What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[texcurtis]

Ella Minnow Pea. Great read about words and letters and the perceptions of the truth of words.


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[Nemo2]

Have read it before, but just today picked up, from our library used bookstore, (for $1 Canadian), an almost pristine copy of Wilfred Thesiger's Arabian Sands:

Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics): Wilfred Thesiger, Rory Stewart: 9780141442075: Amazon.com: Books

[mh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 Have read it before, but just today picked up, from our library used bookstore, (for $1 Canadian), an almost pristine copy of Wilfred Thesiger's Arabian Sands: Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics): Wilfred Thesiger, Rory Stewart: 9780141442075: Amazon.com: Books

this is a great book. You'd probably like Richard Burton's books also

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4657

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6886


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[Lsbcal]

We are going to be in Italy in September so I want to get some more Roman history into my head. I chose this Colleen McCullough book after reading several reviews: The First Man in Rome (Masters of Rome): Colleen McCullough: 9780061582417: Amazon.com: Books

It's really good so far and appears to be well researched as historical fiction goes. It covers about a decade from 110BC. So there is a Julius Caesar in it but he's the grandfather of the most famous one. Each chapter covers one year which is the span of a consul's term I guess. I've used my tablet to look up a few images and character references but the book also includes a glossary and pronunciation guide plus maps and the authors own head drawings (which are not bad for a writer).

The only problem is it is a heavy book and not available as an Ebook. So I read it with a pillow on my lap to prop it up. There are several books in her series and all are very long ones. This one is 1152 pages ... pray for me .

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh this is a great book. You'd probably like Richard Burton's books also Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 1 by Burton - Free Ebook First Footsteps in East Africa by Sir Richard Francis Burton - Free Ebook Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

Thank you.....much appreciated....(guess I'll have to see if Speke had a rebuttal. )........books are downloaded and on the e-reader, (along with a zillion others.....my acquirement far outpaces my perusal......the older I get, the further behind I become).

[steelyman]

I read The Hustler by Walter Tevis, the novel on which the film of the same name starring Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, and Jackie Gleason was based.

It was my first adventure into the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

It's very good. There are significant differences between the novel and film that I won't reveal. The general story of a pool hustler is still the core, though.

It focuses more on psychological aspects. Still, he did a great job describing the nuances of the game which, like many sports, is inherently visual.

[donheff]

No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of The Grateful Dead, by Peter Richardson, is pretty good. It comprehensively covers the cultural roots of the Dead and follows developments until Garcia's death in some detail, then closes with a brief epilog on the Dead follow-up bands. it is an easy read despite the mass of detail. Recommended for the Dead Heads among us.

[6miths]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh I am in the middle of "The Emperor of all Maladies" by Siddartha Mukherjee. The author is an oncologist who started a project on the history of cancer and realized that he was describing a phenomenon with a personality. So it's subtitled "a biography of cancer". He has a very engaging writing style and the suspense keeps the pages turning. It has won a ton of awards, including the Pulitzer prize. Highly recommended. The Emperor of All Maladies

I know that some here have read the book 'The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer' written by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for non-fiction. Just a heads up that it has been made into a 3 part series airing on PBS the next 3 Monday nights starting tomorrow.

[traineeinvestor]

Dante's Inferno - very poetic but the surprising thing was the personal judgments on a significant number of Italian political figures from his era. Given Dante's political leanings, hardly surprising but it would be very er... entertaining if someone wrote something similar about a country's current political leaders post-life punishments.

[M Paquette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by traineeinvestor Dante's Inferno - very poetic but the surprising thing was the personal judgments on a significant number of Italian political figures from his era. Given Dante's political leanings, hardly surprising but it would be very er... entertaining if someone wrote something similar about a country's current political leaders post-life punishments.

"Inferno", by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle is a not-bad lightweight modern update, with fresh sins and penalties. There's even a sequel.


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[steelyman]

Something I've been enjoying recently (laugh if you will) is Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know, available free on the Kindle bookstore and probably elsewhere.

They're almost all short, the length you can read while waiting somewhere.

Most if not all of my exposure to these were through animated versions growing up. You get the real answers to burning questions like, "How did Red Riding Hood and the Wolf (or Goldilocks and the Three Bears) work out their differences?" or "Who said 'fee-fi-fo-fum and in what tale? And what was really said?".

[unno2002]

American Exit Strategy, by Mark Goodwin
(Book One)


Events and characters mimic recent history in a story of the collapse of the US dollar and economy. While fiction, it’s not that far of a stretch to see events such as Mr. Goodwin writes actually coming to be in real life.


[Mod Edit]

[John Galt III]

Not something I read, but I saw a good movie today. "Wild Tales", an Argentinian production in Spanish with English subtitles. 6 short films by the same director, I think. Well directed, well acted. Each short film shows "normal" humans taking things up "just a notch or two" in reaction to certain outrages. Best movie I've seen in a long time.

[donheff]

Randy Wayne White's, Cuba Straits, is a pretty good Doc Ford novel.

[Sarah in SC]

Looking forward to that one, Don. Thanks for the reminder!

[donheff]

I almost forgot World Gone By, by Dennis Lehane. I finished it just before I started Cuba Straits. I like Lehane (he wrote Mystic River, Shutter Island, and other thrillers). World Gone by is a similar style but entirely different setting -- mid 1940's Tampa, FL. It is a fascinating look at the Tampa Mob in those days of Myer Lansky and the Trafficante's

[donheff]

Iain M. Banks,' Transition, is a fascinating SF novel. If you have wondered what the multiverse would be like if you could flit between worlds popping into the minds of various and sundry inhabitants, try it out.

[kitesurfer2]

Skywalker, by Bill Walker amazon/kindle The real life experience of a 40 year old man thru hiking the Applichian Trial. EXCELLENT read for out doors types.

Keyless in Alaaska by Darrell Purdy

Real life, day to day living in alaska in the gold fields, mining camps, oil fields and ice roads. Purdy is retired navy and also a master chief and outdoorsman.
check the facebook page--KEYLESS IN ALASKA

[anethum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Not something I read, but I saw a good movie today. "Wild Tales", an Argentinian production in Spanish with English subtitles. 6 short films by the same director, I think. Well directed, well acted. Each short film shows "normal" humans taking things up "just a notch or two" in reaction to certain outrages. Best movie I've seen in a long time.

I saw "Wild Tales" this weekend. Fantastic! For me as well, it was the best film that I've seen in a long time. 6 incredibly inventive tales about people who go over the edge. It's also a very cynical (but perhaps accurate) look at Argentine society. It was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar this year. The Argentine writer/director, Damián Szifron, has already been signed to do his first English-language film.

As for books, I just finished reading 2 good books by the South African writer Damon Galgut, Arctic Summer, and In a Strange Room. I liked both. The latter, my favorite of the two, was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

[Richard4444]

'A Land Remembered' by Patrick Smith. An excellent read about how Florida became settled starting during the Civil War by bringing you into the life of a family and watching their children and grandchildren witness the Florida frontier. It is also mandated reading in some Florida schools. For those Florida residents, it makes for very good reading.