What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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I just listened to Dr Elisabeth Rosenthal's 'An American Sickness' again. Just as depressing the second time. Currently listening to Dr Paul Ruggieri's 'Confessions of a Surgeon'. Comes across like many surgeons I have known so that is good I suppose. Interestingly, I think that I would enjoy it more if it had a different reader.
 
Theory of Bastards, by Audry Schulman, is excellent. Especially after reading The Evolution of Beauty, which explores female mate choice in birds. Schulman's protagonist is a 32 year old evolutionary biologist who is recovering from surgery for stage 4 endometriosis. She has recently received a MacArthur Genius Award and agrees to work in for a foundation that has a research enclosure of Bonobos - the great ape species closest to us. The novel is set in a near future world where climate change has turned the mid-west into the dust-bowl of the depression. The book is a meditation on living with pain, love, and sex. The Bonobos have a lot to teach us. I won't spoil the book by saying more.
 
"Atheist in a Foxhole," by Joe Muto. Muto, a liberal, worked for the conservative Fox News Channel from 2004 to 2012, starting as a production assistant and eventually working for Bill O'Reilly. He also became a mole, leaking some information to Gawker which got him into trouble. Good read, so far, even though I haven't gotten to the really good stuff yet.
 
It felt like I spent most of June reading “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. For me, this book was not a page-turner (and there were an awful lot of pages to be turned). I read every single page (it was either do that or read a thread about “I Can’t Talk to People About My Early Retirement.” Anyhow, I had to renew the library book twice before I finished it. From what I gather “The Fountainhead” is controversial. I wouldn’t have picked that up from reading the book. To me, book seemed to be about a number of main characters with little-to-no people skills, who were totally preoccupied with their own interests, unable to connect with others, void of empathy and not very good sexually. In all fairness, it should be mentioned that the main character was very good at his profession, but also possessed all the characteristics mentioned above. Maybe I missed the big picture (which can be rented from Netflix). But if it holds the book is almost always better than the movie, I can’t see me renting “The Fountainhead” anytime soon.
 
LOL Redduck. I read it decades ago and your review captured my reaction to a T.
 
donheff said:
If you are looking for a compelling summer read, Bearskin, James McLaughlin's debut novel is just the ticket. Sort of a marriage of Deliverance with Heart of Darkness. Beautiful Prose.
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Just got this from the library today.

Also, I'm just finishing up the audiobook version of David McCullough's 1776. McCullough does the reading of the book and I just love his voice. (His narration of Ken Burn's Civil War is also terrific.)
 
INVEST FOR FIRE

https://www.investforfire.com

this guy's blog , is attracting some attention in Australia ( so some of this is Australian focused )

heavy reading in places ,

it is NOT a forum , however some topics fairly general and could be applied in most of the investing scenarios a retail investor might venture into

( PS i am still reading my way through this , i like to read a bit and think about what i have just read )

i hope it helps somebody achieving their aims
 
If I Die in the Combat Zone, by Tim O'Brien.

Required reading for a class...glad it was.
 
This is what I read the past two weeks in Maine.

Faith of Our Fathers by John McCain & Mark Salter. The descriptions of growing up a "Navy brat" and attending the US Naval Academy accorded with my experience.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. A story set in Germany and occupied France in WWII. I can see why it won the Pulitzer. The writing was magnificent.

The Forgotten Man by Amity Schlaes. A libertarian take on the efficacy of the New Deal in recovering from the Great Depression. Food for thought.

1939: The Lost World of the Fair by David Gelertner. A slightly fictionalized account of the 1939 New York World's Fair. I have always been interested in the "High 30s" and the Fair itself.

The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of Europe's Libraries and the Race to Return a Literary Inheritance by Anders Rydell. I have a great interest in the art lost in WWII and this added another dimension.

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. I never tire of the Italian Renaissance, and Isaacson is a very good writer.

I am slowing down. In years past, I would read a book each day. Now it takes me two days. Until recently, there was no cell phone coverage at the cabin. Now there is, and I am often distracted by this forum.
 
Denverite said:
Thanks for the tip. Just finished "Leonardo Da Vinci" by Walter Isaacson, which was EXCELLENT but a lengthy and detailed read. McLaughlin's book sounds like a good summer novel.
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I read this too..... not bad at all.
 
Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover, is one of the best books I have read this year. Westover grew up in rural Idaho in a terribly dysfunctional, fundamentalist Mormon family where she was dominated by an oppressive bipolar father, tormented by an abusive, disturbed older brother, and effectively abandoned by her faith healing mother. Ostensibly home schooled, she was actually virtually unschooled. Her only books for much of her youth were the Bible and The Book of Mormon. She learned arithmetic from an illustrated book. Yet, with shear determination, she was able to self teach herself in her teens, got a very high ACT score, and gained admission to Brigham Young University. There she earned stellar grades and won a Gates Scholar slot a Cambridge - their version of Oxford's Rhodes Scholars Program. Westover pulls us into her life and family and makes us understand the reasons why it is almost impossible to break loose from such a life. The fact that she and at least two of her brothers did borders on miraculous. Put this one on your list.
 
No judgement, please. Just finished, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Very light, somewhat rude, very, very funny. If you’ve spent time in Texas (or suffered from anxiety) you’ll appreciate her story.
 
donheff said:
Educated, a memoir by Tara Westover, is one of the best books I have read this year. Westover grew up in rural Idaho in a terribly dysfunctional, fundamentalist Mormon family where she was dominated by an oppressive bipolar father, tormented by an abusive, disturbed older brother, and effectively abandoned by her faith healing mother. Ostensibly home schooled, she was actually virtually unschooled. Her only books for much of her youth were the Bible and The Book of Mormon. She learned arithmetic from an illustrated book. Yet, with shear determination, she was able to self teach herself in her teens, got a very high ACT score, and gained admission to Brigham Young University. There she earned stellar grades and won a Gates Scholar slot a Cambridge - their version of Oxford's Rhodes Scholars Program. Westover pulls us into her life and family and makes us understand the reasons why it is almost impossible to break loose from such a life. The fact that she and at least two of her brothers did borders on miraculous. Put this one on your list.
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I have to agree. I rarely read memoirs but this one is well written and fascinating.
 
If you like medical thrillers, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, is a must read. I was vaguely familiar with some of the shenanigans at Theranos from the Wall Street Journal articles a few years ago. But this book, by the Journal reporter who exposed the scandal, gets into the details of the fraud from birth to death. It paints a picture of a toxic company overseen by a pair of villains the likes of which you rarely encounter.
 
donheff said:
If you like medical thrillers, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, is a must read. I was vaguely familiar with some of the shenanigans at Theranos from the Wall Street Journal articles a few years ago. But this book, by the Journal reporter who exposed the scandal, gets into the details of the fraud from birth to death. It paints a picture of a toxic company overseen by a pair of villains the likes of which you rarely encounter.
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+1 Excellent read, and not surprising that Elizabeth Holmes has since received a criminal indictment. Quite the scam they had going at that company.
 
Code Girls by Liza Mundy.

Historical and very interesting. The women who broke the Japanese codes and busted the German code and built a better enigma.
 
We just returned from a rafting trip though 280 miles of the Grand Canyon. Before going I read:

"Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon"

and

"The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon"

Both are amazing tales of men who by all reason should not have survived their journeys. I would recommend them even if you aren't planning to take to the river.
 
donheff said:
If you like medical thrillers, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, is a must read. I was vaguely familiar with some of the shenanigans at Theranos from the Wall Street Journal articles a few years ago. But this book, by the Journal reporter who exposed the scandal, gets into the details of the fraud from birth to death. It paints a picture of a toxic company overseen by a pair of villains the likes of which you rarely encounter.
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Totally agree. I could not put this book down and finished it in two days.

I had not read the Journal articles, but did have some background knowledge as I worked for one of the megacorps that got taken in by Elizabeth Holmes.

The author had some good sources because from what I heard at the time, he was spot on in describing how the "negotiations" with Theranos took place.
 
I get lots of great book recommendations from folks in this forum, but want to give a shout out to donheff.

As I was catching up on this thread today, I realized that some of the best books I've read this year were based on his recommendations.

Thank you sir!
 
Finished 'Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal' by Jack Ewing.

Working on 'Saving Capitalism' by Robert Reich.

Entertaining summer reading.
 
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