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  1. #821
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    New Jersey
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    I’m in your same boat, Rich. FWIW I have leaned heavily on Audiobooks and nice long walks.
    My long walks/hikes are usually reserved for Howard Stern since I'm in my car much less.
    Rich
    "Failure is Not a Destination"
    Coach K on the Dan Patrick Show, December 22, 2016

  2. #822
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich View Post
    I know this question can probably be answered by something that's already been posted, but forgive me I'm new to this thread and am reluctant to wade through the past.

    I used to be, but am no longer an avid reader. I'd much rather watch TV or a movie. But when I have been hooked on a story I eschew the video for the book and would love to get back there. The problem is as a lawyer I read all day so when I read for pleasure I need it to be totally engaging and I prefer it to be on the easier side without too many details so I don't have to think too hard.

    I used to be a huge Stephen King fan and I loved reading Harry Potter and Hunger Games. I was also a fan of John Irving, but I don't think I could get through something like Owen Meany these days.

    I don't necessarily need "easy" reading, but I need a story that will take me away and isn't bogged down in details or else I will fall asleep and/or put it down. A series of books I can get hooked on is even better. Recommendations?
    I'll throw out a few diverse suggestions of books that I really enjoyed. Some of these were made into much less enjoyable movies.

    "The Martian" by Andy Weir.
    "11/22/63" by Stephen King
    "Takeoff" by fellow DBR poster Joseph Reid.
    "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
    “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer

  3. #823
    I just finished a re-read (for the umpteenth time) of The Hobbit. It really begs the question of what Peter Jackson used for source material.

  4. #824
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC area
    Quote Originally Posted by Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 View Post
    I just finished a re-read (for the umpteenth time) of The Hobbit. It really begs the question of what Peter Jackson used for source material.
    Yes. Too many liberties. Beautiful, but unwatchable.

    -jk

  5. #825
    Quote Originally Posted by -jk View Post
    Yes. Too many liberties. Beautiful, but unwatchable.

    -jk
    Somehow the same CGI that totally works in LOTR feels flat in The Hobbit.

    Lord of the Rings is one of the most ambitious movie productions in history. The Hobbit seemed a blatant money grab from the get go.

  6. #826
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    San Diego, CA

    Recommendations for Rich

    Quote Originally Posted by Rich View Post
    I don't necessarily need "easy" reading, but I need a story that will take me away and isn't bogged down in details or else I will fall asleep and/or put it down. A series of books I can get hooked on is even better. Recommendations?
    Rich-

    As a thriller author, I try to stay on top of the latest & greatest of what's out there in thrillers & mysteries. I'm happy to make some general recommendations or, if you have particular subgenres you like/don't like, I'm happy to be more focused. Just let me know.

    Joe

  7. #827
    Quote Originally Posted by Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 View Post
    Somehow the same CGI that totally works in LOTR feels flat in The Hobbit.

    Lord of the Rings is one of the most ambitious movie productions in history. The Hobbit seemed a blatant money grab from the get go.
    Sorry to be off topic, but I would like to point out that the Riddles in the Dark portion of the Hobbit movie is absolutely fantastic.

    Now, carry on.

  8. #828
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Steamboat Springs, CO
    Finished 800+ page Philip Roth biography by the controversial Blake Bailey. Hard working and utterly dedicated from college till he retired at about eighty. It was humbling, really. Not my taste in writing, although I now realize that some books I thought were Roth's were actually written by either Bellow or Updike.
    Sage Grouse

    ---------------------------------------
    'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013

  9. #829
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    New Jersey
    Quote Originally Posted by JosephReidBooks View Post
    Rich-

    As a thriller author, I try to stay on top of the latest & greatest of what's out there in thrillers & mysteries. I'm happy to make some general recommendations or, if you have particular subgenres you like/don't like, I'm happy to be more focused. Just let me know.

    Joe
    Thanks Joe! I tend to like adventure stories but since you literally have books to offer, I would be honored to read one of the books you've authored. Do you have a recommendation on which one to start with?
    Rich
    "Failure is Not a Destination"
    Coach K on the Dan Patrick Show, December 22, 2016

  10. #830
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    San Diego, CA

    Takeoff

    Quote Originally Posted by Rich View Post
    I would be honored to read one of the books you've authored. Do you have a recommendation on which one to start with?
    I'd be honored if you tried one of mine, thanks! My series starts with a book called TAKEOFF--it's the first adventure of my air marshal/investigator Seth Walker. If you were going to give my series a try, that's the logical place to start. And I don't know what format you read in, but it's actually on sale for Kindle this month, if that helps.

    In case you take a look at TAKEOFF and think it's not your cup of tea, a couple of other recommendations would be THE SHORT DROP (book 1 in the Gibson Vaughn series by Matthew Fitzsimmons) or BLACK NOWHERE by Reece Hirsch.

    If you do give my stuff a try, please let me know how you like it! I'm extremely grateful to anyone who invests their time and money into my books, but I totally understand they're not everyone's thing.

  11. #831
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    On the Road to Nowhere
    I stumbled upon this book in the library: Young Frankenstein: The Story of the Making of the Film by Mel Brooks.

    Very easy read, contains quotes from all the major players, and is basically a coffee table book.

    Young Frankenstein may be the greatest comedy of all time. While some of my other favorites may be limiting in their appeal: Caddyshack (golf), Animal House (college boy behavior), The Big Lebowski and all of Monty Python (somewhat acquired tastes), Young Frankenstein appeals to all ages and genders. Everybody gets it.

    Nothing is perfect, but YF comes very close.

  12. #832
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Quote Originally Posted by JosephReidBooks View Post
    I'd be honored if you tried one of mine, thanks! My series starts with a book called TAKEOFF--it's the first adventure of my air marshal/investigator Seth Walker. If you were going to give my series a try, that's the logical place to start. And I don't know what format you read in, but it's actually on sale for Kindle this month, if that helps.

    In case you take a look at TAKEOFF and think it's not your cup of tea, a couple of other recommendations would be THE SHORT DROP (book 1 in the Gibson Vaughn series by Matthew Fitzsimmons) or BLACK NOWHERE by Reece Hirsch.

    If you do give my stuff a try, please let me know how you like it! I'm extremely grateful to anyone who invests their time and money into my books, but I totally understand they're not everyone's thing.
    I second this, a very enjoyable read!

  13. #833
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD
    Am reading "The Death of the Artist" by William Deresiewicz, which is an analysis of the current state of the labor market for artists. Deresiewicz is also the author of Excellent Sheep, a critique of the culture at elite colleges. The "Artist" book is largely based on the author's interviews with a wide range of artists, both successful and not and both active and inactive. It's mostly about musicians, filmmakers, visual artists and writers, with not much about actors, dancers and other types of artists. It's always been a tough business, with a few big winners and lots of people struggling to make a living...it's a little like basketball in that regard. The business has changed, however, particularly for music but also for writers. One theme of the book, which I think is mostly accurate, is that the arrival of Amazon and internet music was predicted by some to introduce a new democratization of art and music, where producers could be matched to like-minded consumers in a form of e-bay-like efficiency, with the result that there would be a fat tail of medium-level art producers. Hasn't worked out that way, as art income is probably even more skewed than it was pre-internet. Deresiewicz tends to view this as the result of perfidy by Apple and Amazon, but I see it more that the internet did not eliminate the demand for curation, which I think of as the selection by "experts" of which books the reading/listening/viewing public should listen to. It turns out that navigating through all the options to read/hear/see is pretty challenging, and so people seem to not put the effort out to find those gems in the hinterlands of the internet.

    I'm reading this in part because I'm in the process of retiring to becoming a full-time author. It's been educational to see how hard it can be to have your voice heard above the din, but then, given that I have two recently-retired-from-my-field neighbors who are *also* trying to publish books, I probably should have known that already.

  14. #834
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    On the Road to Nowhere
    Just finished The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf.

    Anyone who is a scientist, or anyone who loves science and/or nature, should read it. I don't know if it's my memory, but I don't remember being taught anything about Humboldt in high school or college, don't even remember ever hearing his name. He was the greatest scientist of the early 1800s, and one of the most influential of all time. He had enormous influence on many disciplines and accomplished people, from Darwin to Bolivar to Thoreau to Muir and more.

    He was once celebrated in the U.S., and on the centennial of his birth the New York Times said he had a "fame no nation can claim". The author posits that WWI and WWII anti-German sentiment led us away from giving him his due.

    Though not a mountaineer, at the time he climbed higher than anyone had ever been, even the balloonists. He was the first to discuss human-induced climate change (in 1800!). There's much more, but you'll have to read it to get an appreciation for the man.

    If nothing else, this should whet your apetite: more species and more places are named after Humboldt than any other human being. Discover him.

  15. #835
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD
    Quote Originally Posted by dudog84 View Post
    Just finished The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf.

    Anyone who is a scientist, or anyone who loves science and/or nature, should read it. I don't know if it's my memory, but I don't remember being taught anything about Humboldt in high school or college, don't even remember ever hearing his name. He was the greatest scientist of the early 1800s, and one of the most influential of all time. He had enormous influence on many disciplines and accomplished people, from Darwin to Bolivar to Thoreau to Muir and more.

    He was once celebrated in the U.S., and on the centennial of his birth the New York Times said he had a "fame no nation can claim". The author posits that WWI and WWII anti-German sentiment led us away from giving him his due.

    Though not a mountaineer, at the time he climbed higher than anyone had ever been, even the balloonists. He was the first to discuss human-induced climate change (in 1800!). There's much more, but you'll have to read it to get an appreciation for the man.

    If nothing else, this should whet your apetite: more species and more places are named after Humboldt than any other human being. Discover him.
    Thanks for the suggestion...will give it a read but, to be clear, would doing so put me at risk of attack from a humboldt squid?
    On early 19th century science, I highly recommend Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes.

  16. #836
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    On the Road to Nowhere
    Quote Originally Posted by WillJ View Post
    Thanks for the suggestion...will give it a read but, to be clear, would doing so put me at risk of attack from a humboldt squid?
    On early 19th century science, I highly recommend Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes.
    Only if you're reading it in the Humboldt Current.

  17. #837
    Quote Originally Posted by dudog84 View Post
    Only if you're reading it in the Humboldt Current.
    Is that AC or DC?

  18. #838
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    My wife and I just finished 'The Possible World' by Liese Schwartz, who apparently is an ER physician and lives in Chapel Hill. I liked it.

  19. #839
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD
    Quote Originally Posted by sagegrouse View Post
    Finished 800+ page Philip Roth biography by the controversial Blake Bailey. Hard working and utterly dedicated from college till he retired at about eighty. It was humbling, really. Not my taste in writing, although I now realize that some books I thought were Roth's were actually written by either Bellow or Updike.
    When it comes to productivity, never underestimate the power of being a maniac

  20. #840
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Bethesda, MD
    Quote Originally Posted by dudog84 View Post
    Just finished The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf.

    .
    Thanks again for the suggestion...just ordered it. I also just ordered John Tresch's "The Reason for the Darkness of the Night," based on Michael Dirda's review in today's Post...mostly about Poe, but lots about Humboldt, too. https://www.washingtonpost.com/enter...f4b_story.html

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