I have just finished the Peter Hanington trilogy - thrillers centred around a BBC journalist written by a former BBC journalist and they are quite good but he clearly had read Mick Herron as the character is a wannabe Jackson Lamb and not remotely in the same cynical / amusing league but they were fun enough
I have just finished listening to the places inbetween; rory stewarts walk across Afghanistan after the fall of the taliban and it is quite interesting and dispels lots of the myths about the place, the people and how its perceived. I also agreed with his assessment of the bureacrats that went after the fall of the taliban and how they were not enormously successful.
I have started Peter Frankopans the earth transformed. Its really interesting.
After reading that and a recent visit to Pearl Harbor, I have a new appreciation for the extremes we went to in going after Japan in WWII. Absolutely brutal.
Just finished The Night Agent by Matthew Quirk. Not bad, but Iām having a hard time with some of the new readers on the audio books. Their range of voices hasnāt been great.
Also just finished Judgement Prey and Righteous Prey by John Sandford. Same here with the reader. The Prey Series was always read by Richard Farone and now on his last book there was a new reader and it took a while to adjust.
I finished āGator Country - Deception, Danger and Alligators in the Evergladesā by Rebecca Renner. Non-fiction Florida that one of the largest stings in Florida history for alligator poaching. It was good.
I havenĆ¢ā¬ā¢t watched the Netflix show yet but hopefully itĆ¢ā¬ā¢s worth watching. I like some of the concepts that get explored (advanced alien life, science of exploration).
Iām enjoying it. Itās not gripping writing - itās largely taken from a long series of interviews with him over a period of years later in his life. But it sounds familiar to me. Despite me being born many decades after he was, thereās a certain Midwestern mindset and voice that I can relate to.
Inspired by Masters of the Air, I just finished Damn Lucky by Kevin Maurer. Itās the true story of one of the first American WWII B-17 pilots to successfully achieve the 25-mission threshold and return to the US safely. Pretty fascinating story.
Prior to that I read This Land Is Their Land: The Wompanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David Silverman. Kind of a dry read but an important perspective on the relationship between native Americans and European settlers that we donāt often hear about. Especially interesting since I live in the area where it all took place and the birthplace of the modern Thanksgiving tradition (spoiler alert: we have the story mostly wrong).
Currently reading Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I needed some lighthearted fiction after the previous two.
My buddyās wife just published her first novel, a thriller entitled Nightwatching, so thatās next on the list.
Iāve just started āPiece by Pieceā by Tori Amos. I got her book āResistanceā, which she put out a few years back, for my daughter who is an artist/musician. In it she mentioned her previous book, so thatās when I got āPiece by Pieceā. I think Tori Amos is an incredibly fascinating artist and person. She 100% believes in the Muses and that there are other beings (for a lack of a better noun) guiding her hand when sheās writing. Thereās an anecdote in there of her being around 4 years old and telling her grandfather that āsongs are always chasing me.ā As someone who is a very concrete thinker itās a really interesting look into the way an abstract/artistic brain works.
Have you found any good Native American history books?
Empire of the Summer Moon was very interesting as a lot of it took place where I live.
āAn Indigenous Peoples History of the USā was not at all what I expected. It was just a brow beating of European descendents. I understand and appreciate how the natives feel about their land, but I was hoping to read a history, not a scolding.
rereading āThe Flight Attendantā by Chris Bohjalian
waiting on āThe Martianā and the 5th book in the Cormoran Strike series to get inter-library loaned for me. Just reread the first four of the CS series
rereading āThe Flight Attendantā by Chris Bohjalian
waiting on āThe Martianā and the 5th book in the Cormoran Strike series to get inter-library loaned for me. Just reread the first four of the CS series
I recently read the first book in teh CS series and liked it a lot. I will revisit the series soon. I was surprised at the extreme level of divergence from HP - very different voice.
Dr. Tigerchik wrote:
rereading āThe Flight Attendantā by Chris Bohjalian
waiting on āThe Martianā and the 5th book in the Cormoran Strike series to get inter-library loaned for me. Just reread the first four of the CS series
I recently read the first book in teh CS series and liked it a lot. I will revisit the series soon. I was surprised at the extreme level of divergence from HP - very different voice.
āA casual vacancy,ā her first adult novel, is very good, too.
Different voice but Strike himself is very Hagrid in lots of ways.
rereading āThe Flight Attendantā by Chris Bohjalian
waiting on āThe Martianā and the 5th book in the Cormoran Strike series to get inter-library loaned for me. Just reread the first four of the CS series
Are you waiting for the Running Grave? I read the Ink Black Heart and hated it. It was about 500 pages too long. The way it was written in those chat room format was horrible to follow. I felt it rambled. I enjoyed the first 3 and then I feel like she got very wordy and put too many pages in her books.
Anyway, IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m trying to get through Operation Paperclip by Annie Jacobsen. The subject is fascinating, bringing Nazi scientists over to US after WW2. It is a lot of information and I feel a bit lost, so much going on simultaneously that IĆ¢ā¬ā¢m having a hard time keeping track of who is who.