What book is on your nightstand? Readers!

[passedpawn]

Getting in to this now

 

[passedpawn]

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This was freaking great. If you're anywhere interested in what SpaceX is/was up to, must read. When the last attempt at Falcon 1 on the C17 was imploding midflight, it was a nailbiter!

 

[Immocles]

Just started reading The Free Bastards by Jonathon French. Book three of a really fun fantasy trilogy. Waited patiently for the release and it hooked me again almost instantly. I'm hoping that him finishing this trilogy, he will go back and write the final books in his fantasy epic that he abandoned to focus on this one.

 

[marc1]

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Getting in to this now

I read the series - I liked them! I think there's a new one that I haven't read yet, though.

 

[marc1]

I'm in the middle of the Joe Abercrombie's Age of Madness trilogy in his First Law world. I was worried that with so much time off since the last book in the series, he may have lost his touch. So far, so good though!
A Little Hatred was excellent. Lots of action and a new generation of great new characters to get to know. And his occasional laugh out loud dark humor.
The Trouble with Peace has very little action so far, seems to be setting a lot up but it's definitely slower than the first one. Maybe chaos will erupt in the second half.
The Wisdom of Crowds is out, and I have it ready to go next.

 

[sibelman]

This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin: a fairly easily digestible survey of the neuroscience of music, with fun references to music and musicians, notably but not only 20th century composers and rock 'n' rollers.

 

[Cyclman]

Great read, about a period of history I was not deeply knowledgeable about.

 

[Falstaff]

Dune. Finished tonight in time for the film on to Dune Messiah.

The beer must flow

 

[user 246304]

Ken Follett wrote a prequel to The Pillars Of The Earth called The Evening and The Morning. I'm about 2/3 of the way through. My quick synopsis - the women do the brewing - Edgar builds a stone brewhouse - the priests cheat everyone - mead is for the well to do. That's about it. Oh yeah - the Normans have better cider.

Just came to this, dad. I loved Pillars - in fact, just re-added it to my cart because somewhere in our moves I lost it. This is great to know. Thanks.

 

[user 246304]

Dune. Finished tonight in time for the film on to Dune Messiah.

The beer must flow

As a kid on his own at 15, so broke I was stoked to have cold water in his fridge, Dune literally kept me going for the first several particularly difficult weeks. I got lost in the series. Loved the initial film only because of a certain fondness (incl. for Sean Young), otherwise hated it - but the books are inimitable.

I love author biographies. So, the Paris Review Interviews, always (over and over, which is what I'm doing now). I'm also very devoted to John Fowles, the greatest British author so few read, lol. "Conversations with John Fowles" is itself worth the read, for his massive and very catholic interests in the works of other authors. One could do worse than build a library just from his references themselves.

Re-reading Pincher Martin and The Inheritors, both by William Golding. Like Fowles, incredibly imaginative and principled writer.

Lot of re-reads I guess. Just finished a marvelous book my son got me on Winston Churchill during the war, The Splendid and the Vile. My view of history is very structural, meaning, I don't often give a lot of juice to the individual (rather, the individual marries the developments "underneath") but this book is a beautiful paean to leadership and the British peoples' sheer grit. With wonderful narrative filled with countless details of everyday life, the book brings home in such a gut-punch way just how hellish the Blitz was for the people of Britain. And how difficult it was to manage the uneasy relationship with FDR and this country, heavily isolationist until the last.

I've always liked the British folk, but this book really reminds me what a true leader joined to a great cause can do. Churchill was the man of the moment and Hitler seriously miscalculated the indomitable spirit of the Britons he thought "soft, democratic weaklings."

The Splendid Century, first read decades ago. Top of the pyramid-down look at life under Louis XIV**. Really into French history, particularly the inevitable destruction of the Bourbons and monarchy itself; re-reading Simon Schama's Citizens.

**If you like popular histories that read well and are interested in the ancient world and Levant, take a look at the books by Michael Grant. Great series.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

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This is light reading to break up the mounds of sci-fi anthologies I've been pounding the last couple of years.
Our local library has a digital relationship with a State-level library having Kindle-compatible lending and I had this one on reserve since May.
It finally came through this morning and odds are I'll be done with it tomorrow.
Can't...stop...reading it!

Cheers!

Just finished it. Enjoyed it.

Aww...As space spiders go, "Rocky" seemed pretty chill

So, word has it that Ryan Gosling will play Doctor Grace. I think that could work - especially at that 2/3rds point in the movie where we leaned Grace was less than "all in" on ending up on the ship. Agonizing over stuff is in Gosling's wheelhouse.

No word on who plays Rocky I'm worried the CGI will be dicey and if they try to go low budget may simply not convince through all of the inevitable close-up interactions....

Cheers!

Gosling? I would expect someone older. But I guess based on the character's supposed she at the end of the book, maybe?

 

[estricklin]

passedpawn I also enjoyed We Are Legion, although so far I've only read the first book in the series.

Currently reading David Copperfield, this is my 3rd Charles Dickens book, and so far I've enjoyed it the most.

Recently read:
New IPA by Scott Janish (very good book)
Tom Sawyer
A Time to Kill
Diary of Anne Frank

I've set a goal for myself to read 100 books next year, I'm saying it out loud here so I can hold myself accountable haha. I think the highest I've gotten before is 72.

 

[soccerdad]

100 books in a year is prox 2 a week. Cuts into brewing time.

 

[passedpawn]

passedpawn I also enjoyed We Are Legion, although so far I've only read the first book in the series.

Currently reading David Copperfield, this is my 3rd Charles Dickens book, and so far I've enjoyed it the most.

Recently read:
New IPA by Scott Janish (very good book)
Tom Sawyer
A Time to Kill
Diary of Anne Frank

I've set a goal for myself to read 100 books next year, I'm saying it out loud here so I can hold myself accountable haha. I think the highest I've gotten before is 72.

Man, that's a lot of late evenings!

I read much of the Dickens catalog in my teen years. Best I thought was Tale of 2 cities, second was Great Expectations. In fact, as a high school dropout with a lot of time on my hands, I checked out the latter from the LA Public Library and never returned it - it's still sitting on my bookshelf. Due date was sometime in 1982 (I think). I threw away most of my hard copies of books, but kept this one. I have great expectations of returning it one day

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Did anyone else read the "Expanse" series, by 'James S.A. Corey' [itself a pseudonym for a pair of authors who wrote it]? It's been made into a Amazon video series, but I haven't watched that.

The last book in the series dropped Tuesday, and I'm about 60% through as I traveled for work Wed/Thu this week. Can't wait to finish it this weekend and see how it all ends.

Definitely feel like it's a really well-written series, with multiple story arcs to justify 9 books, that twist around a central premise in a very coherent way.

 

[KeizerBrewr]

Currently on my nightstand:

and

 

[estricklin]

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Been Reading this to my 4 year old every night, we're about 2/3 through it now.

That's pretty amazing @passedpawn . I think it would be hilarious if you returned it one day.

Glad to hear the Expanse series is good because I just bought Leviathan Wakes. Did not know it was a TV series.

 

[passedpawn]

Just finished this one last night (VERY quick read). Sad, but with a happy ending. Do I recommend? I guess if you like books about dogs that have sad parts but then an uplifting ending. Can't say more than that. I have always had dogs, and this book will make you really think about what's going through their minds.

I absolutely am not going to torture myself through the movie, that's for certain.

 

[Brewskey]

Tippy Tippy Tappy

 

[passedpawn]

Tippy Tippy Tappy

Really? From our Union guy?

 

[Brewskey]

Really? From our Union guy?

Yes, Union. I'm just kidding about it being on my nightstand, although I did scan through a few pages on amazon......

 

[Brewskey]

Really? From our Union guy?

Have you read it? lol

 

[passedpawn]

Have you read it? lol

I think I did the same as you.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

The final book of the Expanse series was good.

Now I can maybe watch the series.

 

[soccerdad]

The final book of the Expanse series was good.

Now I can maybe watch the series.

I tried watching a bit. Not for me. But I imagine books could be good.

 

[Falstaff]

Dune Chapterhouse. Read all six books in a row. Never done that before with a series.

 

[passedpawn]

This is pretty good (25% in). Something unusual discovered in the frozen arctic.

 

[Immocles]

Finished "The Free Bastards" by Jonathan French a few nights ago at work. Book 3 of the trilogy and it wrapped up so much better than I could have ever imagined. Each book followed a different main character, and the character that I had thought would be the most boring and long forgotten was fkn amazing. If anyone has happened to read one or both of the first two, you need to finish it up. He leaves a lot open for more books down the road, but I really hope he keeps it wrapped it up where it is and retreats to finish his fantasy epic series (Autumn's Fall). I've read a ton of fantasy series books, and I wasn't sure about how it going to wrap up until the final 75-100 pages and it was absolutely nailed. Very few books have emotionally pulled me around, and none of them until this point have involved Half-Orcs...

Currently reading The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell mainly because thats all the was downloaded on my kindle at the time. Pretty hooked after a few dozen pages though

 

[DBhomebrew]

Currently reading The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell mainly because thats all the was downloaded on my kindle at the time. Pretty hooked after a few dozen pages though

Seldom can go wrong with Cornwell. Uhtred's an excellent main character with a lot of good support characters. Cornwell's Arthur and Grail trilogies are also top-notch, not to mention Sharpe. Starbuck, eh.