i read a lot of sci fi and fantasy. So there are plenty of women authors. What i find regarding women when it comes to fiction is their ability to weave a tale is pretty amazing. they do a great job of getting you from point A to point B and ultimately to point Y. much better than men. Point Z is where they falter most of the time. Women are horrible at ending a story most of the time in my opinion. My theory is that my wife, my SIL's, my female friends don't care if endings in movies are good. they are in it for the emotions of the story creation. the ending is literally a 2nd thought if a thought at all.

Here's a good book:

Once Around the Bases: Bittersweet Memories of Only One Game in the Majors, compiled by Richard Tellis.

The author interviewed 40 men whose MLB careers lasted just a day or two. Included are John Paciorek, who went 3-3 with two walks for the Houston Colt .45s. What went wrong? Read and find out.

The book's chapters are short, and overall, it's very readable. You can pick up the book and put it down at any time. But the stories are, almost without exception, engaging and interesting. The voices are honest.

The players range from the Depression era to the late 1970s.

Gotta run. Great book!

_________________

I've mentioned this book before, but Loose Balls, Terry Pluto's book about the ABA, is terrific.

Has anyone read anything by Carl Hiaasen? I've read several of his books. They usually have some crazy characters and are pretty entertaining.

Saw a trailer recently for Inferno, starring Tom Hanks. I didn't realize Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) had written another book.

Anyone read Inferno? I was thinking of getting it prior to the movie's open in October.

As for women authors, JK Rowling.

_________________

Donna Tartt is like a modern Faulkner. She works slowly but has written two great novels and one that was entertaining.

_________________
Don't take it personally.

I prefer books about ABBA.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Anyone read any of the Dresden File Books? I really like them. I read a lot of alt history,Conroy and Turtledove are decent.

_________________
When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

it is a great book. Loosely put together though, but good.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

The Dresden files are good for the first 8 or 9. Then it gets into this weird attempt to combine the noir detective story with high fantasy and it gets inconsistent.

I also read Inferno. It's not as good as the DaVinci Code or Angels and Demons but it is better than that american one.

_________________

The Greatest Basketball Story Ever Told, by Greg Guffey.

About the Milan team from 1954, it's a brief (barely 200 pages) but still detailed look at the Milan Indians from '52-'54. They had a bunch of close calls, including almost getting beaten by a team from a high school populated by orphans, and didn't even play in their home gym (it was too small to accommodate Milan's fans). It's just hilarious how humble these guys were and how different a time it was. After winning the title, the team participated in a little parade around a local monument and then went back to their hotel. "We celebrated the state by drinking Cokes and watching TV," one player said.

Enjoyed this book, and could have easily gone on to read another 200 pages.

_________________

I used to like John Sanford Prey books but they've trailed off the last few years.

reading A Confederacy of Dunces which is an all time classic. Read it before but got picked for our intermittent book club.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I still enjoy them. Thought the last one was good.



Great book. Might be time to re-read that one.

Almost finished reading The Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. An excellent book if you like Alternate Histories, Steampunk, Zombies & the near total destruction of Seattle.

That's a hell of a genre mash-up.

Alternate histories are cool: The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth, in which Lindy beats FDR in 1940 and we cuddle up to the Nazis. A little dull in places, but the novel remains plausible--and scary.

Len Deighton wrote a WWII alternate history, and I think someone mentioned Fatherland before, but one of my favorite is a book called Budspy. Less plausible, not necessarily well-written, but interesting.

_________________

I was disappointed in that. Could have been much better. The ending was not believable.

_________________
Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Felt the same way about the Dresden Files, but I kept at them and there is one or two more good books as you go farther through the series. It supposed to go something like 25 books?

BTW, I just finished the fourth book in the Expanse series. Was kind of disappointed in Cibola Burn.

_________________

Me too, I felt like it started as a good trilogy and that felt more like a money grab. I decided to take a break from that series. I am now reading "A Darker Shade of Magic" It is an interesting dimension hopping book.

If you like high fantasy stuff, you should try Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. It has two books in the series but each is almost a thousand pages and it is really good but I'm a huge fan of Sanderson (he finished Jordan's Wheel of Time series with the best three books, he wrote another fantastic trilogy called 'Mistborn.' He's really good at setting up a world and compelling characters).

_________________

Absolutely hysterical.

_________________

Ordered this tonight for .01 on amazon. I love a good baseball book. Sounded really interesting.

The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. Carr writes for the Atlantic. This book discusses, among other things, the ways in which our online habits have destroyed our ability to concentrate on complex ideas. Interesting takes, regardless of whether you agree with them or not. You can also read many of the original articles online.

_________________

I'm re-reading the Mistborn trilogy right now. Really solid.

Justin Cronin just had the third book in his Passage series come out. Nice trilogy, the ending was a little bumpy but I enjoyed it overall.

_________________

I'll check it out, I'm almost done with the new Robin Hobb book, was looking for something new to read.

_________________

thanks for pointing this out. the sad thing is that this book is about 6 years old now and the internet has gotten more distracting and obnoxious since then.

i read a little piece from NPR after you mentioned this, and he makes some great points. it's like we're giving ourselves ADD voluntarily.

Well, crime fiction one of my favorites. Sure, Lucas Davenport, Harry Bosch, Dave Robicheaux and other heroes from USA authors. I have read them all. The Bosch TV series from amazon TV is fantastic. I love it. Season 3 now being filmed. James Lee Burke the best 'writer' but Michael Connelly is my favorite. Can never get enough of Harry Bosch (and Connelly's other two series)
But what about the great foreign crime writers? Scandis? Jussi Adler-Olsen is my favorite. And Henning Mankell for the traditional but fine 'procedural' type. And the Stig Larsson "girl with the dragon tattoo" novels.
UK--Ian Rankin's Det. Rebus novels. Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor series. Denise Mina's "Garnett Hill" trilogy is excellent.
South Africa--Deon Meyer's Benny Griessel novels that start with "Devil's Peak". These are great looks at South Africa as well as 'thrilling' crime novels.
A new favorite is Taylor Stevens' Vanessa Michael Munroe thrillers. She can really write some different stuff. Not to be missed.

Best place to find a books series in the order written is at orderofbooks.com http://www.orderofbooks.com/authors/taylor-stevens/

Newest best, to me, spy writer is former CIA NOC, Jason Matthews-- https://www.amazon.com/Jason-Matthews/e ... 067&sr=1-1
Ignatius, Silva, Berenson are all foreign correspondents who write the best spy novels. Dan Fesperman also, his first few books. "Lie in the dark", his first, not to be missed. Not really 'spy' as such.

Should be a dedicated book section.

Almost forgot Sara Petetsky's 'V. I. Warshawski P.I.' novels that are set in Chicago.

_________________
Obama's Legacy is Trump.
And dead cops.

"One guy lays the pipe, the other guy smokes it"--Clint Eastwood

You can't read.

_________________

Don't stalk me, bro. Leave book readers alone. Have you no shame?

_________________
Obama's Legacy is Trump.
And dead cops.

"One guy lays the pipe, the other guy smokes it"--Clint Eastwood

As someone who has ADD, I'd have to agree with that. It has many of the same effects (on both focus and anxiety). In any case, Carr is a good writer.

_________________

Ah, let me know what you think! I love this book. Would have love to have been the one to have compiled it!

_________________

Just finished 1776. I was a little underwhelmed. It is ok, but leaves you wanting since it literally stops at the end of 1776 and simply says the war will go on for about six more years.......

Very detailed and somewhat depressing.

_________________
Hawaii (fuck) You