[Phil McDade]

Fall is settling in here nicely in Wisconsin, and as I prepare for the long hibernation in front of my fireplace, my thoughts turn to books.

I'm inspired by Tain fan and frustrated golf photographer Gary Daughters, who a while back asked for websites frequented by GCA folks. I found many of the answers and websites interesting. So here goes.

My current book is "The Island at the Center of the World," which I found in the castoff section of my local library for $1. The book, based on some fascinating research at New York's New Netherland Project (www.nnp.org), argues that the original Dutch colony on Manhattan in the early 1600s was in many ways critically important to the formation of American government, culture and traditions. It centers in part on a Dutch immigrant named Adriaen van der Donck, who author Russell Shorto suggests deserves on honored spot among the country's founding fathers.

Others? Could be golf-related, or not.

[PThomas]

lots of good new stuff out there I think

currently:  Robert Dallek's book on Nixon and Kissinger

Planet Golf is on the birthday wish list!

[Phil Benedict]

Read the Dallek book on HK and RN.  Nixon never dissappoints!

Currently reading The Indian Clerk.

Books on order at the library are Halberstamm's book about Korean War, Eric Clapton's memoir and Ken Follett's sequel to Pillars of the Earth.

I commute to Manhattan so I read a lot.

[Tommy Williamsen]

The biography of St Francis of Assisi.
Just finished McCullough's 1776

[John Keenan]

This morning driving into work I heard Scott Gummer interviewed regarding an new book called  The 7th at St Andrews. It is about the construction of the new course at St Andrews the first it way noted in over 100 years. Gummer discussed his access to David McLay Kidd and his crew during construction. Sounded interesting as it is written as a narrative which I find works well for this type of a story. Second from a GCA POV interesting in seeing how a course develops from a potato field and water treatment facility to a golf course..

Curious if anyone has read it or heard much about it.

[Sean_A]

I have an unusually high pile of books on the go at the moment.

C-A Baker: Local Council Administration
P Claydon: The Parish Councillor's Guide
HS Thompson: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail
GG Marquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude
B Penrose: Travel and Discovery in the Renaissance
W Dalrymple: The Last Mughal
S MacPherson: St Andrews: The Evolution on Golf...
D Oliver: Planet Golf

I just finished In Search of Shakespeare by Michael Wood, an excellent read for anyone interested in the man and how he was a product of his time.

Ciao
 

[tlavin]

Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo, one of America's very best novelists.  His book Straight Man just might be the funniest novel ever written.  Then I'll get to the new Phillip Roth book.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Jeez, Sean, are you on Ibogaine?  That's one eclectic list.

[Jason Topp]

I just read and recommend:

"Master of the Senate" by Robert Caro (LBJ)

"1964"  by David Halberstrom (baseball penant race- interesting converage of the people on the Cardinals and Yankees that year)

I'm currently reading

"Ghost Wars" by Steven Coll which covers the CIA activities in the middle east during he period beginning with the Afghanastan war through 9/11.

[Phil McDade]

Jason:

Have you read "Charlie Wilson's War"? It's about the Texas congressman who funnelled gobs of money via the CIA into the Afghanistan war against the Soviet Union. Sort of the prelude to Ghost Wars.

[Jason Topp]

Jason:

Have you read "Charlie Wilson's War"? It's about the Texas congressman who funnelled gobs of money via the CIA into the Afghanistan war against the Soviet Union. Sort of the prelude to Ghost Wars.

I have not.  Thanks for starting this thread.  Lots to add to my list for the winter.

[PThomas]

Just finished McCullough's 1776

Tommy - what did you think of 1776?  i found it a kind of dry and dull and stopped halfway thru it

[Brad Klein]

just read a very interesting history of airport architecture, Alistair Gordon's "Naked Airport," which confirmed why I feel so alienated from life while traveling

Also finished Ron Power's massive biography, "Mark Twain" (strong Hartford connection)

And for those who are in awe of the Nebraska Sand Hills, there's Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!" about the power of the land out there -- very evocative of the area around Dick Youngscap's little golf course

[David_Tepper]

Phil/Jason -

I have read "Charlie Wilson's War."  It is a remarkable book and a great example of how the events in the real world create stories as good and as complex as the best fiction.

It is also an interesting example of how your allies one decade can become your enemies in another.

DT

[Dan_Callahan]

Lots of novels recently, which is unusual for me. I usually stick to nonfiction.

Cormac McCarthy's the Road—the best book I've read in several years. A positive review for the Road also recommended Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, which I liked. Both are pretty depressing.

Last night, I finished Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. If you liked the Secret History by Donna Tartt, you will like Calamity Physics.

Finally, I've been thumbing through The Dangerous Book for Boys. Marketed as a compilation of information that every boy should know (how to skip a stone, make a pinhole camera, famous battles, important quotes from Shakespeare, etc.), it is hard to put down. It's amazing all the cool things many of use grew up with that are forgotten today, mostly out of political correctness (how to make a slingshot). As the father of three young boys, it is a book that had particular relevance to me.

[Peter Pallotta]

"Pee Wee Russell - Life of a Jazz Man".  The artist struggling to find a place in the world, getting lost most of the time, and washing it all away with drink.

Peter

[Pete_Pittock]

First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde. Another book in the Thursday Next series. Thursday is a Jurisfiction detective trying to keep order in literature, literally.

Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay. His writing had made it to TV with Showtime's Dexter series.

How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman.
The Scottish enlightenment may have been a catalyst for popularizing golf, but that aspect isn't discussed in the book.

Weather Makers by Tim Flannery, understanding climate change in layman's terms.

Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz brings to life someone who is widely misunderstood. Revionist history at its best.

Will be picking up Valerie Plame's book today.

[David_Tepper]

I just finished reading "Lonely Avenue, The Unlikely Life and Times of Doc Pomus," a biography by Alex Halberstadt.

Doc Pomus was born as Jerome Felder, contracted polio as a kid and became one of the great pop/r&b/rock & roll songwriters. He lived an amazing life and wrote songs for Elvis, Ray Charles, Ben E. King, Dion & the Belmonts, Dr. John, BB King, etc.

His most famous songs include "Save The Last Dance For Me," "This Magic Moment," "Viva Las Vegas,"  "Suspicion," "Lonely Avenue," and "Why Must I Be a Teenager In Love."

If you are under 50 years old, you may have not idea what I am talking about!

[Kirk Gill]

I applaud you all for your edifying reading lists, and Mark Bourgeois, in particular, for his Ibogaine reference. Man, F&LOTCT is one of the funniest books, ever.

I must, however, put an end to the list of educational and uplifting books and state that I am reading a bestselling novel called "Echo Park" by Michael Connelly. Grim, hard-boiled, modern noir-style stuff. To further diminish my almost non-existent stature on this site, I can say that I just purchased my first book on Oracle database software.

In my defense, I DO read about two to three books a week, so I'm sure that something "better for me" is on the way, soon.

[Garland Bayley]

The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism by John Nichols

Gleanings from the Wayside by Tilly

[Dale_McCallon]

Looking forward to reading A Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs.  He wrote The Know it All, which is the funniest book I have ever read.  I literally was in pain at times I was laughing so hard.

I read lots of snippets of political commentaries, but in todays partisan world, they are becoming so over the top it is hard not to laugh at some of them.

I read the latest compilation book of Rick Reilly recently.  BTW, is he leaving Sports Illustrated?

FWIW, I work in a book warehouse with about 900,000 titles so if any of you guys are looking for something, feel free to shoot me an IM.  We are in the college textbook market, but we have a huge amount of computer, history, biography type stuff too.

[Richard Pennell]

I've just today finished Semi-Detached - an autobiography of Gryff Rhys-Jones' life up until he left Cambridge, very funny. Next in the pile will be Peter's Matthiessen's Snow Leopard, classic travel literature.

Sean - among your huge list, One Hundred Years of Solitude stood out - I just re-read that. Its so good. Have you read Love in the Time of Cholera?

[Peter Pratt]

I'm a child of rock and roll, but I'm thoroughly enjoying Wilfred Sheed's "The House That George Built," on the great American songwriters of the first half of the 20th century. My mother is 80 and I just turned 50--she's listening to the music I grew up with and I'm listening to the music she grew up with!

Also highly recommend Jungerson's "The Exception" and Wright's "The Looming Tower."

[Gib_Papazian]

My library is eclectic, but confined for the most part to four categories:

Golf books written in the distant past.

Science Fiction.

Hunter Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut and other "offbeat" writers.

Right now, I am nearly finished with: "The Book of Golf Disasters by Peter Dobereiner.

It matches perfectly my dim view of the intrinsic perversity of the universe.

[Bill Shamleffer]

The Spirit of St. Louis, by Charles Lindbergh

American Law And the American Legal System, by Lloyd Bonfield

A Disorderly Compendium of Golf, by Lorne Rubenstein & Jeff Neuman


Quite a number of good selections in the above posts.  I believe I will need to print this topic and keep as a reference as potential future reads.  By the way, being a St. Louis Cardinal fan I very much enjoyed October 1964.  Although I think any baseball fan will enjoy it, I even know Yankee fans who enjoyed the book.

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