Author Topic: Good Books  (Read 803 times)

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Offline Goddess

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2019, 11:08:27 am »
I'm about 1/3 of the way through this book right now.  I'm enjoying it.

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“A book you won’t be able to put down. A Bangladeshi immigrant in London is torn between the kind, tedious older husband with whom she has an arranged marriage (and children) and the fiery political activist she lusts after. A novel that’s multi-continental, richly detailed and elegantly crafted.” —Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Sisterland

After an arranged marriage to Chanu, a man twenty years older, Nazneen is taken to London, leaving her home and heart in the Bangladeshi village where she was born. Her new world is full of mysteries. How can she cross the road without being hit by a car (an operation akin to dodging raindrops in the monsoon)? What is the secret of her bullying neighbor Mrs. Islam? What is a Hell's Angel? And how must she comfort the naïve and disillusioned Chanu?

As a good Muslim girl, Nazneen struggles to not question why things happen. She submits, as she must, to Fate and devotes herself to her husband and daughters. Yet to her amazement, she begins an affair with a handsome young radical, and her erotic awakening throws her old certainties into chaos.

Monica Ali’s splendid novel is about journeys both external and internal, where the marvelous and the terrifying spiral together.
"A religion without a Goddess is half-way to atheism."

Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #16 on: March 15, 2019, 11:15:50 am »
This is fiction, or non-fiction?

I'm still only 40% through Pillars but it's still good. Shogun I'll have to finish next. (I tend to go from one book to another, then back again).
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Offline wilber

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #17 on: March 15, 2019, 11:46:50 am »
This is fiction, or non-fiction?

I'm still only 40% through Pillars but it's still good. Shogun I'll have to finish next. (I tend to go from one book to another, then back again).

Historical fiction based on real events. Pillars was based on a period of British history called "The Anarchy".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchy

The Shogun character Blackthorne was based on a real person. William Adams.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(sailor,_born_1564)
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #18 on: March 17, 2019, 06:46:01 pm »
I was referring to Goddess' book, not to Pillars or Shogun.

I knew that both of them (Pillars and Shogun) were based on real events, the Anarchy period (death of King Henry w/o a solid heir) and the warring daimyo period in Japan (one of many such eras in Japan). Toranaga is actually based on Tokugawa who became Shogun.

Pillars really paints a good picture of 12th century England, especially involving the Church.

My all-time favorite historical fiction novel is actually "The First Man in Rome" by Colleen McCullough. Chronicles the rise of Marius & Sulla toward the end of the republic phase of Rome. (Maybe I mentioned this book before, I don't remember. Please forgive my sieve-like memory.)
« Last Edit: March 17, 2019, 07:00:17 pm by SuperColinBlow »
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #19 on: March 30, 2019, 06:17:15 pm »
We had people over last night and somebody apologized for not returning a book I lent her - which I forgot I did.

Our Crowd is a fascinating history of the families who founded Lehman Bros and Goldman, Sachs. - Jews in New York - and anti-Semitism.

Offline wilber

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #20 on: March 31, 2019, 10:02:51 am »
I was referring to Goddess' book, not to Pillars or Shogun.

I knew that both of them (Pillars and Shogun) were based on real events, the Anarchy period (death of King Henry w/o a solid heir) and the warring daimyo period in Japan (one of many such eras in Japan). Toranaga is actually based on Tokugawa who became Shogun.

Pillars really paints a good picture of 12th century England, especially involving the Church.

My all-time favorite historical fiction novel is actually "The First Man in Rome" by Colleen McCullough. Chronicles the rise of Marius & Sulla toward the end of the republic phase of Rome. (Maybe I mentioned this book before, I don't remember. Please forgive my sieve-like memory.)

I thought it was an odd question, should have figured that out.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC
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Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #21 on: June 05, 2019, 02:53:19 am »
Picked up Founding Brothers again, hopefully this time I"ll finish it. Chronicles the period around the 1790s, and the more celebrated early politicians in the US, like Aaron Burr, Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams (and his wife), Washington, Madison and Ben Franklin. (the latter of which was a notorious poon-hound.)

https://www.amazon.com/Founding-Brothers-Revolutionary-Joseph-Ellis/dp/0375705244/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1559721133&sr=8-1
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
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Offline wilber

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #22 on: June 05, 2019, 06:46:21 pm »
Reading Micheal Ondaatje's latest, Warlight. I like his writing.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline JMT

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #23 on: June 09, 2019, 08:03:22 pm »
I've really fallen in love with the novels by Gregg Hurwitz.  Do No Harm, especially, really makes you feel like you're actually in the story, especially in audio book form.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2019, 10:33:35 pm by John Mark Taylor »
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Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #24 on: June 10, 2019, 04:27:47 pm »
I've really fallen in love with the novels by Gregg Hurwitz.  Do no harm especially really makes you feel like you're actually in the story, especially in audio book for.

What's he write about?
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FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
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Offline JMT

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #25 on: June 10, 2019, 10:32:54 pm »
What's he write about?

Crime thrillers mostly.

guest18

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #26 on: June 11, 2019, 09:07:43 am »
I just got a copy of Clyde Fans by Seth, which I think is probably the best picture novel I've ever read (or looked at) since Louis Riel by Chester Brown. He was doing a signing at my local book store, so I even got an original illustration inside. It's a melancholy story of two old brothers who run a fan manufacturing business in the fictional city of Dominion, Ontario in the last half of the 20th century, and the images largely focus on the storefronts and architecture of that time.

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Offline Super Colin Blow

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #27 on: June 11, 2019, 03:24:14 pm »
Ever read Bloom County comic strip? I got the two-volume set of the complete series last Christmas. If you want to count a comic strip as a "book", it's one of my favs.

Don't graphic novels have some dialogue?
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Offline wilber

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #28 on: June 11, 2019, 10:30:24 pm »
Ever read Bloom County comic strip? I got the two-volume set of the complete series last Christmas. If you want to count a comic strip as a "book", it's one of my favs.

Don't graphic novels have some dialogue?

One of the best ever.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

guest18

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Re: Good Books
« Reply #29 on: June 11, 2019, 10:46:38 pm »
Bloom County is awesome. I have the complete works and have worked my way through them. I'm currently up to 1985 in my reading of the Complete Peanuts and 1938 in my favourite, Gasoline Alley. I'm kind of an obsessive completist when it comes to reading newspaper comic strips. Start at the very beginning and work up.
But there's lots of dialogue in Clyde Fans, but also a lot of wordless pages that still tell the story.