Books/Reading

chicowalker wrote:

about 1/3 of the way through the Jann Wenner biography and totally understand why he’s pissed. I’ve never read an authorized biography, with this kind of access, that shits on it’s subject so much (though seemingly deserved) 😆

Finishing up that book is what kept me from starting The Power of the Dog (which is already great 100 pages in).

Love how sycophantic Wenner is for Jagger and Lennon, and how much they shit all over him.

Lebron wrote:

Speaking of Wenner I got bored with him like half an hour into that HBO documentary.

Total hagiography. The book isn’t that.

LeCarre novels are good. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and The Little Drummer Girl are my favorites along with the Karla Trilogy.

On a general note, if anyone is interested in the Maura Murray disappearance, “True Crime Addict” is interesting. It’s written by a journalist who follows true crime stories and picks up the Murray case years later after being fired from his job in Ohio. A quick read, interspersed with some of his personal story. It is creepy in places. Don’t know quite what to think about it.

chicowalker wrote:

Tearing through Don Winslow/Dennis. Kevin, you can read the Cartel without reading The Power of the Dog (he weaves the backstory in when necessary) but I don’t recommend it. Read them both. Just finished The Winter of Frankie Machine. Much lighter than those two (no dead babies) but still good

Finally finished over vacation.  Amazing.    Way too much plot for a movie, but it should be a Netflix ten episode show.     Jumping right into The Cartel.

I’d even cast it for Netflix.   Nick Searcy is Art.  Giancarlo Esposito is Parada.    Esai Morales is Adan.   Jeremy Renner is Callan.

Lebron wrote:

I’m almost done with Power of the Dog. Fantastic. Look forward to the Cartel which I’ll be ready to start for an overseas trip next week

Check out Wikipedia after you finish. According to that, a lot of it is based on real characters, including the more vicious stuff.

Nonfiction-Norman Davies, Vanished Empires-really interesting. James Hornfischer- The Last Stand of the Tin Can sailors and Neptunes Inferno. very good reads. Leyte and Guadalcanal from a naval perspective.

You’re going to laugh, but I just finished reading First Blood.  If you don’t like the movie you probably won’t like it, but if you do check it out.  Spends much more time in Rambo and Teasle’s heads.  The author does a great job with setting scenes- I got a bit panicked/ disgusted when Rambo was trapped in the mine with the bats, for example

Don Winslow just announced the next book in “The Cartel” saga.  No name or ETA yet.

02062 wrote:

Thanks for the tip Kevin, I’ve got that up next. Just finishing up Simon’s “Homicide – A year on the killing streets” book – real good as well.

The Wire book is as easy and as enjoyable of a read as you could have hoped for. Amazing how many people the author was able to talk to (I think the only major character that didn’t grant him access was Wee-Bey). I’ve watched the entire series four times and I still learned a ton about the show.

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02062

chicowalker wrote:

Yes, thanks! Love me some Cold War stuff.

On the recommendation of two longtime friends, I’m now 4 books into the Bernie Gunther series by Brit Phillip Kerr. Gunther is a homicide detective in late ’30s Berlin who is swept up (unwillingly) by the rise of the National Socialists as they transform his life in instances large (taking over the nation’s government; police dept comes under supervision of the SS) and small (no more sausage, beer is dreadful and coffee non-existent). Other than the aspect that good looking frauleins are tigers in the bedroom and are Hot for Bernie, they are good multi-dimensional tales of a good man trying to survive in a worsening world. I admire the cleverness of the plots but am also learning a lot that I didn’t really know about Europe between WWI and WW2, including countries that came into being throughout that period.  They’re about a dozen of these and are probably best read in plot chronologic order, not the order in which they were published. Well worth the exploration.