SMF

brothers wrote:The Night Manager by John Le Carre.

Coming to AMC as a miniseries.

Completed Ludlum's Bourne Identity for the third time over about 25 or 30 years. I have to admit that this time I found a bunch of loopholes that were difficult for me to resolve. Instead of moving to Bourne Supremecy, I went with history. My #2 son has a great collection of US history books of various shapes, sizes and topics. We were child watching #1 granddaughter last evening (#2 was already in bed) and I grabbed The Blood of Heroes, James Donovan's account of the story of The Alamo. I am just 100 pages in and it's excellent reading. Loving it. I sometimes forget how much I enjoy good historical accounts told well. And this is one of them.

Recently read 'Neurotribes' by Steve Silberman. An accurate description of the history of the autism diagnosis, with an appropriate bent—in my view—towards Asperger's take on it rather than Kanner's. Recommended reading for anyone with an interest and especially for parents (it is meant for lay people and requires no medical knowledge).

Otherwise, I am half way through re-reading O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin series, and I'll say again that anyone who hasn't read them is missing out on a treat. After that I have a stack on the bedside table waiting to be read:

Christopher Hitchens: 'And yet...' (probably read all this journalism in The Atlantic and Harpers, but worth a try.)
Richard Dawkins: 'Brief Candle in the Dark' (second volume of autobiography)
Mick Houghton: 'I've Always Kept a Unicorn' (a biography of Sandy Denny)
Robert MacFarlane: 'Landmarks' (I don't remember buying this or why. Might be a nice surprise.)
John Christopher: 'The Little People' (Loved his SF in the past, but I missed this one.)
Alan Garner: 'Boneland' (Final part in a trilogy, the first two being 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' and 'The Moon of Gomrath', this is written decades later. Childrens' fantasy novels of a high order, Weirdstone and an unrelated novel 'The Owl Service' are highly recommended for all ages.)

C.

drmoss_ca wrote:.. Childrens' fantasy novels of a high order, Weirdstone and an unrelated novel 'The Owl Service' are highly recommended for all ages.

C.

When I grabbed the Arthur series by Kevin Crossley-Holland. Youth books that I stumbled upon in Costco a few years back that have entertained me, one of my children, and hopefully at least a couple of grandchildren (or more) when they are old enough to read and enjoy.

You have piqued my interest in this series. Thanks Chris.

Tuesdays With Morie
A thoughtful and gentle read
Touching and peaceful

Finished reading The Revenant. I'm ready to go see the movie now. Interesting (mostly fictional) tale of the early 1800s fur traders and adventurers west of the Mississippi, based on the true life of Hugh Glass.

Finished The Blood of Heroes, and I highly recommend it. It's not that long a read, and I found it very easy to work through. Lots of good information that I never knew. The afterword is a good in-depth explanation justifying why Donovan included the story of William Travis and the line he drew in the sand asking who was with him to the death.

History is always biased to some degree by the writer, and I found this fairly neutral, but it sure made Santa Anna appear to be a real menace, which, in fairness, I believed he was well before I read this book.

Now onto American Tempest How The Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution by Harlow Unger. About 30 pages in so far, and it's another entertaining read. Again not long at all (under 300 pages).

As suggested by Wendell, I have started the Bourne series beginning at the beginning.

brothers wrote:As suggested by Wendell, I have started the Bourne series beginning at the beginning.

Funny -- I got rid of my 3 Bourne books (there are only 3 that matter), as I couldn't get past the seeming glitches in the story line.

Anyway - I am still hooked on history.

Read one of the Boston Tea Party (I can't believe I forgot the name) and am currently reading American Spring by Walter Bornean. Excellent read ..... well researched and documented without seeming heavy. In line next is probably Washington's Spies (apparently a cable series is based on this book, but as one who only watches TV for EPL, college sports or BBC/ITV, I wouldn't know).

Once I burn through those, I am anxious to read Dead Wake -- Erik Larson's volume on the Lusitania.

Anyway - I am still hooked on history.

If you havent already read it, 'the intel trinity' is a super fantastic read

clive

Posiedon's Arrow by Clive Cussler.

The Art of Fly Making by William Blacker, the 1855 edition.

jww wrote: Funny -- I got rid of my 3 Bourne books (there are only 3 that matter), as I couldn't get past the seeming glitches in the story line.

Wendell, I see there is a new movie coming out soon. "Jason Bourne". Are you familiar with this, or what are your thoughts?

brothers wrote:

jww wrote: Funny -- I got rid of my 3 Bourne books (there are only 3 that matter), as I couldn't get past the seeming glitches in the story line.

Wendell, I see there is a new movie coming out soon. "Jason Bourne". Are you familiar with this, or what are your thoughts?

Not one of the Bourne movies followed the books even closely. They are ok as movies, but I went in with an expectation that the story would be told along the lines of the books. I wasn't expecting word for word, but it would have been nice to have more of the key elements from the books. By the time the first sequel came out, they were down a path a very distant way from the book story lines.

I will probably watch in on an airplane or on a free rental or something like that, but not sure I would spend money to see it.

That's just my 2 cents --- ymmv. I know many folk who have quite enjoyed the movies. And I think I would have been able to enjoy them better had I not read the books first.

I'm back to starting the second Bourne book. If I can make it through all 3 of the originals, I'll probably be all Bourned out.

Finished Washington's Spies -- not bad, but not entirely great. The chapter on cyphers was brutal, but otherwise, not all bad. It felt like there was something missing, I couldn't put my finger on it.

Started Erik Larson's Dead Wake -- and it's outstanding. I'm almost a third of the way through it at the moment --- and when I finish it, plan to get ahold of his other books -- especially In The Garden of Beasts.

I quit trying to work my way into the second book. Work (as in hard labor) being the operative word. Looking back, I think they lost me when the author let the main bad guy just walk away at the very end, with a room full of several characters including Bourne who could have taken the guy out. It was a disappointing device the author Ludlum used to sell more books as sequels. I started the second book but quickly found my heart just isn't in it anymore. This (now deceased) author was obviously talented, but he's just too verbose and far and away over the top in detail. A perfect example of "too much information". The whole premise of the books is unrealistic and contrived. I'm done with this author.

brothers wrote:I quit trying to work my way into the second book. Work (as in hard labor) being the operative word. Looking back, I think they lost me when the author let the main bad guy just walk away at the very end, with a room full of several characters including Bourne who could have taken the guy out. It was a disappointing device the author LeCarre used to sell more books as sequels. I started the second book but quickly found my heart just isn't in it anymore. This (now deceased) author was obviously talented, but he's just too verbose and far and away over the top in detail. A perfect example of "too much information". The whole premise of the books is unrealistic and contrived. I'm done with this author.

Exactly.

I first read the Bourne books not too long after they were initially released, and was pulled into the model after Identity. Over a few short years I read every Ludlum book I could get ahold of. Then along came Tom Clancy -- and others ......... and once I rested on PD James, Colin Dexter, and other Brit whodunit crime drama authors, I was hooked. A good story with character development won me over from action seemingly for the sake of action in my fiction interests. Osterman Weekend is still a classic in my mind, though.

Loving the non-fiction works I've been reading as of late.

I just realized I made an error in my earlier post when I typed LeCarre when referring to the author in the context of the Bourne series. The author to whom I was referring is Ludlum, as Wendell kindly pointed out.

Moving on - currently reading The Emperor's Revenge by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison.