transplantbillsfan

Don't worry I completely agree! I spent college with Shakespeare and postmodernism... which I loved... along with plenty I trudged through like Jane Austen. And then I continued my education into my profession with Moby Dick (I very strongly dislike that book for a LOT of unnecessary whaling stuff tangential to the plot) and Ayn Rand (strong feelings of her works.... but they aren't boring) and so, frankly... I am at the point where I want "easy" and "mindless," since my day job involves the opposite. That said, give me a challenge that really piques my interests and I'm stoked. That's why I loved Surfing With Sartre so much.

Oh I completely forgot to mention him, but I like Dan Brown books a lot, too. Again, it's total "fluff" reading, but thought-provoking nonetheless and the writing is action-packed enough to keep you consistently turning the pages. All the Robert Langdon books are good, but Davinci Code, Origin, and Inferno are the best among them... probably in that order. His 2 books outside of the Robert Langdon series (Deception Point and Digital Fortress) are also good. He writes good mystery books and the Langdon books (a few of which are now Tom Hanks movies) focus on a Professor of "Symbology," so you can kinda guess where they go. I would call them fun Summer reads.

Ya know... I'm "only" 39 and considered a Millennial... but I really get annoyed by the shorthanded-emoji-filled social media speak that's become ubiquitous these days.

Is September here, yet?

I'll have to read it. I loved The Longest Day. Have you read that? Any similarities in style?

Okay I will go out on a limb to make 2 book suggestions for you: Cosmic Bandidos & In Search of Captain Zero by Alan Weisbecker. Cosmic Bandidos especially is a trip and a half. Just started looking at Quammen's books... looks super interesting! Do you have a suggestion on which book to start with?

The Stand was my favorite experience reading a book so far, honestly. I started reading it on a 10 hour plane ride from Hawaii to NY and couldn't put it down. And as I read I kept laughing in my head because this was the book I chose to read couped up on a plane with a few hundred people. I will say that my 2 or 3 favorite characters were the slightly unconventional protagonists and I wasn't happy with what happened to them, but oh well. I haven't watched either the 90s or most recent series, though I admit I'm curious about them.

Oh man I LOVED Catch-22! One of the few books I've ever read where I was cracking up out loud as I read. Just a great book overall.

I teach The Alchemist to my Seniors 4th quarter. They love it for exactly the reason you bring up. That's on my "to-read" list and has actually just been sitting in my Amazon cart. I just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

Sounds like we have similar tastes. I haven't read Lila. You say it's a follow up? Same storyline? Same philosophical meanderings? As a surfer I've really liked surf books that have explored similar philosophical ideas.... that's why I mentioned Surfing with Sartre, but there's a book called Saltwater Buddha by Jaimal Yogis that really reminded me of Pirsig's book, though not nearly as academic in writing. Yogis actually writes a non-fiction book called The Fear Project that's actually super interesting and not just about surfing but is more an exploration of our fear and how we deal with it. I've been making my way through Gladwell's books, too. Outliers was the best among them. I'm actually stalled right now in the middle of his book Blink because I've been devouring King's Dark Tower books, though.

I really need a print version of a book to read. I have a tablet but would never be able to tolerate reading on one. I think the only thing I would ever consider is the Kindle Paper-White because it seems easy on the eyes. But there's something about having a print version of a book and just seeing your progress as you read.

Dean Koontz was my first favorite writer. I've probably read more of his books overall than any other writer. Loved Watchers, Whispers and The Taking... among others. You're right about his earlier books being better. I haven't liked the direction he's gone as a writer overall.

Since I teach English, my "free reading" stuff at this point is generally just "fluff." That said, I became an English teacher because I love literature. I never really loved Steinbeck as an author. Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Catcher in the Rye, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are probably my favorite books to teach because I actually love the books. King Lear is by far my favorite Shakespeare play and probably one of my 5 favorite works overall. Ayn Rand is polarizing as a writer. The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are page-turners at least, but I really get annoyed at how much she just bashes you over the head with her ideas and since her characters are really just symbolic representations of her ideas, it's impossible to connect with them. I actually assign Atlas Shrugged to my AP Lit students for their Summer read just because of how polarizing it is and I find it an interesting way to start the year. I'm honestly loving Stephen King. I had read some of his books when I was younger like The Dark Half, but over the last few years I've just kinda decided to try to go through as many of his works as possible since I always seem to enjoy his books.... he puts you in the minds of the characters better than most writers... and I think that's often why movies adapted from his books in particular are never nearly as good. One of his lesser known works is called Revival and it might be the scariest Stephen King book in terms of the way it ends... but the entirety of the book is really just character building, which I loved.

I realized there were no book threads. Don't we have readers here? Where are we? What are we reading? I always look for new suggestions. The truth is, I am an English teacher and teach upper-level English students, so my liesure reading stuff ends up being "fluff." So despite the fact that my favorite all-time book is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, I have been reading a ton of Stephen King lately. Right now I'm on book 3 of The Dark Tower series, but over the last few years I've also read his newest books The Outsider and The Institute and Sleeping Beauties along with some of his classics like The Shining and Salem's Lot, and The Stand... I loved all of them. I firmly believe King belongs in the Canon... he's the modern Hemingway. I usually read one nonfiction book simultaneously with a fiction book. I guess that must be my ADD... so I've also read a good amount of nonfiction. I'm not bringing up all of the titles because some of them are political, but I also love reading surfing memoirs and different types of philosophy or logic books. I think my favorite recent non-fiction book is called Surfing with Sartre. It's a philosophy book that essentially connects surfing with academic philosophy. I would love some suggestions... or just to hear what you guys are reading.

This was the first game of the season I was gonna watch. I kinda moved stuff in my schedule around just to watch it. I kept flipping through channels when they started playing some documentary instead. Oh well. This doesn't look like our year, anyway. I know if Boeheim got the team in the tournament we could make some noise... but it looks like even that won't happen. Weird year. I usually find my comfort in Syracuse Basketball after Bills seasons. Times they are a changin...

I really love that we're able to have this conversation because I think Watson is a fantastic QB... I just think Josh is better. I would not take that trade. By now you've heard multiple guys--including Greg Cossell--say that Josh Allen is the most talented QB in the league right now and out of any QBs coming out of the draft. And that's combination of size, arm strength, speed, elusiveness, running ability, toughness, etc. Those that don't believe me... it was on one of Cossell's weekly appearances on the Cowherd show I believe. Allen is still getting better and has the ability to be the GOAT. (Unfortunately, I don't think anyone will ever catch Brady's 7 rings... but I'd love to see Josh try). Once again, I think Watson is a fantastic QB... probably top 5 in the NFL... so basically, he's Elite. Allen is just better and is still getting better. And I honestly don't even think that's the homer in me talking. I think most experts would say NO to trading Watson for Allen straight up.

Covid deaths typically lag infection anywhere between 2-8 weeks. Most of the deaths we've seen from Covid over Biden's first month in office are the result of people who were infected while Trump was still in office. Notice that infections and hospitalizations are going down now. If you want to play this incredibly sick and twisted game, wait a couple more weeks.

So much circular reasoning here my head is spinning

Me too!!! What the hell man?!?!?! We gotta deal with yet ANOTHER offseason of Brady talk with him winning the SB???? SUCKS!!! Most fun Bills season in decades!!!! Just gotta wait for more...

Exactly. I don't know why @GunnerBill seems to be so offended by something pretty widely acknowledged.

@GunnerBill watch this if you think the whole being a farmboy didn't matter in terms of work ethic... you don't even have to watch past 2 minutes before Josh and his mom bring up how that farmer work ethic was instilled in him and how much it mattered: You might not believe that the farming lifestyle lends itself to a strong work ethic, but you should probably keep that to yourself if you're talking to a farmer.

"Josh would have never said what Mahomes said." That's all you really needed to say.

The "farmer's work ethic" (which is a real thing) is evident in Josh Allen. The "pro athlete's sense of entitlement" (also a real thing) is starting to show its ugly head in Patrick Mahomes. Maybe you're right. Maybe it's just pure coincidence that Josh Allen has that farmer's humility and work ethic and Patrick Mahomes is showing signs of that entitlement. We're seeing it, nonetheless.

Except it's not... and clearly you just don't have any way to reasonably argue that it is.

Automatically? No. But it certainly lends itself to work ethic and there's a reason the cliché exists. Should we get into a nature vs. nurture argument at this point? You seem to believe that I think it's ALL nurture, but I don't. It's a mix of both, obviously. Brady has a bunch of his work ethic just naturally in him and a bunch of it also from being raised right by his parents. You don't HAVE to be a farmer in order to have a great work ethic, obviously. Now you're the one being disingenuous and silly pretending that's what I meant. But the profession and lifestyle of a farmer (and almost inevitable familial cooperation in the profession) lends itself to instilling a work ethic and strong sense of humility more than most professions. But I'm not saying ALL farmers have a better work ethic than... say... a professional athlete's son And I'm not saying ALL professional athletes' kids are more entitled than... say... a farmer. But you can certainly see the farmer work ethic in Josh Allen and the entitled diva in Patrick Mahomes starting to show up at this point.