What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

Status
Not open for further replies.
The Children of Pride edited by Robert Manson Myers is actually a series of letters that this family sent back and forth to each other describing their life in coastal Georgia in the 19th century. The book is a collection of 1900 letters spanning time from the 1850s to 1870.
It gives insight into the lives of these southern planters during this period. Actually, DW is reading it and sharing the more interesting sections with me. This unabridged version is 1800 pages and is beyond my reading capabilities. DW (speed reader) will have it done in a few weeks. Perhaps this should be in the Civil War thread?
 
Fall of Giants. Bu Ken Follett. This is part one of a three book epic taking place before and through the two world wars. The second book id due out in 2012.
In hardback it is nearly 1000 pages but it is such an enjoyable read it will keep you riveted to the story. All good things have to come to an end. Now I have to wait for the second book to continue the story. Drat.
 
I have just finished "The Investor's Manifesto, Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything In Between" by William Bernstein.

I got a lot out of his other books, "The Intelligent Asset Allocator" and "The Four Pillars of Investing". I was not disappointed in his newest book. It updates and extends his other writings and is every bit as good to read.
 
Bernstein's book came out in early 2009 I think. After reading it I felt better about going with Short Term Investment Grade (VFSUX) for the FI part of the portfolio. That's about 50% of our FI right now. Last I heard he's recommending even shorter durations. Sometimes he posts on Bogleheads under wbern, so you can search for posts by that auther.

Here is a Q&A from Jan 8 2011:
Q: Hi Bill, in your Investor's Manifesto book you had some sample portfolios there that used (Vanguard's) Short Term Investment Grade fund -- current SEC yield = 2.1%. Are you thinking that these are now too risky and one should even go shorter to maybe 6 month (or lower) Treasuries?

A: Yes and no.

VFSTX is certainly no more or less risky than it was when I wrote the book.

But the money market/T-bill tradeoff has definitely changed since I wrote the book. At the moment, keeping large sums in a money market makes no sense at all, since you can get a higher yield and near-perfect safety with rolling bills. That wasn't true two years ago when I wrote the book.

Bill
Click to expand...
 
Thanks, Lsbcal. That is good to see. I am moving my money from an aggressive to a mid risk allocation. Tax rules are slowing me down. I cannot get on Bogle. I am not sure why.
 
My airplane book during our recent trip to Italy was The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley. He is the author who wrote Flags of Our Fathers and Flyboys.

The book covers the era around the turn of the 20th century, when the U.S. first became a colonial power. His primary thesis is that Roosevelt and Taft gave Japan a green light to expand in Asia and to impose a Japanese "Monroe Doctrine", which ultimately led to WWII in the Pacific, although the book has a broader narrative scope. For example, reading about the US war in the Philippines, how it was prosecuted and how it was reported, gives some context to more recent events in Asia. In fact, in was interesting to see how little we actually learned in 100 years. It is a certainty that you will never see Theodore Roosevelt in the same light after reading this book.
 
C. J. Box's Cold Wind is a pretty good read about a Wyoming Game Warden investigating the spouse murder charge against his obnoxious mother-in-law. It has a side line about his former Ranger anti-government buddy revenging another murder.
 
I just finished reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larrson. I would have enjoyed reading more of his books, but unfortunately he died after writing this trilogy. I will miss some of the characters.
 
Patterson's Cross Fire, just finished I, Alex Cross.
 
Fiction fans: you must check out the first novel of Karen Russell, called Swamplandia. I heard a review of it on (of all things) the Economist podcast. I borrowed it from the library, read about a chapter, then it was swiped by DH. But what I got of it is simply fantastic. I read a lot, but her prose is simply lyrical. I am blown away by the talents of this young writer.

The book is a fictional account of a young girl growing up in South Florida in a family of alligator wrestlers. Russell has an amazing ability to imbue Ava with truly adolescent thoughts, rather than "grown up" ideas in her reporting of her life.

Highly recommended, and I haven't even gotten to read most of it!
 
Candide. By Jean Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire.
 
I just finished Summer at Willow Lake. By Susan Wiggs. Its nice summer romance.
 
ls99 said:
Candide. By Jean Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire.
Click to expand...

One of my favorites, and my two favorite lines from it are:

". . . but in this country it is found requisite, now and then, to put an admiral to death, in order to encourage the others to fight" and

" . . . let us cultivate our garden."

The latter perfectly encompasses my present mood concerning the world.
 
You mean you don't agree with Pangloss that this "is the best of all possible worlds." :)
 
Hi Al, so what are you going to cut out? Sometimes I just have a half sandwich for lunch. Hopefully by asking this I won't turn the thread into a diet thread :).
 
Lsbcal said:
Hi Al, so what are you going to cut out? Sometimes I just have a half sandwich for lunch. Hopefully by asking this I won't turn the thread into a diet thread :).
Click to expand...

Lena and I have cut out almost all carbs since June of last year. We eat a lot of steaks, eggs, bacon, and also salad vegetables.
 
Gumby said:
One of my favorites, and my two favorite lines from it are:

". . . but in this country it is found requisite, now and then, to put an admiral to death, in order to encourage the others to fight" and

" . . . let us cultivate our garden."

The latter perfectly encompasses my present mood concerning the world.
Click to expand...

Yes they both resonate well each time I read the book. I do think the same courtesy as for the admirals, should be extended to politicians and kings as well.

Heh, one can dream.
 
Three I've just read:

Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. This is a must for travelers. I had so many "aha" moments when reading this and understanding what motivates people to step off the normal treadmill of life & work to really experience the world around us. I really enjoy Potts' essays and stories, and this is a nice collection of his thoughts on why we travel.

Twelve by Twelve by William Powell. This one had a lot going for it, but I had to withhold some of my annoyance at his "woo woo" thinking in a few places. Excellent points about distilling life down to what you really need in the physical sense to allow you to develop greater insight into your emotional/mental space needs. I really enjoyed his journey of a year in a tiny cabin in the NC hinterlands.

Six Months Off (3 authors I'm too lazy to spell) this one I've read before and enjoyed re-reading in preparation for lobbying DH to quit at the end of the year. I like the idea of formulating what you really want to accomplish in time off (a lot like the Retire Happy Wild and Free "tree" concept).

Still waiting for DH to give me back Swamplandia, dang it!
 
Finished Sue Grafton's Amazon.com: U is for Undertow (9780425238110): Sue Grafton: Books . You might like the short interview with Grafton you can read at this Amazon link. It makes me feel like she's a real nice person and someone I could probably feel comfortable with.

One of the recurring themes in Grafton's books is the strange ways we choose to deal with the teenage years and how we develop from those formative and often painful times. Kinsey, her main character, seems to be constantly reflecting on how she grew up and how she is developing as an adult. I just find Grafton's views on human quirks to be very refreshing. Not that I'm less then perfect myself :rolleyes:.

This book was one of her best in my opinion, definitely 5 stars.
 
I am currently reading Thinking in Pictures (expanded edition): My life with Autism, by Temple Grandin. It's very interesting to see things from her point of view. She is an amazingly intelligent woman and this book is a wonderful contribution to our understanding of autism spectrum disorders and about the human mind in general.

It's the first book I'm reading on my Kindle and I am very much enjoying the technology too.
 
I just read "The Fifth Witness " by Michael Connelly . It was not as good as his previous books . It was just okay !
 
I just finished

Amazon.com: Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness (9780307463906): Frank Brady: Books.

(library eBook).

It was quite interesting and enjoyable, although long. I'd forgotten what had happened with Fischer, so for me, it was suspenseful. I had really been into chess during college, and I realize that that is when Fischer spurred the chess boom around the world. I had also learned chess with his excellent book

Amazon.com: Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (9780923891602): Bobby Fischer, Stuart Margulies, Donn Mosenfelder: Books

It's fun to be able to check out photos of Fischer from the different times in his life, see him on Dick Cavett (youtube), or watch his most celebrated game (when he was 13) analyzed:

YouTube - Game of the Century - Bobby Fischer vs Donald Byrne

It also sounds like he had Asperger's, and he was definitely whacked out in the last half of his life. Too bad someone couldn't treat him for his mental illness.

It's gotten me a bit interested in chess, and I've put a free chess app on my iPod touch.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
Scott Burns' own story
Replies
3
Views
3K
haha
haha

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom