What have you read recently?

[Qs Laptop]

^^
I had this problem with Dune. I would read the first 100 pages or so, then lose interest in the boring background info. I did this two or three times over a decade or so. Finally someone told me that it got good right about where I was quitting. I forced myself through the incredibly long introduction and discovered they were right. It was a great book. But it should have had a warning label about the background info.

Same experience with Dune the first time I tried to read it. Same comment from friends about me quitting just as it was about to get good. Second attempt was revelatory. Glad I stuck with it.

 

[braumeister]

should have had a warning label about the background info.

DW always wondered why Michener was so popular, until a friend told her that unless you majored in geology you should just skip the opening chapter in all his books.

Once she started doing that, she really liked his stuff!

 

[FIYes]

Just read “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks. It is a novel about horse racing, race, and a great horse of the nineteenth century, Darley/Lexington. The novel switches between the 1850’s and modern day.

 

[6miths]

Just finished 'Sandworms of Dune'. Have now completed all of the available books in the Dune universe.

 

[donheff]

I am currently reading Origin Stories about “big history.”. So far this is a fantastic description from the Big Bang through to our species. I’m taking it slowly as this requires some thoughtful reading. There is another great book by the same author entitled Big History which has some great illustrations. It is a heavy book so could not take it along on our vacation.

With all the contentious politics and angst this book puts things in perspective. . That’s what I need.

Thanks. I downloaded it from the library only to discover that I already had it, just fell down the stack and I forgot?

 

[anethum]

A while back, I highly recommended the book about animal senses called An Immense World by Ed Yong. A zoologist friend of mine suggested I read Sentient by Jackie Higgins. The books are similar, and in a few cases the same research and scientists are cited. Sentient ties more into human senses. Overall, I found the writing in An Immense World more engaging but Sentient definitely had some interesting passages.

I picked up The High Mountains of Portugal at the library, a novel by Yann Martel, the wrote the wonderful Life of Pi. The High Mountains of Portugal is a strange tale told in three parts during three different time periods, 1905, 1939, & 1989. While the three parts all tie together, each chapter could be a stand-alone novella. Of the three, the last chapter was for me the most interesting and enjoyable.

 

[steady saver]

Decided to open my horizons and read Greta Thunberg's book "The Climate Book: Facts and Solutions", hoping to learn more about climate change. On the positive side, I liked that the way the book was organized from where we are now to where we need to go. All the chapters were short and each were written by a different author so you get a lot of perspectives. On the other side, it's a lot of gloom and doom. We've passed a lot of the "tipping points", we aren't even close to doing enough to be net zero by 2045. One chapter suggests we close the top 100 businesses in the US to save the planet. That would be all the energy companies and the US government. I was hoping there would be practical solutions to the challenge of climate, but I didn't find them here.

The book gets almost five stars on Amazon and 4.4 of Goodreads. Guess it's just me.

It took a long time for me to get that book from the library. After I got it, I didn't read it. I wanted to. I admire Greta Thunberg and appreciated that the book consisted of short essays. But the timing was just not right. I started to read a couple of the essays and it was just too depressing. I have learned to respect my reactions like that and simply turn to what I can do and I have control over to effect change. Reading the book wasn't going to add to that effort for me.

 

[steady saver]

I just finished listening to Brain Energy by Chris Palmer, MD. I was driving and found this in my Audible library, courtesy of my son, who adds a slew of diverse book topics. As both a (retired) psychotherapist and functional nutritionist, I found his theory of the etiology of mental illness and many physical illnesses fascinating. He points to metabolism and the mitochondria as the common denominators. One thing I appreciated is that his approach was varied and sensible. Many people recognize Chris Palmer's name as a ketogenic guru and I was assuming it was going to be a plug for that (a helpful diet for some folks for sure, but a difficult one to sustain.) But it wasn't. I especially appreciated his suggestion that if something is working, even 10%, then keep doing it but to go to the next low hanging fruit and add that in. Too often people begin a medication regime or diet or some other "solution" and then ditch it when it isn't 100% effective. I think his approach has merit. Be forewarned though; the book on Audible is over 12 hours!

 

[Montecfo]

Keeping with my habit of being a couple of years behind everyone else on the planet, I finished Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens yesterday.

It seemed a bit of a slow starter at first but once I got into it I thoroughly enjoyed it. I saw there is a movie version out but have avoided it (spoilers).

One reason why I’d had it on my to-read list is that it’s set right here in North Carolina. The town is fictional but the best guesses I’ve come across are Bath and New Bern.

The movie is excellent.

 

[Montecfo]

On the other side, it's a lot of gloom and doom. We've passed a lot of the "tipping points", we aren't even close to doing enough to be net zero by 2045. One chapter suggests we close the top 100 businesses in the US to save the planet. That would be all the energy companies and the US government. I was hoping there would be practical solutions to the challenge of climate, but I didn't find them here.

The book gets almost five stars on Amazon and 4.4 of Goodreads. Guess it's just me.

There is no serious effort underway to address climate change (mainly driven by developing nations) and for good reason: very high costs, payoff unclear at best. But to focus on adapting as we have always done would bring more joy.

"Apocalypse Never" by Michael Shellenberger is highly rated on both sites.

 

[steady saver]

There is no serious effort underway to address climate change (mainly driven by developing nations) and for good reason: very high costs, payoff unclear at best. But to focus on adapting as we have always done would bring more joy.

"Apocalypse Never" by Michael Shellenberger is highly rated on both sites.

Thank you! I just found it on audio through my library so I plan to listen to it as I go about my morning.

Appreciate it.

 

[Phroig]

The Wager by David Grann is excellent.

 

[braumeister]

Not a new book, but I just finished Malachy Martin's "History of Ireland" and greatly enjoyed it. He's a wonderful story teller, so it's an easy read. The book got some poor reviews because of not being comprehensive or scholarly enough, but I got a much better understanding of Ireland from this than from all the other histories I've read.

 

[Chuckanut]

Heaven's Keep by William Kent Kruger.


Another Cork O'Conner mystery.



If you like Joe Pickett, you may like Cork.

 

[GhostofTomJoad]

Believe it or not, Beowulf. I found a translation from the Old English that keeps me interested. Actually, BECAUSE it needs to be translated, the version I'm reading is in prose, rather than verse. A good decision. When I was REQUIRED to read it in college, I hated it. Maybe it helps that I've seen the newfangled film which is a weird half-cartoonish rendering. Voices of Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/

The version I'm having such a good toime with is edited by Jos. Tso and the translation itself comes from E. Talbot Donaldson.

 

[GhostofTomJoad]

Trying again. What happened?
Beowulf. Translation: E. Talbot Donaldson.
Edited by Jos. Tuso.
The copyright on THIS iteration is 1975.

 

[RetireBy90]

First post to this thread. I was introduced to a new author, John Adam Wasowicz. Fort Belvoir, in Northern VA from time to time has authors with a table in the exchange lobby. One time had Gen/Sec Powell doing signings.

John was one of the new authors doing publicity for his works and signing books one day and I bought 2 of his books. He is a local northern VA author and his settings are so far at least all Alexandria VA. Great style and good to know the settings for his mysteries. His books are available on Amazon as I like to hold in my hand. I have read 3 of his 5 books and a new one is due out 20 June.

 

[Montecfo]

First post to this thread. I was introduced to a new author, John Adam Wasowicz. Fort Belvoir, in Northern VA from time to time has authors with a table in the exchange lobby. One time had Gen/Sec Powell doing signings.

John was one of the new authors doing publicity for his works and signing books one day and I bought 2 of his books. He is a local northern VA author and his settings are so far at least all Alexandria VA. Great style and good to know the settings for his mysteries. His books are available on Amazon as I like to hold in my hand. I have read 3 of his 5 books and a new one is due out 20 June.

That does sound interesting for us Northern Va types!

 

[Pointby2]

Just finished "The Big Door Prize". At the same time we are watching the series on Apple TV so it was interesting to compare them. As is usually the case, the book and the show are the same theme, but different in many, many ways. It was also unique to read the book since I automatically had all the TV actor's voices in my head.

A lot of the book is stream of consciousness and fantasy. Not for everyone.

 

[indiajust]

So many lovely suggestions, such a range of subject matter. This thread trained me on how to vote on threads! And I see so many quieter folks chiming in.

I'm already looking forward to my next solace for thinking and reading. Thread inactivity as a measure of influence. We all went reading and thinking.

Book list as a positive network externality. Whodathunkit!

 

[6miths]

Listening to 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'. I recall picking it up a couple of times 40+ years ago but not getting through it. Published in 1960 the pdf is online so I can augment the audiobook as needed.

 

[steelyman]

If you like the book you will probably like the movie.

You’re right about this (“Crawdads Sing”). I watched and liked it. Well done casting and acting. The story suffered a bit because of missing background but that’s common with book-to-movie translations.

IMDb says the movie was filmed in Louisiana.

[ADDED] People often compare books and movies. “Which is better?”. For this one, I’m glad I read the book before I watched the film. There are definitely spoilers and a big plot twist that I hadn’t expected.

 

[anethum]

Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World by Vaclav Smil was a fascinating book. There are 71 short chapters (averaging 4 pages each), with each chapter presenting numbers and graphs about a different topic. The chapters are grouped under 6 topics including "People", "Countries", "Fuels & Electricity", and "Food". The numbers and graphs were sometimes eye-opening.

Rules of Civility was Amor Towles first novel. He later wrote A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway. I enjoyed this novel set in NYC in the late 1930s.

I picked up Last Bus to Woodstock in a used bookstore. It was the first Inspector Morse book in the series by Colin Dexter. I thoroughly enjoyed the Morse TV series but had never read any of the mysteries the series is based on. It was published in 1975 and very much set in that time period. This mystery wasn't filmed until the 2nd season of Morse and was the 4th episode that season. There were lots of changes in the plot as well as the characters. Lewis, in particular, is a much more sympathetic character in the TV series. I watched the episode after finishing the book. In some ways, I thought the screenplay was more satisfying as a mystery, though the writing in the book is excellent.

 

[rodi]

I am on book 7 of The Expanse series. I'm really enjoying it. I was on the third book when someone told me there was a netflix (maybe prime) series. It basically covered the first 4 books in 3 seasons. Did a good job, overall. (But the books were better... lots of good details that were skipped in the series.)

I hope to finish the series before book 6 comes out for the Red Rising series.

Then I'll swing back to my spy/cop/mystery typical choices.

 

[Free To Canoe]

A Castle in Wartime by Catherine Bailey is a very readable story of the last days of the Third Reich. Based on diaries of a woman who was transported all over Germany during the last weeks of the war.