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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133717
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| Posted: 17 July 2011 at 7:45pm | IP Logged | 1
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What kinds of books do you guys gravitate to? Fantasy? Nonfiction? Novels? Given only the choice of one type of book, what would you choose without fail above all others?•• Historical biography, especially about the Tudor period in England. American Civil War comes a very close second. Not sure if this is really an answer to your question, as it is neither of the above, but I make a point of rereading CITY AT WORLD'S END, by Edmond Hamilton, at least once a year.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133717
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| Posted: 17 July 2011 at 7:49pm | IP Logged | 2
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I'm halfway through ISAAC'S STORM by Erik Larson. Not the writer/artist but the best selling author of both this book and DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY. ISAAC'S STORM tells the true story of the hurricane that devestated Galvaston, TX in September of 1900•• I have read and reread THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY several times, tho I was disappointed with Larsen's next effort, THUNDERSTRUCK. A failed attempt to rebottle the lightning of DEVIL, that simply strained too far to make its "connections". I had not heard about ISAAC'S STORM, but I did recently watch a show on the Weather Channel about the Galveston storm. Terrifying! Came close to making Katrina look like a harsh breeze. I may have to check out this book.
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Matt Reed
Byrne Robotics Security
Robotmod
Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 36134
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| Posted: 17 July 2011 at 8:03pm | IP Logged | 3
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It's fascinating and highly recommended. Like I said, it starts out slow
but builds momentum as it progresses. It probably also benefits from
being written well before DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY. I believe it was
Larson's first book, published in 1999. Yeah, Katrina feels like a warm
breeze compared to the storm that literally attacked Galvaston in
1900.
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Matt Reed
Byrne Robotics Security
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Joined: 16 April 2004
Posts: 36134
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| Posted: 17 July 2011 at 8:05pm | IP Logged | 4
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I recently bought THUNDERSTRUCK based on how much I loved
DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY. Now I'm a bit dismayed that it's not as
good as that book or ISAAC'S STORM. Wish Larson hadn't tried so
hard to weave the story when it wasn't there. DEVIL, with 20/20
hindsight, was a fantasic parallel, but not something to be found in
every subject.
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Brett Wilson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 April 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 318
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| Posted: 17 July 2011 at 8:17pm | IP Logged | 5
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Anything dealing with history is interesting. I'll read about any military conflict. Read a book about the Falklands War recently.
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Aaron Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 06 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 10461
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| Posted: 22 July 2011 at 7:07pm | IP Logged | 6
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PET SEMETARY by Stephen King. I have mixed feelings about King's work. Some of his books are great but many are mediocre in my opinion. This is one of the better ones so far.
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Michael Arndt
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 April 2004
Posts: 8566
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| Posted: 22 July 2011 at 10:02pm | IP Logged | 7
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Getting ready to read On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Dr. No. Have never read a James Bond book before. My favorite types of reading are history and biographies.
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Phil Frances
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 08 August 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 348
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| Posted: 22 July 2011 at 10:22pm | IP Logged | 8
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JB - regards the Tudor period, you might wish to try 'Wolf Hall', by Hilary Mantel -- here's the 'blurb' :
Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2009 'Lock Cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning,' says Thomas More, 'and when you come back that night he'll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks' tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money.' England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages. From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.
I found it entirely engrossing.
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Steve D Swanson
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 May 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 1374
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| Posted: 22 July 2011 at 10:31pm | IP Logged | 9
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Heh, I'm also reading Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson. Just finished Hounded by Kevin Hearne which was a very good urban fantasy set in Arizona. Only problem I had was that it was described as funny by a reviewer and I don't think I laughed once. Humor is hard to make work in a novel and usually translates to a bright, airy feel (which this had) but seldom ever provokes laughter. At least for me. Last week I read The Devil in the White City which as I was reading it I found utterly engrossing but given some time and thought I'm a little less enamored of the book. Basically the two leads are thematically linked but their link in real life is very tenuous and I kept thinking there had to be some connection for the book to focus on those two men like it did. Basically, the killer just happens to be around Chicago at the time of the World's fair and would have done the same thing pretty much anywhere else he happened to be. Thematically, as a contrast between the two, it was brilliant but the man who shoots the mayor at the end of the fair seems like a better fit as a work of history. But that's probably just me (though there were times when reading it that I thought Larson had started with that concept and moved away when the story of the shooter proved not to be as interesting as he might have hoped).
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Eric Ladd
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 August 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 4505
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| Posted: 23 July 2011 at 4:31am | IP Logged | 10
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True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor by David Mamet.
The House of Barrymore by Margot Peters.
I Hate Hamlet by Paul Rudnick.
I have an audition coming up and I kinda want the part. =)
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133717
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| Posted: 23 July 2011 at 4:36am | IP Logged | 11
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Just started IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS by Erik Larson, author of THE DEVIL THE WHITE CITY. It's about the American ambassador and his family who were sent to Berlin in 1933, just as Hitler was solidifying his power. Just a few chapters into it, and already engrossed.Here Larson eschews the "parallel lives" approach that worked so well in CITY but failed so completely in THUNDERSTRUCK. Already GARDEN is a better book for this choice.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133717
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| Posted: 23 July 2011 at 4:40am | IP Logged | 12
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Last week I read The Devil in the White City which as I was reading it I found utterly engrossing but given some time and thought I'm a little less enamored of the book. Basically the two leads are thematically linked but their link in real life is very tenuous and I kept thinking there had to be some connection for the book to focus on those two men like it did. Basically, the killer just happens to be around Chicago at the time of the World's fair and would have done the same thing pretty much anywhere else he happened to be. Thematically, as a contrast between the two, it was brilliant but the man who shoots the mayor at the end of the fair seems like a better fit as a work of history. But that's probably just me (though there were times when reading it that I thought Larson had started with that concept and moved away when the story of the shooter proved not to be as interesting as he might have hoped).•• If Larson had not stated up front that the two men never met (so far as is known) you might have a point. But since he did, then your criticism basically boils down to "this is not the book / would have written" -- and speaking as an author, that is a school of commentary I find utterly unacceptable. Read a book for what it IS, not what you think it should have been.
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