What are you reading 2017? [Archive]

Rogar

1-6-17, 6:55pm

I can usually delve into a little heavier reading during long quiet winter evenings. I just finished Sea Wolf, the old Jack London classic. A rollicking tale of adventure among the seal hunters on the open seas. A bit of vintage forgotten history, a philosophical lesson hidden in the plot, and plain fun reading. I'm currently on The Invention of Nature, a historical account of Alexander von Humboldt. There are many landmarks named Humboldt everywhere and I had never known of the origin. Now I know that most of them are probably named for the famous German explorer and naturalist. It's not a tedious read and the cover names it as one of the NYT best books of 2015.

Ultralight

1-6-17, 7:39pm

Very cool! For some reason I have been thinking of revisiting a Jack London book or two.

But now I am in the midst of reading the Hebrew Bible and classes are about to start. So I will likely be leafing through those pages...

pinkytoe

1-6-17, 7:47pm

rosarugosa

1-6-17, 7:52pm

OK, I'm not doing anything nearly as highbrow as you guys, but I will share nevertheless. I'm reading two books:
The Maid's Version - Daniel Woodrell (he wrote Winter's Bone, which I loved). It's pretty bleak and dismal, and I'm having trouble getting into it, although I'm about half way through it.
Nothing to Lose - Lee Child (A Jack Reacher novel) - pure entertainment! A testosterone-laden, action-packed book of suspense and adventure, with a hero who is a tough, no-nonsense, manly man, cooler than cool, the ultimate simple liver who throws his clothing away rather than being burdened by such menial considerations as laundry. Totally succeeds as escapist fiction on the commute home after a long day at the office. :)

Tybee

1-6-17, 9:14pm

Just finished a wonderful Peter Taylor novella, A Woman of Means.

Gardenarian

1-6-17, 11:35pm

Recently read Ian McEwan's Nutshell. Excellent, hilarious.

KayLR

1-9-17, 12:42pm

Reading the second "Outlander", "Dragonfly in Amber."

iris lilies

1-9-17, 1:15pm

miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane which is a children's book about a toy rabbit. I loved it.

i am reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry right now, a British novel.

JaneV2.0

1-9-17, 6:35pm

I just finished Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick, about life in North Korea. It was a fascinating, if grim, look at that famously insular country.
Before that I read Conviction, by Juan Martinez, the prosecutor of Jodi Arias.

Lainey

1-9-17, 7:43pm

.... Before that I read Conviction, by Juan Martinez, the prosecutor of Jodi Arias.

My indirect connection: I have a relative who was on the Arias jury.

freshstart

1-9-17, 9:24pm

Recently read Ian McEwan's Nutshell. Excellent, hilarious.

loved this book

I am reading Andy Cohen's 3 books, complete campy trash but I don't care. They make the hours sitting in the hospital with my dad fly by.

freshstart

1-9-17, 9:26pm

miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane which is a children's book about a toy rabbit. I loved it.

all of this author's children's books are great. We were obsessed with Because of Winn Dixie

ctg492

1-10-17, 8:33am

Your Best Age Is Now, Robi Ludwig.

I guess I needed to be reassured that I still had a ways to go and time to do it in;)

stopbeingdumb

1-10-17, 10:24am

I know it's an old one and most have you have already read it, but I'm starting with Rich Dad, Poor Dad this year...

iris lilies

1-10-17, 10:26am

all of this author's children's books are great. We were obsessed with Because of Winn Dixie
I havent read the Winn Dixie book but certainly I onow aboit it. now its on my list.thanks!

JaneV2.0

1-10-17, 11:16am

Now I'm reading a science fiction anthology from 2011 and a novel, China Dolls, by Lisa See.
Thanks to BookBub, I've got an intimidating backlog.

razz

1-10-17, 11:55am

Finished the Grammar of God that a friend suggested I might find interesting. I read it twice. Challenged by her views the first time and enjoying her way of writing the second. It certainly helped to understand the Judaic view of the Bible better especially since I rarely have opportunity to discuss such things with a person of that faith system.

From Amazon:
Aviya Kushner grew up in a Hebrew-speaking family, reading the Bible in the original Hebrew and debating its meaning over the dinner table. She knew much of it by heart—and was therefore surprised when, while getting her MFA at the University of Iowa, she took the novelist Marilynne Robinson’s class on the Old Testament and discovered she barely recognized the text she thought she knew so well. From differences in the Ten Commandments to a less ambiguous reading of the creation story to a new emphasis on the topic of slavery, the English translation often felt like another book entirely from the one she had grown up with.

Another friend suggested "A Hidden Wholeness, the Journey toward an Undivided Life" by Parker J. Palmer. Again quite different for me to read but approaching life from the Quaker approach to building a supportive community. This is a new author for me but he has written a number of books. Certainly interesting reading!

leslieann

1-10-17, 12:38pm

I finished Madeleine Thein's Do Not Say We Have Nothing which just won a prestigious Canadian prize. I was so caught up in that book, a beautifully told and complex story that included stuff about the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the backlash and the subsequent protests and massacre at Tienanmen Square. I have to admit that if I read that sentence I just wrote about the book, I would NEVER have chosen it but it was a wonderful book, and I am learning to like books that call me out on my ignorance. So I read with Wikipedia in my other hand, looking for information about Mao and the civil war prior to his domination, and then coverage of the student protests, and also lots about music because music is a fundamental thread throughout the book. We will be discussing in my book group later this month, but in the meantime, I recommend it!

I can't figure out how to do this italics......

LDAHL

1-10-17, 3:26pm

I'm reading an extremely cheap electronic edition of the complete works of Robert E. Howard. 1930s pulp fiction from the age before electronically assisted imagination. Lurid, violent fun.

Florence

1-10-17, 5:38pm

Finished Zbinden's Progress by Christoph Simon.
Am currently reading:
Gaining Ground by Forrest Pritchard
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal

Rogar

1-11-17, 4:07pm

I'm reading an extremely cheap electronic edition of the complete works of Robert E. Howard. 1930s pulp fiction from the age before electronically assisted imagination. Lurid, violent fun.

Ha. I read everything he wrote years ago. Great escapist fantasy pulp.

pinkytoe

1-11-17, 9:35pm

97 Orchard - a very interesting look at five immigrant families (German, Italian, etc) in NYC (1800s) and the food traditions they brought with them.

The Storyteller

1-12-17, 12:57pm

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doer (best fiction I have read in a long, long time)
So, Anyway... , by John Cleese
10% Happier, a book on mindfulness by ABC reporter Dan Harris
The Book of Speculation, by Swyler
Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, by Hochschild (trying to understand what makes all my Trump voting Tea Party friends tick)
Fighting God, by Silverman
Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin Dixie Outta the Dark, by Trae Crowder (who is about to get his own sitcom based on is comedy on Fox)

MaryHu

1-13-17, 11:47am

Just finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Excellent, very involved mystery novel set in Barcelona just after the end of WWII. Also read The Mistletoe Murder by P.D. James, leant to my by a friend. It's a collection of 4 short stories the first of which is her own true experience. Now I'm just about to finish Livia Lone by Barry Eisler. It's about a girl who gets trafficed into America from Thailand and grows up to take revenge on her abusers. (Warning for those with a weak stomach; it's pretty graphic) I'm just about to dive into Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell, non fiction for a change. Anybody use his cleaning systme and care to comment?

Tybee

1-13-17, 1:59pm

I adored the Jeff Campbell speed cleaning system!! Fantastic, the house never looked better.
I should revisit the book.

LDAHL

1-16-17, 9:04am

Ha. I read everything he wrote years ago. Great escapist fantasy pulp.

One of the great things about cheap electronic publishing is that all kinds of weird, limited-interest stuff is available.

beach pointe

1-18-17, 8:35pm

I recently finished Robbie Robertson's autobiography Testimony, and now I am aiming to finish Jack Canfield's The Success Principles, and re-read Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now, and A New Earth.

TVRodriguez

1-27-17, 2:17pm

Recently finished:
Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance
Rich Dad Poor Dad

Currently reading:
Sapiens, a Brief History of Humakind, by Yuval Noah Harari
"How to" bundle of books (How to Sit, How to Eat, How to Love, How to Walk, How to Relax), by Thich Nhat Hanh

Also reading Hop on Pop with my youngest.

Rogar

1-27-17, 2:28pm

TVRodriguez

1-27-17, 3:21pm

miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane which is a children's book about a toy rabbit. I loved it.

I read this with my kids last year and also loved it! Very touching.

frugal-one

1-27-17, 3:22pm

TVRodriguez

1-27-17, 3:26pm

TVR, "Sapiens" was one of the better books I read last year. It's a little speculative I thought, but thought provoking. I have wondered since how much of my behavior or of social behavior in general is programmed into our genetics and how much is truly free will.

Glad to see your positive review. It's been very thought provoking so far. I'm still in the beginning. I do find it hopeful to see how resourceful adaptable our species has been over time, since we'll need that resourcefulness and adaptability as we continue to head straight on towards a warmer planet with less fresh water.

I heard the author on npr, and I was taken in by his statement that homo sapiens survived in part due to our ability to believe incredible fictions on a mass scale, such as paper money, human rights, and religion. I put my name on the library wait list that day.

Random observation on the hardcover binding: It's a very heavy book--not too thick but dense. I find that I need to place it on a table or hold it with two hands to read it! I think the paper is quite thick.

catherine

1-27-17, 3:29pm

Reading The Unsettlers: In Search of the Good Life in Today's America by Mark Sundeen.

He's a really good writer: I've also read and enjoyed his book The Man Who Quit Money--about Daniel Suelo.

TVRodriguez

1-27-17, 3:36pm

So, which did you like?

All of them!

Hillbilly Elegy gave me a window into a life quite unlike my own and made me feel grateful for the opportunities I have had from the outset.

Rich Dad Poor Dad was one I actively avoided for years b/c I found the author too smug and sometimes simply incorrect on some things he'd said publicly, but I received it as a gift for Christmas from another lawyer I know. Figured since he took the time to send it, I'd take the time to read it. Quick read, nothing very new since the book's so old, but still interesting to finally read it.

Sapiens is a very easy read, for all its density.

The How To books are lovely mindfulness training in bite size portions--really helpful to read a few pages here and there, especially when feeling frazzled.

And Hop on Pop is a classic! "Three fish in a tree? How can that be?" "Ask me tomorrow but not today!"

Oh, and I read Designing Your Life over the holidays. Some good ideas on how to break out of a rut or move into a new path in life if you've been moving in one direction so long you're not sure why anymore. Or how to start on a path if you're younger with little experience one way or another.

pinkytoe

1-31-17, 1:57pm

I am reading one of the most peculiar and fascinating books I've read in a while - Being a Beast by Charles Foster. The author describes in extremely graphic details how he tries to become animals (one chapter per beast) by delving into their very beings and way of life. It makes me realize how they are bonded to the earth and true to their instincts (unlike most humans now). When I read passages to DH, he asks me if the author is on LSD, but I get what he is trying to convey.

Tybee

1-31-17, 2:18pm

I will have to look at this. Lately I feel like my dog and I are becoming a lot more the same--she has learned to spell b-a-t-h, for example, and terriers are not known for their brilliance. Similarly, I admire her insistence on spending most of her life in bed.

pony mom

2-1-17, 6:58pm

I just read a sweet little novel called My Mrs. Brown by William Norwich. A nice story about a frugal older lady who decides she wants to travel to NYC for a designer dress. Even my mom is enjoying it, and she never reads books.

Yppej

3-17-17, 8:10pm

Siddharta's Brain by James Kingsland, Kindfulness by Ajahn Brahm, The Other Slavery by Andres Resendez, City of Dreams by Tyler Anbinder and a few lesser lights that I may not finish.

freshstart

3-17-17, 8:48pm

I want to read Hillbilly Elegy. I'm reading Illusion of Justice: inside Making a Murderer and America's Broken system. It is written by one of the defense attorneys and if you liked Making a Murderer, you'll probably like this. More than half the book is about the failings of the legal system and it's an interesting, thought provoking read.

my friend's wrote a book about mindfulness but it turns out to be about how to channel spirits and I'm not into that. I'm trying diligently to get through it. He has some good exercises for meditation that actually helped me, I am the world's worst meditator.

Tybee

3-17-17, 9:09pm

Was that hard on your relative, Lainey? I was on a traffic accident liability jury and I hated it--another juror and I were so glad not to be on a murder case.

JaneV2.0

3-17-17, 9:28pm

White Trash by Nancy Isenberg, Authentic Mexican (a cookbook). by Rick Bayless, and Dark Matter, a suspense novel that seems to involve time travel, by Blake Crouch. Dark Matter is winning the competition. White Trash is interesting enough--starting from the early days of the Republic--but dense. White Trash and Dark Matter are library downloads, so I had better get crackin'.

I also just invested in Todd Oldham's two Charley Harper books, volumes of his art: An Illustrated Life and Animal Kingdom. Love his elegant, minimalist style. (One of the rare occasions where minimalism really appeals to me.) Such economy of line!

Lainey

3-17-17, 9:49pm

Was that hard on your relative, Lainey? I was on a traffic accident liability jury and I hated it--another juror and I were so glad not to be on a murder case.

The few things they told me were most difficult were a) the amount of graphic sexual texts and photos, even though this person is not at all squeamish; b) the length of the trial, which was over 5 months long; and c) the inability to watch or read any news, and certainly not discuss anything about the trial, for that amount of time, until all the jurors were allowed to deliberate. It's hard to process all of that awfulness by yourself for months on end.

Lainey

3-17-17, 9:59pm

Just finished the non-fiction book "The Great Depression, A Diary." Unusual because it's a middle class professional first-person recording of his and others' experiences during the Depression.
The blurb by Jonathan Alter said it best: "We imagine the Great Depression at two extremes - Franklin Roosevelt's jaunty smile and the haunting images of Dustbowl destitution. But in between were everyday middle-class strivers like Benjamin Roth, trying to sort through the wreckage...Roth's incisive diaries...speak to our economic hopes and fears directly, and to the bewilderment of our own time." Published in 2009 with some editorial notes, and very apt for the Great Recession time period.

Two questions keep echoing as he records year after year: "What caused this?" and "When is this going to end?" Lots of discussion about the gold standard. One interesting entry: April 5, 1933 The "gold" question comes to the front again. President Roosevelt issues an order forbidding any person to hold more than $100 in gold or gold certificates. Any amount above this must be taken to Federal Reserve Banks." !

A combination of a policy wonk and a first-hand observer of the impact of this economic crisis. No need to read every page but good for skimming through.

rosarugosa

3-18-17, 7:43am

Thanks to all who recommended Hillbilly Elegy. I just finished it and thought it was great. It gave me much food for thought on the forces that shape the people we become.

Lainey

3-19-17, 4:00pm

Thanks to all who recommended Hillbilly Elegy. I just finished it and thought it was great. It gave me much food for thought on the forces that shape the people we become.

It also made me feel more certain that so many problems that adults cause in the world would not be happening if somehow they could just go back and be "re-parented." And that I am going to continue my charitable giving towards causes helping children and seniors.

catherine

3-19-17, 4:42pm

I also just invested in Todd Oldham's two Charley Harper books, volumes of his art: An Illustrated Life and Animal Kingdom. Love his elegant, minimalist style. (One of the rare occasions where minimalism really appeals to me.) Such economy of line!

Then if I were to give you a birthday present, I'd give you these dishes from Fishs Eddy--my favorite store for dinnerware and glassware (we have their classic checkerboard pattern, which is no longer available. I adore their whimsy!). Put a hint in your SOs ear!

http://www.fishseddy.com/dinnerware.html?cat=226&nro_custom_design_pattern=953

JaneV2.0

3-19-17, 4:56pm

Then if I were to give you a birthday present, I'd give you these dishes from Fishs Eddy--my favorite store for dinnerware and glassware (we have their classic checkerboard pattern, which is no longer available. I adore their whimsy!). Put a hint in your SOs ear!

http://www.fishseddy.com/dinnerware.html?cat=226&nro_custom_design_pattern=953

I have friends who regularly shop there--neat stuff!

Alan

3-19-17, 5:25pm

Charley Harper was a local artist and acquaintance of my wife. Can you tell she is also a fan of his work?

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1706&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1707&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1708&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1709&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1710&stc=1

Alan

3-19-17, 5:28pm

More:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1711&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1712&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1713&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1714&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1715&stc=1

catherine

3-19-17, 5:29pm

Charley Harper was a local artist and acquaintance of my wife. Can you tell she is also a fan of his work?

Awesome! Would love to give a print of the fox one to my DD whose "spirit animal" is a fox (she's a redhead, and has a fox tattoo) Very cool art display, Alan!

Alan

3-19-17, 5:32pm

And the last 5:

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1716&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1717&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1718&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1719&stc=1http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1720&stc=1

catherine

3-19-17, 5:39pm

And the last 5:

Haha! You've made your point... Thanks for sharing, though.. really great artwork.

Alan

3-19-17, 6:05pm

Haha! You've made your point... The actual point was, when she likes something, she really likes it! ;)

rosarugosa

3-19-17, 6:23pm

Thanks for the virtual gallery tour, Alan!

catherine

3-19-17, 6:25pm

The actual point was, when she likes something, she really likes it!

At least she has good taste! She could be into velvet dogs-playing-poker pictures!

1721

JaneV2.0

3-19-17, 6:41pm

Very nice!

Yppej

4-29-17, 7:14am

Walden on Wheels which is simple living focused, Black Lotus, The Thunder Before the Storm and Cures by Martin Duberman.

early morning

4-29-17, 8:12am

On another Alexander McCall Smith kick. LOVED the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Now doing a quick-read through the 44 Scotland Street books. Also reading a Steve Hockensmith compilation. I read a lot of fluffy crap, lol. On the wait list for Wait-What? by James Ryan.

catherine

4-29-17, 8:27am

Walden on Wheels which is simple living focused, Black Lotus, The Thunder Before the Storm and Cures by Martin Duberman.

I read Walden on Wheels! I enjoyed it! Unbelievable what people can do when driven to get out and stay out of debt!

JaneV2.0

4-29-17, 12:08pm

Don't Go There, by Svetlana Oss--one of several I've read about the Dyatlov Pass incident, which fascinates me. Concussion, by Jeanne Marie Laskas, which was engagingly written and really holding my interest until it came to an abrupt end. It was an expanded article, so I should have expected it, I guess, but still...Tell My Sons, by Mark Weber, apparently the tale of an authoritarian father who is dying. I didn't get far in that one. I'm currently reading No Time to Lose, by Peter Piot--a memoir of an infectious disease specialist and his work on AIDS and the Ebola virus. (I just noticed that my reading has taken a decidedly morbid bent...) I've also got Yuge, Garry Trudeau's take on Trump, but it's poorly formatted for Kindle--I'd have to use a magnifier--so that's one depressing tome I'll probably skip.

LDAHL

4-30-17, 11:13am

JaneV2.0

4-30-17, 7:33pm

Currently reading The Unsubstantial Air by Samuel Hynes, about the U.S. airmen who fought the First World War. Like anything by Hynes, it's well worth reading. Just finished re-reading Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow. Do any of you have an author whose work means different things to you at different stages of your life? Bellow is like that for me.

Hahaha! I had to read Henderson the Rain King in college. I had to write a paper on it. I panned it aggressively. My instructor was offended. It may have affected my grade. I guess you have to be a middle-aged male to appreciate it.

LDAHL

5-1-17, 8:31am

Hahaha! I had to read Henderson the Rain King in college. I had to write a paper on it. I panned it aggressively. My instructor was offended. It may have affected my grade. I guess you have to be a middle-aged male to appreciate it.

I would have to agree that not everyone is equipped to appreciate Bellow. I would say a certain amount of life experience is helpful. He probably speaks best to that stage of development where you think you may never fully answer some of the questions you thought you had all figured out in your youth. I don't see that as a male thing, though.

JaneV2.0

5-1-17, 9:37am

I would have to agree that not everyone is equipped to appreciate Bellow. I would say a certain amount of life experience is helpful. He probably speaks best to that stage of development where you think you may never fully answer some of the questions you thought you had all figured out in your youth. I don't see that as a male thing, though.

At my advanced age, I can appreciate the frustrations of a life never fully realized, or existential questions that go unanswered, but I suspect I still wouldn't warm up to Bellow, or that book. Oddly, and unexpectedly, I really enjoyed Thomas Mann and James Joyce, though not enough to read more of their works. Although one of my many majors was English, I wasn't much of a literature buff--"Don't tell me what to read" being my motto. Never was much for authority.

LDAHL

5-1-17, 10:28am

At my advanced age, I can appreciate the frustrations of a life never fully realized, or existential questions that go unanswered, but I suspect I still wouldn't warm up to Bellow, or that book. Oddly, and unexpectedly, I really enjoyed Thomas Mann and James Joyce, though not enough to read more of their works. Although one of my many majors was English, I wasn't much of a literature buff--"Don't tell me what to read" being my motto. Never was much for authority.

I have found good literature to be one of the great pleasures of life. I'm grateful to the people in my life who have steered me toward the best of the written word and helped me understand it. By all means, tell me what to read.

JaneV2.0

5-1-17, 10:59am

I have found good literature to be one of the great pleasures of life. I'm grateful to the people in my life who have steered me toward the best of the written word and helped me understand it. By all means, tell me what to read.

Suit yourself. I prefer non-fiction, generally.

Lainey

5-15-17, 3:26pm

"Bettyville" - a memoir by George Hodgman.
George's mother Betty is a 90 year old widow in a small town in Missouri that he likes to think of as Bettyville. Her gay middle-aged son, George, is in an entirely different world as a writer and editor in Manhattan. As he returns to be her caretaker he writes about growing up there interspersed with trying to manage day to day life with his strong-willed elderly mother who is also frail and sliding into dementia.

A reviewer called it "humorous, bittersweet." A NY Times bestseller.

oldhat

5-15-17, 4:16pm

Just finishing up "Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved by Beauty." Very well-written account by Day's granddaughter, mainly focusing on the relationship between Day and her daughter, Tamar. Ample evidence that the only thing harder than being a saint is being the child of one.

Yppej

5-15-17, 5:28pm

I read Bettyville and liked it. This weekend I started The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg.

nswef

5-15-17, 5:48pm

I just finished Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country His use of detail and humor to describe his long journey through Australia was enjoyable and informative. It's the third book I've read of his and have enjoyed every one.

pinkytoe

5-16-17, 9:25am

I read Bettyville recently too and liked it. Currently reading Vegan Betrayal since I'm always interested in topics of nutrition. Don't necessarily follow any particular diet anymore as all the info is so opposed to each other but this book had some interesting info about the value of fat and protein in our diets. According to the author, the long term effects of veganism are not known and can be disastrous healthwise for some. I tend to be a comitted omnivore these days but still find the arguments interesting.

iris lilies

5-16-17, 9:46am

Ill put Bettyville on my list for later reading, it sounds good.

I havent read anything and cant right now, too much iris work and flower show reading to do.oh right, I have been reading The Hamdbook for Flower Shows by National Garden Club, sudying it for the upcoming test.

Williamsmith

5-16-17, 12:04pm

"The Case Against Sugar", Gary Taubes. The history of sugar in the American Diet, its pervasive inclusion as an ingredient in almost everything stocked on grocery shelves and the evidence that our addiction to sugar has fueled obesity, fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, heart disease and an epidemic of diabetes. A critical look at the sugar industry's profiteering at the expense of the health of the population in many of the same ways tobacco was able to market cigarettes (did you know some were infused with sugar). It calls into question the research that was used to permit sugar to remain on the "generally recognized as safe" list of the FDA. Provides food for thought, so to speak.

KayLR

5-16-17, 1:38pm

"Bettyville" does sound good...will have to look for that.

Recently finished "The Stranger in the Woods," by Michael Finkel. It's the story of the hermit who was found living in a tent in central Maine after more than 20 years of breaking into cabins and homes to eke out his living alone. The only words he spoke to another human being in all that time was "hi" when he came upon some hikers unexpectedly. One day he just drove into the woods, abandoned his car and decided to stay out there in the woods. He really never gave any particular reason. It was fascinating. Written by the only journalist Christopher Knight ever spoke to.

ToomuchStuff

6-1-17, 12:33pm

Currently looking for a copy...http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1753&stc=1

:laff:

pinkytoe

6-1-17, 1:24pm

I continue my fascination with all things Scandinavian so am reading The Year of Living Danishly. The book is about a young couple from London who move to Denmark for a year when the husband takes a job at Lego. The author explains all the various reasons why or why not the Danes are known for their high happiness factor. Aside from all the social safety nets, there is very strong cohesiveness through family and communtiy activities - a real sense of pride, belonging and trust.

JaneV2.0

6-1-17, 5:16pm

Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Germ Laboratory.
But I think Mein Covfefe might be next on my list.

beckyliz

6-1-17, 5:36pm

Pinkytoe, I recently read The Little Book of Hygge by Mke Weiking. He talks about the Danish lifestyle and the feeling of happiness within the home when one is with friends and family. The Danes do not feel guilty for having a "hyggelik" time with their children - they don't feel the compulsion to always be busy as some of us do in the USA. I enjoyed it and may give copies as gifts going forward.

I just finished Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. It's a novel about a young lady who is dating a young man from Singapore. He talks her into going back there with him for a holiday and because he's in a wedding. Turns out he part of the very wealthy society there and she is blindsided by the ins and outs, intrigues, etc. It gave me a glimpse of a totally different world than this gal lives in NE Kansas, that's for sure!

Florence

6-1-17, 6:02pm

Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen -- Excellent (Fiction)
I Contain Multitudes by Ed Yong -- Excellent (Non-Fiction)

JaneV2.0

6-1-17, 6:25pm

Thanks for mentioning I Contain Multitudes--I put it in my download queue at the library. Sounds interesting.

Rogar

6-1-17, 7:20pm

I just finished "Open Cockpit", the accounts of a WWI biplane pilot who flew much of the war over the front lines on patrol. It is his own unpolished account, but gave a very good image of what it was like. I suppose all war is brutal, but WWI had it's own unique for of brutality.

Ultralight

6-1-17, 7:33pm

At the moment I am reading Travels with Charley. It is interesting and enjoyable. But it does not feel groundbreaking or earth shattering.

Ultralight

6-1-17, 7:34pm

Currently looking for a copy...http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1753&stc=1

:laff: LOL

smellincoffee

7-9-17, 2:52pm

I just finished: Japan, A Cultural History. It was published at some point in the 1970s, so it is dated, but the photography is beautiful, as are the prints. I saw one of a Japanese woman with long hair riding an early bicycle...I am trying to find it online, but I may scan it. I love photos and art of people on bicycles. Bicycles make me think there's hope for the world!

Yppej

7-9-17, 3:42pm

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. It has some good tips but other things I disagree with. For instance, I am not going to stop stocking up on items when they are on sale.

JaneV2.0

7-9-17, 4:52pm

I recently read The Forgetting. It was light reading, a tale of reincarnation based on Dr. Ian Stevenson's work. Pretty believable scenario, if your mind goes there.

Lainey

7-10-17, 8:28pm

Read "The Rosie Project" It's an entertaining novel, easy to stop and start. Think of Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang in search of a wife ...

pinkytoe

7-10-17, 10:33pm

I am reading Straphanger about transportation without cars. Also looking forward to reading The Mandibles about an economic collapse in the near future and how one well to do family's comfortable life comes to a halt.

Williamsmith

7-19-17, 9:23pm

Williamsmith

7-19-17, 9:29pm

I am 1/3 of the way through "The Fact of a Body" by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich. I would describe it as cathartic. It's really two stories in one book, alternating back and forth by chapters. One a memoir of growing up with a grandfather who molested her. The other about defending a child molester who murdered a six year old boy. The author , an attorney who is against the death penalty. I have to admit that it has stirred up emotions and challenged me intellectually. Met my expectations.....which is hard to do.

rosarugosa

7-20-17, 4:19am

I am reading Orphan #8 by Kim Van Alkemade. It's a novel based on true events, disturbing but hard to put down.

JaneV2.0

7-20-17, 9:23am

The Plot to Hack America, by Malcolm Nance.

pinkytoe

7-20-17, 11:15am

Not normally a history buff but just started reading a fascinating book called The Best Land Under Heaven about the Donner-Reed trek from Missouri to California in the 1800s.

LDAHL

7-20-17, 11:24am

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates - Brian Kilmeade

catherine

7-20-17, 11:52am

Flipping among:

This Life is in Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, and a Family Undone. A memoir by Eliot Coleman's daughter--Eliot Coleman is/was a disciple of the Nearings whose 3 year old daughter drowned in a pond on their property.

The Art of Living by Thich Naht Hanh.

Touch by Courtney Maum (fiction)

Spiritual Ecology: 10 Practices to Reawaken the Sacred in Everyday Life by Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee.

Having a month off is so awesome!!

Lainey

9-27-17, 10:12am

Finished "All the Light We Cannot See." Historical fiction by Anthony Doerr, and a Pulitzer Price winner and NY Times #1 bestseller.
Loved it, so beautifully written and also educational like the best historical novels are. Set in Europe in WWII. One reviewer said it "moves with the pace of a thriller" which is a good description.

iris lilies

9-27-17, 11:00am

Handbook for Flower Shows, 2007 edition.

I have a big test in 4 weeks which, if I pass, will signal the end of my "student judge" status and I will be an accredited National Flower Show judge.

Along the same lines, I am skimming a few chapter in the Iris Judges's handbook because I am taking a 5 hour class on Saturday toward judges' accredidation in Iris judging.

For fun reading I am, inspired by my trip to Transylvania, reading two books about gypsy culture.

Exploring Gypsiness: Power, Exchange and Interdependence in a Transylvanian Village

And

American Gypsy:a memoir.

The first is an academic ethnography and is a bit dry but it also
has interesting observations about how gypsies do and do not integrate with their Romanian fellows in a specific village.

The second one is a self published biography about a Russian family of gypsy musicians who relocated to the United States. The author, a daughter in the family, is both proud and annoyed at the behavior of her parents that is stereotypical of their culture.

JaneV2.0

9-27-17, 11:06am

The Wandering Gene and the Indian Princess traces the cancer gene BRCA, handed down for hundreds of years within the Jewish population until it surfaces in New Mexico's Hispano community. It weaves several threads that interest me--genealogy, Spanish-American history, crypto-judaism, DNA science--into one complex story line.

I'm also reading a lot of fiction, mysteries mostly--thanks to BookBub and my Kindle app--because they're entertaining and don't require much thought. I haven't read this much fiction in years.

iris lilies

9-27-17, 11:41am

razz

9-27-17, 11:57am

I am a Louise Penny fan and her latest, Glass Houses, is both a very good mystery with the familiar characters and a good insight to the complexity and challenges in dealing with the opioid crisis.

Ultralight

9-27-17, 12:16pm

This is such a great thread!

I am reading Candide -- never read it before, but I always wanted to. It is pretty good.

So I am on this kick where I am not reading things that are totally disturbing or depressing. I read all five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy.
Then I read another Hermann Hesse book.
Now, Candide.

What book is next...?

dado potato

9-27-17, 12:55pm

iris lilies

9-27-17, 1:03pm

pinkytoe

9-27-17, 2:27pm

Just finished Dream Hoarders which is about class in America. The author is British and claims that class distinctions are now worse in America than Britain and cites many examples.

nswef

9-27-17, 2:41pm

This thread is blooming! so many ideas and not enough time! We just read The Purple Hibiscus...beautiful writing, fast moving but way too dreary for me- abuse in Nigeria. The Alice Network about women spies in WW1- fictionalized but based an several true characters- was interesting, got a bit romance-like, but overall a good read. I also loved All the Light, Lainey, the second read was even better as I knew the plot. ( Both my book clubs read it several months apart and as I have the memory of a gnat I re read it. )

Yppej

9-27-17, 6:26pm

A $500 House in Detroit.

Hallelujah Anyway.

Lainey

9-27-17, 6:35pm

I am a Louise Penny fan and her latest, Glass Houses, is both a very good mystery with the familiar characters and a good insight to the complexity and challenges in dealing with the opioid crisis.

I'm also a Louise Penney fan, but her last 2 books seem to be a bit of an overreach for me, plot-wise. However I love her characters and learning about that part of the world.

Lainey

9-27-17, 6:38pm

I read 2-3 books per month, generally non-fiction.

Currently reading Evicted, by Matthew Desmond. Based on anecdotes about a landlord and various tenants (all fictionalized) in Milwaukee, as well as facts about the housing situation, Desmond makes the case that eviction is a cause of urban poverty, not just a feature.

dado, I think you mean to say the tenants' real names were not used, but that otherwise their situations were true to life. A very powerful, well-documented and well-researched book. I think Desmond did a TED talk on this too. He also lived there for months while he researched it, and has said that after the book was published he went into a depression (almost like PTSD). It's still a very good read, very informative.

JaneV2.0

9-27-17, 6:56pm

And that fiction is making you a better person, isnt it? Haha, just kidding.

If by "better" you mean conversant with multiple methods of mayhem...:devil:

catherine

9-27-17, 8:13pm

I'm not sure the reason but reading two autobiographies of "strong" women - Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda. Maybe just cause they were in the large print section at the library but interesting to recall the 70s and all that went on then.

I just read a biography of another strong woman: Dorothy Day, written by her granddaughter, Kate Hennessy. Loved it.

Ultralight

9-28-17, 7:21am

I picked up Those Who Watch by Robert Silverberg last night. I will likely start it tonight.

Tammy

9-28-17, 8:02pm

Red mars
Green mars
Blue mars

JaneV2.0

9-28-17, 9:10pm

Amy Knight's Orders to Kill--the Putin Regime and Political Murder just popped up in an email from my library. I'm in the middle of Tami Hoag's mystery Secrets to the Grave as well.

Yppej

10-16-17, 8:34pm

I don't know how many of these I will finish, but I have started:

L'Art de la Simplicite
Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve
Nobody's Son
At the Point of A Cutlass
The Health of Nations: The Campaign to End Polio and Eradicate Epidemic Diseases
When We Rise
The Return: Fathers, Sons and The Land In Between

All are nonfiction.

frugal-one

10-19-17, 4:12pm

Finished "The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper" for a book club group. I had a hard time in the beginning. It is a British author and had to look up much of the slang/British vernacular. It was an otherwise easy entertaining read.

Williamsmith

10-20-17, 9:52am

I’m reading, “The Other Wes Moore”....One Name, Two Fates. It’s not a new book by any means, written in 2011. I ran into the book at my daughters house laying on the kitchen counter. If I see a book, I pick it up and thumb through it. I like holding books.

My daughter is a prolific reader which is funny because we held her back one grade in elementary school and she had to have a reading specialist help her with certain deficiencies. Math is another story. She’s is very good with numbers and frugal to a fault. Is that possible? Anyway, she asked me if I wanted to read it. I am always interested in what my children are reading. Yes, sure. But what’s it about?

Turns out it’s about two African American kids with the same name, growing up in the same urban locale. One becomes a Rhodes Scholar , the other a murderer serving a life sentence.

Now this book would definitely disappoint you if you thought the answer to why each one ended up where they did would be resolved within its covers. Unfortunately it’s not that simple. I’m not interested so much in that as I am that ability of people to make choices....good ones and bad ones. There’s no doubt by inference you can believe that family mentors make a difference but there are plenty of examples of people without much assistance at all that made something amazing of their lives. And some who were provided everything that failed tremendously.

So Im reading this book with lower expectations than most I think. Still, I hope to get some insight into the mind of successful versus the “disposable” .

LDAHL

10-20-17, 10:45am

Re-reading The Convivial Codfish by Charlotte MacLeod. Part of a fun, if somewhat silly, mystery series.

Lainey

10-20-17, 3:55pm

I’m reading, “The Other Wes Moore”....One Name, Two Fates. ...

Turns out it’s about two African American kids with the same name, growing up in the same urban locale. One becomes a Rhodes Scholar , the other a murderer serving a life sentence. ...

I've seen the author on TV and also read an essay about it, although not the entire book. Would be curious to what you think when you finish.

I also like your idea of reading a book that a relative or friend has read, it's a great way to connect on another level with our loved ones. I have done this multiple times with siblings and friends and we always enjoy the recommendations and our discussions about it afterwards.

catherine

10-24-17, 7:22am

I also like your idea of reading a book that a relative or friend has read, it's a great way to connect on another level with our loved ones. I have done this multiple times with siblings and friends and we always enjoy the recommendations and our discussions about it afterwards.

Agreed. Its' fun to be able to discuss a book with someone. I had a "one woman book club" this summer with my DIL, who is a prolific reader. We chose the book Touch by Courtney Maum. I also gave my copy of the Dorothy Day biography, The World Will Be Saved By Beauty, to my daughter who is not Catholic, but she's always been a social activist, plus she shares her birthday with Dorothy Day. It's a great story, anyway. So far she is appreciating the historical backdrop of New York in the era of Emma Goldman and Eugene O'Neill.

I'm currently reading a wonderful book by Gene Logsdon--A Sanctuary of Trees. It's part memoir, part love story for the trees, part field notes.

The Storyteller

10-25-17, 3:11pm

Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Enlightenment, by Robert Wright

Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body, by Daniel Coleman and Richard Davidson

Since my last visit long ago, I have really gotten into meditation, and just a bit into the secular side of Buddhism (though I in no way consider myself a Buddhist). Right now I'm on a kick studying up on the science side of the whole thing, since I've read a couple dozen books on the how-to.

ToomuchStuff

10-26-17, 10:01am

An autobiographical musing, by Williamsmith.

Florence

10-27-17, 11:52am

A Thousand Day’s by Arthur Schlesinger (Husband and I are reading this aloud to each other 5 pages a day. With the book 1031 pages, you will understand that this is taking a while.)
Benjamin Rush: Patriot and Physician by Alan Brodsky
Without You, There Is No Us by Suki Kim (Young woman teaches English to elite North Korean Fascinating.)
The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott

Yppej

10-28-17, 10:54am

None of last week's books grabbed me. This week at the library I picked up The Far Away Brothers and 50 States, 5000 Ideas and The World Atlas of Street Fashion.

frugal-one

10-28-17, 1:24pm

None of last week's books grabbed me. This week at the library I picked up The Far Away Brothers and 50 States, 5000 Ideas and The World Atlas of Street Fashion.

Funny! I also picked up 50 states, 5,000 ideas this week. Have not opened it yet though!

dado potato

10-28-17, 7:06pm

I have moved on to the topic of dementia.

Nearly finished Susan and John McFadden's Aging Together which gets to grips with how communities abandon people as they "go down the dementia road"... and makes strong recommendations to family/friends and religious congregations.
On deck:
Mace and Robins, The 36-Hour Day
Basting, Forget Memory
Kessler, Dancing with Rose

iris lilies

10-28-17, 7:36pm

dado potato

10-28-17, 9:48pm

iris lilies:
Thanks for the recommendation of "Still Alice"... When I finish with the current 4, look for it I will look for it.

iris lilies

10-28-17, 10:19pm

iris lilies:
Thanks for the recommendation of "Still Alice"... When I finish with the current 4, look for it I will look for it.
This is a novel and I don't know if you read novels, but this tells the story of a woman with early onset dementia. She is a college professor. It is a very moving book.

Yppej

10-29-17, 8:05am

Funny! I also picked up 50 states, 5,000 ideas this week. Have not opened it yet though!

It didn't have many places I had not already heard of that are of interest to me.

Gardnr

10-29-17, 9:59am

Total fiction/good read. Diane Chamberlain: Cypress Point.

rosarugosa

10-29-17, 12:06pm

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - fiction, so good!

beckyliz

10-31-17, 4:36pm

Just checked out Tom Hanks' book, "Uncommon Type" and Billy Crystal's "700 Sundays." Looking forward to starting them both this week.

Gardenarian

11-2-17, 2:35am

"Happy City" about urban planning by Charles Montgomery. I loved this book!

Also reading some 1950s fiction by Rumer Godden - yummy stuff.

Ultralight

11-2-17, 7:50am

I finally got around to reading Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut. It was the only book of his I had not yet read. Loved it! Though it was not as punchy as his later books.

I am just about finished with Rosshalde by Hermann Hesse. Good book -- though sad in many ways.

Next on the docket is either Gertrude by Hermann Hesse or Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.

pinkytoe

11-2-17, 10:21am

Fascinating book - The Ground Beneath Us by Paul Bogard. It tells the history and demise of the soil beneath us all around the world. Interviews archaeologists, historians and scientists. I never thought about how much of our world is paved now and how our tender little tootsies never touch real soil.

Yppej

11-8-17, 8:22pm

American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land, set on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Ultralight

11-8-17, 8:59pm

American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land, set on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Tell me just a little more.

Ultralight

11-8-17, 9:00pm

Ultralight

11-8-17, 9:01pm

I just finished Rendezvous with Rama. Good novel! Great sci-fi!

I am actually looking for another space adventure novel to read. Suggestions?

At the moment I am reading Sula by Toni Morrison. This is fine literature, it really is. Though it is very dark.

iris lilies

11-8-17, 9:36pm

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - fiction, so good!
Several of us here saw the film of this book and talked about it on the film board. It was a nice little film.

Yppej

11-9-17, 4:49am

Tell me just a little more.

I am only about a fifth of the way into the book but it is good so far, written by a reporter. It is about one arsonist.

rosarugosa

11-9-17, 5:07am

Several of us here saw the film of this book and talked about it on the film board. It was a nice little film.

I should definitely seek out the movie; thanks for mentioning it.

BikingLady

11-9-17, 6:07am

Buddhism a Beginners Guide

frugal-one

11-9-17, 10:35am

I should definitely seek out the movie; thanks for mentioning it.

I got the movie and it was subtitled.

The Storyteller

11-9-17, 12:43pm

Buddhism a Beginners Guide

Interested. Who is the author? There are several books with that or similar title. I enjoyed this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Buddhism-Ser/dp/156455886X

I also like the ones on secular Buddhism by Stephen Batchelor, especially Buddhism Without Beliefs.

https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510249495&sr=1-1&keywords=buddhism+without+beliefs

iris lilies

11-9-17, 12:59pm

I got the movie and it was subtitled.
Yes. It is a Swedish film.

nswef

11-9-17, 1:03pm

I just finished reading Reading With Patrick by Michelle Kuo. I could not put it down. Non fiction memoir/story of a teacher, the Delta, the children, lost in the horror of the South yet surviving.

JaneV2.0

11-9-17, 1:18pm

Rogar

11-11-17, 5:11pm

I just finished listening to another escape from North Korea memoir--In Order to Live, and I'm in the middle of Full Body Burden, also a memoir, but about the infamous Rocky Flats nuclear plant. I'm ready for something uplifting--like a nice bloody mystery.

For about four years in the 1980's I lived just few miles downwind of Rocky Flats. I always had the feeling that by then much of the radioactive emissions were under control by then and maybe the plant was winding down, but now I may have to check the book out to see. I'd not heard of it.

I am reading The Lost City of the Monkey God, which is a non-fiction adventure type book about modern archaeologists searching for a legendary lost civilization in the jungles of Honduras. It good.

Gardenarian

11-11-17, 9:51pm

"Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore" by Matthew Sullivan.

A somewhat literary suspense novel that takes place in Denver in the 1990s. The bookstore is actually The Tattered Cover, thinly disguised. Lots of landmarks for those who know Denver - El Chepultepec (dh played jazz there in the 80s) the gentrification of that area, building the stadium etc.

A little too gory for my taste, but convincing, likable characters, a fast paced plot, and lots of literary references made it hard to put down.

JaneV2.0

11-12-17, 9:45am

Thanks for the review, Gardenarian. I'm in queue for the ebook at my library. I'm ready for a well-written mystery.

Yppej

11-16-17, 6:29pm

I got a new batch of library books since next weekend is a long one.

More Than Just Making It: Hope for the Heart of the Financially Frustrated should have some frugal tips.

Radio Free Vermont, a novel by Bill McKibbin.

Sherman Alexie's memoir You Don't Have to Say You Love Me.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.

Two travelogue books of less interest but I will see if they strike my fancy - White Mountain:
A Cultural Adventure Through the Himalayas and Happiness to Meet You: Foolishly, Blissfully Stranded in Vietnam.

And someone lent me Not Under Forty by Willa Cather.

JaneV2.0

11-16-17, 7:20pm

Masochist that I am, I'm listening to the audible download of Insane Clown President, by Matt Taibbi. It's a collection of his dispatches from the election trenches. It's well written, well narrated, and very, very depressing.

dado potato

11-16-17, 7:36pm

Thunderstruck, by Erik Larsen.
Also listening to the audiobook late at night.

Ultralight

11-16-17, 8:22pm

I am reading Gertrude by Hermann Hesse.

Seems like a good book so far. I have become a rather big fan of Hesse over the past year or two.

Thought I'd like to read a sci-fi space adventure next -- something lighter emotionally.

jp1

11-17-17, 12:23am

For about four years in the 1980's I lived just few miles downwind of Rocky Flats. I always had the feeling that by then much of the radioactive emissions were under control by then and maybe the plant was winding down, but now I may have to check the book out to see. I'd not heard of it.

I grew up in city center Denver, so not next door, but close enough that when I was in high school I had friends who went to protest the place. Just checked and the library here has 2 copies, both of which are currently checked out. It's now reserved so I'm looking forward to it. At least as much as one can look forward to such a book.

jp1

11-17-17, 12:31am

nswef

11-17-17, 9:28am

JP, the book Wild was my first "trail book". It inspired my friend to start doing the Appalachian Trail-she's done all of PA, MD, WV and is trying to figure out how to do VA- which is over 500 miles. I just read the Appalachian Trail books.

Lainey

11-24-17, 7:57pm

"The Best of Us" by Joyce Maynard. She's in her early 60s and had a late in life second marriage. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer about one year into the marriage. I've enjoyed her writing for years (both novels and earlier memoirs) and this is just as thoughtfully written and moving as her other works.

Zoe Girl

11-24-17, 8:29pm

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - fiction, so good!

Loved it and saw the movie

iris lilies

11-24-17, 8:59pm

"The Story of Us" by Joyce Maynard. She's in her early 60s and had a late in life second marriage. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer about one year into the marriage. I've enjoyed her writing for years (both novels and earlier memoirs) and this is just as thoughtfully written and moving as her other works.

have we talked about Maynard here once before? Her first novel was Baby Love, a sharply observed little story about a teenage mother. I liked that book a lot. (I am now at the age where I can remember when I read 37 years ago, but I don’t remember what I read three months ago.) anyway I kind of lost track of her for a couple decades until she surfaced as JD Salinger‘s teenage lover and that whole saga. So I have followed her a bit off And on since then.

Yppej

11-30-17, 8:16pm

Travels with Myself and Another by Martha Gellhorn and Homo Deus which I both like so far are amongst my latest library findings.

I also picked up but have not started yet Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick, Black Detroit now that DB and SIL moved to Michigan and I hope to be visiting them and seeing the sights, and Ginny Moon, a novel recommended for me by Amazon, though I have not gotten into fiction lately.

KayLR

12-1-17, 6:56pm

As for what I've recently finished reading, probably the most interesting was Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. I've long thought I would like to hike the Appalachian Trail from one end to the other. And then I learned that there's a similar trail here on the west coast from the Mexico boarder in California to the Canada border in Washington. It appears to be a much more intense, and less done, trail. Tucked away in my bucket list is hiking it once I retire but before i get too old and decrepit to manage such a challenge.

jp1, check out this blog by a local guy who hiked the Triple Crown in one year in 2016. I went to listen to him lecture and our newspaper followed his whole trip.
http://freeoutside.com/
http://freeoutside.com/calendar-triple-crown/

His photos are stupendous. He is a fascinating, but understated and humble person---the hike changed him profoundly. Either it did, or it's just really taking a long time for him to adjust to the real world.

I can't wait for his book to come out. I followed him on Instagram too.

Lainey

12-19-17, 10:13am

"Shaking the Family Tree" by Buzzy Jackson. A non-fiction book by a self-described "accidental genealogist."

She decides to explore her family tree and along the way educates us in all of the processes of genealogy. A great read for those wanting to get started, or for those who love history, or for those who just want a behind-the-scenes look at things like the LDS church free Family History Library in Utah.
Best of all she does it with humor (fun chapter on the weeklong genealogy Caribbean cruise). Very enjoyable and educational at the same time.

JaneV2.0

12-19-17, 10:37am

The Storyteller

12-19-17, 2:49pm

And I just finished It's All Relative, by AJ Jacobs, of The Year of Living Biblically, er, fame. Also about genealogy.

Inspires me to get back into it. The farthest ancestor going back I have found lived in Elizabethan England. And I just took the 23andMe ancestry DNA test. Looking forward to the results.

Jim

pinkytoe

12-19-17, 5:22pm

Ultralight

12-27-17, 8:49pm

Two things:
1. This thread is going to be outdated soon!
2. I am reading a collection of three short stories by Hermann Hesse. They are: A Child's Heart, Klein and Wagner, and Klingsor's Last Summer.

A Child's Heart was a good story, but nothing monumental.
Klein and Wagner was dark and thought-provoking.
I am midway through Klingsor's Last Summer. So far it is good with glimpses of greatness. Though it is a bit hard to follow.

rosarugosa

12-28-17, 5:39am

I'm reading "Sleeping Beauties" by Stephen and Owen King and enjoying it, simple entertainment. I'm also reading "How to Make Your Money Last" by Jane Bryant Quinn, which is interesting and pretty readable. The two balance each other pretty nicely.

Rogar

12-28-17, 9:09am

I'm slogging through "Leonardo DaVinci" Biographies are not my favorite venue, but I'm learning a lot about the Renaissance, so the historical part is interesting and good things to know.

pinkytoe

12-28-17, 10:30am

Reading relevant (to me) parts of Ray Dalio's Principles. There are some interesting ideas regarding how we look at our "goals" in life and work.

leslieann

12-28-17, 12:41pm

I'm reading What Happened by H. Clinton. Just finished Frankenstein, M. Shelley (did you know she was only 18 when she penned that?).

Upcoming are The Sympathizer and the new Le Carre, because I gave it to DH for his birthday. The gift that keeps on giving. He's doing a LeCarre retrospective, though, before tackling the new book, to be sure he's up to date enough to read it.

I have a pretty tall stack that collected this fall while I was working too much to read. I am grateful for time off and plenty of books.

Ultralight

12-28-17, 7:32pm

About ten years ago I read Ringworld by Larry Niven.

I am thinking about reading the suquel -- The Ringworld Engineers. My dad loved the Ringworld books. I thought the first one was pretty good.

At the moment I just really want a smart, space adventure to provide some escapism. It is frigid here, with some snow here and there, it is all dark grey and brown outside. I want to slip into a fantasy world for a while.

flowerseverywhere

12-29-17, 5:41pm

Since I found out I'm going to be a first time granny, I am reading a book called The Danish Way of Parenting that I want to pass on to DD. I am very concerned about the way kids are being raised (or not) these days but that's another thread.

as each preceding generation is by the prior generation. But most of us turn out OK if we are loved and cared for. I imagine they may not be welcoming of parenting advice. I was not.

Back to books

“The Weight of Ink” is fabulous. Just wonderful writing about a discovery of old manuscripts.