How old are you now, Irish? Fifty?

You know I'm kidding, son. It's the same way no matter how old you are. You're always going to be attached to the books and movies that you enjoyed as a kid.

Case in point: My Dad is going to be 85, and he's on eBay all day long buying cowboy movie dvds from the '30s and '40s .

My dad is 59 and the only movies he watches are cowboy movies.

I am currently reading The Black Echo by Michael Connelly, the author of The Lincoln Lawyer. Really, really good, solid stuff.

Heavily recommend it.

I've read them all, Moe. Yogi Barrabbas and I are both huge fans. Harry Bosch is an all-time character, and the star of the ONLY 20 year book series that hasn't grown tiresome and formulaic. Michael Connelly deserves a Pulitzer.

This is the first Harry Bosch book I've read after reading two Mickey Haller books.

I never would have started reading them only for I found them lying around the house either.

Thank God I did though. Can't wait to go through them all. With Harry Bosch, I can start in chronological order too!

Is the TV adaptation any good?

Currently reading the LAST DAYS OF DETROIT by Mark Binelli.

Fascinating read, really good!!

Re-read "The Brother" by Sam Roberts, about the Rosenberg spy case, with emphasis on David Greenglass, who ratted out Ethel Rosenberg to save his and his wife's skins. Like nearly everything else written about the Rosenberg case, it uses facts highly selectively and over-relies on Venona.

I've read it, TB. It was an eye-opening book, to say the least. But it wasn't nearly as good as the article a friend of mine wrote about the Rosenthals .

I just finished James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights by Richard Labunski. Considering all of the moaning and complaining these days about rights, there is a paucity of knowledge among most of us about how the BOR came about. Labunski provides some information that has been provided before by other authors, but his details about Madison's struggles are enlightening. It's probably little known that Madison had to work his tail off just to get the Congress to take up the Bill let alone pass it. It also took something of a Herculean effort among its advocates to get the states to ratify it.

PB,I met Roberts in 2002, soon after his book was published, when he gave a talk at Kean College in Union NJ. Nice fellow. He's four years younger than I and grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, just a few blocks from where I grew up in Brownsville. Nice fellow, but absolutely intransigent on the Rosenbergs' (not Rosenthals') guilt. I go with your friend's article.

You know, I ALWAYS do that. It's embarrassing. But here's why, TB:

As you know, the RosenBERGS were layed out at the old IJ Morris location in Brooklyn, but there were photos of that funeral all over the office at the newer location on Flatbush Avenue. And there was a corporate big shot who was based out of that location. His last name was RosenTHAL. It's some kind of Freudian slip on my part, I guess .

I was actually outside the I.J. Morris funeral home on Church Avenue in Brownsville during their funeral in 1953--among thousands who gathered there. It was the biggest thing that happened in that neighborhood. Probably half the people in the crowd were FBI agents, taking photos and making notes. I'm probably on file with them as an "ultra-junior Commie."

Well, I didn't slide into the world until six years later. But that was a big funeral. Probably the biggest in IJ's history.

I knew Joel Morris fairly well. He stayed on as an "advisor" for years after he sold out to corporate ownership. He told me that it was crazy. And that half the crowd was there in support of the Rosenbergs, and half the crowd was there to make sure they were really dead.

There are photos at the Flatbush location. Big, big crowd. Especially for the time period. Can you imagine something like that today in the Internet age?

Amy Meeropol, the Rosenbergs' granddaughter (born after they were executed) made a superb documentary, "Heir to an Execution." There's a brief video of the crowd outside I.J. Morris during the funeral. I'm not in it but you can also see the building across the street where my wife and I lived when we were first married.

Brownsville, where I lived at the time of the Rosenberg funeral, was the most densely populated neighborhood in NYC. The only vacant lot in the entire neighborhood was behind I.J. Morris. We used to play there, within sight of the coffins stacked up in their backyard.

Im currently reading With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. "Sledgehammer" Sledge.

Overview
“Eugene Sledge became more than a legend with his memoir, With The Old Breed. He became a chronicler, a historian, a storyteller who turns the extremes of the war in the Pacific—the terror, the camaraderie, the banal and the extraordinary—into terms we mortals can grasp.”—Tom Hanks

There seems to be a lot written about Madison lately. Several years ago, Adams was getting all of the attention.

Madison, like almost every other delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, was thoroughly opposed to a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. As you state, many Americans don't know this and today when we speak of the Constitution we often first think of the Bill of Rights. It was the opposite perspective for the Founding Fathers.

My two questions for you concerning Labunski's treatment are:

1. While Madison is known as the Father of the Constitution, several delegates contributed as much, if not more, in the formation of the document that summer. John Rutledge, Gouverneur Morris, James Wilson and Rufus King are some of them. Madison possessed unmatched knowledge on historical political theory and philosophy, but does the author challenge whether the unofficial title of Father of the Constitution is appropriate?

2. Does the author give much detail about the external political influences on Madison to pass a Bill of Rights as a Congressman after the ratification of the Constitution? In Virginia, Massachusetts, New York and a few other states the Constitution faced strong opposition, largely on the issue of the new national government's ability to tax the people, which is something that the Federalists felt was necessary. Madison reluctantly agreed to a Bill of Rights when he realized that he would lose in a Congressional election to James Monroe unless concessions were made to those who challenged the Costitution. Madison thought a Bill of Rights, taken from a survey of other states' declaration of rights would satisfy the people enough not to call a second convention, which might have scrapped the blueprints of the government they had just worked so hard to create.

No Kly, Labunski doesn't challenge Madison's title as the Father of the Constitution. In fact, he only devotes a handful of pages to describing the Convention and those are friendly to Madison (as is the whole book). Of course, I am of the opinion that without Madison as the protagonist there probably would never have been a Convention and thus no Constitution as we know it.

Yes, Labunski does write alot of words about those external political influences not only on the BOR, but on the Constitution's ratification journey. You mention his Congressional run for office and Labunski writes alot of words about that in particular. Also, he brings to life Patrick Henry's near obsession with defeating the Constitution's ratification and his equal obsession with getting the amendments suggested by Virginia to include structural changes to the Constitution.

I had a wonderful history teacher in my last year in high school who said that the most brilliant achievement of the Constitutional Convention was Article V, which describes how the Constitution can be amended. Even those inspired men who created the Constitution acknowledged that they weren't the last word, and that theirs was a living work.

It was brilliant TB, but ultimately it was intended by Madison and others to preclude any call for a 2nd convention which some back then like Patrick Henry insisted upon. That was a primary concern of Madison et al because they feared that a 2nd convention would be used to undo the Constitution.

he last book I read was, joe and Marilyn. about DiMaggio and Monroe. boy, did I feel sorry for joe after reading that. she was really bad I mean god did she sleep around.ive read books about her before but, never realized how many affairs she had.poor joe. she told him about how she broke into films and she wasn't a good girl. how he could still love her I don't know. the list of men she bedded was endless. she told him of her affairs with john and bobby kennedy, with ,studio heads.really feel for joe after reading this one.she had a horrible childhood, was addicted to pills. poor joe.

I just finnished The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I couldn't figure it out!

Best Amazon review of it or of any book:

Please allow me to share with you how "The Secret" changed my life and in a very real and substantive way allowed me to overcome a severe crisis in my personal life. It is well known that the premise of "The Secret" is the science of attracting the things in life that you desire and need and in removing from your life those things that you don't want. Before finding this book, I knew nothing of these principles, the process of positive visualization, and had actually engaged in reckless behaviors to the point of endangering my own life and wellbeing.
At age 36, I found myself in a medium security prison serving 3-5 years for destruction of government property and public intoxication. This was stiff punishment for drunkenly defecating in a mailbox but as the judge pointed out, this was my third conviction for the exact same crime. I obviously had an alcohol problem and a deep and intense disrespect for the postal system, but even more importantly I was ignoring the very fabric of our metaphysical reality and inviting destructive influences into my life.
My fourth day in prison was the first day that I was allowed in general population and while in the recreation yard I was approached by a prisoner named Marcus who calmly informed me that as a new prisoner I had been purchased by him for three packs of Winston cigarettes and 8 ounces of Pruno (prison wine). Marcus elaborated further that I could expect to be raped by him on a daily basis and that I had pretty eyes.
Needless to say, I was deeply shocked that my life had sunk to this level. Although I've never been homophobic I was discovering that I was very rape phobic and dismayed by my overall personal street value of roughly $15. I returned to my cell and sat very quietly, searching myself for answers on how I could improve my life and distance myself from harmful outside influences. At that point, in what I consider to be a miraculous moment, my cell mate Jim Norton informed me that he knew about the Marcus situation and that he had something that could solve my problems. He handed me a copy of "The Secret". Normally I wouldn't have turned to a self help book to resolve such a severe and immediate threat but I literally didn't have any other available alternatives. I immediately opened the book and began to read.
The first few chapters deal with the essence of something called the "Law of Attraction" in which a primal universal force is available to us and can be harnessed for the betterment of our lives. The theoretical nature of the first few chapters wasn't exactly putting me at peace. In fact, I had never meditated and had great difficulty with closing out the chaotic noises of the prison and visualizing the positive changes that I so dearly needed. It was when I reached Chapter 6 "The Secret to Relationships" that I realized how this book could help me distance myself from Marcus and his negative intentions. Starting with chapter six there was a cavity carved into the book and in that cavity was a prison shiv. This particular shiv was a toothbrush with a handle that had been repeatedly melted and ground into a razor sharp point.
The next day in the exercise yard I carried "The Secret" with me and when Marcus approached me I opened the book and stabbed him in the neck. The next eight weeks in solitary confinement provided ample time to practice positive visualization and the 16 hours per day of absolute darkness made visualization about the only thing that I actually could do. I'm not sure that everybody's life will be changed in such a dramatic way by this book but I'm very thankful to have found it and will continue to recommend it heartily.

Just ordered the new Dennis Lehane book of Amazon, THE DROP. I love his stuff, can't wait for it to drop ( see what I did there )

I was at a book store the other day and came across some of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. I've read THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT but was wondering how his other books are? Can anybody recommend anything else? Are they even worth the read? I'm talking primarily of THE SILMARILLION, THE ADVENTURES OF TOM BOMBADIL, UNFINISHED TALES AND THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH, etc. Thanks!

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

The longest Harry Potter book of the series but I enjoyed it more a second time around. J.K. Rowling is able to expand and make the Umbridge character more detestable than in the movie. As usual they fill in some of the blanks I felt were left out of the movie. I think this can run a little long in the tooth but is still enjoyable and still has a lot of rich details as Lord Voldemort walks amongst the Harry Potter universe!

Never quite understand grown adults reading Harry Potter books.

I really enjoyed reading Dr. Michio Kaku's book "Physics of the Future". Anyone else on here a science or math geek like me?

who says there adults. wasn't it an English lady who wrote them.

You know, I felt that exact same way. But I think it was when "The Half-Blood Prince" came out that I became intrigued, so I gave the first book a go. I read it in 3 hours. After that, I picked up the remaining five books (Book 7 hadn't come out yet) and finished Books 1-6 in less than two months.

Harry Potter turned out to be my favorite series. They really are quite incredible.

Agreed! THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE was the first book I received as a gift. So like you, I grabbed books 1-5 (because 7 wasn't out yet) and I've loved the series since then. It's been years since I've read them. In fact, prior to this run, I hadn't read a Harry Potter book since book 7 was released back in 2007!

Each to their own i guess..

Same here. I tore through Book 7 in just a few days after it's release, and (until a couple weeks ago) hadn't revisited the series. I re-read THE SORCEROR'S STONE on my flight back from Maryland a couple weeks ago, and am finishing up CHAMBER OF SECRETS right now. There has been no other series of books that has captured my imagine quite like the Potter series. I literally feel like a spectator at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry while reading them.



You should give them a shot DE NIRO. You just might like them!