On to a more exciting thing, personally. My wife’s first publicly released novel “Rock This Summer”!
It is a YA romancey book, so it might not be everyone’s style, but if anyone has teenagers, or know people who like the young adult genre in general, check it out. It is only available on Apple Books at the moment; I’m so proud of her!
I read the first entry into the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, “The Colour of Magic”.
The way the story…flowed? (For lack of a better word) or didn’t flow reminded me very much of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Very random and jumping all over the place. Obviously that’s what Pratchett is going for, but it didn’t satisfy the same way Hitchhikers does for me.
I know there are a ton of books in the series, so I may just sprinkle them into my reading over the years instead of my usual dive right in and read the entire anthology I tend to do with series.
My next endeavor is “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. I read this book many years ago in high school; except for one thing. For whatever reason, I can’t recall why, I stopped reading at the final chapter and I never finished it. I don’t remember particularly liking it as a 16-17 year old. We’ll see how it goes as an adult.
Don’t give up on Pratchett. His books get much better as time goes on. Try “Going Postal”, then follow that with “Making Money” and “Raising Steam”. Or follow the character Sam Grimes (of the City Watch).
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Far better as an adult then I remember it as a teen. Exciting, suspenseful, innovative (for its time). A classic for the ages.
I’m excited because I got a shipping confirmation for my copy of Bill Watterson’s and John Kascht’s: “The Mysteries” which I’ve been anticipating since presales were announced this past Spring. I’m hoping it comes soon, but in the meantime, Brandon Sanderson’s latest secret project is out, so I’ll probably read that before “The Mysteries” arrives.
“The Ugly American”.
Background information at: The Ugly American - Wikipedia
Reminiscent of today’s climate.
“The Mysteries” was enjoyable. Its abstractness allows for a lot of interpretation and I liked it. My wife did not care too much for it though. She found the illustrations to be distracting to a fault.
The latest ‘secret project’ “The Sunlit Man” by Brandon Sanderson was very good. A nice addition and change of pace from the typical cosmere universe.
Picked up “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery. One of those books I’ve always had sitting there, but just haven’t picked up. My wife loves the whole series, so she’s been suggesting it to me for some time. I am about 95% finished and I’ll pre-empt my review for it now. It is good, enjoyable, and well paced. I don’t know that I’ll continue the series, but I’m glad I’ve read it.
@pmover , I looked into “The Ugly American” and my local library doesn’t have it on the shelf, but I’ve requested it through inter-library loan. So hopefully I’ll have it in the near future. Thanks.
Have been reading various stuff on my Kindle that I download from the public library. Some books I can’t get through, but some catch my interest.
Lately have been reading some of the Thomas Kydd sailing adventures by author Julian Stockman. These are pretty good ripping sea yarns, and compare well (though not quite as good) as Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey sailing books - the books from which the movie “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” was derived. Though that series itself was similarly derived from the Horatio Hornblower books by C. S. Forrester, which I keep meaning to find copies of.
I have recently listened to some personal improvement books as audiobooks.
Thanks for the Feedback, Sheila Heen & Douglas Stone, read by the authors. Covers every dimension I can think of in situations where one person has to provide their opinion to others, and seen from both sides. Highly recommended for everyone. The authors develop many examples to illustrate every point they make, even sharing some of their own experiences and applying their lessons to themselves.
Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss. Many lessons based on the author’s experience. I enjoyed both the anecdotes and the advice, which is well developed beyond the author’s experience into situations people are likely to encounter in business and personal life. Specific to certain kinds of situations such as negotiations and conflict resolution, though.
Leadership Strategy and Tactics, Jocko Wilink. Lessons based on the author’s experience in the military, applied to workplace situations. Personal stories are well told, though the narrative style is aggressive (and meant to be) because it’s read by the author himself, and he was a US Navy Seal. Also limited by the emphasis on specific military situations, making the examples to mundane business and workplace conflict and teamwork too few.
I’m back. I’ve been reading a bunch of books I haven’t been posting over the past few months. Some more Brandon Sanderson, Martha Wells, and rereading some Becky Chambers
I just finished “Fair Play” by Katie Barnes. I was perusing the sports section of my local library looking for books on coaching youth sports (see my thread: Coaching Youth Sports to understand why) when I saw two books that caught my eye.
“Raising Empowered Athletes: A Youth Sports Parenting Guide for Raising Happy, Brave, and Resilient Kids” by Kirsten Jones, and;
the previously mentioned “Fair Play” by Katie Barnes
“Raising Empowered Athletes” was what I read first. I’ve been having difficulties figuring out how to handle my own children in the midst of their teams and on the field. I feel I am too hard on them as their coach due to the parental connection. I know what they are capable of, and I have a tendency to get overly disappointed in them when they do no live up to it. This book did help me put some of that into perspective though. It especially helped me realize that I am nowhere near the level of monstrous behavior that coaches/parents exhibit in the world of elite youth sports. It certainly gave me a peek into a world I barely knew even existed with regard to elite youth sports.
“Fair Play” was something that caught my eye for other reasons. As news stories have been hitting the topic of transgender participation in sports, I (like many others) have paid some attention to it even though I have no personal connection to the topic up to this point. I’ve formed some opinions over the years and with any controversial topic, I’ve been told I am wrong and I should think differently. This book did enlighten me to a lot of information and different stories I’ve never heard. It definitely has me thinking differently on the topic than I previously did. Some of my previous opinions I feel were validated, some were questioned and I’m not so sure about, and others I’ve completely flipped on. Overall, it was very interesting and I appreciated the writing very much. At the very least, I hope that if I do come across a situation in my coaching tenure where this information becomes relevant, I think I’ll have a better foundation to stand on when navigating it.
I think that describes the whole point of reading on any topic, and why reading is so important.
[quote=“SuperSalad, post:131, topic:1679”] I know what they are capable of, and I have a tendency to get overly disappointed in them when they do no live up to it.
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Amen SS. I purposely decided not to teach my kids to ski, but left it to others. They all enjoy skiing today as adults.
Took a while for my library to get a loan, but the Philadelphia library finally came through and I got a copy about a week ago. I am about halfway through “The Ugly American” and I absolutely love it so far. It’s written in a way to be completely believable, as it should be, and I’ve got nothing bad to say about is so far. Just wanted to say thanks to @pmover for the suggestion.
you are welcome! I think it should be mandatory reading for every high school student interested in foreign relations.
I finished it last night, and I truly enjoyed it. I’m often a little trepidatious about books of that era, for some reason. I think I get it in my head that they’ll be hokie or out of touch in general, but that book really hits the nail on the head for past and current events. Even the epilogue, which the authors took the opportunity to explain themselves with, was interesting and I was excited to read each line.
So again, thanks for the recommendation. I’m beginning on some Vonnegut now. I’m planning to read “Cat’s Cradle” which I haven’t read since sophomore year of high school but I have fond memories of. Then I’m planning on hitting a few of his books I haven’t touched before.
although my opinion, most books of that era or earlier are better written and more descriptive. yes, the fundamentals of human relations do not change, only the people change.
Ok, since my last post I went on a bit of a Kurt Vonnegut binge.
I re-read Cat’s Cradle. I didn’t love it quite as much as I remember from my teens, but still good, to be sure. Breakfast of Champions, Galapagos, Jailbird, Slapstick, Deadeye Dick, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. I feel like I might be missing 1 or 2 others, but I can’t recall at the moment. They were all definitely Vonnegut style books: funny, weird, depressing, etc. So I enjoyed them.
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater was the real standout to me though. I enjoyed that one more than the others. I think because it was almost believable in comparison. I think I just actually kind of liked Eliot Rosewater, which was a nice change of pace from his normal main characters, who I find myself almost rooting against most of the time.
Anyway, since that time, I’ve also read “Masters of Modern Soccer: How the World’s Best Play the Twenty-First Century Game” by Grant Wahl. Just a little pick-me up in preparation for the newly begun season of coaching the two youth teams this spring. It was more interesting than I thought it would be. Some pretty interesting insights from some of the world’s star players, coaches, managers, etc.
And finally, “Catch 22” by Heller. I’ve always meant to read it, but I just hadn’t picked it up until now. It started out weird, got slow and tedious, then it got very funny, got even more funny, and then it was over. Overall, I did sort of like it. It wasn’t what I had been expecting at all, but it was a fun read and I do get why it is as celebrated as it is. It reminded me a lot of Vonnegut’s work, but not quite as bizarre as that.
I’ll second your comment about Heller’s Catch 22. How it’s written surprised me, but the message indeed is the one I had picked up by osmosis before reading it. And there have been so many takes on the theme that it’s impossible to avoid. Like the whole premise of MASH.
I’ve read Cat’s Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5. Never really got into Vonnegut, though he is quite readable. I may have to bite the bullet and finally read Catch 22. Now that I’m semi-retired I am looking for things to catch up on.
So following up with authors like Heller and Vonnegut, you would think that I would like Thomas Pynchon… but no. I tried Gravity’s Rainbow and I couldn’t find it funny or thoughtful. Shrug.
Not long ago I listened (on audiobook) to the Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett). This was fun but I’m (again) glad that I got it on audio because I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much in print. The reason is that the story is the prototype of the private-eye detective story, and it’s been copied so many times that all of us know nearly every beat of this kind of story. We have seen so many twists and turns just like the Maltese Falcon that we can “see around every corner”.
The thing that made the audiobook fun is the narration by the voice actor. William Dufris puts a cartoonish, almost Spiderman twist on the voices of the characters. It brought the text to life in every scene.
So a little change of pace. At the insistence of my oldest child (10) that I should read them. I have been reading the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series by IDW Publishing. They began publishing in 2018 and it is an ongoing series. I am nearly caught up to the most recently released issues.
And I gotta say, these are pretty dang good!
They are a lot of fun. I played a lot of Sonic the Hedgehog video games on Sega back in the day and more recently when I unearthed my old Sega Genesis a few years back. The newer “live action” movies have been great. The old and new cartoon shows have been watched many times by my kids and I sit down every once in a while and watch an episode with them.
The comics obviously go way deeper into the world than the 2D platformer games did. The character lists are immense and they are really fun, and goofy, and flushed out. Overall it is good. So if anyone wants a kid targeted, modern, and pop culture icon based reading material, I give this one 2 thumbs up 
