What are you reading?

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J.J. Walters
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Re: What are you reading?

#111 Post by J.J. Walters »

Funny that you are reading IT right now, Conch, what with all these crazy scary clown sightings that are happening across the country right now. What a bizarre trend that is! It's unfortunate, because those people are giving legitimate clowns a bad name. I suppose the same could be said for Pennywise, but he's from outer space. It doesn't really count. But really, Pennywise aside, IT is really about childhood and friendship and the wonderful town of Derry, Pennywise is secondary. It's one of my very favorite books of all-time. "Hi Ho Silver, away!" :)

I'm currently reading the first book in the late 60's/early 70's adventure/spy series Operation Hang Ten (Hang Dead Hawaiian Style, paperback original, 1969) by Patrick Morgan. Wonderful escapist fun. It could almost be seen as an early prototype to Magnum. The back cover says it all.

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Before that I read Blood of Victory (2003) by Alan Furst, the undisputed master of the WWII-era historical spy novel. He never disappoints.

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Re: What are you reading?

#112 Post by ConchRepublican »

So, finished up It. Good book but as great a storyteller as King is, he has a hard time finishing things cleanly. To me at least ..... after that was John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee in Bright Orange for the Shroud followed by Darker Than Amber, two very good tales.

I still have Dan Simmons' The Terror on the bench, something about reading an arctic book in cold weather that's not as appealing.

I'm rereading William McKeen's Mile Marker Zero in prep for a summer return to the Keys and have Randy Wayne White's next Doc Ford book, Mangrove Lightning on pre-order.

And yesterday, reinforcements arrived.

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Re: What are you reading?

#113 Post by ConchRepublican »

J.J. Walters wrote:Funny that you are reading IT right now, Conch, what with all these crazy scary clown sightings that are happening across the country right now. What a bizarre trend that is! It's unfortunate, because those people are giving legitimate clowns a bad name. I suppose the same could be said for Pennywise, but he's from outer space. It doesn't really count. But really, Pennywise aside, IT is really about childhood and friendship and the wonderful town of Derry, Pennywise is secondary. It's one of my very favorite books of all-time. "Hi Ho Silver, away!" :)

I'm currently reading the first book in the late 60's/early 70's adventure/spy series Operation Hang Ten (Hang Dead Hawaiian Style, paperback original, 1969) by Patrick Morgan. Wonderful escapist fun. It could almost be seen as an early prototype to Magnum. The back cover says it all.

Image
Image

Before that I read Blood of Victory (2003) by Alan Furst, the undisputed master of the WWII-era historical spy novel. He never disappoints.

Image
I never heard of Patrick Morgan before . . . interesting . . . thanks for sharing the good stuff JJ!
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Re: What are you reading?

#114 Post by eagle »

Back in junior high, I loved reading, but something flipped in high school and I quit reading. I didn't get back my love of reading until this year, more than 30 years later. So far this year I have read 6 books (Jurassic Park; a couple of Spenser novels; a Bosch novel; an essay called "As A Man Thinketh"; and a book called "Evangelpreneur.") It was probably junior high when I last read 6 books in a year, never mind doing that in less than 3 months.

In the queue now are -- in no particular order:
- Calico Joe
- Bosch 1 & 2 (The Black Echo, The Black Ice)
- Robert Ludlum's Bourne books
- The Leader Who Had No Title
- How To Win Friends & Influence People
- What Got You Here Won't Get You There
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

I do think I'll start with Calico Joe. It's a quick read and, with baseball season upon us, it just seems like the right thing to do.

I've found that I really like Michael Crichton, Michael Connelly, Robert B Parker, and John Grisham. Are there any other authors I should consider adding to that list?

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Re: What are you reading?

#115 Post by ConchRepublican »

eagle wrote:Back in junior high, I loved reading, but something flipped in high school and I quit reading. I didn't get back my love of reading until this year, more than 30 years later. So far this year I have read 6 books (Jurassic Park; a couple of Spenser novels; a Bosch novel; an essay called "As A Man Thinketh"; and a book called "Evangelpreneur.") It was probably junior high when I last read 6 books in a year, never mind doing that in less than 3 months.

In the queue now are -- in no particular order:
- Calico Joe
- Bosch 1 & 2 (The Black Echo, The Black Ice)
- Robert Ludlum's Bourne books
- The Leader Who Had No Title
- How To Win Friends & Influence People
- What Got You Here Won't Get You There
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

I do think I'll start with Calico Joe. It's a quick read and, with baseball season upon us, it just seems like the right thing to do.

I've found that I really like Michael Crichton, Michael Connelly, Robert B Parker, and John Grisham. Are there any other authors I should consider adding to that list?
You're doing well there! Michael Crichton is one of my all time favorite authors. The cores of his books are so interesting and I really like what he focuses on. I think Jurassic Park is a classic and those who know it only by the movies don't really know it at all.

I also like Dan Simmons. He's a genre jumper but everything I've read by him - horror, sci-fi, historical fiction - has been really good. Hyperion is his sci-fi stand out and I also really enjoyed Crook Factory.

Nelson DeMille is another, Plum Island is a good intro.

David Morrell, the father of Rambo I enjoy as well. His first book, First Blood, is a good start and, again, a bit different from the movie.

I'm a south Florida fan so these next two I really enjoy:

Randy Wayne White is kind of the heir to, or at least is aiming to be the heir to, John D. MacDonald. I enjoy his Doc Ford character - start with Sanibel Flats.

Tom Corcoran is more of a personal fave, he's been in and around the Key West scene from back in the 70s and lived an interesting life - he was basically the center character of the book Mile Marker Zero, a look at the 70s Key West scene. He served Jimmy Buffett his first beer on the island, co wrote a few songs with him and finally started writing books a few years ago. The Mango Opera is the jumping off point.

I can't mention John D. MacDonald without, well, mentioning him. Our Founding Father, J.J., is a big fan, and would be able to tell you other books by him, but you can't go wrong with Doc Ford's inspiration, Travis McGee. The first book is The Deep Blue Goodbye.

William Diehl is another, Sharkey's Machine and Primal Fear are standouts in a short, but very good, bibliography.

Allan Folsom's first novel, The Day After Tomorrow, blew me away at the time.

If you want to try the Fantasy genre, while I love The Lord of the Rings and have read it many times, Tolkien can be intimidating so I'd recommend David Edding's Belgariad series, which I think is a bit more accessable and a classic in it's own right.

Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series is an all time favorite of mine, another series I have read multiple times. Not fantasy, more sociological sci-fi with historical fiction elements ..... that's what happens when everyone who has ever lived is resurrected in a world encompassing river valley and Sir Richard Burton, Alice Hargreaves, Samuel Clemens, King John of England, Cyrano de Bergerac, Lothar von Richthofen, and Hermann Göring are main characters ....

I'll close out with a few different, but still favorite, entrys:

Mitch Albom - Tuesdays with Morrie
Robert Fulghum - All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
Neil Peart - Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road

That should keep you busy!
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Re: What are you reading?

#116 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

[quote="ConchRepublican"]
David Morrell, the father of Rambo I enjoy as well. His first book, First Blood, is a good start and, again, a bit different from the movie.

Hi Conch,
David Morrell is a member of the Yahoo Route 66 Group I am a member of. He usually lies in the weeds but if he likes your posting he will send you a note directly.
He is a great admirer of the Route 66 head writer/muse Stirling Silliphant, who won a Oscar for writing In The Heat Of The Night. There are a lot of professional writers in our Group as Silliphant was such a legendary craftsman that these scribes idolized him.
Over the years we regular schnook members have learned through them to appreciate the tremendous writing and acting on Route 66. I feel like we received an advanced college course in dramatic writing as they parsed various episodes.
The unfortunate side effect is they so increased our ability in the critical thinking department that I now automatically deconstruct new episodes of series tv and the vast majority look like crappola compared to Route 66 and Magnum.
Last edited by Luther's nephew Dobie on Sun Dec 30, 2018 5:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: What are you reading?

#117 Post by ConchRepublican »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:
ConchRepublican wrote: David Morrell, the father of Rambo I enjoy as well. His first book, First Blood, is a good start and, again, a bit different from the movie.
Hi Conch,
David Morrell is a member of the Yahoo Route 66 Group I am a member of. He usually lies in the weeds but if he likes your posting he will send you a note directly.
He is a great admirer of the Route 66 head writer/muse Stirling Silliphant, who won a Oscar for writing In The heat Of The Night. There are a lot of professional writers in our Group as Silliphant was such a legendary craftsman that these scribes idolized him.
Over the years we regular schnook members have learned through them to appreciate the tremendous writing and acting on Route 66. I feel like we received an advanced college course in dramatic writing as they parsed various episodes.
The unfortunate side effect is they so increased our ability in the critical thinking department that I now automatically deconstruct new episodes of series tv and the vast majority look like crappola compared to Route 66 and Magnum.
I have never seen an episode of Route 66 . . . :oops:

I need to remedy that?
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Re: What are you reading?

#118 Post by eagle »

ConchRepublican wrote:I have never seen an episode of Route 66 . . . :oops:

I need to remedy that?
I have not been successful in securing a copy of those DVDs.

If you get a hold of the DVDs, I'd love to borrow them from you. :magnum:

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Re: What are you reading?

#119 Post by ConchRepublican »

eagle wrote:
ConchRepublican wrote:I have never seen an episode of Route 66 . . . :oops:

I need to remedy that?
I have not been successful in securing a copy of those DVDs.

If you get a hold of the DVDs, I'd love to borrow them from you. :magnum:
It seems it's available for streaming through Hulu.

https://www.hulu.com/route-66
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Re: What are you reading?

#120 Post by eagle »

ConchRepublican wrote:
eagle wrote:
ConchRepublican wrote:I have never seen an episode of Route 66 . . . :oops:

I need to remedy that?
I have not been successful in securing a copy of those DVDs.

If you get a hold of the DVDs, I'd love to borrow them from you. :magnum:
It seems it's available for streaming through Hulu.

https://www.hulu.com/route-66
Cool, thanks. I don't have Hulu today, but maybe I need to remedy that. :magnum: :higgins:

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Re: What are you reading?

#121 Post by Sam »

You can find some episodes on Youtube....
In fact I watched them film some of the opening scene from this episode..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moiwAyafY2M

The lake and amusement park scenes were filmed at Lake Minnetonka a western suburb of Minneapolis.The raspberry farms scenes we done in Hopkins Mn.

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Re: What are you reading?

#122 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

It seems it's available for streaming through Hulu.
https://www.hulu.com/route-66[/quote]
Cool, thanks. I don't have Hulu today, but maybe I need to remedy that. :magnum: :higgins:[/quote]

Hi Guys,
Route 66 is on Youtube for free.
A consensus of the members at the Route 66 Yahoo Group usually pick the following (see below)episodes as the best ones(in no particular order). One usually has to watch a episode twice to pick up every nuance/idea/angle. Many of the titles in the series are literary allusions.
The last scene in "Suppose I said I Was The Queen of Spain" is considered a acting tour de force by Lois Nettleton(wife of radio legend Jean Shepherd), the writing amazing, it's been used/emulated in acting/writing classes. I confess I merely like it but professional writers/teachers/actors praise it, so what do I know. Subjective and all that rot, as it were.
In "Gallant Lieutenant", special forces vet Linc runs into his old Lt, who has regressed to a child because of war wounds, and dedicates himself to help, perhaps stretching for years into the future. This is where Route 66 is different. Instead of rah rah and flags flying and lauding Linc's honoring his brotherhood with still more sacrifices, his road pal Tod coldly urges Linc to blow off the Lt., giving him a few days to think it over before he leaves without him. Is Tod actually the kind one?
This episode is probably the first time the Vietnam War was part of the story in a network drama, with a veteran (Linc) as a on going character. By the way the two leads are flawed characters like in Magnum, sometimes employing petty betrayals of the other in order to land women but who hasn't done that when you were in your 20's. By the way, if you do a "search" for all the stars(then and in the future) who appeared on Route 66 it is amazing, just as with the Twilight Zone an indication of quality.

One Tiger to a Hill
Voice at the End of the Line
Across Walnuts and Wine
Birdcage on My Foot(with Robert Duvall)
Suppose I Said I Was the Queen of Spain
Somehow It Gets to Be Tomorrow
What a Shining Young Man Was Our Gallant Lieutenant
The Stone Guest
Even Stones Have Eyes
Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?

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Re: What are you reading?

#123 Post by J.J. Walters »

I'm absorbed with John D. MacDonald right now (AKA "Johnny Mac"). One of the greatest crime and suspense authors of all-time!

"(He was) the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." - Stephen King

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Re: What are you reading?

#124 Post by Styles Bitchley »

J.J. Walters wrote:I'm absorbed with John D. MacDonald right now (AKA "Johnny Mac"). One of the greatest crime and suspense authors of all-time!

"(He was) the great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller." - Stephen King

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Nice to see you back James! I love the covers of those old pulp novels. Reminds me of Spillane's covers.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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Re: What are you reading?

#125 Post by MikeS »

BASIC ECONOMICS
A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
Thomas Sowell
5th Edition
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MikeS

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