What book is everyone reading at the moment? Part 2.

[alfaniner]

Originally Posted by Wudang

My favourite Hemingway for some reason is A Moveable Feast, snippets of his life in Paris and his thoughts.

My strongest connection with that title is a line from Jurassic Park II, as in "Let's get this moveable feast on the road!"

[theprestige]

The Cartel, by Don Winslow.

If Stephen King wrote Southern California Crime instead of New England Horror, he'd be Don Winslow. In the sense that events in one series will be referenced in another series, and characters from different series occasionally cross paths (sometimes plausibly, sometimes not so much).

This book is the second in the Cartel series. It picks up more or less where the first book, The Power of the Dog, leaves off. So far there's been enough "previously on..." exposition that I think you could pick up this book without being too lost.

Unlike The Dawn Patrol and Savages serieses, this one is much more cynical and bleak. The underlying themes are the futility (or outright mendacity) of the war on drugs; and how people choose to sell out their principles for reasons good and bad.

The characters are well-drawn, in both their merits and their flaws. Almost everyone you meet is at least a little bit villain, and at least a little bit saint. And they act out their parts against a backdrop of Southern California (with Mexico appearing in cameo from time to time). If you're a SoCal resident or native, you'll recognize the scenery, the landmarks, and the topology right away. If you've never been to California, Don Winslow gives a good sense of what the place is like. I don't know if it's accurate, but I think it's close enough for you to be able to appreciate it. Kind of like Stephen King and New England.

Like any mainstream crime novel, the book has its interludes of sex and violence. And lots and lots of drugs. Also some social commentary "monologues" about the war on drugs and related issues (NAFTA, apparently, forced Mexico into the cocaine business).

The Cartel is my least favorite of Winslow's Southern California series, but he's a good writer and it's still worth a read. Plus, because they all take place in the same setting, over the same time period, using many of the same characters and situations, all three series can be read as a single sprawling saga. And also, after the too-cute language games of his preceding novel (The Kings of Cool), the return to heavier, denser, but much more straightforward prose is a pleasant change of pace.

If you're looking for neo-noir crime thrillers with a suntan and a surfboard, instead of a trench coat and a fedora, give Don Winslow a try.

[Spektator]

A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe

A fictionalized memoir published in 1720, the book purports to be the journal of a great uncle of Defoe's giving us an eyewitness account of the 1665 bubonic plague outbreak in London. Defoe was a reporter who did his research (the Bills of Mortality showing the process and morbidity of the epidemic are from historical records). The narrator's observations of the breakdown of the medical establishment's ability to treat so many desperately ill people, the extremes to which fear drive the sick and the healthy alike, and even the conspiracy theories of the plague's origin all come in for vivid description. The narrator, out of curiosity, visits a churchyard where a mass grave has been excavated. He thinks the descriptions have been exaggerated, but is appalled to view a crater twenty feet deep, fifteen wide, and sixth long. In the 1970s that grave was locared, and Defoe's estimate of the dimensions were correct. The work seems familiar, down to the narrator's complaint that the government downplayed the seriousness of the disease and failed to impose precautions that would have saved lives.

[PPL]

The First 49 Stories by Ernest Hemingway

The recent mention of Hemingway in the thread has led to taking this off the shelf for a reread of a few stories. In particular I like 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place'. Full text - https://genius.com/Ernest-hemingway-...lace-annotated

[DuvalHMFIC]

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed, by Ben Rich.

This book was written in the mid-90s after Ben Rich had retired from the Skunk Works. He chronicles the trials and tribulations at Skunk Works during the initial productions of the U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, and the Stealth Fighter. It's not written chronologically, which I liked. He dives right into the development of the Stealth Fighter, which was the author's first big project after taking over for the infamous Kelly Johnson. Then he backtracks to the years when he was Kelly's 2nd in command, during the development of the U-2 and SR-71. If you're into aviation and engineering, it's an awesome read. It also includes many "Other voices" sections in which other engineers, test pilots, and even political figures give reminisce on the events portrayed in the book.

[eeyore1954]

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. It popped up in a search on Audible. A few chapter in and it is very interesting so far.

[JayUtah]

Just finished Dan Rather's What Unites Us. Nostalgic, yes. Inspiring, yes. But not really a cure for anything except politics fatigue.

[catsmate]

I've tried to read and, listen to, Sophie Hannah's "new" Poirot novels. They're terrible.

[PPL]

Silas Marner by George Eliot

[KayBur]

I am currently reading The Lost World by Conan Doyle. Quite an interesting piece. I've read (even twice) about Sherlock Holmes before, I really like it. But I did not read other works of Conan Doyle, to my shame. Now I am correcting the omission.

[Metullus]

For some reason that I cannot fathom, I picked up Froude's History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada (volume I of XI) off of my book shelf. Now I have to finish it.

[Pope130]

Originally Posted by KayBur

I am currently reading The Lost World by Conan Doyle. Quite an interesting piece. I've read (even twice) about Sherlock Holmes before, I really like it. But I did not read other works of Conan Doyle, to my shame. Now I am correcting the omission.

Following that you may want to try The Poison Belt, which has many of the same characters. Not as sweeping or famous a story as The Lost World, but entertaining in it's own right.

It is interesting, to me, in being one of the first modern apocalypse stories, particularly of the "last survivors in a dead England" genre which became popular in the 1950s and '60s.

[Disbelief]

"Dead Beat" book 7 in the Dresden Files series. Reading through a second time as I work my way up to the latest that came out last month.

[PPL]

The Aesthetic Adventure by William Gaunt





Been meaning to read this, even for the sake of it being a kind of novelty or something.

[Zetetikosfilm]

Haunted Houses (1924) by Camille Flammarion

[Metullus]

Dresden Files audio books have long been our default listening choice on long car trips. We have all of them and will listen straight through and then recycle when we hit the end...

[Disbelief]

Originally Posted by Metullus

Dresden Files audio books have long been our default listening choice on long car trips. We have all of them and will listen straight through and then recycle when we hit the end...

I haven't listened to the audio books, but I bet they're good. Enjoy his Codex Alera series for fantasy with an interesting concept as well.

[EHocking]

The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
by Simon Winchester.
A fascinating story of groundbreaking (heh) scientific endeavour, well told.

I was inspired to visit the Royal Geological Society and to view the actual map in question.

[Orphia Nay]

Originally Posted by Wudang

My favourite Hemingway for some reason is A Moveable Feast, snippets of his life in Paris and his thoughts.

My favourite Hemingway too. I've re-read it several times.

Another of my favourites and in a similar vein (the Paris arts scene in the early 20th Century):

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein.

[Orphia Nay]

Cosmos by Stephen Fry.

Fry's rich, wide vocabulary and his quirky humour are suitable companions to the Greek Pantheon and myths.

[Orphia Nay]

Originally Posted by Orphia Nay

Cosmos by Stephen Fry.

Fry's rich, wide vocabulary and his quirky humour are suitable companions to the Greek Pantheon and myths.

Oops, I meant "Mythos".

[PPL]

Gateway by Frederik Pohl

Due to a couple of mentions in another thread I thought I'd give this another read. Already I'm remembering how much I enjoyed it the first time.

[EHocking]

Originally Posted by Orphia Nay

Cosmos by Stephen Fry.

Fry's rich, wide vocabulary and his quirky humour are suitable companions to the Greek Pantheon and myths.

How many words does he know?

Billions and billions.

[fleabeetle]

Originally Posted by KayBur

I am currently reading The Lost World by Conan Doyle. Quite an interesting piece. I've read (even twice) about Sherlock Holmes before, I really like it. But I did not read other works of Conan Doyle, to my shame. Now I am correcting the omission.

Does this, or will it maybe, include Doyle's "round half-dozen" of historical novels? If I have things correctly, Doyle took these with great seriousness, feeling that "this was really what he was put on Earth to do" -- he regarded the Holmes material as tedious rubbish which he had to churn out to pay the bills. I find that opinions are divided, concerning the historical novels: a good many people reckon that they're terrific -- others, less so. I've read at some time or another, about half of them, and am personally not a fan: for me, they struck me as mostly, kids'-comic-ish to an embarrassingly cringe-making degree; particularly the "medieval" ones -- The White Company and Sir Nigel (which have also, many keen devotees). Just my personal response: I tend to be hard to please; and as said, there are many who think otherwise.

[Lennart Hyland]

Finally finished The Mirror and the Light by Hillary Mantel and it was really brilliant, one of the best books I've read (didnt actually expect anything else). The end part with Cromwell being stripped of his titles and thrown inte the Towern was my favourite.

I read it in english and it took a while. Now I will probably try the swedish audiobook version.

[EHocking]

Originally Posted by Lennart Hyland

Finally finished The Mirror and the Light by Hillary Mantel and it was really brilliant, one of the best books I've read (didnt actually expect anything else). The end part with Cromwell being stripped of his titles and thrown inte the Towern was my favourite.

I read it in english and it took a while. Now I will probably try the swedish audiobook version.

Ah, man,,, spoiler alert....!

[Lennart Hyland]

Originally Posted by EHocking

Ah, man,,, spoiler alert....!

I thought it was well known! Oh well, I apologize. I read the book knowing Cromwells fate and still enjoyed it.

[EHocking]

Originally Posted by Lennart Hyland

I thought it was well known! Oh well, I apologize. I read the book knowing Cromwells fate and still enjoyed it.

I was just kidding, don’t sweat it.

But I’ve just teed up Titanic on Netflix - so don’t tell me if they managed to set the speed record the captain was said to be chasing on the maiden voyage.

[dudalb]

Originally Posted by Lennart Hyland

I thought it was well known! Oh well, I apologize. I read the book knowing Cromwells fate and still enjoyed it.

I have the novel on Kindle, but have not gotten around to reading it yet.
But I throughly enjoyed the first two volumnes.
Sort of hope that Mantel wrties a novel about Thomas Cromwell great great Nephew Oliver.....

[dudalb]

"The British Are Coming" by Rick Atkinson.
FIrst of a three volumne history of the American Revolutionary War ;following up the huge success of his "Liberation Trilogy" on World War 2 in North Africa and Europe. This volume goes from Lexington and Concord to the Battles of Trenton and Princton. Excellent book.
In an interview, Atkinson said he wanted to do another multi volume history of an American war, but decided not to do the Civil War because Bruce Catton and Shelby Foote had done superb 3 volume histories of that war, and he was not stupid enough to compete with them.

[Brainster]

I've been reading old issues of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine on Archive.org. Actually, I think it was Dudalb that got me into it by mentioning the Marching Morons story, which I looked up and found in the April 1951 issue.

[xterra]

Ross King, Brunelleschi’s Dome, 2010. (I am reading the e-pub version.)

[Brainster]

Listening to the Audible version of The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova. A Harvard-trained psychologist and writer who specializes in the psychology of deception (a prior book was on con artists) decides to become a professional poker player. Of course, the topic is close to my own heart, but I actually enjoy more than the poker discussion the way she weaves in the results of psychological experiments explaining why poker players make the mistakes they do.

One of the problems is that most humans don't really understand chance and probability and statistics. I was playing online the other day, and one hand I had A-Q suited and shoved all in. This other guy had 3-5 offsuit and called me, Granted, it's a total donkey play, but not uncommon at the low-level games. A five hits the board and I have to rebuy. And one of the other players starts going on about the algorithm, like it's some sort of insanely wild improbability. But actually 3-5 offsuit is 35% to win that hand.

So I mention this to a third player and he starts out by agreeing, yes, people really don't understand statistics. Then he tells me his secret method of picking the late football games on Sunday. If the home favorites tended to cover in the early games, he bets the road dogs on the theory that things even out eventually. "So they're due?" I offer helpfully. Of course, one of the first things you learn in any statistics course is that nothing is "due" other than bills and library books.

The book does have some great lessons, ones that I have tried to take to heart. When she takes a bad beat, she seeks out her tutor, poker pro Eric Seidel and starts to tell him about this terrible hand. He stops her. He's not interested and she doesn't want to be that person. Did she make the correct play? Yes. Then don't worry about it. It's part of life that you can do everything right and still have a bad outcome.

[turingtest]

The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey, by John Dickson Carr. Carr was a writer of detective stories; this book and a biography he wrote of A.C. Doyle were his only published non-fiction works. But he brings a novelist's touch to the story of the murder of a JP in London in 1678 which was a catalyst for the Popish Plot begun by Titus Oates, but which was sort of languishing before the discovery of Godfrey's body- CT-infused popular hysteria is nothing new.

In some ways, Carr's style is a little intrusive (also partly because it was written in 1936*), but not so much as to make it unreadable. And he does name his suspect (I won't, other than to say that, according to Carr, the murder itself, in spite of Godfrey's connection with Oates and the Plot, had nothing to do with either)- his solution makes sense, but part of the fun of this sort of thing is that, as with Jack the Ripper, it can never really be any more than speculation.

*Anyone who's read William B. Hesseltine's Ulysses S. Grant: Politician (1935), and compared it with Chernow's biography of Grant from 2017 will understand when I say there are definite stylistic as well as interpretive differences between the years.

[Samson]

Tess of the D'urbevilles

If anyone recalls this exquisite essay in mankind encountering imperfection everywhere they will choose from a box of delights.
I enjoyed the botched job the tradesman would have done better until...
It collided with the accidental principal designed by nature.

[theprestige]

The Neil Carey stories, also by Don Winslow. This is his first series of crime/mystery novels, and they have a fairly conventional voice. Very few hints of lyrical, occasionally absurd, often very grim and brooding tone that characterizes his later work.

If cyberpunk is characterized as "high tech, low life", then the Neil Carey stories are punk-punk: high life, low life. The low life is provided by Neil Carey, a street urchin who becomes the protege of a wise-cracking private investigator.

The high life is provided by Neil's employer, a bank that operates an exclusive private investigation service for its one-percenter clientele.

Engaging descriptions of a private detective who just wants to be a scholar of eighteenth century English literature, but has to keep taking work out of the debt he owes his benefactors. Plenty of applied tradecraft, and so far a nice little mystery to work through in each one.

[OldForester]

Originally Posted by Orphia Nay

Oops, I meant "Mythos".

I sure enjoyed it. But I'd have to go through it two or three more times, to get all of those characters straight. Surely rivals War and Peace in that way.

Also great is his Ode Less Traveled.

[OldForester]

I'm reading The American Revolution of 1800 by Dan Sisson 40th anniversary edition (2014). First published as his Ph.D. dissertation, it's absolutely relevant to these times. From the book jacket intro: "Jefferson believed his election was a peaceful revolution by the American people overturning an elitist faction that was stamping out cherished constitutional rights and trying to transform our young democracy into an authoritarian state." Sound familiar?

[theprestige]

Slough House

Slovenly, malcontent Mycroft Holmes and his bureau of disgraced spies are back to put the screws to John Le Carré once again.

[Armitage72]

A short story anthology called "Swords Against Cthulhu III". The first two books in the series were pretty standard sword & sorcery stories mashed together with the Cthulhu Mythos. When I started reading this book, I discovered that it was "Thundarr the Barbarian" mashed together with the Mythos. All of the stories are sword & sorcery set on post-apocalyptic Earth after the Old Ones have started to wake up. It's an interesting change.