What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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Ally said:
Thanks so much!
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Ally said:
I love the Vera series on Acorn TV and wonder if reading the stories will ruin episodes for me? Or do the tv shows not follow the books?
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We listen to Vera audiobooks on roadtrips and have noticed the TV shows are not exactly the same in many details—one had even changed the killer from the one in the book/audiobook!—so I wouldn’t worry about it.
 
Yeonmi Park's 'In Order to Live'

About this young woman's life in North Korea, her and her mother's escape to and experiences in China, and their eventual escape to South Korea.
 
Just finished 'Two Kinds of Truth' by Michael Connelly. Yet another lackluster, disappointing effort from my formerly favorite novelist. :mad:
 
CoolRich59 said:
Just finished 'Two Kinds of Truth' by Michael Connelly. Yet another lackluster, disappointing effort from my formerly favorite novelist. :mad:
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We must have read two different ones with the same title and author. I was interested in his discussion of a part of the opioid trade.
 
Lsbcal said:
We must have read two different ones with the same title and author. I was interested in his discussion of a part of the opioid trade.
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I agree that he has great plots for his books. But, he used to develop them a lot more. The last several novels have been very perfunctory, and he did it again here: Bosch uncovers an extensive "market" in illicit prescription drugs, goes undercover, gets discovered, bad guys dead, game over.

I think that's why Connelly has gotten into this practice of having two plots in his novels. He has great plot ideas, but no longer take the time to develop them. Having two plots in one novel enables him to generate enough pages for one book, rather than sticking with one plot and meticulously developing it the way he used to.
 
CoolRich59 said:
I agree that he has great plots for his books. But, he used to develop them a lot more. The last several novels have been very perfunctory, and he did it again here: Bosch uncovers an extensive "market" in illicit prescription drugs, goes undercover, gets discovered, bad guys dead, game over.

I think that's why Connelly has gotten into this practice of having two plots in his novels. He has great plot ideas, but no longer take the time to develop them. Having two plots in one novel enables him to generate enough pages for one book, rather than sticking with one plot and meticulously developing it the way he used to.
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Interesting analysis. Each time a person sits down to create something new it doesn't matter what his track record was, it's a whole new ballgame.
 
The Kremlin's Candidate - the third book in a series that started with Red Sparrow.

Basically, it's modern day Putin's Russian SVR versus the USA's CIA. Lots of intrigue, suspense, romance, greed and idiot politicians. Very hard to put down.

If you have not seen the movie, read the book first. It's so much better, IMHO, than the movie.
 
"They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper" by Bruce Robinson. Yet another output from the cottage industry of "ripperology". This is another analysis that pins it on the Freemasons. Interesting read for an afternoon in the shade garden with book, beer and pipe.
 
I just finished, "Caddyshack, the Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story," by Entertainment Weekly writer Chris Nashawaty. The author writes about what led up to the movie, the making of the movie, and its aftermath including the tragic death of Doug Kenney, one of the movie's 3 writers (he died about a month after the movie's release in 1980).


Some of the stuff about the events which took place years before the 1980 movie, mainly the times involving the National Lampoon magazine, didn't interest me much. But other pre-Caddyshack times such as how the movie "Animal House" got made did interest me. Still a good read.
 
I read Kevin Kwan's "Crazy Rich Asians" and "China Rich Girlfriend", the first 2 of a trilogy. I loved both novels and will soon start the 3rd in the trilogy. Extremely entertaining.

I just finished "The Plant Messiah: Adventures in Search of the World's Rarest Species" by Carlos Magdalena. The author (or co-author because he mentions a ghostwriter) is a Spanish-born botanist at Kew Gardens in England. Interesting tales of searching for endangered species in far-flung places, and figuring out how to propagate the plants which others have been unable to do.

I read the first two mysteries in a new series by British author Charlie Cochrane, "The Best Corpse for the Job" and "Jury of One". Fun reads. While the English police detective in the series is a gay man, the author is female.

"Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer. A non-fiction book about people who compete in memory contests. The author got so wrapped up in the mnemonic methods that he trained to enter the US memory championship.

"Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It" by Gabriel Wyner. An interesting approach to language learning, something I have done much of my adult life. The book had raves on Amazon. This book cites "Moonwalking with Einstein" a couple of times. I'm not convinced his methods will work as well on aging brains, but I see the logic of his methods.
 
I just finished a cute book by Hope Callaghan called "Pirates in Peril". She has 3 series, one is the Savannah series about a Mafia widow and her children that moved from NY to Savannah. The other 2 are a bout Millie, the assistant cruise director (and crime solver), and the Garden Girls, an eclectic mix of mature ladies who also solve crimes.
I love them all and eagerly await the next book.
 
Souschef said:
haven't read that yet, but read Polar Star and Gorky Park by hiom
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I doubt I've read all his books, but I have read a fair number of them......so far this one is good....so many books, so little time....(we were in the library bookstore this morning...picked up three more, (a Deon Meyer, James Ellroy, and Jonathan Rabb), to add to the already enormous pile...I acquire them faster than I can read them...and I read quickly). :LOL:
 
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Just finished John Farrell's Richard Nixon-The Life.

Enjoyed it very much. It was a timely read.
 
Just finished two books, both quick reads:

-- The Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. 99% of the book was good. Then it seemed like the author had somewhere he needed to be and wanted to get the book finished, so he wrapped up the ending in just a few pages. It was kind of a let down to an otherwise good book.

-- The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais. Crais has been my 'go to' detective writer since I've given up on Michael Connelly. I wouldn't say this is his best work, but it had a good story and kept me interested till the end.
 
Just finished "Words on the Move" by John McWhorter. A very good description of how language changes over time (why the English of early talkies is slightly quaint, Shakespeare's English is more difficult and Chaucer's English sounds totally alien), This was the audiobook, which I imagine is probably a better experience than the print version since a lot of the book concerns various word sounds.
 
Just finished The President is Missing, by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. Fun read but Clinton’s just channeling his wannabe doppelgänger: a heroic President about to get impeached who has to strike out on his own to save the world. The book couples standard Patterson action with Clinton ruminating about what’s wrong with the body politic. As long as you don’t expect much you may enjoy it.
 
I just finished Michael Pollan's new book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. The author discusses new research with psychedelics, as well as his own experience (mainly with psilocybin & LSD) that he undertook while writing the book. The recent research described in the book makes a good case for the effectiveness of psychedelics in aiding people who are dying from cancer, people who wish to stop smoking, and people whose depression hasn't been successfully treated by other means.
 
chilkoot said:
Just finished "Words on the Move" by John McWhorter.
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Thanks for that. I like McWhorter, so I just downloaded it on Kindle. I'll be traveling a lot next month so I'm loading books on the Kindle to fill up the dead time.
 
donheff said:
If you are looking for a compelling summer read, Bearskin, James McLaughlin's debut novel is just the ticket. Sort of a marriage of Deliverance with Heart of Darkness. Beautiful Prose.
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Thanks for the tip. Just finished "Leonardo Da Vinci" by Walter Isaacson, which was EXCELLENT but a lengthy and detailed read. McLaughlin's book sounds like a good summer novel.
 
I just finished "The Big Ones" by seismologist Lucy Jones, about massive natural disasters and what we can learn from them. It's a very accessible, non-dramatic book and one I highly recommend.
 
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