Book lovers, please share your readings and favorites

[Rainbow Jenny]

Here is my read list from the past 8 weeks:

13 On Living. Egan, Kerry, hospice chaplain.
12 Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis. Diamond, Jared
11 Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. Sacks, Oliver, neurologist.
10 The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Kundera, Milan
9 The Monday Book. Ramming, Shari
8 The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. Gates, Melinda
7 If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit. Ueland, Brenda
6 Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me. Hayes, Bill, artist and Sack's partner.
5 The Library Book. Orlean, Susan
4 Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life. Aronson, Louise, geriatrician.
3 The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit. Godin, Seth
2 How to Cuss in Western: And Other Missives from the High Desert. Branch, Michael P.
1 Ski Inc. 2020: Alterra Counters Vail Resorts; Mega-Passes Transform the Landscape; The Industry Responds and Flourishes. for Skiing? a North American Renaissance. Diamond, Chris

I laughed most from "How to Cuss in Western"; learned the most from "Elderhood," "Library," and "Musicophilia"; inspired to write more from Brenda Ueland; redefined whimsical beauty from Billy Hayes.

What and why do you read? Physical, audio, or electronic books?

 

[scott43]

I haven't been able to read anything but technical literature for at least 5 years. Jealous.
I mostly read classics and documentaries. And the odd Michael Crichton...

 

[Jilly]

If I'm not reading technical stuff, then it's beach fluff...yeah Nora Roberts et ...

 

[luliski]

I'm reading There There, by Tommy Orange. Not light reading.

 

[luliski]

I read to learn, to escape, and to relax. These days I mostly read in bed; except for on-line news (New York Times, Sac Bee, PugSki), which I look at whenever I have time during the day.

 

[socalgal]

I read aloud to the family most nights. We just recently started The Hobbit. One of my all time favorites. I remember reading and rereading it throughout my childhood. It's an amazing blessing to share the love of a good story with my family.

I have been trying to finish Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, but seem to be unable to give it the focus it needs.

 

[Rainbow Jenny]

I'm reading There There, by Tommy Orange. Not light reading.

I attempted There, There twice with audio last summer, then realized I really need a print version. It’s high on my to read list.

I’m reading Steven Pinker’s “The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language,” also not a light reading but now on speech perception and how people mis-hear songs:

“A girl with colitis goes [a girl with kaleidoscope eyes, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]

I’ll never be your pizza burnin’ [your beast of burden, The Rolling Stones]

I’m your Penis [I’m your Venus, the Shocking Blue]”

 

[James]

I read aloud to the family most nights. We just recently started The Hobbit. One of my all time favorites. I remember reading and rereading it throughout my childhood. It's an amazing blessing to share the love of a good story with my family.

I have been trying to finish Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, but seem to be unable to give it the focus it needs.

The guy who played gollum read the Hobbitt this morning apparently.

The Hobbitathon COVID 19 Appeal, organized by Andy Serkis

On 8th May, Andy Serkis embarked on a staggering feat, reading the entire The Hobbit nove… Andy Serkis needs your support for The Hobbitathon COVID 19 Appeal

www.gofundme.com

 

[socalgal]

The guy who played gollum read the Hobbitt this morning apparently.

The Hobbitathon COVID 19 Appeal, organized by Andy Serkis

On 8th May, Andy Serkis embarked on a staggering feat, reading the entire The Hobbit nove… Andy Serkis needs your support for The Hobbitathon COVID 19 Appeal

www.gofundme.com

That would be fun to listen to, for sure. But we have important happenings this weekend.

 

[luliski]

I attempted There, There twice with audio last summer, then realized I really need a print version. It’s high on my to read list.

I’m reading Steven Pinker’s “The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language,” also not a light reading but now on speech perception and how people mis-hear songs:

“A girl with colitis goes [a girl with kaleidoscope eyes, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]

I’ll never be your pizza burnin’ [your beast of burden, The Rolling Stones]

I’m your Penis [I’m your Venus, the Shocking Blue]”

I had a preschool teacher named Mrs. Danziger, but to me she was, and always will be, Mrs. Dancing Girl.

 

[luliski]

Finished There There last night. Need a new book! Any recommendations? Preferably fiction..

 

[mdf]

I attempted There, There twice with audio last summer, then realized I really need a print version. It’s high on my to read list.

I’m reading Steven Pinker’s “The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language,” also not a light reading but now on speech perception and how people mis-hear songs:

“A girl with colitis goes [a girl with kaleidoscope eyes, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]

I’ll never be your pizza burnin’ [your beast of burden, The Rolling Stones]

I’m your Penis [I’m your Venus, the Shocking Blue]”

My all time favorite...
There's a bathroom on the right. Credence Clearwater revival

 

[Bad Bob]

I read all over the boards. Right now feel like I should reread "The Stand" but haven't read and Stephen King for quite a while. Some all time favorites some of which you might not have heard of but really liked:

Where The Rivers Run North", Sam Morton. Very good Western History about an area few of us know too much about. Read it while spending 6 months in that country and this really brought it to life.

"The Great Adventure", David Cruise and Alison Griffiths. Canadian history about the founding of the RCMP, it is not the story you think it is and a very different take than we in the States have. This should be a movie!

"Blowout", Rachel Maddow. Well written and researched but it really doesn't tell all sides of the story. My wife made me read it.

"Sea People"the puzzle of Polynesia, Christina Thompson. Think about it, how did people get to the Southern Pacific and when? A bit of a hard read but very well researched.

Wilbur Smith. Just about any Wilbur Smith I haven't read. A great story teller.

James A. Michener. Unfortunately I have read them all so always looking for somebody else who can do historical novels as well. If you only going to read one of his books would recommend "Caravans" or "The Tell"; these are not his major works but they will hook you. (Caravans, pretty much explains why we have had such great success in Afghanistan and it was written about 30 years before we went there.

"On Tyranny", Timothy Snyder. 21st century Thomas Paine. This book will really mess up your pandemic.

A couple of Thrift Store Books, the ones you pick up because you need a read and turn out to be really good reads.

"The Saboteur" Andrew Gross. The Telemark raids during WWII. There is skiing.
"Sanctus", Simon Toyne. Very Dan Brownish, I liked it.

 

[KingGrump]

I’m reading Steven Pinker’s “The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language,” also not a light reading but now on speech perception and how people mis-hear songs:

“A girl with colitis goes [a girl with kaleidoscope eyes, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds]

I’ll never be your pizza burnin’ [your beast of burden, The Rolling Stones]

I’m your Penis [I’m your Venus, the Shocking Blue]”

My all time favorite...
There's a bathroom on the right. Credence Clearwater revival

You're a di*k with a glove (you're addicted to love) - Robert Palmer

 

[Tony S]

For years most of my "reading" has been done during commuting hours via audio books. Now I'm not commuting and trying to develop a new habit. So far I've mostly failed. I did download The Kremlinologist on Kindle, and am about 10% in. Notably this is by our own @Jerez, who clearly was exposed to a lot of interesting talk as a kid. She's supplemented that with a ton of research, and is now passing it all on for our edification and enjoyment.

In the last year, I would call out novels The Overstory by Richard Powers and Winter by Ali Smith. I was a latecomer to The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, but it made such a big impression that I need to mention it.

Going back into the time machine, I always like to promote Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard to thoughtful outdoor types, and his In the Spirit of Crazy Horse to all Americans, whether or not they want to know the truth about the stunning and ongoing endemic corruption that drives our oppression of native people.

Finally there is Nabokov's Ada, for when you want to be reminded of civilization.

 

[mdf]

I mostly read science fiction and history, virtually all as Nook ebooks.

"Everybody Behaves Badly" is about Ernest Hemmingway writing The Sun Also Rises and getting famous. It's a pretty good read, and Hemmingway really was a world-class jerk. The "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" sample is because it came out around the same time as Sun, and Hem was bitter it was selling better than his book. (Hint - I didn't even make it through the sample.) The three different samples of "Winesburg, Ohio" are because Sherwood Anderson was an influence on Hem -- apparently a lot of his "innovative" style was actually invented by Anderson. I was unable to read a sample, because each of these editions has such a long-winded foreword that the sample does not include any of the actual book! They ranged in price from 98 cents to $14.99 - guess I could have bought the one for a buck.

"Infinity" in the lower corner is just plain bad. It was short, though, so I finished it.

I liked Ken McLeod's "Newton's Wake" and Corporation-wars triology (off-screen) a lot, so I randomly picked something else he wrote. Turns out he is quite prolific. I haven't started Sapiens yet.

A notable recent book was "The Water Knife" by paolo bacigalupi. Both the plot and the writing itself are excellent, but it is a dystopian science fiction (a water knife is a corporate goon that enforces court judgements on water rights in an extreme-drought Western U.S.) so it definitely is not what I needed to be reading.

 

[Jerez]

Thank you @Tony S

 

[Jerez]

For all of us who love the outdoors:

and

 

[scott43]

That book looks epic @Jerez... Indeed an interesting family history..

 

[James]

This is an interesting short story. Guy kayaked across the Atlantic three times. The last time the North Atlantic at age 70. It might be behind a paywall. They’ve been running $1 for a month recently.

Why He Kayaked Across the Atlantic at 70 (for the Third Time) (Published 2018)

For Aleksander Doba, pitting himself against the wide-open sea — storms, sunstroke, monotony, hunger and loneliness — is a way to feel alive in old age.

www.nytimes.com