|
Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2016 11:25:03 GMT -5
Dean Koontz: Here are 7 books everyone should read Jan. 26, 2016 |Updated Jan. 29, 2016 1:25 p.m. As part of the Register Book Club, we ask writers and other interesting folk with whom we talk to offer their picks for seven books everyone should read. Author Dean Koontz – who with his latest, “Ashley Bell,” was featured in the book club’s event earlier this month – offered these picks and comments on them. “Intellectuals” by Paul Johnson. The British historian tells the horrific and darkly funny personal stories of a dozen famous intellectuals, making the case that such people should never be in positions of power. “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. A hugely entertaining novel that explores the human toll when bad ideas and envy inspire the madness of crowds. “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury. A little stylistic masterpiece, a joyful celebration of the human spirit and of the English language. “The Colors of the Mountain” and “The Sounds of the River” by Da Chen. I'll count these two memoirs as one. Born in Mao's China and raised in cruel times, the author has an exuberant spirit that makes his story a beautiful and inspiring read. “The Complete Stories” by Flannery O'Connor. Sometimes grotesque and always profound stories about the perpetual battle between evil and good as waged in the human heart. “Watership Down” by Richard Adams. An unsentimental fantasy in which all the leads are rabbits. It makes the natural world seem magical without need of elves and fairies. “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson. This true story of an American family in Berlin before World War II is vivid and chilling as it chronicles an entire society going mad in a span of only a few years. www.ocregister.com/articles/stories-701431-human-koontz.html
|
|
|
Post by kit on Feb 9, 2016 8:55:57 GMT -5
I'm reading a Dean Koontz book right now. It's called Breathless. I read a little bit every night in bed just before going to sleep and am almost finished. It has several side-stories and I'm hoping they all come together before the book is over.
Another author I like is James Patterson.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2016 16:40:26 GMT -5
I'm reading a Dean Koontz book right now. It's called Breathless. I read a little bit every night in bed just before going to sleep and am almost finished. It has several side-stories and I'm hoping they all come together before the book is over. Another author I like is James Patterson. I read that a while back. Enjoyed it.
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Feb 10, 2016 7:32:17 GMT -5
I read for an hour or two every night and James Patterson is one of my favorites also Kit. I have read many of his books and grab one every chance I get. I can't afford to pay the $20+ for them at the major book stores, but I find them at my favorite used book store where they sell only gently read, pristine condition books with their dust jacket intact. No dog eared and tattered old volumes. I read everything John Grisham until I exhausted the major portion of his books, and have read probably 15 of Patterson's books or more. I also love Patricia Cornwell's books. I am reading one of her Kay Scarpetta stories now, titled "Dust." I have read some of Dean Coontz's books also but find that MANY of his novels seem to wander and have side stories that I find distracting and that make it hard to follow the main plot.
I average 4-5 books a month. I always take my book with me if I am taking Kathy shopping and am going to wait in the car, or when I go to a doctor's appointment. I guess my love for reading comes from my dad. He was seldom seen without a paperback either in hand or tucked in his back pocket. He hoarded his books. Instead of taking them to the used book store to trade, he simply packed them in boxes and bought more at the used book store, yard sales, and anywhere else he found them. He restricted his reading to paperback westerns and when my mom died and Dad sold the house, we found a treasure trove of books in a closet under the stairs in their basement family room. There were 15 boxes of books, packed neatly in the boxes that reams of copier paper came in, and labeled with the date that they were packed away. Some of the boxes dated back to the 70's. At the estate sale we priced them at 3 for a dollar, and one older gentleman came along and wanted them all. I think he gave us $300 for the lot. We had no idea how many books there were, but he was happy to pay us that amount and take them all off our hands.
I guess that we are a dying breed as readers of books. Later generations don't seem to take an interest in reading books. They either read e-books on a tablet, or simply play video games, spend their time on social networks, and don't have any interest in reading as a form of recreation and relaxation.
Personally, I find it very relaxing to drift off into a story I am reading and leave the world and the rat race behind for a while.
It is good to know that we have others here at the Corner who enjoy reading as much as I do. Maybe we can revive this area of the forum and post our critiques of interesting books we find and read.
|
|
|
Post by kit on Feb 10, 2016 8:06:57 GMT -5
I also enjoy Patricia Cornwell. She's like a female combination of "Ducky" and "Jethro".
I only started reading a couple of years ago. At night I take a sleep-aid along with my regular pills and then I get into bed. I read for about a half hour while waiting for the sleep-aid to kick in. When it does, it's 'lights out' until the next night. Many of James Patterson's books have short chapters so I can usually finish 2 or 3 before my eyelids start drooping.
Am nearly done with "Breathless" and hope Koontz clears-up the side stories before the book ends.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2016 8:38:48 GMT -5
I also enjoy Patricia Cornwell. She's like a female combination of "Ducky" and "Jethro". I only started reading a couple of years ago. At night I take a sleep-aid along with my regular pills and then I get into bed. I read for about a half hour while waiting for the sleep-aid to kick in. When it does, it's 'lights out' until the next night. Many of James Patterson's books have short chapters so I can usually finish 2 or 3 before my eyelids start drooping. Am nearly done with "Breathless" and hope Koontz clears-up the side stories before the book ends. I'll keep quiet
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2016 8:41:16 GMT -5
Clipper said: I average 4-5 books a monthI wish I was disciplined enough to read more. I don't even average 2 books in a YEAR.
|
|
|
Post by dave on Feb 11, 2016 10:59:29 GMT -5
At one time I was a voracious reader. Usually had 4 or 5 books going at a time. Began to read less fiction and more history in my forties. Also about that time discovered "the classics." Authors like Thomas Hardy, Hawthorne, Melville, Stendahl, Faulkner, DHLaurence, etc., (Funny how I got started on the classic literature. I had always wanted to augment that part of my limited literary education and I used to visit a used book store (Annie's?) that bought your old books and priced them as a percentage of the original cover price. Turned out all of their classics were from people trading in years-old college paperbacks priced at between 75 cents and $1.25. In other words, the classics were the cheapest books in the house.
And I figured that these works became famous for a reason. They must have been very good. I found some of the best stories and some of the most terrific writing in these classics. That should not of course have been a surprise, but I guess it was to me. Often the language usage is archaic, but after the first chapter or so my modern mind got used the flowery language and the slow but steady pace. A book, in the view of a Victorian man or lady, was not supposed to move too fast. A chapter, read slowly and savored, was seen as an evening's entertainment. Novels weren't considered worthwhile if they weren't long and drawn out and filled with floral phrases. If you consider, for example, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," written in the classic manner, versus his "Typee," also a novel, but written in shorter, punchy sentences for newspaper serialization and for the common reader, you'll see the latter is much more like what we're used to today. Melville wrote in both styles, depending upon where he thought he could sell the piece.
People have always been a most favorite topic of readers and stories from that era were often heavily involved with Character. Read again what you might remember as a children's story, Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and you'll see that in the original it's actually a tale of a tough marriage that wasn't improved by Rip's 20 year absence.
Well, anyway ... the point I wanted to make when I began this post is that I no longer read that much. As I age and my eyes deteriorate, reading has become more difficult. My recent cataract surgery has helped and I have begun again to buy books and am enjoying them. But now I fall asleep when I get comfortable in a chair and open a book. Or my Restless Legs Syndrome acts up and I can't sit still and concentrate.
I suppose I've substituted playing around on the Internet for my old reading habits. And that's OK with me as long as either of those activities contains some learning. We read to learn about the world, but also ourselves. The latter is probably the real draw of fictional novels. Fiction has the ability to draw out our best dreams for ourselves.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2016 17:31:06 GMT -5
At one time I was a voracious reader. Usually had 4 or 5 books going at a time. Began to read less fiction and more history in my forties. Also about that time discovered "the classics." Authors like Thomas Hardy, Hawthorne, Melville, Stendahl, Faulkner, DHLaurence, etc., (Funny how I got started on the classic literature. I had always wanted to augment that part of my limited literary education and I used to visit a used book store (Annie's?) that bought your old books and priced them as a percentage of the original cover price. Turned out all of their classics were from people trading in years-old college paperbacks priced at between 75 cents and $1.25. In other words, the classics were the cheapest books in the house. And I figured that these works became famous for a reason. They must have been very good. I found some of the best stories and some of the most terrific writing in these classics. That should not of course have been a surprise, but I guess it was to me. Often the language usage is archaic, but after the first chapter or so my modern mind got used the flowery language and the slow but steady pace. A book, in the view of a Victorian man or lady, was not supposed to move too fast. A chapter, read slowly and savored, was seen as an evening's entertainment. Novels weren't considered worthwhile if they weren't long and drawn out and filled with floral phrases. If you consider, for example, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," written in the classic manner, versus his "Typee," also a novel, but written in shorter, punchy sentences for newspaper serialization and for the common reader, you'll see the latter is much more like what we're used to today. Melville wrote in both styles, depending upon where he thought he could sell the piece. People have always been a most favorite topic of readers and stories from that era were often heavily involved with Character. Read again what you might remember as a children's story, Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and you'll see that in the original it's actually a tale of a tough marriage that wasn't improved by Rip's 20 year absence. Well, anyway ... the point I wanted to make when I began this post is that I no longer read that much. As I age and my eyes deteriorate, reading has become more difficult. My recent cataract surgery has helped and I have begun again to buy books and am enjoying them. But now I fall asleep when I get comfortable in a chair and open a book. Or my Restless Legs Syndrome acts up and I can't sit still and concentrate. I suppose I've substituted playing around on the Internet for my old reading habits. And that's OK with me as long as either of those activities contains some learning. We read to learn about the world, but also ourselves. The latter is probably the real draw of fictional novels. Fiction has the ability to draw out our best dreams for ourselves. MP3 audio books is what I have just started looking into to. I could download them into my MP3 player and plug in the ear buds and read more. At least I can go about my business and learn a little more at the same time. So far what I have found is expensive.
|
|
|
Post by dave on Feb 11, 2016 20:51:38 GMT -5
Alan, what is the cost of a typical audio book?
|
|
|
Post by Clipper on Feb 11, 2016 22:04:25 GMT -5
When I was driving a truck, not long before I retired completely, there were lending libraries at the Truck Stops of America that rented audio books on tape. You could rent them one place and return them at another TA truck stop anywhere in the system. I tried it, but I found that listening to the story on tape was very distracting if you allowed yourself to really get into the story. It was much worse and much more dangerous than the distraction of a cell phone call while driving. It also made me sleepy, which was rather counter productive. Driving at night while chugging black coffee to stay awake, but listening to a bed time story just didn't work for me.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2016 8:41:34 GMT -5
Alan, what is the cost of a typical audio book? I am finding then from $15.99 to up to $25.00. At least for what I am looking for. I still need to look a little further. I figure I could download or upload them to Windows Media Player then download them into my MP3 Player.
|
|
|
Post by clarencebunsen on Feb 12, 2016 11:36:00 GMT -5
Most libraries lend audio books. There are also sources for free audio books. Project Gutenberg www.gutenberg.org/ has thousands of e-books and audio books which are public domain.
|
|
|
Post by dave on Feb 13, 2016 3:43:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the information.
|
|
|
Post by kit on Feb 13, 2016 8:49:12 GMT -5
Well, I finished "Breathless" by Dean Koontz and have read several of his other books. I like his build-ups of the main and side situations (which occupy most of the book), but in my view he tends to rush through the endings, which I expect to be more detailed. Sort of like a beautiful symphony that quickly ends with a 'Bada bing, bada blah'. A bit of a let-down.
Now I'm reading "Cause of Death" by one of my favorites... Patricia Cornwell.
|
|