Amen.

Each volume stands alone quite well but taking the series as a continuous story it goes beyond epic.

It's a great book, period.

I'll give this a shot. I was a big sci-fi reader in my youth. I've found I have little patience for the genre now. Did read a Wm. Gibson story recently -Spook Country - and enjoyed it. Gonna read the sequel Zero History soon.

I've been a big fan of American "detective" or "crime" stories since I discovered Raymond Chandler when I was in high school. Lines like "I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun." Appealed to me then and now. I read Dashiell Hammett's Thin Man , Maltese Falcon et al. Really was entranced by James Cain.

So when I found a book titled The Best American Noir of the Century edited by James Ellroy (author of The Black Dahlia)the other day I snapped it up. What a great bunch of stories!

Also I've started re-reading Alan Furst's stories. He writes of the period in Europe as Nazi Germany is experiencing early success in it's program to dominate Europe. These are stories of people resisting the Nazi expansion and are quite good. Eleven books in the series so far. As near as I can tell they are all "stand alone" stories that can be read in any order. They are unified by a single place, the Brasserie Heiniger, a Paris restaurant. Several characters are in different novels but there is no central protagonist.

+21.

They did.

I see what you did there.

There is not a minute to lose (for all love).

Perhaps, but not nearly to the same extent. And because of lack of resources, cars have been replaced by pedicabs.

First book I read was Black Beauty--When I was six. Had plenty of time then. Haven't stopped reading since but I know the eyes have gone and I think the Brain aswell. Just don't read much nowadays but will have to get back to John Wyndham. Had to study "Day of the Triffids" for English literature at school and just got into his books. This led to me getting interested in Science "Faction" in general.

But I am afraid that I am into the established British writers. Charles Dickens- George Orwell- and Agatha Christie for some lighter relief. They do get a bit heavy at times though- Especially at 3am when you just got to finish this chapter- but that was about 100 pages ago.

So true. I started the first years ago and did not stop until I had read them all. That got to the Hornblower series which are also excellent.

I did the Hornblower series after the Aubrey/Maturin too. As well as the Ramage series by Dudley Pope.

Another really fun series of "historical" novels is G. M. Fraser's Flashman books. The Sir Harry Flashman is a celebrated public hero by greatest of luck. In reality he is a self-described coward, thief, cheat and liar. An inveterate womanizer - yet he deeply loves his wife and in his own fashion remains remains true to her. He manages to become involved with most of the important martial events of the mid 19th century - from the Charge of the Light Brigade to Custer's Last Stand. He survives to heroic acclaim through some of the most craven cowardice imaginable. It really helps to be the sole survivor, image-wise...

This brings to mind Robert Graves. His I Claudius and Claudius the God are fabulous reads. The Roman Empire at it's most decadent.

The interesting selection of books read by 50+ers leads me to wonder what kinds of books might have been written by 50+ers. The only author to have come forward, at least as far as I can recall at the moment, is the esteemed Mr. Digital Gee. I have written one hopelessly unreadable academic tome and published a translation of a Japanese novel which, sadly, does not contain any bike scenes.

Anybody else out there?

[Perhaps the record should also show that while I was working on both of these projects I was also the proud owner of a white bike. So perhaps the question should be, has anybody been able to produce a book without one?]

Being a NY resident one can'thelp but to read Caro's "The Power Broker". not the best biography but a real insight into the sestemic problems in NY. I stopped reading fiction years ago when I discovered just how gripping history really is. IMHO fiction is entertainment that has a limited mental shelf life, the lessons of history last a lifetime.

Among recent reads:
Ten Points by Bill Strickland https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Points-Bil.../dp/1401302580
A meaningful read for me that resonants with my life.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson https://www.amazon.com/Anathem-Neal-S.../dp/0061474096
Sci-Fi for those of the Dune ilk, who like alternate worlds constructed to tell a story

Buddha by Deepak Chopra https://www.amazon.com/Buddha-Story-E...8999420&sr=1-3
A fictional frame of reference to understand the origins of the faith.

White House Diary by Jimmy Carter https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...te+house+Diary
Was never a big fan of his Presidency, but wanted to try and have some appreciation of the man himself.

By the way, no implied endorsement of Amazon, just convenient for providing quick overviews.

Lords of Finance
https://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-...pr_product_top

A superb history that will open the eyes of even those that thought they knew the era well. You may also hear echoes that sound similar to
what we are going through now.

The Culture novels of Iain Banks.

Anything with Paula Myo (start with Reality Dysfunction) Over the summer I re-read the Culture novels and trilogy that introduces Paula Myo.

Everyone should read... The Three Trillon Dollar War
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Trillion...9000715&sr=1-6

and The Dark Side
https://books.google.com/books?id=w8-...page&q&f=false

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris fascinating not just because of the character, but some great details of life in that era, particularly some of the stuff from the Dakota Territory This chapter "The Winter of the Blue Snow" is unbelievable. This book chronicles his life from his birth up to McKinley's assassination, and Roosevelt's ascension to the presidency.
https://books.google.com/books?id=pO2...page&q&f=false

I finished Zero History last week. It was supposed to be the third in the Blue Ant trilogy, but I sure hope the storylines continue in a series. I thoroughly enjoy his spin on things.

Just finished Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
Now reading Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Neither is about bicycles; though both are recommended,

Paul

Back to spec-fic, I thought of another one I really enjoyed last summer. It's the perfect discussion book for 50+ too, BTW.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist, translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy.

In this dystopian near-future, 50+ women and 60+ men who are single, childless and in jobs that can be done by others, are asked to step aside and check into a home where they will live out their lives in pampered luxury--for a price. I'm not sure what is more chilling--the price they pay, that their society thinks it's the right thing to do, or that they go along with it without resistance.

The book raises the questions,

• What is freedom?
• What is human dignity?
• How do we humans value our selves and each other?

and many others.

A thoroughly provocative book, that really hit home for this single, childless 50+er.

Now there was a really fine work. I liked how the story skipped through years. I twas a challenge to find the thread that tied them all together, before the author revealed it, of course.

If I may ask, what is the title of the Japanese novel and did you like it? I have a fascination with Asian writers. Watanabe's "A Lost Paradise" really got me. Are you familiar with many Asian authors? I think my favorite writer is Kaszuo Ishiguro, but of course, he is more British than Japanese, but I feel there is an influence. Any suggestions, or was the translation a one time deal? ( I would imagine any one able to translate from Japanese might be on an inside track )

The novels of Hakiru Murakami are excellent as are the more spiritually minded and frequently historically based works of Shusako Endo.

Ditto.

For a book whose thread is a challenge to find, try the Silmarillion. The overarching story will finally become apparent as (and if) you complete your second or third reading. Then you will struck by its intensity. For the next six months you will see life paralleling one part or another of it.

YMMV, of course. It isn't for the faint-hearted. It ain't light reading.

There aren't many fiction authors I like enough to buy their works in hardcover, but Joseph Wambaugh's Hollywood Station series has me hooked. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, always hugely entertaining.