BOOKS. whatcha readin...?

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:55 pm

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

I don't think I have ever read a book that was considered a classic before, so I figured this would be a good one to start with.

Started it last night and nearly halfway finished with it. Good stuff!

ric · Post by **ric** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:43 pm

@dan: not a fan of salinger myself.
@versive: thanks for the update

read Man in Full by Tom Wolfe
THEN read A Dance with Dragons by GRR Martin

i just picked up

1. Blood, Sweat and Chalk by Sports Illustrated, just to read something about football

2. The Call of Cthulhu and Other Dark Tales by HP Lovecraft, just to see what this is all about

3. The Big Con by David Maurer, which I guess is like a biography/manual of a true con artist(s) - originally published in 1940

4. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, to dip my dick into some bradbury and some sci-fi (i do not read books, i have sex with them)

Dunnnnleavy · Post by **Dunnnnleavy** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:13 pm

i'm 620 pages into "Infinite Jest"...i can't believe he wrote this when he was in his mid 20s.

also, this book wears you out. i'm kinda ready to move onto something else.

Doogs · Post by **Doogs** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:42 pm

Dan wrote:The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

I don't think I have ever read a book that was considered a classic before, so I figured this would be a good one to start with.

Started it last night and nearly halfway finished with it. Good stuff!

One of my favorites.

I've read several classics recently, the most recent being:

ChewbaccaUncircumcised · Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:40 am

just finished this. it was delightfully sacrilegious.

perfectprism · Post by **perfectprism** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:30 pm

We have similar senses of humor chewie, does the enjoyment come from ripping on religion or just general absurdity? If its the former ill probably skip it because it's kind of like reading about a dead horse getting raped at this point.

ChewbaccaUncircumcised · Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:26 pm

it's not that the author rips on religion so much as he just took the idea of "what if jesus knew kung fu?" and ran with it. it's absurd, yet poignant and provides a good deal of humor and food for thought.

highly recommended to all but the staunchly devout and/or humorless.

perfectprism · Post by **perfectprism** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:50 pm

Alrighty

I just read

Didn't know anything about it going in and thought it was a straight detective story. Wasn't prepared to get my mind fucked by metafiction and like a rape victim i will just jabber and stare blankly trying to talk about it. It's only 130 pages and i'd recommend reading it all in one sitting to get the full effect.

ric · Post by **ric** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 12:33 am

finished The Big Con by David Maurer

highly enjoyed it. highly recommend it to true crime and crime readers.
its all true.
the premise is this: its the 1940s and theres a linguist who likes how criminals talk. he especially likes how con men talk. he becomes friends with a bunch of them. they tell him a lot about how con men work and what they are like, etc.

if you can get past the way he writes, because you know, its in the 40s, you will like this book.

the quote on the front of it is from ellroy. it says "It's righteous! It's an illuminating textbook of the confidence game; it's a deft tour of early twentieth century crime; it's a feast of language." - James Ellroy

Funky Butler · Post by **Funky Butler** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:27 pm

ric wrote:finished The Big Con by David Maurer

highly enjoyed it. highly recommend it to true crime and crime readers.
its all true.
the premise is this: its the 1940s and theres a linguist who likes how criminals talk. he especially likes how con men talk. he becomes friends with a bunch of them. they tell him a lot about how con men work and what they are like, etc.

if you can get past the way he writes, because you know, its in the 40s, you will like this book.

the quote on the front of it is from ellroy. it says "It's righteous! It's an illuminating textbook of the confidence game; it's a deft tour of early twentieth century crime; it's a feast of language." - James Ellroy

fuck yeah i read this a couple months back

it's dope

blastmaster · Post by **blastmaster** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:32 pm

ChewbaccaUncircumcised wrote:just finished this. it was delightfully sacrilegious.

Gonna cop this today. Moore is hilarious.

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:17 am

blastmaster wrote:
ChewbaccaUncircumcised wrote:just finished this. it was delightfully sacrilegious.

Gonna cop this today. Moore is hilarious.

Ordered it last night based on the design alone. Never read Moore before, but this sounds like a great introduction.

blastmaster · Post by **blastmaster** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 5:23 pm

Dan wrote:
blastmaster wrote:
ChewbaccaUncircumcised wrote:just finished this. it was delightfully sacrilegious.

Gonna cop this today. Moore is hilarious.
Ordered it last night based on the design alone. Never read Moore before, but this sounds like a great introduction.

If you are at all a Shakespeare fan, check out Fool, his take on King Lear. Absolutely great.

None · Post by **None** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 12:02 am

Just read:

Reading right now:

Dunnnnleavy · Post by **Dunnnnleavy** » Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:54 am

Dan · Post by **Dan** » Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:04 pm

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Bought this book years ago because I heard how funny it was. Finally got around to starting it tonight.

ivan · Post by **ivan** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 1:51 am

I'll give it a try when I've got the time. Thanks for sharing.

Post by **thekeentwo** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:27 am

Post by **thekeentwo** » Wed Nov 02, 2011 7:36 am

^ giant picture is giant.
love how he writes. book is godly.

"It was ten-thirty. The sky was a fresh, bright bitch. This first April night had gone sucker and gifted her with a shimmering bracelet of diamond stars."

Dunnnnleavy · Post by **Dunnnnleavy** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 11:43 am

ChewbaccaUncircumcised · Tue Nov 08, 2011 1:28 pm

Dan wrote:A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Bought this book years ago because I heard how funny it was. Finally got around to starting it tonight.

This is one of my favorite books. It is equal parts brilliant and hilarious in its entirety, with the exception of the final chapter.

John Kennedy Toole wrote the book, and committed suicide before seeing it published. His mother, who eventually got it published, decided she didn't like how the story ended, and wrote an additional chapter.

It is shit, and actually detracts from the otherwise massive amount of enjoyment one might derive from reading this book.

I recommend closing the book when you reach the final chapter, but if you are like me and can't help yourself, read on and prepare to cringe.

Dunnnnleavy · Post by **Dunnnnleavy** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:48 pm

ChewbaccaUncircumcised wrote:
Dan wrote:A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Bought this book years ago because I heard how funny it was. Finally got around to starting it tonight.
This is one of my favorite books. It is equal parts brilliant and hilarious in its entirety, with the exception of the final chapter.

John Kennedy Toole wrote the book, and committed suicide before seeing it published. His mother, who eventually got it published, decided she didn't like how the story ended, and wrote an additional chapter.

It is shit, and actually detracts from the otherwise massive amount of enjoyment one might derive from reading this book.

I recommend closing the book when you reach the final chapter, but if you are like me and can't help yourself, read on and prepare to cringe.

i didnt know that about his mom writing the final chapter (i knew she's the one who got it published). odd.

also one of my faves...if it's ever made into a movie (an idea which has been peddled around for YEARS) i'd like to see either Glenn Beck or Patton Oswalt play him (after seeing him "Big Fan").

ric · Post by **ric** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:41 pm

finished

blood sweat and chalk by tim layden
an enjoyable romp through football history. love the option stuff.

boomerang by michael lewis (a good book, but not as thorough or masterful as his other recent stuff, it started out as a way for him to get some travel-stuff published - dont get me wrong, its a good, enjoyable read, but go into it with the right mindset and you wont be disappointed)

and ive been buying a lot of sweet football books, this is the first one i finished off
Concept Passing by dan gonzalez

ric · Post by **ric** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 2:52 am

The Hurry Up No Huddle by Gus Malzahn
a quick read. this is mostly an argument/manual for tweaking your system to the hurry up

ric · Post by **ric** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 2:59 am

Funky Butler wrote:
ric wrote:the big con
fuck yeah i read this a couple months back

it's dope

cool thing about this book - the movie 'The Sting' is based off characters and stories and techniques in this book

Ramen · Post by **Ramen** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:21 pm

hey ric you ever check out smart footballdotcom? based off your last few reads you would love that site.

alpha · Post by **alpha** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:43 pm

Ramen wrote:hey ric you ever check out smart footballdotcom? based off your last few reads you would love that site.

fuck, thats the site I've been trying to remember for ric.

ChewbaccaUncircumcised · Thu Dec 08, 2011 10:07 pm

amazon.com wrote:Ten billion days--that is how long it will take the philosopher Plato to determine the true systems of the world. One hundred billion nights--that is how far into the future he and Christ and Siddhartha will travel to witness the end of the world and also its fiery birth. Named the greatest Japanese science fiction novel of all time, Ten Billion Days and One Hundred Billion Nights is an epic eons in the making. Originally published in 1967, the novel was revised by the author in later years and republished in 1973.

ric · Post by **ric** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 1:14 am

alpha wrote:
Ramen wrote:hey ric you ever check out smart footballdotcom? based off your last few reads you would love that site.
fuck, thats the site I've been trying to remember for ric.

i saw this somewhere in the sports forum (analso post re: grantland?) and have been reading regularly and checking out the old posts from the blogspot url. brophyfootball is another good one that i think that dude is affiliated with. actually reading the sites i thought 'well why dont i pick up some books'

right now reading

Football Scouting Methods
by Steve Belichick

this ones great but also makes me feel like im reading a piece of option history or something, cause you know he was at navy and everything.

edit:
oh yeah a couple weeks ago i finished

The Martian Chronicles
by Ray Bradbury

it was pretty good. it plods along. take it or leave it. when i was a kid i had like a year subscription to a science fiction magazine and its pretty obvious how this book informs pretty much all modern short story science fiction.

vinylpops · Post by **vinylpops** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 2:48 am

I read this whole thread and wrote down some good recommendations tonight

This is what I read this year: