What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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Working on a historical novel by Conn Iggulden (which sounds like a pen name, but apparently isn't), Emperor vol. 1, The Gates of Rome1. It's about Julius Caesar, and it's good, but so far veers pretty wildly from the historical record. But maybe that's because this is Young Julius, and the historical record there is about 2 sentences long. Also working on an actual history, "Britain After Rome" by Robin Fleming, which is really interesting because it makes such heavy use of archaeology. Right now I'm reading about The Collapse, that is, Rome's withdrawal from Britain, the breakdown of the economy and what is happening to political authority in that. The author writes about the disappearance of nails from Britain - what happens when that happens.
 
Pellice said:
The author writes about the disappearance of nails from Britain - what happens when that happens.
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OMG..all those poor Manicurists and Pedicurists out of work!:LOL:

(Novel sounds interesting...I'd like to read it.)
 
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The instruction manual for my new solar battery charger. AKA RTFM.
 
Lewis Clark said:
The musical "Come from Away" is also based on these same events. The play is currently running on Broadway in New York, and the road show is making the rounds. My wife and I saw the play three weeks ago, and enjoyed it so much we saw it again the following week. Great show, and there is no better message to share around the world these days.

I think you will really enjoy the book. Let me know what you think after you read it!
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I learned about the play after I googled the book. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I agree it is a much needed message these days.

I'll report back when I finish the book. :D
 
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell, 2002.

A sucker for non-fiction books, when I spotted this at the book sales at the local library, of course I had to pay $1 for a book in mint condition. I remember reading about this book, but then forgot about it. Darn, it's 17 years already.

Here's what the book is about, quoting from the Web.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.
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NW-Bound said:
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell, 2002.

A sucker for non-fiction books, when I spotted this at the book sales at the local library, of course I had to pay $1 for a book in mint condition. I remember reading about this book, but then forgot about it. Darn, it's 17 years already.

Here's what the book is about, quoting from the Web.
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NW-Bound, it's interesting to play with that idea. It is expressed in several aphorisms, such as, "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time is come," or, "the straw that broke the camel's back."

Or is it? Do those sayings concern instead movements that arrive totally spontaneously, without planning, without effort, without a certain goal? And conversely, don't "the best-laid plans of mice and men go oft astray?" RIP New Coke. And how is it the US has failed at the far superior metric system?

The Times had an interesting article to pair with yours https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/12/magazine/16innovationsfailures.html

I think it's fun to play with these assumptions. The example I always used in teaching was that of St. Dominic and St. Francis, who were near contemporaries of one another. St. Dominic approached the Pope with a plan, a business plan, towards his goal of improved preaching for the masses, that involved instruction, expansion, management. St. Francis one day threw off all his clothes and stood in the village square, preaching at random. Guess whose movement took off? The Franciscans spread like wildfire.

Today there are still Dominicans and Franciscans, and I guess there's a lesson in that too. I've decided, rather reluctantly, that human wisdom boils down to "it depends."
 
ER Eddie said:
One Mind, by Larry Dossey. Good survey of the research and stories supporting the idea of non-local consciousness (mind does not equal brain, we're all connected, etc.). He keeps the chapters short and pithy, which I appreciate.
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If you would like to delve further into this, consider

NDERF
IONS
TMI
My Big TOE
Lilydale NY
Eben Alexander
Brian Weiss
Ian Stevenson
 
Got some good laughs reading Rick Reilly's new book "Commander and Cheat". Trumps love of golf is no secret, may help to be a golfer to get a full appreciation for many of the anecdotes in the book.
 
Just finished Medusa by Michael Dibdin. This is my first try at this Italian crime novel series featuring Inspector Aurelio Zen. I'd rate it a 4 star. Since we are going to visit Italy again I thought I'd get in the mood. Some interesting comments on Italian life, regions, and politics. I will probably read more in this series.

https://smile.amazon.com/Medusa-Novel-Michael-Dibdin-ebook/dp/B0012RMVF2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=medusa+dibdin&qid=1562035908&s=gateway&sr=8-1
After a decomposed body is discovered in an abandoned military tunnel, Inspector Aurelio Zen travels north to the Italian Alps to investigate. At first glance, the death appears to have been an accident. But when Zen takes a closer look, a mysterious tattoo begins to tell a much more sinister tale, especially after the body is snatched from the morgue.
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Picked up 'After America' by Mark Steyn at the library book sale. Halfway through. Not as enjoyable as 'America Alone' but definitely has some good insights although somewhat over the top.
 
Lsbcal said:
Just finished Medusa by Michael Dibdin. This is my first try at this Italian crime novel series featuring Inspector Aurelio Zen.
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If you haven't already read them you might also enjoy the Inspector Montalbano books by Andrea Camilleri, and the Commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon.
 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/667398.Havana_Best_Friends

Havana Best Friends by José Latour

A complex, hard-boiled novel of betrayal, deceit, and cunning, Havana Best Friends takes place in a Cuba that tourists rarely see. Stunning plot twists rocket the story forward, but not once does the action overpower the story’s heart — the emotional lives of the people whose worlds are changed forever by these so-called best friends.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Latour
 
Just finished ‘Educated’. Fascinating true story of a woman raised in a survivalist family.
 
NW-Bound said:
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell, 2002.

A sucker for non-fiction books, when I spotted this at the book sales at the local library, of course I had to pay $1 for a book in mint condition. I remember reading about this book, but then forgot about it. Darn, it's 17 years already.

Here's what the book is about, quoting from the Web.
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If you haven’t read it yet, you’d love Gladwell’s “Outliers.” It’s my favorite of all his work and it really impacted my life.
 
TDub said:
If you haven’t read it yet, you’d love Gladwell’s “Outliers.” It’s my favorite of all his work and it really impacted my life.
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I'm reading "What The Dog Saw"also by Malcolm Gladwell. I'm enjoying it, but I enjoyed the other two as well.
 
The Intelligent Asset Allocator by William Bernstein.

Actually, a re-read. Wish the data were more up-to-date, but I recommend it as a first read, so you can hand it over to a young'n.

$5 off books at Amazon today. Book needs to cost more than $15 to get the deal.
 
Just returned from our annual two-week sojourn in Maine, where our principal activity is reading. This year, as usual, I read a mix of fiction and non-fiction.

Fiction:

On the Beach by Nevil Shute - a famous look at a world coming to an end after a nuclear war. I first read this in high school. 45 years of living, and service as a submariner, have certainly made it a different read now.

The Stranger by Albert Camus - I can see why my French teacher assigned Camus' existentialist masterpiece in high school - short, declarative sentences easily translated. This was the first time I read it in English.

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - It was interesting to read this after having watched Apocalypse Now, to see how it was interpreted for the screen. I was also amazed to learn that English was Conrad's third language.

Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee - a timeless, compelling tale by this South African writer and Nobel laureate, exploring the need for the state to create external enemies to support its own internal narrative.

Dispatches by Michael Herr - a description of the author's time in Vietnam as a war correspondent for Esquire magazine. Although originally posed as autobiographical, the author later admitted that some of the incidents portrayed were fictional and the characters composites. Regardless, he has a fantastic way with words and one can feel the mud and grime and madness of that time and place.

Non-fiction:

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan - a look at the historical Jesus (as opposed to the religious Jesus the Christ) as a rabble rouser crucified for sedition. Criticized by biblical scholars, but interesting to read and think about.

An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power by John Gordon Steele - although the author's bias is evident, this is still a great single volume history tracing the economic evolution of the USA. I enjoyed it.

The Last Lost World: Ice Ages, Human Origins, and the Invention of the Pleistocene by Lydia Pyne and Stephen J. Pyne - a father-daughter team of scientists explain the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million to 10,000 years before present; the time when modern humans evolved) and how scientists have changed their views of human origins as new discoveries have been made.

The Third Reich in Power by Richard J. Evans - the second volume of a 3 volume examination of how the Nazis initially came to power, exercised that power and eventually lost the war. A cautionary tale, extremely well written.

Columbus: The Four Voyages by Laurence Bergreen - a detailed look at Columbus' trips to the New World. The early European voyages of discovery have long been an interest of mine.
 
A few weeks ago at the library I discovered books by Cara Hunter, a new-to-me British mystery author.

I've finished her first two books, Close to Home and In the Dark, and am beginning her third, No Way Out.

The first two books were very good, and both ended with twists I did not see coming.
 
Gumby said:
Just returned from our annual two-week sojourn in Maine, where our principal activity is reading. This year, as usual, I read a mix of fiction and non-fiction.


The Third Reich in Power by Richard J. Evans - the second volume of a 3 volume examination of how the Nazis initially came to power, exercised that power and eventually lost the war. A cautionary tale, extremely well written.
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Did you read the first volume, The Coming of the Third Reich prior to reading this?

I've read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer twice. Once in my 20's and again a couple of years ago. I find this period of history very fascinating.
 
One Way Ticket. Nine Lives on Two Wheels by Jonathan Vaughters.
Bio about this Tour de France rider who went on to start his own cycling team EF Education and his past struggles with doping.
 
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