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Post by susala on Jan 25, 2012 15:02:18 GMT -5
I want to modify my review of James Garner's autobiography. The last disc was pretty much all about car racing and the one I just finished was all about golf - stroke by stroke. Garner played golf almost every day he had off for fifty years but he says that his wife never complained of being a "golf widow". Somehow, I find that hard to believe. I know that I've pretty much been bored silly listening to all this sports chat but I hung in because he threw in a little gossip here and there. He admired Jack Lemmon who was a lousy but determined golfer and he loathes Bill Murray to the point where he thinks he should be barred from playing anywhere. He thinks that Murray's antics on the golf course are disrespectful
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Post by Coldwarrior on Jan 26, 2012 12:08:44 GMT -5
Finished "Colonial America" by Jerome R. Reich. This is probably the most expensive paper back book since the Guttenberg Bible but very informative. It you want to know why Americans think the way we do to this day and the reasons our founding fathers created our government as it is, the answers are here. Now I'm halfway through "Knocking on Heaven's Door" by Lisa Randall. The beginning chapters are rather tedious as it seems she repeats the theme of size and scale in particle physics and the scientific thought process which generally leads to more questions than answers. But now I'm into the nitty gritty part of the book which demands a rereading of almost every paragraph to comprehend and sometimes dispute. One of her observations of scale deals with the atom which if the atom were the size of our sun, the orbit of the electron would be the size of our universe. A hydrogen atom electron orbit would be 10 times larger. What this means is that all of the solid objects we experience is mostly empty space. That will come in handy when we are compressed by the gravity in a black hole so our cells can finally meet the neighbors next door. After I complete the book I'm planning on writing Ms.Randall a long paper of my own theory of physics which unifies both the universe and small particles so it makes sense. Physicists are sort of stuck in neutral on that right now. Hopefully she will read it and pass it around to her colleagues which might give them a different perspective when trying to answer some questions. On other hand she might get this sort of junk from mini-minds all the time and throw it away.
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Post by susala on Jan 26, 2012 12:56:59 GMT -5
"Colonial America" sounds intriguing but the Lisa Randall book, not so much. I' not a theoretical thinker. I'm glad that you're enjoying it though, CW.
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Post by Coldwarrior on Jan 26, 2012 14:15:05 GMT -5
Sus www.booknotes.org has video interviews of authors on non-fiction books that you can watch online. Most interviews are an hour long and explain why the author wrote the book and a great deal about the story. Of course, I just went there and discovered another book I want by Ted Gup called "The Book of Honor", The Covert Lives and Classified Deaths at the CIA". It always happens like this. These programs are shown on BookTV on C-Span on weekends. Don't go there. It's addictive.
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Post by susala on Jan 26, 2012 17:42:27 GMT -5
I used to watch Book TV all the time, CW. I really enjoyed the author interviews. I'm not sure why I stopped but it may have been when I got a DVR and Brian Lamb got some competition.
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Post by weltschmerz on Feb 22, 2012 23:21:00 GMT -5
Coldwarrior .... I remember reading "Drums Along the Mohawk" in high school, it's set in our back yard. I've done quite a bit of canoeing along the old Erie Canal .... and there are a number of hiking and biking trails in most towns along that historical trail. Pretty country, as is much of upstate NY, not what most people envision. If you feel like coming up this way again, I'll have to take you to the cottage, and you could do some more canoeing. Or kayaking. Or fishing.
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Post by starlight07 on May 6, 2012 16:00:32 GMT -5
It's hard to pin down on a favourite book since one can have many and especially if those books are written by one author.
Stephen King and Jane Austen have to be my favourite authors.
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Post by femme on May 7, 2012 16:23:31 GMT -5
The Bible is # 1 for me, of course...but next....
V.C. Andrews is awesome. All her series are great
I also love Stephen King and Dean Koontz...Can't think of all the name sof the books I've read by them but they were all great.
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Post by starlight07 on May 8, 2012 11:27:31 GMT -5
I'm surprised you don't like reading romance too, Femme.
I do love myself crime and romance. Medieval romance has to be the best.
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Post by femme on May 11, 2012 13:04:35 GMT -5
I used to read Danielle Steele books, back when I was younger. V.C. Andrews has some romance but real life issues, intertwined into the plot. I like that...Not just all rainbows and daisies...Just like the real world.
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bass
Not so new Crapster
The best is yet to come.
Posts: 187
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Post by bass on May 24, 2012 5:18:52 GMT -5
Hi all. I don't have much time any more to read novels and when I read it's mostly non-fiction. Interesting to read what other people enjoy. Dean Koontz and Stephen King oh yeah.
Ann Rice - I found The Mummy first then fell into The Witching Hour. That was a fabulous read and my first long trip to the US was to New Orleans and through Mississipi because of her terrific word paintings.
Ann Rule is my favourite NF crime writer. Small Sacrifices is one of the best crime books ever written IMO.
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Post by Royston Vasey on May 24, 2012 11:44:52 GMT -5
Hi Bass,
My wife enjoys Anne Rice's work, and I see that the authoress has reverted back to Catholicism. Apparently the R.C. Church was most appreciative of the way in which she depicted evil. Makes sense.
Go well.
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Post by dom on May 24, 2012 12:00:36 GMT -5
When Corporations rule the World by David Korten.
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bach
Not so new Crapster
%%Calm%%
Posts: 121
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Post by bach on Jun 5, 2012 20:28:08 GMT -5
Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Marguerita.
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind.
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jencin
New Crapster
learning to fly
Posts: 73
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Post by jencin on Jul 25, 2012 13:50:14 GMT -5
Stephen King's newest, 11/22/63:A Novel, is very good. Has anyone else read it?
Koontz has good and less so. Some of his books are much better written than others. My favorites - One Door Away From Heaven and From the Corner of His Eye. Both have very memorable villains.
Agreed, Ann Rule is the best for true crime.
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jencin
New Crapster
learning to fly
Posts: 73
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Post by jencin on Jul 25, 2012 13:58:09 GMT -5
Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Marguerita. Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind. How nice , The Master and Marguerita is one of my favorites, too. Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) is another .. also most everything Nelson DeMille has written, especially the John Corey series. Many more. Used to read a lot, but less now.
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Post by starlight07 on Aug 25, 2012 5:39:49 GMT -5
I'm gonna start reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. He's the best selling paranormal romance author and I want to experiment with that genre.
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jencin
New Crapster
learning to fly
Posts: 73
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Post by jencin on Sept 21, 2012 20:57:37 GMT -5
I'm thinking of reading the Steve Jobs Biography next. The new ken Follett is tempting but huge! Jobs' bio seems much more do-able without demanding a long term commitment. It isn't that I'm a slow reader but when I sit down for any length of time, it's usually at a computer.
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jencin
New Crapster
learning to fly
Posts: 73
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Post by jencin on Sept 29, 2012 18:52:06 GMT -5
Now, looking for more biographies.
Gregg Allman's, My Cross to Bear, is new and Pete Townshend has a new memoir, Who I Am, coming out October 8. I'd like to read both and, perhaps, give reviews. Perhaps tackle the shorter one (have to check and see which) first.
Has anyone read a biography you can recommend?
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Post by GooRoo on Jan 28, 2014 0:42:10 GMT -5
It seems I have developed a penchant for reopening a number of very old threads here. So here's another.
Most of my non-Bible reading is science fiction, and one of my favorite authors is (the sadly, deceased) Anne McCaffrey and the Pern series. The best of that series (IMHO) is "The White Dragon". She could set up scenarios where the reader (me, at least) would either end up in tears (of joy) or laughing out loud.
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