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James Best
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Posted: 08 April 2014 at 7:35pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

I have thought about picking up David Halberstam's THE FIFTIES next from my local library.

•••

Excellent book. I've read it twice. Only two complaints:

A book about this Nation in 1950s, and it doesn't even MENTION comic books or UFOs? (And given what it does cover, this is an inexplicable oversight.)

Worst EDITED book I've ever read. Doesn't seem like anyone took the time to proofread it.

**********

JB: In terms of the poor editing, are we talking about spelling errors in the text or content that should have been removed? I saw that the book is some 800 pages long, so I wondered if some lazy editors should have streamlined it a bit.
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Wallace Sellars
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Posted: 08 April 2014 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

I am rereading Richard Stark's THE GREEN EAGLE SCORE.
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Matthew Chartrand
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Posted: 09 April 2014 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

 

 Just about done with the first book of the Game of Thrones series, really good.

 Does anybody know how the HBO series lines up with the books? Is season 1 book 1, or is seasons 1 and 2 the first book.

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James Best
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Posted: 10 April 2014 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

My target book by David Halberstam was checked out at my local library, so I have moved on to Plan B.

SHOWTIME by Jeff Pearlman. A history of the 1980s basketball dynasty of the L.A. Lakers. I have not read a non-fiction work on professional basketball in quite some time so this is very refreshing so far.

For those who like reading about the sport in question, I highly recommend two books by author Terry Pluto:

LOOSE BALLS: the Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association

TALL TALES: The Glory Years of the NBA
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Thom Price
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Posted: 16 April 2014 at 2:00pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Daphne du Maurier's REBECCA.  This is one of those books I read with indifference in high school (although I at least read it, rather than watched the movie or skimmed the Cliff's Notes like a lot of my classmates).  I've decided to re-read this and some of those other books that I'm sure I got little out of at the time.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 22 April 2014 at 6:51am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

My (nearly) annual sojourn into CITY AT WORLD'S END, by Edmond Hamilton.

Can't count the number of times I have read and reread this book since my father handed it to me when I was about 14, saying "Here, try this!"

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Thom Price
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Posted: 22 April 2014 at 6:56am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

I finished REBECCA last night; as noted, the last time I read this was in high school approximately 20 years ago.  Curiously, my reaction was exactly the same: an atmospheric book that builds beautifully to a climax at around the 70% mark -- and then totally falls apart.  The remainder of the novel is a slow, repetitious slog, as if du Maurier ran out of plot and stalled until the conclusion. 
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Robert Cosgrove
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Posted: 22 April 2014 at 9:08pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Just finished HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hilary Clinton, by Jonathan Allen and Aime Parnes, which covers HRC's career from the President Obama's offer for her to serve as Secretary of State to date.  I found it an interesting counterpart to Robert Gates' memoir about his service as Secretary of Defense for Bush and Obama.  I'd say the book is generally favorable to HRC, but not a hagiography. 
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David Ferguson
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Posted: 23 April 2014 at 6:20am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

JUDGE DREDD YEAR ONE: THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY by Michael Carroll. The first comicbook novel/novella that I have ever tried. Michael Carroll writes Dredd stories for 2000AD also and it shows as the tone of the book is perfect IMO. I enjoyed the mix between time periods (first few days on the street Dredd and Cadet Dredd). I'll be trying his superhero series of books.
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James Best
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Posted: 28 April 2014 at 1:15pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

Just finished reading THE FIFTIES by David Halberstam. Great book and I encourage others to track it down. Prior to this book, most of my reading about the 1950s had been limited to just the Korean War. So expanding that view via Halberstam's prose was very enjoyable.

Next up is CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust, the second book in her Angel Dare mystery series.   
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Thom Price
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Posted: 28 April 2014 at 1:22pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

THE WOMAN IN BLACK, by Susan Hill; off to a good start to a classic ghost story.
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Matthew Chartrand
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Posted: 28 April 2014 at 6:11pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

 

   Just finished HEADS IN BEADS. About the authors adventures in the hotel business. Interesting and enlightening reading.

  Just starting second book of the GAME OF THRONES series.

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