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I hadn’t read any fiction in a while, and I grew up in Detroit so I picked this up at a used bookstore and really enjoyed it. An intriguing cast of characters makes its way through the ruins and the promise of a forgotten city. Definitely worth checking out.
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Finally finished Wallace Stegner's "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Weeks of joyless self punishment.
BRCM was perhaps too close to home and caused to much self inspection. When you crawl to the end, you are wondering if you are any better father that the hate-able Harry "Bo" Mason.
Dear Lord I hope so.

Every time I start a Stegner I kick myself. I haven't found one yet that wasn't too long. too slow, and too depressing.I am, in the words of @Cornell2012 , a "completionist." I always have to finish the set. Sad but true. I'm actually queuing up "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian" now. I've heard its Stegner's best work
Finished "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian" and like it.
This biography of John Wesley Powell and his influence on the shaping of the west was a surprise after deciding I was not a Stegner fan.

I haven't been able to get a copy of Stegner's biography of Bernard DeVoto biography yet. But I would consider this Powell book to also be an important prequel to Nate Schweber's DeVoto book, "This America of Ours". It takes the trail of carpetbagging politicians back even further than the Senator Pat McCarran nonsense. To see the common denominators of two different fights for the integrity of the west a half century apart was enlightening.
 
Having consumed all of the late John LeCarre novels I'm on my first of Charles McCarry's espionage works. Good writing, excellent character development, and compelling style of weaving a riveting story.

Not in the same rare air as LeCarre, but who is...

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Finally finished Wallace Stegner's "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Weeks of joyless self punishment.
BRCM was perhaps too close to home and caused to much self inspection. When you crawl to the end, you are wondering if you are any better father that the hate-able Harry "Bo" Mason.
Dear Lord I hope so.

Every time I start a Stegner I kick myself. I haven't found one yet that wasn't too long. too slow, and too depressing.I am, in the words of @Cornell2012 , a "completionist." I always have to finish the set. Sad but true. I'm actually queuing up "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian" now. I've heard its Stegner's best work
It's not.
but great summary of stegner's work. I concur completely. Audible is a better venue for it.
 
A while back I heard a podcast with Bret Easton Ellis. I actually have almost nothing in common with him, but he said some things that resonated so I read his first book, written in the 80s when he was 19 years old, Less Than Zero. It was ok.

On the recommendation of @Nunyacreek I am currently reading River of No Return. The author's prose and story telling are enthralling, and whether or not I ever find myself in the country of the book, good grief it's good.

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The Brush Cop by John G Marcon. John was born in Yugoslavia and came to Wisconsin with his parents at one year of age. He, being fluent in English and Polish taught school at age 16 and after eleven years became a game warden in the 1940's. A very good read.
 
A while back I heard a podcast with Bret Easton Ellis. I actually have almost nothing in common with him, but he said some things that resonated so I read his first book, written in the 80s when he was 19 years old, Less Than Zero. It was ok.

On the recommendation of @Nunyacreek I am currently reading River of No Return. The author's prose and story telling are enthralling, and whether or not I ever find myself in the country of the book, good grief it's good.

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purchased. I'll trust a nameless rec over about anything (except all the jocko stuff... LOL)
 
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Significant changes you want to make in your life depend more on creating small habits than sizable shifts. For example, suppose you want to get in shape. In that case, your best bet is eating slightly better, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. Instead of wasting your time setting unachievable goals with drastic changes, all you have to do is make one minor change daily. This theme runs throughout Atomic Habits. The quality of your life depends on the quality of your habits. Some habits are small like an atom. As these atomic habits accumulate, they can make a significant impact in your life.
The book is about how to succeed in eliminating bad habits and adopting small good habits in life.
 
A while back I heard a podcast with Bret Easton Ellis. I actually have almost nothing in common with him, but he said some things that resonated so I read his first book, written in the 80s when he was 19 years old, Less Than Zero. It was ok.

On the recommendation of @Nunyacreek I am currently reading River of No Return. The author's prose and story telling are enthralling, and whether or not I ever find myself in the country of the book, good grief it's good.

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I really enjoyed this book
 
I'm about 1/3 way through "Is Atheism Dead" by Eric Metaxas. So far some pretty heady and amazing scientific stuff on creation and the universe.
 
Having consumed all of the late John LeCarre novels I'm on my first of Charles McCarry's espionage works. Good writing, excellent character development, and compelling style of weaving a riveting story.

Not in the same rare air as LeCarre, but who is...

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LeCarre is one of my Favs! Read Len Deighton's books after I went through LeCarre. You might enjoy them too if you haven't read them.
 
Read this on on the plane ride to Indy and back
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Most were mediocre. "Cowboy" was the only real gem and I'd read it previously in Cloudburst (though chronologically they're backwards). Still waiting for the "ah ha" moment on McGuane. Maybe I need to go further back and read his early works, I found that to be true with Harrison.
 

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