What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

[Nemo2]

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/16823/a-good-man-in-africa-by-william-boyd/

A Good Man in Africa

In the small African republic of Kinjanja, British diplomat Morgan Leafy bumbles heavily through his job. His love of women, his fondness for drink, and his loathing for the country prove formidable obstacles on his road to any kind of success. But when he becomes an operative in Operation Kingpin and is charged with monitoring the front runner in Kinjanja’s national elections, Morgan senses an opportunity to achieve real professional recognition and, more importantly, reassignment.

After he finds himself being blackmailed, diagnosed with a venereal disease, attempting bribery, and confounded with a dead body, Morgan realizes that very little is going according to plan.

I was unaware that a (1994) movie, starring Sean Connery, John Lithgow, Dianna Rigg, had been made based on the book, and although the book was entertaining, (especially if you've been to West Africa......WAWA "West Africa Wins Again" is/was a common, hands in the air, expression), I think I'll pass on the movie:

The film's director, Bruce Beresford, did not remember the film fondly:

God, that was horrible. That was the worst film experience I ever had. It was cast wrong, the crew was all strange. We were filming in the wrong place. We filmed in South Africa, it was set in West Africa. Which is like shooting in Alaska when it’s set in New Orleans. And I realized that although the novel that it’s based on is terribly funny, it was very anecdotal. It had no narrative. I think on about the second day I realized it was never going to work, because the scenes don’t link. I thought, “I’m sunk! I’m never gonna get out.”

 

[mickeyd]

"Strange Ground" by Maurer. Oral history of Vietnam. I like history and I especially like oral history because it represents lies err, actual facts from folks that were on the ground there, just like me.

 

[bigreader]

Circe

I just finished "Circe" and "Song of Achilles" by Madeline Miller. They're novelized from parts of the Odyssey and Iliad respectively. I really enjoyed them both, I found myself checking out Wikipedia to make sure I remembered my Greek mythology and to get a hint of what was going to happen. Highly recommended!

I just finished "Circe" and it was unexpectedly wonderful since I have never been into mythology. Now onto "Song of Achilles."
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[ugeauxgirl]

I am re-reading The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion which is about an autistic man's search for a wife. My husband keeps asking what I'm reading because I keep laughing out loud. Just what I needed.

 

[scrabbler1]

I am re-reading "Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain." It was a 2009 NY Times best-seller by Marty Appel who back in the 1970s ghost-wrote an autobiography of Munson before his tragic death in a 1979 plane crash.

 

[John Galt III]

The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. I like it, but... it's about a kid whose father left the household, and the kid's growing up with replacement 'fathers' who work at and attend the local bar. A lot of it rings true. Some seems unbelievable or contrived. It is well written in that there are a lot of vignettes that have interesting plots and sometimes very funny. But...... I'm 3/4 of the way through and I think I have predicted the ending. The book is a lot of little hills, but I want there to be a big mountain that we climb up to for the 'big ending'. I don't think that will happen. But I still recommend it. I'm getting through about 10 to 15 pages per day since there is so much open time lately! I very rarely have the desire to read a novel. Used to. I have read all of Philip Roth and Updike and Dostoevsky and Faulkner already, though, so there's no reason to read anything else, right Just kidding, sort of, lol.

 

[chicamuxen]

Just started the 11th book in the Frontier Saga by Ryk Brown - Out of the Ashes. This series is really hard to put down. One of the best SciFi series I have read for adventure and entertainment.

Thank you very much for bringing this series to my attention! I am loving it. I think i am on the 11th book now. You are right, it is hard to put down.

 

[Ed B]

I just finished "Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson - unlikely friends on the passage to freedom "

 

[Nemo2]

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/...n-wilmslow-the-death-and-life-of-alan-turing/

Fall of Man in Wilmslow by David Lagercrantz, (who took over the Stieg Larsson Lisbeth Salander series).

A fictional misfit policeman, assigned to cover the apparent suicide of mathematician/cryptanalyst Alan Turing, finds out more about Turing's life and accomplishments than his actual death, while also finding out more about himself.

I'm not mathematically inclined, but I thoroughly enjoyed learning about how Turing, decades ahead of 'his time', envisioned computing.

Loved it!

 

[ER Eddie]

Proverbs. I'm turning my attention to books that hopefully will make me a wiser person. We'll see how it goes, lol.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Proverbs. I'm turning my attention to books that hopefully will make me a wiser person. We'll see how it goes, lol.

Thanks for the reminder. I read the entire Bible through a couple of years ago. I enjoyed it, learned a lot and need to do it again. No time like the present....

 

[MichaelB]

The Splendid and the Vile, by Erik Larson. A history of Winston Churchill's first year as Prime Minister as England and Germany went to war. An amazing account, well told by the always engaging Larson.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Another thread here on the Chicago Bulls documentary series reminded me of the greatest piece of sports journalism I've ever read, "The Breaks of the Game" by David Halberstam. The book follows the Portland Trail Blazers' decline after their storybook 1977 championship season, with insightful profiles of (among others) Bill Walton, coach Jack Ramsay and Kermit Washington, who struggled to redeem himself as a player and a person after nearly killing Rudy Tomjanovich with a single punch during an on-court brawl.

The time frame is long gone, but the book's study of professional sports, race and social economics still ring true.

 

[ohyes]

Astoria by Peter Stark is mesmerizing. It is nonfiction, very well written. It is about John Jacob Astor's vision of establishing fur trading for America (and especially for his monetary gain) in the NW - as part of trade triangle with Europe and China.

The author includes fascinating information, from sea otter behavior, scalping, starvation, hypothermia, practices of the native tribes encountered by Astor's Overland Party.... There is also a Sea Going Party which has enough adventure on its own. The plan was for the two groups to meet and build the emporium.

With just a couple chapters remaining, I am not certain how it will end - not well, I fear. Many a time, I have put the book down for a second or two to regain my composure so I can continue reading.

Amazing, incredible story.

(We have a Road Scholar trip coming up to Oregon. One of the days is in Astoria. I have never visited that part of the country.)

 

[6miths]

It is spring and time to be out in the yard and gardens so I am listening to Issac Asimov's Foundation series, two prequels down, now onto the good stuff! Listened to the Robot series a couple years ago but haven't reread the Foundation series since the last of them were published.

 

[azxracer]

I read One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson. That piqued my interest in the 1920's so I got a copy of Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s by Frederick Lewis Allen. It was written in the early 30's . Now I'm reading Since Yesterday: The 1930s in America, September 3, 1929–September 3, 1939 by Frederick Lewis Allen. I've also started Against Death and Time: One Fatal Season in Racing's Glory Years by Brock Yates. It recounts the events of 1955 and the impact on motorsports.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm reading a little of the Bible first thing each day. Also reading Polar Shift by Clive Cussler.

 

[Lsbcal]

I enjoyed this spy novel by Charles Cumming, The Moroccan Girl: https://smile.amazon.com/Moroccan-Girl-Novel-Charles-Cumming-ebook/dp/B07D2BS1S9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MNJNW2L876DE&dchild=1&keywords=moroccan+girl&qid=1588363010&sprefix=moroccan+girl%2Caps%2C213&sr=8-1

I bought a used hard copy as the Kindle version is currently not available. You can see the list of Cumming's works on Wikipedia.

From the book jacket:

Renowned author Kit Carradine is approached by an MI6 officer with a seemingly straightforward assignment: track down a mysterious woman hiding somewhere in the exotick perilous city of Marrakesh. But when Carradine learns the woman is a dangerous fugitive with times to international terrorism, the glamor of being a spy is soon tainted by fear and betrayal.

 

[Moemg]

I just finished "Long Bright River " by Liz Moore . It is about two sisters .One is a cop and one is a junkie .I could not put it down .

 

[timo2]

Just finished "The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest" I was interesting history.

".. in the summer of 1680, led by a visionary shaman named Pope, the Puebloans revolted. In total secrecy they coordinated an attack, killing 401 settlers and soldiers and routing the rulers in Santa Fe. Every Spaniard was driven from the Pueblo homeland, the only time in North American history that conquering Europeans were thoroughly expelled from Indian territory."

 

[gamboolman]

After watching the latest movie version of "The Call of The Wild" - I was so disappointed in the movie that I am re-reading Jack Londons - Stories of The North, 78 short stories and 2 novels.
Do recommend

Just read 1st in series. Pretty good, normal good guy gets wronged and gets payback...

Alan Turing -The Enigma Man. Do recommend and also enjoyed the movie about him, i.e., The Imitation Game

 

[DrRoy]

A few months after I FIREd in 2017, I pulled out all 6 of the Dune books that I read 50 years ago or so. Frank Herbert's son Brian has also written additional books in the series, making 19 full length books in all. I started on them in the fall of 2017, but have also put them aside to read other things in the meantime. I am currently up to God Emperor of Dune, which I think is #15 of the 19. It has been so long since I read it, it is practically all new to me again.

 

[Chapter 3]

Recently finished The Great Influenza by John Barry. Interesting look at the 1918 pandemic - the history of medicine during the era, key players with a focus on the medical folks, and the unfolding of the disease. A bit surreal how similar much of it was compared to today.

 

[Moemg]

Just finished "American Dirt " by Jeanine Cummins . It was so good . A tale of a Mexican woman fleeing the cartel .Best book I have read this year and I read a lot .

 

[Chuckanut]

I finished The Moroccan Girl recommended earlier. Aka: The Main Between in the UK. Author - Charles Cumming.

A very good spy novel, IMHO. If you want lots of shooting and the blowing up of people and things, then read one of our American Authors like Vince Flynn. This novel is more subtle with just a bit of gun play (Involving an American, of course. That bunch of Cowboys!) It is recent work so the references are very modern.