What Are You Reading Now?

[SteelBlue]

David Brooks new book The Road to Character is pretty good.

I’m a fan of the Adam I and Adam II construct and also the idea that people will be happier if they look outward at their place in the world and think “Where can I do the most good?” rather than looking inward for some type of abstract self-realization. It goes well with a lot of the stuff Jordan Peterson has said.

Did you catch the reference to ETB's "memoir" in the Eisenhower chapter? Pretty funny, (I assume it was ETB).

"Of the 23 men and women who served in Dwight Eisenhower's cabinets, only one, the secretary of agriculture, published a memoir afterward, and it was so discreet as to be soporific. By the time the Reagan administration rolled around, 12 of his 30 cabinet members published memoirs, almost all of them self-advertising."

[bluegoose]

Educated by Tara Westover.

Rural Idaho mormon version of Hillbilly Elegy.

What did you think? I've got it on my kindle. I read Hillbilly Elegy a few months ago and thought it was just ok.

[LiveCoug]

Spoonbenders on recommendation from a few of you in this thread. I was thoroughly entertained. Love Ari Fliakos as a narrator.

[Jeff Lebowski]

What did you think? I've got it on my kindle. I read Hillbilly Elegy a few months ago and thought it was just ok.

Halfway through. I like it so far, but I like memoirs and underdog stories. I enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy.

[PaloAltoCougar]

What did you think? I've got it on my kindle. I read Hillbilly Elegy a few months ago and thought it was just ok.

You may like Educated a little more, if only because it strikes closer to home given the author's LDS background and BYU education. I enjoyed it, as I've noted previously. BTW, her mother's essential oils website mentions that the author's parents have 32 grandchildren. My initial reaction, given the nuttiness/weirdness (or worse) of the author's father, was that this reflects the Idiocracy premise that society will become progressively dumber because, bluntly put, stupid people are reproducing much faster than their brighter counterparts. Putting aside the inherent offensiveness of the premise, Educated provides an effective rebuttal, given that the author and at least some of her siblings are manifestly intelligent and valuable contributors to the common good. So maybe Idiocracy got it wrong after all!

One final note: one of my favorite parts of the book is when the author, in connection with a BYU semester abroad program, falls under the tutelage of a venerable Cambridge don who, upon meeting her says something like , "I feel like I've just stepped into Pygmalion!"

[CardiacCoug]

Did you catch the reference to ETB's "memoir" in the Eisenhower chapter? Pretty funny, (I assume it was ETB).

Yep that had to be ETB’s memoir, called something like Cross Fire.

I obviously didn’t read it but I’m sure despite that dramatic title that it was totally soporific.

[SteelBlue]

Finalists for the National Book Award announced last week. Of the 4 off the longlist that I read, only 1 made the cut and it was the one I found the least interesting; Florida. I do have The Great Believers on my shelf but am starting the new Murakami first.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/78275-2018-nba-shortlists.html

[happyone]

Finalists for the National Book Award announced last week. Of the 4 off the longlist that I read, only 1 made the cut and it was the one I found the least interesting; Florida. I do have The Great Believers on my shelf but am starting the new Murakami first.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/...hortlists.html

I haven't read any of them

[SteelBlue]

Colson Whitehead is speaking in Redding tonight. CS will have good representation in the audience.

[falafel]

Colson Whitehead is speaking in Redding tonight. CS will have good representation in the audience.

Ask him why The Underground Railroad was so on-the-nose.

[BigPiney]

Ask him why The Underground Railroad was so on-the-nose.

What does on-the-nose mean? I am not familiar with that term and the Google search I did didn't really clarify it very well.

[falafel]

What does on-the-nose mean? I am not familiar with that term and the Google search I did didn't really clarify it very well.

Is this a serious question? I can't quite tell.

[BigPiney]

Is this a serious question? I can't quite tell.

Sorry for the typos from my phone.

Yes it was serious. I have not really heard that before.

As for the book, it was overrated and heavy handed. I didn't like it that much. Plus the whole train thing was kind of stupid.

[falafel]

Sorry for the typos from my phone.

Yes it was serious. I have not really heard that before.

As for the book, it was overrated and heavy handed. I didn't like it that much. Plus the whole train thing was kind of stupid.

Ah. Okay.

It means that it lacks subtly. And I agree with your opinion of the book.

[LiveCoug]

Juror #3 by James Patterson.

What a pile of hot garbage. Terribly boring, predictable legal thriller with so many "well duh" moments. The lawyers are all idiots, including the protagonist who we are supposed to cheer for.

Example of the dialogue: "You look like a child who just got caught stealing candy from the Piggly Wiggly!".

Terrible.