Monthly Book Recommendation Thread
- Thread starter chitown87
- Start date
Getting ready to start this one...
...been on the to-read list for a while, and I hardly ever stray from non-fiction. Should be a good change of pace.
...been on the to-read list for a while, and I hardly ever stray from non-fiction. Should be a good change of pace.
krakauer is great...dude never wrote a bad book. i want to read the one on the university of montana rape cover up...just because he wrote it. you will love Under the Banner of Heaven.
Im reading a book currently on prehistoric art. sort of dry but a decent primer.
Im reading a book currently on prehistoric art. sort of dry but a decent primer.
Matt Damon recommended I read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and I'm ashamed I've not read it sooner.
Next up: All the Light We Cannot See
Next up: All the Light We Cannot See
Last edited:
No such thing as a bad Baldacci book, imo.
Haven't seen that one. Had his entire catalogue read until this year, kinda got burnt out on reading for a bit.
Also interested to check out Vince Flynn's (RIP) series now that someone else has picked it back up...Mitch Rapp is the GOAT of that genre.
Haven't seen that one. Had his entire catalogue read until this year, kinda got burnt out on reading for a bit.
Also interested to check out Vince Flynn's (RIP) series now that someone else has picked it back up...Mitch Rapp is the GOAT of that genre.
Recently finished "A Sorrow in our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh" by Allen Eckert and "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown. Enjoyed them both.
Now on "Paris 1919" by Margaret McMillan. Pretty interesting so far.
Now on "Paris 1919" by Margaret McMillan. Pretty interesting so far.
finished Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" recently. Didn't think I would enjoy it after having already seen the film. Intense story.
Have read the entire Rapp until the new author.
I've read a few Thor, and the first Lee Child Reacher (I like to go in order, and can be difficult with people like him who have 50) .
After Flynn/Baldacci, my favorite similar series has been Brad Taylor's Pike Logan series....pretty much identical, and really good.
If you haven't already, you might want to try the Cotton Malone series from Steve Berry.
Next in my cue. Sitting on the shelf ready to go.
I'm on Devil in the White City right now. Starting slow and not holding up well coming off Boys in the Boat which may be my favorite book of the year. It was just excellent. Highly suggest it.
-Banner is a cool book. Crazy for sure. If Mormons weren't so damn nice.
-Unbroken the book is phenomenal. One of my favorite books ever. Haven't seen the film but I can't imagine Jolie doing it justice in a film. Way too much story there to capture even in a long movie. That needed to be a miniseries on HBO with Hanks/Spielberg.
-Read All the Light recently and it was awesome. Really neat story.
Seems like everything I've read has been in that late 1800's - WW2 era. Unbroken, Boys in the Boat, 81 Days Delow Zero, Dead Wake, All of the Light, Devil in the White City, Into the Kingdom of Ice.
Probably skip up to Missoula after Wake. Switch it up a bit.
"Unbroken" and "Boys in the Boat" were great. Been thinking about "Devil in the White City". "Into Thin Air" is also good.
Hold off on White City. Sounds like we have similar tastes. I'm not overly enthused yet. I appreciate character development while the story progresses along side. I hate when it feels like a chore though and we're in that territory. Not giving up yet but we're treading lightly. Hoping it takes a good turn soon. I'll let you know shortly. Sunday I'm going to give it one final good push and dig 4-5 chapters further. Either finish or drop at that point.
-Did you read Dead Wake? Was it good? Looks awesome.
-All the Light would be a suggestion rather than White City. I really loved that book and it was a quick read.
-Did you read Dead Wake? Was it good? Looks awesome.
-All the Light would be a suggestion rather than White City. I really loved that book and it was a quick read.
If you liked the Stieg Larsson novels, you might try Jo Nesbo. He is a Norwegian author who seems to have a similar style. His main character is a detective named Harry Hole who often hunts serial killers. The Snowman was my favorite in the series and is being made into a movie by Martin Scorsese.
Last edited:
Don't give up on White City. Takes a bit. Not saying it's the most amazing book ever and I wasn't really into the architecture side, but it's entertaining.
A
anon_aawvduncd4ay0
Guest
I have to agree, for all the long drawn out crap on Parks, the Worlds Fair, and the bad guy the book was a total let down.
Dead Wake was really good. Learned quite a bit about all the circumstances and results of the sinking of the Lusitania. How/why the sinking of the Titanic is more well known than the Lusitania is beyond me. Great history written like a novel.
Last edited:
Once you stop watching wrestling long enough to have time to read a book, maybe I will.
-Caught a decent portion of Unbroken last night. Not terrible, but like I said, there's no way they could really go in depth the way the book did. It would've taken 15 hours.
-Glad to hear that about Wake. Love that style.
-My neighbor is a machine, dude runs through books. Reads stuff like The Splintered History of Wood, Salt, Cod. Way smarter than me. I can't read to learn these days, it's all about entertainment.
-Glad to hear that about Wake. Love that style.
-My neighbor is a machine, dude runs through books. Reads stuff like The Splintered History of Wood, Salt, Cod. Way smarter than me. I can't read to learn these days, it's all about entertainment.
Our mocking him is relentless but he doesn't care. Actually encourages him I think. Dude will also continue reading a book he hates. He's a crazy guy but ridiculously intelligent.
And yeah... I'd maybe land on a "how it's made" episode for those subjects. He'll gladly give you a synopsis if you ask.
And yeah... I'd maybe land on a "how it's made" episode for those subjects. He'll gladly give you a synopsis if you ask.
Learning and being entertained are not mutually exclusive. By reading Unbroken you learned about Louis Zamperini and you were entertained, if you read Dead Wake you will learn about German U-boats and why the Lusitania disaster could have been easily avoided and it will be entertaining.
IMO, we should read to learn every day until we die and if we do, we might learn 1% of what's out there.
Well yes but I've mentioned this several times. I can't read the stuff I feel like I should read. Finally admitted that I can only read for entertainment and I've read more books in the last 2 years than probably the previous 32. I feel like I should read books on business, industry, management, marketing, organization, etc. I just can't. Gave up on Good to Great, The Power of Habit, Steve Jobs and a dozen other like that. Then I'll blow through flipping Gone Girl or Anthony Bourdains book in 2-3 days. Shameful but true. So I've been sticking with what I enjoy reading, novels and preferably based around true stories, and profiting.
I did the exact same thing with these type of books. I found that I was getting very little actual benefit from them.
Note: I used to read about three books a week. I literally had thousands of books on my shelves (big thrift store/garage sale guy). I read in bed every night till I could no longer stay awake. I'm coming up on age 72 this month. You lose your ability to concentrate or retain what you just read as you get older. Almost all my reading these days is relatively short articles on the internet. You think it will never happen to you. But it probably will. So read all you can now and enjoy the experience. Wish I still could.
Last edited:
Nothing shameful about it at all, IMO. You seem like a successful guy who works hard at helping to build a family business and it's going well. I don't necessarily think you have to start "failing" at something for the business stuff to become interesting but sometimes that helps. People will drop the titles in conversation to cast an image in most cases, some people get something out of them because they are unreal sadistically driven, but most people will cue up something they enjoy. Shouldn't have to fake it.
-Like Devil in the White City quite a bit but I am in civil engineering which helps in staying invested in many aspects of the thing.
Not really what I was getting at but thanks for the compliments. I feel like I should read them to help improve myself in my profession. Learning from successful people is great. I just can't read them I can read chapters but a whole book? No chance.
finishing up "the art of racing in the rain" which is fitting since I recently had to put my dog down.
on deck is "farewell". spy story I've heard great things about.
on deck is "farewell". spy story I've heard great things about.
For those desiring a serious look at counter aspects of macro-evolutionary/naturalistic thought. Written by Oxford Professor of Mathematics, John Lennox.
