What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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Just finished re-reading "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich....and am now reading "Bait and Switch" and "Re-making Love" by her. I just love her stuff!
 
I just finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I never saw the movie, so it was all new to me and I really enjoyed it. I think it's likely to appeal more to women than to men.
 
That describes a lot of the Dave Robichaux stories. Still, I like the stories even though the "cop with a drinking problem" has been overdone, Burke does it well, so I think I'll hit half-priced books to look for it.

I like his earliest Robichaux books better than the ones from the last few years. After a while they just got to be too much. Too much violence and too much bad news.
 
I just read "A Pearl in the Storm" by Tori Murden McClure. She is the first woman to row across the Atlantic ocean. I would not have read the book--but I heard her speak and was impressed with how articulate she was. The book is very well written and I recommend it.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. It's about the relationships that develop between captives and captors during an extended hostage situation. Just beautifully written. It's now my favorite book - and I'm an avid reader.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. It's about the relationships that develop between captives and captors during an extended hostage situation. Just beautifully written. It's now my favorite book - and I'm an avid reader.

I have seen this book and I assumed it was about opera! :LOL:
 
I have seen this book and I assumed it was about opera! :LOL:

It is a bit. One of the main characters is an opera singer and everyone has gathered to hear her perform when the hostage takers take over. So there is a decent amount of discussion about music and opera.
 
Just finished, From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean M. Carroll. It is a fairly dense read for the average Joe - although no substantial math is needed. Carroll spends a lot time delving into the details of the 2nd law of thermodynamics to give us background to understand why he doesn't like some popular explanations for why our early universe had a stunningly low entropy. I like his speculations on a possible "baby universe" version of the multiverse concept but there is a lot of info leading up to it. Worth a read if you are a cosmology junkie like me.
 
I'm now #23 on the waiting list for From Eternity to Here at our library. Seems to be a popular read. There is a nice video intro by the author here Amazon.com: From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time (9780525951339): Sean Carroll: Books

It's been a long time since I took that statistical mechanics class and I never really felt like I had an intuitive grasp of some of that stuff. Maybe this book will help?
It is a good read and will help with the conceptual stuff but it doesn't get into the underlying math. I was surprised to get it right away when I ordered it at the library.

There is another cosmology book that was excellent, it may be "The God Effect," but I am not sure. I definitely read The God Effect but I am not sure if that was the one I liked a lot or if it was another :(
 
I am on my third book in about three days since I got my Kindle.

1. Mr. New Orleans: The Life of a Big Easy Underworld Legend, by Frenchy Brioullette and M Randazzo. This book was just published a month ago and I had never heard of it. Turns out it is DYNAMITE but only if you are very, very familiar with New Orleans and the French Quarter. Non-residents probably wouldn't know the people in it and wouldn't understand, because he writes as though he is writing for [-]New Orleanians[/-] French Quarter Rats. Those interested in the JFK assassination might find it fills in some blanks, though it might seem pretty incomprehensible in other aspects if you haven't been familiar with the Quarter and its denizens for some time.

2. Lies the Government Told you: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History by Andrew Napolitano. This book is articulate, clear, well referenced, and very well written. You will love it if your political leanings are similar to Napolitano's, as are mine. If not, fuggetaboutit! :LOL:

3. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. EVERYBODY knows about this book and has read it already. I am catching up. :) So far, it's fun! Great light reading.
 
I just finished Waking the Dead by Scott Spencer. It is not my normal type of book and I am glad that I am finally done with it.
 
I am reading Jonathan Kellerman 's "True Detectives " . It takes a little while to figure out all the characters but otherwise it's a can not put down .
 
I love :greetings10: Ken Follet books! "Pillars of the Earth" and "World without End" were wonderful. Could not put them down. It took 18 years to write "World without End", but was worth it. I wish he would write more!
 
I finished "True Detectives " which was very good and I now started "Killer Smile " by Lisa Scottline . I've read a few of her books and they are always entertaining .
 
Interesting you should say that. This book was recently on PBS as a BBC production in the Masterpiece series. I couldn't even watch it after the first 20 minutes as it came across as so dark and depressing, so sorry can't help you out.

It is dark and depressing but strangely a facinating read. It's probably the strangest book in English Literature. You could only imagine how scathing the reviews were at the time of publication.
 
Just finished The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo, a Norwegian writer. Its a very good mystery involving a modern day Oslo detective trying to stop a possible assassination by a Norwegian who fought against Russia on the German side in WWII. Good enough that I put in a library call on Nemesis, Nesbo's second novel featuring Detective Harry Hole.
 
Finished reading (on my Kindle)
1. Mr. New Orleans: The Life of a Big Easy Underworld Legend, by Frenchy Brioullette and M Randazzo,
2. Lies the Government Told you: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History by Andrew Napolitano, and
3. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown.

So, on my Kindle I'm now tackling:

4. Bogleheads' Guide to Retirement Planning, by Laura Dogu. Some is stuff that I should have learned 10 years ago, but it is interesting to see what I might have missed and it is well written. Much of it could still be very useful to me now in retirement. I am about halfway through and immersed in it. The chapters are written by a variety of Bogleheads on their individual areas of expertise, and are very clear and intelligent as one might expect.

5. Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, unabridged version which I last read in 1960 and it was worth $1.95. Ah! The tugs on my heartstrings.

6. War and Peace, by L. Tolstoy, unabridged version is free for the Kindle and is another that I have not read since 1960. I just downloaded it and it is next in line for me. I think it will mean far more to me now than it did when I was so young. Between Les Miserables and War and Peace, you will probably next hear from me on this thread in about a year. :LOL:
 
Two movies that came out in 1953 when I was about 5 or 6 made deep impressions on me. So much so that I could recall many of the scenes (almost word for word) some 30 or 40 years later when I saw them on TV for the first time. The movies were "Titanic" and "Beneath the 12 Mile Reef". Both had starring roles for Robert Wagner. I can't say Wagner was a favorite actor over the years, but I've been aware of him as his career has developed. His love affair(s) with Natalie Wood were legend and I always thought she was just about the most beautiful actress who ever lived.

So when I got a free copy of Wagner's book "Pieces of My Heart", I decided to read it. What I discovered was a personality that was similar to my own. I could identify closely with his feelings and attitudes. Our Myers/Briggs ratings must be similar. For instance, in the movie business, even under the old "studio system", people could be and often were treated pretty shabbily. Wagner held few grudges and probably (like me) needed fewer than the fingers on one hand to count the folks he detested throughout his career. There were those who cheated him and those who mistreated him, but he took most of it in stride and could appreciate folks for their good points and balance those against their foibles. Let's face it, those in the arts (and I'm NOT one of them) are quite complex. Wagner was able to forgive a lot and appreciate people for who they were. I like that sort of approach and seem to have adopted it in my life.

I personally like non-fiction and especially biography of people I've "grown up" with. I'm no literature critic, but I'd have to say I very much enjoyed the read. The book has whetted my appetite for more biography of contemporaries.
 
Definitely not for everyone and not light reading, but A New Earth has had a profound effect on my thinking, including erasing 'one more year syndrome' from my ER decision-making. It was suggested to me on another thread here, I had never heard of it and never would have even looked at it otherwise. I had one 'a-ha' moment after another reading it.

You'll know after Chapter 1 whether to continue or not, most people won't make it that far - and that's perfectly fine. As remarkable as it was/is to me at age 55, I would have dismissed it as utter nonsense after the first 5 pages - for most of my life from age 0-50 or so.
 
I just read, Step On A Crack, by James Patterson. Very entertaining and a quick read. I am halfway through with The Maze by Catherine Coulter and I am enjoying it also.
 
After struggling very slowly thru Anna Karenina I finally finished it. Since then, I've done some very slow, easy reading. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks and Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah they were easy and enjoyable especially after Anna.

I borrowed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from my daughter and just started that book. My daughter warned me that I might be offended by it in some way...like she was my mother or something warning me about my reading material.:LOL: Boy, she has a lot to learn about me.:whistle:
 
I borrowed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from my daughter and just started that book. My daughter warned me that I might be offended by it in some way...like she was my mother or something warning me about my reading material.:LOL: Boy, she has a lot to learn about me.:whistle:

I saw that movie and almost did not last through it. If I had not been with others I would have left. It was maybe the most grotesquely violent movie I have seen. My eyes were closed a lot.

I hope that stuff is easier to take on the printed page.

Ha
 
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