What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[Meadbh]

A good one for the post apocalyptic end of the world genre: Age of Miracles. First novel by Karen Thompson Walker. I really liked it, but it did drag a bit in a few places, mostly when bogged down in the normal everyday stuff of a middle schooler. Narrated by a young girl about the time of the "slowing", when the earth's rotation began slowing down, extending the days and nights.

I'd say more for the ladies, honestly, as it doesn't include much hard science kinda speculation as some other authors in this space (like Hugh Howey).

Apocalyptic end of the world is not my genre, but lack of hard science would be a big turnoff for this lady!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Lol, I can see that! I just meant it is a softer sort of novel, really more YA fiction, than the usual (male authored) stuff in this genre. It made for a nice change, tbh. I was listening to it instead of reading, had it been in print form, I'm certain I would have skipped over some of the more "preteen angst" passages.

 

[donheff]

Two thumbs up for The Never Open Desert Diner, James Anderson's debut novel. Haunting, lyrical, dark... it merits all the accolades. The protagonist is a truck driver in the Utah desert who falls for a mysterious woman hiding from a mysterious past. The other characters are what you guessed those remote desert dwellers might be. Defintely worth putting in a hold at the library.

 

[Ally]

I'm reading Watership Down. It's my granddaughter's favorite book, so I asked if I could borrow it. We are both avid readers, and often suggest books to each other. So far, I like it quite a bit.


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[Nemo2]

I'm reading Watership Down.

An opportune time to read it, as there may be some parallels with Brexit.

 

[Moemg]

Two thumbs up for The Never Open Desert Diner, James Anderson's debut novel. Haunting, lyrical, dark... it merits all the accolades. The protagonist is a truck driver in the Utah desert who falls for a mysterious woman hiding from a mysterious past. The other characters are what you guessed those remote desert dwellers might be. Defintely worth putting in a hold at the library.

Thanks for the recommendation ! I just ordered it from the library .

 

[RobbieB]

Never Go Back - Lee Child

Another great Jack Reacher novel and one of my favorites as it is the only one where Reacher doesn't kill anyone. He maims a few, but doesn't kill anyone. Amazing -

 

[mh]

Never Go Back - Lee Child

Another great Jack Reacher novel and one of my favorites as it is the only one where Reacher doesn't kill anyone. He maims a few, but doesn't kill anyone. Amazing -

That's good to hear - the last couple I read were way over the top with the chuck Norris ninja killer Schtick.


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[RobbieB]

Piranha - Clive Cussler

An Oregon adventure. Castillo and crew defeat yet another egocentric megalomaniac mass murderer genius who wants to rule the world.

 

[Car-Guy]

I started reading "Crisis of Character" by Gary Byrne earlier today. About half way through now. PDG...so far....

 

[scrabbler1]

I have just begun "Love Wins" which is the story about the SCOTUS case in 2015 about legalizing same-sex marriage. It was co-written by Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Obergefell v. Hodges case.

 

[brett]

Just finished Robert Kaplan's Asia Cauldron. Second time around. Good book if you are interested in the changing political/military dynamics in SE Asia.

Also just read Amanda Lindhout's A House in the Sky detailing her kidnapping and 450 day captivity in Somalia.

Both were good books.

 

[Koogie]

Thanks to you both re: The Expanse.

Read Leviathan Wakes and enjoyed it. Will probably read more of the series.

Also recently read Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan. A mix of scifi and detective noir that is written for adult audiences. Greatly enjoyed it and am now moving on into more of that series as well.

Have been on a bit of sci-fi kick lately. Probably because there are some really good series being written that weren't available (or I overlooked) in the past.

 

[Marita40]

I just started a new work of literary criticism, Everybody Behaves Badly, about the making of Hemingway's early novel The Sun Also Rises. It is such a fascinating and strange novel in many ways--really groundbreaking--that I'm finding this book delicious! I taught Sun for years in my literature classes so know it backwards and forwards. This is the kind of explanatory book I wish I had written myself!

 

[NW-Bound]

Unlike most here, I mainly read nonfiction.
The latest is an extraordinarily well written account of how genes were discovered and understood (as far as they are currently understood).

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee

I also favour nonfiction. The Gene is on my list. I also recommend Mukherjee's first book, The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of Cancer.

I am also a mostly non-fiction reader.

+1 on Emperor of All Maladies.

Logging on to my local library now to see if it has this newer book.

 

[rayinpenn]

What have you read recently?

I read "the nest" as suggested as a summer read by Money Magazine.. Frankly the ending was a bit disappointing in its realism... Bad guy stays bad.


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[RobbieB]

Top Secret Twenty-One - Janet Evanovich

This was really good, pulp fiction written by a woman. Our hero is Stephanie Plum, bond enforcer. There are the usual corpses with gunshot wounds, a Polonium 210 killer and a "sorta-spy" guy and a cop. Not to mention a dwarf and a pack of killer Chihuahuas.

This was the first "multiple murder" thrillers that had more than a few laughs in it. Very refreshing.

 

[6miths]

I relistened to the Emperor of All Maladies last week and followed it up with The Death of Cancer by Vincent DeVita, Jr. The former was definitely the better book but DeVita's insights as a former long serving head of the NCI and insider were very interesting. I found his descriptions of battles with the FDA particularly memorable.

 

[Sarah in SC]

My sci-fi post-apocalypse audio book binge continues--I just finished up all three of DJ MacHale's Sylo books.

These are ostensibly young adult fiction, but I really enjoyed them. Maybe I'm regressing, lol. Compelling characters--four teenagers surviving after a huge battle between "Sylo", one branch of the US military, and an unknown but highly advanced Air Force. If you have YA readers in your family, especially boys, this might be a good series to try on them.

Now on Dog Stars, by Peter Heller, more like McCarthy's The Road, but such beautiful and evocative language. Colorado natives, fly fishing enthusiasts, and pilots would probably like the in-depth discussions of the main character about these subjects.

 

[donheff]

Blockchain Revolution, by Don and Alex Tapscott is interesting and very worth skimming through although I am ambivalent about whether it is important. The book attempts to outline why the technology under the Bitcoin hood will be the next technology tsunami, disrupting huge components of society from banking and financial services, to Uber, to the Internet of Things. I was vaguely aware of the cryptology foundations of how Bitcoin works but dismissed it as a fringe activity for techo-libertarians and black market drug buyers. I didn't know that the field is booming, increasing in a couple of years from a few million in interest to over $500 million in VC funding last year. Major banks, Governments, and top universities are jamming into the space, all either convinced (as the book argues) that blockchain tech will transform the world or just making sure they don't ignore a marginally possible blockbuster change like Gates almost missed the Internet. The downside is that the book is poorly written. It is a redundant mishmash of fanboy exuberance that leaves you wondering what the authors are talking about half the time. And the technical introduction to the tech is too vague to get a strong feel for how the network functions and whether it is potentially scalable for the massive disruption the book forecasts. The last few section redeem the book to a degree as they outline potential roadblocks, governance issues and the like.

Interesting enough that I will try to learn more. I already enrolled in a Princeton University Coursera course on the underlying technology. I spotted the value of the Internet fairly early on (wrote my own personal website in 1994) and made a switch from HR to IT as a result). Maybe this is the next big thing. Whatever - my portfolio will remain in a broadly diversified set of index funds. At most I will get a Bitcoin wallet and buy a few unregulated crypto-shares of a couple of blockchain innovators through some black market investment scheme.

 

[SpinDr]

Having a very stressful job has led me to lighter reads and more escapist literature. Just finished a series of books "The Dresden Files" that were a lot of fun. My Sci-Fantasy interested son turned me on to these. Basic premise is a modern day wizard living in Chicago fighting evil Great fun reads for those that like Sci-Fi kind of stuff.

Over the past few years as job demands have become tougher I find that some of the more serious or darker subjects have less appeal for me.

 

[RobbieB]

The Jungle - Clive Cussler

Another of the Oregon files.

Juan Castillo and Co. vs ruthless terrorists intent on ruling the world. Yup, once again -

 

[Badger]

Top Secret Twenty-One - Janet Evanovich

This was really good, pulp fiction written by a woman. Our hero is Stephanie Plum, bond enforcer. There are the usual corpses with gunshot wounds, a Polonium 210 killer and a "sorta-spy" guy and a cop. Not to mention a dwarf and a pack of killer Chihuahuas.

This was the first "multiple murder" thrillers that had more than a few laughs in it. Very refreshing.

I became aware of Janet Evanovich less than a year ago and have read all 23 of the Stephanie Plum series and 5 of the Fox and O'Hare series to date. Great fun. I only wish there were a few dozen more. I guess I will have to search for an author with similar style.

Cheers!

 

[Nemo2]

Recently finished Prayer by Philip Kerr https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/20/prayer-philip-kerr-review-thriller author of, among other things, the Bernie Gunter series, and one of my favorite writers*.

(*Which was the only reason I finished it, rather than tossing it aside....very disappointing. I just hope his latest, The Other Side of Silence, the next of the Bernie Gunter books, puts him back on his usual form.)

Currently reading Day After Day by Carlo Lucarelli Day After Day by Carlo Lucarelli — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists and translated by Oonah Stransky, the second of the Grazia Negro books....much better!

 

[Ally]

I'm nearly finished with Anna Karenina and I love it. Don't spoil the end, because people keep trying to tell me about the end. I like all the individual stories weaving together and love the observations about human nature.


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