Found this old post while searching for "The Denial of Death" (which I'm currently reading) and I had to chuckle since I'm 50 pages through and have had basically the same reaction. This strikes me as the kind of book where it might be better to read a detailed summary of the book than the actual book.

Just started The Dark Net by Benjamin Percy, horror novel about scary bad people on the internet and a plucky band of misfit heroes who take them on. It's a cool idea, saw a good review of this in the NYTimes Sunday and picked it up at my local biblioteca free of charge.

I just read La Belle Sauvage, the new Phillip Pullman book. I found it enjoyable, if less deep than (I remember) the Northern Lights (being).

There’s a good interview with Pullman here:
https://audioboom.com/posts/6448414-...-daemon-voices

I read about a third of it in college when it came out and thought it was worthless. It's the kind of book guys read, thinking that quoting it will help them pick up girls in coffee houses.

"Yes, but what about the existential angst represented by the paradigm of Earth Mother?"

Read The End of Faith by Sam Harris. A good read. Also read his Letter to a Christian Nation , in general this is an ok book and I enjoyed it.

Started The Human Stain by Philp Roth (on recommendation from a friend). So far very good. He writes well.

Finished A Stained White Radiance by James Lee Burke. This is Dave Robicheaux No. 5 and has the same writing style and writing quality as other Robicheaux-Burke novels.

The new New York Review has a fine essay on Le Carre (article locked) though the author finds things to like in Legacy of Spies “The whole story comes across as an oddly rickety construct, sharply at odds with le Carre’s usual devotion to realism anchored in sharply reported detail”
A fine overview of Le Carre’s career both literary and personal.

Philip Roth fans,

this is a good read - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...p-roth-patriot

awesome, he's the best.

I gave up on Le Carré a few books back. More like Le Carrion at this point amirite. He had a good run.

Currently reading The Stranger Beside Me by Anne Rule about Ted Bundy and it may be the most engrossed I've ever been in a book. Serial killers have always fascinated me but this dude is next level.

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor. An excellent collections of short stories in the southern gothic style. I enjoyed these much more than her two novels, which I found somewhat disappointing.

Bukowski was impressed with fante; he definitely influenced buk's writing style.

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rereading (well technically listening on audible) do androids dream of electric sheep in anticipation of seeing BR2049 and man i forgot how absolutely awesome it is.

My second favorite Dick...The Man in the High Castle is first. I gotta see BR2049

Speaking of sci-fi, I've been getting a hard-on for hard-sci-fi:

Not sure if it's been discussed ITT, I'm currently 60% through The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin. Absolutely loving it. It's been almost ~2 years since I've stayed awake in bed reading past 3AM while saying to myself "alright just 5 more pages, then I have to sleep." Same thing for the previous book in the trilogy - The Three Body Problem. Amazing stuff. Of course I've already ordered book #3.

Finished Orphan Master’s Son and 75% through Visit from the Goon Squad. I’ve enjoyed both of these books a lot.

Adam Johnson's short story book is also terrific. I sufficiently enjoyed Egan's novel when I read it that I then read her previous book, The Keep, which was ok but not at the same level. Her new novel has had strong reviews.

Rereading Stanley Cavell's The Senses of Walden for an upcoming field trip to Concord with students next week. Highly recommended.

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I'm reading Noah Hawley's Before the Fall, it's ok for a trashy bestseller. He's the guy who does the Fargo tv show btw.

just did this recently as well. it is fantastic. i listened to this, then saw the original blade runner, then saw blade runner 2049. the audiobook might be my favorite of the 3, tho the visuals in br2049 are unlike anything i've ever seen.

in fact, it inspired me to listen to 'the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy' and on top of being ****ing HILARIOUS (the dry, slapstick british kind) it's narration is A++, easily one of the best.

i've been meaning to read AJ's short story book, because 'orphan master's son' was so good. maybe this is a sign to start today. I really enjoyed egan's 'a visit from the goon squad' and having just finished 'manhattan beach' i have to say it's pretty forgettable and not all that of a compelling read.

Finally finished The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power (vol. 1) by Caro. 800+ pages, with 3 more volumes written and at least 1 more hopefully to come.

Note that I previously had no interest in LBJ, nor in Caro's prior subject Robert Moses. If you've never been interested in these massive biographies, what I'd recommend is just getting The Power Broker or LBJv1 from the library and reading the introduction. They are so well-written and lay out the argument so well that you'll likely want to continue. (But if you don't, at least you gave it a shot.)

With both of his subjects (and this is something I've noticed with other biographies too) you gain knowledge about general history and other figures as a strong "bonus". Of course this is obvious when you think about it - learning about an historical figure in depth will give you knowledge of other events/people that were in that person's orbit.

In this case you get some Texas history, Texas oil history (which is something I've been super interested in ever since watching the E! True Hollywood Story on Dallas and Who Shot J.R.? - this will help you to understand where the fictional Ewings came from), American farm life in the 19th-20th centuries, rural electrification, the New Deal, FDR, etc. etc.

Highest recommendation. It's a great feeling to have 4 more of these to go.

Thanks for that recommendation. Just borrowed the e-book.

I appreciate the disrecommendation for Egan's new book. I'm always looking for a reason to strike one off my too long to-read list.

And I think you'll really like Johnson's short stories.

I loved the short story books, but it seemed to me like he chose a lot of weird points to end some of them.

I was thinking of Fortune Smiles, and hadn't realized, before you wrote "books," that Johnson had an earlier collection. How do the two compare?

And there's also his debut novel, Parasites Like Us, which I haven't read but which looks good.