What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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I just looked.....there are about 50 (as yet unread) books on the bedside shelving unit. :cool:
 
I always have 5 or 6 books going at once on my Kindle, with another half dozen in the queue. Plus an average of one a month from the library.

Currently enjoying I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life about our microbiomes.
 
You guys are great readers.

I have recently been guilty of spending too much time on the web. But then we had this PGE shutdown (power just back up now!). So I had to read books on my Kindle app. Poor me. :)

Just before the power shutdown (2 full days off line) I downloaded Shiller's new book, Narrative Economics. It's pretty interesting so far and I'm hoping to pick up some insights.

Link: https://smile.amazon.com/Narrative-Economics-Stories-Economic-Events-ebook/dp/B07RRDVTHY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=shiller&qid=1570821865&sr=8-1
 
I was going to mention this but found the following post from a few years ago which is a very good summary.

I’m currently re-reading Dracula for probably the fourth time and have enjoyed it each time through. I’m reading the Wisehouse Classics edition which was free from the Kindle store (Wisehouse is a great resource and has a separate website).

The Count is good company for Halloween.

ChainsBeGone said:
Bram Stoker's Dracula, downloaded for free on Kindle. With the current vampire genre gaining popularity, I decided I'd go back and read the classic. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was a terrific read, rich in descriptive narrative, and full of suspense. It even had me thinking that classic "no you idiot, don't go down into the dark room alone!" response. Stoker also managed to write the book from multiple first person points of view through the clever use of diaries and journals. While this book was written in the 19th century, I found it still relevant, suspenseful, clever, and completely entertaining.
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steelyman said:
I was going to mention this but found the following post from a few years ago which is a very good summary.

I’m currently re-reading Dracula for probably the fourth time and have enjoyed it each time through. I’m reading the Wisehouse Classics edition which was free from the Kindle store (Wisehouse is a great resource and has a separate website).

The Count is good company for Halloween.
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Here is a link I found. Not quite free but with stocks up I guess I can splurge for the $1 version this time. ;)

https://smile.amazon.com/DRACULA-Wisehouse-Classics-Original-1897-ebook/dp/B01BTITH9G/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dracula+Wisehouse+Classics+kindle&qid=1571245663&sr=8-1

Hmmm...got it for free. Not sure if the $1 off was because I had a digital credit or some other Amazon credit.
 
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steelyman said:
It’s too bad if Amazon has begun charging for titles from Wisehouse. I’ve gotten a bunch from them, all high quality versions. They have an extensive catalog and produce both hard copy and e-versions. Website: Wisehouse Classics - Uniquely Portable Magic of Literature
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When I clicked on Dracula at the Wisehouse site and then Amazon.com as a choice there, I got the $0 Dracula Kindle version. Not sure if the $1 Amazon really happens if going directly as I did that and got it for free after some sort of -$1 change credit.

Anyway it is no big deal ether way. Thanks Steelyman for recommending this.

BTW, I really like the bookcover art choices on Wisehouse.
 
What have you read recently?

A little more on Dracula: it looks like the Roku Channel and others have the 1922 movie Nosferatu on their Halloween lineup. That’s been long considered a classic.

I think my favorite film adaptation, also pretty faithful to the book, is 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I didn’t realize until recently that the character of Renfield is played in that version by a long-time favorite of mine: Tom Waits!
 
Finally read Where the Crawdads Sing. It’s excellent, put it on your list.
 
I liked Where the Crawdads Sing a lot, too.

I just finished Louise Penny's latest, A Better Man. I didn't like it as much as the others in her Gamache series. I felt there was too much buildup to the murder, and the resolution was too convoluted. Having said that, her writing is always very good and the book kept me interested.
 
I am just finishing "What Is A Girl Worth?" by Rachael Denhollander, the woman who exposed the sexual abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar and attempted cover-up by USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University. Rachael went through a lot after she was abused by Nassar in 2000, all the way through the time and effort and grief the endured until she spoke out again at his sentencing hearings in 2017.
 
Finishing up 'The Way I Heard It- Mike Rowe', interesting compilation of ~35 true stories. The stories are told in a way that reminds me a lot of how radio broadcaster Paul Harvey would present his 'The Rest of The Story' segments. Some important fact or name is held back until the very end of the story, kind of a game to see if you can guess what it is before the story ends. A good read.
 
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A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. Takes you through some of the more recent findings in quantum physics that explain how the universe may have popped out of a vacuum state. This book was derived from some of Krauss's lectures, which are available on YouTube.
 
Nemo2 said:
Currently reading The Last Gunfight (O.K. Corral)...by Jeff Guinn:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9587101-the-last-gunfight

Excellent.....very well researched/documented....I'm enthralled.


(The video, from 2011 is, for some reason, truncated.)
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They cut the interview off!!! I realize this is a book thread, but my favorite movie of all time is Tombstone. I will search for that book and the one on Bonnie and Clyde. Also, one of my fav. stories of all time. Edit: I found the complete interview.
 
O2Bfree said:
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. Takes you through some of the more recent findings in quantum physics that explain how the universe may have popped out of a vacuum state. This book was derived from some of Krauss's lectures, which are available on YouTube.
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I was just reading about quark-gluon field fluctuations so this is timely. There is a great (short) Veritasium presentation regarding this :

Thanks, I will pick this book up at the library.
 
O2Bfree said:
A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. Takes you through some of the more recent findings in quantum physics that explain how the universe may have popped out of a vacuum state. This book was derived from some of Krauss's lectures, which are available on YouTube.
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+1 Excellent.
 
Alexander von Humboldt; The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf. Well written biography of Humboldt, a once famous scientist who has fallen off the radar in the latter half of the 20th century. Forests, mountains, rivers, waterfalls, counties, plants, across several continents, have been named for him, yet most people these days have no idea who he is.

The biography explores not just his life and achievements, but his influence on other scientists and naturalists. Including his influence on John Muir. I really enjoyed it.


Also, Once a Runner, by John Parker. A running book that’s actually entertaining and even funny. Explores the mindset of an athlete willing to take themselves to a level of deprivation required to run a 3:50 mile. This old man runner liked it a lot. The trial of miles.
 
Lsbcal said:
I was just reading about quark-gluon field fluctuations so this is timely. There is a great (short) Veritasium presentation regarding this :
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Great short! I've seen that animation before but hadn't heard some of the explanations given in the video, such as "...the lowest energy field fluctuations are not rendering so we can actually see into it." So really there are no gaps in the fluctuations.

Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll's The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself is good too, though longer than Krauss's book as Carroll gets into more philosophical musings than Krauss.
 
My favorite book that I read this summer was Miracle Creek by Angie Kim. A first novel by former trial attorney is a family drama, courtroom thriller and a mystery.
 
The Swede by Robert Karjel https://www.harpercollins.com/author/cr-115403/robert-karjel/

Robert Karjel was a lieutenant colonel in the Swedish Air Force for 25 years. His job as a helicopter pilot took him all over the world, from peace-keeping missions in Afghanistan to pirate-hunting in Somalia, and he is the only Swedish pilot who has trained with the U.S. Marine Corps and flown its attack helicopters. He is the author of The Swede, his first novel to be published in English, and one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in Sweden. He lives with his family outside of Stockholm.
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https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25499117-the-swede
 
Currently reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and enjoying it. My next book up is "The Millionaire Next Door" by Tom Stanley.

I'm hoping to change my outlook on bold moves for good opportunities,
 
What have you read recently?

Frank: The Voice, by James Kaplan. It’s a biography of Frank Sinatra. I came across an e-book version through the library.

Being a late Boomer raised on The Beatles and tons of great bands, singers and songwriters, my early impressions of Sinatra were pretty much “who wants to listen to that schmaltzy crap?”, so I never did.

A while later I heard a live album Sinatra At The Sands with the Count Basie Orchestra and Quincy Jones. There were also distinctive Michelob commercials at that time (late 80s) with Sinatra singing “The Way You Look Tonight”. I started “getting it” and have been listening ever since and learning to appreciate the singing style, song selection, arrangements. Most of those were pre-1960 (post- does have a lot of crap). But you can tell where people like Harry Connick, Jr and Michael Buble are coming from.

I was also paying attention only to the recordings, not much about Sinatra the man although I knew he wasn’t exactly beloved for behavior.

The book does a good job of setting down the earlier portion of his life, starting when the focus was the orchestra (not the singer). Lots of songwriters who wrote songs now considered classics. 1930s, 40s, 50s. What the music (and movie) business was like then.

And, of course, women, especially Ava Gardner and her relationship to Sinatra.

The narrative stops at a major turning point in his life and career - that would be a spoiler though.
 
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