What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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I'm finishing up "Rats: Observations on the history and habitat of the city's most unwanted inhabitants" by Robert Sullivan.

It's insightful, interesting, and kind of creepy. Much as I imagine a good murder mystery would be. Two thumbs up, and that's not just the health inspector talking. I mean, the guy spends a year in a NYC alley observing rats and talking to people about rats. How quirky is that? The book is great.

Next up: Hospitality Law: Applications and procedures. Required for class. I will probably not be recommending it here.
 
Ed_The_Gypsy said:
Urchina! Where ya been?
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Hi, Ed! Started taking a night class. Three hours a week in class, but massive amounts of reading and homework. So my evening time, formerly my forum time, has become my study time.

On break now (hence the non-academic reading, yay!). Will probably go back underwater for a couple of months (more or less) starting next week.

Till then.... more books on deck! (Including Shop class as Soul craft, about the nature of work).

;)
 
I just got The Associate and 9 Dragons from the library and am looking forward to reading them both.

I recommend one of these books:

Amazon.com: Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader) (9781592239160): Bathroom Readers' Institute: Books

Not for the bathroom, but for the kitchen table. It's perfect for reading a quick item or two while eating breakfast or lunch.

Stuff like this:

Readerpage.jpg​
 
Trombone: I think you´ll enjoy The Associate, even though it´ll remind you of another one by Grisham. I won´t tell you which one, just in case I spoil something. Anyway, you´ll find out soon enough....
 
Well, it turns out that I didn't like it (The Associate). I gave up after 67 pages. I didn't like the way the plot was turning out. I thought maybe it would get better, so I checked Amazon reviews, and it only got 2.5 stars. Now, on to 9 Dragons.
 
I just read David Finkle's, The Good Soldiers, which follows 15 month's of a Battalion's deployment in the Iraq surge. Harrowing stuff that doesn't really get brought home through the nightly news. It is probably the best book I have read on the war. It doesn't take a position on whether the surge was a good idea or a bad one. It just tries to look at the experience through the eyes of one group of participants. I would hazard a guess that the soldiers portrayed think Finkle did a good job of it.
 
Read The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu by Michael Stanley. About a Botswana detective inspector who is investigating a double homicide at a game park camp/resort. Has a likeable hero and gives us some insights into life in Botswana. Also there is some discussion of the politics between the neighboring countries. Botswana shares borders with some troubled African neighbors. Interesting to read about a country I'll probably never actually visit. Well written too and contains a good map, character list, and back has a glossary.
 
A year or so ago, I started War and Peace...ha...gave up on that. Maybe someday I'll start over and try again. Determined I would complete something by Tolstoy, I am now reading Anna Karinina. So far, I think I'll be able to complete it.:cool: According to Kindle, I'm 33% through it. I think I've finally sorted out all Russian named characters.
 
Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, Dirt by Stuart Woods, Killjoy by Julie Garwood and Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline. I am not improving my mind, but I am having fun reading fluff.
 
The Turnaround by G. Pelecanos. No Second Chance by H. Coben. Both very good.
 
I just finished

Amazon.com: American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot (9780061719547): Craig Ferguson: Books

Excellent book, highly recommended. I rate it a 9.5/10. This guy was a drunk and an addict for many years, and led a tough life growing up in Scotland.

Craig Ferguson is the host of the late late show, which I began watching recently.

A fun thing is that book, his autobiography, mentions something from his past (like a sitcom he was in), you can check it out on Youtube.
 
TromboneAl said:
I just finished

Amazon.com: American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot (9780061719547): Craig Ferguson: Books

Excellent book, highly recommended. I rate it a 9.5/10. This guy was a drunk and an addict for many years, and led a tough life growing up in Scotland.

Craig Ferguson is the host of the late late show, which I began watching recently.

A fun thing is that book, his autobiography, mentions something from his past (like a sitcom he was in), you can check it out on Youtube.
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I am an avid fan of Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show. Somehow he tickles my Celtic sensibility with the double entendre, the ambiguity, and the murky past. Based on Al's review, I'm putting his memoir on my reading list. Should make great airplane reading!
 
P.S. I meant to write "A fun thing is that when the book, his autobiography, mentions something... "
 
Just finished "Mossy Creek" which was a cute series of short stories about life in a small southern town.

I just downloaded this: The Arabian Nights: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, all 16 volumes to my Kindle and will be cutting through this over time. It was 99 cents so why not.
 
When my TV and internet connection were down on Saturday, I re-read Flannery O'Connor's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". I also have a much-cherished copy of her collection of short stories "Everything That Rises Much Converge". I have a pile of new magazines to read: Kiplinger's, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker. As I am at home today from work, will maybe start on them while dinner simmers.
 
Urchina said:
Till then.... more books on deck! (Including Shop class as Soul craft, about the nature of work).

;)
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I just finished reading that! A bit deep at times but interesting.

Now about 2/3 through Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. I seems we are not as logical as we thought, even when we want to be.
 
I am ready Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I developed a passionate interest in the Bronte's after reading a tragic biography of the family. I really enjoyed Jane Eyre as a child.
 
Letj said:
I am ready Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I developed a passionate interest in the Bronte's after reading a tragic biography of the family. I really enjoyed Jane Eyre as a child.
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I recall reading that in the Bronte's time graveyards were sometimes uphill from the drinking water sources. Possibly one explanation for their untimely deaths.
 
lsbcal said:
I recall reading that in the Bronte's time graveyards were sometimes uphill from the drinking water sources. Possibly one explanation for their untimely deaths.
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I read the same thing. Love the Bronte sisters. They lived in a parsonage "Heyworth"? (don't quote me on the name) which was at the bottom of a graveyard. All the limited family money went to the benefit of the dissipated son while the talented daughters scratched to make ends meet.
 
WhoDaresWins said:
I read the same thing. Love the Bronte sisters. They lived in a parsonage "Heyworth"? (don't quote me on the name) which was at the bottom of a graveyard. All the limited family money went to the benefit of the dissipated son while the talented daughters scratched to make ends meet.
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That sounds just like one of those old English novels ... hmmm. :)
 
Finished some Zombie books. Rising and City Dead. Yeah not happy story stuff. :whistle:

Got some Cussler going on now Arctic Drift. Im a smut for fiction and apocalyptic stuff. :D
 
I'm not sure if this thread is supposed to be limited to pleasure reading, but I just finished an excellent investment book: The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need by Larry E. Swedroe. I've read a lot of investing books, including many often included on lists here, but something about this one really pulled a lot of ideas together for me. It might be that I had reached a point where I was ready to absorb this info, or it might be the way the information is presented, probably both. Either way I highly recommend it. It has helped me to finalize an asset allocation I've been working through for sevreral years, and as a result I've been moving funds around for the past couple of weeks.
 
Just finished Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Part of the Worlds Greatest Literature series published by Spencer Press in 1936. Picked a collection of them up at a library book sale for cheap. Many timeless classics plus they look good in the book shelf.
Kind of neat reading something that was written in 1736. The frame of reference and culture are so different, yet many things are the same.
He mentions in a letter that someone gave him an elephant tooth. I looked really old, like before the flood.
Good historical insight into the thinking before the start of French & Indian war. He was at ground zero so to speak because he was actively involve in supplying General Braddock's ill fated expedition.

Free to canoe
 
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