John_Brian_K Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 So we had a thread like this in the old forum (RIP) and I wanted to bring it back to get some recommendations. I feel like I am in a rut. I have started and almost finished about 3-4 different books the past few months and get soooo bored with them because the outcomes seem so obvious or the characters are just so poorly written I do not care what happens to them. I have literally stopped listening with only an hour or so left in a couple books because I just did not care what happened to the characters. I did that with the Traveler series, New York 2140, 2312 & Awaken Online. I end up going back to a story I know I love and just re-listening to it. According to Audible I have 275 hours of listening so far this year and I would say at least half of that is listening to something I already read at least once before. Currently re-listening to the Stand for at least the 5th time. I like good character driven stories. Maybe someone can give me a recommendation that will open my eyes to a whole new author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djhutch Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 Just started "The Girl on the Train" at the suggestion of my wife, who just finished it. I'm also getting ready to dig into Jim Elliot's biography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cowan Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 I am halfway through "A Legacy of Spies", having finished "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" a couple of days ago. They are both John LeCarre, written 50 years apart, about the same "failed" operation in East Germany in 1961. I've read them both before, but long enough ago to enjoy them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 27 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said: I am halfway through "A Legacy of Spies", having finished "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" a couple of days ago. They are both John LeCarre, written 50 years apart, about the same "failed" operation in East Germany in 1961. I've read them both before, but long enough ago to enjoy them again. LeCarre was pleased enough to have been catapulted to literary stardom by TSTCIFTC, but with the heroic Richard Burton movie and all, in the end he was not pleased that his cynicism about the spy world was being lost, so his next novel was a total downer called "the Looking Glass War." Needless to say 60's Hollywood was less interested! Of course the Brits did their own completely forgettable film which wasted a rather promising cast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMRivdogs Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 (edited) Working my way through LeCarre’s A Delicate Truth. LeCarre’s outrage over corporations taking over the intelligence gathering of nations is coming thru here. Has anyone gotten into the Gabriel Allon series of “spy novels” written by Daniel Silva. They’ve become a yearly treat since they come out near my birthday… Edited October 28, 2021 by CMRivdogs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cowan Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 1 hour ago, CMRivdogs said: Working my way through LeCarre’s A Delicate Truth. LeCarre’s outrage over corporations taking over the intelligence gathering of nations is coming thru here. Has anyone gotten into the Gabriel Allon series of “spy novels” written by Daniel Silva. They’ve become a yearly treat since they come out near my birthday… I'm not familiar with Gabriel Allon...sounds worth looking into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMRivdogs Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 (edited) I tend to read a lot of stuff from authors I stumble upon by accident. I spent a lot of time reading Mary Doria Russell. A friend recommended The Sparrow. The local library’s copy was not available so I picked up Doc, a historical novel based on Doc Holiday and the events around the OK Corral. That lead to Epitaph, Wyatt Earp following the Tombstone shootout, another well researched novel. My favorite Russell novel is A Thread of Grace. It’s centered around WWII Jewish refugees and the Italian Resistance Movement. The novel is based upon account of survivors. I finally found The Sparrow, it was probably better that I read the others first. The novel is quite thought provoking. One final recommendation from Ms Russell, Women of Copper Country. It’s based on the Copper Country Strikes of 1913-14 in the UP. A good look at the Labor Movement and the mine operations. Edited October 29, 2021 by CMRivdogs 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 I’m into history and current events of a non political bent. I read Mercury Rising about Glenn’s flight. I had read almost everything on Mercury at that point and still learned some things. Now I am reading about Apollo 8 which really saved the moon program and technically represented our first adventure to the moon. A very ambitious flight at the time considering the state of the program and timing with regard to kennedys deadline. They leapfrogged several objectives and used a rocket that had not yet been successful. What’s amazing about the famous earth rise photo is when you consider that the photo of earth represents some remnant of every human that ever existed, even if a speck of dust, except for the 3 men behind the camera who are in lunar orbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 https://www.motownforums.com/ Duh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted October 29, 2021 Share Posted October 29, 2021 I like cultural and sociological topics, so I am re-reading Colin Woodard’s American Nations; and a book about the lives of ordinary people in North Korea entitled Nothing to Envy. I am also awaiting two books from my library I have on hold: The Generation Myth by Bobby Duffy, and Highly Irregular, a book about the oddities of the English Language, by Akira Okrent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 I have been reading all of William Kent Krueger's books this year. His Cork O'Conner series is great. Mystery thrillers where you really care about the characters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Brian_K Posted November 11, 2021 Author Share Posted November 11, 2021 I am still not ready to start in on the historical/cultural stuff. I enjoy my reading as a means of escape not for further education, but I know a day will come where I will get caught up in them. I have tried maybe a dozen or so over the years and finished some, but for the most part I never finish them and go back to something more for entertainment. Those Cork O'Conner books sound interesting...there are soo many of them. I think I will give the first one a try and see if it catches me. Thanks for the recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 I read some baseball history, but I also have a difficult time finishing other historical/cultural reading. Good fiction authors often educate you on culture and history though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.TaterSalad Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 I'm reading nothing exciting, just about the state of Working Class America from the Economic Policy Institute think tank. https://www.epi.org/research/state-of-working-america/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 Just started this today. As far as I can find, it's the only book devoted to this topic. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 That looks really good. I just went on Amazon and grabbed myself a copy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 I’m too cheap to do that. I just got it from the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Brian_K Posted November 19, 2021 Author Share Posted November 19, 2021 On 10/28/2021 at 3:11 PM, John_Brian_K said: So we had a thread like this in the old forum (RIP) and I wanted to bring it back to get some recommendations. I feel like I am in a rut. I have started and almost finished about 3-4 different books the past few months and get soooo bored with them because the outcomes seem so obvious or the characters are just so poorly written I do not care what happens to them. I have literally stopped listening with only an hour or so left in a couple books because I just did not care what happened to the characters. I did that with the Traveler series, New York 2140, 2312 & Awaken Online. I end up going back to a story I know I love and just re-listening to it. According to Audible I have 275 hours of listening so far this year and I would say at least half of that is listening to something I already read at least once before. Currently re-listening to the Stand for at least the 5th time. I like good character driven stories. Maybe someone can give me a recommendation that will open my eyes to a whole new author. Almost an hour and a half a day average listening and still not done...this is the unabridged version that is like 1200 pages. I can see the end in sight though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apabruce Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 Book Notes? I started this thread in the old forum, and named it in honor of the old Brian Lamb interview program. I wasn't sure it would catch on, hence the question marks. What are you Reading? is a more descriptive title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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