What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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Just finished up the non-fiction book "On The Clock" by Emily Guendelsberger.

Journalist gets laid off from small town paper so goes out and works at an Amazon fulfillment warehouse, a call center and then a McDonald's. It was an interesting read and was eye opening at how things have changed since I w*rked in a distribution warehouse and several food joints back in the early 90's. Makes me very grateful to not have to take any of those jobs.
 
I just finished "Circe" and "Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller. They're novelized from parts of the Odyssey and Iliad respectively. I really enjoyed them both, I found myself checking out Wikipedia to make sure I remembered my Greek mythology and to get a hint of what was going to happen. Highly recommended!
 
I am listening to the book "The Moment of Lift" by Melinda Gates. It's about women's global health issues and is interesting.
 
Just finished 'American Moonshot - JFK and the Great Space Race' by Douglas Brinkley. Was quite a good read although I was disappointed that it only covered the Gemini and Apollo programmes superficially as they occurred after JFK's death. I guess I should have paid attention to the subtitle. Finished Mark Steyn's 'After America' which I thought was pretty scattered and not well referenced. I enjoyed his 'America Alone'.

Just started reading 'Suicide of the West' by Jonah Goldberg - impressed so far.
 
The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee who as a teenager defected from North Korea and eventually settled in South Korea. Hyeonseo Lee grew up in North Korea but escaped to China in 1997. In 2008, after more than 10 years there, she came to Seoul, South Korea, where she struggled to adjust to life in the bustling city. Recently graduated from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, she has become a regular speaker on the international stage fostering human rights and awareness of the plight of North Koreans. She is an advocate for fellow refugees, even helping close relatives leave North Korea. Her TED talk has been viewed nearly 4m times. She is married to her American husband Brian Gleason and currently lives in South Korea.

https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Seven-Names-Hyeonseo-Lee/dp/0007554850/ref=asc_df_0007554850/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312741934517&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14253343565593845552&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9014273&hvtargid=pla-437056805035&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=64940825031&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312741934517&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14253343565593845552&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9014273&hvtargid=pla-437056805035
 
I’ve been totally engrossed in the Martin Walker books about Bruno Chief of Police (hah!, the only policeman) in a village in the Dordogne region of France. Very addicting.
 
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audreyh1 said:
I’ve been totally engrossed in the Martin Walker books about Bruno Chief of Police (hah!, the only policeman) in a village in the Dordogne region of France. Very addicting.
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I just finished the most recent book in the Bruno series, "The Body in the Castle Well". I love the series and especially enjoyed this one because although Bruno's village & all of the characters are fictitious, the other towns, sights, and even some of the hotels actually exist. The murder in this most recent book takes place in a garden ("Jardins Panoramiques") that my friends & I happened to visit 2 years ago while we were biking in the region. Walker always does a superb job of portraying the Perigord region.

I also recently read The Overstory by Richard Powers. I liked it but didn't love it. There are multiple threads, each built around a different character, and each narrative is related to trees in some way. I liked some of the threads a lot, but found a couple of them tedious. Having said that, his writing is first-rate and I'll probably seek out one of his older books.

I read the most recent book in the Maisie Dobbs series, The American Agent, by Jacqueline Winspear. It was excellent. This one is set during the London blitz.

For anyone who grows tomatoes, Epic Tomatoes by Craig LeHoullier is an interesting as well as very pretty book thanks to all of the photos.
 
100 Baggers: 100X1 returns by Cris Mayer
Morgenthal & co. by Wigamore. Its a known docudrama/parody spoofing GoldmanSachs rise to its close-governmental-endorsed position currently....Que: Hank Paulsons back/forth/back/forth and so many others.

Both are great material imo.:cool:

Good luck!
 
I'm in the middle of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, which is surprisingly modern and entertaining despite being written in 1886. It was interesting to see this:

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So, women were like that even in the 1800s!
 
I read one and now I'm addicted- I just love Bruno, and all the descriptions of what they're cooking and/or eating. And if course France has been moved back to the top of my travel list...
audreyh1 said:
I’ve been totally engrossed in the Martin Walker books about Bruno Chief of Police (hah!, the only policeman) in a village in the Dordogne region of France. Very addicting.
Click to expand...
 
Just Finished Crisis in the Red Zone, by Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone. Crisis tells the story of the major Ebola outbreak a few years back. It’s a harrowing thriller that presents tough ethical and practical quandaries. Not quite as riveting as The Hot Zone but very much worth a read.
 
Chances Are by Richard Russo. Three 66-year old guys return to Martha's Vineyard for the first time since a weekend immediately following their college graduation in the '70's. Full of twists, turns and mystery. An outstanding book by an author I've always liked but whom I haven't read in a while.
 
friar1610 said:
Chances Are by Richard Russo. Three 66-year old guys return to Martha's Vineyard for the first time since a weekend immediately following their college graduation in the '70's. Full of twists, turns and mystery. An outstanding book by an author I've always liked but whom I haven't read in a while.
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Thanks, I’ve put this on my “For Later” shelf. I’d only read Empire Falls in about 2005 and really liked it (the HBO release with Paul Newman is on Prime Video).
 
friar1610 said:
Chances Are by Richard Russo. Three 66-year old guys return to Martha's Vineyard for the first time since a weekend immediately following their college graduation in the '70's. Full of twists, turns and mystery. An outstanding book by an author I've always liked but whom I haven't read in a while.
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+1 Finished "Chances Are" last night. An insightful read, particularly for EARers "of a certain age."
 
Nemo2 said:
Just completed:

Jo Nesbø: Police



https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18142329-police

Very Dickensian in its comeuppances.
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I just finished Jo Nesbo's "The Leopard", one of the series involving Norwegian detective Harry Hole. Not your typical murder mystery. The last quarter of the novel was excellent. I love these Scandinavian translations; this one is similar to Stieg Larrson's work (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
 
cbo111 said:
I just finished Jo Nesbo's "The Leopard", one of the series involving Norwegian detective Harry Hole. Not your typical murder mystery. The last quarter of the novel was excellent. I love these Scandinavian translations; this one is similar to Stieg Larrson's work (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
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We're both very fond of the Scandinavians also, and I usually mention all the books we enjoy on this thread...............have you followed this series:

https://www.orderofbooks.com/characters/inspector-erlendur/
 
cbo111 said:
I just finished Jo Nesbo's "The Leopard", one of the series involving Norwegian detective Harry Hole. Not your typical murder mystery. The last quarter of the novel was excellent. I love these Scandinavian translations; this one is similar to Stieg Larrson's work (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
Click to expand...
I recommend the books by Sjowall & Wahloo books and the books by Henning Mankell.
 
I just finished "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens. Friends had been recommending it (with rave reviews) for awhile- I liked it, but didn't love it.
 
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