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Post by Crowfan on Oct 19, 2014 15:25:28 GMT -5
Boy On Ice: The Life And Death Of Derek Boogaard by John Branch. I can't put this book down. About halfway through it in one day. This is the story of Derek Boogaard, a young man from Canada who made his way to the NHL by being what's called an enforcer, or sometimes for the older crowd, a goon. After years of playing in minor league hockey, Boogaard got his chance with the Minnesota Wild. He goes to the New York Rangers later in his career. By age 28, he's died. This story brought new light on the damage that concussions can cause; Boogaard was found to have CTE, brain damage caused by getting hit a lot. Football players have this too.
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Post by nondescript spice on Oct 20, 2014 15:33:47 GMT -5
i'm not into sports much, but i have seen that in the news recently. that seems like a problem that is happening in reverse - getting concussions from getting hit a lot in sports should have been the problem back in the '20's and '30's or something - not now. i would have thought helmets would be made of titanium by now.
just got my copy of book 3 in the century trilogy from ken follett, edge of eternity. 1,098 pages. i'm just in the first few pages, but i know i'm going to love this book like i did the other two - hell, like i have with every book by follett. it will probably take me to the end of the year to finish this mama jama.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Oct 22, 2014 17:32:47 GMT -5
The Book of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe
Just a sweet tetrology about how Patera Silk saves the Whorl. I loved it when it first came out & I read through each release ravenously. This is the first time I've revisited the story since then. How do I feel about it now? Pretty much the same.
I love Wolfe's way with characterization. He even gives my favorite 'character' Oreb the night chough bird a personality all it's own. "Silk Good." "No cut!" "Bad man!" I want that bird as a pet.
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Post by Crowfan on Oct 24, 2014 18:53:41 GMT -5
Here's The Story by Maureen McCormick. Marcia Brady tells the story of her life. She talks about fighting drug and alcohol addiction and battling weight issues. Basically, she's learned that she's not perfect, and that's okay. Very interesting, and an interesting glimpse into what happens when child stars are no longer on TV. The list of those with problems is far longer than those who are able to adapt, IMO.
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Post by reaperg on Oct 26, 2014 12:43:47 GMT -5
I recently finished "Who I Am" by Pete Townsend.
While Keith Richards raised the rock autobiography to an impossibly high standard, I feel Townsend did a better job of describing his creative process, i.e. the evolution of "Tommy". And he was up front about his insecurities and imperfections. Not enough Keith Moon stories, but then there never are.
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Post by Crowfan on Oct 31, 2014 18:17:13 GMT -5
Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker. This story starts with the end of the First World War and leads up to the Second World War and the Holocaust. The book takes diary entries, quotes from memoirs, newspaper and magazine articles,and radio speeches to show how people in power thought and how many leaders were so afraid of communism that they encouraged support for Hitler and Mussolini, simply because they were anti-communist. Very interesting read.
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Post by Crowfan on Nov 17, 2014 19:02:25 GMT -5
The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff
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Post by nondescript spice on Nov 30, 2014 22:32:19 GMT -5
edge of eternity - book 3 of the ken follett triolgy
i started this big ass book the last couple of weeks of october and just finished it tonight. 1,098 pages. as i said above, the first two books were about families scattered around america and europe, dealing with WWI and WWII. great reads for anyone into history - and even if you aren't, follett has an amazing way of bringing his characters to life and weaving them in with actual events.
i started off really getting into EOE, but it didn't hold. it was very disappointing, as i have enjoyed every follett book i've ever read. maybe there was just too much going on - in the first two books, it was about either WWI or WWII - both massive topics, but in the third book, there was the civil rights movement, the cuban missile crisis, the berlin wall, the eventual fall of communism, vietnam, watergate, assassinations, etc. i was into it up until bobby kennedy's assassination, but after that it started getting too convoluted for me. i did like most of the characters - george jakes being my favorite - a black lawyer who worked for both jfk and bobby kennedy during the civil rights movement. but once the story hit watergate, i was losing interest.
i'm supposed to take the book with me when i see my parents for christmas in a few weeks so they can read it - they have read both the first 2 books as well, but i have a feeling my dad, being as conservative as he is, will not like it too much.
still, two out of three ain't bad.
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Post by Crowfan on Dec 3, 2014 16:03:43 GMT -5
Area 51: An Uncensored History Of America's Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen. A very interesting read so far, even though I'm only about 100 pages in. Already learned about the U-2 project and more information on Project Paperclip, which was a secret US policy to bring Nazi scientists to this country to help us with our military projects and keep them away from the Soviets. Can't wait to read about the SR-71 and other programs too, which I'm sure will be in the book.
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Post by nondescript spice on Dec 12, 2014 13:28:28 GMT -5
the good earth by pearl s. buck
in my top 3 books of all time. it hasn't been that long since i've read it, but i am in between books at the moment, so i've started it again. since i just finished that behemoth follett book, i have that misplacement you sometimes feel after finishing a huge book out of a even huger trilogy. not sure where to go from here. since i'll be visiting my folks soon for the holiday, i'm hoping i'll get a few books they've recently read. we have similar tastes for the most part, so i might get to bring home a few new titles.
but in the meantime, the good earth will amaze me as it always does.
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Post by Crowfan on Dec 17, 2014 17:35:10 GMT -5
Made In America Chris Chelios with Kevin Allen. The story of Chris Chelios, one of the best American born hockey players ever. Started this today and have gotten half way through it. Chelli tells some great stories: college, pros, Olympics, etc. He also talks about his time in Chicago. If he did all the off the ice stuff today, it would be all over social media and he would probably have a much different reputation.
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Post by nondescript spice on Dec 19, 2014 17:47:55 GMT -5
just picked up colorless tsukuru tazaki and his years of pilgrimage from the library. i know no more than the reviews i read online, but they were excellent, so i'm looking forward to starting this one.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 6, 2015 22:30:39 GMT -5
...and i finished it tonight.
not sure what to say about it, though. haruki murakami wrote this, and i would be interested in looking into his other books. if anyone here has ever read any other titles, let me know your opinion of them.
this book is about a 30-ish japanese man named tsukuru tazaki. he is part of a very tight group of friends in high school that is made up of five people - three boys and two girls. they consider their group as a community of sorts - they have unwritten rules, like no romantic relationships within the group, they do everything together or not at all, etc. tsukuru is the first to leave the group for college and during a trip home, he finds out that the group wants nothing more to do with him. they give him no real explanation, just leave us alone, forever. tsukuru is understandably devastated, and so begins his pilgrimage. after nearly dying from the rejection, he eventually lives his solitary life without any passion or much interest in anything. but when he meets a woman he cares for and tells her about the mystery of his group of friends ditching him, she urges him to find out the reason after 16 years has passed, thinking he cannot move on with his life without resolving the matter.
tsukuru seeks out his former friends to find out what exactly it was he did that caused them to cut him off completely. along the way you learn of the years of loneliness he endured, the people that come and go in his life and the things he learns from them. it's not easy to pick up again and go on as if nothing has happened when someone just ditches you. it's not a fast paced book by any stretch, and the ending left me with more questions than answers. i'm not always a fan of that, but sometimes it's good to be left to put the pieces together yourself. very well written.
just started a book i got for christmas, charlie chaplin: a brief life, by peter ackroyd.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 21, 2015 13:26:59 GMT -5
finished the book on chaplin that i got for christmas. charlie chaplin - a brief life, by peter ackroyd. i HATED it.
i'll leave a more detailed review in my chaplin blog so i don't go off on a tangent here. but it was a very negative book with many, MANY mistakes. some pretty glaring. it was like this ackroyd guy just took his information from books he read before and had forgotten the details. i hate that it got so many good reviews on amazon (i haven't posted mine yet, but oh, i will), because anyone who loves cinema or might be interested in chaplin's career will get an awful introduction to it.
got several books for christmas i am looking forward to reading - the one i just started is a book i've always wanted to read, a tree grows in brooklyn. so far i'm loving it.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 28, 2015 22:57:11 GMT -5
finished a tree grows in brooklyn today. i am ashamed it took me this long before i obtained a copy to read. i loved it - i don't think i'll ever watch the movie. the book was way too satisfying to risk marring it with an imitation.
now i have a few books to choose from to begin next, ones i have brought home with me from florida, from my parents.
the signature of all things - by elizabeth gilbert the lace reader - by brunonia barry gone girl - by gillian flynn the heretic's daughter - by kathleen kent the goldfinch - donna tartt
i've read the goldfinch before, but i had to rush through it since it was on loan from the library. it won a pulitzer and part of me can understand, because some of it i thought was written so well. but i also found it heavy handed with descriptions and the pace moved a little slow. still, i'd like to give it another go sometime, now that i can take more time with it.
i actually think i might skip all of these for now and check out the lacuna from the library. someone recently recommended it to me; some historical fiction that involves diego rivera and frida kahlo, when they were concealing leon trotsky from soviet assasins.
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