Author Topic: Recommended Books?  (Read 179456 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Recommended Books?
« on: October 04, 2008, 08:21:39 PM »

Offline Scott

  • Jayson Tatum
  • Posts: 970
  • Tommy Points: 108
So we have had a lot of discussions on movies and music lately, and I was wondering about books?  I am currently looking for a new one to read and wanted to see if there were any suggestions or recommendations anyone had to offer.

The most recent one that I finished was Geoffrey Robertson's "The Tyranncide Brief".  It's a non-fiction that centers around the lesser known John Cooke and his role in bringing Charles I to trial.   

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2008, 08:25:42 PM »

Offline Steve Weinman

  • Author / Moderator
  • Jim Loscutoff
  • **
  • Posts: 2766
  • Tommy Points: 33
  • My alter ego
So we have had a lot of discussions on movies and music lately, and I was wondering about books?  I am currently looking for a new one to read and wanted to see if there were any suggestions or recommendations anyone had to offer.

The most recent one that I finished was Geoffrey Robertson's "The Tyranncide Brief".  It's a non-fiction that centers around the lesser known John Cooke and his role in bringing Charles I to trial.   


Nice topic, Scott - if you're into fiction, I'd highly recommend checking out Harlan Coben.  His thrillers are hands-down the best I've ever read.  Dynamic characters, fast-moving action, unbelievable action.  Grisham's legal fiction (and he wrote The Innocent Man over the last few years, his first non-fiction book, I think) and Brad Meltzer's thrillers are up there too, albeit a half-step below.

Also, if you check back in the archives, you may find that we had a books discussion earlier in the summer that might have some more recs for you - but if I recall, it was more narrowly tailored toward basketball books.  Not sure if it was prior to the last time the archives were cleaned out, but it might be worth a look if you're interested.

-sw


Reggies Ghost: Where artistic genius happens.  Thank you, sir.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2008, 08:29:21 PM »

Offline shookones99

  • Jayson Tatum
  • Posts: 911
  • Tommy Points: 73
I recently finished The Color Of Water by James Mcbride and that book was pretty amazing.   It was one of those books that I could not put down.
When I'm in the gym...I like to grunt when  I get my swell on... That way everyone can see how jacked and tan I am.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2008, 08:35:38 PM »

Offline Redz

  • Punner
  • Global Moderator
  • Bill Russell
  • ******************************
  • Posts: 30893
  • Tommy Points: 3765
  • Yup
If you're into historical fiction, Bernard Cornwell's pretty amazing - particularly the Saxon books.

I just started reading A Game of Kings, based on a CBers recommendation.

And yes, The Color of Water was excellent.  Water for Elephants was one of the better things I've read that was written somewhat recently.
Yup

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2008, 08:42:57 PM »

Offline Scott

  • Jayson Tatum
  • Posts: 970
  • Tommy Points: 108
I prefer historical non-fiction but that's the nerd in me speaking.  Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy fiction.  I have enjoyed a lot of Tom Clancy's stuff especially "Red Storm Rising".  I have also enjoyed what Richard Matheson has produced.

Speaking of John Grisham, my wife just grabbed me a copy of "The Brethren" not too long back that I have just pulled out and started. 
 

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2008, 08:43:37 PM »

Offline FLCeltsFan

  • Kendrick Perkins #1 Fan
  • Author
  • Rajon Rondo
  • *****
  • Posts: 5280
  • Tommy Points: 11832
  • Marcus Smart Fan!
I'm reading the book Pistol and it is excellent.  Highly recommend. 

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2008, 08:51:35 PM »

Offline Steve Weinman

  • Author / Moderator
  • Jim Loscutoff
  • **
  • Posts: 2766
  • Tommy Points: 33
  • My alter ego
I prefer historical non-fiction but that's the nerd in me speaking.  Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy fiction.  I have enjoyed a lot of Tom Clancy's stuff especially "Red Storm Rising".  I have also enjoyed what Richard Matheson has produced.

Speaking of John Grisham, my wife just grabbed me a copy of "The Brethren" not too long back that I have just pulled out and started. 
 

The Brethren is fantastic - it's older but one of my favorites.  I'm lookign forward to seeing what you think once you get into that one a bit.

Agreed with shookones and Redz as well - the McBride book is a good one.  It's been four years, so I'm a bit sketchy on some of the details, but I definitely remembering enjoying it as well.  Powerful narrative.

-sw


Reggies Ghost: Where artistic genius happens.  Thank you, sir.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2008, 09:50:20 PM »

Online bdm860

  • Rajon Rondo
  • *****
  • Posts: 5952
  • Tommy Points: 4586
From A-Apple to Z-Zebra, Baby's First Pop-up book is 26 pages of alphabetic adventure!

After 18 months with their Bigs, the Littles were: 46% less likely to use illegal drugs, 27% less likely to use alcohol, 52% less likely to skip school, 37% less likely to skip a class

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #8 on: October 04, 2008, 09:50:52 PM »

Online hwangjini_1

  • Kevin Garnett
  • *****************
  • Posts: 17837
  • Tommy Points: 2661
  • bammokja
books? ha, i own over 5,000.... no kidding.

this is soooooo personal and subjective as to what you would like.... but try the following...

fantasy, adventure - hard to beat "The Wheel of Time" series, author pen name is rober jordan.

science fiction - "ender's game" is a true classic.

non-fiction, so subjective here - for something completely different try some of these....
"an ordinary person's guide to empire" by arundhati roy.
"blowback" by chalmers johnson.
"rise to globalism" by stephen ambrose.

fiction, even more subjective. for books that are clearly "different"  try...
anything by kurt vonnegut...he is my favorite author. :)
"glass bead game" by herman hess.
"one hundred years of solitude" by garcia marquez. (dang! cant put accent marks!)
"salt" by earl lovelace.
"the guest" by hwang sok-yong.

a wide range of books for a wide range of tastes. enjoy.

geez, this is not even close to

 
I believe Gandhi is the only person who knew about real democracy — not democracy as the right to go and buy what you want, but democracy as the responsibility to be accountable to everyone around you. Democracy begins with freedom from hunger, freedom from unemployment, freedom from fear, and freedom from hatred.
- Vandana Shiva

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2008, 10:31:52 PM »

Offline RebusRankin

  • Satch Sanders
  • *********
  • Posts: 9143
  • Tommy Points: 923
So we have had a lot of discussions on movies and music lately, and I was wondering about books?  I am currently looking for a new one to read and wanted to see if there were any suggestions or recommendations anyone had to offer.

The most recent one that I finished was Geoffrey Robertson's "The Tyranncide Brief".  It's a non-fiction that centers around the lesser known John Cooke and his role in bringing Charles I to trial.   


Nice topic, Scott - if you're into fiction, I'd highly recommend checking out Harlan Coben.  His thrillers are hands-down the best I've ever read.  Dynamic characters, fast-moving action, unbelievable action.  Grisham's legal fiction (and he wrote The Innocent Man over the last few years, his first non-fiction book, I think) and Brad Meltzer's thrillers are up there too, albeit a half-step below.

Also, if you check back in the archives, you may find that we had a books discussion earlier in the summer that might have some more recs for you - but if I recall, it was more narrowly tailored toward basketball books.  Not sure if it was prior to the last time the archives were cleaned out, but it might be worth a look if you're interested.

-sw

Kudos for mentioning Coben. Stand alones are great and I'm sure most here would love the Myron Bolitar series.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2008, 10:42:30 PM »

Offline cons

  • Bill Walton
  • *
  • Posts: 1126
  • Tommy Points: 103

 since you said you're into historical non-fiction,  over the summer i read "inside the imperial city" or "inside the emerald city" about the occupation of baghdad. i forget the author's name, and i thought it was a bit repetitive, but a really interesting and apparently true account.

i've also heard jon krakeur's non fiction stuff is really good, although i haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #11 on: October 04, 2008, 10:46:32 PM »

Offline shookones99

  • Jayson Tatum
  • Posts: 911
  • Tommy Points: 73

 since you said you're into historical non-fiction,  over the summer i read "inside the imperial city" or "inside the emerald city" about the occupation of baghdad. i forget the author's name, and i thought it was a bit repetitive, but a really interesting and apparently true account.

i've also heard jon krakeur's non fiction stuff is really good, although i haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Yes definitely.  Under The Banner Of Heaven is a fantastic book!   Into Thin Air is good as well.
When I'm in the gym...I like to grunt when  I get my swell on... That way everyone can see how jacked and tan I am.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #12 on: October 04, 2008, 10:47:09 PM »

Offline Steve Weinman

  • Author / Moderator
  • Jim Loscutoff
  • **
  • Posts: 2766
  • Tommy Points: 33
  • My alter ego
So we have had a lot of discussions on movies and music lately, and I was wondering about books?  I am currently looking for a new one to read and wanted to see if there were any suggestions or recommendations anyone had to offer.

The most recent one that I finished was Geoffrey Robertson's "The Tyranncide Brief".  It's a non-fiction that centers around the lesser known John Cooke and his role in bringing Charles I to trial.   


Nice topic, Scott - if you're into fiction, I'd highly recommend checking out Harlan Coben.  His thrillers are hands-down the best I've ever read.  Dynamic characters, fast-moving action, unbelievable action.  Grisham's legal fiction (and he wrote The Innocent Man over the last few years, his first non-fiction book, I think) and Brad Meltzer's thrillers are up there too, albeit a half-step below.

Also, if you check back in the archives, you may find that we had a books discussion earlier in the summer that might have some more recs for you - but if I recall, it was more narrowly tailored toward basketball books.  Not sure if it was prior to the last time the archives were cleaned out, but it might be worth a look if you're interested.

-sw

Kudos for mentioning Coben. Stand alones are great and I'm sure most here would love the Myron Bolitar series.

Couldn't agree more on both counts, Rebus.  I've read and loved everything by him so far, but the Bolitar books are something else.  Win might well be my favorite character in all of literature.  And the wittiness of the narration is really a treat.  Glad to find a fellow fan.

-sw


Reggies Ghost: Where artistic genius happens.  Thank you, sir.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #13 on: October 04, 2008, 11:15:04 PM »

Offline guava_wrench

  • Satch Sanders
  • *********
  • Posts: 9931
  • Tommy Points: 777
My favorite fiction is "God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy.

I mostly read non-fiction. I recommend "Phantoms in the Brain" for anyone who is interested in the brain.

Re: Recommended Books?
« Reply #14 on: October 04, 2008, 11:26:13 PM »

Offline mkogav

  • Jim Loscutoff
  • **
  • Posts: 2868
  • Tommy Points: 537

 since you said you're into historical non-fiction,  over the summer i read "inside the imperial city" or "inside the emerald city" about the occupation of baghdad. i forget the author's name, and i thought it was a bit repetitive, but a really interesting and apparently true account.

i've also heard jon krakeur's non fiction stuff is really good, although i haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Both 'Into Thin Air' and 'Into The Wild' were very very good.

'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy is amazing, although dark and horrible beautiful at the same time.

Mk

Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life - Edvard Munch


DKC Knicks