Currently Reading

[Whatss]

I have a problem staying with one book at a time so here is a list of books I'm currently reading.

Most of these books I found at a second hand bookstore, which is an awesome place.

The Luciano Store by Sid Feder and Joachim Joesten. Story of Lucky Luciano, probably the most powerful gangster in American and International history. Very exciting read about the rise and fall of Luciano.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Interesting book to say the least. It has it's momments where it is hard to put the book down, like detailing how the Mongols in WWII tortured enemy soldiers by skinning them alive. The problem is sometimes it trails off and you have to put the book down to remain sane.

Ramones, An American Band by Jim Bessman. Just bought this book to be honest. I have always been a huge Ramones fan and well found this hiding in the bookstore. The cover is quite worn, but that is what happens sometimes at these stores, they are still awesome places to go.

I just finished reading....

Game of Shadows by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. The book is alright. The parts about Barry Bonds were very exciting to read but the rest of it was boring. I do not find anything interesting about Victor Conte, or BALCO. I believe too much was devoted to the boring exploits of Conte and IRS agent Jeff Novitzky seems like a tool. I would recommend the book for the exploits of Bonds alone.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I never read the book before picking up a copy at the store, I loved it.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. My favorite book as a kid. I lent the book to my niece to read and when she returned it, I had to read it again.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut is probably my favorite writer, with Mother Night being the most exciting book I have read.

What are you reading?

[BaltimoreTerp]

House and Philosophy - Pretty self-explanatory

The Dark Side of the Diamond - About different "darker" aspects of baseball and their causes from and effect on American society: gambling, alcohol, drugs, violence, etc.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Got it on my Kindle for cheap, after the aforementioned House book piqued my interest. Only just starting A Study in Scarlett, though.

[DurbBird]

Watchmen, which is knocking my socks off.

Today I picked up The Man Who Watched Trains Go By, by Georges Simenon.

[oriolesfanatic9]

Baseball for Dummies by Joe Morgan

The Art of Pitching by John Bagonzi

Both are essentially self help books and can give people more insight in to the game. I'm reading them to refresh on alot of stuff about pitching because I have a pitching clinic coming up. After reading those, I plan on moving on to Earl Weaver's book.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Baseball for Dummies by Joe Morgan

Oh God...I can't even figure out WHICH joke to use there...

[Who's On 1st]

I am currently reading,

Change Up An Oral History of 8 Key Events that Shaped Modern Baseball!

It has been a very easy and fun read. It has interviews from many players, coaches and sport writers from over last half-centurty.

I highly recommend it.

[OrangeJerseys]

Just finished the first 100 pages of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. So far, I can't disagree with the critics who call it one of the best novels ever.

Awesome book.


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk.

[orioles119]

I just started "The Strain Triology" by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan... so far, it is very interesting and the pacing is not a problem at all.

It's definitely a departure... I've been stuck lately reading the short stories of Stephen King from Four Past Midnight. They've been okay, but I would rather have a full fledged novel and found it with the Strain.

Definitely look forward to finishing Book 1 and going on to "The Fall" then "The Night Eternal."

I'll say that these vampires are NOT the Twilight version (Thank God!).

[bobmc]

Started a good one recently but a subject I didn't think I'd enjoy*. It's "The House That Ruth Built", by Robert Weintraub.

* Why you axe? I was born in Brooklyn at the time when the Yanks were moving along winning championships, dominating baseball and fostering waves of soulless zombie-like fans nationwide. I was a Giant fan like my father and his friends. We had our moments ('51 and '54, thank you very much) but we always played second fiddle to the "Dang Yankees". I grew up hating them and still do with a passion. However, this book begins when the mighty Giants and John McGraw, who were dominating the NY and "world" baseballl scene playing little ball, butting heads with Ruth, Col. Ruppert and the Yanks.

The book contains interesting trivia/facts on the building of the Stadium researched tenaciously by Weintraub. However, it also goes behind the scenes with conversations apparently recorded by film or word of mouth with Ruth, Wee Willie Keeler, McGraw, etc. One such convo had Ruth going into the Giants locker room after Game 2 of the '22 World Series and having a problem with the bench jockeying. Ruth was called the "N" word since he was (untruly) reputed to be of Afro-Am heritage. Anyway, Ruth was getting into it with the Giants in the lockerroom and said that he didn't mind being called a CS or MF but the N word was off limits. Pretty funny anecdote and only one of many.

The book also explains how McGraw played for the NL Baltimore Orioles and how the term Baltimore Chop started with McGraw's penchant for hitting high choppers off the hard field and the doctoring of the field to accommodate them. It draws a comparison between Ruth and McGraw with their Baltimore roots.

I recommend it! I mean you Frobby!

[Lucky Jim]

James Gleick's The Information: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/bo...pagewanted=all

Nourielle Roubini, Crisis Economics: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/bo...pagewanted=all

JH Prynne, Poems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._H._Prynne

Pretty interesting, though I'm not enamored with the Prynne poems - more like due diligence for my shadow career. For those who want a clear-eyed look at the causes of, and proposed solutions to, our current economic woes, Roubini is very good. Post-Keynsian/Minskian in approach, he's pretty pragmatic, recognizing core values and principles to be gleaned from Austrian economics while still presenting an adaptive, big-picture Keynsian baseline.

Gleick's book is a great entry into a lot of well-traveled territory re: information systems and technology (pre-verbal language, language, technology). I imagine I'll disagree with some conclusions, but there are fascinating insights. And it's hard not to be blown away by the polymaths of prior centuries.

[Pedro Cerrano]

James Gleick's The Information: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/bo...pagewanted=all

Nourielle Roubini, Crisis Economics: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/bo...pagewanted=all

JH Prynne, Poems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._H._Prynne

Pretty interesting, though I'm not enamored with the Prynne poems - more like due diligence for my shadow career. For those who want a clear-eyed look at the causes of, a proposed solutions to, our current economic woes, Roubini is very good. Post-Keynsian/Minskian in approach, he's pretty pragmatic, recognizing core values and principles to be gleaned from Austrian economics while still presenting an adaptive, big-picture Keynsian baseline.

Gleick's book is a great entry into a lot of well-traveled territory re: information systems and technology (pre-verbal language, language, technology). I imagine I'll disagree with some conclusions, but there are fascinating insights. And it's hard not to be blown away by the polymaths of prior centuries.

This question is based solely on curiosity but do you see the law as a long-term career or do you see yourself teaching literature in the future?

[Objectivity]

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

Great book. I never realized what an idiot savant he was. That and how his ideas about new age self-healing directly led to his death.

I just finished The Rook. Excellent book.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I've been reading the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. For the last month.

It's a bit wordy.

[RavNMadMan]

I just finished "The Reapers" written by John Connolly. I liked it but it's not for the faint of heart.

[Spoonless]

Re-reading Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (Pevear/Volokhonsky translation).