The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Texas_Bryan on June 10, 2010, 11:32:44 AM
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I know there has been a couple, but I figure I'd start a new one for all the book reading and learning folk out there.
Just finish reading 'The Road', in my opinion, one of the worst reads I've had in quite some time. Subject matter was fine, but the narrative was terrible, and while I've not read any other McCarthy to base this on, the writing style felt like some horrible gimmick. Some one argue the merits of this piece of fiction for me.
Or better yet, what's everyone else reading, or what would you recommend? My library at home has become far to familiar and I need to pick up some new stuff.
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Haven't read much lately. I once was a novel a week kind of reader.
As to "The Road", it won a Pulitzer, I would have expected it to be a pretty good read. I've seen the film and wasn't that impressed with it though it wasn't terrible either.
I'm kind of a techno-thriller geek, Clancy, Coontz, Dale Brown....military stuff! Occasionally, I'll still read something from Stephen King, he used to be a favorite.
Just can't get back into it..
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From what has been posted before about the book "The Road" does not seem to have any merits beyond the plot idea.
Currently reading Jeff Shaara, (Gods and General, Killer Angles ) Rise to Rebellion, first of 2 volumes about the Revolution.
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The Road - I think we flayed that puppy some time ago. I agree with you Tex.
I just got done reading The Apostle by Brad Thor. Worth reading.
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"Killer Angles"????
Angels maybe? ;)
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I am currently reading a Science Fiction book by Tom Godwin, originally titles The Survivors and reissued titled Space Prison: The Survivors
It is about a group of Earthmen abandoned by the conquers of Earth on a inhospitable planet.
It might be regarded as an adolescent novel...I was in my teens when I first read it...but if you want a story showing honor, dedication, sacrifice, a struggle to survive and a 200 year quest for revenge, this is it.
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"Killer Angles"????
Angels maybe? ;)
Ex SEALs, Taliban...explosions, corrupt President, bang bang shoot em up.
Good airport fare.
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Ex SEALs, Taliban...explosions, corrupt President, bang bang shoot em up.
Good airport fare.
Would like something abit more inspired...
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"Lone Survivor" SEALS, Taliban, Explosions bang nang and real life.
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I have read some pretty good non-fiction titles over the years, but I'd have to go through the collection to give you names. As for fiction, Arundel by Kenneth Roberts is an excellent piece of historical fiction, with guns, indians, and all kinds of good stuff. ;D I might also suggest the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson, which begins with "The Tomb" a.k.a. "Rakoshi". I typically lean toward the styles of Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Michael Chricton, and Dean Koontz, just to give you an example of my taste in fiction. My next purchase is going to be S.K.'s "Under The Dome", anyone read it yet? Many, many great authors out there, so good luck and let us know if you stumble upon any worth a read.
Swoop
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Swoop...too bad I didn't know of your King addiction. I just rid myself of titles (hardcovers) dating back to The Shining, all first edition. Countless once read novels from the master went to a local charity book fair. I just couldn't justify carting them around another twenty years.
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Yeah, I'm a confessed Kingophile, although my condition has improved over the last few years. I have almost all of his books, mostly hardcovers, but not many first editions. (Can't believe you got rid of those...$$$) The "Dark Tower" series is my favorite collection of fiction, period. I mean, how many fictional heroes can really compete with the coolness factor of a gunslinger like Roland?
Swoop
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Yeah, I'm a confessed Kingophile, although my condition has improved over the last few years. I have almost all of his books, mostly hardcovers, but not many first editions. (Can't believe you got rid of those...$$$) The "Dark Tower" series is my favorite collection of non-fiction novels, period. I mean, how many fictional heroes can really compete with the coolness factor of a gunslinger like Roland?
Swoop
Excellent series....my #2 series, right behind the Lonesome Dove books by Larry McMurtry.
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Yeah, The Road was a tough read. I didn't like the writing style at all but the story was good for me.
With the Pacific on HBO I found the books that a couple of characters wrote. With the Old Breed and A Helmet For My Pillow. Very good in my opinion and much better than the mini series.
The Green Zone was another hard read but interesting. About the Green Zone in Bagdad and all the politics that went on in the first year after the occupation started.
Political books...Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin was a good read. I couldn't finish Hannity's new book. Just lost interest half way and didn't pick it up again.
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"Killer Angles"????
Angels maybe? ;)
Blame that on my spell check, properly spelled wrong words don't get caught ;D
Killer Angels is Historical fiction, along with "Gods and Generals" it tells the story of the Civil War (The war of Southern intransigence ;D ) up to the battle of Gettysburg.
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Blame that on my spell check, properly spelled wrong words don't get caught ;D
Killer Angels is Historical fiction, along with "Gods and Generals" it tells the story of the Civil War (The war of Southern intransigence ;D ) up to the battle of Gettysburg.
Killer Angels is the only one of his books I've read, but plan on reading more.
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And the movies were as good as the books. They caught the "character of the men perfectly. Jeff's Father Micheal Shaara wrote one of them but you can not tell which. Jeff also wrote "Gone for Soldiers" which tells the story of the Mexican war through the eyes, mostly, of a young Lieutenant of Engineers named Robert E. Lee.
Stephan Hunter more or less goes with out saying in this crowd ;D
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And the movies were as good as the books. They caught the "character of the men perfectly. Jeff's Father Micheal Shaara wrote one of them but you can not tell which. Jeff also wrote "Gone for Soldiers" which tells the story of the Mexican war through the eyes, mostly, of a young Lieutenant of Engineers named Robert E. Lee.
Stephan Hunter more or less goes with out saying in this crowd ;D
Yes.
One of the things about Gettysburg I liked was where they showed the actual images of the original people along side the images of the movie characters. There were a lot of similarities in looks. That was cool.
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THE ROAD, for all those who read the book the movie version is on tonight on SHOWTIME 8PM eastern.
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Just saw Swoops mention of "Arundel", by Kenneth Roberts, He wrote several others about the French and Indian War/ Revolutionary War era's, Rabble in Arms and Northwest Passage were both real good, especially since all three of them involve places right around me ;D He also wrote several about the Revolution and War of 1812 at sea, "Lydia Bailey" is the only one of those titles I remember .
Can't think of the titles but Alan Ekert wrote a series of books about that era as well though his tend to take place in upstate NY and the Ohio river country (IIRC "The Frontiersmen" was the first of the series)
I finished the Jeff Shaara book, and went on to read "Steel Wave", about WWII. niether of them were as good as his Civil war books.
For Sword and Sorcery buffs look in the used book stores for the original "Thieves World" series.
They are collections of short stories by several authors all set in the same place, a dying city that is considered the anus of a decaying Empire, In the Dragon Lance series the thieves and scoundrel were charming rogues, in thieves world they are scumbags, even the so called "good guys" are not people you would invite to dinner ;D
Anything by Jack Higgins, ("The Eagle has landed" is his best known )
The earlier works of Leon Uris," Battle Cry" is a classic of the Marines in WWII, based on his own experience, "Trinity" and "Redemption" are about the troubles in Northern Ireland. He also wrote several about the Jews and Israel , "Exodus" comes to mind and I can see "Mila 18" on the book shelf which is about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
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Yeah, I'm a confessed Kingophile, although my condition has improved over the last few years. I have almost all of his books, mostly hardcovers, but not many first editions. (Can't believe you got rid of those...$$$) The "Dark Tower" series is my favorite collection of fiction, period. I mean, how many fictional heroes can really compete with the coolness factor of a gunslinger like Roland?
Swoop
I was hooked on king in my younger days, havent read much lately, I read most of agatha christie by the time I finished primary school.
There is one book I like above all others and that was one called By Reason of Insanity by Shane Stevens, bloody good read. If you like pyscho killer type books.
about the book:
Back in the '70s, when the term "serial killer" wasn't yet popular, Shane Stevens wrote this long, exquisitely detailed novel about a psychopathic murderer. Thomas Bishop escapes from an insane asylum at age 25 and begins what he fully intends to be a historic career as a multiple murderer. He is meticulous, intelligent, conscious of what he is doing, and utterly amoral. And we are inside his head, every step of the way--a welcome approach compared to contemporary works that focus on a detective or reporter protagonist. The New York Times called it "violent realism . . . extremely effective."At the center of this gripping epic novel of mass murder, pursuit, and psychological terror is Thomas Bishop, a psychotic young killer who believes he is the son of Caryl Chessman, who was executed for rape in California amid intense controversy. Subjected to unmerciful physical and mental torture from an early age, Bishop kills his mother at the age of 10 and is placed in an institution for the criminally insane. He grows to manhood knowing the outside world only through a television screen. At 25, he succeeds in a brilliant escape and change of identity and begins to move across the country, murdering women in particularly gruesome ways. Pursued by reporters, police, and the mob, Bishop manages to elude them all, and the search for him becomes the greatest manhunt in U.S. history. Stevens takes the reader on a harrowing descent into the mind of a mass murderer in this eerily realistic serial-killer novel. The chilling denouement will hold readers spellbound until the shattering, unforgettable conclusion.
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I'm reading all of Lisa Gardner's books.. just finished Gone and now on The Neighbor..
Good suspense thrillers..
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I'm reading all of Lisa Gardner's books.. just finished Gone and now on The Neighbor..
Good suspense thrillers..
I've neither read, nor heard of, her before. Who would you find her comparable to?
Sledge: I'm a long time admirer of Agatha Christie's work, as well. I absolutely love "Until There Were None" or "Ten Little Indians", so I'll have to give that Shane Stevens novel a whirl.
Swoop
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I have been a big Scify fan, and fantasy fan for a long time, so I Do recommendend Robert Jordans, wheel of time, 12 books and well over 12,000 pages but good stuff, King the stand, come on, bad to the bone, Piers Anthony, if you like light hearted but good fantasy books, with lot's of puns.
Now to some of the really good stuff.
1) Larry MC Murtry, lonesome dove, awesome read. The mini series was good, but the book was better.
2) BROTHERS IN ARMs, Stephen Ambrose, better it prose, although the show was excellent.
3) Ordeal by sea. about the USS Indianapolis, hard read, navy guys getting eaten by sharks, and drowning, but a powerful read.
4) HOW I Became a crack shot, by W. Milton Farrow, hard to find and the guy is full of himself, but there are some good clues about shooting.
5) Fiction, The Freeman, by Jerry Ahern,.
6) A rifleman went to war, MUST READ. by Herbert Mc Bride. not to mention the Emma Gees.
7) anything by Jeff Cooper.
8) A handbook for the HYTHE. the hand book for what is now the Camp Perry of England, written in the late 1800's, but very good.
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Both of the Herbert McBride books are available at Amazon, "Emma Gee's" is on kindle.
I just checked because I have been looking for them with out luck and I will be getting a gift card for Christmas. ;D
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BIG Dean Koontz fan!! (Please resist the urge to go to the fat jokes)
Two of them stand out: "Intensity" is a book you won't be able to put down, as is "The Husband". Both are fabulous edge-of-your-seat thrillers, and like most Koontz books, have more twists and turns than a corkscrew.
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Now to some of the really good stuff.
1) Larry MC Murtry, lonesome dove, awesome read. The mini series was good, but the book was better.
Hey, M25, McMurtry has another western book from 2006 called Telegraph Days.....going to try and get it before Christmas and read it.
http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/0743250788.asp
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Real old one, out of print for years, but one of the funniest books I ever read was by a Dutch sailor and writer named Jan DeHartog, The name of the book is "A Sailors Life", it describes his experiences in the last days of the sailing ships before WWII, his descriptions of conditions and the actual job functions performed by specialists such as the sail maker left me in stitches. ;D
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I've neither read, nor heard of, her before. Who would you find her comparable to?
Swoop
I don't know who to compare Lisa G to.
Her books are FBI and Detective thrillers. (generally some sex in them too) but no romance.. I hate stupid romance books.. She's good.. I have other authors I like better.. but she is still good reading.
http://lisagardner.com/
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Read and liked the "Gunslinger" series...should have seen the ending but didn't. Have been reading James Patterson's series with Alex Cross as the main character. Also like Tony Hillerman. He writes mysteries centered in modern day American Indian territory. Brings Indian Lore into his writing.
FWIW
Richard
PS: M'ette I like sex too without the R word.
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Try
"Dreaming the Lion" by Tom MacIntyre.
Its a truly beautiful book. Its a series of essays about hunting. Everything from Africa to Oz, to California. Thing is, these are great essays written from the '80s to the '90s and remind you of Hemmingway. They are all beutifully written and talk about culture as much as anything. Talking about commercial buffalo hunters in Oz, the end of the hunting culture in the US, a kid whose dad sent him to Africa to shape up, etc. Its well worth the read.
I'd also throw in a great scifi book "An Enemy of the State' by F. Paul Wilson. Its a great Libertarian scifi tale about politics, economics and insurrection. It is is scarily more precient than when I read it in high school (it deals with rebellion based on attacks on a worthless paper currency, dimunition of individual rights, and an over extended empire). There are three books in the series titled something like "The Lanague Foundation", but they really are a great adventure and a total indictment of where we are now. I'd put it up there with Heinlien.
FQ13
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Got this one for Christmas and have been looking through it. Looks like a good book for history buffs (like me). Good for short reading intervals because of the 500+ pages, no more than two pages are dedicated to each topic.
Great amounts of trivia..... I guess like the title says, it's great for reading in the 'throne room'.... ;D
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6251709-the-civil-war-bathroom-reader
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/6251709-the-civil-war-bathroom-reader)
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Just this evening .. finished reading Patrica Cornwell's newest one.. Book Of The Dead.
It was ok.. not riveting like some of her books.. got better the last half..
Don't know what I will read next.. but will start another book tonight.. :)
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Started H.W. McBride, "A rifleman went to war" I'm 1/4 of the way through it already. "The Emma Gee's" should arrive tomorrow ;D
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Tom, you will be entertained at the the least.
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I started reading the Steven King Gunslinger series when they first came out but he lost me after a long break between books and then jumped to the childhood of his character. Currently I am reading "Assassin" by Steven Coonts and "Broke" by Glenn Beck.
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I read Pillars of the Earth and just finished it about a month ago. This is a great read if anyone is ever interested in 12th century England. I love Ken Follett books. I have read all his spy thrillers, my typical genre of choice, and took a chance with this book. It mixes great history with fiction. I don't want to give away too much but, England is in shambles when King Henry dies and his heir is killed in a boat "accident." It all revolves around the building of a cathedral and really does a great job of mixing and showing a monarchy at its worst how from the littlest to biggest ripple up top can change the lives of everyone from Peasant to Earl.
After reading this book I was kinda just on the monarchy thing, and read George RR Martins Game of Thrones. Great book as well. Not as good as Pillars but its a different Genre, but definately is great.
And an old bool that I just thought about that everyone needs to read if they never have is the Bourne Identity. The original book by Robert Ludlum is out of this world awesome. The guy is insane and trained. I loved it. Its almost a book I want to by hundreds of copies of and hand out to liberals and say f with vets some more and one day our training will take over and this is whats going to happen to you. He beats the crap of the lady he takes hostage and doesnt become nice to her till almost the end of the book. Its no where close to the movies version. It was a book that got me into reading a few years ago now. I hardly ever read till I got clean and sober and I wonder now how I ever got by. I love reading and most days rather read than watch tv.
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The first 3 Bourne novels are great !
Best lines in the whole series (Bourne on phone) "There was a girl in Paris, she handled logistics."
(CIA guy)"I'm not sure I know who you mean"
(Bourne ) "You should, she's standing beside you. "
The ones after that were written by others and the ones I've read were not as good.
Clive Cussler, and Jack Higgins are both entertaining writers as well.
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I read the Bourne (Ludlum) series as well when they first came out, gotta be thirty years ago. Back then, I'd burn through 8-10 novels a month. Haven't read a book in a while now.
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Has any one read the Bernard Cornwall series about Richard Sharpe ? I'm half way through the first one and it's pretty slow going. Should I quit now, or do they get better ?