Jump to content

Golden Oldies out there...what books are you reading right now?


Guest Jetsun Milarepa

Recommended Posts

The Diamond Conspiracy by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

(steampunk adventure about a British spy agency, by a New Zealand author and an American author)

Link to post
Share on other sites
SpaceDustbin
On 8/4/2018 at 4:47 PM, chandrakirti said:

Half way through the Heinrich Harrer book, a pure joy to read and nothing like the film. It's great to re-read it again after some decades.

I'm now reading Harrer's The White Spider about the first ascend (and attempts) on the North Face of the Eiger, quite an interesting read, and I like his writing style.

Seven Years is next on the list ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, Spotastic said:

I might have to look for that one @daveb.

It can get dark. There's a whole series and this is one of the later ones. The first book in the series is called Phoenix Rising

 

For somewhat lighter steampunk I might recommend James Blaylock's Langdon St. Ives books. Or even lighter (albeit with romance), Gail Carriger's books are good fun reads. :) 

Link to post
Share on other sites
cavalier080854

The Forgotten Punch in the Army's Fist, Korea 1950-1953 Recounting REME Involvement.

This is my old Military Corps whilst I served 1970-1981

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm reading "Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind."  Fascinating stuff.  I wonder if there's any overlap, @chandrakirti, between this book and the one you've just read.  

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm reading too many books (which means some of them have been languishing)

 

Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology

The Silmarillion

a book about Viking history

The Grouchy Historian (by Ed Asner, about the US Constitution (the document, not the ship as that would be the USS Constitution)

and another book from the Saint/Simon Templar series

Link to post
Share on other sites

The Grouchy Historian--I like the sound of that.  This thread has also made me interested in Seven years in Tibet.  I might look for both of those at the library.

Link to post
Share on other sites
6 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

The Grouchy Historian--I like the sound of that.

subtitled:

An Old Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs

He did research, so it's informed.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Nomadland, non-fiction by Jessica Bruder about older Americans being forced by poverty to live in RVs and work part-time for minimum wage.

 

Florida, short stories by Lauren Groff.   

 

Various other stuff that will be overdue at the library before I get to it.

Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, daveb said:

He did research, so it's informed.

Yes, I should have mentioned I looked it up to get a little more info.  (I'm not that suggestible, haha.)

 

1 hour ago, Sally said:

Nomadland, non-fiction by Jessica Bruder about older Americans being forced by poverty to live in RVs and work part-time for minimum wage.

I've read magazine articles about this; how is the book?

 

1 hour ago, Sally said:

Various other stuff that will be overdue at the library before I get to it.

Word.  I've got The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone--specially Ourselves waiting in the wings (I wanted to make a small study of this topic), but have a feeling I'll be turning it in since I've already renewed it once.  I didn't do much reading while on vacation.

Link to post
Share on other sites

While I was researching articles for a research paper in my Microeconomics class, I found out about the book Trekonomics by Manu Saadia. As you may gather by the title, it looks into the economy in the Star Trek universe. Interesting stuff.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Rereading (already read it twice ) Some kind of love by Jack Dickson. Love the story. Love the characters. Love M/M.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I started Fear and Trembling by Kierkegaard the other day. For bedtime reading I am part way through Churchill and Orwell the fight for freedom by Thomas A Ricks.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Jetsun Milarepa

That's a great title for a book @daveb  (anything that contains the word 'nut jobs' must be a great read too).

 

@Spotastic Trekonomics would be a good companion for Freakonomics!

 

I took Seven years in Tibet into work and it's providing mid work day escapism for me.

Reading Gaiman's Norse Mythology book right now,

Got 'The secret life of cows', The descent of man (Grayson Perry) , and various in the pile, all in order ready to read!😊

Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

The descent of man (Grayson Perry)

Grayson Perry, THEE Grayson Perry (the artist)?  If so, I love his work!  Didn't know he wrote books.

Link to post
Share on other sites
JHC (pet in waiting)

Veiled by Benedict Jacka

It's fantasy set in real world London. Good but not as good as Ben Aaronovitch.

 

Also listening to (in bed so it's lasting a long time as I fall asleep and have to go back):

The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.

Very original. It's a murder mystery but the detective keeps having the same day over and over in different bodies (people).

Link to post
Share on other sites
JHC (pet in waiting)

Are you recording your books on the Goodreads website? I don't leave reviews but I'm looking forward to getting the list of everything I've read in the year - might send it out with my Christmas cards, much more interesting than the average round robin. 😁

Link to post
Share on other sites

I do record the books I read on GoodReads, and even rate them, but purely for my own amusement/information, not as a social platform. :) 

I also do the reading challenge for myself. I set it for me to read 40 books this year, but I have fallen behind. It is fun to look at how things went over the past year and to look at various stats and info about my reading.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Jetsun Milarepa

Yes! THEE Grayson Perry! @pickles mcgeeI love his work too! Not only has he written books but he does documentaries that are 100% insightful as well. 

Right now he's doing a series of documentaries on Rituals and their place in societies, having done a really good series on maleness, which accompanies the book I read. In the UK TV, you could find him on Channel 4- I don't know if you would have access to these catch up stations.

 

Now reading 'Silence in the age of Noise'  and just finished 'This is going to hurt' by Adam Kay. I really recommend this book for anyone interested in the UK NHS...unfortunately the writer was an OBS/GYN registrar, so anyone sex /birth repulsed....it's side splittingly funny and tragic all in one.

Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

Yes! THEE Grayson Perry! @pickles mcgeeI love his work too! Not only has he written books but he does documentaries that are 100% insightful as well. 

I want to see if I can find books/docs by him--thanks, I'm excited!  For people who don't know Grayson Perry, he wears the most amazing outfits!

 

14 hours ago, chandrakirti said:

I really recommend this book for anyone interested in the UK NHS...it's side splittingly funny and tragic all in one.

Have you heard of or read I Wasn't Strong like This When I started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse?  It's an anthology of narratives written by a wide variety of nurses: those just starting out, veteran nurses, ER nurses, psychiatric nurses, etc.  Sooo good.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Jetsun Milarepa

Thanks @pickles mcgee, I'll look out for it (amazon !) It's hard to understand outside of having experienced all the things that can happen to people, so we must appear very callous at times, or matter of fact in situations where others would be blubbing. But, it tells on our lives and often sets us apart from 'normal' life.

 

Evidently some of Grayson's alter ego Claire's outfits are made by art students. I like his Little Bo Peep dress and how he manages to keep a non-binary haircut going. 

Maybe Youtube will have his latest documentaires loaded (before the channel 4 jumps on them)

Link to post
Share on other sites
JHC (pet in waiting)

I'm reading Nunslinger. I'm hoping that it's a nice grown up book without romance (the nun is celibate of course) but I'm only halfway through and I don't have that much hope.

Link to post
Share on other sites
JHC (pet in waiting)
On 9/2/2018 at 4:53 PM, JHC (pet in waiting) said:

I'm reading Nunslinger. I'm hoping that it's a nice grown up book without romance (the nun is celibate of course) but I'm only halfway through and I don't have that much hope.

I've finished it. I'd say there wasn't any romance - although someone else might say there was, it depends how you interpret a very close friendship. Definitely no sex or passion anyway.

Link to post
Share on other sites

A book I just finished is “Starless” by Jacqueline Carey. I have loved all of her books but in this one the protagonist is a person who is raised as a boy and doesn’t discover she is a girl till just before she hits puberty. It gives the main character an almost genderless attitude and the one romantic relationship takes the whole book to develop, has a romantic ace vibe to it and is done in a nice, un-smutty way. It is also a stand alone book so you don't need to have the energy to get stuck into a 3 or 5 book ark.

Link to post
Share on other sites
flagsforhippos

Nudge by Thaler and Sunstein.

It's a book about 'choice architecture' - how we make decisions and influence each other.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...