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Book Thread number ?

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Probert

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I can't find the old thread so I assume it has closed.

Just finished Guardian of Lies By Steve Martini.

This is a departure from most of Martini's books. Normally dealing with the courtroom drama of lawyer Paul Madriani this book includes drug cartels and terrorists as Madriani attempts to clear both his name and his clients stay alive and stop a nuclear attack all at the same time.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Just finished Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton. She's the owner/executive chef at Prune in NYC, and it's her story of how she became a chef. Not as gripping as Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential," but a very good read nonetheless.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman's first collection of essays in which he gives his opinions on the culture of 80s hair bands. A bit boring and self-serving at times, but equally entertaining at other points. Worth a look for the general rock music fan.

Don't Try This At Home - A collection of culinary disaster stories from well-known professional chefs, including Ferran Adria, Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, and others. Foodies and aspiring gourmets will love it, but I think a lot people could derive some enjoyment from it.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Just finished Last Men Out about the final days of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon in 1975.
An excellent read but one that will raise your level of disgust and lower your opinion of Henry Kissinger.
Now reading David Crockett The Lion of The West
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Good book....some fairly interesting things in there. One of my favorites...he is talking about how in most cultures people stop eating when they are full, generally after a 1-2 hour meal, but Americans eat by visual cues..such as when their plate is empty.

"In one study Wansink rigged up bowls of soup in a restaurant so they would automatically refill from the bottom; those given the bowls ate 73% more soup than subjects eating from an ordinary bowl; several ate as much as a quart. When one of the hearty eaters was asked his opinion of the soup, he said, "It's pretty good, and it's pretty filling."
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

gojackets said:
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Good book....some fairly interesting things in there. One of my favorites...he is talking about how in most cultures people stop eating when they are full, generally after a 1-2 hour meal, but Americans eat by visual cues..such as when their plate is empty.

"In one study Wansink rigged up bowls of soup in a restaurant so they would automatically refill from the bottom; those given the bowls ate 73% more soup than subjects eating from an ordinary bowl; several ate as much as a quart. When one of the hearty eaters was asked his opinion of the soup, he said, "It's pretty good, and it's pretty filling."
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That is what 10 generations of "clean your plate, there are hungry kids in Africa" will do.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

I am really disappointed the other thread is gone. :(

Eating: A memoir by Jason Epstein - Found it elitist, preachy and haughty. It included recipes, but unless you like your recipes in short-story form, you wouldn't appreciate them (I didn't). He is one annoying man. I considered not finishing the book, but since it was a collection of essays, thought I might find redeeming value in one.

Also read Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares - the newest in the Traveling Pants series. Not what I expected at all, but I enjoyed it anyway. Quick read, but a little different tone than previous books (which I guess should be expected, since the main characters are all 10 years older, and more serious).
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

When the lions feed - Willbur Smith 7/10
Rage - Willbur Smith 3/10 : not sure why so many authors suck with later work.

Halloween Party - Agatha Christie 6/10 - weaker story. PBS masterpiece played it right after reading it though.

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand 1/10 - I remembered the book/author from here so gave it a shot. And had to cheat and read backwards after 300 pages when I noticed the character/plot/story wasn't going anywhere and it was repeating. boring boring boring dull dull dull. let me repeat that.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Tundra said:
Rage - Willbur Smith 3/10 : not sure why so many authors suck with later work.
Click to expand...

Past their prime - either out of ideas and rehash the same stuff, or go off the deep end and try to break their mold. Same holds true for most rock bands.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Finishhed Against All Enemies by Tom Clancy and a co author. An okay effort from Clancy as he introduces Max Moore who seems quite a lot like John Clark. Moore is a former Navy Seal who gets involved in a Terrorist/Drug Smuggling operation when the Mexican cartels and Taliban team up. Some nice action and not as drawn out as some of Clancy's books tend to be.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

gojackets said:
In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Good book....some fairly interesting things in there. One of my favorites...he is talking about how in most cultures people stop eating when they are full, generally after a 1-2 hour meal, but Americans eat by visual cues..such as when their plate is empty.

"In one study Wansink rigged up bowls of soup in a restaurant so they would automatically refill from the bottom; those given the bowls ate 73% more soup than subjects eating from an ordinary bowl; several ate as much as a quart. When one of the hearty eaters was asked his opinion of the soup, he said, "It's pretty good, and it's pretty filling."
Click to expand...
Didn’t quite finish Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” (got tired of his futzing with the pig), but his trip through the biz producing what’s on most of our plates in the first ~3/4 of it is worth the time IMO, and one I found well enough written.

“In Defense of Food” is really worthwhile to anyone in a directly personal sense. Your favorite is only a part of his thesis (on the dust jacket's leaf lettuce band) but does give a "taste".

An aside: I’m old enough to have actually witnessed much of the transformation he writes about, and have vivid memories from my family roots in producing food, and from rural living as a child - back in the day.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

bigblue_dl said:
That is what 10 generations of "clean your plate, there are hungry kids in Africa" will do.
Click to expand...
Didn’t get that one so much, rather “if you want dessert”. I was pegged early on.
 
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Re: Book Thread number ?

Managed to be at the top of the library list for Martin's latest ASOIAF: A Dance with Dragons.

Short version: 6 year wait for a decently written book that talks about food, travel and diarrhea and the plot doesn't advance much. Dude needs an editor to a) Cut his obsession with those three things, which has gotten as bad as Robert Jordan's need to put braid tugging, description of clothing and pillow friends and b) have that editor have the balls to tell him "You've been to 6 months worth of comic-cons, spend two weeks writing."

Next guy at the library will probably be thrilled I'm taking it back tomorrow instead of keeping it to re-read over the next two weeks before it's due.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Read Lance The Making of the World's Greatest Champion by Lance Wilcockson. This was a little more balanced than lance's autobiography's but is still a pro Lance book. The one thing covered inn this which was not covered in Lance's book's was his relationship with controversial doctor Michele Ferrari. It covers his earlier career his battle with cancer, 7 Tour victories and his comeback after retirement. A little more cycling based than some other books on Lance.

Also Rule of Nine by Steve Martini This picks up shortly after Guardian of Lies ends. Paul Madriani is still being stalked by the assassin named Liquida. This book like Guardian of Lies has little courtroom action like Martini's previous books but is a thriller as a terrorist is seeking to unleash a terrorist attack on Washington DC as Madriani tries to stay ahead of Liquida and stop the attack.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Finished up Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I thoroughly enjoyed them, but I can see how people might give up after the first few books. The latter books are not as strong, in my opinion, although I did enjoy the ending (many don't, apparently). The first four books are definitely stronger; Book IV (Wizard and Glass) was my clear favorite. Apparently he's decided to write an eighth book for the series - I'm curious to see where he's going to go with that, since Book VII wrapped things up pretty neatly.

Give them a shot if you like a dose of western with your fantasy epic. Not your typical Stephen King stuff.
 
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About halfway through Kerry Fraser's "The Final Call." Awesome read. Part autobio, part anecdote. He's pretty frank on some stuff (like the Gretzky non-call), and definitely gives a perspective one doesn't hear about unless one knows a ref/umpire/etc.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

What happened to the last reading thread? I just went looking for it and couldn't find it. :confused:

Anyway... I was looking around Borders before I traveled this past weekend, because I wanted to take advantage of a final 30% off coupon before they liquidated. I was looking for a new author to read, had my eye caught by Devon Monk's books, and bought Magic to the Bone. I'm now hooked on the Allie Beckstrom series, just went back to Borders (40% off Blu-Ray, 10% off books) and picked up book #3 after buying book #2 while I was in South Bend and reading it on the flight back.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

Craig P. said:
What happened to the last reading thread? I just went looking for it and couldn't find it. :confused:
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I could not find any trace of it, even when I searched my old posts all my posts in the old thread weren't there so I assume the thread was deleted by someone.
 
Re: Book Thread number ?

They did do a massive cleanout of old threads, so depending on how long ago it started? it may have been eliminated. Note the zero threads in the Hall of Fame now.
 
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