What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[Cattusbabe]

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.

[WhoDaresWins]

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.

[Walt34]

Quote:

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

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.

[Letj]

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.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Letj 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.

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.

[WhoDaresWins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsbcal 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.

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.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhoDaresWins 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.

That sounds just like one of those old English novels ... hmmm.

[Notmuchlonger]

Finished some Zombie books. Rising and City Dead. Yeah not happy story stuff.

Got some Cussler going on now Arctic Drift. Im a smut for fiction and apocalyptic stuff.

[ksr]

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.

[Free To Canoe]

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

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ksr 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.

Isn't that one great? I think it was the first book on investing that I ever read, and I absolutely loved it. It is clear, logical, and a pleasure to read. So in a sense, it IS pleasure reading.

Another one that I like for the same reasons is the Bogleheads Guide to Investing, by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf.

[Fireup2020]

It's Your Ship - Management Techniques from the best Damn Ship in the Navy. Had to pic a HR-related book to do a "professional book report" (gack!) What a suprisingly delightful read! Nothing like a bunch of sea stories to illustrate life lessons!

[Letj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsbcal 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.

Seem like most of them died from consumption. I believe Charlotte died from pregnancy complications and the brother died from drinking and opium use. I've read a lot of English literature and it seemed to me that death pervaded a lot of them. People just died really young even the Royals. The Royal family history is even more facinating and morbid. Several years ago I read a series of books about the British royal family. I could not put them down.

[ksr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Another one that I like for the same reasons is the Bogleheads Guide to Investing, by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf.

Yes! That was my all-time favorite investing book before I read Swedroe's book. I even own the Bogleheads Guide - unusual for me, as I normally borrow almost everything from the library. Now I'd be hard-pressed to choose a favorite; they're both great books.

[Lsbcal]

I own a few of Swedroe's books too. Here is a recent one that is very good: The Investor's Manifesto by William Bernstein. He has improved his writing skills, it's thin, and is up to date covering the 2008 period. Also there are some sample portfolio's towards the end which I found interesting. There is a video by him at Amazon along with book reviews: Amazon.com: The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between (9780470505144): William J. Bernstein: Books
The only gripe I have with the book is the cover design -- really ugly .

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsbcal I own a few of Swedroe's books too. Here is a recent one that is very good: The Investor's Manifesto by William Bernstein. He has improved his writing skills, it's thin, and is up to date covering the 2008 period. Also there are some sample portfolio's towards the end which I found interesting. There is a video by him at Amazon along with book reviews: Amazon.com: The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between (9780470505144): William J. Bernstein: Books The only gripe I have with the book is the cover design -- really ugly .

Wow! That is a persuasive review of The Investor's Manifesto. I had not even considered buying it but now I might.

I think reading Bernstein's Four Pillars of Investing was an invaluable experience for developing good investment instincts, and I have read it three times and recommend it to all, but it is also so boring I could almost puke. But if Bernstein has improved his writing skills, The Investor's Manifesto could be fantastic. Guess I will read it after all.

[haha]

I am reading The Twelve Year Reich by Richard Grunberger. (1971) It is a social history of daily life and attitudes in Germany 1933-1945. Grunberger was born in Austria, but early in his life moved to London. He graduated from Oxford and wrote German history.

Amazing the shifts that can take place in the way a society views events and actions. It can make you conclude that the socio-political ground you think you are standing on may not be very stable.

Ha

[Meadbh]

I just finished Veiled Freedom, by Jeannette Windle. It's a contemporary novel about three people whose lives intertwine in Afghanistan. I found it quite engaging. Apparently the local details are sufficiently accurate that the CIA questioned Windle on how she came to know what was going on.

[Free To Canoe]

Next up,

Moby Dick by Melville.

Free to canoe

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Free To Canoe Next up, Moby Dick by Melville.

Look for my signature line as you read it! I didn't get it from a quotation website or other canned collection of quotations - - it was a sentence of Melville's that really spoke to me (as did the entire book).