What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Dave55
Posts: 2016
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:51 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Dave55 »

FreeAtLast wrote:"A Darkness More Than Night" by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown & Co., 2001)

I am a huge fan of Connelly's two major protagonists (Bosch and Haller), but I know I am preaching to the choir in this forum. This one is a Bosch novel which showed up out of nowhere at my local library recently. Either it has been loaned out in circulation for a long time or somebody just donated an old copy; whatever happened, I am very glad it wound up in my sweaty mitts.

This is one of Connelly's best efforts in writing about Bosch. Here's why:
1) He penetrates as deep as he ever has into Bosch's psyche and his motivations for being a homicide detective.
2) In this story, Bosch is in potentially the worst career trouble that he has ever experienced (yea, I know - that is very hard to believe).
3) He encounters once again expert FBI profiler Terry McCaleb. Instead of working together harmoniously to track down a killer, I don't think I am giving anything away by revealing that they are at odds against each other for most of the story. We also get a excellent picture of the obsessiveness of McCaleb's psyche. Will he - and Bosch - try everything and anything, no matter how morally and legally questionable, to solve a case?
4) It's one of Connelly's most intricately composed, high tension tales.

Set aside a slow weekend and savor this one; you won't regret it. :beer
FreeAtLast I love every one of Michael Connelly's book's and have read some twice. I just finished his new book "The Late Show" totally enjoyed it as much as Bosch or Haller. My other favorite authors are Lee Child, Robert Crais, Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series), Dennis LeHane, and Harlan Coben.

Dave
"Reality always wins, your only job is to get in touch with it." Wilfred Bion
skepticalobserver
Posts: 1115
Joined: Tue Jul 29, 2014 11:29 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by skepticalobserver »

"The Warden" by Anthony Trollope. A Victorian author, so it's dated. Very well written and he's an excellent observer of human behavior.
User avatar
FreeAtLast
Posts: 802
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:08 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by FreeAtLast »

Dave55 wrote:
FreeAtLast wrote:"A Darkness More Than Night" by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown & Co., 2001)

I am a huge fan of Connelly's two major protagonists (Bosch and Haller), but I know I am preaching to the choir in this forum. This one is a Bosch novel which showed up out of nowhere at my local library recently. Either it has been loaned out in circulation for a long time or somebody just donated an old copy; whatever happened, I am very glad it wound up in my sweaty mitts.

This is one of Connelly's best efforts in writing about Bosch. Here's why:
1) He penetrates as deep as he ever has into Bosch's psyche and his motivations for being a homicide detective.
2) In this story, Bosch is in potentially the worst career trouble that he has ever experienced (yea, I know - that is very hard to believe).
3) He encounters once again expert FBI profiler Terry McCaleb. Instead of working together harmoniously to track down a killer, I don't think I am giving anything away by revealing that they are at odds against each other for most of the story. We also get a excellent picture of the obsessiveness of McCaleb's psyche. Will he - and Bosch - try everything and anything, no matter how morally and legally questionable, to solve a case?
4) It's one of Connelly's most intricately composed, high tension tales.

Set aside a slow weekend and savor this one; you won't regret it. :beer
FreeAtLast I love every one of Michael Connelly's book's and have read some twice. I just finished his new book "The Late Show" totally enjoyed it as much as Bosch or Haller. My other favorite authors are Lee Child, Robert Crais, Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series), Dennis LeHane, and Harlan Coben.

Dave
If you enjoy police/detective procedurals, I highly recommend that you also search out this author: Ed McBain and his stories of the 87th Precinct.

Free
Illegitimi non carborundum.
Dave55
Posts: 2016
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:51 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Dave55 »

FreeAtLast wrote:
Dave55 wrote:
FreeAtLast wrote:"A Darkness More Than Night" by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown & Co., 2001)

I am a huge fan of Connelly's two major protagonists (Bosch and Haller), but I know I am preaching to the choir in this forum. This one is a Bosch novel which showed up out of nowhere at my local library recently. Either it has been loaned out in circulation for a long time or somebody just donated an old copy; whatever happened, I am very glad it wound up in my sweaty mitts.

This is one of Connelly's best efforts in writing about Bosch. Here's why:
1) He penetrates as deep as he ever has into Bosch's psyche and his motivations for being a homicide detective.
2) In this story, Bosch is in potentially the worst career trouble that he has ever experienced (yea, I know - that is very hard to believe).
3) He encounters once again expert FBI profiler Terry McCaleb. Instead of working together harmoniously to track down a killer, I don't think I am giving anything away by revealing that they are at odds against each other for most of the story. We also get a excellent picture of the obsessiveness of McCaleb's psyche. Will he - and Bosch - try everything and anything, no matter how morally and legally questionable, to solve a case?
4) It's one of Connelly's most intricately composed, high tension tales.

Set aside a slow weekend and savor this one; you won't regret it. :beer
FreeAtLast I love every one of Michael Connelly's book's and have read some twice. I just finished his new book "The Late Show" totally enjoyed it as much as Bosch or Haller. My other favorite authors are Lee Child, Robert Crais, Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series), Dennis LeHane, and Harlan Coben.

Dave
If you enjoy police/detective procedurals, I highly recommend that you also search out this author: Ed McBain and his stories of the 87th Precinct.

Free
Thanks very much. I will check that series out.

Dave
"Reality always wins, your only job is to get in touch with it." Wilfred Bion
wilson08
Posts: 507
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:37 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by wilson08 »

The House at Riverton
by Kate Morton

Excellent novel set in England during the time frame of 1914 - 1924. A woman
in her late nineties, circa 1990s, recounts her life (beginning at age 14) as a
servant in an aristocratic household and provides a portrait of the family and
the servants and the distinct delineation between the two. Loyalty above all
else was the servant's credo in that era. Intriguing story with a galvanic twist.
Downton Abbey aficionados will enjoy this book.
User avatar
heartwood
Posts: 2683
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2013 12:40 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by heartwood »

I finished Jo Nesbo's The Thirst. I've read all of his Harry Hole series. This was quite good, with several misdirections, but also some very contrived situations to move the plot forward.

As an aside I wonder if he starts writing knowing how it ends or starts writing and lets it go where it will. I say that because a character or two, or events seem to come out of nowhere late in the story, or seem to have been added to setup the next book. Or I didn't follow closely enough and missed somethings.

I'm just starting Dennis Lehane's Since We Fell. As with Nesbo, I've read all of Lehane's novels. As others have mentioned I too enjoyed his early Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro series. And most of his following books, although some are less rewarding than others. Perhaps I'm more into the snappy dialog of the early books, versus the detailed writing of The Given Day and others. But I keep reading him for the story and the writing.
gkaplan
Posts: 7034
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by gkaplan »

Last night, I finished Knife Creek by Paul Doiron.

When Maine game warden Mike Bowditch is tasked with shooting invasive feral hogs that are tearing up the forest in his district, he makes a horrific discovery – a dead baby buried in a shallow grave. Even more disturbing: evidence suggests the infant was the child of a young woman who was presumed to have died four years earlier after she disappeared from a group rafting trip. As Bowditch assists the reopened investigation, he begins to suspect that some of his neighbors aren't who they seem to be. When violence strikes close to home, he realizes that his unknown enemies will stop at nothing to keep their terrible secrets. Mike Bowditch has bucked the odds his whole career, but this time the intrepid warden may have finally followed his hunches one step too far (Edited from publisher description.)

This is the eighth book in the in the author's Mike Bowditch series, and it may be his best. I've liked them all.
Gordon
azurekep
Posts: 1179
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:16 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by azurekep »

Dave55 wrote:
FreeAtLast I love every one of Michael Connelly's book's and have read some twice. I just finished his new book "The Late Show" totally enjoyed it as much as Bosch or Haller. My other favorite authors are Lee Child, Robert Crais, Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series), Dennis LeHane, and Harlan Coben.
You know, I was wondering if I should start with Scudder, but it seemed a lot of those books dealt with alcoholism, and I could do without the alcohol, drugs, my-father-hated-me sorts of subplots. (They're okay once in a while, but I think I've read too many of them.) That's why I started with Keller. I do have a Scudder book in the queue. I cherry-picked it to avoid one of the boozer plots. :)

Finished: Hit List by Lawrence Block (John Keller Book 2)
Started: Hit Man by Lawrence Block (John Keller Book 1)

The Keller series is amusing. I've never seen anything quite like it. Very light reading and I'm sure Block gets a kick out of writing it.
Fallible
Posts: 8795
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:44 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Fallible »

Reread (prompted by a current forum thread on the “telltale chart”) Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story, The Tell-Tale Heart. I first read it in college in the ‘60s and mainly remember the horror of the beating heart. This time I appreciated more how Poe reveals the narrator’s madness and paranoia, starting with the very first word - “TRUE!”
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
d0gerz
Posts: 392
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 9:45 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by d0gerz »

Currently reading Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari. As with the earlier Sapiens this is a fascinating book. He starts off by saying how humans over the last 200 or so years have largely solved the problems of famine, plague, and war, something that they were unable to do so for millennia. Not that the problems don't exist anymore, rather have become quite manageable. More people today die of obesity than malnutrition, old age than infectious diseases, and suicide than war or terrorism. He argues that in the 21st century, as a logical consequence of liberal humanism, focus will instead shift toward the quest for immortality, happiness, and achieving super-human or god-like status.

There's a bit of overlap with Sapiens in Part II, which is a retelling of how we got to where we are, so will seem familiar if you've read it. This book is heavier on philosophical issues. He systematically debunks the notions of humans having a soul, free will, or one true self (for this last one he invokes Daniel Kahneman's work on the narrative self vs the experiencing self, which I found quite enlightening). And Part III is where I'm at right now where he ties all this into what the future holds.

If you've read Sapiens and liked it, I'd highly recommend this book.
User avatar
ruralavalon
Posts: 26297
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

The Race for Timbuktu, by Frank T. Kryza.

This is a history of exploration of Africa in the early 1800s, from both the West Cost and Tripoli searching for Timbuctu and the course of the NIger River. It tells the stories of the travels of Mungo Park, Hugh Clapperton, and primarily of Alexander Gordon Laing. It's hard to comprehend how dangerous and difficult was Laings's
trip across across the Sahara, and understand what motivated him. He left Tripoli for Timbuctu a few days after his wedding to the daughter of the British Counsel to Tripoli. The trip across the desert took 13 months, during which he was nearly killed by Tuareg tribesmen. He stayed in Timbuctu a few weeks. He was murdered a few days after he left Timbuctu. This is an amazing story.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
sixtyforty
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:22 am
Location: USA

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by sixtyforty »

Night by Elie Wiesel

An incredible book about his experience, as a teenager, with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in 1944–1945.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" - Leonardo Da Vinci
Dave55
Posts: 2016
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:51 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Dave55 »

azurekep wrote:
Dave55 wrote:
FreeAtLast I love every one of Michael Connelly's book's and have read some twice. I just finished his new book "The Late Show" totally enjoyed it as much as Bosch or Haller. My other favorite authors are Lee Child, Robert Crais, Lawrence Block (Matt Scudder series), Dennis LeHane, and Harlan Coben.
You know, I was wondering if I should start with Scudder, but it seemed a lot of those books dealt with alcoholism, and I could do without the alcohol, drugs, my-father-hated-me sorts of subplots. (They're okay once in a while, but I think I've read too many of them.) That's why I started with Keller. I do have a Scudder book in the queue. I cherry-picked it to avoid one of the boozer plots. :)

Finished: Hit List by Lawrence Block (John Keller Book 2)
Started: Hit Man by Lawrence Block (John Keller Book 1)

The Keller series is amusing. I've never seen anything quite like it. Very light reading and I'm sure Block gets a kick out of writing it.
Thanks. I have not read John Keller books yet.
Scudder is heavy drinking for about 5 books then gets sober at the end of the 5th one. You can start at the 4th book as Block backfills in important details. The transition to being sober is a good read. The 4th book is A Stab in The Dark and the 5th one is Eight Million Ways to Die. I loved all of the Scudder books.
Dave
"Reality always wins, your only job is to get in touch with it." Wilfred Bion
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10711
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bertilak »

ruralavalon wrote: Fri Aug 11, 2017 7:03 pm It tells the stories of the travels of Mungo Park...
Mungo Park told the story himself in Travels in the Interior of Africa (1799). See https://www.travelbooks.co.uk/shop-onli ... mungo-park for an excerpt.

An absolutely fascinating tale.
‘One of the most lively and inspirational accounts of the exploration of Africa.’ - Michael Palin
‘One of the most gripping adventure stories in the English language.’ - Dervla Murphy, Daily Telegraph
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
User avatar
Dogbreath650
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:37 am
Location: Colorado

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Dogbreath650 »

For SciFi fans I recommend a 3 book trilogy I just finished called the Red Rising trilogy

https://smile.amazon.com/Red-Rising-Boo ... red+rising

Pretty fast and compelling read if you're into that genre...
azurekep
Posts: 1179
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:16 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by azurekep »

Dave55 wrote: Fri Aug 11, 2017 9:09 pm
Scudder is heavy drinking for about 5 books then gets sober at the end of the 5th one. You can start at the 4th book as Block backfills in important details. The transition to being sober is a good read. The 4th book is A Stab in The Dark and the 5th one is Eight Million Ways to Die. I loved all of the Scudder books.
Dave
I read the 4th book, A Stab in the Dark and liked it. The frequent need for Scudder to stop at a bar and get bourbon was not that annoying. He was able to think straight most of the time and solve the crime. That's what counts.

Man, what an end. :shock:
User avatar
ruralavalon
Posts: 26297
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

Daybreak, by Viktor Arnar Ingolfson.

Someone is killing goose hunters in Iceland early in the morning, apparently a serial killer using a shotgun. This is a different sort of murder mystery.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
ajjulee
Posts: 81
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 2:46 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ajjulee »

"A Generation of Sociopaths" - How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America
By Bruce Cannon Gibney - A venture capitalist & writer - early investor in PayPal, Facebook, Spotify, Palantir Technologies, SpaceX, Airbnb, Lyft and other start-ups.

I've a sneaking suspicion that we are going to hell in a hand basket...
What I write on this forum is sometimes the truth, maybe the whole truth, and not always nothing but the truth, for the purposes of online anonymity.
Lillibelle
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:53 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Lillibelle »

Non Fiction: STEALING FIRE: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work ~ Kotler & Wheal

Fiction: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman ... lyrical, mesmerizing
User avatar
Earl Lemongrab
Posts: 7270
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 1:14 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Earl Lemongrab »

Earl Lemongrab wrote: Thu Jul 06, 2017 10:03 am The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross. This is one of the series of novels about The Laundry, a secret (yet still bureaucratic) British organization that battles eldritch threats. The books are a combination HP Lovecraft/thriller/Dilbert.
Finishing The Nightmare Stacks, the next book in the series. This is from viewpoint of Alex Schwartz, who started out the events of a couple books ago (The Rhesus Chart) as a mathematician with a high-paying analyst job at a London bank. By the end of that, he was nearly killed, developed PHANG syndrome (acronym meaning various things, but equaling vampire), and drafted into the Laundry (at severely reduced pay). Worst of all, at start of this book he is transferred to Leeds, where his parents live, and who know nothing about any of this.

His life seems to pick up when he becomes involved with an exciting young actress named Cassie. Unfortunately, this is actually Agent First of Spies and Liars, who has replaced the real Cassie. She's from a parallel dimension where elf-like humans evolved and have screwed up their world by releasing eldritch horrors during a war. The remnants plan to invade our dimension, with Cassie as the advance party. She's very confused by our world, because we seem to have built a society almost completely without the use of magic. She's relieved to locate a powerful wizard (Alex) as this was one of her requirements (on pain of death).
TravelforFun
Posts: 2795
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:05 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by TravelforFun »

Hillbilly Elegy. This book answers a few questions about the rise of the alt.right movement and perhaps the result of the 2016 Election.
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10711
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bertilak »

bertilak wrote: Sat Jul 22, 2017 1:52 pm Uncle Silas: A Tale of Bartram-Haugh (1864) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Occasionally, I buy a book but don’t get around to reading it. I put it on the shelf and forget I even have it. Today I ran across Uncle Silas and decided I was in the mood for it. The book is said to be of the Gothic Mystery genre. The editor’s introduction says there are similarities to elements in Wuthering Heights.
...
Now, to the book itself. I will report back after I have read it!
Just finished Uncle Silas.

It is a Gothic, Victorian, mystery/suspense novel, from the middle of the golden age of Gothic novels. It fits right in and is worth the read for fans of that genre. This is NOT a supernatural story. It is more like Wuthering Heights than Dracula.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
User avatar
ruralavalon
Posts: 26297
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers.

A woman is accused poisoning her ex, but there is a hung jury. There are only a few weeks to investigate before the new trial date.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
MP173
Posts: 2607
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 5:03 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by MP173 »

I just finished two of Lawrence Block's "Chip Harrison" early novels - "No Score" and "Chip Harrison Scores Again".

Block is one of my favorite authors, his Matthew Scudder, Keller (the killer), and Bernie Rhodenbarr series are outstanding...reminding me so much of John McDonald's Travis McGee series.

These two Chip Harrison novels are very quick reads, 3 to 4 hours each and are about a 18 year old orphan and his life just after his parents murder/suicide.

Since we are watching "Bosch" on Amazon, I thought it would be worthwhile to re-read Michael Connelly's "The Black Echo" which is his first in the Bosch series. Glad I am re-reading it...catching so much about his life and the others in the TV show.

Ed
Zott
Posts: 243
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 10:21 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Zott »

ruralavalon wrote: Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:34 pm Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers.

A woman is accused poisoning her ex, but there is a hung jury. There are only a few weeks to investigate before the new trial date.
All the Wimsey stories by Sayers are terrific--detective fiction of the highest quality, IMO. My favorites are Five Red Herrings and The Nine Tailors, Murder Must aadvertise is great too, her sharp sense of humor and wit are on full display in that one.

I just finished "The Strange Death of Europe" by Douglas Murray. Full of common sense, it opened my eyes to several things.
User avatar
ruralavalon
Posts: 26297
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

Travels in the Interior of Africa, by Mungo Park.

This is a detailed first person narrative of the very arduous 1795-97 exploration of the Gambia River and upper Niger River area by Scotsman Mungo Park. He was just in his mind-20s at the time. It's hard to comprehend how difficult and dangerous the trip was -- often thirsty or starving, robbed by bandits or local kings, imprisoned or detained by arab traders or leaders, almost constantly threatened by something or someone. I recommend this book.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10711
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bertilak »

ruralavalon wrote: Thu Aug 24, 2017 5:24 pm Travels in the Interior of Africa, by Mungo Park.

This is a detailed first person narrative of the very arduous 1795-97 exploration of the Gambia River and upper Niger River area by Scotsman Mungo Park. He was just in his mind-20s at the time. It's hard to comprehend how difficult and dangerous the trip was -- often thirsty or starving, robbed by bandits or local kings, imprisoned or detained by arab traders or leaders, almost constantly threatened by something or someone. I recommend this book.
This is one of my favorite books.

Danger and adventure everywhere but Park tells his story mater-of-factually with amazing equanimity.

There were a number of close escapes! He went back for another trip and was not heard from again.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
gkaplan
Posts: 7034
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by gkaplan »

I finished two books this morning.

The first book is A Lawyer's Journal: the Morris Dees Story by Morris Dees, with Steve Fiffer. This book originally was published in 1991 as A Season for Justice. A Lawyer's Journey brings the Morris Dees story up to date as of 2001 and includes new material, including Dees' legal victory over the Aryan Nations in Idaho. In A Season for Justice, Dees dramatically chronicles the significant events that led him to the front lines of the civil rights struggle and his crusade against hate groups. This is the story of the courageous and often lonely journey of a skilled and controversial lawyer whose career has paralleled a nation's struggle to ensure freedom and equality of all its citizens. It is the story of a man who takes a stand, a man willing to risk his life to fight for minorities and the powerless, a man who has made a difference. (The above description was taken from the title page and from the back page of the book.) Given recent events, this book, written in 2001 to update the original edition, some fifteen years later is as timely as ever.

The second book is Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1. England resides in a state of unrest as Henry IV despairs over his son and heir, Prince Henry, who is led into a life of debauchery by Falstaff, while the Percy family attempts to wrest the crown from the Bolingbroke line. This is the Pelican Shakespeare edition and is edited by Claire Mceachern. The title of this particular edition, per the title page, is The First Part of King Henry the Fourth. This was a slow read for me. I frequently got bogged down with the long and frequent monologues. I did think that the interplay between Prince Henry and Falstaff was very funny at times. The play, at least Part 1, centers more on Prince Henry, Falstaff, and the rebels than it does on King Henry, himself. The play ends with Prince Henry showing his “kingly mercy,” granting Duncan, one of the rebels, his freedom, and it leaves an unsettled ending that sets the stage for Henry IV, Part 2, which I plan to read.
Gordon
User avatar
StevieG72
Posts: 2200
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 8:00 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by StevieG72 »

Beyond the Grave , by Jeffery Condon

Picked this one up based on recommendations here. Great read, lots to think about!
Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.
User avatar
ruralavalon
Posts: 26297
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, by Dorothy L. Sayers.

The old gentleman thought to be napping in a chair by the fireplace at the club is actually dead. Is it murder, or not? If it is murder complicated wills mean that everyone related to him has a motive. And everyone had the opportunity. I recommend this book.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
Jackbnimble
Posts: 53
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:24 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Jackbnimble »

I just started The Civil War trilogy by Shelby Foote. Wanted to remember who these statues were that they're tearing down.
azurekep
Posts: 1179
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:16 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by azurekep »

I'm more than halfway through Executive Privledge by Phillip Margolin. A recommended read, espeically for those who like political thrillers.

President Charles Farrington has a tryst with an American University student, Charlotte Walsh, at a Virginia farmhouse. She turns up mutilated in a dumpster the next day. The murder is chalked up to the "DC Ripper", a serial killer.

While still Governor of Oregon, Farrington had a teenaged babysitter working for him who ends up murdered. The murder was attributed to a serial killer.

Hmmmmm...

Ex-cop, private detective Dana Cutler is on the run. She has photos of Charlotte Walsh with the President the night of the tryst and hours before the murder. The Feds know this and Dana's life is in danger.

In Oregon, a junior associate in a law firm is handling the appeal of a convicted serial killer who claims he was framed for killing the Governor's teenaged babysitter. He's okay with being put to death for killing the other girls, but wants exoneration for the murder of the Governor's babysitter, which he is adament he did not commit.

Lots of fun, lots of action.

Recently read:

Sacred by Dennis Lehane

A dying billionaire's daughter goes missing. A PI hired to find her goes missing as well. Kenzie and Gennaroto are hired to find both individuals and run into a Scientology-type cult.

Not recommended. It had a decent start and a great endgame but the middle part was filler. Lots of oh-so-clever insults traded between Kenzie and Gennaroto, and insults between the duo and over-talkative thugs. Prayers for Rain was so much better, especially since the filler part -- which seems to be a part of the early Lehane style -- came after the main story was over instead of in the middle, so momentum wasn't lost as it was in Sacred..


Special Circumstances by Sheldon Siegel

Legal thriller involving a prominent San Franciso law firm and a private practice set up by an ex-partner. Two partners are found dead in the firm. Is it murder or a murder-suicide? To tell the truth, I don't honestly remember much about the plot. It was interesting more for the goings-on in a big law firm. It's not a bad book, but it's a bit wordy. I also felt the courtroom scenes were not as dramatic as I'm used to. But the author is a lawyer and the book is probably a pretty accurate view of life inside a law firm.
SGM
Posts: 3341
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:46 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by SGM »

I just read in one sitting Ethan Frome. I noticed today that it was listed twice in the thread ... Books not to read. The main character is a depressed person and novel has a depressing ending. We recently visited The Mount.. the home built by the author Edith Wharton and previously I had only read a short story or two by her. In the forward another author stated that she had read the book twenty times and it inspired her to become a fiction writer. I am not all that familiar with Edith Wharton's work, but it does not appear that she likes happy endings. I may try reading the Age of Innocence which was published just prior to Wharton's Pulitzer prize.
User avatar
6miths
Posts: 811
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:55 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by 6miths »

'An American Sickness' by Elisabeth Rosenthal. Depressing.
'It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so!' Mark Twain
jdb
Posts: 1759
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:21 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by jdb »

Over half way through a re-read of the twenty Patrick O'Brian novels featuring Captain Aubrey and Dr. Maturin, not only best nautical warfare historical fiction but in my opinion amongst best historical novels period. Last read them over 20 years ago, great thing about re-reading is that don't need to fast forward to find out plot endings, can read slowly and enjoy character development. Also find that after 20 years have almost no memory of the plot endings so again a surprise. Next on list is re-read of Gettysburg, The Last Invasion, by Allen Guelzo. Plan to spend a couple days at the National Military Park en-route to Bogleheads Conference in October.
Last edited by jdb on Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Elena
Posts: 395
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 4:42 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Elena »

I am currently finishing The World of Yesterday, by S. Zweig. It is insightful to read what happens in times of war and destruction, and how a thinking individual positions himself in chaos. Two world wars, nonetheless.
User avatar
Pranav
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:25 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Pranav »

Social Securiry Made Simple by Mike Piper
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki
User avatar
flamesabers
Posts: 1848
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 11:05 am
Location: Rochester, MN

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by flamesabers »

I'm reading Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes. It's a dark satire in which Hitler suddenly awakens in Berlin 65 years after the end of World War 2. While the public instantly recognizes him, everyone thinks he's a performer that is always in character.
DrGoogle2017
Posts: 2528
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:31 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by DrGoogle2017 »

Beyond the grave. I checked this book out from the library for estate planning. Now I have to finish it before the deadline.
Joeko
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2017 8:29 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Joeko »

Your money or your life
User avatar
ruralavalon
Posts: 26297
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:29 am
Location: Illinois

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

The Last Voyage of Columbus, by Martin Dugard.

This is the history of Columbus' fourth voyage to the new world, called The High Voyage (el alto viaje), during which he discovered the South American continent, travelled the south coast of Cuba, discovered the coast of Central America from Yucatan to Columbia, tried to found a colony in Honduras, and then was marooned for over a year in Jamaica, all while thwarting several mutinies and suffering from gout, arthritis, malaria and rheumatism.
"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler." - Albert Einstein | Wiki article link: Bogleheads® investment philosophy
User avatar
Earl Lemongrab
Posts: 7270
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 1:14 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Earl Lemongrab »

Currently reading various stories featuring Madame Storey, written in the 1920s-1930s by Hubert Fortner. Madame Rosika Storey is beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent, perceptive, courageous, you name it. She's a psychologist and a famous detective, solving crimes involving upper society in New York and around the world.
gkaplan
Posts: 7034
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 7:34 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by gkaplan »

This morning I finished Portland Names and Neighborhoods: Their Historic Origins by Eugene Snyder.

This is a fascinating book, even with its somewhat dry reading, pedestrian writing, and useless index. Both long-time Portland residents and new Portland residents will learn something about Portland and its history that they didn't know before, as will visitors to Portland.

The main sections of this book are as follows:

1. Styles in Street Naming

2. Plats and Growth

3. Some Noteworthy Neighborhoods

4. Names Changed, Lost, and Missing

5. The Street Names

6. School Names

7. Park Names

Section 1, Styles in Street Naming, provides the background to understand how and why Portland streets are named as they are. These styles describe the patterns in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York and are the basis of most street patterns in the United States .

The Philadelphia pattern moved westward with the frontier (and Portland), finally reaching the Pacific Ocean. The streets running north-south were given numbers. The streets running east-west were given names: important personages, trees, local history, and so on. Occasionally, a numbered street was given a name. In Portland, for example, Broadway originally was named Seventh Street. It remained so until 1913 when the Broadway Bridge was completed, which brought a great flow of streetcar and vehicular traffic onto Seventh Street. City planners decide to widen Seventh street, making it a "broad way."

In New England, it was customary to use names on every street, no matter which direction the street ran. Boston was the model for this arrangement. One would have expected Portland's street pattern to be modeled on Boston (or Portland, Maine); however, the irregular land forms of Boston and Portland, Maine made those cities unique and unsuitable for universal models. (California cities seem to follow this model.)

New York City took the middle ground and numbered its streets in each direction. Their were some aberrations: Fourth Avenue has been named Lexington Avenue, and an extra avenue, Park Avenue, has been inserted in the midst of the numbered sequence.

One final note: The book was published in 1970, nearly forty years ago. As such, some of the information either is out of date or not up to date.
Gordon
Minot
Posts: 454
Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 1:35 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Minot »

Earl Lemongrab wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 2:14 pm Currently reading various stories featuring Madame Storey, written in the 1920s-1930s by Hubert Fortner. Madame Rosika Storey is beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent, perceptive, courageous, you name it. She's a psychologist and a famous detective, solving crimes involving upper society in New York and around the world.
In case anyone else is interested, the author is Hulbert Footner, not Hubert Fortner.
User avatar
Earl Lemongrab
Posts: 7270
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 1:14 am

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Earl Lemongrab »

Minot wrote: Sat Sep 02, 2017 12:00 pm
Earl Lemongrab wrote: Thu Aug 31, 2017 2:14 pm Currently reading various stories featuring Madame Storey, written in the 1920s-1930s by Hubert Fortner. Madame Rosika Storey is beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent, perceptive, courageous, you name it. She's a psychologist and a famous detective, solving crimes involving upper society in New York and around the world.
In case anyone else is interested, the author is Hulbert Footner, not Hubert Fortner.
You corrected it before I could. I noted that when I was reading last night.
User avatar
bertilak
Posts: 10711
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 5:23 pm
Location: East of the Pecos, West of the Mississippi

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bertilak »

bertilak wrote: Thu Nov 06, 2014 10:57 am The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin. ... two of the characters play ... a game called "Detestable Characters in Fiction (that the author intended to be sympathetic)." Some of the their list:
  • Those vulgar little man-hunting minxes in Pride and Prejudice
So, I have embarked on Pride and Prejudice. I find it full of shallow characters (most of Elizabeth Bennet's family and friends) but "detestable" and "vulgar" probably overstate the case. Perhaps "shallow" will devolve to "detestably vulgar" as the book progresses.

So far it is a bit of a slog but I will keep at it as I want to see that Elizabeth avoids falling for George Wickham. (As if my concern matters!) Wickham is expected to be exposed, eventually, as detestable despite his charm, but that is as the author intends so wouldn't count as a win in the above game.

I hope I make it through!
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
wilson08
Posts: 507
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:37 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by wilson08 »

SGM wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2017 8:54 am I just read in one sitting Ethan Frome. I noticed today that it was listed twice in the thread ... Books not to read. The main character is a depressed person and novel has a depressing ending. We recently visited The Mount.. the home built by the author Edith Wharton and previously I had only read a short story or two by her. In the forward another author stated that she had read the book twenty times and it inspired her to become a fiction writer. I am not all that familiar with Edith Wharton's work, but it does not appear that she likes happy endings. I may try reading the Age of Innocence which was published just prior to Wharton's Pulitzer prize.
I thought Ethan Frome was a great book as was Age of Innocence. I have read several
Edith Wharton novels and thought all were good except The Children which on an
earlier post I stated was more like a silly sitcom.
User avatar
Tycoon
Posts: 1625
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 7:06 pm

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Tycoon »

For All the Tea in China by Sarah Rose
Emotionless, prognostication free investing. Ignoring the noise and economists since 1979. Getting rich off of "smart people's" behavioral mistakes.
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by VictoriaF »

bertilak wrote: Sat Sep 02, 2017 1:52 pm
bertilak wrote: Thu Nov 06, 2014 10:57 am The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin. ... two of the characters play ... a game called "Detestable Characters in Fiction (that the author intended to be sympathetic)." Some of the their list:
  • Those vulgar little man-hunting minxes in Pride and Prejudice
So, I have embarked on Pride and Prejudice. I find it full of shallow characters (most of Elizabeth Bennet's family and friends) but "detestable" and "vulgar" probably overstate the case. Perhaps "shallow" will devolve to "detestably vulgar" as the book progresses.
Do you mean that the characters are shallow or that their descriptions are shallow? For example, a great author may masterfully describe detestable characters; and an inferior author may have shallow descriptions of characters whom he has envisioned to be intelligent and deep.

With respect to Jane Austen, I think it's the former. And I am not alone. Check out a book "Jane Austen, Game Theorist" by an economist Michael Chwe.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
Grt2bOutdoors
Posts: 25617
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:20 pm
Location: New York

Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

Retirement Portfolios - Michael Zwecher. Taking me longer than I expected, slow read.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
Post Reply