Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

Starting on January 1, let's use this thread to keep each other posted on what we're reading. (I promised Joy, earlier this month, that I'd take care of posting this new thread on New Year's Day; but it now looks like I'll be tied up much of that day. So, I thought it wouldn't hurt anything if I posted it a bit early!)

Thanks, Werner. I'll put this thread at the top on Jan. 1, 2015.

You're welcome, Joy. Sounds good!

What Einstein Told His Barber: More Scientific Answers to Everyday Questions by Robert L. Wolke was well read & a 5 star listen. It's been a long time since I had a general science class, so the refresher was welcome. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Sounds like another good one, Jim!

William H.. Patterson, Jr. wrote a long, two volume biography of SF write Robert A. Heinlein.

I read Volume I about six weeks ago; now I am beginning Volume II. Very pro-Heinlein, but well written and interesting.

Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve and Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century Volume 2: The Man Who Learned Better.

Sounds interesting, Mary JL. I'll take a look at the books' Goodreads pages. Thanks for telling us about them. Thank for the links.

I put all my books into my spreadsheet to figure out how my reading went this year. They broke down like this:
213 books read:
audio_____132
ebook_____45
paper_____39

fiction_____178
non-fiction_____30
sortof_nonfiction_____5

Star Ratings
0_____4
1_____15
2_____25
3_____71
4_____74
5_____24
Avg 3.3

It was a good year for reading!

PS-Mary JL, you might find the following GR review (by Forrest Carr) about Heinlein interesting (I did):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It's long but very readable.

Jim wrote: "I put all my books into my spreadsheet to figure out how my reading went this year. They broke down like this: ..."

Great analysis, Jim!

That was an interesting. My experiences with the early Heinlein works were very similar to Forrest's. Unfortunately, after I read I Will Fear No Evil, my opinion went downhill. The Number of the Beast really turned me off & all his later books were just too long & preachy. I still read his juveniles with pleasure, though.

I don't like preachy books either, Jim. I guess you liked Heinlein's earlier work better.

I did, Joy. I was really turned off by his views on incest.

INCEST! Is THAT a subject to start the New Year with? LOLOL

No, I'm not drinking. Can't with my medication.

But I'm just feeling New Years Evy! C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E!

Celebrate getting older??? Am I crazy? LOLOL

Am watching that crazy Kathy Griffin while she teases Anderson Cooper on the CNN New Years show overlooking NYC.

Can't wait till the crystal ball comes down and Ed brings me the hors d'oervres. lol

Thanks for the link , Joy. The review was interesting. Like Jim, I regard Heinlein's early work as his best!

You're welcome, Mary JL.

Not sure if I mentioned that I'm currently reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption via Amazon Prime Kindle Cloud. I also have the book in the house since I gave it to my husband for Christmas. A movie adaptation came out on Christmas day.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1809398/?...

Currently reading Wolverine: Three Months to Die Book 1 as well as Outlander.

Jackie wrote: "Currently reading Wolverine: Three Months to Die Book 1 as well as Outlander."

Jackie, I gather that's a "graphic novel". It so happens that I borrowed the following book from the library: Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?. It turns out to be a graphic novel... told in cartoons. It's a memoir about aging parents, supposed to be "comic relief". I get no relief even THINKING about the problems of aging. So I think I'll skip this one.

Wolverine is a Marvel comics title, at different times he was a member of the X Men, Avengers and Alpha Flight. I also read the 4 issue comic-graphic-novel Death of Wolverine today and I am completely underwhelmed, very disappointed. For such an iconic character who's been alive since the mid 1800's, I would have expected an iconic end. It wasn't so. The artwork was spectacular, as always. There's still more in the series, and I'll likely continue but not today. Here's where I'm reading them for free: http://viewcomic.com/

Thank for the link, Jackie.

Joy H. wrote: "INCEST! Is THAT a subject to start the New Year with? LOLOL..."

Actually, it was about Heinlein & finding that icons can have clay feet. When I started reading him in the late 60's & early 70's, I was reading his short stories which were published in the pulps & his juvenile novels. In both, he was was constrained & his writing was the better for it. After that, the true Heinlein began to emerge & I found I really didn't like the whole package.

As a thought experiment, Theodore Sturgeon's "If All Men Were Brothers Would You Let Your Sister Marry One?" was an excellent look at the incest taboo. Heinlein's take on it was more like a bad porn movie. He had everyone lusting after their parents, siblings, children, & even their clones over & over again. It was frankly nauseating.

Interestingly, he's not the only old SF/fantasy writer who went off the rails with sex. Philip José Farmer was always a bit randy & got more so until he got ridiculously gross, but the worst is Samuel R. Delany who wrote one of my all time favorite novels, The Einstein Intersection, & is a celebrated master of SF. Delany's Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders was so awful I couldn't get through more than a couple of pages skimming. Very odd.

Currently reading,"The Light You Cannot See," and so far so good and think it's a book I'll recommend to our book club as one of the selections for the new year. On my to read next list is, "Unbroken," that I think you are now reading, Joy. After that comes, "Sycamore Row." I read that his latest book is better. Maybe that will be third.

Jim, I can understand your disappointment, as I was disappointed when I listened to part of a book, Any Human Heart, the film adaptation of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I think the people who made the film must have done some good editing.

Nina, here are the links to two of the books you mentioned:
All the Light We Cannot See (Not sure if this is the right one by the right author - there are several with the same title.)
and
Sycamore Row

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta was a great mystery thriller to bring in the new year with. Well read & super suspenseful. I gave it 4 stars here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jim wrote: "Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta was a great mystery thriller to bring in the new year with. Well read & super suspenseful. I gave it 4 stars here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... "

Thanks for the link, Jim. I don't think I could take the stress of such a thriller! But for those who can take it, it sounds like a really good read.

Earlier this week, I started on the last of several review copies I've had queued up, an anthology of original stories, Tails From the Front Lines. (No, that's not a typo; the stories are about the bond between dogs and current or former military personnel.) This one was also a gift from my friend Andrew Seddon, who has a story in the collection. Proceeds from the sale of the book go to support the TADSAW (Train a Dog, Save a Warrior) organization; see www.tadsaw.org for more information.

Werner wrote: "Earlier this week, I started on the last of several review copies I've had queued up, an anthology of original stories, Tails From the Front Lines. (No, that's not a typo; the stor..."

Thanks for the links, Werner. A worthy cause.

You're welcome, Joy. I definitely agree that it's a good cause!

I just finished The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery & LOVED it. 5 stars. He was a man as heroic as he was treacherous. It was nice to finally read his story.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jim wrote: "I just finished The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery & LOVED it. 5 stars. He was a man as heroic as he was treacherous. It was nice to fin..."

Jim, thanks for telling us about that book. I love learning about historical figures. Does anyone know of any good biopics?

2014 on Goodreads isn't a real book, just a place for all of us to review our reading for 2014. I saw that Werner filled it out, so here's mine:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas was a 5 star listen, although I don't think audio was the best format for it. I can't wait to get the paperback. In the meantime, here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Jim wrote: "The Medusa and the Snail: More Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas was a 5 star listen, although I don't think audio was the best format for it. I can't wait to..."

Thanks for telling us about that book, Jim. Sometimes I get nervous reading stuff like that, e.g., diseases, etc. In my case, ignorance is bliss. :)

Thomas is generally upbeat, Joy. He doesn't get too much into tech speak, either. These are wondering essays & several trace how far we've come & how well. Quite interesting.

Yes, Jim, a great deal of progress has been made. There's no denying that. More and more people are living to over the age of 90 and even older! I have an aunt who is 99 years old. My sister's neighbor is 95 years old. A few years ago, another of my aunts lived until 104!

Thomas mentions an average age of 72. He published this book in 1974, although the essays were somewhat older. I believe the average is 84 now.

I just finished The Steel Mirror by Donald Hamilton. It's only his second published novel, but was really good. I gave it 4 stars. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Now I'm on to Hamilton's third, Murder Twice Told, 2 novellas ("The Black Cross" and "Deadfall") in one book.

Jim wrote: "I just finished The Steel Mirror by Donald Hamilton. It's only his second published novel, but was really good. I gave it 4 stars. My review is here:
https://www.g..."

Thanks for the review, Jim. I usually can't handle a plot with too many twists. Takes concentration! You must have an excellent brain.!

On the whole, I read much more fiction than nonfiction these days. But the book I'm currently reading falls into the latter category; it's Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God by Paul Copan (Baker Books, 2011). The title, of course, is a reference to Richard Dawkin's characterization of the Old Testament God as (among other things) "a moral monster."

Smoky Valley by Donald Hamilton was a 5 star western. Just fantastic. I wish he'd written more. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm trying to get myself interested in Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler. The book starts out with too many characters, IMO. I haven't been drawn in yet. So I'm going to watch the movie adapted from the book.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387851/?...
Stars: Blythe Danner, Faye Dunaway, Peter Fonda.
Jack Palance is also in it. He should make it interesting. :)

I just finished 2 great books, both 4 star reads. King Rat by James Clavell is a fictionalized account of Clavell's time as a POW during WWII that I listened to Dave Case read. It's great & horrible, a very interesting look at how men reacted. Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The other was an old paperback, Line of Fire by Donald Hamilton. An excellent thriller with a really interesting main character. Nothing is quite what it seems & motivations are murky, but it all makes sense in the end, although how things will turn out is up for grabs. My review is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

After he read Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Eddie asked me to get the following book from the library:
Finish Forty and Home: The Untold World War II Story of B-24s in the Pacific. They had it and are saving it for me. Ed reads so much more than I do, but a different sort of book, of course.

I know it's not books, but since we're speaking of Untold Histories, I figured I'd mention that I just heard about a Showtime series that aired a few years ago, Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States. I don't get Showtime. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_S...

From the Showtime page: There is a classified America we were never meant to see. From Academy Award®-winning writer/director Oliver Stone, this ten-part documentary series looks back at human events that at the time went under reported, but that crucially shaped America's unique and complex history over the 20th century. From the atomic bombing of Japan to the Cold War and the fall of Communism, this in-depth, surprising, and totally riveting series demands to be watched again and again.

imdb link: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&r...

I plan on watching it one of these days.

Jackie, it's for rent at Amazon Instant Video:
http://www.amazon.com/World-War-Two/d...
"UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 1 Season 2012"

I borrowed The Man Who Seduced Hollywood: The Life and Loves of Greg Bautzer, Tinseltown's Most Powerful Lawyer from the library in January 2015. I thought it would be more entertaining than it is. However, I'm only on p. 20 of the regular print edition. So far, the only impression I get is that Greg Bautzer worked his way up by getting to know the people in the business and becoming their lawyer. So far it's just names, no drama. That's non-fiction for you!

I'll give it a few more days...

I borrowed Anne Tyler's Back When We Were Grownups from the library around January 2015. It's slow-going for me because I don't especially like this genre, a contemporary woman's life with all the domestic goings-on with relatives and friends.

I also borrowed the film adaptation of the same novel on DVD from the library. Turned out to be a faulty DVD. But at least I saw who the characters were and a bit of the plot before the DVD broke down.

I also borrowed the audio version. Just like the book, it's slow going for me.

I'm not drawn in yet. But I'm only on page 59 of the large print version. I'll give it a few more days...

PS-I must say that the 2 books I mentioned above are competing with "Downton Abbey" which I'm streaming on TV. That's strong competition. I've finished all 4 Seasons now and am looking forward to Season 5!

I forgot to mention a book I read in December 2014, Backstage at the Tonight Show: From Johnny Carson to Jay Leno. Here's my short review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...