What Are You Reading Now?

[PaloAltoCougar]

I'm finding the Bolton book to be better than expected because of the detailed descriptions of international relations and diplomacy. But there are few surprises; Trump's hubris and ignorance in the field of foreign affairs are laughable, or would be were they not fraught with such negative long-term consequences.

And I just finished Countdown 1945, the story of the atomic bomb and the first four months of the Truman Presidency. I already knew a fair amount about the Manhattan Project but author Chris Wallace is a fine storyteller and includes loads of interesting tidbits about the many characters involved. It amazes me that Truman was completely unaware of the Manhattan Project until a few days after he became President, despite the fact that there were 120,000 people working on it, including many who were having serious misgivings about the moral and strategic implications of what they were doing. I'm sure the absence of social media helped, but there's no way such a project today would enjoy that kind of secrecy. The book reads (Sounds? I prefer print to audio, but this audiobook was great) like a suspense novel, as the results of the test and initial drop were very uncertain. Highly recommended.

[Donuthole]

Ran across this list and while I'd make several changes, it's a respectable best of the 2010's list for a site like EW. Thought readers here might find it interesting.

https://ew.com/books/2019/11/25/best...fiction-books/

Of their 10 Best I've read 8. Of their Next 10 I've read 7. So, I feel like I can talk about their list without completely bullshitting. Every book they've selected (that I've read) is indeed worthy of consideration on such a list however, their top 3 selections wouldn't make my personal top 20. In any case, it's a nice list for selecting future reads.

Some personal notes: Lebowski will be happy to know that Underground Railroad did not make either list. Piney will be thrilled that Lincoln in the Bardo is nowhere to be found (though Tenth of December is there and rightly so). For my money, Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing gets the #1 slot.

Side note: in thinking about my own top 20 I’m realizing that Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow would very likely appeal to those of you who just finished All the Light We Cannot See.

I loved Tenth of December. I only remember a few of the stories, so I may go back and read it again just thinking about how much I enjoyed it. Based on ToD, I was really looking forward to Lincoln in the Bardo. What a flop. One of the few books I’ve given up on in the last decade.

A Gentlemen in Moscow is great. Definitely one of my faves of the last decade.

[Surfah]

Ran across this list and while I'd make several changes, it's a respectable best of the 2010's list for a site like EW. Thought readers here might find it interesting.

https://ew.com/books/2019/11/25/best...fiction-books/

Of their 10 Best I've read 8. Of their Next 10 I've read 7. So, I feel like I can talk about their list without completely bullshitting. Every book they've selected (that I've read) is indeed worthy of consideration on such a list however, their top 3 selections wouldn't make my personal top 20. In any case, it's a nice list for selecting future reads.

Some personal notes: Lebowski will be happy to know that Underground Railroad did not make either list. Piney will be thrilled that Lincoln in the Bardo is nowhere to be found (though Tenth of December is there and rightly so). For my money, Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing gets the #1 slot.

Side note: in thinking about my own top 20 I’m realizing that Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow would very likely appeal to those of you who just finished All the Light We Cannot See.

Haven't read the book but I saw Normal People on the list and Gidget just started watching the TV series based on the book on Hulu. I am not sure if it is indicative of the source material, but every time I happen to glance at the TV they are having sex.

[SteelBlue]

Haven't read the book but I saw Normal People on the list and Gidget just started watching the TV series based on the book on Hulu. I am not sure if it is indicative of the source material, but every time I happen to glance at the TV they are having sex.

Yeah, that book is all about a complicated and strange friendship/sexual relationship from HS through college.

[happyone]

Ran across this list and while I'd make several changes, it's a respectable best of the 2010's list for a site like EW. Thought readers here might find it interesting.

https://ew.com/books/2019/11/25/best...fiction-books/

Of their 10 Best I've read 8. Of their Next 10 I've read 7. So, I feel like I can talk about their list without completely bullshitting. Every book they've selected (that I've read) is indeed worthy of consideration on such a list however, their top 3 selections wouldn't make my personal top 20. In any case, it's a nice list for selecting future reads.

Some personal notes: Lebowski will be happy to know that Underground Railroad did not make either list. Piney will be thrilled that Lincoln in the Bardo is nowhere to be found (though Tenth of December is there and rightly so). For my money, Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing gets the #1 slot.

Side note: in thinking about my own top 20 I’m realizing that Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow would very likely appeal to those of you who just finished All the Light We Cannot See.

This is a little embarrasing, but don't think I've read any of them

[LiveCoug]

Just finished Educated. Really well written and it resonated with me

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just finished Educated. Really well written and it resonated with me

Holy cow. Really? Tell us more about your childhood.

[Green Monstah]

The Prize by Daniel Yergin--History of exploring for oil. So far, so good.
Thinking in Systems by Donella H. Meadows. A landowner I used to negotiate against recommended the book to me.
Environmental Law and Policy by Salzman & Thompson. A real page turner (It's a hornbook style book for law students).

[SeattleUte]

An outstanding book. I revisited portions of it this past week, looking for more encouraging news than the current "things have never been worse" proclamations by the most extreme. The Equal Rights chapter (15) provides some comfort. I liked this short paragraph, among others:



Spoiler: Although we have far to go, things have improved considerably over the past fifty years, and the trend is positive.

Last week there was an all-out effort among linguists to cancel Pinker. He beat them back and they failed because his academics and reputation are too strong and he's too powerful. But the concern is it will send a chilling message to young academics. It was for six tweets and a passage from one of his best-selling books.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...t-fine/614323/

[Lost Student]

Last week there was an all-out effort among linguists to cancel Pinker. He beat them back and they failed because his academics and reputation are too strong and he's too powerful. But the concern is it will send a chilling message to young academics. It was for six tweets and a passage from one of his best-selling books.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...t-fine/614323/

Goodness, is there a more racist university then the U of U?

and to a 2006 article Pinker published in The New Republic reviewing the work of three researchers from the University of Utah who argued, per Pinker’s description of their Journal of Biosocial Science paper, “that Ashkenazi Jews have a genetic advantage in intelligence, and that the advantage arose from natural selection for success in middleman occupations (moneylending, selling, and estate management) during the first millennium of their existence in northern Europe, from about 800 C.E. to 1600 C.E.” Pinker reviewed evidence for and against their hypothesis at length, reached no solid conclusion of his own, highlighted the potential downsides of such research and the problems with banning it

[SteelBlue]

Finished a bunch of recent releases, one was "Parakeet" by Marie Bertino. Really quirky but I liked it. Read "The Glass Hotel" by Emily St. John-Mandel (of Station Eleven fame) and would also recommend. Read "Interior Chinatown" by Charles Yu. Reminded me of "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty, and that's high praise. Re-read "Zero K" by DeLillo. Discovered the iyamisu genre of Japanese mystery novels and read "Nan-core" by Mahokaru Numata. Disturbing, as the name of the genre apparently implies, reminded me of "The Wasp Factory" by Banks. Finally read Whitehead's "The Nickel Boys" and I think it's his best work. Also finished "The Three Musketeers" for the first time.

[Donuthole]

Finished a bunch of recent releases, one was "Parakeet" by Marie Bertino. Really quirky but I liked it. Read "The Glass Hotel" by Emily St. John-Mandel (of Station Eleven fame) and would also recommend. Read "Interior Chinatown" by Charles Yu. Reminded me of "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty, and that's high praise. Re-read "Zero K" by DeLillo. Discovered the iyamisu genre of Japanese mystery novels and read "Nan-core" by Mahokaru Numata. Disturbing, as the name of the genre apparently implies, reminded me of "The Wasp Factory" by Banks. Finally read Whitehead's "The Nickel Boys" and I think it's his best work. Also finished "The Three Musketeers" for the first time.

Hard to describe how much better "The Nickel Boys" was than "The Underground Railroad." At least for me.

[BigPiney]

Finished a bunch of recent releases, one was "Parakeet" by Marie Bertino. Really quirky but I liked it. Read "The Glass Hotel" by Emily St. John-Mandel (of Station Eleven fame) and would also recommend. Read "Interior Chinatown" by Charles Yu. Reminded me of "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty, and that's high praise. Re-read "Zero K" by DeLillo. Discovered the iyamisu genre of Japanese mystery novels and read "Nan-core" by Mahokaru Numata. Disturbing, as the name of the genre apparently implies, reminded me of "The Wasp Factory" by Banks. Finally read Whitehead's "The Nickel Boys" and I think it's his best work. Also finished "The Three Musketeers" for the first time.

Very nice. Of course The Nickel Boys is better. Underground was dumb. I have The Glass Hotel on my Kindle just haven't gotten around to it yet. Should bump that up the list.

Thanks for the update.

I started reading a book by a local author. A "memoir" from a 28 year old. How pretentious.

[BigPiney]

Hard to describe how much better "The Nickel Boys" was than "The Underground Railroad." At least for me.

Ha, you said it first. So true.

[falafel]

Ha, you said it first. So true.

Hard to drum up any desire to read anything else by Whitehead after reading the Underground Railroad.