Some interesting stuff about growing up in Northern Ontario and his early days at the Canadian Broadcasting System, and the last bit was oddly touching.
Just comes across like a bland, slightly arrogant but very decent guy. And dare I say it, his last few chapters were touching.
In order to return to my usual cynical self, reading some Graham Greene:
Always forget about him when I'm looking for books. A great writer.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 5:15 pm
cruising through this:
I'm readingThe Wandering Hill, which is a historical fiction by Larry McMurtry and features carson as a character. I do love some Hampton Sides, too, so I am interested in your book as well.
Hold on, I'm trying to see if Jack London ever gets this fire built or not.
sancarlos wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 5:10 pm
I've been meaning to read Brighton Rock for a long time. And, the Chitlin' circuit one looks interesting, too.
It is. I think he dives a bit into the weeds at times, but just being able to pull a list of musicians to listen to is worth it.
and James Brown started out as a Little Richard impersonator of sorts..LR was so huge he was getting overbooked so James and the Flames would take dates when LR was double-booked, or travel didn't make sense. He would play the Little Richard tunes than end the show with Please, Please, Please (which is supposedly inspired by something Little Richard wrote on a napkin James had.
I’ve been greatly enjoying the Joe Abercrombie ‘First Law’ trilogy. GoT(ish), but good characters and legitimately non-predictable so far, which I’ve enjoyed.
I'll eventually read Ready Player Two. I read Ready Player One only because the movie was coming out. It was an ok book, but I can totally get the criticism it received.
Deacon King Kong is on Obama's list for 2020, amongst others.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
I finished the last book of the Dresden Files the day after Christmas. I ugly cried so hard at the last page when, on Christmas morning, the first line of that page is "I love you, Dad" to his dead Dad on Christmas morning. I held it in for like 5 minutes before a good 20-minute cry.
well this is gonna be someone's new signature - bronto
EdRomero wrote: ↑Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:34 pm
Heard an awesome interview with the author on NPR so reserved the book. Just a great read
I'm just finishing this...its great.
Thanks for the recommendation, boys. Just read (listened) to this and really enjoyed it. It's a unique story with some quirky characters and really paints a picture on the lives of the oddly connected characters. A fun read that really pulled me into their world.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
Giff wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:45 am
Pruitt, meant to thank you on the game the other night for the Brighton Rock mention. It was an outstanding book.
Greene just evokes setting so well.
Pinkie is such a nasty character.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Gets science-y but enjoying it 3/4 through. Really drives home how misunderstood and maligned Darwinian natural selection is. Also feeling like I never have to bother readingOrigin of Species as this is almost like an annotation of it.
Gets science-y but enjoying it 3/4 through. Really drives home how misunderstood and maligned Darwinian natural selection is. Also feeling like I never have to bother readingOrigin of Species as this is almost like an annotation of it.
I read that back when it came out. I loved it.
And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death.
Bill Browder's Red Notice. I've heard Browder on a number of podcasts, and it's a fascinating story. Browder was a fund manager who was one of the first to go into Russia after the fall of communism and invest in the newly privatized companies. He stood up to some oligarchs that tried to sabotage some of his holdings, and his accountant, Sergei Magnitsky, uncovered schemes by low level bureaucrats and police officers to essentially steal ownership of corporations and take $100s of millions in fraudulent tax returns from those corporations. Magnitsky uncovered the scheme and was arrested, tortured and eventually died in a Russian prison without ever facing charges. Browder worked to get Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act, which held the Russian officials involved responsible (and likely froze up to a $1 Billion dollars of Putin's stolen wealth). The Magnitsky Act was the subject of the inafamous Trump Tower meeting in which Don Jr and Paul Manafort met with a Russian agent offering dirt on Hillary. The book didn't go into the Trump Tower meeting, but was a fascinating look into early Russian investment markets and more importantly the depths of corruption in the Russian government, and Putin's willingness to target or assassinate anyone who stands up to him.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
Rush2112 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:57 am
RP2 is even more of a nerd beach read, but hey it's fun.
I thought Ready Player Two was fun but a lot depends on what you're interested in because it gets boring when he nerds out about stuff you don't care about.
I really enjoyed this book. It was years since I read the series and forgot most of the details of the previous books but that didn't matter. Really a good read if you enjoyed the Hunger Games series.
I'm halfway through What's the Master with Kansas?
It's good, but it's kinda like reading everything I've witnessed over the past several years and being reminded that some Americans are just trash human beings -- as if I could ever forget.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
Johnnie wrote: ↑Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:14 pm
I'm halfway through What's the Master with Kansas?
It's good, but it's kinda like reading everything I've witnessed over the past several years and being reminded that some Americans are just trash human beings -- as if I could ever forget.
I read that 15 years ago and all I remember about it is being pissed off about everything. Good thing everything has improved since then.