FOT SUMMER OF 2012 READING CHALLENGE

[Greggulator]

FINISHED: A Separate Peace, John Knowles. This was my favorite book I ever read in high school, largely because I had a perfect best friend I secretly wanted to destroy. I no longer have anyone in my life I would willingly betray, but I still love this book.

One Shot At Forever, Chris Ballard. Ballard writes for Sports Illustrated and I've never been much of a fan. I picked this up because I needed something to read on a plane ride and took it on a flyer. It's the true story of how some small farm town from downstate Illinois became a state powerhouse. It's REALLY good. It follows the sports book template of how a small town team came together to overcome the odds. But the characters in it are great. The central character is Lynn Sweet, the weird hippie high school English teacher who never coached baseball and was begged to take the job because no one else wanted it.

There are other sports books I like more; I can never read Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Barry again because the first time through was so magical I don't want to see any flaws. But I really liked this book a lot and eagerly await the movie starring Matthew McConnahey (or however you spell his dumb name).

[B_Buster]

Yeah, bc, he's about to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. For the record, I think both books are great. Nothing wrong with wordiness if it's interesting and builds suspense. Conrad builds suspense like no other writer I know. The boat sinking section in Lord Jim is fantastic.

[dave from knoxville]

Still working at The Broom of the System.

[Steve of Bloomington]

Still working at The Broom of the System.

That one didn't really stay with me like Infinite Jest did. Have you read 'The Pale King'? It felt more like a collection of stories than a novel. Really good stories though.

[buffcoat]

Yeah, bc, he's about to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. For the record, I think both books are great. Nothing wrong with wordiness if it's interesting and builds suspense. Conrad builds suspense like no other writer I know. The boat sinking section in Lord Jim is fantastic.

APMike - "You can stop right there.  He's already read it."

[Bryan]

I finally finished that damn Neal Stephenson book REAMDE. 1000 page books like that take all the oxygen out of the room. Reading At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien at the moment.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through REAMDE right now. It's the first thing by him that I've read, and I'm pretty much loving it. I'm blowing through it pretty quickly. (Unemployment helps on that count.) It's a little more pulpy than I expected, but I ain't complaining!

I recently read Super Sad True Love Story, which I also enjoyed very much. I had read Absurdistan, and thought it was just OK - overpraised. This one was kind of like Evil Dead 2 is to Evil Dead 1: it has almost everything that Absurdistan has in it, but it's better on almost every level.

Before that I read a George Pelecanos book called the Night Gardener. Very much on the same wavelength as The Wire.

And also recently read Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. Not as virtuosic/show-offy as Cloud Atlas. Still great! I didn't expect the tie-in to Cloud Atlas, so that was a nice surprise (not really a spoiler.)

I tried and tried to read Blood's A Rover by James Ellroy. I got about 400 pages in before I came to the conclusion that I was never going to enjoy it. It's kind of interesting on a stylistic level, but it is all very samey.

[Bryan]

I zigged when I should have zagged. I started The Broom of the System.

When I borrowed that one from the library back in 1994 or so, someone had inscribed a warning in the front cover "Don't bother with this - it is a waste of time." I read it anyway. Pretty impressive for a 20-something, but not in the same league as Infinite Jest.

[Bryan]

And one more thing: can anyone remember the name of the book and writer that Tom described as Pynchon with training wheels (or something to that effect)?

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I somehow missed this topic for weeks, and also have been reading more than usual (that's the unemployment thing again.)

[Kevin from Pittsburgh]

Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis :-)

[Bryan]

Thanks!

[Steve of Bloomington]

I finally finished that damn Neal Stephenson book REAMDE. 1000 page books like that take all the oxygen out of the room. Reading At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien at the moment.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through REAMDE right now. It's the first thing by him that I've read, and I'm pretty much loving it. I'm blowing through it pretty quickly. (Unemployment helps on that count.) It's a little more pulpy than I expected, but I ain't complaining!

I recently read Super Sad True Love Story, which I also enjoyed very much. I had read Absurdistan, and thought it was just OK - overpraised. This one was kind of like Evil Dead 2 is to Evil Dead 1: it has almost everything that Absurdistan has in it, but it's better on almost every level.

Before that I read a George Pelecanos book called the Night Gardener. Very much on the same wavelength as The Wire.

And also recently read Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. Not as virtuosic/show-offy as Cloud Atlas. Still great! I didn't expect the tie-in to Cloud Atlas, so that was a nice surprise (not really a spoiler.)

I tried and tried to read Blood's A Rover by James Ellroy. I got about 400 pages in before I came to the conclusion that I was never going to enjoy it. It's kind of interesting on a stylistic level, but it is all very samey.

Definitely check out Cryptonomicon, also by Stephenson. It alternates between a cryptographer who works with Turing during WWII,  and his grandson, who works with a startup creating a data haven. Similarly quite enjoyable to read and very interesting for the historical content (we geeks love Turing). Pretty nicely goes into encryption and codebreaking techniques without getting too opaque, although IIRC there's an appendix that gets fairly deeply into the Pontifex algorithm that appears in the book, if you want to go there.

[Bryan]

Thanks for the suggestion - I was thinking I would check out Snow Crash next (because of its prominent presence in Party Down!) but will move Cryptonomicon up the queue.

The thing that is most impressive about REAMDE is how he makes all the complicated nerd stuff so lucid and easily digestible. I was trying to summarize it to my wife, and realized that the premise is incredibly dense and complex.

[ndmvhc]

Yeah, bc, he's about to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. For the record, I think both books are great. Nothing wrong with wordiness if it's interesting and builds suspense. Conrad builds suspense like no other writer I know. The boat sinking section in Lord Jim is fantastic.

APMike - "You can stop right there.  He's already read it."

Maybe "wordy" wasn't the right word for Lord Jim. I guess I just didn't like or couldn't stay interested in it. In contrast, I find One Hundred Years of Solitude way more interesting after only 50 pages.

[Drew D]

Been out of a good reading groove lately, but a long weekend trip should get me back in.  Bringing a few short story books/poetry books and maybe try Zambra's "Private Lives of Trees" or Saramago's "Cain" if i want something a bit longer.

[bigoteetoe]

Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis :-)

I've just started reading Portis' The Dog of the South -- great! Can't wait to read this one next