IGX

Finished "Daemon" by Daniel Suarez. Addicting as can be. Techno thriller, bloody, with constantly escalating intensity. The end gets ridiculous, but still couldn't put it down. The sequel just arrived for me at the library so looking forwards to the continuation of the story.

And just finished "Peak Performance" by Steve Magness and Brad Stulberg. It was recommended on the training forum. A huge amount of information to apply to your life to get more out of it. Very useful.

Oh and "Watch you Bleed," the unauthorized Guns n' Roses story. I skimmed half and read half. They lived like complete maniacs: drugs, endless drinking and sex, violence, screwing over pretty much everyone. Entertaining most of the time, a bit draining at others.

The Cartel by Donald Winslow. What a fantastic book. I can't put it down. Just finished the first book in the series The Power of the Dog. It's fantastic as well

The Fever by Deon Meyer
South African guy who writes in Afrikaans, and translated to English
Picked it up based on cover recommendation from Stephen King that it’s like The Stand
If you like the Stand and the Road by Cormac McCarthy well worth a read

Finished "Freedom" by Daniel Suarez, the sequel to "Daemon" which I loved.

Freedom was still an addictive read like Daemon, but I found it not as satisfying, deep or believable.

RIP Tom Wolfe

Whichever of his books you read, they were like nothing else. Fiction, non-fiction, whatever.
Perhaps the mirror image doppelgänger of his contemporary Hunter S. Thompson.

Tom Wolfe wrote some great books. The first that I read was "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." I may revisit.

RIP

Tom Wolfe - what a great author.

My mom gave me "The Right Stuff" thinking it'd convince me to not be a pilot, with the first chapter about all of the crashes and funerals. Had the exact opposite effect, made me want to go down in glory.

nafod wrote: ↑Thu May 17, 2018 6:42 pmMy mom gave me "The Right Stuff" thinking it'd convince me to not be a pilot, with the first chapter about all of the crashes and funerals. Had the exact opposite effect, made me want to go down in glory.

https://youtu.be/ZmimRZSVIyo?t=240

Started "The Shadow Of The Torturer" by Gene Wolfe

Wild Bill wrote: ↑Wed May 30, 2018 12:13 pmStarted "The Shadow Of The Torturer" by Gene Wolfe

Ambitious.

I read those when I was in my late teens. Years later I read a plot summary, and holy shit I missed a LOT of stuff. Like, everything important.

JimZipCode wrote: ↑Wed May 30, 2018 9:30 pm

Wild Bill wrote: ↑Wed May 30, 2018 12:13 pmStarted "The Shadow Of The Torturer" by Gene Wolfe

Ambitious.

I read those when I was in my late teens. Years later I read a plot summary, and holy shit I missed a LOT of stuff. Like, everything important.

Already stopped. Not my thing.

Just finished...
The Second World War by Antony Beevor
Dune by Frank Herbert

Recent

Unbroken
Einstein
Breaking open the head
The ten thousand things
American Serengeti
The beginning of infinity

Fat Cat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:57 pmJust finished...
Dune by Frank Herbert

My wife just read Dune! Last week or the week before. She was very impressed; enjoyed it a lot. Different from what she expected.

It's probly been 35 yrs since I first read it — I was a huge sf fanboy in high school / college years. I pretty much enjoyed that whole series as it was available then, though the books are very different from each other.

What'd you think?

Fat Cat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:57 pm Just finished...
The Second World War by Antony Beevor
Dune by Frank Herbert

How’s The Second WW? The only thing I’ve read by Beevor was Stalingrad. It was good read.

It's an excellent "summary" if anything 800 pages long can be described that way. It's very engaging reading though. As I read it I could feel that I've gotten old to some extent, as the endless slaughter was pretty stomach-turning. Don't want to read about war for a while. It was cool to be reading about the battle for Budapest while I was there though.

JimZipCode wrote: ↑Thu Jun 28, 2018 6:24 am

Fat Cat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 27, 2018 10:57 pmJust finished...
Dune by Frank Herbert

My wife just read Dune! Last week or the week before. She was very impressed; enjoyed it a lot. Different from what she expected.

It's probly been 35 yrs since I first read it — I was a huge sf fanboy in high school / college years. I pretty much enjoyed that whole series as it was available then, though the books are very different from each other.

What'd you think?

I read it first when I was a kid, and then again in my twenties. Now in my forties and it still holds up as an amazing work. There's nothing quite like it.

Fat Cat wrote: ↑Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:30 pm It's an excellent "summary" if anything 800 pages long can be described that way. It's very engaging reading though. As I read it I could feel that I've gotten old to some extent, as the endless slaughter was pretty stomach-turning. Don't want to read about war for a while. It was cool to be reading about the battle for Budapest while I was there though.

Haha. That’s how I felt when I read Azincourt. Good read but at times just a tad too violent and rapey for me.

The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam by Bernard Lewis

"The True History of The Conquest of New Spain" by Bernal Diaz del Castillo (i reading in Russian).

Consequence, by Eric Fair. He was a contractor sent to Iraq to interrogate prisoners. He worked at Abu Ghraib.

Shitshow by Charlie LeDuff

Socio-political commentary. Very entertaining as he visits Native Americans being fucked by the US government, Mexican workers getting fucked by the US corporations, poor Flint folks getting fucked by dirty water, etc.

Wild Bill wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:28 am "The True History of The Conquest of New Spain" by Bernal Diaz del Castillo (i reading in Russian).

That's fascinating. I read Conquistador by Buddy Levy and he used that work as one of the primary sources. Such an amazing moment in time.

Fat Cat wrote: ↑Tue Jul 03, 2018 6:00 pm

Wild Bill wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:28 am "The True History of The Conquest of New Spain" by Bernal Diaz del Castillo (i reading in Russian).

That's fascinating. I read Conquistador by Buddy Levy and he used that work as one of the primary sources. Such an amazing moment in time.

Long ago I read "Montezuma's Daughter" by Rider Haggard, and i believe it is also was based on that source.

Epicurus and the Pleasant Life: A Philosophy of Nature by Haris Dimitriadis