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The Book Review Thread

Started by TheNorm, May 11, 2015, 09:57:43 PM

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TheNorm

Sure, why the hell not? I'm pretty sure we had a thread similar to this before it got lost some time back in the server switch. Anyway, just posting a review I had on goodreads for this book I finished last night. Great book and a few tearjerker moments there.

Every Day I Fight by Stuart Scott

When Stuart Scott passed away in January of 2015, I was shocked-I knew he'd been battling cancer for years but I always just assumed he'd come back like he had before.

But cancer's a dick.

I really enjoyed this memoir, highlighting his life from his childhood to his years of playing sports, to his college years and him finding his passion-the news. You learn quite a bit about how he started at ESPN and just how much they were behind him there. And of course, you learn all about his battle with cancer.
Probably one of the things I love most about this book is that you can hear Stu's voice in your head, like he's there to tell you all these things. He's a real family man and it feels like his entire fight was for his two daughters that he loved very much. I'd recommend this book to anyone. The back cover also has his most remembered quote from the 2014 ESPYs, when he received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. You'll always be missed, Mr. Scott-I didn't know you personally but through this book I feel like I got a good look at the person you were. Thank you for sharing with us.

Quote"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live."

5 out of 5
"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr

Sakura

That's a pretty nice quote, I'm afraid I'm at a bit of a loss when anyone sports related comes up.  Pratchett died earlier this year too; seems like the good writers are on their way out.

rollntider

Yeah, I will have to pick that one up. Cancer sucks big time.



Crewe

Fitting he received the Jimmy V award

BojackHorsefella

I'm sad to see this thread died two years ago apparently. Lets see if we can revive it.

So, lets see if we can revive it. I'll start with just one for now.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Read this last year. I think it's being turned into a movie too, which makes sense. This is a really intelligent book, but also a breeze to read. The basic premise is this: A man who used to work in as a scientist who now teaches, his artist wife and their son live out a perfectly satisfying life, but his former colleague is winning an award for a scientific breakthrough. On a stroll at night wondering what his life could have been, the man is kidnapped and wakes up in a place he doesn't recognize, but where everyone thinks he's a single man who's been forging scientific breakthroughs, including a big one that allows for travel to parallel realities.

I don't want to spoil too much, but a book that could simply be a journey through endless possibilities delivers that and so much more, with a plot development towards the end that you won't see coming that makes perfect sense.

Highly recommend.

Sakura

Here, you might want this.

Edit: Oh, I forgot what the text said.  Ignore the text below "thread necromancy."

Sakura

Because I'm some kind of crazy person, I made this version.

BojackHorsefella

So, thanks to my time on Twitter and the copious amounts of authors, agents, editors and publishers I follow, I've been really getting into a lot of YA LBGTQ fiction. I read Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (which was adapted into Love, Simon) and Adam Silvera's They Both Die At the End which was freaking incredible. Just finished his debut novel, More Happy Than Not, which also floored me (TBDATE was better, but they're both incredible books).

Since I just finished MHTN, I suppose I'll give a short review of that:

Quick plot recap - it concerns 16 year old Aaron Soto. Aaron's a younger brother who lives in a one-bedroom apartment with his brother and mom after their father has committed suicide. He has a girlfriend, Genevieve, who he has a strong relationship with. Eventually he meets a boy named Thomas, which starts making him realize things about himself. Meanwhile, overshadowing all of this, is the Leteo Institute, and their new medical procedure that can make you forget things you don't wish to remember.

Now, reading that, it probably seems very obvious where the book is heading, but I was thrown for a loop by the twists it had and especially the ending. Silvera does a great job of introducing "ordinary" stories with sci-fi elements, almost like Black Mirror (They Both Die At the End does the same trick with amazing results). This is all about the characters and he writes characters you will empathize with, feel sorry for, and sometimes, yeah, think they're being assholes because sometimes they are. They're very real.

I also believe, this being his debut novel, there's likely a lot of traits and/or activities, especially when Aaron's hanging out with his group of friends, that may be anecdotal of the author's life, although I have nothing to back that up with. The only reason I mention it is because, to even have that inkling, just again goes to show why this is a character driven book.

So, yeah, if you have any interest in a genre or landscape that you may not normally read, I actually do recommend YA LGBTQ novels (and, honestly, YA is putting out some strong stuff all over. I read Angie Thomas' "The Hate U Give," also currently being filmed for a movie, which was also incredible. No wonder kids these days were ready to lead a political movement).


Also, I really wanted to try and revive the book review thread.

Crewe

Quote from: Bucfever on April 04, 2018, 12:04:36 PM

Also, I really wanted to try and revive the book review thread.

lol worth it.
Sounds intriguing but I am so far behind on my reading, my queue is deeper than my movie/tv list.

thaima1shu

Quote from: Bucfever on June 01, 2017, 07:26:39 PM
I'm sad to see this thread died two years ago apparently. Lets see if we can revive it.

So, lets see if we can revive it. I'll start with just one for now.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Read this last year. I think it's being turned into a movie too, which makes sense. This is a really intelligent book, but also a breeze to read. The basic premise is this: A man who used to work in as a scientist who now teaches, his artist wife and their son live out a perfectly satisfying life, but his former colleague is winning an award for a scientific breakthrough. On a stroll at night wondering what his life could have been, the man is kidnapped and wakes up in a place he doesn't recognize, but where everyone thinks he's a single man who's been forging scientific breakthroughs, including a big one that allows for travel to parallel realities.

I don't want to spoil too much, but a book that could simply be a journey through endless possibilities delivers that and so much more, with a plot development towards the end that you won't see coming that makes perfect sense.

Highly recommend.

I know this is a year old but having just seen this thread...man Dark Matter was AMAZING. Loved this book so much.

TheNorm

Nice.
Trying to finish Hamilton by Ron Chernow before I get to see the musical in Chicago at the end of the month...plus I love reading historical stuff. 560 pages through with a little less than 300 to go.
Also reading What Unites Us by Dan Rather, a very good read on current affairs and patriotism in this country.

On a bit of a history/non-fiction kick lately, so once I can wrap up Hamilton I've got Russian Five by Keith Gave on deck. It's about how the Red Wings acquired the five most famous Russian players on their team in the early to mid-90s. Some of the excerpts in the local fishwrap here have been intriguing.
"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr

BojackHorsefella

It's so old I forgot I'd already tried to revive this thread once, haha. Yeah though, Dark Matter is insanely good. I liked the rest of his work too, but none if it was even close to Dark Matter. I don't know if he found a better editor or something or the idea just made the creativity pour out, but it was just incredible.

BojackHorsefella

Quote from: TheNorm on April 04, 2018, 12:52:24 PM
Nice.
Trying to finish Hamilton by Ron Chernow before I get to see the musical in Chicago at the end of the month...plus I love reading historical stuff. 560 pages through with a little less than 300 to go.
Also reading What Unites Us by Dan Rather, a very good read on current affairs and patriotism in this country.

On a bit of a history/non-fiction kick lately, so once I can wrap up Hamilton I've got Russian Five by Keith Gave on deck. It's about how the Red Wings acquired the five most famous Russian players on their team in the early to mid-90s. Some of the excerpts in the local fishwrap here have been intriguing.


Those all sound awesome. I love non-fiction too even though I don't read it as much. Economics is my kick for real-world stuff moreso than politics. Predictably Irrational, Free Market Madness and 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism are all great.

Otherwise, sports are always good (Moneyball, of course. There was a followup later, I can't remember the name, but it was about the Tampa Rays after they lost the World Series. I remember reading it on the aircraft carrier). I need Keith Law's newest book.

Video game ones are really good too. Console Wars was freaking perfect. I will never say a bad thing about that book. Jason Schreier, from Kotaku, also has one out called Bleeding Pixels that's all about game development. It's highly insightful.

TheNorm

Hmm, I'm gonna have to look into that Console Wars book.
"But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." - Martin Luther King, Jr

thaima1shu

#14
Quote from: Bucfever on April 04, 2018, 12:52:55 PM
It's so old I forgot I'd already tried to revive this thread once, haha. Yeah though, Dark Matter is insanely good. I liked the rest of his work too, but none if it was even close to Dark Matter. I don't know if he found a better editor or something or the idea just made the creativity pour out, but it was just incredible.

I really enjoyed the Wayward Pines books, but none of his other ones looked quite as interesting to me so I never picked it up.

While we're at it, the last book I read was The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. If you're familiar at all with Greek mythology and/or The Iliad, then there's likely nothing groundbreaking here. But still, it was engaging and presented differently enough to be a very fun and quick read. It's told from the perspective of Patroclus and is actually a fascinating look into the relationship between him and Achilles.