WWTBAM Bored

Some of us lots of "inside time" to enjoy this winter, thanks to epic snowfalls. I recently began writing the follow-on to Haney Field in which April, former 12-year old batgirl extraordinaire, is now a 13-year old amateur scout covering the Cape Cod league for the Red Sox. Since I know very little about the world of baseball scouting, I need to do lots of research. Thus, my current read is:




I just finished this very interesting, first person techno-thriller:



and this from an old fave:




Coming soon:

Vandal wrote:Coming soon:

I read that one. This Galbraith definitely shows some promise as a writer. I read the second Cormoran Strike novel, The Silkworm, and enjoyed it more than the first. --Bob

I've been reading The Emigrants saga from Vilhelm Moberg; I got the first two volumes at Christmas (The Emigrants and Unto a Good Land), and am now about a quarter of the way into The Settlers. These novels are about a group of Swedish emigrants in the mid-19th century to Minnesota (insert Garrison Keillor joke here).

I got interested in this series after listening to (and later purchasing) an opera based upon these novels by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (the Bs from ABBA), and wanted to read the source material.

One interesting thing I learned from reading the novels that wasn't portrayed in the opera (and, like any book, a lot gets left on the cutting room floor, if you will) that I wasn't aware of is how different 19th-century Sweden was compared to today. When I think of Sweden now, I think of a liberal-leaning, almost welfare state. Back then, not only was it primarily agricultural (with the land almost played out, with more stones than dirt to plant in), but it was a very class-oriented society, and the Swedish Lutheran church of the day was every bit as heavy-handed as the Roman Catholic church of the middle ages.

Well, besides certain originals and sequels...I didn't finish The Goldfinch, because it was excrutiatingly annoying. I did just finish Station Eleven, which was marvelous, and am currently reading Dear Daughter, which is also marvelous.

Finished The Kid - Ben Bradlee Jr.s 800-page biography of Ted Williams. It took him ten years to research and write, long enough that of the 600 people he interviewed, 30 had died by the time it published - granted, many of them were older, but that's still a startling fact.

The short version: Williams was one of the best ball players ever (OK, one of the best hitters ever) and he was great with very sick children, but one of the worser husbands or fathers on record.

The last sequence with his son John-Henry was just gross all around.

Up next: Timothy Ferris, The Mind's Sky

After about 20 years of wanting to do so, I finally joined a book club, one which would not only fit my bridge schedule, but the membership would have me!

I just read And Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari (since retitled Rosewater thanks to the Jon Stewart movie). I'm now reading Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay.

Next up: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I never read it when I was a kid, so I dibsed it. We were all supposed to pick a different Dickens book, and the hostess will lead us through a discussion about Dickens, his life and times.

Just finished American Beauty, Karen Abbott's book about Gypsy Rose Lee.

Abbott had access to both Erik Preminger's collection of his mother's papers and several interview sessions with June Havoc. Led to an amazing book.

NEXT on the list - not sure.

There are a few in the queue but I start a new writing job on March 9 - And need to polish my screenplay for submission to a bunch of contests in early April.

After that, might go with short stories or series of essays or something like that.

I'm currently reading (and about halfway through) an interesting book. It's called Fully Alive-Discovering What Matters Most, and it's by Timothy Shriver (son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver, brother of Maria).

It's mostly about the Special Olympics and how it got started way back in the sixties. The first ever Special Olympics competition was held in Chicago. Today it can be found in over 100 countries.

There's a part in the middle that Skoop would enjoy, since she's into philosophy. Shriver writes about the spiritual crisis he had when he was in his twenties, and teaching at an inner city high school in New Haven. He couldn't figure out how to reach the kids, many of whom were from poor backgrounds (a far cry from the privileged world of the Kennedy clan). He eventualy studied for a masters' in spirituality and education (a very unusual combination) at Catholic University of America in Washington DC.

I am enjoying this one and learning a lot.

SportsFan68 wrote:After about 20 years of wanting to do so, I finally joined a book club, one which would not only fit my bridge schedule, but the membership would have me!

I just read And Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari (since retitled Rosewater thanks to the Jon Stewart movie). I'm now reading Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay.

Next up: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I never read it when I was a kid, so I dibsed it. We were all supposed to pick a different Dickens book, and the hostess will lead us through a discussion about Dickens, his life and times.

We spent half of my freshman year of high school dissecting Great Expectations. I can't think of better book to discourage students from liking English.

mellytu74 wrote:Just finished American Beauty, Karen Abbott's book about Gypsy Rose Lee.

Abbott had access to both Erik Preminger's collection of his mother's papers and several interview sessions with June Havoc. Led to an amazing book.

NEXT on the list - not sure.

There are a few in the queue but I start a new writing job on March 9 - And need to polish my screenplay for submission to a bunch of contests in early April.

After that, might go with short stories or series of essays or something like that.

I did not know you wrote screenplays!

I don't read a lot for pleasure during the school year, but I am re-reading the Harry Potter series in order for the first time since Deathly Hallows came out. Discovering little details I had forgotten is such a pleasure. Rowling is so good at detail and continuity. I'm almost finished with Order of the Phoenix now. Had completely forgotten about Firenze taking Trelawney's place.

Since I've started a new job, I haven't had as much time for reading or writing lately. Ironically, it seems like almost everything I'm reading now are requests from people on Amazon to review their books.

I recently read Moby Dick for the first time. One should read a couple of thousand books before reading Moby Dick.

Now when I see a picture of a Killer Whale I think of the gnomon from a sundial. I was interesting when he talked about whales who could not see directly in front of them, not knowing about echolocation.

Also read Randall (xkcd) Monroe's What If. Its a very odd book.

I'm reading a lot for for nowadays. The last fiction book I read was Steele Resolve which is $2.99 only on Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RJ5 ... AXK2XPURGS

It's a detective story with a female lead but still appealing to men.

Here's my review on Amazon:

What do you get when you take a detective story, a love story, a family story, comedy, surrealism, deep introspection, and multiply those by great, skillful writing? This book! Warning, you'll need Kleenex unless you have no heart.

For lent rather than giving something up, I've been trying to read the bible cover to cover. It's been 5 years or so, and I'm up to the adventures of David.

hard copy: New American Bible, revised edition
audible: New American Bible, revised edition

On Sundays (dispensation day):
hard copy: Logbook for Grace: Whaling Brig Daisy, 1912-1913, Robert Cushman Murphy
audible: American Gods, Neil Gaiman

e-mail via Dailylit.com: Middlemarch, George Eliot

While trying to catch up on my e-magazines (mostly the science fiction ones) during real reading time, on my commute I'm listening to Cary Elwes narrate his memoir "As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride". Next up is audiiobook #4 in Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series.

Bob Juch wrote:

mellytu74 wrote:Just finished American Beauty, Karen Abbott's book about Gypsy Rose Lee.

Abbott had access to both Erik Preminger's collection of his mother's papers and several interview sessions with June Havoc. Led to an amazing book.

NEXT on the list - not sure.

There are a few in the queue but I start a new writing job on March 9 - And need to polish my screenplay for submission to a bunch of contests in early April.

After that, might go with short stories or series of essays or something like that.

I did not know you wrote screenplays!

It is the final for my screenwriting certificate at University of the Arts. Once I have a reading - all professional actors at UArts - I'll get the certificate.

I've actually finished the screenplay but this is the buffing of the rough patches and spackling a small plot hole to get it ready. It will be finished this weekend, then further polishing and a few workshop nights.

mellytu74 wrote:

Bob Juch wrote:

mellytu74 wrote:Just finished American Beauty, Karen Abbott's book about Gypsy Rose Lee.

Abbott had access to both Erik Preminger's collection of his mother's papers and several interview sessions with June Havoc. Led to an amazing book.

NEXT on the list - not sure.

There are a few in the queue but I start a new writing job on March 9 - And need to polish my screenplay for submission to a bunch of contests in early April.

After that, might go with short stories or series of essays or something like that.

I did not know you wrote screenplays!

It is the final for my screenwriting certificate at University of the Arts. Once I have a reading - all professional actors at UArts - I'll get the certificate.

I've actually finished the screenplay but this is the buffing of the rough patches and spackling a small plot hole to get it ready. It will be finished this weekend, then further polishing and a few workshop nights.

So you'll soon be a certified screenwriter. I think that's something like being certified insane. I speak from experience.

I just started this:

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:Also read Randall (xkcd) Monroe's What If. Its a very odd book.

I listened to that about a month ago on audiobook. It's read by Wil Wheaton, for bonus nerd points!

MarleysGh0st wrote:

themanintheseersuckersuit wrote:Also read Randall (xkcd) Monroe's What If. Its a very odd book.

I listened to that about a month ago on audiobook. It's read by Wil Wheaton, for bonus nerd points!

So did I . Mole of moles

The writing on some hot chick's tramp stamp.... oooh, it's in Mexican!

Reading is fundamental!

On my short vacation just now, I read Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Excellent. Easy read because it is a series of essays so you can start and stop without losing the thread.

Just finished Gray Mountain by Grisham. Much better than his last