What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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I read "The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption" by Laurence Leamer. It is based on the horrible (IMHO) person, Don Blankenship, CEO of A. T. Massey Coal Co. He ruled the coal mines and his word was law. He ended up spending three million dollars to get a WV State Supreme Court justice elected, who would vote his way on an appeal. The case ended up going to U.S Supreme Court. I enjoyed the book, but it was scary that I live in WV and did not realize everything that was going on.
 
Nemo2 said:
Currently reading The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz, a follow up to Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander series...pretty good:
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The book was good but a little disappointed in the recent movie, they changed a lot of the story line. Not all that unusually for movies to make changes but thought they went too far.
 
Ronstar said:
Reading “Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time” by Dava Sobel. How navigation on the seas was made possible by using the difference between local time and prime meridian time to establish one’s longitude.
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Thanks for posting this. Will definitely get the book and watch the movie. DW and I were in London last year and visited both the Time Exhibit in the British Museum and the Museum at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Both had a great deal on the pursuit of an accurate chronometer and how it changed the world.
 
zinger1457 said:
The book was good but a little disappointed in the recent movie, they changed a lot of the story line. Not all that unusually for movies to make changes but thought they went too far.
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I really can't think of too many, (any?), movies that measure up to the books....practically impossible to accomplish.

(I recall the first time I saw a Peanuts cartoon.....my first reaction was "That's not what they sound like!")
 
Just read The Labyrinth Index, Charles Stross' latest The Laundry novel, on monday instead of playing video games. Was a fun read, and I really enjoy the series as a whole.
 
I just now finished reading “A Prayer for Owen Meany” a novel by John Irving. I’ve had this book on my reading list for quite some time, but, I just now read it. I like John Irving’s writing style, it’s very well written and it keeps your interest all the way to the end. The book has some very realistic characters that everyone probably can relate to.

Wow, what a book, for the current social climate of our country. This is another book that I think should be read by everyone of my generation, right now. It probably wouldn’t hurt for younger people to read it too, however, they might have to do some research on some of the topics, people and books mentioned throughout the book. Actually, some research by everyone that reads that book is also recommended, don’t just depend on your memory of that era.

This book covers just about everyone’s opinion. Opinions on religion, the Vietnam war, the generational divide, the rich, the poor, the elite/educated and the poor/uneducated, you name it, it’s in that book. You might even find an opinion that you believe yourself, mentioned some place in that book. You also may be surprised that your opinion may have another way of being analyzed, that you have never thought of before.

The book mentions the very real possibility of having a generation that will be angry in looking toward the future and possibly two generations for not giving a sh*t. Sound kind of familiar? I thought so too.
 
I loved A Prayer for Owen Meany- but I read it years ago. I don't remember all those issues- I just thought it was a great novel- maybe I ought to re-read it. I'm sure its in my enormous collection of books- somewhere...
 
Lee Child's latest Jack Reacher novel "Past Tense". Not as good as some of the early ones, but always good for the bad guys to get what's coming to them :)
 
Nemo2 said:
Just started Falling in Love by Donna Leon, another in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series set in Venice...since I've enjoyed all of her other books I'm pretty sure I'll like this one:

https://groveatlantic.com/book/falling-in-love/
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I stopped reading her novels quite awhile ago because there was a lot of repetition in them (as I recall). But we're going back to Venice in September after a hiatus of about 46 years. So I'll give this a whirl. Thanks.
 
Educated by Tara Westover. Remarkable and beautifully written memoir of a woman who was raised by abusive, survivalist, off the grid zealots and survived and emerged through her own perseverance and talent. Great.
 
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Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember,"

In his book, he says that after millennia of evolving from a picture/verbal tradition of teaching... to a more advanced written communication of knowledge... we are now in the process of devolving back to a culture of voice and pictures. He further said... the disruptive environment of internet written articles interferes with retention [ie, long term memory.]

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I'm not sure how I ended up getting this book, but somehow got "Something in the Water" from the online stash at the library. The first chapter had a pretty interesting hook, but now, in chapter 16, I'm getting annoyed with the pace. Well, that and the choice of the topics that get detailed attention. Too much of the narrator's psychosis, or self dialog, and general stupidity. I wish it was properly annoying earlier in the book. Now I'm invested to the point of not wanting to give up without finding out how it turns out.
 
You can find the Longitude full movie on YouTube : 'Longitude FULL MOVIE 2000 UK' (3:18:20 in length)
 
rpguy4 said:
You can find the Longitude full movie on YouTube : 'Longitude FULL MOVIE 2000 UK' (3:18:20 in length)
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That's a mooooo-ooovie. I'm about starting part 2 tonight.
 
Read all 4 books (they are novella sized) of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, fun reads, the main character is fun to be in head with. Physically the books were lovely little slim volumes that were a pleasure to hold.
 
sengsational said:
I'm not sure how I ended up getting this book, but somehow got "Something in the Water" from the online stash at the library. The first chapter had a pretty interesting hook, but now, in chapter 16, I'm getting annoyed with the pace. Well, that and the choice of the topics that get detailed attention. Too much of the narrator's psychosis, or self dialog, and general stupidity. I wish it was properly annoying earlier in the book. Now I'm invested to the point of not wanting to give up without finding out how it turns out.
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Life is too short to finish stupid books. Read the last chapter and go get another one!
 
Waking Up

I heard this guy Sam Harris on a podcast and he sounded interesting so I got his "Waking Up" book from the library.


It's a philosophy/meditation book. Don't even think of reading it if you're heavily invested in organized religion. That is, unless you want to hear his (rather logical, rational, but pulling no punches) perspective on those.


He argues that the ego, the "self", is actually an illusion. He says he and others can get momentary glimpses of this perspective with meditation. So the whole idea of self transcendence kind of vaporizes if there is no self. Yeah, I know, hard to grasp, ho cus pocus if you're reading my inadequate description of the concept.




And just a follow-up:


ugeauxgirl said:
Life is too short to finish stupid books. Read the last chapter and go get another one!
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I quit reading "Something in the Water". Incredibly unrealistic and stupid.


I just found out that DW read the book! And she has an excellent skill in the recounting of stories. So I can invest a few minutes listening and have at least got the basics.
 
Just started Pilgrim in the Palace of Words: A Journey Through the 6,000 Languages of Earth by Calgary writer Glenn Dixon.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7468253-pilgrim-in-the-palace-of-words

Almost immediately I came across this:
"I climbed a wall in the Arab quarter. I'd seen some Israeli soldiers sitting on the edge of a roof. They were watching the crowds below, and I figured if I climbed the wall and stuck my head above the far side of the roof they were on, I could get a great shot of them silhouetted against The Dome of the Rock."
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"Déjà vu all over again"....(apologies to Yogi Berra)....reminded me of these pics my late wife & I took in early 1982:

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What goes around....etc, etc.
 
sengsational said:
He argues that the ego, the "self", is actually an illusion. He says he and others can get momentary glimpses of this perspective with meditation. So the whole idea of self transcendence kind of vaporizes if there is no self. Yeah, I know, hard to grasp, ho cus pocus if you're reading my inadequate description of the concept.
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I hadn’t heard of Sam Harris but will keep my eye out for him. The concept of “no self” or “non self” is especially hard to grasp for Western thinkers (myself included). I think it’s poorly named. My fuzzy thought is not that the self doesn’t exist (of course it does - here I am!!) but that it’s not what you think it is, not something at the center of the stories we all weave/tell about ourselves. Recognizing that, a person may move towards a less self-centered world view.

I’m borrowing words from a Zen teacher/author here.
 
Had some time on the beach and flying so... 'Diabesity' by Dr Francine Kaufmann, 'Fat Chance' and 'The Hacking of the American Mind' by Dr Robert Lustig and 'The Big Fat Surprise' by Nina Teicholz. All very interesting.
 
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