WRX book review thread

[thug the bunny]

Since I'm not working I have lots of time on my hands and because I have to watch my budget, I can't spend all of it playing golf :-( . I used to be a pretty voracious reader, and I don't know why it took this long to occur to me to start reading again. So I'm hitting up my county and university libraries and thought the 19th hole would be a perfect place to exchange book reviews. Fiction, biographical, historical, post anything that is good. Include a little synopsis and review. I would much rather read the thoughts of fellow WRXers than the snobby opinions of the Times critics!

 

I am starting off with Issac Asimov's Foundation series (5 novels). It is an epic sprawling story of the Galactic Empire circa year 25000 and for another 2000 years following involving a key planet called Foundation, and also a desperate search for the mythical origins of humanity on a planet called Earth.

 

I read it a couple times a long time ago and remember it being very good. I forgot how good. First of all, Asimov was a PhD chemist and he actually pegged a good number of present day technologies even though he wrote starting in the '40s. He is a great master of the English language (although he was born in Russia), and very good at character development and interplay, and imbues the plot(s) with great drama and suspense. All of the Star Wars and Star Trek stories are total nonsense compared to the depth and thought that Asimov put into these works. I'm very surprised no one has made movies out of this series.

 

Thug's rating: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes: :yes:

[MtlJeff]

I have a pretty diverse taste in books but i never read fiction.

 

I've read most of the books by the freakonomics guys. Have read all of Gladwell's though i wouldn't say i'm a major fan. I love reading Chuck Klosterman for his social commentary. I've read a lot about the universe and history of the planet (A brief history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson is great, actually Bryson is great overall). I've read The Grand Design and A brief history of time from Hawking. I've read some Richard Dawkins but his writing style can really drain you.

 

I recently read The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness by Taleb. I hoped fooled by Randomness would be better. But i felt like Taleb spends a lot of the book trying to show that he's smarter than everyone.

 

There's a bunch others, i'll have to go check my shelf. I try to read something every time i fly

[thug the bunny]

I have a pretty diverse taste in books but i never read fiction.

 

I've read most of the books by the freakonomics guys. Have read all of Gladwell's though i wouldn't say i'm a major fan. I love reading Chuck Klosterman for his social commentary. I've read a lot about the universe and history of the planet (A brief history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson is great, actually Bryson is great overall). I've read The Grand Design and A brief history of time from Hawking. I've read some Richard Dawkins but his writing style can really drain you.

 

I recently read The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness by Taleb. I hoped fooled by Randomness would be better. But i felt like Taleb spends a lot of the book trying to show that he's smarter than everyone.

 

There's a bunch others, i'll have to go check my shelf. I try to read something every time i fly

 

Thanks MJ, I will put Bryson and Klosterman on my list.

[MtlJeff]

Klosterman's books are a collection of essays he's written. They are mostly commentaries on pop culture and other aspects of our society, kind of reflecting on the meanings of everything....his writing is incredibly unique and does make you think about things. I have read "eating the dinosaur", Sex, drugs and Cocoa Puffs", "But what if we're wrong" and "I wear the black hat"....they are all very interesting. The last 2 are the best, focusing on things we could likely be wrong about as a society, and villainy , respectively.

 

Bryson is a very engaging writer. He takes a topic and then spins it into 6-7 different tangents usually all pretty informative. "A brief history of nearly everything" talks about the history of the universe and planet in layman's terms, i think everyone should read it. "A walk in the woods" is a very fun book about him walking the Appalachian trail and going off on several tangents about America. "At home" talks about all the rooms in the house and their historical relevance mostly to Elizabethan England. "One Summer" is also very interesting as it talks about the year 1927 and all the very important things that happened in America that year (Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh etc)

 

They are fun reads

[thug the bunny]

Klosterman's books are a collection of essays he's written. They are mostly commentaries on pop culture and other aspects of our society, kind of reflecting on the meanings of everything....his writing is incredibly unique and does make you think about things. I have read "eating the dinosaur", Sex, drugs and Cocoa Puffs", "But what if we're wrong" and "I wear the black hat"....they are all very interesting. The last 2 are the best, focusing on things we could likely be wrong about as a society, and villainy , respectively.

 

Bryson is a very engaging writer. He takes a topic and then spins it into 6-7 different tangents usually all pretty informative. "A brief history of nearly everything" talks about the history of the universe and planet in layman's terms, i think everyone should read it. "A walk in the woods" is a very fun book about him walking the Appalachian trail and going off on several tangents about America. "At home" talks about all the rooms in the house and their historical relevance mostly to Elizabethan England. "One Summer" is also very interesting as it talks about the year 1927 and all the very important things that happened in America that year (Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh etc)

 

They are fun reads

 

Kind of stuff I was fishing for. Brain food!

[TheCityGame]

Just finished a great memoir recommended by another WRXer called "Barbarian Days : A Surfing Life". Guy basically travels the world surfing waves in the 60's/70's. Really gets into "meaning of life" stuff and I definitely made a lot of mental links of his surfing to golfing.

 

Since you're into sci-fi a bit, I'd recommend the Annilihation/Authority/Acceptance trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer. Annihilation is what the movie that came out this year was based on, but they're pretty different, thematically and plot wise.

 

If you're into the Freakonomics guys, you might check out "Gang Leader for a Day", a book by a Univ of Chicago economist who basically hangs out with crack dealing gangs to study that culture.

 

Also a big fan of Klosterman. I've read all his stuff.

[bscinstnct]

I take the subway everyday so I'll read a book every few weeks then I usually read a different book before bed.

 

Read all kinds of fiction. I like murder, dystopian/sci fi, action. Here are a few with some nice style that stand out for me...

 

 

1. This is cool. It's a trilogy about a German Private Investigator in Pre and then Post Nazi Germany.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236814.Berlin_Noir

 

Now published in one paperback volume, these three mysteries are exciting and insightful looks at life inside Nazi Germany -- richer and more readable than most histories of the period. We first meet ex-policeman Bernie Gunther in 1936, in March Violets (a term of derision which original Nazis used to describe late converts.) The Olympic Games are about to start; some of Bernie's Jewish friends are beginning to realize that they should have left while they could; and Gunther himself has been hired to look into two murders that reach high into the Nazi Party. In The Pale Criminal, it's 1938, and Gunther has been blackmailed into rejoining the police by Heydrich himself. And in A German Requiem, the saddest and most disturbing of the three books, it's 1947 as Gunther stumbles across a nightmare landscape that conceals even more death than he imagines.

 

2. Helen Grace, Detective in England. Murders, can be a bit risque, but good stuff. Read like the first 4 so far, here is a description of the first.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/138119-helen-grace

 

The "dark, twisted, thought-provoking" (#1 New York Times bestseller Tami Hoag) international bestseller—first in the new series featuring Detective Helen Grace.

 

Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.

 

It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.

 

Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense...

 

3. Red Rising trilogy, very popular now, dystopinan, Hunger Games type, but more sci fi/interplanetary, very good. Not posting a summary, too much of a spoiler

 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/117100-red-rising-saga

 

4. Hyperion, series of 4, good sci fi

 

https://www.goodreads.com/series/40461

 

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope—and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

 

A stunning tour de force filled with transcendent awe and wonder, Hyperion is a masterwork of science fiction that resonates with excitement and invention, the first volume in a remarkable new science fiction epic by the multiple-award-winning author of The Hollow Man

 

 

Otherwise, The Ender's Game books are great and I currently am reading a Jack Reacher book "The Hard Way", really good.

[thug the bunny]

Klosterman's books are a collection of essays he's written. They are mostly commentaries on pop culture and other aspects of our society, kind of reflecting on the meanings of everything....his writing is incredibly unique and does make you think about things. I have read "eating the dinosaur", Sex, drugs and Cocoa Puffs", "But what if we're wrong" and "I wear the black hat"....they are all very interesting. The last 2 are the best, focusing on things we could likely be wrong about as a society, and villainy , respectively.

 

Bryson is a very engaging writer. He takes a topic and then spins it into 6-7 different tangents usually all pretty informative. "A brief history of nearly everything" talks about the history of the universe and planet in layman's terms, i think everyone should read it. "A walk in the woods" is a very fun book about him walking the Appalachian trail and going off on several tangents about America. "At home" talks about all the rooms in the house and their historical relevance mostly to Elizabethan England. "One Summer" is also very interesting as it talks about the year 1927 and all the very important things that happened in America that year (Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh etc)

 

They are fun reads

 

I just finished Klosterman's "But what if we're wrong". The guy is definitely intelligent, articulate, and he researches everything thoroughly. Very dense read though, and I felt I could have presented his thoughts in half the amount of words. Plus the idea that we could be wrong about all kinds of things about which we are presently very certain is actually an old one that is constantly raised in many fields of endeavor (science especially). I guess I'm not sure I'm into the 'observational, here's my point of view' commentary kind of stuff. I always felt there is enough of that already since the advent of the internet (but not here on WRX ;-). I've always said that these days everyone thinks that everyone else wants to hear their opinions. Nah, not really.

 

I am going to give "A brief history..." by Bryson a run next.

[highergr0und]

Just finished Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. Pretty interesting if you want to see how Nike came to be. It's funny to see how starting a business in the 60s is so different than today. It's a really quick read as he kind of just fires through things, not a lot of reflection or thought needed, just the story. I'd give it a solid B+

[Qqq123xx]

Klosterman's books are a collection of essays he's written. They are mostly commentaries on pop culture and other aspects of our society, kind of reflecting on the meanings of everything....his writing is incredibly unique and does make you think about things. I have read "eating the dinosaur", Sex, drugs and Cocoa Puffs", "But what if we're wrong" and "I wear the black hat"....they are all very interesting. The last 2 are the best, focusing on things we could likely be wrong about as a society, and villainy , respectively.

 

Bryson is a very engaging writer. He takes a topic and then spins it into 6-7 different tangents usually all pretty informative. "A brief history of nearly everything" talks about the history of the universe and planet in layman's terms, i think everyone should read it. "A walk in the woods" is a very fun book about him walking the Appalachian trail and going off on several tangents about America. "At home" talks about all the rooms in the house and their historical relevance mostly to Elizabethan England. "One Summer" is also very interesting as it talks about the year 1927 and all the very important things that happened in America that year (Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh etc)

 

They are fun reads

I read "A walk in the woods" also and agree it was a great book.

[KAndyMan]

Im an audible nut! Have about 100 books in my “library” on audible. I purposely disable the radios in my cars when i get new ones bc of it. I never do any fiction books and my top 5 are

1. Win friends, influence people- Carnagie

2. 7 habits of highly effective people- Covey

3. Influence- Cialdini

4. Never split the difference- Voss

5. The whole Go-Giver series- Burg & Mahn

(All timeless useable info in those 5)

Honorable mention:

Wins, Losses and Lessons- Lou Holts (and im a MSU “kid)

Anything by Mike Michalowicz

Rich dad, poor dad- Kiyosaki

80/20 rule-Koch

 

Pretty much anything GOOD thats business related. Not sure why but 80% of my time is spent reading/learning anything business. Ive been told im not normal and overly obsessed learning people/business stuff many times though. Heck ive bought college text books on the subjects for fun. Though i hate to say it they really dont have a ton of real world useable new info.

 

Lots of good stuff on some podcasts, ted talks and couple youtube channels too....

[cmckelvmi]

I went through a phase where I really enjoyed reading about our Navy Seal heroes.

 

Fearless - by Eric Blehm about Adam Brown. An amazing story and I am thoroughly confused why this hasn't been made into a movie yet.

The Trident - by Jason Redman.

The Red Circle - by Brandon Webb.

American Sniper - Chris Kyle.

The Life and Legend of Chris Kyle - Michael Mooney.

Lone Survivor - Marcus Luttrell.

Service- A Navy Seal at War - Marcus Luttrell.

 

All good reads and really drives home my appreciation for our service men and women.

 

I am thinking about picking up Liars, Leakers, and Liberals - by Judge Jeanine Pirro.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Someone just gave me a copy of Krakauers "Into Thin Air" the story behind the 96 Everest debacle have not started it yet but look forward to it. Also was given a copy of " A Walk in the Woods" by another outdoorsman. I will probably bring that one with my on the Arizona trail and read it while in camp.

 

 

For fiction I have always been a fan of the Clancy's novels Especially once John Clark was introduced. Stephen Hunter "Shooter" series was a really enjoyable read as well Bob Lee Swagger a great developed character hate how bad the movie and tv series strayed from the original storylines.

[MtlJeff]

Someone just gave me a copy of Krakauers "Into Thin Air" the story behind the 96 Everest debacle have not started it yet but look forward to it. Also was given a copy of " A Walk in the Woods" by another outdoorsman. I will probably bring that one with my on the Arizona trail and read it while in camp.

 

 

For fiction I have always been a fan of the Clancy's novels Especially once John Clark was introduced. Stephen Hunter "Shooter" series was a really enjoyable read as well Bob Lee Swagger a great developed character hate how bad the movie and tv series strayed from the original storylines.

 

Into thin air is good and I enjoyed it. Krakauer has a bad rep in some circles, though I felt the book was good. He and Anatoli Boukreev had beef after this was published

 

The film "Everest" was pretty well done too

[Petethreeput]

For a while there I read a bunch of books I thought were interesting, mostly based on social issues.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

Profit over People by Chomsky (I think that’s the name of the book)

Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol

A People’s History by Howard Zinn

Sand Creek Massacre by Hoeg (sp?)

Lastly, Bowling Alone by Putnam

 

On planes I read Jack Reacher so I can snooze and not feel like I am lost when I wake up.

 

These may be of interest, like I said they tend to run pretty liberal.

[thug the bunny]

Just finishing up Bryson's 'A brief history of everything'. It's actually not brief, and it's really a history of the personalities and all the scientific endeavor that went into determining the history and science of the earth and the universe in which we reside. Another very dense read, especially as I already know almost all of the concepts and discoveries that he covered, although not down to the level of detail of who Max Planck's sister married. Didn't really need to know that stuff. I'm not really enjoying this non-fiction informative/commentary stuff (sorry MJ!) so far. Maybe it's because I have been a science and data dork since birth and find reading another 20 pages on the particle/wave duality of light with a bunch of background on Planck and his interactions with Einstein's cats and what time each of them ate lunch to be a bit tedious.

 

Gonna go back to fiction next. I got a tip that 'The brief wondrous lfe of Oscar Wao' is a good read.

[MtlJeff]

Just finishing up Bryson's 'A brief history of everything'. It's actually not brief, and it's really a history of the personalities and all the scientific endeavor that went into determining the history and science of the earth and the universe in which we reside. Another very dense read, especially as I already know almost all of the concepts and discoveries that he covered, although not down to the level of detail of who Max Planck's sister married. Didn't really need to know that stuff. I'm not really enjoying this non-fiction informative/commentary stuff (sorry MJ!) so far. Maybe it's because I have been a science and data dork since birth and find reading another 20 pages on the particle/wave duality of light with a bunch of background on Planck and his interactions with Einstein's cats and what time each of them ate lunch to be a bit tedious.

 

Gonna go back to fiction next. I got a tip that 'The brief wondrous lfe of Oscar Wao' is a good read.

 

It's all good, if you already know most of it I totally get where you're coming from

 

For me it was the first book I read before I got into it. I read Hawkins books and stuff long after

 

It's a good introduction to it. But if you are already knowledgeable I totally get it

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Someone just gave me a copy of Krakauers "Into Thin Air" the story behind the 96 Everest debacle have not started it yet but look forward to it. Also was given a copy of " A Walk in the Woods" by another outdoorsman. I will probably bring that one with my on the Arizona trail and read it while in camp.

 

 

For fiction I have always been a fan of the Clancy's novels Especially once John Clark was introduced. Stephen Hunter "Shooter" series was a really enjoyable read as well Bob Lee Swagger a great developed character hate how bad the movie and tv series strayed from the original storylines.

 

Into thin air is good and I enjoyed it. Krakauer has a bad rep in some circles, though I felt the book was good. He and Anatoli Boukreev had beef after this was published

 

The film "Everest" was pretty well done too

 

Seen the movie a few times and have a brief understanding of the story from different sides. Kinda strikes me loosely as a new school vs old school take old school being help your fellow climber any way possible vs new school i paid a ton of money to summit so F everyone else. Ironically Krakauer being the new climber had more of an old school take.

 

This all came back around in 06 or 07 when multiple guided teams left someone up there to die passing the fallen climber still alive both on the way up and down.

[RobNY22]

A Mencken Chrestomathy by HL Mencken. His depictions of society still ring true 100 years later. He I€™s funny too, which is always a plus.

 

I read Vulture€™s Picnic by Greg Palast recently which was frightening.

 

 

[Edaw68]

This is probably way opposite from most books mentioned in the thread, but A Complete History of The Far Side. Great look at Gary Larson's creative process, how he got into comics, very interesting. If you remember The Far Side and liked it this is great.

 

Regarding the military history one (especially the earlier mentions of books about SEALs) try Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre. About the founding of the SAS and stuff in WW2. Kinda crazy how much modern special operations units owe their existence to brassy a** luck and chutzpah.

 

For more of a niche genre, try The Witcher series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski. Fantasy novels, if you like that kinda thing.

 

Tom Clancy was mentioned, second that. But don't bother with anything published after The Bear and the Dragon.