What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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I just finished "The Heart " by Maylis De Kerangal . It gives the human aspects of transplants starting with a teenager dying and through the transplant procedure and all the people involved .Having been an OR nurse for many years I found the book very accurate .
 
I am about 1/3 of the way through "Baseball Goes West," by Lincoln A. Mitchell. It is the history of the rivalry between the Dodgers and the Giants, starting with their years in Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively, followed by their big move to California following the 1957 season which was a big turning point in the game, and continuing through the 1960s through the present. Good read so far.
 
Nemo2 said:
Not really a Sci-Fi buff, (except perhaps for Heinlein), but I'm enjoying Saturn Run by John Sanford, (a little different from Lucas Davenport & Virgil Flowers), in cooperation with Ctein:

The SATURN RUN Interview with John Sandford and Ctein | Crimespree Magazine

https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/4405484/videos/101295867
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I just finished that. Great book.

I read more and enjoy less these days, either because I'm getting older or because, as an author, I see behind the curtains too much.

But this book reminded me what it's like to get totally sucked in to the story.

Click here for my GoodReads book ratings.
 
I just finished, "Undaunted," by Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA). Her autobiography spans many personal tragedies in her life, especially her being shot several times as she tried to escape from Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. She was a 28-year-old staffer for Congressman Leo Ryan (D-CA) who was shot and killed while trying to flee with several defectors just before the mass suicide (actually a mass murder, as she puts it). She not only avoided dying after not receiving medical attention for 22 hours but was lucky to not have any body parts amputated.


She suffered other personal tragedies after that, but you have to read the book to learn about them. Or, you can see her interview on C-Span, as I did, back in November, just after her book came out.
 
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The most fascinating book I've read recently is The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World.

Probably the most famous and admired scientist in the world in the early 19th century, and a remarkable visionary who anticipated much of what we know today. Yet he is virtually unknown today by most. An extremely well written account of his life.
 
I am taking my 2nd spin at "The Philadephia Chromosome", absolutely fascinating story about molecular biology, cancer treatment, and drug development. The book follows the professional choices of Brian Druker, MD & scientist that resulted in the founding of the Knight Cancer Institute.
 
Recently finished "The Conquering Tide" by Ian Toll re the war in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to the Marianas. It was excellent.

I'm also finishing up Bruce Catton's "Grant Takes Command" covering Grant's elevation as head of all Union forces, and Max Hasting's "Vietnam". Grant Takes Command is excellent; Vietnam is very good, but also pretty sobering as Hastings details the decades-long destruction of the country and its people.
 
Finished Lindsey Davis's The Course of Honor: https://smile.amazon.com/Course-Honour-Novel-Lindsey-Davis-ebook/dp/B002LA0AF2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19YFJK5K4K63N&keywords=the+course+of+honor&qid=1554167797&s=books&sprefix=the+course+of+honor%2Caps%2C203&sr=1-1

What I liked about this book is that it covered the years of several of Rome's emperors from Tiberius through Vespasian. We see the events unfold through the viewpoint of Caenis, a woman slave in the households of imperial Rome. This person really existed and had a love affair with the eventual emperor Vespasian. I don't usually read romance novels as a rule but this was a very good historical fiction book. Good for anyone thinking of visiting Italy.
 
ER Eddie said:
One Mind, by Larry Dossey. Good survey of the research and stories supporting the idea of non-local consciousness (mind does not equal brain, we're all connected, etc.). He keeps the chapters short and pithy, which I appreciate.
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I recently read two very good novels. The first was The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. It is historical fiction, with two connected tales, one set in 1915 during WWI in German-occupied northern France and a network of female spies. The connected tale is set in 1947 in the aftermath of WWII, and a young American-raised woman is trying to find her French cousin who disappeared. A woman in London who was in the Alice Network is the key to learning the fate of the cousin who disappeared in WWII.

The other book, All This I Will Give to You by Spanish author Dolores Redondo. The English translation is very good. It is an unusual mystery set in Galicia in NW Spain. A writer in Madrid learns that his husband died in Galicia, supposedly in a traffic accident. The writer goes to Galicia and learns that his husband had a hidden background he never disclosed to him, and that his death was likely not, as it was officially ruled, due to a traffic accident. Very good character development.

Both of these books have high reader ratings on Amazon and on Goodreads.
 
I recently pulled an old favorite down from the shelf, a study of the Old West called Great Gunfighters of the Kansas Cowtowns. It's a collection of short bios on legendary subjects like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, as well as lesser-knowns like Mysterious Dave Mather and Bat's brother, Ed (shot down on a Dodge City street).

The outstanding characteristic of the work is that it's based heavily on contemporary newspaper accounts from sources like the Dodge City Globe, providing a view of events as they were happening. The newspaper prose of the day takes some getting used to (actually it can be entertaining) and, in the historian's tradition, extended quotes are set in reduced-font type, so have your reading glasses handy. But there's nothing like reading a perspective on history as it was being made.
 
Nemo2 said:
Just started The Cellist of Sarajevo, a town I was in only a few years before the hostilities that the story focuses on erupted.

So far, so good.....

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2475251.The_Cellist_of_Sarajevo
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Just finished the book...thoroughly enjoyed it...quite plausible scenarios/observations; speaking as someone who was never forced to experience the siege...or any siege for that matter, but who has read news reports from the period.
 
Ben MacIntyre’s The Spy and the Traitor.

Espionage story of the Cold War. British team exfiltrated a KGB Colonel in Moscow who was awaiting trial/execution for treason. He was working for the British. His had been in charge of the KGB spy group in The UK. True story.
 
I just finished Ann Tyler's "Clock Dance ". It was her usual quirky style .Not a great read but an okay read .
 
The Wolf and the Watchman, The debut novel by a Swedish writer Niklas Natt ock Dag is excellent. It is a very dark crime story set in late 18th century Stockholm. Not for the faint of heart.
 
I just finished two completely opposite reads. I assigned myself to read a large chunk of the Bible for Lent- Acts of the Apostles to (but not including) Revalations.

I also read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Both were very thought provoking.
 
Just finished " The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris . A true story of survival and love in the camps . Very Moving !
 
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