Standup Zone Forum
General => Random => Topic started by: PonoBill on December 26, 2018, 08:28:06 PM
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I've just reread all the Nero Wolfe detective novels, I need some good reads. I'm currently reading Sapiens, tried to read Educated--too grim, read Martin Rees--On The Future Prospects for Humanity, read "The Murderbot Diaries"--moderately good Sci Fi, Tried the IQ series because Michael Connelly likes them (slow start, might go back and try again). On Desperate Ground: Marines at the reservoir--good, glad I wasn't there.Norse Mythology--Neil Gaiman. Interesting. Dark Sacred Night--Michael Connelly--good. Reread Factfulness, reread the Travis McGee novels.
Okay. Let's have it, what did you read last year that was good. I'll do a more comprehensive list later.
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I've been working my way through Michael Connelly's novels. Those are terrific, as is the Bosch show on Netflix. The character in his Renée Ballard series is a paddleboarder!
I'm also reading The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel. It's a retelling of the Sleepy Hollow story, and it's pretty steamy!
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given i am considering "retirement", and conflicted, i am heartened to consider actually reading books again.
much as i have always read good quality long-read journo, constant time demands of the last 35 years---work family(s), sports etc---seem to have conspired to render me unable to go full distance with most books.
nuther thing is that the quality of what i read, on average, has plummeted. used to walk around with a rolled-up atlantic, harpers, sports Ill or the like in my pocket, and read when i might---on the subway, waiting for an appt, waiting in the car, etc----now i whip out my phone and usually get drawn into crappy shallow mostly-headline garbage---and it's not that i cant get to quality via the phone, it's that the whole thrust of the economy that lives in the phone/computer is to keep me clicking---not to get me absorbed in a lengthy piece of quality writing and information---it's not my fault i am becoming a moron!
so there's an issue to tip the scale to retiring---tho retirement aint a layup, regardless of circumstances-- my bro in law, who has plenty of dough to go the distance, said to me the other day that he is "sick of doing yoga, working out, playing golf, playing hockey (long ago Yale player), and reading books".........go figure....that's my plan, with a bit of surfing mixed in....
so i may have a good book list for next year----or i may keep slogging at my business
for now i reco LONGREADS.com totally free, excellently curated from vast horizon of periodicals--emailed pick of 5 longread stories per week along with the year's best reads in all categories if this is your thing, longreads will provide you lots
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I posted this the other day but thought I'd re-post it here. It is one of the best books I've read recently.
The Pacific Alone: The Untold Story of Kayaking's Boldest Voyage
https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Alone-Untold-Kayakings-Boldest/dp/149302681X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545855386&sr=8-1&keywords=the+pacific+alone
I have read a lot of Connelly's books, quick reads but always entertaining. I'm currently also reading Factfullness. Another good book is Douglas Preston's Lost City of the Monkey God.
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I bought Pacific Alone yesterday, haven't started it since I'm still reading Sapiens. An interesting book in that it's changed my mind about a number of things, but not what I'd call "uplifting" or easy for that matter. Requires a lot of thought.
I read Lost City Of The Monkey God some time ago. Fascinating stuff. Makes it obvious on a macro scale how little we know, On a micro scale, we are nowhere.
Eastbound, I'll give that a try. Your brother in law sounds like an amateur at retirement. I'm a pro. I should give lessons. I have no free time. I could do the projects that interest me and currently stacked and waiting until I'm 120 with no additions.
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If you lean to the left, this is a read that would require an open mind, I found it fascinating and dead on. It digs deep into today's colleges and universities, and how much they have changed over the last 40 years, and other things.
"Diversity Delusion" by Heather Mac Donald
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I lean hard to right, which is an odd thing considering the culture I was raised in. But that looks interesting. I bought a copy, though the general premise seems kind of silly to me. Cultures change all the time, there is no point in preserving them. They are simply a large collection of fiction, myth, and ideas that we somehow manage to accept to varying degrees and live within, despite obvious contradictions.
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PB! I am disappointed--i thought you were a vociferous leaner in the direction of NOT LEANING!!!
leaners are biased, cant see truth when it's biting them on the ankles.....
take it from me---only leaning i do is deep into a nice bottom turn!
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I think my politics are mostly unrecognizable, but people like labels. Classic conservatism, if there is such a thing, aims for minimal government, both in terms of size and impact on people's lives. I like that idea. The same fundamental human traits that doom communism (From each as little as he can get away with, to each according to how much he can grab) corrupts big government and makes it inefficient. It also forces big government en mass to overreach to justify continued expansion despite massive inefficiency. But we should care about other people and try to help them. That's as close as I come to political philosophy.
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If you lean to the left, this is a read that would require an open mind, I found it fascinating and dead on. It digs deep into today's colleges and universities, and how much they have changed over the last 40 years, and other things.
"Diversity Delusion" by Heather Mac Donald
Weasel, I lean pretty hard left, but I'll give that book a gander. Why not? It's good to read ideas outside the stream of your own ideas.
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Tom, I'm just about finished with Pacifc Alone. What a great book. Inspiring. Made me feel like a chicken little weenie. Came in handy today though, I was paddling out in some insane turbulence foiling in the harbor. I thought about turning back and then remembered that Kahalui Harbor is where Mr. Gillet finished his epic voyage. Fuck that, thinks I, and I pressed on. Had a good session.
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I've just reread all the Nero Wolfe detective novels, I need some good reads.
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Okay. Let's have it, what did you read last year that was good. I'll do a more comprehensive list later.
Interestingly my dad was an art director at Bantam so I read a lot of the Nero Wolfe novels as a kid. Can't remember if he did the covers on those or not but he did do the Louis Lamour covers.
Here are few that were memorable: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern; Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys Club in Silicon Valley by Emily Chang; The Wave: In Pursuit of Rogues, Freaks and Giants by Susan Casey; oh and I did read Zane's book.
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My memory is bad enough that even though I've read all the Nero Wolfe books several times, they are always new. I think there are 40 by Rex Stout and a few by other authors authorized by his estate, but they are dim and unsatisfying parodies of a brilliant series. When I get to the end of each book and the true miscreant is revealed I'm freshly surprised. One of the few benefits of a crap memory.
I'll try your recommendations. I read the Wave and Zane's book. I met Susan Casey somewhere. Don't recall where, but she's an interesting lady. Tough, smart and beautiful, always a great combination.
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My memory is bad enough that even though I've read all the Nero Wolfe books several times, they are always new. I think there are 40 by Rex Stout and a few by other authors authorized by his estate, but they are dim and unsatisfying parodies of a brilliant series. When I get to the end of each book and the true miscreant is revealed I'm freshly surprised. One of the few benefits of a crap memory.
Having read the Rex Stout books recently is the content appropriate for a pre-teen girl? My kids are voracious readers with Lexiles above their age which makes it a bit challenging to find appropriate material for them. We have recently been listening to the Hitchhiker's Guide series Audibles. Your post made me think that I still have a number of the Nero Wolfe books...
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I'm reading what you read....:)
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My memory is bad enough that even though I've read all the Nero Wolfe books several times, they are always new. I think there are 40 by Rex Stout and a few by other authors authorized by his estate, but they are dim and unsatisfying parodies of a brilliant series. When I get to the end of each book and the true miscreant is revealed I'm freshly surprised. One of the few benefits of a crap memory.
Having read the Rex Stout books recently is the content appropriate for a pre-teen girl? My kids are voracious readers with Lexiles above their age which makes it a bit challenging to find appropriate material for them. We have recently been listening to the Hitchhiker's Guide series Audibles. Your post made me think that I still have a number of the Nero Wolfe books...
Absolutely. Nothing salacious, nothing too gruesome. I'd also recommend Patrick Obrian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Challenging to start, but magical once they get the culture and language. I consider them the best novels I've ever read. All of Bernard Cornwall's historical fiction books would be good as well. A bit more gritty, but much milder than what they'd see on TV.
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I'm currently reading Salt, by Kurlansy, which is about salt. 400 pages. Very interesting.
Bill, glad you read Pacific Alone, I knew you'd love it. Does a good job of portraying Ed.
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Absolutely. Nothing salacious, nothing too gruesome. I'd also recommend Patrick Obrian's Aubrey-Maturin series. Challenging to start, but magical once they get the culture and language. I consider them the best novels I've ever read. All of Bernard Cornwall's historical fiction books would be good as well. A bit more gritty, but much milder than what they'd see on TV.
Thanks. I will re-read one or two again and then see if she is interested. Will also check out your other recommendations.