More Books
It's the weirdest thing. I have only 3 books to update since my last books read posting, yet I know for sure there was one more book in here, but I can't remember what it was....
T is for Trespass, by Sue Grafton.
Goliath, by Steve Alten.
Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett.
Victory of Eagles, by Naomi Novik
Pacific Vortex, by Clive Cussler.
Knife of Dreams, by Robert Jordan
Wild Fire, by Nelson DeMille, read by Scott Brick
Arctic Drift, by Clive and Dirk Cussler, Read by Scott Brick
Duma Key, by Stephen King, read by John Slattery
The Trench, by Steve Alten
Feet of Clay, by Terry Pratchett
Night Probe!, by Clive Cussler
The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It, by Gina Kolata
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History, by John M. Barry
The Lion's Game, by Nelson DeMille, read by Scott Brick
@Flu and @The Great Epidemic - both of these books are about the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which killed more people in sheer numbers than the Black Death of the Middle Ages, and killed as much as 10% of the world's population - depending on what estimates you look at. Grim topic, and epidemiology is not really my wheelhouse, so why read not 1 but 2 books on the subject? Well, in the book I'm writing, part of the background is that the world recently went through a flu pandemic ever so slightly worse than the 1918 one, and I needed some realistic understanding of what that type of scenario would really look like.
As for the quality of the books - well, Barry's book is much more in-depth, larger in scope and focus, and more thoroughly researched. Kolata's was a faster, lighter read. Both had their good points and their bad. If you just want a very quick understanding of the flu, I'd say go to Kolata's, but in reality, Barry's book was far more informative in every way. It actually begins some 60 years before the flu hits, for that is where the roots of the story lie (lay? lie? Shit, I need to know that type of thing if I want to be a writer)
@The Lion's Game - DeMille never fails to deliver, and his John Corey novels in particular are fabulous. The ending of this one was a little on the anticlimactic side, even though the buildup to the end was amazing. It just kind of petered out though. That said, the book was phenomenal, and possibly one of my favorites. There is a sequel coming out supposedly, The Lion, and I am eagerly anticipating that.
Speaking of Anticipation, book 13 of the Wheel of Time is on it's way. The book is "Towers of Midnight", by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. For those into the minutiae of the WoT series, the Towers of Midnight are a series of towers on the lands of the Seanchan where Luthair Paendrag mounted his war of conquest, but in more relevant terms, many believe it is in reference to the 2 towers that figure heavily in the series (the White and the Black), as well as 1 that figures somewhat cryptically so far, the Tower of Ghenji. Scheduled for an early November release date, the prologue to the book is available now for a $3 download, and chapter 8 (the first chapter of the novel that doesn't contain serious spoilers for the action taking place) is available on Sanderson's website, as a free blog post.
I read chapter 8, and have read many reviews of the $3 prologue. All signs point to this penultimate book in the series continuing the streak of awesomeness that the last 2 books had. And more. The Last Battle has begun. (I mean that in a *squee* kind of way, not in any spoilery way.)
So, that's 16 books so far this year, and it's almost October. I am truly very far behind in my reading this year, compared to the last 2 years (the only other years I've kept count). Oh well, different time commitments, different availability of reading time. No complaints, only laments.
All that said, I am currently 3/4 of the way through my buddy Dave's book, but I'll talk about that in the next update.
Next up in the list after Dave's is windowlight's novel "Take Me There", which I am reading for several reasons.
#1 - she's awesome, and I want to read some of her books, even if they are YA, which is not typically my genre.
#2 - for the novel I'm writing, I need to be able to get into the head and mindset of a 15 year-old girl, and since I think her books are written more or less from that POV, it should count as research (see the flu books, above).
#3 - I don't remember what #3 was, but I am sure there was a #3.
#4 - With Dave's book, I seem to be in a mood to read books written by people I know, so since Susane and I went to college together, now's as good a time as any to read it.
#5 - The library had Take Me There, but not any of her other books.
No Worries,
Matt
@Flu and @The Great Epidemic - both of these books are about the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, which killed more people in sheer numbers than the Black Death of the Middle Ages, and killed as much as 10% of the world's population - depending on what estimates you look at. Grim topic, and epidemiology is not really my wheelhouse, so why read not 1 but 2 books on the subject? Well, in the book I'm writing, part of the background is that the world recently went through a flu pandemic ever so slightly worse than the 1918 one, and I needed some realistic understanding of what that type of scenario would really look like.
As for the quality of the books - well, Barry's book is much more in-depth, larger in scope and focus, and more thoroughly researched. Kolata's was a faster, lighter read. Both had their good points and their bad. If you just want a very quick understanding of the flu, I'd say go to Kolata's, but in reality, Barry's book was far more informative in every way. It actually begins some 60 years before the flu hits, for that is where the roots of the story lie (lay? lie? Shit, I need to know that type of thing if I want to be a writer)
@The Lion's Game - DeMille never fails to deliver, and his John Corey novels in particular are fabulous. The ending of this one was a little on the anticlimactic side, even though the buildup to the end was amazing. It just kind of petered out though. That said, the book was phenomenal, and possibly one of my favorites. There is a sequel coming out supposedly, The Lion, and I am eagerly anticipating that.
Speaking of Anticipation, book 13 of the Wheel of Time is on it's way. The book is "Towers of Midnight", by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. For those into the minutiae of the WoT series, the Towers of Midnight are a series of towers on the lands of the Seanchan where Luthair Paendrag mounted his war of conquest, but in more relevant terms, many believe it is in reference to the 2 towers that figure heavily in the series (the White and the Black), as well as 1 that figures somewhat cryptically so far, the Tower of Ghenji. Scheduled for an early November release date, the prologue to the book is available now for a $3 download, and chapter 8 (the first chapter of the novel that doesn't contain serious spoilers for the action taking place) is available on Sanderson's website, as a free blog post.
I read chapter 8, and have read many reviews of the $3 prologue. All signs point to this penultimate book in the series continuing the streak of awesomeness that the last 2 books had. And more. The Last Battle has begun. (I mean that in a *squee* kind of way, not in any spoilery way.)
So, that's 16 books so far this year, and it's almost October. I am truly very far behind in my reading this year, compared to the last 2 years (the only other years I've kept count). Oh well, different time commitments, different availability of reading time. No complaints, only laments.
All that said, I am currently 3/4 of the way through my buddy Dave's book, but I'll talk about that in the next update.
Next up in the list after Dave's is windowlight's novel "Take Me There", which I am reading for several reasons.
#1 - she's awesome, and I want to read some of her books, even if they are YA, which is not typically my genre.
#2 - for the novel I'm writing, I need to be able to get into the head and mindset of a 15 year-old girl, and since I think her books are written more or less from that POV, it should count as research (see the flu books, above).
#3 - I don't remember what #3 was, but I am sure there was a #3.
#4 - With Dave's book, I seem to be in a mood to read books written by people I know, so since Susane and I went to college together, now's as good a time as any to read it.
#5 - The library had Take Me There, but not any of her other books.
No Worries,
Matt