What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[Meadbh]

Hmmm, I followed your instructions Zinger, but did not see the option to request new titles. Perhaps this is an option to which your library system subscribes.

 

[zinger1457]

Hmmm, I followed your instructions Zinger, but did not see the option to request new titles. Perhaps this is an option to which your library system subscribes.

Possibly, I belong to two separate online libraries and both have it.

 

[donheff]

When I connect to Overdrive for my library it shows a short list of 'New eBook Additions', click on 'view more' to see the complete list. On the bottom of that page there should be a box "Don't see the digital titles you were hoping to find? Browse and samples thousands of digital titles you can recommend to your library for purchase", click on it to submit your request.

Found it. Thanks.

 

[AllDone]

I was just commenting about the price the libraries pay for loanable e-books. They average about $80 and are much more expensive than physical books. That's why your library may have a limited selection since they really eat into their budget.

 

[Marita40]

I just finished Empty Mansions, the story of the Clark heiress Huguette Clark. The work covered how her father made his mega-millions and how Huguette came to inherit the bulk of the fortune. Although reclusive and certainly eccentric--in, I found, an endearing way--she nevertheless was lively, generous, kind, interested in people and her hobbies to the end of her 104 years. She's the woman who chose to live in a hospital the last 15 or so years of her life and had the money to do anything she pleased. I can't say I blame her given her circumstances! Just a deeply interesting story of a person who followed her own way despite the greediness or criticism of others.

 

[Nemo2]

Just finished Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson.

Yesterday, at our local library, picked up a pristine hardcover copy of Anathem for $2......935 pages.....so many unread books, don't know when I'll get around to this one...but, for that price.....

 

[donheff]

The Man Who Loved Dogs, by Leonardo Padura, is one of those books you will love or hate - I loved it but found it a tad tiring. Padura, a Cuban whose life coincides with the entire Communist era, is know for his detective novels. Here he turns those mystery writing skills to an "ambitious" look at the totality of the Soviet utopian effort and it's disastrous impact on millions of people. It is a "Russian" novel in the spirit of Tolstoy or Dostoyevski, full of complex and changing names, detailed human and environmental details, and a broad historical scope. It moves back and forth from the 30s to the 60s, to the 70s and the 21st century following three lives: Ivan Madura, a promising Cuban writer who is marginalized for accidentally venturng into anti-revolutionary territory; Leon, Trotsky (Lenin partner and one of the leaders of the revolution), through the years of his exile and villification under Stalin's direction; and Ramon Mercader, Spanish communist and Trotsky's assassin. I can promise you will learn more about destruction of hope under Stalinism, as well as more about the life of Trostky, than you ever thought you wanted to know. This is sort of a text book in compelling novel form. Check it out of the library so you can return it without cost if it turns you off.

 

[donheff]

Finally got Michael Lewis' Flash Boys from the library. This is another great read by Lewis. Once again makes you want to blow up the banks. There is a lot of sturm und drang floating around about Lewis' latest and I assume he doesn't get everything right. But it is clear as crystal that something is wrong with the system.

 

[Lsbcal]

Just finished this 800 pager: New York: The Novel: Edward Rutherfurd
As other reviewers have said, it's in the style of a Michener book. Historical fiction that is well done. Starts with the Dutch in the 1600's up to the present day.

My Dad grew up in New York and came out to the West Coast after WW2. I've never visited NY but maybe someday.

 

[haha]

The last classic I read was North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell which was actually pretty good. Set at the beginning of the industrial revolution in England, it was a little weightier than Jane Austen, but equally as enjoyable. I'm planning on re-reading Dickens next and Trollope is always fun.

I had never even heard of Elizabeth Gaskell until a few months ago when I also read North and South. I thought it was very good. Good characters, and an insightful treatment of sociological and economic stresses of the time.

Henry James is usually free or nearly so, and can't go wrong with him also.

I have started on Dickens' Bleak House, but so far slow going for me


I did pay up $10 to get a volume of William Trevor's stories. IMO, they are all excellent and get me into more modern issues.

Ha

 

[Marita40]

I thought the Masterpiece Theater Bleak House from a few years' ago was excellent. It made me return to the book with much more appreciation. I like Dickens' "dark" novels best, including Our Mutual Friend.

 

[TromboneAl]

One of the best books I've read in a long time. Fiction, obviously, but so realistic I was captivated. The engineers in the group will particularly enjoy it (despite a few unfortunate lapses in terminology, it's quite accurate).

The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir. (Kindle Edition)

Thanks, I really enjoyed this as well.

Plus, it solved a major problem I had with writing my new book. The narrative from Mars is first person, but the stuff from Earth is third person. No one told me you could do that.

I had wanted to use the conversational, funny (to me, at least) writing style that I used in my first book, but I thought I'd be forced to use third person because things were happening in many different places. With a mix of first and third, the problem is now solved.

Plus, I'm going to add a subplot in which a clever person has to innovate to survive.

 

[scrinch]

I mentioned The Martian to my cousin's husband on a hike last summer, and he said that he is a high school buddy of Andy Weir. They still stay in close touch, and he said that Weir is blown away by the success of a novel that he wrote just to satisfy himself.

I'm now just finishing Hyperion which is a 1989 SciFi novel written by Dan Simmons. It is written in the style of The Canterbury Tales, telling the individual stories of seven reluctant pilgrims as they travel to meet a monster/god that will be either mankind's savior or doom. The stories are all very well written, engaging, exciting, and woven together well. I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far and am looking forward to the climax of the book tonight.

 

[Lsbcal]

While on vacation I read this humorous Grisham novel: The Litigators . It involves some ambulance chaser lawyers who get caught up in a suit of a drug company and a lawyer who is fleeing from a big time law firm.

I've only read one previous Grisham novel so it's nice to rediscover an author with plenty of other books to read. Maybe I'll at least get a better idea of what goes on in some areas of the legal profession?

 

[chilkoot]

Chance by Kem Nunn Chance: A Novel: Kem Nunn: 9780743289245: Amazon.com: Books is a worthy addition to his slowly growing body of work. Some of his prior novels have been marred by his tendency to go somewhat over the top in the final act, but that doesn't happen here. And his prose remains first rate. He has a real talent for writing characters who exist on society's fringes.

 

[Moemg]

I have had great luck with book bub recommendations . I recently read Desperate by Michael Palmer . You can not put it down . It was $1.99 at Amazon & a great read .It reminds me of Gone girl in that the twists are unbelievable .

 

[springnr]

Rereading some oldies, life was a little tougher not so long ago.
Ben K Green was a Vet from North Texas area where I grew up.
He started accumulating wealth at around 12 years of age.

I have most of his books, very enjoyable peek back in time / human nature.
[FONT=&quot]Horse Tradin' by Ben K Green

A fine outdoorsy growing up yesteryear story
[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]The Old Man and the Boy by Robert Ruark [/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

[Gumby]

I just finished "Out of the Flames" by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. It is the story of 16th Century lawyer, doctor and theologian Michael Servetus, who managed the quite extraordinary feat of being declared a heretic by Protestants and Catholics alike. Eventually, he was burned at the stake in Geneva by John Calvin for his Unitarian views. It was thought that all his books were burned with him, but somehow three copies survived, and the second part of the book deals with that.

 

[NW-Bound]

Having watched the movie The Wolf of Wall Street recently, I wanted to read the memoir of the same title by Jordan Belfort that the movie was based on. Because the movie has such disgusting scenes, I like to see if Martin Scorsese, the movie director, was making his own exaggerations. Additionally, I wanted a bit more details on how investment bankers manipulate IPO prices to get rich, despite SEC regulations.

So far, 1/3 of the way into the book, I have not seen anything in the movie that is not described in the memoir. It was truly that disgusting.

 

[haha]

I just finished volume 11 of a 12 volume novel by Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time. I'll read # 12 over the next few days, and then I will feel a bit adrift for a few days. It's told from the pov of a young upper middle class Brit, (similar to author Powell) starting just after the great war, while he was still a school boy-likely about 16 or 17. Continues through university, his young professional and family and social experiences, then 3 volumes devoted to his war service. So far I'm about to the mid-50s, and Clement Attlee and his labor government are in charge. No direct commentary by the author, everything is told by one or another character, and I am never really sure where the author stands. Probably it varies.

I read several of these back in the 70s, but could only get some of them from my library. Now I am reading them on the Kindle. It's worth it, I think.

Ha

 

[donheff]

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline has become a bit of a cult classic among cyber punk fans. It is set in a dystopian 2041. Earth is a mess, the US in major decline. The mass of humanity spends as much time as possible in the OASIS, a massively multiplayer online simulated universe. OASIS was built by a geek who was a teenager in the 1980s and was obsessive about 80's culture. When he dies in 2039 his will leaves his $150B fortune to whoever wins a treasure hunt in OASIS. The fun begins as we join some late teen users who have joined the hunt. This has more 80s game, movie, TV, and music trivia than you can shake a stick at. A fun read for teenagers of all ages.

 

[poorcarver]

"The Fundamentalist Mind" by Stephen Larsen, Phil Cousineau. A study of how polarized thinking is destroying modern culture.

 

[unclemick]

The Martian by Andy Weir.

heh heh heh - not a big book reader but this one was a light amusing read bringing back some memories when I was a worker bee.

 

[H2ODude]

Just finished "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage." An amazing tale of survival of 27 who attempted to cross Antarctic in 2014-16. Cannot imagine anyone these days attempting such a feat. Well, given current technology it wouldn't be that difficult I'd guess.

 

[haha]

Just finished "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage." An amazing tale of survival of 27 who attempted to cross Antarctic in 2014-16.

Wow! They finished the trip in the future! These Dudes had mojo.