What are you currently reading?

[Florestan]

Is he good?

Excellent! 

[LKB]

I just finished rereading Failure is not an Option, by Gene Kranz. For anyone interested in the American manned space program ( the " race to the Moon " ) during the 1960's, l would say this book is indispensable.

3... 2... 1...,

LKB

[ritter]

Starting this:

[asin]2072846781[/asin]
This recently released book by critic Thierry Laget, dealing with the controversy surrounding the awarding of the Prix Goncourt to Marcel Proust for À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleur (Within a Budding Grove) in 1919 has received excellent reviews in France. What nowadays would be seen as nothing more than a historical footnote, is apparently used to give an insightful account of French literary life at the time, and unveil some hitherto unexplored angles about Proust the man and his relationship to the establishment and the press. There's a mention this treatise is published "under the direction of Jean-Yves Tadié" (arguably the greatest living Proust scholar)

[aligreto]

I have just finished reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón: The Labyrinth of the Spirits  [Translated from the Spanish by Lucia Graves]





This has been one of the most compelling reads that I have experienced in many years. The style of writing is [in English anyway] quite simple and flowing and easily lends itself to storytelling. This may have a lot to do with the translation which, if this is true, seems excellent; I don't know. The power of the writing gives great impact to the visualization process which can be powerfully cinematic in places. The characters are well rounded, believable and engaging. This was one of those books where I was torn between wanting to hurriedly devour and simultaneously prolong the enjoyment for as long as possibly.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

This is first George Eliot novel that I've read.

[aligreto]

This is first George Eliot novel that I've read.

I have not read that one in a long time but I do remember liking it for its strong characterization.

[Zeus]

Bad Blood - The Theranos scandal in glorious detail!

[Ken B]

Bad Blood - The Theranos scandal in glorious detail!

I found that a real page turner.

TD: Ten Great Ideas About Chance
Diaconis & Skyrms
A dense but so far excellent historical look at foundational ideas in probability.

[Brian]

My gf also thought the Theranos book was a great read. She kept reading me passages from it while I tried to read my own book   

I update her on Holmes stories now. She is happily dating some poor oblivious guy.

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Started:



as well as still picking away at the Swafford Beethoven biography off and on

[Ken B]

The Shamed interests me. We seem to have settled on Gladys Kravitz as our new role model. Was it worth reading?

[Daverz]

The Shamed interests me. We seem to have settled on Gladys Kravitz as our new role model. Was it worth reading?

I thought conservatives were all for public shaming.  Well, except when it's directed at them apparently.

[SimonNZ]

The Shamed interests me. We seem to have settled on Gladys Kravitz as our new role model. Was it worth reading?

In a freewheeling, non-scholarly way it's actually very good. Somehow I was expecting something much more frivolous, but he chooses his case studies well and with empathy  - and with much self criticism for having himself long been part of the righteous online shaming brigade. Interesting views on the various types of public shaming, the deserving and undeserving, and who gets to rebuild their lives and who never does and why. And of the unforgetting and unforgiving memory of the internet.

[SimonNZ]

I thought conservatives were all for public shaming.  Well, except when it's directed at them apparently.

Ronson doesn't address it, but I was thinking of the differences in D and R reactions to shaming all the way through reading the book, and of the differences in causes.

[Ken B]

I thought conservatives were all for public shaming.  Well, except when it's directed at them apparently.

I am sure you believe lots of false things about conservatives.

[Daverz]

I am sure you believe lots of false things about conservatives.

It's true that conservatives are constantly readjusting my conception of how low they can go all the time.

[Ken B]

It's true that conservatives are constantly readjusting my conception of how low they can go all the time.

Funny. You trip over one of your prejudices, and see it as confirmation! 

[NikF4]

Reading for the train journey.

[SimonNZ]

3/4 way through

As good as a one volume history of the subject can be, but there are paragraphs that could have been chapters and chapters that could easily have been entire books. As great a writer as Chernow is, its too much story for for a mere 800 pages.

[JBS]

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/1941-The-Year-Germany-Lost-the-War/Andrew-Nagorski/9781501181115