What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[donheff]

How a Gunman Says Goodbye, by Malcolm Mackay, is quite a few steps above routine crime novels. Mackay is known for "Glascow Noir." This one gets into the heads of an aging hit man who is on the way out and a younger hitman who may have to help the old guy's exit. It is basically a well written psychology treatise on the life and thinking of criminals. Excellent read.

[Nemo2]

Just re-read Neverwhere before passing it onto the 10 year old granddaughter.......we gave her Neil Gaiman's Coraline coincident with finding out she'd seen the vid (and enjoyed it).

Neil Gaiman Â*|Â* Neil's Work | Books | Neverwhere

[John Galt III]

Factotum by Charles Bukowski. Fiction about young bohemian guy trying to be, but also fearing to be, a "real" person. Main character says he hates "real people". He survives by working many different low level jobs, drinks away his earnings, and has interesting encounters with people on the very low end of the socioeconomic scale, and even has time left over to write short stories. Very interesting so far. One third of the way through it.

[Sarah in SC]

Another post apocalyptic novel, this one called Earth Abides. Published in 1949, it is a bit different in that it deals with city folk trying to retain a bit of the old world while the future generations want nothing to do with the old ways. Interesting reading. By George R. Stewart. I read a pdf online, since our library didn't have a copy.

[pacergal]

Finally got around to reading Zelinski's book "How To Retire Happy, Wild, and Free". Good reading and prep for heading into retirement next year!

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Another post apocalyptic novel, this one called Earth Abides. Published in 1949, it is a bit different in that it deals with city folk trying to retain a bit of the old world while the future generations want nothing to do with the old ways. Interesting reading. By George R. Stewart. I read a pdf online, since our library didn't have a copy.

Very good. I picked it up from the library after reading about it here. My wife doesn't like SF but loved this book.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 I just finished an excellent book on the Donner party, The Indifferent Stars Above. Well researched and beautifully written. Me, I would have lasted in those appalling circumstances about a day and a half. Interesting that the survivors tended to be the young women, not the men.

+1 I just read it. Very good although I would put his Boys in the Boat just a tad higher.

[marko]

80% through "Enemy Inside" by Steve Martini. So called "fiction" but sure makes you think about what might REALLY be going on!

[tulak]

The Martian. I wanted to read it before seeing the movie. I realized that I enjoy science-based fiction. Weir maintained a good balance between science and progressing the story line, even though towards the end the pattern of something went wrong, I'm screwed, and I solved another problem was getting a bit repetitive. But it was still an enjoyable read.

[Moemg]

Dead Wake ( the last crossing of the Lusitania ) by Erik Larson . Great reading ! A little slow at first but it gets better .

[Marita40]

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumaker. She's a local writer who has recently won awards for her fiction. This is a hilarious look at academic life through the eyes of a jaded English professor at a small college who we come to know through the letters of recommendation he writes. (Hey--he could be me!) Highly recommended, especially for anyone who knows the quirks and trials of academia.

[Nemo2]

Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin..........another John Rebus story.

Saints of the Shadow Bible - Ian Rankin

[Walt34]

I'm a bit over halfway through "The Lost Bank: the Story of Washington Mutual - the Biggest Bank Failure in American History". A good read if you're interested in the topic. I wouldn't buy it though - I got it at the library.

One of the things that jumped out at me was all the silly motivational stuff the staff members had to endure. I've read others on the board here mention those things and how glad they are not to have to put up with that anymore. I've never worked where we had to put up with that silliness so to me it's kind of a foreign concept.

[Mr._Graybeard]

I'm just getting into "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson. It's the true story about HH Holmes, who built a "murder hotel" in Chicago on the eve of the Columbian Exposition. Awesome book about America's first acknowledged serial killer along with a behind-the-scenes look at the men behind the construction of the great world's fair. Soon to be made into a movie! Wikipedia says Leonardo DiCaprio has bought the film rights and Martin Scorsese will direct.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marita40 Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumaker. She's a local writer who has recently won awards for her fiction. This is a hilarious look at academic life through the eyes of a jaded English professor at a small college who we come to know through the letters of recommendation he writes. (Hey--he could be me!) Highly recommended, especially for anyone who knows the quirks and trials of academia.

Thanks--this will be a great gift for my English professor sister! Sounds awesome!

[ls99]

The instruction label on my chainsaw for how to start it.

It has been a bit sluggish, turns out it was the ignition coil going bad. Will post in recent repairs when the part gets in.

[donheff]

A bunch of routine thrillers and mysteries. I won't review them since they are not memorable enough that the titles come to mind. I am about two thirds of the way through Misbehaving, by Richard Thaler. It is sort of a narrative history of the development of behavioral economics. Entertaining.

[Gumby]

I just finished The Fifth Gospel by Ian Caldwell. A murder mystery set in the Vatican, it involves the Shroud of Turin, Tatian's Diatessaron and the Sack of Constantinople in 1204. I found it fast paced and fascinating, especially if you are interested in the Vatican behind St. Peter's.

[NW-Bound]

I don't remember how I got Micro (2011) by Michael Crichton, but I finally read it. Science thriller is not my favorite genre, so perhaps I was already prejudiced and did not enjoy this novel as much as many reviewers did, though I finished it.

The story is about a group of graduate students on a job interview trip to a high-tech company in Hawaii getting inadvertently drawn into a murderous plot by the company executive. I do not want to give the story line away here, but will say that Crichton's description of nature as encountered by the students in their struggle to survive in the Hawaiian forest is unique and different than most can imagine.

The description of many scenes in the novel made it obvious that Crichton expected that his novel would be turned into a movie, and wanted to give some hints to the script writer and the director. Indeed, I found out that DreamWorks has announced plans to do a film adaptation of Micro.

I also learned that Crichton died in 2008, and the manuscript of this novel was found on his computer and published posthumously. He died at the age of 66 of leukemia. Here's another sad example of a famous and successful person whose life was cut short by a terrible and unpredictable disease.

[NW-Bound]

I finally remembered to read Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions (2008) by Dan Ariely, and also the follow-up The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic (2011). These are the kind of non-fiction that I like to read.

Both books are good reads, although in the 2nd book I do not see the upside of irrationality in some study cases recounted by the author.