I've made it thru many Simmons books, but only about 100 pages into both "Drood" and "Terror."

Last book of his I read was "Flashback" which turned out to be a very simple screed against Liberals; not as nuanced as his other writings. Left a bad taste, and haven't picked up any of his other books since, tho I have a few lying around.

THE 34-TON BAT: THE STORY OF BASEBALL AS TOLD THROUGH BOBBLEHEADS, CRACKER JACKS, JOCKSTRAPS, EYE BLACK, AND 375 OTHER STRANGE AND UNFORGETTABLE OBJECTS

by Steve Rushin

Easily one of the most interesting and entertaining sports books that I've read in years.

also reading....

SUMMER OF '49

by David Halberstam

A sports classic about the 1949 American League pennant race, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees and Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.  A very interesting read, but I enjoyed his basketball book THE BREAKS OF THE GAME  more because of my love of basketball and my having grown up during the era it covers (the late 70's).

The latest official James Bond book: 007, now in his 40s in 1969, is sent to African nations embroiled in a civil war to stop the rebels and return things to status quo.

Having read all of the Fleming novels recently, I found the writing overall felt similar to the originals and there were certain character touches that rang true (luxuriating in drinking and eating, fast cars, etc); but there were a number of things that seemed out of place: Q Branch appears (never mentioned in the books (right?) and does absolutely nothing to advance the story), Bond's housekeeper gets retired and her niece brought in, Bond beds a couple of women (typical for the films but I think only happened in one of the books). Also, tho set in 1969 there is little done to establish this other than the fact that Bond doesn't have things we take for granted now; maybe their absence was a subtle nod to that fact.

***

And now I remember why.  I'm at approximately the same point in TERROR, and my interest is barely holding.  It's a shame because there's an interesting story here, but it's buried and crushed under bloat and needless detail.  Brevity is really an increasingly lost art!