What are you reading now?

Finished reading the Alex Skolnick autobiography last night. I started reading the book when I first got it–like 10 years ago–and couldn’t get into it. It was very negative as it focused on those who had done him wrong–initially, at least, his parents and his brother.

But I gave it another read and am glad that I did as it ends on a positive note. (I don’t want to give it away.)

I think it got more of out now than I would have then just due to being in a different stage of life and facing something similar to what he faced. 

Super bonus: found this inside. 

Did I buy the book that way? Did he sign it one of the few times we met? I honestly can’t remember. 

So, what’s next?

My three favorite guitarists: Skolnick, Geddy and Vernon Reid.

Geddy’s autobiography just came out, so I’ll get that. Maybe/hopefully Vernon writes down his story. 

And maybe I’ll start something else tonight as I have more than enough here to read. 

And I think this will be tonight’s read: “Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, & Resistance” by Adonia E. Lugo, PhD.

Rainbow Mars

by Larry Niven

In reply to Noddaz :

Not sure if I've read that one.  When was it written?  I'm a yuuuge fan of Niven's stuff through the mid-'90s. After that they just seemed to devolve into long slow chases without much plot, kind of like travelogues of all his world building ideas.

I am greatly enjoying "How To Build A Car" by famed F1 designer Adrian Newey. It's a fun autobiography that tells a lot of behind-the-scenes motorsport history you've never heard along the way. Especially for a younger F1 fan like me, who didn't grow up following the racing legends of the 80s and 90s, it's nice to learn the historic context behind today's teams and drivers.

Started reading Bicycle/Race last night. Eager to see where it goes. 

Looking Up by Casey Roman

I've followed her on YouTube for years, so most of the book is not new to me, but her ability as a story teller is different than most.

And after I finish that one, the latest Murderbot Diary just arrived!

Geddy enters the chat.

Might have to put aside Bicycle/Race for a few and jump into this. It’s personal. 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

I just came here to add System Collapse! This book series would make a great streaming series, if done right. There are rumors that AppleTV is developing one.

I retired last year and have since read all the Jack Reacher (Lee + Andrew Child) and all the Elvis Cole (Robert Crais) novels. So I need some help in finding another series that is in the same vein. 

eastpark said:

I retired last year and have since read all the Jack Reacher (Lee + Andrew Child) and all the Elvis Cole (Robert Crais) novels. So I need some help in finding another series that is in the same vein. 

John D McDonald is similar although it's a little easier to read. He's king deceased so they are pretty old books

In reply to chandler :

Thanks - I'll give it a try. 

The strikes this year inspired me to read The Flivver King by Upton Sinclair. It's a historical fiction account of the origin of Ford Motor Company and the start of the UAW.

It's definitely pro-union but not necessarily a hit piece. Henry Ford isn't depicted as a moustache twirling villain, rather "trapped by his billions" that put him out of touch with the workers.

Duke said:

In reply to stroker :

I've read half a dozen of the Reacher novels, mostly early ones.  They're solidly entertaining if you don't pay too much attention to the technical details that Childs doesn't quite get right but can't resist putting in.  But generally decent reads - no real complaints.

On an only tangentially-related note, Tom Cruise did a surprisingly decent job with the character, given how different physically he is from the book character.

 

I'm finishing up the first one now.  Very different yet also the same as the Amazon TV series.   Pretty entertaining book, but the author is pretty much the opposite of this:  

Just finished Matthew Perry's memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.  DW got it out of the library and it wasn't due so I figured I'd run through it.  He's a decent and engaging writer, much like he was an actor.

It is pretty much entirely filled with his addictions, as was his life itself.  He's fairly honest about himself and steadfastly unwilling to blame anyone else, after some initial groundwork about his parents (who, frankly, clearly caused a bunch of the emotional issues leading him to start using). It's surprisingly upbeat throughout, though it was published less than a year before his death.

Currently reading Dan Norman's The Design Of Everyday Things, after it was mentioned in the bad design thread.

I realize this is an academic book, but wow, this guy knows how to pound an idea into your head. I'm only a chapter or two in, but I get the basic principles already, so can you please stop repeating them?  We're ready to move on.

Glad to see Geddy’s book on the charts. This is more than rock and roll. People need to read it. 

Got to chapter 3 the other night–about his parents’ experience during the Holocaust–but had to put it down and finish it later. (“Later” would be this evening.)

About Getty’s grandfather, his namesake:

Geddy’s parents both went through several camps, meeting as adolescents–just kids–while making bricks for the Germans. Somehow, miraculously, not only did they both survive several camps plus the associated death marches/cattle cars, they ran into each other in the same Displaced Persons camp after liberation. 

This personal.

My great-grandparents arrived in New York City more than a hundred years ago, but branches of our family not so lucky ended in these camps. My cousins’ dad was born in a Displaced Persons camp. I remember seeing his mom, with the bouffant hair and accent from the old country, at holiday parties.

Thank you, Geddy.

The 2021 printing of Churchill's The River War: An Historical Account of the Reconquest of the Soudan, edited by James Muller. This is the first-ever reprinting of the book in its original two-volume form, along with extensive commentary by the editor. I read the condensed version years ago, so I'm quite interested to see how this compares.

eastpark said:

I retired last year and have since read all the Jack Reacher (Lee + Andrew Child) and all the Elvis Cole (Robert Crais) novels. So I need some help in finding another series that is in the same vein. 

David Baldacci also writes a similar type of book, a few different series that are decently well written. You can pick them apart if you are so inclined but it's just entertainment 

chandler said:

eastpark said:

I retired last year and have since read all the Jack Reacher (Lee + Andrew Child) and all the Elvis Cole (Robert Crais) novels. So I need some help in finding another series that is in the same vein. 

David Baldacci also writes a similar type of book, a few different series that are decently well written. You can pick them apart if you are so inclined but it's just entertainment 

Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X books have been a series that I really like.  The last two have not been great but certainly not terrible.  

I'm currently reading the mistborn trilogy series from Brandon Sanderson.  I really like fantasy novels and this series is really entertaining.  I finished the first book and am 1/2 way through the second.  The writer has completed two trilogies each set in a different time (the first is set during the iron age and the second i "think" is during the industrial revolution with a 3rd set to be released soon in the beginning of the digital age and I believe a space opera planned for the future)

Just started James Byrne's The Gatekeeper.  First of a series about a character named Dez Limerick, who is supposed to be something like Jack Reacher but with a sense of humor.

In the first 3 pages he electrocutes somebody with a bunch car batteries. So... I'm not too hopeful.