2010 Books Thread

[Charlie]

First book of the year for me was American Shaolin by Matthew Polly.



www.mattpolly.com/

Very good. The story of Matt Polly's trip to study kung-fu with the Shaolin monks in the early 90s. Very quick read, very interesting, pretty funny too.

Bert...I think you'd like it, have you read it?

[Dale]

I just read Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson.





Pretty interesting old crime novel. Some very funny parts too. Does has some pretty bad language.

[jeep]

I just finished Steinbeck's "The Short Reign of Pippin IV." It was a fun short read if you like Steinbeck. Not as hard as something like "Sweet Thursday." More like "The Pearl," just a little longer.

I am currently working on "Streets of Laredo" by McMutry, the sequel to "Lonesome Dove." If you liked "Lonesome Dove" you will like this book. I'm not usually a western reader, but was given "Lonesome Dove" years ago and finally read it last year. They are both part of a series of four books that I plan to read all of. The series is about a couple Ranger's that helped clear out the west for settlement.

The books are arranged so that several overlapping stories are going at the same time and chapters skip from plot line to plot line. It works well, because while one story is a little slow, the other picks up. Lots of characters and lots of graphic killing, some parts are not for the light-hearted.

[Charlie]

I just finished Mick Foley's book Scooter.



It's really good.

It goes to a much darker place than I thought it would. Definitely recommend though. Baseball themed.

[kickinfamily]

Jan 1, 2010 21:49:37 GMT -6 Charlie said:

Bert...I think you'd like it, have you read it?

lol Am I that predictable?

And no, I haven't read it yet, but it's on my wish list...

[kickinfamily]

In keeping with my apparently predictable nature , I just read:



It's set in a mythical land that mirrors that of feudal Japan in many ways, but not exactly. Has some interesting undercurrents of Buddhism and Christianity, although by different names. Great way of incorporating gender roles and other aspects. Highly recommended...

The author's name, BTW, is a pen name... This was actually written by a woman who was more known for her children's books in Australia, thus the pen name...

And yes, I'm reading Book 2 ("Grass For His Pillow") now...

[kickinfamily]

I also have "Year Of The Dog" in my queue too...

[Dale]

Finished two books in the past couple weeks.

The first one was The Natural. It's a bit different from the movie (which is great), but is still pretty darn good.





The second was The Last Best League, about a summer of baseball in the Cape Cod League. It was interesting. Dragged a couple times, but a great look into what goes on in the Cape.

[Charlie]

Very interesting read.

[kickinfamily]

For some reason, I've been on a medical / forensic anthropology kick of late... I just love that stuff...

Anyway, recently read:



A very interesting read, with some good details about some mass disasters Dr. Craig was involved in, including the Branch Davidians in Waco and the World Trade Center...

Now I'm reading:



The Body Farm is a plot of land at the University of Tennessee where they literally have a bunch of bodies outside decomposing, so they can study how bodies decompose based on the temperature, clothing they have on, whether they are on their back / stomach / side, etc. They have even studied the decomposition of bodies in the trunk of a car, etc. They use the studies to help law enforcement and medical folks determine how long a person might have been dead, where they might have died (since death location and discovery point aren't always the same thing), etc. Great read, if you like that sort of thing...

[Charlie]

I just finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons.



Really really good. It's kind of hard to describe but it's the story of a group of pilgrims in the future that go to a world called Hyperion. Basically it's the stories that brought them there.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the set. If you're a science fiction fan you should check it out.

[kickinfamily]

Will definitely have to check out Hyperion... It looks good...

Am just about finished with:



It's about a modern woman who gets fed up with like in the 20th century, from being passed over for a promotion in favor of a man, to her ex- who left her for a buxom blonde, to her children always demanding her time...

On her bedside table is a statue of Liber and Libera, a Roman god and goddess, which she picked up while on honeymoon in Europe. She goes to sleep one night wishing and praying to them to be back in their simpler time.

When she wakes up, she's in the second century Roman Empire, and boy are things different. Culture shock isn't even the phrase to use. The majority of the book is about her adjusting to life 1800 years in the past.

Definitely a good read, and a nice picture of what life might have been for a modern woman thrust back to the 2nd century... Highly recommended, especially if you love historical fiction...

And nothing in there about Asia at all... Are you surprised?

[Dale]

That sounds cool. Historical fiction is number one for me.

[kickinfamily]

Finished "Household Gods"... Definitely a good read... Have a few more historical fiction books in my queue...

Reading this now:



It's basically "The Jungle Book" (which is much better than the movie) set in a cemetery. Was a Newberry Award winner... Very good so far...

I think I might tacke Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders Of Pern" series (or at least some of the books) after that...