Favorite books you've read recently

I'm always interested in finding good books to read; so I'd like to see what you folks have been reading lately that you like. I'd prefer not getting long lists, and I'd also like a short summary of what the book is about; but whatever works for you.

I'll go first:

Six Frigates, by Ian W. Toll
I'm big into history, and is an excellent book on the founding of the US Navy. It also contains a lot of great stuff on the pirate wars and the War of 1812.


The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Yes, THAT J.K. Rowling. It's about as far from Harry Potter as one can get, and while I think she has a tendency to be overexplanatory at times, I really thought she did a good job on this book, about small town politics and "keeping up with the Joneses" in rural England.



More later, but I'd like to see what you've got...

 

I'm reading one now that started out pretty good and then devolved.
It's a Pulitzer Prize Novel.
When a novel is really good like a Jack London or one of the
masters,it is difficult to walk away from.
I gave up reading Novels about 7 years ago and then I experimented
and hit upon a string of fabulous novels and of course my favorite
True-Crime books.The last being :
- A Deadly Secret - { The Bizarre and
Chilling Story of Robert Durst }.
I learned an important lesson from that book.That Fox legal eagle
and former Westchester County D.A. Jeanine Pirro { who I once
admired } is not anything like what she portends.
She is a self-enamored Media Ham and ballbusting control freak.
That Crime story spells it out. She's a Bully.She's an overtly
aggressive Female control freak.I have to admit,.She had me fooled.

 

I think 2 really good books are both award winners.
There's - Devil in the Grove - by Gilbert King.
No finer example of the perils of Southern Racism then that
Pulitzer Prize account of the hazardous job Thurgood Marshall
was charged with overseeing in the late 1940's as a young skilled
Lawyer { deemed the most Important lawyer of the 20th Century }
for the NAACP.He put his very life in jeopardy.

Then there's - The Worst Hard Time - by Timothy Egan.
Winner of the National Book Award.
{ The Untold Story of those who survived The Great American Dust Bowl }

Of course those aren't novels.

Try - The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint - by Brady Udall

 

I recently finished The Time of Our Lives by Tom Brokaw. It describes some problems facing our country and some examples of solutions to those problems. It gives a ray of hope for the future - if we start to value education again. I had read a book of his on 1968 (that became a documentary) but this one tries to look ahead based on things now. I like Tom Brokaw's style. He has a lot of integrity and no "axe" to grind. Enjoyable and thoughtful to read.

I'm currently reading a college textbook on geology, because I don't know much about geology and I'd like to know more. It's great. Written by two professors who obviously LOVE geology, and it shows.

 

My next read is gonna be A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I watched a clip from it on Play Movies - he was on this 2000-mile walk on the Appalachian Trail with a old mate of his: they were sitting in the middle of nowhere (literally!) brewing up, when this young woman appears, again, from nowhere! She says her hello and 'Are you hiking too?' and Robert Redford says 'No, we live here!' The following IMDB link has a video clip, and it might be the same scene . . .

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1178665/

 

Hillbilly elegy is very good.

 

Brokaw also wrote a book I'll eventually read :
- The Greatest Generation Speaks -.
along with Tim Russerts book :
- Big Russ and Me :Father and Son: Lessons of Life -

 

1493. If you like history, pick it up. There is a fascinating section on Chinese money in here, teaches economics better than any econ professor could.

 

VietVet said: ↑
I recently finished The Time of Our Lives by Tom Brokaw. It describes some problems facing our country and some examples of solutions to those problems. It gives a ray of hope for the future - if we start to value education again. I had read a book of his on 1968 (that became a documentary) but this one tries to look ahead based on things now. I like Tom Brokaw's style. He has a lot of integrity and no "axe" to grind. Enjoyable and thoughtful to read.

I'm currently reading a college textbook on geology, because I don't know much about geology and I'd like to know more. It's great. Written by two professors who obviously LOVE geology, and it shows.

Where geology is concerned, I'd highly recommend some of Simon Winchester's extremely readable and interesting books, such as:

The Map That Changed the World - about William Smith, the father of modern Geology


Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 - about the eruption of that volcano


A Crack in the Edge of the World - about the great California Earthquake of 1906

 

I'm currently enjoying The Lost City of Z by David Grann. It is about Percy Fawcett and the Victorian age of exploration and ties in all our favorites like Richard Francis Burton. Although it includes facts about notable African and polar exploration, it is specifically about the search for El Dorado and the Lost City in the Amazon jungle. I didn't realize until I Googled Fawcett that a movie has been made that is coming out in April. If botflies aren't your thing, an equally engaging but tamer book, also about Amazon exploration is the Mapmaker's Wife by Robert Whitaker. Also true - also exciting.

 

That looks very interesting.

Thanks.