What are you currently reading?

[SimonNZ]

The Marshall Plan by Steil.

And that's another book in my queue though further down just st the moment. I'll be very interested to know what you think of it.

[SonicMan46]

Strenously detailed. The narrative is sometimes bogged down by what might best be called psychological speculation when documentary evidence does not exist . But gripping reading.

Well, I've debated about reading that book not because of the historic importance of Douglass, but the length is over 900 pages (according to Amazon - and have looked before) and at my age and attention span, I tend to now sway away from books that hit 500+ pages - just me, I guess.  Dave

[SonicMan46]

Below my current books (first a hard copy and others on my iPad Pro) - all started - Pogue about done in view of my recent acquisition described below:

Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants (2018) by H.W. Brands - biography of the three giants who dominated Congress in the first half of the 19th Century, namely Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster - this was on my list back in early May, but just getting a start.

The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator (2019) by Timothy C. Winegard - just released - author interviewed on NPR recently which prompted my Kindle purchase - just started and already astounded by the numbers and history going back to the Jurassic era of the dinosaurs!

Turing's Vision: The Birth of Computer Science (2016) by Chris Bernhardt - another Kindle purchase and just starting; in part, prompted by the film The Imitation Game (2014) about Turing and the breaking of the code of the Enigma machine in WW II.

iPhone: The Missing Manual 12 edition by David Pogue - last week took Susan into Verizon to replace her old iPhone w/ the XR - well, they basically had a 'buy one and get one free' promo - now, I wasn't planning to replace my Jitterbug 'dumb' phone, but DID w/ that deal! Enjoying this 'new toy' and as usual, a Pogue book always helps.  Dave

     

[Brian]

Well, I've debated about reading that book not because of the historic importance of Douglass, but the length is over 900 pages (according to Amazon - and have looked before) and at my age and attention span, I tend to now sway away from books that hit 500+ pages - just me, I guess.  Dave

Heck, I'm 29 and I try to limit the 500+ pagers to only one or two per year. My attention span is fine, but there are so many books in the world!

[SonicMan46]

Heck, I'm 29 and I try to limit the 500+ pagers to only one or two per year. My attention span is fine, but there are so many books in the world!

Hey Brian -    Well, in my 20s, I was going through medical books that could easily hit a 1000 pages or more!  But you're right, there are just too many good books on all sorts of topics to read, and despite the 'computer age' authors seem to continue to put out numerous ones on a weekly basis, both as 'hard copies' and electronic editions which I do enjoy!  Dave

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Started today, having also finished the first Evans volume which I found excellent:



edit: interesting - the first volume was a straightforward narrative, whereas this one has a thematic framework

[Andy D.]

It's convenient that Shostakovich's 7th clicked for me yesterday, as I just received and am about to dive into this book:

Over halfway through and I learned so much about this era. Really engaging work about both Mitya and the historical period.

Reccomended, though I'm not sure how valuable this would be if you already know his biography and that part of history well.

I went on a wartime symphony binge while reading this one

[JBS]

https://opensourcedefense.org/blog/what-is-going-on-with-mass-shootings-lessons-from-past-solved-problems

[Ken B]

https://opensourcedefense.org/blog/what-is-going-on-with-mass-shootings-lessons-from-past-solved-problems

Interesting read. I saw a good analysis of school shootings along those lines a while ago. But the media want clicks and the political want tsuris.

[milk]

I found Ender's Game to be rather unmemorable but I heard this was different so I've given it a chance. I'm finding that this is surprisingly good and even reminds me of Ursula Le Guin. Sadly, I find 99% of SciFi unreadable but, happily, this one is a pleasurable fluke.

[milk]

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

I thought this was a very engaging, entertaining and moving read. It's also very timely. I think people still are not considering this problem enough. Actually, I wish there were more writers as god as Ronson.

[Ken B]

I thought this was a very engaging, entertaining and moving read. It's also very timely. I think people still are not considering this problem enough. Actually, I wish there were more writers as god as Ronson.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree about this kind of problem.

[Ken B]

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1958
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And

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[André]

About a quarter of the way through. A page turner indeed.

[Artem]

Here's what I read over a week time of a vacation. All were moderately enjoyable but definitely not those authors' best work.

[SimonNZ]

After Dark is almost certainly my least favorite Murakami, not downright bad, but his least typical, the least of what I like reading in him.

TD:

Finished volume two of the Richard Evans third reich series, which was even better than the already excellent volume one. Didn't think I'd continue into the third volume on the war years as military history is less interesting to me and I've already read quite a bit about the holocaust, but the sheer quality has me pushing forward. So starting today:

[JBS]

After Dark is almost certainly my least favorite Murakami, not downright bad, but his least typical, the least of what I like reading in him.

TD:

Finished volume two of the Richard Evans third reich series, which was even better than the already excellent volume one. Didn't think I'd continue into the third volume on the war years as military history is less interesting to me and I've already read quite a bit about the holocaust, but the sheer quality has me pushing forward. So starting today:

I saw your post about the first volume, and got it today after work at Barnes and Noble.

[SimonNZ]

I saw your post about the first volume, and got it today after work at Barnes and Noble.

I'll be very interested to hear your opinion of it whenever you get to it.


edit I also realise now I shouldn't have given away my unread copies of the Klemperer diaries some years back, thinking I'd never get around to them. Evans refers to many such source material, but Klemperer is one he returns to repeatedly, and the extracts have whetted my appetite for more. Will have to buy again.



and another I'll have to get but hadn't heard of before reading vol.2 is Freidrich Reck's Diary Of A Man In Despair, which I see is now in a NYRB edition:

[Ken B]

https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/183033/israel-insider-guide

Never seen the Reck, but my library has a copy. Added to the list, which grows faster than it should.

[Mookalafalas]

I am reading Rachel Cusk's Kudos. It is the 3rd part of a trilogy, but as there are is no plot and no characters (except the author), it shouldn't matter that I am reading it out of order (I read book 1 some time ago). Beautiful writing and provocative ideas. I'm a big fan.
[asin]B077DZ1WNZ[/asin]

   Exact OPPOSITE of my summer reading experience, which might serve as a warning for some. I wanted some light "beach fare"--and chose a famous fantasy series. I like the escapism of fantasy, but find it is usually (pretty much always?) unreadably bad. Anyway, after hearing of it off and on for years, I started Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time".  I have big problems with aspects of the writing--huge mountains of unnecessary detail and description--but it was narratively engaging enough that I kept reading. It ended up being 14 LONG books. I kept deciding to stop, but then fell back in... It ate my summer.