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Reading by the cargo light or A Ranger owner's guide to great literature


97RangerXLT

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And here are my favorite books and authors in no particular order:

Horror/Science Fiction:
The Repairman Jack/ Adversary Cycle/ Secret Histories series by F. Paul Wilson. I have mentioned this series in a previous post. by far this is one of the best written series out there. I would love to see this made into an HBO series like they are doing with Game of Thrones. Here is the other thread on the repairman Jack series:
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108266

Mystery:
The Spellman Files series by Lisa Lutz.
I really laughed hard at this series. it is about a family of private investigators and they are pretty disfunctional. The list of Izzy's boyfriends and why they broke up is well worth the read, and her little sister is quite a riot too. http://lisalutz.com/books/the-spellmans/

The Kinsey Millhone alphabet mysteries by Sue Grafton.
This series is quite a bit more serious than the Spellman files. I really like Sue Grafton's way of describing human nature, and even some of the bad guys in her novels you can identify with him and understand why he is the way he is. This series is set in the 80's, with "A is for Alibi" set in 1982 to "V is for Vengance" set in 1987. Again, Character depth is very well thought out in Graftons books.
http://www.suegrafton.com/bookshelf.php

Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. some similarities to the Repairman Jack series, but without the supernatural element. I have only read the first couple of books in this series, but so far it is great..
http://www.leechild.com/jack-reacher/

Action/ Adventure:
Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler
The earlier books in this series are a bit dated and definitely show their age in some respects, but still a decent read for the most part. Dirk Pitt is the Special Projects director of NUMA, National Underwater Marine Agency which he has directed such feats as recovering and using the third nuclear bomb from WW2 that never made it to Japan, Finding the lost treasure of the Library of Alexandria, and others. This series really takes off in the 9th book of the series, "Treasure" each book has the main character with a different classic car. In Treasure, the car is a 1929 Cord L29. sharp car. the 11th book in the series is Sahara, which they actually made a half way decent movie out of. They did leave out the most interesting twist of that book in the movie version tho...
http://clive-cussler-books.com/html/DirkPitt_AdventureSeries.htm

I have several other series, but I will quit for now.

AJ
 


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Although I do like Clive Cussler's work as far as his writing ability, the common theme of tying whatever problem is being faced with some environmentalist thing (global warming, etc) is kind of a turn-off for me. Yes, we do need to respect the environment but global warming is a hoax. It was started by an amateur scientist who theorized that global warming could be created by carbon dioxide with no fact at all to back it up.

But I digress.

I did like Tom Clancy's work, but it seems all the new books out under his name have a tendency towards sloppy writing. I'd like to get the most recent book out in the Jack Ryan series but after reading a sample of the book.... I can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on something that badly written. I've seen gradeschoolers write more coherent works.

Stephen Coonts has some good books out, written along the same sort of lines as Tom Clancy, although he does have a tendency to put his main characters in impossible situations and regularly tries to kill them off.

Trevor Scott has some great action/adventure stuff, although I think most of it is only in e-book format (not a problem for me, my Kindle has close to 200 books on it and I've only had it about a year and 4 months).

A lot of the classics are still worth a read. Jules Verne seems to be an oft overlooked author but he was really greatly ahead of his time. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and (iirc) Voyage to the Moon were all incredible works.

I could go on. My Kindle may only have close to 200 books on it but my bookshelves have another roughly 400-500 books.
 

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I'm the kind of person that will read almost anything... except a romance novel, won't read a romance novel. I even try to read text books, test prep books, and instructions but they put me to sleep. (real good quality in a student right?) I'll pick up a good non-fiction as long as the writer doesn't have a "winner writes the history books" mentality. I couldn't care less who won, who was right, or who was wrong it happened no give me the truth behind it. My favorite though is a good fiction novel, and science fiction is even better.

Action/ Adventure:
Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler
The earlier books in this series are a bit dated and definitely show their age in some respects, but still a decent read for the most part. Dirk Pitt is the Special Projects director of NUMA, National Underwater Marine Agency which he has directed such feats as recovering and using the third nuclear bomb from WW2 that never made it to Japan, Finding the lost treasure of the Library of Alexandria, and others. This series really takes off in the 9th book of the series, "Treasure" each book has the main character with a different classic car. In Treasure, the car is a 1929 Cord L29. sharp car. the 11th book in the series is Sahara, which they actually made a half way decent movie out of. They did leave out the most interesting twist of that book in the movie version tho...
I think I have read and am close to owning every fiction book he's written. Not just the Dirk Pitt series, all of them. Love his works, but I'm starting to get like lil_blue. I think the problem is he's mostly retired and is pretty much a co-author these days. Too many different people writing with his name attached. Not that that can't be a good thing, I just think they are trying to stick too close to the mold. That said I'll still continue to buy his books. He's one of the few authors I'd actually like to meet someday, who am I kidding I just want to see his car collection. I am going to have to read and watch Sahara again. I remember something good missing from the movie, just can't remember what it was (unless you mean the twist that is in every book). I wish he'd let them make some more movies. In that respect I think he has the same problem as a lot of readers in expecting movies to match the book better, though I definitely understood his problems with the first one.
 

97RangerXLT

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I gotta agree with both Josh and Lil blue on Clive cussler novels getting to environmentally preachy. Plus since he is co-authoring with his son now, and the books are subtly different. still good, but not as good as he was in the 80's and 90's.

Clancy is another one that I really loved as an author until after Jack Ryan becomes president. Then they started to suck. I would like to have seen more on Clark and Chavez in their own series as well.

Here is one for you all:

Category is Historical Fiction, or a dramatized version of an actual historical event.

The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb

Sharyn researched this topic thoroughly, and wrote the book based on court records and other historical sources. She tells the tale through the eyes of Pauline Foster (cousin of the dead girl,) Laura Foster and Zebulon Vance, the defense attorney assigned to Tom Dooley and Ann Melton. it is very well written and I would recommend it to anyone who has a liking for history and a good story to boot. You really will get a feeling that Tom Dooley is not worth much as a human being, but you will kind of feel sorry for him too. This incident takes place in North Carolina about a year after the Civil War, so you get a feel for how the war impacted the people, and even Zebulon Vance who was the former Governor of the Confederate state of North Carolina, but since the war has had to go back to being a lawyer to survive. You also get a good picture of his life in rebuilding after the war and him reminiscing about the case years later.
http://www.sharynmccrumb.com/ballad_of_tom_dooley.html

AJ
 

97RangerXLT

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Tom Dooley was even imortalized in a song in 1958 by the Kingston Trio.

Lyrics:
(Intro) Throughout history
There've been many songs written about the eternal triangle
This next one tells the story of a Mr Grayson, a beautiful woman
And a condemned man named Tom Dooley...
When the sun rises tomorrow, Tom Dooley... must hang...
[Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Hang down your head and cry
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley
Poor boy, you're bound to die]
I met her on the mountain
There I took her life
Met her on the mountain
Stabbed her with my knife
[Chorus]
This time tomorrow
Reckon where I'll be
Hadn't a-been for Grayson
I'd a-been in Tennessee
[Chorus]
This time tomorrow
Reckon where I'll be
Down in some lonesome valley
Hangin' from a white oak tree
[ending chorus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtSzcKZGzDs
 

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I'm the kind of person that will read almost anything... except a romance novel, won't read a romance novel. I even try to read text books, test prep books, and instructions but they put me to sleep. (real good quality in a student right?) I'll pick up a good non-fiction as long as the writer doesn't have a "winner writes the history books" mentality. I couldn't care less who won, who was right, or who was wrong it happened no give me the truth behind it. My favorite though is a good fiction novel, and science fiction is even better.
Yea, I'm the same way. I have about two shelves of reference books (dictionaries, style manuals, repair manuals, etc), I have a shelf of textbooks, a lot of fiction, some historical fiction, some biographies, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korean War, some non-fiction, classics, and a couple mysteries.

I think I have read and am close to owning every fiction book he's written. Not just the Dirk Pitt series, all of them. Love his works, but I'm starting to get like lil_blue. I think the problem is he's mostly retired and is pretty much a co-author these days. Too many different people writing with his name attached. Not that that can't be a good thing, I just think they are trying to stick too close to the mold. That said I'll still continue to buy his books. He's one of the few authors I'd actually like to meet someday, who am I kidding I just want to see his car collection. I am going to have to read and watch Sahara again. I remember something good missing from the movie, just can't remember what it was (unless you mean the twist that is in every book). I wish he'd let them make some more movies. In that respect I think he has the same problem as a lot of readers in expecting movies to match the book better, though I definitely understood his problems with the first one.
I have most of the Dirk Pitt stuff and some of the other stuff. I've been collecting it all in hardbound when I can. Hardbound is more expensive and can be harder to find at times, but I've gotten to where if I can't have a book in hardbound, I want it in e-book format. I have too many paperbacks that even though I've always been careful in handling them, they're starting to show that the binding is breaking down.

I gotta agree with both Josh and Lil blue on Clive cussler novels getting to environmentally preachy. Plus since he is co-authoring with his son now, and the books are subtly different. still good, but not as good as he was in the 80's and 90's.

Clancy is another one that I really loved as an author until after Jack Ryan becomes president. Then they started to suck. I would like to have seen more on Clark and Chavez in their own series as well.

Here is one for you all:

Category is Historical Fiction, or a dramatized version of an actual historical event.

The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharyn McCrumb

Sharyn researched this topic thoroughly, and wrote the book based on court records and other historical sources. She tells the tale through the eyes of Pauline Foster (cousin of the dead girl,) Laura Foster and Zebulon Vance, the defense attorney assigned to Tom Dooley and Ann Melton. it is very well written and I would recommend it to anyone who has a liking for history and a good story to boot. You really will get a feeling that Tom Dooley is not worth much as a human being, but you will kind of feel sorry for him too. This incident takes place in North Carolina about a year after the Civil War, so you get a feel for how the war impacted the people, and even Zebulon Vance who was the former Governor of the Confederate state of North Carolina, but since the war has had to go back to being a lawyer to survive. You also get a good picture of his life in rebuilding after the war and him reminiscing about the case years later.
http://www.sharynmccrumb.com/ballad_of_tom_dooley.html

AJ
If you guys haven't checked out Stephen Coonts, I would recommend him. The Jake Grafton series isn't bad aside from the seemingly common theme of trying to kill his main characters. The Deep Black series is ok. The Saucer series was well written despite being a little far-fetched, it was actually somewhat believable.The Tommy Carmellini series is great, he's kind of a slightly less lethal John Clark style character.
http://www.coonts.com
 

97RangerXLT

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I have read several Stephen Coontz back in the 90's. I have five or six in hard cover. I think the one I liked the best was Under Seige.

Another one if you are into the military novels, Check out Dale Brown starting with The Flight of the Old Dog. excellent book series. Hammerheads was awesome and I think is an excellent way of controling illegal substances/ illegal immigration by boat or airplane. does not address the ground area that well, but the coastline and airspace it would be pretty effective.

As for Hardcover Pitt Novels, I have everyone from Treasure up to Arctic Drift in hardcover, and also I found Vixen 03 in hardcover. I think finding any of the older ones in decent condition is going to cost a few bucks....

I have all the Jack Ryan series in Hardcover plus Red Storm Rising.

Sue Grafton's series I have from I is for Innocent all the way up to her U is for Undertow

I have over 300 hard cover books and right now I have decided that I will no longer buy paperbacks unless that is the only way I can get that particular book. I have a Kindle Fire HD 7" and that is how I read most of my books, and if I really like it, I will search out the hardcover version.

Next author of choice: Louis L'Amour, and I have probably 95% of his books in hardcover via the Louis L'Amour collection (which is over 120 books) His work is primarily westerns, but he has written other types, even one Science Fiction related book (Haunted Mesa) If nothing else, Check out his Sacketts series. well worth your time to read.

AJ
 

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I should probably go over my collection of Cussler books to see what exactly I'm still missing. I want to say that I only have him in hardcover, nothing else.

Really, I haven't bought a paperback book in years. I started investing in only hardcover until I got the kindle and now that's the only two formats I buy. Unfortunately there are books out there that are not available in anything but paperback. I'm still not sure what a solution to that is, I don't want any more paperbacks.

Trevor Scott is a pretty good author. http://www.trevorscott.com The Jake Adams series is pretty good, definitely keeps your attention. The Hypershot series was great, I keep hoping he'll come out with another one for the series soon (there are only two in the series right now).

I just read a Civil War book done by Newt Gingrich of all people. It was nicely done, I'm considering getting the second book now.

Also read a book on the naval war of 1812 done by Teddy Roosevelt. He put forth a lot of solid facts and backed up his conclusions nicely, but there wasn't really a story to it, more just comparing information. I would have liked something done more in story form, but it was nice to see a good presentation of facts. The bottom line is that we pretty roundly kicked Britain's arse on the water during that war. We accomplished with a handful of frigates, brigs and sloops what no naval power of the time in the world was able to do - win a number of battles.
 
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Louis L'amours stories are great at first, but after reading most of them it's hard to distinguish one from another. There are some stand-outs tho.
I also have read most of the classic sci-fi out there, meaning the 40's up to the 80's. Robert Heinlein is on par with Louis, a great and prolific author but again, after reading enough of his work it starts getting to be generic. Also I think some of his themes would get him banned [< not the word I'm looking for-brain sludge] if he was a new writer starting to publish now.
Robert Asprins sci-fi "Myth" series is a great light read, I like the humor. I usually don't buy series as most often I can't find one of the series. In Roberts case it doesn't matter in what order you read or if you miss a book.
It's been a few years, I used to buy paperback at yard-sales or used book stores. Nowadays I usually get my reading surfing the net.
I do collect auto related manuals. I think I have over 100.
Auto;



small engines;



Richard
 
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I should really clean up the mess in my room so I can actually get a couple decent pictures of my books. I have books and such piled up in front of them and open space on the shelves in front of the books has a variety of items such as shot glasses, lighters, bottles of alcohol, etc. Always moving something to get a book out, lol.
 

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Added to my list of reading in the past several months:

Storm Front by Jim Butcher (first novel in the Dresden Files)

Pretty decent. normally I am not a big fan of sorcery, magic, faeries, vampires and what not, but these were done rather well. Harry Dresden is a modern day wizard/sorcerer that lives in Chicago. he helps out the police on occasion with weird homicide cases. I will probably read the rest of the series as I get time.

Lisa Lutz's latest novel in the Spellman files. definitely worth the read. the ending somewhat surprised me tho.

I have started the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson as well. I have watched the first season of A&E's adaptation on Netflix, and decided to try the books out. Cold Dish is the first one, and so far it is pretty good. Craig Johnson does like to put in a lot of subtle/ dry humor in the books. One thing that he does that is kind of annoying is he will start a chapter or section in the middle of the issue at hand and then work backwards to when it first started. This is kind of disorienting, but the story line is really good. It is about the Sheriff of modern day Absaroka county in Wyoming, and in many ways it is like a western. I really do like Henry Standing Bear, Walt's best friend of 35+ years and his foul mouthed deputy (originally from Philadelphia) "Vic" Victoria Moretti. In a lot of ways, the book is very descriptive like Louis L'Amour's novels in how it describes the area and the land.

AJ
 

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Here is a news flash for those of you that have an e-reader... go to www.bookbub.com and sign up. they will send you a daily email of what books are offered for free or reduced price on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Google and a few other companies that offer e-books and e-readers. You can set up your preferences to send you waht type of books that you would be interested in and what type of e-reader(s) I have mine set to send me from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Google Play books. I have noticed that Amazon by far has more free books than any of the others.

I got a Kindle fire HD for Christmas and love it, I have downloaded quite a few e- books using this and have come across a few decent ones.

Black Bullet by Tom Lowe (a Sean O'Brien mystery)
The List by J.A. Konrath - genetic engineering and cloning/ copying of humans. Not real in depth but a good light read

I have downloaded quite a few more, but have not read them yet.

Enjoy.

AJ
 

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The List by J.A. Konrath - genetic engineering and cloning/ copying of humans. Not real in depth but a good light read Enjoy.

AJ
Check out the Book of Revelation to see how the human copying turns out!
 

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And even tho it is past halloween...Here is a great haunted house book: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. below, the opening paraagraph


No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone. -- the first paragraph of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)
 

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Timothy Zahn is my favorite story weaver, I can really get into his books.

Entertaining section (mostly non fiction and scifi at that)





My research section.





I like paperbacks but if I happen apoun new title in hardcover I usually go for it. They both have the same stories in it and I like the physical element to add to my collection vs an ebook.
 
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