Category: Sylum Book Club

Looks at my to be listened to list – what have I read since last time.

I read the 2nd book in the Chronicles of Breed series by KT Davies … Tooth and Claw.  I actually enjoy this series as ‘Breed’ is an asshole and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him.   This 2nd story was a bit slow to get where it was going, but when it hit it was good.   Not going to give anything away – but made me cry and I despise him for it.

As know I do have a tendency to read a lot of autobiographies.   Tom Felton’s Beyond the Wand was interesting, and if a fan of the movie series it is a good read.

I’ve had some interesting ones in the past month.  I read Sarah Maas The Court of Thorns and Roses.   It wasn’t bad, not the best thing I’ve read – might continue with the series as like a pallet cleanser, but good.

Read Lincoln’s Lady Spy Master by Gerri Willis – this is pretty good, there was Civil War information in it that I hadn’t known which intrigued me.  Elizabeth was one of the top Spy Masters in the Civil War and was amazing doing it.   Worth it to read, even if you don’t know much on Civil War history as it gives context of person and events.

I may have already mentioned it but Tim Curry’s Autobiography Vagabond is amazing.   As is Dolly Parton’s Songteller – she did a series of 3 books on her life from different perspectives: Music, Fashion, Hollywood – I’ve read the music one so far.

Any new readings?

This is a bit early in the month for the book club – but today is also Book Lovers Day!  Felt it was fitting.

The latest book I read was Terry Crews autobiography: Tough – My Journey to True Power.   It was eye opening, inspiring, and my respect for the man went up.   It’s a real eye opener to his life, mental health, and discuss on sexual assault and racism.

So last month was a bit less of books I’ve listened to – I had a long one.

Here are my top two:

Leap of Faith – Life of a Frog by Kermit the Frog.  If you get this – please do audible they do the full muppet voices for all the different parts and it’s worth it!  This is an adorable feel good autobiography of one tadpole out of 2356 that became famous.   You get additional stories by Fonzie, Miss Piggy, Pepe, and Gonzo – it’s worth the price and will make you smile.

Rise To Rebellion by Jeff Shaara.   I love Jeff Shaara’s historical fiction.   All the dates, places, and events are factual even some of the dialogue, as it comes from letters, diaries and other sources.  The structure of the story is built around all those fact, making a great historical account of the events.   This book is the lead up to the Revolutionary War.  Now I’m a Civil War historian and have read the series that started with his Father Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels.   I know my Revolutionary History but not details and this actually gave some great insight into areas and events.   Puts a lot of things into perspective for today.

I highly recommend both books!

What have we been reading for the month of June.

The latest one in my very long TBL (to be listened – as I do a lot of commuting) list.

There were two that was interesting:

Dangerous to Know (Chronicles of Breed Book 1) by KT Davies.  This was a fun adventure of a half human/half demon spawn that had no fucks to give and didn’t give a shit about anyone or anything – until he did.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I have to say by the time I got to the end, I put the sequel on my wishlist.  It’s a snark fest of epic proportions and I found myself snorting in laughter more than a few times.

Waking On by Ralph Macciho.  I learned a lot about the Karate Kid and how that film came to be.   A lot of fun insights, and a look into Ralph Macciho’s life and friendships over the year.   Actually this book finally gave me the entrance into a story I had been wanting to write – which you’ll see at Seven Days.   But honestly if you loved the Karate Kid – this book is worth reading.

What are you reading this month?

My favorite book for this month was Dick Van Dyke’s 100 Rules for Living to 100.

This is a fun book, and just makes you want to wrap Dick Van Dyke in bubble wrap.  The stories are great, you’ll laugh and cry.  I highly recommended this especially if you’re a fan of his.  Even if you’re not 🙂

What is everyone reading this month?

I recently worked my way through the Hunger Games Series.  I had read it a while back, but picked it up for really cheap on audible.   I finished the series by reading Sunrise on the Reaping one of the side novels.   It was very good, actually slightly better than the original series.  You can see Collins improvement as there’s at least 15 years between Hunger Games and Sunrise.  It follows Haymitch which was always a fascinating character.  The hard part of it, was you knew the ending would suck as you knew what was in store for him.  Overall if read the original series – at least read Sunrise.  I haven’t read yet the other side story – not sure if interested in Snow.

So what’s everyone reading or read this month?

I’ve read a few!

My top favorite was Grant & Sherman: How Their Friendship Won the Civil War by Charles Flood – this is a great book (a bit dry) but a very interesting look at their friendship and how it affected the Civil War.  It does rely on the reader having some knowledge of the war, battles, and people.   I won’t tell you the amount of Sherman/Grant bunnies I now have running around trying to outflank Bob.

I’m Your Huckleberry by Val Kilmer:  Very interesting to learn more about Kilmer and his philosophies in life.  I enjoyed  some of the personal looks at iconic rolls, and his connections with so many people.  If you like autobiographies this is a good one.

The Downloaded by Robert Sawyer – okay this is for Audible only.  Only reason I picked it up was one of the narrators was Brendan Fraiser.  I was surprised at how good the story was, it was fascinating, kept me intrigued and really pulled me in.  It’s not long, and a good story.  There is a sequel to it – not as good as the first.

What are you reading?

I’ve gone through a few books – Audible + Long Commute

The House of Wolves – James Patterson & Mike Lupica: Not the greatest it screams make me into a Netflix mini series.   It’s about Jenny Wolf who inherits from her father the NFL team the Wolves and the Newspaper in San Francisco.   You can tell the sections James Patterson wrote easily.   Despite the writing not the best, I did find myself want to know what happened, was caught up in the family drama.   This is a throwaway type of book.

In between big series (which I will post about once finish the full thing) I like to read autobiographies or smaller books to get a good pallet cleanser.

If You Ask Me (But You Won’t) – Betty White.  LOVED THIS.  I have her first autobiography that I still need to read.  Just enjoyed this so much, made me laugh and smile.   Highly recommend.

Sylum Book Club

Thought this would be fun.   

This won’t be us picking a book and we read and discuss.

More of – Hey what is everyone reading.

Drop a comment on a book you’ve just finished and let us know what you think.

My latest book (via audible) was Demons of Unrest by Erik Larson.   This is the lead up to the attack on Fort Sumter which lead to the American Civil War.   If you’re fascinated with history and want to learn more about the lead up to the war this is a very good book, which interesting details and nuances of those six months.   It can drag slightly, but it still kept me wanting more.   The detailing of events that transpired is fascinating, and meet many known ‘characters’ and introduced to others.  I would recommend, even for the casual historian.