What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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scrinch said:
Just finished the second "The Girl Who..." book on my Kindle. It was even better than the first. It's interesting to get a(n indirect) glimpse into urban Swedish life. There versus here: more coffee drinking, more smoking, more walking, more computer hardware envy. Well, at last in the book...
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The third book gets very complicate but is just as enjoyable as the second book.
 
I enjoyed ...my dad says as well, I thought it was a great background to the short quotes I've been reading since Halpern started posting them. Very thin, though.

I also just got Ted Bell's latest, Warlord, but DH swiped it before I could get my hands on it. I've had to make do with a thrilling book on Boat Odors by Peggie Hall.

But hey: can you readers help me with a book puzzle? There was a book I got from the library a few years ago that was very very odd and I can't remember the author. For some reason I thought the title was Concrete Jungle, but I can't find a reference to a book by that title that fits the story.
Set in Britain, a man wrecks his car into a grass median strip below an elevated highway where the car cannot be seen by the speeding cars above. He breaks his leg in the crash. Two people who live in the median help him recover from his injuries: one a sometime prostitute who leaves the median periodically and the other a circus acrobat of some kind. The acrobat later is electrocuted while showing off for the man by swinging on power lines.
This was a nifty existential story about his reluctance to return to regular life even after his injuries are healed.
Does this ring a bell with anyone? It is driving me crazy! :)
 
And as a follow-up, my local library (LOVE THEM) came through with this:
I believe the book you are looking for is Concrete Island by J. G. Ballard. Here's the official description from the publisher:

"On a day in April, just after three o'clock in the afternoon, Robert Maitland's car crashes over the concrete parapet of a high-speed highway onto the island below, where he is injured and, finally, trapped. What begins as an almost ludicrous predicament soon turns into horror as Maitland—a wickedly modern Robinson Crusoe—realizes that, despite evidence of other inhabitants, this doomed terrain has become a mirror of his own mind. Seeking the dark outer rim of the everyday, Ballard weaves private catastrophe into an intensely specular allegory."
 
haha said:
Intersting factoid- Swedisn men are the world's biggest per capita consumers of snuff. Their version is called snus.



Ha
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In my part of the country snuff is called (phonetically) snoose. My FIL and spouse worked on the great lakes and I swear every seaman I knew used the stuff. If I smell it, I immediately think of my Norwegian grandfather. :)
 
scrinch said:
Just finished the second "The Girl Who..." book on my Kindle. It was even better than the first.
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It was great and I highly recommend it. Now I am half-way through the third book ["...Hornet's Nest"] and I find it to be even better than the first two. I would guess that reading the three novels in order would probably greatly aid in following the plot lines, but that probably isn't actually necessary.

I would appreciate it if any of those folks who have read and enjoyed these novels could point me to any works of a similar nature.
 
I finally got the Big Short from the library hold shelf today. It's been nearly three months since I put it on hold. Slow readers on the Eastern Shore. I was afraid the recession would be over before I got it! :D Now I'll see if it's as good as all y'all say it is.
 
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern.

I know this title has been mentioned before. If laughter is the best medicine, this book should cure anything.

A couple of tips: Never try to eat or drink anything while reading this book.

Do not read it in a room full of strangers, such as a waiting area. After much whispering and finger pointing, you will likely be asked to leave.
 
TromboneAl said:
I recommend the books by Sjöwall & Wahloo for those who liked "The Girl Who..." series.

Amazon.com: maj sjowall: Books

This might be the best one:

Amazon.com: The Terrorists (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (9780307390882): Per Wahloo, Maj Sjowall: Books

These are also good:

Amazon.com: Henning Mankell: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle
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I would say that all of these are head and shouders above the Stieg Larsson books. Mankell also has some beautiful non-genre novels. Another excellent Scandinavian crime author, this time Norwegian, is Jo Nesbø. I really like his Harry Hole series.

The Sjöwall/Wahloo series are great, but IMO very dark. I had to space my reading of them back in the 70s, to avoid overdosing on despair. But for sure, no one can serve up despair better than a Swede.:)

Ha
 
I am reading " My Horizontal Life " by Chelsea Handler . It's very much like " **** my Dad's says " without all the cursing and from a women's point of view .
 
I'm reading "Testimony" by Anita Shreve. It examines a teenage sex scandal in a private school, from the point of view of the people involved in, or affected by it. I'd give this 4 out of 5.
 
Life in the Garden of Captives by Thomas French.

Nonfiction about the Lowry Zoo in Tampa Florida. Very good book if you're an animal lover and conflicted about zoos. Presents both sides of the zoo argument in a very readable story centered around Herman the monkey, Eshella the tiger and a group of elephants brought over from Africa.
 
Obama's Wars. A typical Woodward book - well researched, allows the players to stab each other in the back while he sits on the sidelines smugly judging everyone - smear everyone and let God sort it all out.

Still a good read and very enlightening. Bogged down a bit about 3/4 through - subject matter became repetitive (how many times can these guys fail to communicate effectively on the same points?). Made me wonder where all the adult leadership is hiding.
 
I always wondered how physicists model stars. Stardust by John Gribbin goes into this and more. Gribbin discusses how the elements and molecules of life and our bodies originated. Gribbin goes through the history of development of successful nuclear fusuion models of element formation within stars from the starting hydrogen and how supernovae eventually spread this seeding material out.

A really fascinating science book that makes me want to read some of his others.
 
"Play dead" by Harlan Coben. Even the author doesn´t think much of this novel. Says as much in the prologue. Full of cliches. Coben¨s first novel, I think.
 
I am reading "The Reversal " by Michael Connelly . It's a nice change from my last book "Are you there vodka it's me Chelsa " . The Chelsa book was great for Doctor's waiting rooms . I was laughing so hard people were giving me crazy stares . Luckily I was not at a Psych doctor .
 
Pensionize your Nest Egg, by Moshe Milevsky and Alexandra MacQueen (2010). Deceptively simple, a fast read (one plane ride and two hours in an airport lounge) and definitely a must read for anyone in Canada without a secure defined benefit pension or heaps of filthy lucre (i.e., most people). Details will vary by country but the message is the same: annuities and guaranteed income products, carefully selected at the appropriate time, merit a place in most retirement portfolios.

I would have liked more formulae, but I guess the authors made a deliberate attempt to keep it simple for the masses. This book is being actively discussed at the Canadian Money Forum where one of the authors (MacQueen) participates regularly as Money_Gal.
 
Meadbh said:
Pensionize your Nest Egg, by Moshe Milevsky and Alexandra MacQueen (2010). Deceptively simple, a fast read (one plane ride and two hours in an airport lounge) and definitely a must read for anyone in Canada without a secure defined benefit pension or heaps of filthy lucre (i.e., most people). Details will vary by country but the message is the same: annuities and guaranteed income products, carefully selected at the appropriate time, merit a place in most retirement portfolios.

I would have liked more formulae, but I guess the authors made a deliberate attempt to keep it simple for the masses. This book is being actively discussed at the Canadian Money Forum where one of the authors (MacQueen) participates regularly as Money_Gal.
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I've requested the library order a copy and I will read it as soon as they get it, but I thought the publication date was Oct 25. How did you get hold of this so soon?
 
kyounge1956 said:
I've requested the library order a copy and I will read it as soon as they get it, but I thought the publication date was Oct 25. How did you get hold of this so soon?
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It was published Canada on August 26.
MoneyGal's New Book - Canadian Money Forum
I actually delayed looking for it until I had time to read it. Last week I was in Chapters and it was sitting on the shelf.
 
Most recent: Best American Science Writing, 2010. Most of the essays are quite interesting.
 
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