Introduction (General Book Club Discussion)

Discussion in 'TMB Book Club' started by Arkie Proud, May 2, 2012.

  1. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    Good with me
     
  2. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Lots of books coming out in October to add to my already too long of a list.

    Bridge of Clay, by Markus Zusak. - Loved the Book Thief. Looking forward to the next one
    The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi - 2nd book in the series. Fun goofy sci fi trilogy
    The White Darkness by David Grann - anything by Grann is worth reading. About a dude that attempted to walk across Antartica alone
    Singularity Trap - Dennis E Taylor - I liked Bobiverse enough to give this a shot
     
  3. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Thoughts for November?

    How about either the Zusak or Grann books?
     
  4. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    Grann is my guy so I'd probably read that regardless. Maybe the Zusak as I probably wouldn't read that on my own accord.
     
  5. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Somebody tell me what the November book is
     
  6. rv12

    rv12 Cowabunga
    Donor TMB OG
    Tennessee VolunteersAtlanta BravesGreen Bay PackersColorado State RamsSneakers

    Currently reading A Ladder To The Sky and really enjoying it. Think y'all should check it out for a future book club.
     
  7. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Hey lets get back on the horse for December.

    I have no ideas for nomination.... Someone save us.
     
    The Blackfish likes this.
  8. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    I think I have different tastes then a lot of the people who post in this group but I have a long list of books to read if anyone is interested in any of these we could use them.

    In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
    by
    Doug Stanton
    4.28 · Rating details · 16,335 ratings · 895 reviews
    A harrowing, adrenaline-charged account of America's worst naval disaster — and of the heroism of the men who, against all odds, survived. Interweaving the stories of survivors, Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless. The definitive account of a little-known chapter in World War II history, In Harm's Way is destined to become a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.

    On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained undetected by the navy for nearly four days and nights. Battered by a savage sea, they struggled to stay alive, fighting off sharks, hypothermia, and dementia. The captain's subsequent court-martial left many questions unanswered: How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? And perhaps most amazing of all, how did these 317 men manage to survive? (less)

    The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime
    by
    William Langewiesche
    3.81 · Rating details · 756 ratings · 107 reviews
    The open ocean--that vast expanse of international waters--spreads across three-fourths of the globe. It is a place of storms and danger, both natural and manmade. And at a time when every last patch of land is claimed by one government or another, it is a place that remains radically free.

    With typically understated lyricism, William Langewiesche explores this ocean world and the enterprises--licit and illicit--that flourish in the privacy afforded by its horizons. But its efficiencies are accompanied by global problems--shipwrecks and pollution, the hard lives and deaths of the crews of the gargantuan ships, and the growth of two pathogens: a modern and sophisticated strain of piracy and its close cousin, the maritime form of the new stateless terrorism.

    This is the outlaw sea that Langewiesche brings startlingly into view. The ocean is our world, he reminds us, and it is wild.

    Citizen Soldiers: The U S Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany
    by
    Stephen E. Ambrose
    4.20 · Rating details · 18,007 ratings · 406 reviews
    From Stephen E. Ambrose, bestselling author of Band of Brothers and D-Day, the inspiring story of the ordinary men of the U.S. army in northwest Europe from the day after D-Day until the end of the bitterest days of World War II.

    In this riveting account, historian Stephen E. Ambrose continues where he left off in his #1 bestseller D-Day. Citizen Soldiers opens at 0001 hours, June 7, 1944, on the Normandy beaches, and ends at 0245 hours, May 7, 1945, with the allied victory. It is biography of the US Army in the European Theater of Operations, and Ambrose again follows the individual characters of this noble, brutal, and tragic war. From the high command down to the ordinary soldier, Ambrose draws on hundreds of interviews to re-create the war experience with startling clarity and immediacy. From the hedgerows of Normandy to the overrunning of Germany, Ambrose tells the real story of World War II from the perspective of the men and women who fought it. (less)

    Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
    by
    Dick Winters,

    Cole C. Kingseed
    4.26 · Rating details · 12,026 ratings · 483 reviews
    They were called Easy Company—but their mission was never easy.Immortalized as the Band of Brothers, they suffered 150% casualties while liberating Europe—an unparalleled record of bravery under fire. Dick Winters was their commander—"the best combat leader in World War II" to his men. This is his story—told in his own words for the first time.
    On D-Day, Dick Winters parachuted into France and assumed leadership of the Band of Brothers when their commander was killed. He led them through the Battle of the Bulge and into Germany, by which time each member had been wounded. They liberated an S.S. death camp from the horrors of the Holocaust and captured Berchtesgaden, Hitler's alpine retreat. After briefly serving during the Korean War, Winters was a highly successful businessman. Made famous by Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers—and the subsequent award-winning HBO miniseries—he is the object of worldwide adulation, Beyond Band of Brothers is Winters's memoir—based on his wartime diary—but it also includes his comrades' untold stories. Virtually all this material is being released for the first time. Only Winters was present from the activation of Easy Company until the war's end. Winner of the Distinguished Service Cross, only he could pen this moving tribute to the human spirit.

    Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
    by
    Dee Brown
    4.22 · Rating details · 49,581 ratings · 2,747 reviews
    Now a special 30th-anniversary edition in both hardcover and paperback, the classic bestselling history The New York Timescalled "Original, remarkable, and finally heartbreaking...Impossible to put down."

    Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown's eloquent, fully documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. A national bestseller in hardcover for more than a year after its initial publication, it has sold almost four million copies and has been translated into seventeen languages. For this elegant thirtieth-anniversary edition—published in both hardcover and paperback—Brown has contributed an incisive new preface.

    Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee changed forever our vision of how the West was really won. (less)
     
    Tangman and RegimentML like this.
  9. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    I’ve read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It’s a good read
     
  10. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Any of those are fine with me
     
  11. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    I would read Bury My Heart or the Ambrose book.
     
    The Blackfish likes this.
  12. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    Okay lets go with the Ambrose book then, I'll probably start it tomorrow
     
    Tangman, RegimentML and The Blackfish like this.
  13. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    I’ll start Citizen Soldiers after I finish my current book. Might be a week or two but it sounds interesting.
     
    CBH likes this.
  14. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    Same. Working on 1491 now.
     
  15. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Anyone have a problem with continuing the December book into January? I feel like most of us have been busy and haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet. I said as much in that thread but wanted to make sure everyone was cool with it.
     
    Truman likes this.
  16. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    I’m cool w that. In the same boat.
     
    CBH and The Blackfish like this.
  17. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Washington Black for February ?
     
    Tangman and RegimentML like this.
  18. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

  19. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    Sounds good to me too
     
  20. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    I may be a little tardy (long wait list) but I'm in too.
     
  21. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    do you need/want an e-book copy?
     
    Tangman likes this.
  22. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    If you're offering, sure
     
  23. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    I'm 35% through December January's book still so I'll be a little late as well, but I have it queued up on my Kindle.
     
    CBH likes this.
  24. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Early nom for March -

    Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James.

    First book in a new fantasy series set in West Africa. The hype for this book is enormous and I think it's already optioned for a TV deal. We read his previous book A Brief History of Seven Killings for book club a few years ago.

    Comes out tomorrow, so it gives us plenty of time to acquire the book.
     
    BigRed and CBH like this.
  25. CoastalOrange

    CoastalOrange Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Clemson TigersTennessee VolunteersBarcelonaUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamLiverpool

    I would be game for that. I have been absolutely terrible about reading for enjoyment since reading is such a major part of my professional life. Hoping that by joining in something like this will kick-start me to start reading for pleasure again.
     
    CBH and Truman like this.
  26. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    I didn’t love A Brief History of Seven Killings but I’d be willing to give James another shot
     
    Truman likes this.
  27. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    I thought it was a really difficult read, with the phonetic spellings of Jamaican patois. I hope this book is a little easier, lol.
     
  28. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Philadelphia 76'ersArsenal

    I have The newest book if anyone needs it let me know. Going to try to start Washington Black here tonight. Finally if anyone can share the Ambrose book let me know.
     
  29. Pharm

    Pharm Right Handed
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta HawksAtlanta Falcons

    Just purchased the fifth season trilogy. does anyone have any thoughts on it before i dive in.
     
  30. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    I liked it. It dragged in parts. Im not the biggest fantasy guy though.

    It's pretty highly rated though.
     
    Pharm likes this.
  31. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    I would like to recommend a book for April May June July. I've seen a few people touting it and Sepinwall, whom I respect, sealed the deal for me.
    Publishes on 6/18.
    upload_2019-3-14_8-48-18.png



     
    CBH and Truman like this.
  32. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    On that note, I'd like to nominate Winds of Winter for July, 2022
     
    BigRed and The Blackfish like this.
  33. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Well I was originally nominating it for April then when I was linking the Amazon page I realized it’s release date was mid June

    Jerk.
     
    Truman likes this.
  34. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Also that book will never be published
     
    TwoPoor, BigRed and Truman like this.
  35. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    The sad thing is before I hit the reply button, I had an internal debate if that date was too early where someone might think I was serious.

    :feelsbadman:
     
    The Blackfish likes this.
  36. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    Right after we read The Doors of Stone.
     
    The Blackfish likes this.
  37. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Shall we jump back into book club in May?
     
    Wallcoq likes this.
  38. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    Sounds good to me
     
  39. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Anyone have suggestions? I have a couple but my last pick was a massive bust and possibly killed the book club
     
  40. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    I’ve done that multiple times over the past 6 or so years

    :yolo:
     
  41. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    She Would Be King
    by Wayetu Moore
    4.01 · Rating details · 1,928 ratings · 360 reviews
    A novel of exhilarating range, magical realism, and history—a dazzling retelling of Liberia’s formation.

    Wayétu Moore’s powerful debut novel, She Would Be King, reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three unforgettable characters who share an uncommon bond. Gbessa, exiled from the West African village of Lai, is starved, bitten by a viper, and left for dead, but still she survives. June Dey, raised on a plantation in Virginia, hides his unusual strength until a confrontation with the overseer forces him to flee. Norman Aragon, the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave from Jamaica, can fade from sight when the earth calls him. When the three meet in the settlement of Monrovia, their gifts help them salvage the tense relationship between the African American settlers and the indigenous tribes, as a new nation forms around them.

    Moore’s intermingling of history and magical realism finds voice not just in these three characters but also in the fleeting spirit of the wind, who embodies an ancient wisdom. “If she was not a woman,” the wind says of Gbessa, “she would be king.” In this vibrant story of the African diaspora, Moore, a talented storyteller and a daring writer, illuminates with radiant and exacting prose the tumultuous roots of a country inextricably bound to the United States. She Would Be King is a novel of profound depth set against a vast canvas and a transcendent debut from a major new author. (less)

    Here and Now and Then
    by Mike Chen (Goodreads Author)
    3.79 · Rating details · 1,588 ratings · 480 reviews
    To save his daughter, he'll go anywhere—and any-when…

    Kin Stewart is an everyday family man: working in I.T., trying to keep the spark in his marriage, and struggling to connect with his teenage daughter, Miranda. But his current life is a far cry from his previous career as a time-traveling secret agent from 2142.

    Stranded in suburban San Francisco since the 1990s after a botched mission, Kin has kept his past hidden from everyone around him, despite the increasing blackouts and memory loss affecting his time-traveler's brain. Until one afternoon, his “rescue” team arrives—eighteen years too late.

    Their mission: return Kin to 2142 where he's only been gone weeks, not years, and where another family is waiting for him. A family he can’t remember.

    Torn between two lives, Kin is desperate for a way to stay connected to both. But when his best efforts threaten to destroy the agency and even history itself, his daughter’s very existence is at risk. It'll take one final trip across time to save Miranda—even if it means breaking all the rules of time travel in the process.

    A uniquely emotional genre-bending debut, Here and Now and Then captures the perfect balance of heart, playfulness, and imagination, offering an intimate glimpse into the crevices of a father’s heart, and its capacity to stretch across both space and time to protect the people that mean the most. (less)

    Im getting a Dark Matter/ All The Wrong Todays vibe from this one.
     
    Kevintensity and The Blackfish like this.
  42. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    We could do one of these, we still haven’t done either right?
     
  43. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    We didnt. Although I got half way through the Zusack book and had to stop. It was a snooze.
     
  44. Gin Buckets

    Gin Buckets Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Virginia Tech HokiesIndiana HoosiersAtlanta BravesAtlanta HawksAtlanta Falcons


    I suggested one in the "Boooks You've Read" topic a couple weeks ago. I just accidentally posted in the wrong thread.

    The Changeling
    by
    Victor LaValle
    3.80 · Rating details · 8,816 ratings · 1,592 reviews
    One man’s thrilling journey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after seemingly committing an unforgiveable act of violence, from the award-winning author of the The Devil in Silver and Big Machine.

    Apollo Kagwa has had strange dreams that have haunted him since childhood. An antiquarian book dealer with a business called Improbabilia, he is just beginning to settle into his new life as a committed and involved father, unlike his own father who abandoned him, when his wife Emma begins acting strange. Disconnected and uninterested in their new baby boy, Emma at first seems to be exhibiting all the signs of post-partum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go far beyond that. Before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act—beyond any parent’s comprehension—and vanishes, seemingly into thin air.

    Thus begins Apollo’s odyssey through a world he only thought he understood to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His quest begins when he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Emma’s whereabouts. Apollo then begins a journey that takes him to a forgotten island in the East River of New York City, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest in Queens where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever. This dizzying tale is ultimately a story about family and the unfathomable secrets of the people we love.
     
    #844 Gin Buckets, Apr 28, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2019
  45. rv12

    rv12 Cowabunga
    Donor TMB OG
    Tennessee VolunteersAtlanta BravesGreen Bay PackersColorado State RamsSneakers

    I just finished Where the Crawdads Sing and can’t recommend it enough. It’s probably my favorite book of 2018/19.
     
    BigRed, Wallcoq and RegimentML like this.
  46. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    I never made it to last months book. Guess I didn't miss anything.
     
  47. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    I vote for the second one
     
  48. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    I just found out that Thomas Harris has his first book since Hannibal Rising coming out in May. IM pretty excited for that. Hope he hasnt lost his fastball in the last 15 years or so.
     
  49. Gin Buckets

    Gin Buckets Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Virginia Tech HokiesIndiana HoosiersAtlanta BravesAtlanta HawksAtlanta Falcons

    How many have read it? Sounds like a glowing recommendation for a book club book.

    Edit: That is to say that I'd be excited about a book like Crawdad (with that kind of endorsement), but not as much the 2 Truman suggested. (If push came to shove, I'd read the 2nd one, but have heard less great things about the first.)

    Also, can we never read another Marlon James book? I get it. The guy has a critically acclaimed unique style, but it's personally a style I can't get into. I didn't like History of Seven Killings and I didn't like last month's either. If he does win another book club nomination, I'm probably going to sit that month out.
     
    #849 Gin Buckets, Apr 29, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2019
    The Blackfish likes this.
  50. Gin Buckets

    Gin Buckets Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Virginia Tech HokiesIndiana HoosiersAtlanta BravesAtlanta HawksAtlanta Falcons

    Should we put a vote up old school style with the 4 suggestions orrr?