I finally finished up reading I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. If you can remember when MTV played music videos, you might really enjoy this book. I am now reading Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden. I am liking it but may not continue with the series. Next up: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Just reading the preface, you knew it was going to be an interesting book. A little tough keeping all the details and players straight, but a very strong book, even if it is depressing in some ways. The author really takes Simon Wiesenthal to task and probably spends too much time on him. Mengele is the other main actor, so you have a very good book that could have been better had the author made it a case study or doggedly pursued the larger story. As it is, the major criticism of the book is that he threads the middle. Not many people come out of this looking good, particularly the Catholic Church who helped more than a few Nazis reach safe havens. Good historical detail, sad commentary on mankind.
Reading multiple books at once right now...Ive realized I need a change of pace with my books. Just finished reading Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service. Great book for those that have a business. Got started on The E Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Dont Work and What To Do About It. Also started reading 11/22/63, which has surprisingly been entertaining.
It's discussed at length also in Constantine's Sword. A very disturbing historical fact - although... not entirely surprising.
I just finished World War Z. I enjoyed it, but for some reason it took me forever to read it. I just could not get into a good reading groove with it. Just started the autobiography Cash, by Johnny Cash.
Examines how Europeans f**ed the natives of their colonies world-over. Well, one portion is on the Apaches, so I guess the US is lumped in there as well.
Imbibed on a few books about brewing in the last week (get it, imbibed? Hahahoho) Brew Like a Monk by S. Hieronymus is geared towards Belgian abbey ales. Summarizes the industry, analyzes each major abbey brewery and the methods/ingredients used and supplies some great ideas on mimicking the style at home. Good book, as far as brewing books go - which is saying a bit because they're usually rough reading. Principles of Brewing Science by G. Fix is a VERY technical look at the chemistry of brewing and operational techniques to improve beer production. I tagged various pages all over this book for future study. Intense read that I suspect I'll be referencing a lot as I further refine my brewing processes. Probably a bit much for the average homebrewer.
So after finishing 11/22/63 by Stephen King, I was became interested in learning more about the assassination. It was written by the men in the Secret Service tasked with protecting Kennedy during his entire presidency including that fateful day in Dallas. Obviously they failed in the most horrible and public way imaginable. It is its own seperate tragedy...personal and unforgiving. Fascinating.
You can download the first 120 pages of Robert McCammon's upcoming novel The Providence Rider at here. Available in PDF, MOBI, and EPUB. I'm really looking forward to May 31 getting here so I can get my hands on the whole story. I'd recommend starting from the beginning of this series if you're new to the story, but it sounds like newcomers can dive right into what looks like the opening of the second act of an envisioned 10 novel series. Here's a podcast with Joe Abercrombie, who's writing another one of my most anticipated novels of the year, A Red Country. He gives a few details about the upcoming novel as well as thoughts about the trilogy coming after that. Unfortunately he mostly stonewalls when it comes to news about the one character about whom his fans want to learn more. The interviewers are pretty terrrible. It was their first podcast, but it was interesting for Abercrombie fans. I'm in kind of a post-Martin hangover. I feel like ate a really hearty meal to the point of gorging, and I need something like and refreshing to clean my palate. Count of Monte Cristo was clearly the wrong choice, but a few others also failed to catch my attention. I'm working on The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi. It's a kind of formulaic Silence of the Lambs type of novel. It had rave reviews, but so far it merely seems okay. I'm hoping the second half will pick up.
I ran across a book with two novels by Trevanian, The Eiger Sanction, and The Loo Sanction, and both were excellent. The Eiger Sanction, of course, was made into a fantastic thriller starring Clint Eastwood as the main character, a "counter-assassin," a reluctant one, whose job is to kill those responsible for the death of one of our spies. The idea is that it makes the "other side" reluctant to bump ours off. Written during the early 1970's, they give an interesting view of society along the way, as well as being more than a bit different from the usual Cold War spy novel. Well worth reading. Here's one of them:
I'm almost finished reading "American Sniper" by Chris Kyle. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062082353/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=sporeflix-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0062082353"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL110_&ASIN=0062082353&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=sporeflix-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" ></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=sporeflix-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0062082353" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
My favorite Palahniuk books: Invisible Monsters (I would start here) Lullaby Survivor Choke And Fight Club obviously.
I was going to say invisible monsters also, what a dirty dirty book. I need to read lullaby, I have owned it for years and never got around to it.
So, I recently finished Dance with Dragons and looking for some suggestions. I've never been a big fantasy guy, so not really looking for that. The Matthew Corbett series looks interesting, but book 1 isn't on kindle. Also thinking about World War Z, but unsure. Anyone want to give me some help?
