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**WestSideRabbit** · 02-05-2011, 10:28 AM

Re: Books!

The book that Buster Olney wrote about Don Meyer "How Lucky You Can Be" was very interesting. I had always attending his camps at Northern as a kid and always thought that I would have loved playing for him, but sounds like before his accident his priorities were all out of wack. Its a pretty good read that helps with self reflection.

**mango4** · 02-05-2011, 11:47 AM

Re: Books!

Originally posted by da_coach View Post

A thread started as a spin-off from the, Kindle, Nook, or Book thread.

Any good "reads" out there you'd like to share with the forum:

Currently, I'm reading "The Miracle of St. Anthony"- which has been really good.
http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-St-Ant...6852904&sr=8-1

Over Christmas break I read "Born to Run" - which was phenomenal
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidde...6852971&sr=1-1

Also read some good fiction books in the past year, but my favorite was probably Stephen King's "Under the Dome"
http://www.amazon.com/Under-Dome-Nov...6853078&sr=1-1
-Which was pretty good. It was actually terrific until the last 1/10th of it. Which seems pretty common for him, he gets all these balls up in the air, and doesn't seem to be able to get them all down without dropping a few.

This. Also, fun fact. The South Dakota team they mention at the beginning of the book is none other than the Dakota Schoolers.

**mango4** · 02-22-2011, 04:49 PM

Re: Books!

I received "The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the end of America's Childhood" for Christmas, which was a very good read.

Also, just finished Friday Night Lights for about the 10th time, it's always entertaining to me.

**da_coach** · 03-29-2011, 08:20 AM

Re: Books!

Originally posted by mango4 View Post

This. Also, fun fact. The South Dakota team they mention at the beginning of the book is none other than the Dakota Schoolers.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minu...page&play=true

60 minutes report on Bob Hurley...might get someone interested enough to read the book.

**West-River_Jack** · 04-17-2011, 12:14 PM

Re: Books!

I just finished re-reading the final installment of the Harry Potter series. It troubles me greatly that the most noble of all of the characters in the books, Luna Lovegood, was not mentioned in the epilogue!

**da_coach** · 04-18-2011, 01:38 PM

Re: Books!

Currently going through Scorecasting, which has been a phenomenal book to read as a sports fan/coach/former athlete.

Really good information in here.
http://www.amazon.com/Scorecasting-H.../dp/0307591794

**RabbitObsessed** · 06-09-2011, 01:07 AM

Re: Books!

Somebody recommend me something to read. Last couple authors I read were Chuck Palahniuk, Kurt Vonnagut and David Sedaris if that helps anyone.

**trueblue** · 06-09-2011, 10:12 PM

Re: Books!

Just finished "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. A tremendous true story about Louis Zamperini - ran the mile in 4:18 as a high schooler- made the 1936 olympics in the 5000 m after only running that distance 3 (?) times. Likely would have been 1st person to run sub 4 mile. Was a bombardier in WWII- survived plane crash, many days lost at sea and Japanese prison camp. Was very hard to put the book down. Hillenbrand also wrote "Seabiscuit."

**mango4** · 06-09-2011, 11:55 PM

Re: Books!

Currently reading "Those guys have all the fun"

Pretty interesting so far.

**Prairiehaas** · 06-12-2011, 07:28 AM

Re: Books!

No help here RO. Last two books I've read are The Homebrewer's Companion and The Landmark Thucydides. Both are great if you are into brewing or ancient history. Otherwise they are more than a bit thick

**filbert** · 06-12-2011, 07:44 PM

Re: Books!

What I'm reading right now? You don't wanna know.

OK:
- How the Scots invented the Modern World
- The Libertarian Reader
- The Dutch Republic: It's Rise, Greatness and Fall 1477-1806
- Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands 1780-1813
- The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
- The 1960 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica (which I just picked up yesterday for $20--cheap!)
- (On order): The replica edition of the 1768 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

People have occasionally noted that I am an unusual person. I told you you don't wanna know.

(Actually, all of the above are more or less research for a science fiction book/book series/universe that I've been dabbling with, on and off, for probably 20 or 30 years, but only got serious about in the last couple of years or so. 1788 is a critical year in my story/universe. It's also something of a crisis year in the Netherlands, hence the research in that direction.)

The last "fun" books I've read was to re-read some of David Weber's Honorverse novels (science fiction)--"At All Costs" and "Storm from the Shadows."

My SF story doesn't have a lot in common with the Honorverse, except a dash of Tom Clancy-esque techno-thriller around the edges. Or at least, that's the plan.

(This would also be part of the reason why I'm posting and generally paying less attention to sdsufans.com than has been the norm. A guy's gotta branch out, yah?)

**RabbitObsessed** · 06-12-2011, 08:37 PM

Re: Books!

I've always wanted to get into Science Fiction but I never seriously tried. I know Dr. Taylor teaches a SF class and he is brilliant. In his comp class my freshman year, he had us read Vonnegut's short story Harrison Berrgeron and it is extremely good. Anyone that likes sci-fi or satire should definitely read it since it is mildly short.

Filbert, any more info on your possible project? Definitely sounds intriguing.

**Prairiehaas** · 06-18-2011, 06:28 PM

Re: Books!

How the Scots invented the Modern World is an excellent read. I will have to check into the books on the Dutch Republic. I've read a couple on that topic (of course) both were poorly done.

What is the importance of 1788, if I may ask? The events I'm aware of are the ratification of the US constitution, the death of Carlos III and the publication of the London Times. None of those appear pertinent to your project.

**filbert** · 06-19-2011, 06:50 AM

Re: Books!

1788 just kind of serendipitously fell out of the hat for me, so to speak.

The basic premise of my SF universe is that there's been this rather nasty (actually quite human-like) alien race out there that's been pretty systematically killing off any potential competition in the galaxy for tens of thousands of years, before they came across another alien race that was nearly as nasty as they were--and the two killed themselves off. One of the survivors of nasty race #1 survived and eventually made his way to Earth about 5,000 years ago, decided it was a nice enough place, and settled down. Eventually, humans kind of made him homesick and he started taking an interest in human affairs, eventually . . . well . . . avoiding spoilers . . . taking an active interest, in an unusual way.

The mode of his unusual interest (and the schedule thereof) was where 1788 came from--it just happened to be one of the dates that fell out of my schedule of Things That He Did--and it just happens to be probably the high point in the Enlightenment--one of the major turning points in human history.

Lecture/Commentary Mode: 1788 is where the Enlightenment noticeably began to fracture into two distinct threads--typified I think by the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The period from 1770's until about 1815 is a really fascinating period in human history, pretty much molding the shape of the world we live in today and displaying the very best and the very worst of humanity, all packed into a couple of decades. (Parenthetically, reading about the Dutch in that period transmits some very, VERY eerie resonances with what some people are saying about America today. Very eerie. A Cautionary Tale, almost--not to say that the USA is going to be overrun by some Chinese Napoleon or anything like that, of course. "History doesn't repeat itself. But it does rhyme.")

I'm actually working on two main story lines in this universe--one around 1788, the other about present-day (or very-near-future). Lord knows when (or if) I'll have anything ready for public consumption.