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Book Thread number ?

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Re: Book Thread number ?

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee; It's a better book than those who've decried it though certainly not up to par with To Kill A Mockingbird. People complain about how the characters changed for the book, but I'd argue the changes to the characters aren't all that drastic. Also, it's good to note, as I've read some people also complain that the changes were made to keep up with current political times, that this book was written prior to TKAM, only her publisher thought that Miss Lee had a better book in her than what she read - how right that publisher was.
 
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Probert,

I agree with you on Inferno. I loved it and ranked it third behind Angels and Demons and DaVinci Code. Cant wait for the movie :)
 
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The Three Body Problem wins the Hugo.

I have not read the other finalists so I can't compare, but TBP was absolutely a deserving nominee -- one of the most original and brilliantly-written novels of any genre I've read.

Here's a fascinating analysis of the effect on the voting of the Sad Puppies / Rabid Puppies idiocy, with explanations of said idiocy here and here.
 
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I checked out a cookbook last week, and someone had put an adhesive label on the front page with a note: "I'm the first person to read this book! It was wonderful!" or something like that. w tee eff?!?!?

1. Who cares?!?! That's like people who post on social media and say things like 'first'. You are an idiot.
2. Thanks for defacing public property, lady. I hope the library fines you, because they can obviously figure out who you are.
 
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Interesting <a href="http://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/What-Books-Being-Made-Movies-Fall-2015-38216778?stream_view=1">list of books that are going to be movies soon</a> (I'm sorry for linking to Popsugar, it makes my brain hurt too, but at least I linked to the non-slideshow list).

I didn't see it on this list, but the movie version of Colm Toibin's "Brooklyn" comes out in November - I really liked the book, looking forward to seeing the movie. First new movie I've wanted to see since Selma.
 
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St. Clown said:
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee; It's a better book than those who've decried it though certainly not up to par with To Kill A Mockingbird. People complain about how the characters changed for the book, but I'd argue the changes to the characters aren't all that drastic. Also, it's good to note, as I've read some people also complain that the changes were made to keep up with current political times, that this book was written prior to TKAM, only her publisher thought that Miss Lee had a better book in her than what she read - how right that publisher was.
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I agree it's worth the read.

As I understand it, this was the book Lee submitted to her publisher/agent. After reading it, they suggested she essentially re-write the story, and as a result we got Mockingbird.

To me the fascinating book would be the story of how Watchman was transformed into Mockingbird, and the extent to which an editor may have played a role. Maybe even address the longstanding suggestion that Truman Capote wrote significant portions of it.

She starts with a story of a man, very wise and upstanding in her eyes as a child growing up, but with this dark, racist undertone. Through his skill he obtains an acquittal of Tom Robinson on the rape charge, but takes these cases if only to keep things "handled at a local level" and out of the hands of the evil NAACP. She goes through a transformation that many go through where they see their father as almost a supernatural figure, only to learn that he is human like everyone else.

From that (and with the help/suggestion of her editor?) she transforms the story into simply a wise, fair and just man living in an unjust/racist world, who despite all of his skill and reputation in the community is unable to save Tom from the racist jury/community? The idol that is Atticus Finch is permitted to remain, and in fact even burnished.

What does the transformation of this story really tell us about America in the 1950s? She starts with the acknowledgment that much of white america is racist, but we look out for our Negroes and we certainly don't wrongly convict them, to a story in which only the worst of our society contains the racists, but notwithstanding the rest of us sometimes we are unable to protect the African Americans from the circumstances in which they find themselves?
 
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Recent reads

Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War by Charles Bracelen Flood A good look at the relationship between the Union’s two greatest generals Ulysses Grant and William Sherman. It details their initial tour in the military and early life and their troubled lives as civilians before the Civil War. It then details their rise during the Civil War as they began to trust and rely on one another to win the War. Good read.

Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich by Peter Schweizer A look at the development of the Clinton Foundation and how Bill and Hillary became rich post Presidency. The low lifes, dictator’s etc. that they became involved with. Another good book about politicians do as I say not as I do attitude.

The Insider Threat (Pike Logan #8) by Brad Taylor This Taskforce novel finds them tracking down an Isis cell made up of American’s recruited to commit terror. Following the threads from collected evidence and aided by the Israeli team of Aaron and Shoshanna they try to track them down and stop the attack.

Sharpe's Tiger (Sharpe #1) by Bernard Cornwell This 1st book in the Sharpe series, chronologically I believe it was actually one of the last books written, finds Richard Sharpe serving with the British Army, under Colonel Wellesley the future Duke of Wellington, in India trying to defeat the forces of the Tippo. Saved from a brutal punishment he is forced into the fire by being recruited to go into the city to rescue the British spymaster who has been captured or at the very least get the information he has concerning the fortifications. Good read

Warren G. Harding (The American Presidents #29) by John W. Dean Interesting that this book on Warren Harding who had one of the most scandal ridden Presidencies was written by John Dean of the Nixon Administration. A good overview of Harding’s life which sets to bed many of the myths of his administration. I did not know until reading this that the Teapot Dome scandal did not erupt until after Harding’s death. It also shows that much of the corruption, while it may have had to do with Harding’s lax oversight or in the case of the Teapot Dome appointing a crook Secretary of the Interior, he was not personally involved and didn't benefit from the schemes. One of the other things that comes out is that supposedly all his papers were destroyed so historians tended to fill in the blanks or rely on people from the times but it turns out many of his papers were kept and made available in the last few years.

Merciless (Jessica Balzano & Kevin Byrne #3) by Richard Montanari The 3rd book in the Balzano and Byrne series finds them investigating a series of murders in Philadelphia which appear to be taken straight from fairy tales. As they search for the killer they also are forced to investigate the murder of a recent retired police officer filling their plate’s right around the holidays. Didn’t like this quite as much as the first two mainly because the book seemed to have too many moving parts and plot lines and twists.

Murder, Inc.: The Story Of The Syndicate by Burton B. Turkus, Sid Feder This is an old book written in the 50’s by the Assistant Brooklyn D.A who sent many members of Murder Inc to the Electric Chair. Many of the contentions he puts forth in the book have sense been proven untrue, he talks many times about how the Mafia is dead replaced by the Syndicate. But the inside stories of Murder Inc, he talked with and debriefed the famous canary Abe Kid Twist Reles, make the book worth reading.

Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution by Richard Brookhiser An interesting biography of Gouverneur Morris one of the architects of the constitution. Brookheiser examines his upbringing, his time in Continental Congress during the Revolution when he came under the sway of Robert Morris and helped sort out the finances. His friendships in politics and business and his time as ambassador to France during George Washington’s Presidency at the height of the Terror. Also covered is his myriad of love affairs and his final days in New York. Good read

The Sicilian by Mario Puzo While Michael Corleone is in the book he plays a relatively minor role. This tells the story of the young Sicilian bandit Turi Guiliano and his battles against the forces of Rome, the Mafia and insiders within on the Island of Sicily. Michael Corleone has been asked to bring him to the US with him along with his Testament which details the corrupt bargain struck between the political bosses in Rome and Don Croce. It tells the story of how he became a bandit, and then how he rose to become a legend who has to leave the island to survive. Good read.
 
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Since my last post:

Images: My Life in Film, Ingmar Bergman (1990, trans. 1994)

Dangling Man, Saul Bellow (1944)

The Victim, Saul Bellow (1947)

Bellow: A Biography, James Atlas (2000)
 
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Finished Marcus Samuelsson's "Yes Chef" - one of the better "chef-written" books I've read. Too many of them try to be Bourdain - Samuelsson doesn't.

I picked up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Phantom-Fifth-Avenue-Mysterious/dp/1455512656">The Phantom of Fifth Avenue</a> at the library, but have not had time to start it yet.
 
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Quick poll: what's the most entertaining novel in Russian literature that's not Solzhenitsyn?
 
jen said:
Finished Marcus Samuelsson's "Yes Chef" - one of the better "chef-written" books I've read. Too many of them try to be Bourdain - Samuelsson doesn't.

I picked up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Phantom-Fifth-Avenue-Mysterious/dp/1455512656">The Phantom of Fifth Avenue</a> at the library, but have not had time to start it yet.
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Have Samuelsson's book, but haven't read it. Sounds like I should move it up my queue.
 
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I highly recommend The End of Mr. Y. Best novel I've read in quite a while. It's a metaphysical daydream meditation that I've been having for 20 years or so, crafted into a compelling story that makes a kind of sense. But you had to be there.
 
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Some of you might like this: Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History.

Although it is tough to find any sympathy for Thad Roberts.
 
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aygwm2 said:
Some of you might like this: Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History.

Although it is tough to find any sympathy for Thad Roberts.
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Every time I see that book I think about picking it up, just because of the nature of the story. But here's why I haven't.

First is the fact that Mezrich has been noted to take some license with events for purposes of giving them an overly dramatic flair. Second, all of his books read like they were written with a movie in mind that involves stacks of money, hot women, fast cars and drama about things that aren't really that dramatic, while ignoring what are the real interesting facts of the story.

I've read a number of his books, and I've always come away with this impression of Mezrich. His eye for an interesting story is spot on. I just wish someone else would write the book.

Since you've read the book, do you have any sense for it's general accuracy, and whether it displays some of the writing foibles I mention?
 
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Finished Eleanor and Park - fun light reading about two teenagers from the Midwest.

Reading The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane while I take a break from Game of Thrones
 
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jen said:
I picked up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Phantom-Fifth-Avenue-Mysterious/dp/1455512656">The Phantom of Fifth Avenue</a> at the library, but have not had time to start it yet.
Click to expand...

Finished this. It was an interesting companion to the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Empty-Mansions-Mysterious-Huguette-Spending/dp/0345534530/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WR3HCWKE3EDJQNKDPC2">other Huguette Clark book</a>, as it was less about her family's history, and more about the struggle for her money (which the first book didn't cover). Boy, her lawyers were morons.
 
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Watched the PBS American Masters special on Harper Lee from July - it was very interesting. They did not, of course, actually interview her. I didn't know that Dill was Truman Capote (she claims he's the only "real" person in the book). Also, Mockingbird got written because a couple she was friends with gave her enough money to take a year off work (as a Christmas present) so she could work on a novel.
 
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Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer.

Krakauer writes a book about Mormon fundies who killed two family members after they thought they had received a revelation from God to take them out. Along the way, he recounts the basic history of the Mormon church, and where the split between the mainliners and the 'polygs' happened. Of course, he included some less-than-savory parts of history that the LDS leadership would prefer everyone forgot.

Naturally, the LDS Church denounced the book as an anti-Mormon smear piece, and in no uncertain terms called Krakauer an anti-religous bigot. He addressed this and responded to the criticisms in an epilogue, including acknowledging a few corrections.

I thought it was pretty solid.
 
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