Whatcha reading?

[Delta Charlie 149]

1 hour ago, thrillhammer said:

What is the correct order of the border trilogy?  is it the border, the force, the cartel?

Power of the dog 

The Cartel

The Border

 

 

The Force is a standalone book about a NYC detective.

[The Original Greaser Bob 2672]

On 4/13/2024 at 12:56 PM, Bodhi said:

If you are over 40 and interested in feeling like you're 65 when you are 80 I highly recommend this.  A very straightforward and actionable book about minimizing your risk of the ailments we often assume are inevitable in old age (heart disease, obesity, alzheimer's, etc).  I think anyone that reads this is likely to adopt several of the clear recommendations.  

Might save your life, too.  Peter Attia's podcast convinced me to get a calcium screening, which led to a stent placement.

[The Original Greaser Bob 2672]

A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan (2023)

Kind of wanted it to be more about the Klan in Indiana and less about a murder trial.  But a nice read (audible). 

Kind of scarily timely book in certain ways.

If anyone has a rec on a good overall history of the klan, please drop it.

[ClubWhatever 12066]

Slow Down by Kohei Saito, Japanese wannabe Karl Marx.  He thinks we in the Global North should all feel terribly guilty for our gluttonously destructive and imperialist lives that exploit all the sufferers in the Global South; and that as a result capitalism should be dismantled and replaced with communism.  Guess he forgot to ask China.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

Finished the Herold book above, Disillusioned: Five Families And The Unraveling Of America's Suburbs (2024). IMO, this was a good read. The author takes five families from various locations and socioeconomic and racial demographics, and explores the scene both large and small that has been unfolding since WWII. He got the interest in writing it when he went back to his own childhood home outlying Pittsburgh and he interweaves the history of each of the five communities, families, and the nation into the piece. Whether you're urban, rural, or a burb dweller, it's a good read.

Just for extra:

The five families (pseudonyms were used save one) were from Penn Hills (PA), Gwinnett County (GA), Evanston (IL), Compton (CA), and Lucas, (TX). The family from Lucas used to live in Plano, and then moved to Lucas.

[The Original Greaser Bob 2672]

On 2/25/2024 at 2:33 PM, Mrs Whiggins said:

Since it had been mentioned here, I checked this one out and have begun reading:

Finishing it up.  It was fine.  Depressing on many levels, but LW is such a good writer it moved along lickety split.  Yeah, it was kinda name-droppy but those are his friends, so there.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Just finished this:

A minute-by-minute account of a potential North Korean nuclear strike on the U.S., the subsequent response, and the aftermath. Pretty chilling to think about how quickly the world as we know it could end. This quote from Nikita Khrushchev stood out: "the living will envy the dead."

Seems to be well researched and entirely plausible. 

[CycleTex87 2944]

Has anyone begun/finished the new Amor Towles book “Table for Two”?

[Post Oak 20068]

29 minutes ago, CycleTex87 said:

Has anyone begun/finished the new Amor Towles book “Table for Two”?

Nope. The Goodreads reviews are really positive and it's on my list.  AGIM was great.  Really loved RofC.  Couldn't finish Lincoln Highway. Didn't care for that at all. 

 

[Post Oak 20068]

On 4/23/2024 at 8:53 AM, Seasick Sailor said:

Just finished this:

A minute-by-minute account of a potential North Korean nuclear strike on the U.S., the subsequent response, and the aftermath. Pretty chilling to think about how quickly the world as we know it could end. This quote from Nikita Khrushchev stood out: "the living will envy the dead."

Seems to be well researched and entirely plausible. 

She was on Dan Carlin's pod a couple of weeks ago. She was a really good interview.

Terrifying to think about. 

[CycleTex87 2944]

1 hour ago, Post Oak said:

Nope. The Goodreads reviews are really positive and it's on my list.  AGIM was great.  Really loved RofC.  Couldn't finish Lincoln Highway. Didn't care for that at all. 

 

Same for me regarding his other books. I thought Lincoln Highway was a dud.  Thought AGIM was perhaps the one of the best books I ever read. 

[Coach pop a bitch 5458]

[NeverMarryAStripper 21765]

On 4/23/2024 at 8:53 AM, Seasick Sailor said:

Just finished this:

A minute-by-minute account of a potential North Korean nuclear strike on the U.S., the subsequent response, and the aftermath. Pretty chilling to think about how quickly the world as we know it could end. This quote from Nikita Khrushchev stood out: "the living will envy the dead."

Seems to be well researched and entirely plausible. 

That popped up in my amazon recommendations.  I guess I'll give it a try.

[Post Oak 20068]

This was recommended to me from someone. Maybe here.  I'm really enjoying it so far.  The first chapter is one of the best first chapters I've ever read.  Instantly hooked.

 

Spoiler

Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (1990) is considered one of the finest books about the Vietnam War. Far from a combat story of pride and glory, it is a compassionate tale of the American soldier, brimming with raw honesty and thoughtful reflection.

The book's narrator follows a platoon of infantrymen through the jungles of Vietnam. We see them trudge through the muck of a constant downpour, get hit by sniper fire, pull body parts out of a tree, laugh while they tell their stories to each other, and fall silent when faced with making sense of it all—both in the moment and twenty years later.

The book is split into a lush mosaic of vignettes drawn from O'Brien's own experiences. The title story describes what the soldiers must lug with them—both literally and figuratively—as they march: food, canteens, flak jackets, and weapons, as well as grief, terror, secrets, and memories. In another story, O'Brien tells of a young medic who brings his high-school sweetheart to his aid station in the mountains of Vietnam, chronicling her transformation from an innocent girl in a pink sweater to a cold night stalker who dons a necklace of human tongues. Yet another story tells of a soldier back from the war who drives his Chevy around his Iowa hometown, struggling to find meaning in his new life.

Central to the book is O'Brien's unique style, which blurs the lines between fact and fiction, then examines how and why he does just that. O'Brien challenges readers to ponder larger philosophical questions about truth and memory, and brings the reader closer to the emotional core of the men's experiences. "For the common soldier," O'Brien writes in "How to Tell a True War Story," "war has the feel—the spiritual texture—of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer binding, the old truths no longer true."

The Things They Carried is not just a tale of war, and the book's themes are no less relevant today than they were decades ago. This award-winning work is a brutal, sometimes funny, often profound narrative about the human heart—how it fares under pressure and what it can endure.

 

[satyanash 14129]

On 4/20/2024 at 11:27 AM, ClubWhatever said:

Slow Down by Kohei Saito, Japanese wannabe Karl Marx.  He thinks we in the Global North should all feel terribly guilty for our gluttonously destructive and imperialist lives that exploit all the sufferers in the Global South; and that as a result capitalism should be dismantled and replaced with communism.  Guess he forgot to ask China.

Saito is a proponent of "degrowth", which to put it delicately, is the modern-day equivalent of Malthusianism. Even Marx supported communism because he thought it would accelerate growth, not stop it. https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/people-are-realizing-that-degrowth

Anyway, I recently picked up Lords of the Deccan at a book sale. It's a compelling and engaging history of South India, covering the 6th century to the 12th century. During this time period, South India was primarily ruled by three dynasties - the Chalukya dynasty of Badami, the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta, and the Chola dynasty of Thanjavur - interspersed by periods of war and conflict between many smaller kingdoms.

[Scheiss Meister 8300]

On 4/26/2024 at 3:01 PM, Post Oak said:

This was recommended to me from someone. Maybe here.  I'm really enjoying it so far.  The first chapter is one of the best first chapters I've ever read.  Instantly hooked.

 

  Hide contents

Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (1990) is considered one of the finest books about the Vietnam War. Far from a combat story of pride and glory, it is a compassionate tale of the American soldier, brimming with raw honesty and thoughtful reflection.

The book's narrator follows a platoon of infantrymen through the jungles of Vietnam. We see them trudge through the muck of a constant downpour, get hit by sniper fire, pull body parts out of a tree, laugh while they tell their stories to each other, and fall silent when faced with making sense of it all—both in the moment and twenty years later.

The book is split into a lush mosaic of vignettes drawn from O'Brien's own experiences. The title story describes what the soldiers must lug with them—both literally and figuratively—as they march: food, canteens, flak jackets, and weapons, as well as grief, terror, secrets, and memories. In another story, O'Brien tells of a young medic who brings his high-school sweetheart to his aid station in the mountains of Vietnam, chronicling her transformation from an innocent girl in a pink sweater to a cold night stalker who dons a necklace of human tongues. Yet another story tells of a soldier back from the war who drives his Chevy around his Iowa hometown, struggling to find meaning in his new life.

Central to the book is O'Brien's unique style, which blurs the lines between fact and fiction, then examines how and why he does just that. O'Brien challenges readers to ponder larger philosophical questions about truth and memory, and brings the reader closer to the emotional core of the men's experiences. "For the common soldier," O'Brien writes in "How to Tell a True War Story," "war has the feel—the spiritual texture—of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer binding, the old truths no longer true."

The Things They Carried is not just a tale of war, and the book's themes are no less relevant today than they were decades ago. This award-winning work is a brutal, sometimes funny, often profound narrative about the human heart—how it fares under pressure and what it can endure.

 

My daughter read that while she was in high school.  She asked me to read it, too, so that I could understand some of the questions that she had.  I found it to be a very fine book that tracked perfectly with the Vietnam vets with whom I served.  I need to read it again.

She nearly threw up when I explained the soldiers singing "Lemon Tree" while recovering their buddy's remains.

[Post Oak 20068]

I just read that chapter last night.  My mouth dropped open when I read that part.

It's almost like the book is a series of short stories.  I'm about 1/3 of the way through so far.  It's an easy read. There's not a lot of fat in his prose. 

The chapter with the old man, Elroy Berdahl, was just a wonderful read.  I could've read another 20 pages on that story.

[mdmost 42167]

On 4/1/2024 at 10:53 AM, mdmost said:

Finished Hymn of the Republic. I've found historical non-fiction seems to be my preferred genre. Ii was tempted to go with another Civil War era book but felt it was time to take a break from that. Have this one coming to me for my April read.

This was an excellent read. Very captivating. I'm planning to explore more natical themed non-fiction like the biography of Captain Cook that just came out and Endurance. But next up is something that seemed right up my HBO's Perry Mason loving alley.

On 4/20/2024 at 10:02 AM, The Original Greaser Bob said:

A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan (2023)

Kind of wanted it to be more about the Klan in Indiana and less about a murder trial.  But a nice read (audible). 

Kind of scarily timely book in certain ways.

If anyone has a rec on a good overall history of the klan, please drop it.

I also have this one my list. 

[Armybrat 40465]

[jdhorn92 1524]

Finished this last night.  Pulitzer finalist from a few years ago.  1800's teens to 20's or so,  story about an immigrant from Sweden and his quest to journey from CA to NYC to find his brother.  Has elements of Cormac from Blood Meridian in the descriptive way he portrays the West, though not that difficult to read.  Not long, pretty quick read, really enjoyed it.

[CycleTex87 2944]

2 hours ago, jdhorn92 said:

Finished this last night.  Pulitzer finalist from a few years ago.  1800's teens to 20's or so,  story about an immigrant from Sweden and his quest to journey from CA to NYC to find his brother.  Has elements of Cormac from Blood Meridian in the descriptive way he portrays the West, though not that difficult to read.  Not long, pretty quick read, really enjoyed it.

I finished "Trust" by Hernan Diaz earlier this month.  Also have this one on my list.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

Switched to fiction and read The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy. Winner of the Booker Prize that same year (with some controversy) it was a compelling fascinating novel. Really enjoyed the author's method of narrative. Took some getting used to, but it worked for me as the story unfolded.

[Post Oak 20068]

So far so good.

The New York Times bestselling historian makes his historical fiction debut with an explosive novel set during the Hundred Years' War.

July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun.

Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.

Rooted in historical accuracy and told through an unforgettable cast, Essex Dogs delivers the stark reality of medieval war on the ground - and shines a light on the fighters and ordinary people caught in the storm.

[CycleTex87 2944]

The Road

[Coach pop a bitch 5458]

2 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

The Road

If u have a son be prepared 

[hookem2010 2510]

I'm working backwards on Korean History. Read The Two Koreas, written way back in '97, on the political history of the peninsula post-Korean War. You know who doesn't care for presidential immunity? The South Koreans. It seems like all their presidents end up behind bars.

I'm now working on this...

 

Pretty captivating so far. I don't know really anything about Chosin Reservoir, but it doesn't seem like it's going to go well. My grandfather served in this war, but I unfortunately don't know any further specifics.

[The Original Greaser Bob 2672]

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)

Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who's done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.

(I found it interesting especially in the way my view of the slavery is still somewhat colored by Gone with the Wind and my lax Texas education.)

 

[NeverMarryAStripper 21765]

Burke's cousin is a regular at my dog park, and she gave me this.  It's set in Houston in the 50s

[TwiceHorn 30716]

I have greatly enjoyed the Don Winslow books I have read:  Savages, the Cartel Trilogy, etc.  

Thus, I have embarked on what is apparently his last, the Danny Ryan trilogy.  The first was alright, the second a huge disappointment although I suppose somewhat original in conception.  I'm dreading the final installment.

[Coach pop a bitch 5458]

7 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I have greatly enjoyed the Don Winslow books I have read:  Savages, the Cartel Trilogy, etc.  

Thus, I have embarked on what is apparently his last, the Danny Ryan trilogy.  The first was alright, the second a huge disappointment although I suppose somewhat original in conception.  I'm dreading the final installment.

Just picked up "The power of the dog" because of this threads recommendations.  

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

Finished The Motion Of The Body Through Space (2020) by Lionel Shriver. Slightly satirical story of a long married couple (ages 60+) and their attempts to come to terms with their physical age, retirement (his and not by choice), and the exercise 'craze' of pushing one's limits.

[billfromlaketravis 11268]

Three-Body Problem trilogy.

[Post Oak 20068]

On 5/2/2024 at 6:55 PM, Post Oak said:

So far so good.

The New York Times bestselling historian makes his historical fiction debut with an explosive novel set during the Hundred Years' War.

July 1346. Ten men land on the beaches of Normandy. They call themselves the Essex Dogs: an unruly platoon of archers and men-at-arms led by a battle-scarred captain whose best days are behind him. The fight for the throne of the largest kingdom in Western Europe has begun.

Heading ever deeper into enemy territory toward Crécy, this band of brothers knows they are off to fight a battle that will forge nations, and shape the very fabric of human lives. But first they must survive a bloody war in which rules are abandoned and chivalry itself is slaughtered.

Rooted in historical accuracy and told through an unforgettable cast, Essex Dogs delivers the stark reality of medieval war on the ground - and shines a light on the fighters and ordinary people caught in the storm.

Just finished this.  4 stars.  I didn't know if I was going to like this one because I've read a couple of his NF books and they were meh.

It seems he has some talent for fiction.  Gets started quickly and then it's off. I appreciate that.  He has some quirks that I don't care for but all in all it was a good  read.  Even if you don't care about the 100 Years War, which I don't. 

First in a trilogy.

 

Started on this one.  In an American Revolution mood.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

Finished While My Sister Sleeps (2009) by Barbara Delinsky. It's short but not a beach read that's for sure. Not sure if I liked it but then the story involves a sibling who is incapacitated at a hospital and the family going through some things (to put it mildly and hopefully not spoiling the plot).

Have begun Demon Copperhead (2022) by Barbara Kingsolver; a 2023 co-recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and thus far this has been rather good.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

2 hours ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Have begun Demon Copperhead (2022) by Barbara Kingsolver; a 2023 co-recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and thus far this has been rather good.

Finished this a couple of weeks ago and thought it was very good. 

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Started this yesterday. Well written and very interesting so far.

[hookem2010 2510]

Prehistoric shit is my jam, so I picked this up at the library and I know I'm going to love it just a few pages in. Rach chapter, he describes a specific location of a given epoch/era as if you are there, observing the landscape and its inhabitants.

 

[CycleTex87 2944]

On 5/19/2024 at 9:50 PM, hookem2010 said:

 

Bought this.  Sounds very interesting. 

[hookem2010 2510]

I feel like most people are at least passingly familiar with dinosaurs and animals of the ice age. But the time between produced some really weird shit that hardly anyone knows about. Paraceratherium, gigantopithecus, fucking entelodonts? Aka giant rhino-giraffe, sasquatch and hell pig. Terrifying.

[Coach pop a bitch 5458]

Stupid sips dinos never existed 

[CycleTex87 2944]

I honestly had this argument with a aggy buddy who had two engineering degrees.  

[satyanash 14129]

On 5/19/2024 at 10:50 PM, hookem2010 said:

Prehistoric shit is my jam, so I picked this up at the library and I know I'm going to love it just a few pages in. Rach chapter, he describes a specific location of a given epoch/era as if you are there, observing the landscape and its inhabitants.

Appropriately, I just recently finished reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.

It's very interesting to read Doyle's description of an Allosaurus, based on the state of paleontology in 1912:

In the deep shadow of the tree there was a deeper shadow yet, black, inchoate, vague—a crouching form full of savage vigor and menace. It was no higher than a horse, but the dim outline suggested vast bulk and strength. That hissing pant, as regular and full-volumed as the exhaust of an engine, spoke of a monstrous organism. Once, as it moved, I thought I saw the glint of two terrible, greenish eyes... The thing moved forward with a dreadful snarl. Lord John never hesitated, but, running towards it with a quick, light step, he dashed the flaming wood into the brute's face. For one moment I had a vision of a horrible mask like a giant toad's, of a warty, leprous skin, and of a loose mouth all be-slobbered with fresh blood. The next, there was a crash in the underwood and our dreadful visitor was gone.

Edited May 23 by satyanash

[SimonBolivar 10648]

 

 

Pretty good almost as good as Midnight in Chernobyl.

[MrX 670]

I am reading The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Fantasy/horror. This book is WILD. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

12 hours ago, satyanash said:

Appropriately, I just recently finished reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.

 

It's very interesting to read Doyle's description of an Allosaurus, based on the state of paleontology in 1912:

In the deep shadow of the tree there was a deeper shadow yet, black, inchoate, vague—a crouching form full of savage vigor and menace. It was no higher than a horse, but the dim outline suggested vast bulk and strength. That hissing pant, as regular and full-volumed as the exhaust of an engine, spoke of a monstrous organism. Once, as it moved, I thought I saw the glint of two terrible, greenish eyes... The thing moved forward with a dreadful snarl. Lord John never hesitated, but, running towards it with a quick, light step, he dashed the flaming wood into the brute's face. For one moment I had a vision of a horrible mask like a giant toad's, of a warty, leprous skin, and of a loose mouth all be-slobbered with fresh blood. The next, there was a crash in the underwood and our dreadful visitor was gone.

 

Off topic, but I do wish more people used 'inchoate' and other expressive words in their vocabulary. The idea that one is a snob or high falutin' for possession of such vocabulary when languages are as much art as they are communication tools is one I lament. I fear it is something being lost in education (no CR) when having a wide range of words from which to select is denigrated. Sure, sometimes the most appropriate phrase is "Oh shit, the brakes are out" as opposed to " a calamitous tragedy is upon us," but it's nice to have both at one's disposal.

[gofuckyourself 8023]

1 hour ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Off topic, but I do wish more people used 'inchoate' and other expressive words in their vocabulary. The idea that one is a snob or high falutin' for possession of such vocabulary when languages are as much art as they are communication tools is one I lament. I fear it is something being lost in education (no CR) when having a wide range of words from which to select is denigrated. Sure, sometimes the most appropriate phrase is "Oh shit, the brakes are out" as opposed to " a calamitous tragedy is upon us," but it's nice to have both at one's disposal.

I've had this same conversation and idea. The wife, and moreso her family, have "no use" for a diverse vocabulary. Ironically, she's a great communicator, which illustrates that accumulating an inventory of language doesn't always facilitate getting one's ideas across, or vice versa.

But the purpose of language to communicate nuances tactfully, elegantly or artfully is lost on them. "Just use the simple word." 

Succinctness has its place but the increasing disdain for language, as you note, isn't without consequences. If only monotony and boredom.

But I think that notion dovetails with an insecurity and a fear of words, which is just a fear of ideas, that extends into book burning. It is increasing, and spoiler alert, in Texas and Florida the most. That could go full CR as well; I digress.

I've recently renewed my interest in writing and started noticing these things, so I also started a list of words. I save the ones I come across that have a delightfully specific meaning.

Altricial was one, a zoological term describing animals born helpless and requiring significant care until older. It struck me it can apply to many people well-past childhood.

[gofuckyourself 8023]

As for bringing the thread back in focus, I'm finally reading Lonesome Dove after (finally) reading The Old Man and the Sea and, tangentially related to that, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again."

I was inspired on the last after being cajoled to go on my first cruise this past spring. So the story was needed, and therapeutic.

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

I recently read something that resonated with me. It was in the context of the decline of punctuation and rise of abbreviation in common communication. Basically, it said that given that native English speakers often speak and write only one language, the least we can do is speak and write it well and correctly.  

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Just started the latest installment in the Joe Pickett series:

[hookem2010 2510]

2 hours ago, gofuckyourself said:

I've had this same conversation and idea. The wife, and moreso her family, have "no use" for a diverse vocabulary. Ironically, she's a great communicator, which illustrates that accumulating an inventory of language doesn't always facilitate getting one's ideas across, or vice versa.

But the purpose of language to communicate nuances tactfully, elegantly or artfully is lost on them. "Just use the simple word." 

Succinctness has its place but the increasing disdain for language, as you note, isn't without consequences. If only monotony and boredom.

But I think that notion dovetails with an insecurity and a fear of words, which is just a fear of ideas, that extends into book burning. It is increasing, and spoiler alert, in Texas and Florida the most. That could go full CR as well; I digress.

I've recently renewed my interest in writing and started noticing these things, so I also started a list of words. I save the ones I come across that have a delightfully specific meaning.

Altricial was one, a zoological term describing animals born helpless and requiring significant care until older. It struck me it can apply to many people well-past childhood.

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