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The Book Count 2021
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03-15-2021, 04:07 PM
Let's hook up!
I found several Greg Lynchs there but none looked like you. ![[Image: tenor.gif?itemid=12213479]](https://media1.tenor.com/images/ab363f8b0739046917f1051c4d26ee57/tenor.gif?itemid=12213479) https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/84...Gene_Ching
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
03-15-2021, 04:29 PM
I've browsed some lists on Goodreads but never considered getting on it. Amazon owns it, and since I'm Amazon-averse it's another reason not to.
the hands that guide me are invisible
03-17-2021, 01:34 PM
It's the biography of 3 time oscar winner Paddy Chayefsky. He won for Marty, Hospital, and Network. This book is a deep, exhaustive guide into his life. No stone is too small not to overturn in the search for tidbits.
He wasn't as prolific as I thought, but I seemed to go through a period where I saw his name on everything and it's why I wanted to found out about him. I was especially intrigued that he helped write Paint Your Wagon. Chayefsky was adept writing Plays, TV Shows and Movies and was successful in all three. It was good to see how creative people work but in many ways he reminds me a lot of Harlan Ellison I think the biggest surprise for me was that his best friend was Bob Fosse. And as for Paint Your Wagon. He was hired to do the job then had a falling out with Alan Lerner who did the original musical. He was fired. Chayefsky would have taken his name off the project but he wouldn't have gotten paid. Paint Your Wagon was just a minor blip in his story. There are a lot of fascinating stories in the book about the famous people and the making of Chayefsky's famous works. Lots of details. I think you'll have to be a real cinephile to want to read this book.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
03-21-2021, 08:08 AM
As it turns, I had not read 6 Wakes previously. Now, that I have read it, it would probably be better if I forgot the book entirely with the slight knowledge that I have read it. It wasn't very good. It wasn't horrible but something about all the characters seemed off.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
03-26-2021, 09:21 AM
Ragdoll by Daniel Cole
This was poor. I almost gave up halfway through because the writing style really irritated me. So many frickin adjectives. Every noun had to be described. And the characters were all very unbelievable. In the end, it was a waste of time. I also have the sequel to Ragdoll and I will be returning it to the library unread. Ragdoll is about a group of British Detectives trying to catch a serial killer. Ragdoll because the first body is made up of seven different victims all stitched together into one body. And as they try to figure out who the victims are, the killer releases a list of all the people he will kill next leading up to the death of the lead detective on the case. The deaths will occur every two days and there is nothing the police can do to save the victims. It was implausible of the highest caliber. And everyone is dumb and angry. At the end I didn't even care who did it.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
03-29-2021, 08:24 AM
As I Knew Him: My Father, Rod Serling by Anne Serling
Anne posts about her father on FB and they end up on my feed. It seemed interesting so I thought i would check out the book. There was a lot about Anne in the book and I feared we would never get to the point where we actually talked about Serling. But it does happen. Anne is a good writer and it makes me want to rewrite my own book after seeing what she did with her memoir. The things I didn't know about Rod Serling could fill a book and this book does do a good job of fleshing out his life and hitting the high notes. I didn't realize Serling was a paratrooper and fought his way across the Pacific in WWII, earning a lot of PTSD along the way. I found out the ending to the original Planet of the Apes was his idea. Plus there was a lot of talk about the shows he worked on prior and post Twilight Zone. He was also a big equality advocate but I think we can guess that from the humanist streak that runs through The Twilight Zone. And because Synchronicity continues to play a large part in my existence, Serling's biggest hero was Paddy Chayefsky. Odd that both died in their 50s.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
03-31-2021, 03:13 PM
(01-11-2021, 11:33 AM)thatguy Wrote: PS: I'm trying to read Confederacy of Dunces. I'm about 3 chapters in, but can't find solid blocks of time to read, what with the end of democracy and all... I read a book! I finished Confederacy of Dunces. The story about the author, his young death, his only book, etc seemed hype. It was OK, but not great in any way. The main character was a annoying, flamboyant, know-it-all. In my head, I was imagining a very fat Mr. Smith from Lost in Space. Devious and perhaps delusional, causing problems for everyone else. The ending was completely unsatisfying as you wanted to see him fail gloriously. OK Yeti, what are your thoughts? --tg  (03-31-2021, 03:13 PM)thatguy Wrote:(01-11-2021, 11:33 AM)thatguy Wrote: PS: I'm trying to read Confederacy of Dunces. I'm about 3 chapters in, but can't find solid blocks of time to read, what with the end of democracy and all... This turgid pile of typing was overhyped by the mother of the author, who, after the author did the right thing and killed himself, peddled the book all over until she finally found a publisher. One of the most overrated books of it’s day. I will also say that some people *love* this book, and 99.44% of them are from The South. Harriett loves it. ***Edited to remove the Yeti's quote from within tg's quote which confused me******
In the Tudor Period, Fencing Masters were classified in the Vagrancy Laws along with Actors, Gypsys, Vagabonds, Sturdy Rogues, and the owners of performing bears.
04-01-2021, 07:53 AM
Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron
It's Herron's first novel. It will be three or four more books before he gets to Slough House. It's not very good. His descriptions and characterizations are good but the plot just goes on forever. It's not as tight as his later books. But you can see him planting the seeds of his future novels. There is the out of control Spy service and the hapless people caught up in it. A house explodes in Oxford and two bodies are dragged out of it. The daughter was also in the house but she miraculously survives and then disappears from the hospital. A neighbor, Sarah, a bored housewife wants to find out what happened to the daughter. Complications ensue as Sarah hires a detective to find the girl but other forces don't want the girl to be found. If you want to read the Slough Series, you will miss nothing by skipping this book.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
04-04-2021, 06:05 AM
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
I enjoyed the Young Wallander series so much I thought I would dive into the books. Sadly, the book series starts much later in his life when Wallander has been broken by life. I can now see where some of the things started in Young Wallander pay off if you've read about the older Wallander. But for me the book wasn't very good. I like my detectives to be clever and Wallander is not that. More of a plodder in a haphazard way. The murders aren't very interesting. Wallander is in a terrible place in his life where he is out of shape and drinks too much and is at the end stage of a divorce. He also gets stopped for drunk driving. I guess the Scandinavian detective stories are supposed to be dour but usually there's a clever mystery at the heart. Not in this case. Maybe the books get better as the series progresses but someone else is going to have to take up that challenge. Although, if you like weather reports in every chapter this could be the book for you. Lots of temperature checks and discussions about whether it is going to snow or not.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
04-05-2021, 06:42 AM
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan Macguire
Maguire writes fast. She releases, it seems, every couple of months. She has a series that drops in the fall and one that drops in the Spring. In between she releases stand alone novels or she releases books as Mira Grant. She dumps poetry and short fiction on her Patreon page every week. it's impressive. Then there is the Wayward Children series of novellas of which Across the Green Grass Fields is the lates installment. The book's basis is what happens to children when they enter the magic doors that lead to fairytale realms. And also what happens when they come back. In ATGGF, Regan enters one of these doors after a traumatic experience at school. Her parents have informed her that despite presenting as a girl she actually has XY chormosomes. Her best friend at school treats her horribly and she runs off. She enters a realm populated by centaurs and other animal hybrids. Regan is treated as something special because she is the only human around. And a human portends mighty things are about to happen. Adventures ensue. She eventually gets kicked back to our world. I wanted to know what happens then but unfortunately that is all for this chapter. It was understandable place to stop but also very unsatisfactory. And I don't if this intentional or not, but if you follow Maguire on Twitter, you soon find out she has a tremendous love for the My Little Pony series of toys. She spends a lot of money buying every Pony she can find from all over the world. I got the feeling that Hoofland, the magical realm in the story, was just a place to put all her Pony Love into book form.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
16 Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker
I love K.J. Parker. He has such a great take on fantasy. It reminds me a lot of military Sci-Fi with it's attention to detail and minutia. And Parker is really fond of the unreliable narrator which is the case for 16 Ways. The whole book revolve arounds the siege of the last city in the empire. Orhan, leader of military engineering battalion finds himself the last military man standing and feels responsible for defending the city against impossible odds. It's funny and exciting and the world is really well built. There is another book in this series and I can't wait to read it.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
04-12-2021, 02:51 PM
Krav Maga Fundamental Strategies by David Kahn
Another YMAA ARC for something I'm gearing up to sling. It was surprising in that it was more about legal abd ethical ramifications of self defense and the use of appropriate force. Krav is a relatively new martial art. Like Aikido, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, and MMA, it's less than a century old. The founder died in 1988. There's some new terminology I had to learn (turns out gunt doesn't mean at all what I what I thought it did) and that general preachiness about Krav this and Krav that, but it was a decent read from a tactical and liable perspective. There's enough value that I can sling it. Unlike Greg's cancerous list of reads in the launching post of this thread, I'm just going to compile my list and pass it on every time I have an addition. Am I bothered that Greg is kicking all of our collective asses in the ridiculous number of books he consumes? No, not really. I'm bummed that he's not reading any books that helps me to support my lavish lifestyle. The Complete Martial Artist by Willie 'The Bam' Johnson The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Dogs: Breeds & Care. Welcome to Karate by Bruce Costas The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2019, edited by Sy Montgomery Spotting Danger Before It Spots Your Kids by Gary Quesenberry Jupiter's Legacy by Mark Millar, drawn by Frank Quitely Krav Maga Fundamental Strategies by David Kahn The Adept by Tasha Huo & Charlie Stickney, drawn by Li Yishan (maybe this one is padding the list because I was one of the 'action choreographer' but I finally got a hard copy).
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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