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TOPIC: What Dads Read for Fun
 

krellpw
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 7 Months ago
@Daddy Clay -- Know what you mean about "The Road." It was incredibly powerful and moving, but I haven't and don't think I could see the movie either. For me, part of the power and personal impact of reading it was imagining myself and my own six year old on that road. It made the read so much more impactful. Plus, I just don't think emotionally I could watch that story actually play out in front of me.

I have not read Gaiman's "Stories." I did read another of his anthologies "Fragile Things." I enjoyed that a lot. I've also read some of his other works, "American Gods," and " Anansi Boys." Both very entertaining reads.

I personally don't have a premeditated Summer reading list. My reading habits are far more impulsive. It's simply a question of what catches my eye as I browse the stacks either at my local bookstore or library. I look forward to checking out your list though.
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Daddy Clay
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 6 Months ago
One of the many joys of having slightly older kids is that when we go on vacation, when I'm not on the lookout for Great White Sharks, I actually have some time to read.

So I've updated my summer reading list with mini reviews of what I read over vacation here.
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Daddy Clay
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 5 Months ago
I'm done listening to Howard Blum's "American Lightning: Anarchy and Murder in Ragtime America." I didn't finish it. There's still about a half hour of the unabridged recording left. But I'm done.

I'm not sure why I haven't enjoyed this tale more, the professional reviews are very positive. It may be that I've always listened to fiction when I run, and this is history. It may just be that the reader rubbed me the wrong way. But I don't think so. The reader has a pleasant voice and wasn't intrusive. And the story of the bombing of the LA times in the early 20th Century is so packed with celebrities of history, and plot twists, that the spy novels and detective procedurals that usually fill my iPod have nothing on this book.

I think what bugged me was the level of inflated rhetoric. The author seemed to tirelessly pump the action up, so that he very consciously could compete with fiction. The bombast was finally overwhelming to me. Every event in the book was earth shattering, or the invention of a new era. Until I got earth-shatter fatigue.

And then there was the matter of the story of D.W. Griffith. Maybe he gets tied into the rest of the narrative in the last 30 minutes, but I'm too worn out to find out why.

If you are interested in this era of American history, this might be fun, but I am literally running back into the arms of Dave Robicheaux and the rest of the fictional detectives.
Last Edit: 2010/08/19 22:09 By Daddy Clay.
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chris_f
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
hey guys, I recommend GoodReads.com, feel free to look me up there (Chris Feyrer) and Owen Edgerton is there too-- along with reviews of his book.
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Daddy Clay
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
Hey Chris, thanks for the good reads tip. I spent some tie just yesterday, trying to find a social reading platform somewhere. I was looking at Scribd, but I'll be damned if I could figure out what that was. A social cloud for publishing docs and decks? How is that different from blogging?

I'll try GoodReads and hope it works out better.
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DanM
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
Lately, I have tried to squeeze in half an hour during her naps to read. I am almost finished Reading Huckleberry Finn and will start reading the Federalist Papers once I am done.

A kindle seems nice, but I am still addicted to old fashioned hardcovers and paper. Kindles are not as permanent as a good book.

Dan
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romburgundy
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
I'm about three quarters of the way through the audio book version of "The Road" honestly I'm afraid of finishing it.
Like he says in the book "what goes in your head never comes out" in any case I'm finding myself generally depressed by what i'm reading but cant help but want to know what happens.

Any advice from those who read it should i leave that one alone unfinished and move on to greener pastures?
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krellpw
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
Hey romburgundy re: The Road. I read that while traveling cross country from my kids a few months ago. Was definitely poor planning on my part. Without giving up any spoilers, I'd suggest that you have to ask yourself, "are you a glass half empty, or glass half full type of person?" If you're a pessimist, I'd suggest moving on. If you're an optimist, then read on.
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romburgundy
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
My wife says i'm a glass half empty guy but I say that I'm a time for another beer guy. She's probably right though! I think I might put that book away.

Thank you
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Daddy Clay
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
rom--

We had a huge debate at DL when that book came out. Troy and I both read it and were devastated by it. It's gone on to be a touch point for both of us and a frequent reference. It's one of those pieces of literature that shatters you, and stays with you, but also is a point of commonality and discussion.

I say, press on down the road.
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krellpw
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
Rom - To clarify my suggestion a bit. I would also encourage you to finish reading it.

It IS an incredibly tough read, and I can't tell you I enjoyed it. But it was moving, powerful. I'll never forget it.

And like before, I don't want to throw out any spoilers, but my personal interpretation of the ending is that it does offer the smallest ray of hope.
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romburgundy
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
I did finish it on the drive home last night and I think I agree with you about the ending. I know what you mean somehow I think that book has forever changed me. As for the movie I will not be watching that anytime soon!
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Daddy Clay
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 4 Months ago
I finished "The Glass Rainbow" by James Lee Burke on the trails of Lady Bird lake yesterday. My fellow runners could tell you how much I was absorbed by this solid police procedural by how often I implored out loud the main character to kick someone else's butt.

This installment of the Dave Robicheaux series may not have the literary depth of the masterful "Tin Roof Blowdown," but there is still enough bayou soul here to keep this installment from being just another thriller.

Dave and his derelict buddy Clete Purcel tangle with a powerful conspiracy of old family money that has somehow ensnared Dave's daughter Alafair. The plotting is assured and gripping, but what I really like about these books, is the intense sense of place, and the frequent poetical musings of the knight errant hero. These musings often take theological bent, and might otherwise put me off, if they weren't so completely ingrained into the fabric of a compelling character.

There is certainly no lack of melodrama, and our heroes have super-heroic competence in a firefight, but these are part of the genre and generally well handled.

This is fun and compelling storytelling, with a spicy dash of Louisiana folklore and philosophy.
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Daddy Clay
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 3 Months ago
I recommend a read of Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon for his imagining or our future attempts to master the limitations of our own biology, and the social ramifications that would have. I'm a sucker for the hard boiled, so the richly imagined world where "being sleeved" in a new body is standard practice, rendered in noir with a detective plot, gets me where I live. That said, while I found the world and the plot lots of fun, the characterizations left me cold, and I thought the sex scenes were over the top to the point of exploitation. My prudish objections aside, this book was great fun, and while I'm not running out to read the next installment, I'm curious.

If you have sci-fi inclinations, liked Blade Runner, this one is for you.

I'm now moving from 500 years in the future to 200 years in the past to listen to Master and Commander.
Last Edit: 2010/11/03 04:47 By Daddy Clay.
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ben
Re:What Dads Read for Fun
1 Year, 2 Months ago
Finished Book 11 of The Wheel of Time a week ago or so. That's the last one Robert Jordan wrote. Books 12-14 are written by someone his wife chose to finish out the series. At this point, if you were to listen to the audio books without a break, it would take more than 17 days. The last two books haven't been done as audio books yet. It's crazy.

Moved on to a Harry Dresden book, the one published last Fall. It looks like that series is coming to an end. And then I moved into religion books. Almost Christian is Kenda Creasy Dean's answer to the National Study on Youth and Religion. When I'm done with that, I'm probably diving into Christian Smith's book from his research in the NSYR. They don't have much good news. It seems that a lack of faith would be safer than the faith that kids in the 12-25 age range have across a wide range of religions in the US.

Then back to Book 12.

And I'm trying to write my own book that's been in my head for a nearly a decade. I wrote a first chapter while waiting for a court appearance for my divorce in 2001. I have no idea where it got to.
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