variety of facets of post Katrina New Orleans. This is more of a psychological exploration than a thriller and well worth a read.

 

[rescueme]

I read the obits each morning in the paper (yes, I still get the newspaper).

If I'm in it, I go back to bed ...

 

[Lsbcal]

I very much enjoyed Sue Grafton's V is for Vengeance: Sue Grafton: 9780425250563: Amazon.com: Books

If you haven't read any of the series you might like the female private detective in it. She is about 38, quirky, honest but not above bending the rules to get to the end result. This novel gets into a retail theft ring.

If I had to fault it, I'd say that the heroine did some things especially towards the end which seemed foolhardy, even though it was the decent thing to do.

 

[donheff]

I very much enjoyed Sue Grafton's V is for Vengeance: Sue Grafton: 9780425250563: Amazon.com: Books

If you haven't read any of the series you might like the female private detective in it. She is about 38, quirky, honest but not above bending the rules to get to the end result. This novel gets into a retail theft ring.

If I had to fault it, I'd say that the heroine did some things especially towards the end which seemed foolhardy, even though it was the decent thing to do.

Thanks. I downloaded U is for Undertow from the library and put a hold on a downloadable collection of four of the series. They get good reviews on Amazon.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Resplendent: Book 4 of Destiny's Children by Stephen Baxter. This is the last publication in the Xeelee Sequence.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I enjoyed Hell or High Water by Joy Castro. The protagonist is a troubled 27 year old Cuban American reporter working at the Times Picayune after Katrina. She is assigned to write a piece about the the sex offender registry - impact on ex-cons' lives; what about the thousands who went off grid after Katrina, etc. She begins interviewing offenders at the same time that young women are turning up dead and mutilated at the hands of one of these predators. The novel digs into the minds of sexual predators and the impact on their victims and, on the way, explores a variety of facets of post Katrina New Orleans. This is more of a psychological exploration than a thriller and well worth a read.

Just ran to the library for this after seeing online that it was on the shelf in spite of a 27-person waiting list. The reviews are really good. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Nemo2]

Just started The Chalk Girl, the latest in the 'Mallory' series.....great thus far.

Carol O’Connell – The Chalk Girl « Crime and Publishing

 

[donheff]

Very high marks for Jonathan Tropper's One Last Thing Before I Go. This is a book about guys who have been beaten down by life but still have some left. Drew Silver is a middle aged has been drummer from a one hit wonder rock band. He is divorced, his wife is getting remarried and his 18 year old daughter tells him she is pregnant. Oh, and his is going to die unless he has an operation he decided to refuse. Tropper is known for his wit and there is plenty of it here but at the same time this is an emotionally draining page turner.

 

[Free To Canoe]

I just finished reading an article on the genetic diversity of humans and the efforts to record this knowledge for the future. Paul Salopek won the Pulitzer for it in 1998 but it is news to me.
The Pulitzer Prizes | Basically, we are all the same (1)

 

[Lsbcal]

I just finished reading an article on the genetic diversity of humans and the efforts to record this knowledge for the future. Paul Salopek won the Pulitzer for it in 1998 but it is news to me.
The Pulitzer Prizes | Basically, we are all the same (1)

I read most of this book: Amazon.com: deep ancestry: Books

It discusses some of the recent genetic findings. Very interesting with some maps and discussion of the ongoing reseach. Some of this is more then I wanted to get into but the book not to many pages.

The author I think correctly pointed out that drawing "we are all the same" conclusions is a bit too simple.

 

[donheff]

The Chalk Girl by Carol O'Connell introduces a good new character for me in the person of Karen Mallory, a brilliant but flawed NYC detective. In this case se is pursuing a perp who strung several 20 somethings up in trees to die of thirst. Sort of a noirish view of police corruption, evil richies, psycho teen-agers. I will be ordering more of the Mallory series.

 

[Nemo2]

I will be ordering more of the Mallory series.

Best to start with the first one and read them in sequence.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Best to start with the first one and read them in sequence.

+1. I love Mallory (first name is Kathy, right? But the character prefers only Mallory) and you don't really need the backstory but might as well start at the beginning and get it. I find this series a little difficult to read for some reason--somewhat sparely written, in a good way, imho-- but everything gets nicely woven together at the end.

I'm about halfway through Chalk Girl myself.

 

[Nemo2]

But the character prefers only Mallory) and you don't really need the backstory but might as well start at the beginning and get it.

Yes, one can start practically any series at any point and pick up the gist of it......but starting at the beginning, (although many aspects are repeated throughout, perhaps for the benefit of new readers, or those who might need a reminder or three), always allows one to follow the evolution, and Mallory's childhood experiences factor large in her personality.

 

[John Galt III]

"Life". The autobiography of Keith Richards, a guitar player in the rock band The Rolling Stones. Very interesting so far. It's spoken word on disk. First several chapters are read by Johnny Depp, then Richards takes over. Not boring at all. But not even half way through it yet.