What books are you planning on reading over the summer? Or maybe what was the last good book you read? I need some ideas. Favorite authors? Could be fiction, non-fiction, sports, mysteries, biographies or whatever.
What books are you planning on reading over the summer? Or maybe what was the last good book you read? I need some ideas. Favorite authors? Could be fiction, non-fiction, sports, mysteries, biographies or whatever.
Comments
This topic made me realize that I don't read nearly enough. I used to love to sit down and read books. One thing I found out was that if I really enjoyed a book I would read it again as I always found things in it the second time that I originally missed. I read "The Godfather" eight times.
I've never been one who appreciates science fiction or fantasy. In college we were assigned to read Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings". I hated it and I think it wasn't so much the work itself as the idea it was not a "pleasure read", but an assignment due at a certain time with an examination at the end. It ruined it for me. I know my lack of appreciation for his works comes from that and I am wrong in my opinion as many of my friends love them.
For me, well, give me a biography or something to do with sports or history and I'm all in.
I'm glad others enjoy these various works listed above as that make us all a little different from each other. What a boring world we would live in if we all had the same tastes.
Alan--Just making a suggestion, my friend. You could have more time to read if you didn't write your own books. Ha Ha! Sorry but you left the door WIDE open. Bisides I was bored a little bit.
No offense taken, Dschebig. You are probably correct!
Hey Alan- I agree with what you said about having to read a book for an assignment rather than on your own. I had to read "Catcher in the Rye" in high school, and then my class spent probably three months discussing and dissecting the book almost page by page. Needless to say I hated it. I wonder what I would think of it now if I tried to read it again, but I just can't bring myself to do it!
One of the best books I ever read and one that I recommended to RunningKomet some time ago was Jim Bouton's "Ball Four". It was his diary of the 1969 baseball season spanning his time with the expansion Seattle Pilots ( now the Milwaukee Brewers ) and later, (after he was traded in the middle of the season ), with the Houston Astros.
It was very controversial for the time as he also recollected his time with the New York Yankees, told stories about some of the greatest players of that time, and found himself being ostracized by baseball.
Today it would be considered mild. For a baseball fan it still would be great reading.
My parents are, for the most part, strickly biography/true story people. But all my brothers loved "Lord of the Rings". It was funny because the only reason I got into Tolkein (and fantasy) was because of a quarrel I had with our school library. I had given one of my teachers a book that was supposed to be returned, but for some reason the library never got it. The first I heard about it was months later when I was notified that I owed them a bunch of money. I explained things and it got straightened out, but after that, I didn't use the school library. In my senior year, when I had to pick a book from a list of classics to do a book report, I picked "The Hobbit" because I knew we had it at home. I found it to be silly, fanciful fluff. But about halfway through, the heroes are facing certain doom (yet again). Suddenly the Lord of the Eagles shows up and saves their sorry tushes, and I realized something. In fantasy, anything is possible. The only limit is the author's imagination. How cool is that? It also allows the writer, under the veil of "fantasy", to explore moral issues without pointing fingers. The best fantasy always has a moral message. That's why I love it. :)
Alan--Ball Four was or is a great book. You are correct about it being mild by todays standards.
Wendy- Your parents would enjoy "Boots on the Ground" and/or "Dawn over Baghdad" both by Karl Zinsmeister. He was a imbedded reporter with the 82nd. Airborn during the Gulf War. Great reading and very factual. I enjoyed both very much. Another very good "True Story" is "Let's Roll" the Todd Beamer Story. He was on the flight 9/11 that crashed in PA.
I just thought of another great book I read. It was Leo Durocher's "Nice Guys Finish Last".
What a fascinating book if you have any interest in baseball and its history.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Leo Durocher. Leo Durocher spent his entire life in baseball. He was a member of the Yankees in the twenties whose teammates included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He was the shortstop/ manager on the St. Louis Cardinals famous "Gas House Gang".
He managed the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Giants (was manager and third base coach when Bobby Thompson hit "the shot heard 'round the world"), was third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was manager of the 1969 Chicago Cubs when they blew their large lead at the end of the season ( sorry, Dschebig), and was also manager of the Houston Astros.
It is a great book for those who love baseball as his career spanned many eras and he had a lot of stories to tell.
Alan-Leo Durocher may hold the record for being ejected for a game. I think it was 18 or 19 times. He was not only a great manager but had a great baseball mind.
Pretty sure that Bobby Cox has him beat in the ejection category...lol Bobby loves sticking up for his players...
JR- You could be right. It has been a long time since I checked that out. Earl Weaver was pretty good at that also.
Dschebig- I think it was Earl Weaver that Bobby Cox passed last season or the one before... I will have to try and look that up...
JR--I surrender! My baseball triva sucks and I admit it. I am interested in who is #1 however! Thanks!
I'm not any better! I'm just a Braves fan and remember he broke the record.
What I could find was this... Bobby Cox tied the ejection record formally held by Tug McGraw on June 23, 2007 with his 131st ejection... I cant find what it stands at today...
Should be John McGraw
Another aspect of "Nice Guys Finish Last" was Durochers marriage to Lorraine Day. Now she was way before my time but she was a famous Hollywood actress and he recounts parts of his marraige and the fact that they rubbed shoulders with the likes of Frank Sinatra and other celebrities. The book has a particularly interesting story regarding baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and a showdown with Lorraine Day regarding Durochers alledged involvement with known gamblers. Baseball Commissioners ruled with iron fists back then and weren't used to not getting their way. Lorraine Day put him in his place and the "witchhunt" against Durocher ended there and then.
I posted this to show everyone that Durocher really had a full, interesting life beyond the baseball part. Good reading for everyone.
BILLY MARTIN !!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds interesting. Thanks for the suggestions Dennis. I don't think my parents have read many books related to modern global conflicts, but one of my housemates eats that stuff up. He's got a bookcase full of books with titles like "The Eve of Destruction", "Iron Bravo", "The Terrible Hours", "The Next War" (Next? Aren't all the ones we'd had enough?). But I know infinitely more about warfare than I did before because of him.
mightbite, read "The Bronx Zoo". Great book.