What Are You Reading Now?

[Art Vandelay]

Is your group full of people who haven't read anything since 10th grade Honors English? If so, it sounds like he'll fit right in.

If he added Of Mice and Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird. that would be almost exactly what my sophomore has read over the last year. Sans Waiting for Godot

[BigPiney]

Is your group full of people who haven't read anything since 10th grade Honors English? If so, it sounds like he'll fit right in.

My high school was terrible. Of those listed,we only read The Lord of the Flies. All the others I have read since finishing college.

[Scott R Nelson]

I just finished reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD. It might have been based on a recommendation here, but I couldn't easily track down a post recommending the book.

This book has greatly increased my understanding of sleep and the value of getting sufficient sleep. The author feels that we, as a society, don't place proper value on good sleep and that it is affecting our health and ability to learn and remember things, as well as being more dangerous due to drowsy driving and workplace accidents.

I'll be making a few changes to my sleep habits based on what I learned while reading the book. Unfortunately, I read most of the book while traveling to Europe and back, so jet lag and inability to sleep on a plane were messing with my sleep at the time. The author claims that we're only able to adjust our circadian rhythm by about an hour a night, so just about when I should have been shifted to Rome time, it was time to shift back to Idaho time.

The biggest concern that came from reading this book was for my grandchildren that attend early morning seminary. There are strong arguments for teenagers being able to sleep longer and not starting school for children until about 9:00 a.m. or so. My two 14-year-old grandchildren both have to get up before 6:00 a.m. to get to seminary and other early morning school activities. According to the author this effects their ability to learn things even more than it might effect their health

It was also suggested to throw out your alarm clock. I haven't used one for years except for special cases.

This was a great educational book and not difficult to read, although he uses a few bigger words than most of my favorite authors. I strongly recommend it.

[old_gregg]

Is your group full of people who haven't read anything since 10th grade Honors English? If so, it sounds like he'll fit right in.

hope katy lied likes 1984 quotes

[happyone]

All - seeking recommendations for best single volume on the D-day experience. 75th anniversary this summer and will be accompanying my father to Normandy beaches in the fall. It’s a lifetime dream for him and I want to have a deeper appreciation for those who fought in those events. Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There a lot of new books on D-Day coming out right now

I just finished Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day. There are lots of great first person accounts, a bit of humor, but it is pretty grizzly. The main problem I had with it is that the author doesn't seem to know just what a mortar is (according to the author almost anything that fires an explosive projectile is a mortar, including but not limited to - tubed artillery(howitzers), navel rifles - including the main guns on a battleship, anti tank guns ( the German 88mm), shoulder launched antitank rockets (the British PIAT)). I found it to be a weak 4 star read because the mortar issue irritated me so much

I'm currently reading -The First Wave by Alex Kershaw. This a new look at the first people into Normandy on D-Day. He is the author of "The Bedford Boys" that I mentioned earlier. I've really liked the books of his that I've read

A couple I'm waiting anxiously for, but the library doesn't have them yet

Normandy '44 by James Holland.
He is another author whose books I've enjoyed. I recently read his Big Week. This is the story of a series of bombing raids in February of '44 that basically destroyed the Luftwaffe fighter forces and ensured Allied Air Superiority over the D-Day beaches.

Sand and Steel by Peter Caddick-Adams, who wrote one of the best books on the Battle of the Bulge I've read.

I just finished a new biography of Robert E. Lee's father - Revolutionary War Cavalry Commander, Light Horse Harry Lee - Light-Horse Harry Lee: The Rise and Fall of a Revolutionary Hero - The Tragic Life of Robert E. Lee's Father.

What a tragic story - born into one of the richest families in Virginia, a true hero of the Revolutionary War, he died bankrupt and wandering the Caribbean sponging off any who would give him a meal and a place to lay his head. Not only was he a War hero, he was also a successful politician - he was a member of congress before and after the Constitution was adopted, he was the gov'r of Virginia as well as a long time member of the Virginia legislature. However he was also a terrible businessman. He lost his and his two wives (his first wife died) entire fortunes land speculating and eventually spent time in Debtors prison.

During the War of 1812, as a Federalist and an opponent to the War, led him to being caught up in riots in Baltimore and he was sevrerly beaten and mutilated (his nose was almost severed) when the Militia cdr pulled the forces guarding the jail, where he and other prominent Federalists where being housed and let the mob do what they wanted. He never really recovered (mentally or physically) and eventually went to the Caribbean to try and ease his suffering. He was on his way back to Virginia when he passed away in South Carolina. After his death one of his travelling companions went to Baltimore where his wife was living and asked to see her and tell her his last words. One of Lee's daughters answered the door and told the gentleman that her mother was sleeping. When he pushed the issue, the daughter went and talked to her mother, came back and told the gentleman that her mother didn't want to hear them and then asked the man to leave, which he did.

In the epilogue, the author speculates just how much his father's trouble affected the personality of his son. In many ways Rob't E. Lee was the polar opposite of his father. Rob't's rise is the military was slow, but steady. He was extremely cautious in business and with his wife's dowry.

I thought it was a solid 4 star read.

[SteelBlue]

It's been a while. I ruptured my achilles 4 months ago and couldn't work for 3 of them so I had plenty of time to read.

Depression set in as I was trapped at home unable to drive and the weather was shitty. I thought "might as well dive into the Russians". Finished The Master and Margarita, Dead Souls, Notes from Underground, Anna Karenina, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

I read my first Doris Lessing novel, Briefing for a Descent Into Hell. Got a little tedious at times, but overall a mind bender. Read Plath's The Bell Jar, poor Sylvia. Watched The Handmaid's Tale then decided to read it. The book was better than the show as usual.

Re-read a favorite, David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas which spurred me to read Nabakov's Pale Fire. Finished Lampedusa's The Leopard. Read Hesse's Siddhartha and Ishiguro's brilliant Remains of the Day.

I discovered the work of Nobel winner Patrick Modiano and read his Out of the Dark, Dora Bruder, Missing Person. All of which I'd highly recommend.

Anyway, back at work again and reading less. Currently tackling this year's Pulitzer winner for fiction, Richard Powers' The Overstory.

[Scott R Nelson]

I'm just finishing up Noble Beginnings by L.T. Ryan. I had already read The First Deception by the same author since it was offered for free in various electronic formats - I chose PDF. This one is a hard-bound book that I put on hold at the local library before I had read the other book - that's why I went ahead and read this one.

The author is trying to be like David Baldacci or Lee Child, and not quite making it, in my opinion. There are too many things in the stories that I just can't believe and it doesn't really flow very well. It's trying hard to be a thriller, but not quite making it.

When I was reading the free book the author contacted me by email to ask what I thought and to try to get me to give a review. I basically said that he wouldn't like my review so I felt it was better not to give one. But I have no problems giving a review of the books here.

Anyway, I won't be reading any more of his books. I need to read something by one of my favorite authors like Michael Connelly or Walter Mosley to get my head straight after reading this book.

[Pelado]

Just started The Brothers Karamozov, again. Hoping to finish it this time.

[Sleeping in EQ]

I'm reading Sacred Laughter of the Sufis by Jamal Rahman.

[happyone]

There a lot of new books on D-Day coming out right now


Sand and Steel by Peter Caddick-Adams, who wrote one of the best books on the Battle of the Bulge I've read.

I'm currently reading Sand and Steel - If there was ever a D-D Book to have the subtitle (to borrow for the 1960s) "Everything you wanted to know about D-Day, but were afraid to ask" it's this one. At over 900 pages of text, it is a real door stop I'm about 300 pages in, and the troops haven't even loaded on their transports for the trip across the Channel!

That said it has been a fascinating read and I've learned quite a bit about the training the troops went through, to confiscation of English estates and villages for training areas - some were never returned and the dangerousness of the training. Quite a few died during training - just a cost of doing business. In some cases if it was close enough, they were reported as killed in combat.

The actual planning process has been a fascinating read.

C-A does cover the debacle of Exercise Tiger at Slapton Sands in April, '44, when some German E- Boats got into a column of LSTs and sunk two and severally damaged 3 others, killing and wounding over 700 people. A security blanket was slapped on the event and it didn't come to light until 30/40 yrs after it happened.

One small amusing tidbit about English - American relations during the build up. American GI enjoyed English Pubs and for most part locals enjoyed having them there. The standard joke was that the GI's purpose was to lose at darts gracefully and pay for the beer.

Another tidbit - the code word for those who were cleared for information on Overlord was BIGOT. Caddick-Adams has a lot of fun with people looking for missing "Bigoted" officers - including 10 who died in Exercise Tiger

[BigPiney]

The Beastie Boys audiobook was a super fun listen, unlike any other audiobook you'll ever hear. The book is chock full of great stories; ranging from the early-80's NYC hardcore/punk scene to early Def Jam and Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin to the first Lollapalooza. The great state of Utah gets multiple mentions!

Each chapter has a different narrator. Sometimes it's Mike D or Adrock, but then they have Snoop, Chuck D, Kim Gordon, Steve Buscemi, Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Ben Stiller, Bette Midler, Elvis Costello, Jon Stewart, and a ton of others. In a chapter on rap beefs Rachel Maddow recites a verse from Professor Booty.

Recommend!

Finished the Beastie Boys book yesterday. Listened and followed along in the e-book to see the pictures. That was fun.

I did not know that Rick Rubin was such a dick and that Doctor Dre had a one point DJd for the B-Boys, but it was not that Dr. Dre.

[SteelBlue]

Read a couple of recent prize winners. The Overstory from Richard Powers (Pulitzer) and The Friend from Sigrid Nunez (National Book Award). I liked both. Richard Powers is a brilliant man and writer and some of his stuff is difficult (Orpheus) but The Overstory wasn't necessarily one of those. He's really passionate about trees and it's a long novel. Since my passion for trees doesn't match his, it felt like work at times but definitely a worthy winner.

The friend was excellent. Kind of a different structure. Highly recommend.

[Pelado]

Still struggling through The Brothers Karamazov.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Still struggling through The Brothers Karamazov.

Make sure you're awake when you get to The Grand Inquisitor.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I am slogging through David McCullough's latest book: The Pioneers. I love DM and I have read all of his books, but this is probably his worst. It is about the pioneers who first settled the Ohio valley, specifically Marietta, OH. His trademark is telling a great story. The problem is, the story here just isn't that compelling. It is more a collection of anecdotes than a cohesive narrative. Oh well. Maybe he is just too old at this point.