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Post by Cornflake on Jun 24, 2024 18:56:10 GMT -5
I'm looking for ideas. I know Howard was reading a biography of Sam Fuller.
Recently I cruised through all the Gripstra-deGier novels by Janwillem van de Wetering. The main characters are Amsterdam cops. It's an uneven series but the good ones were very good and the less-good ones weren't really bad.
That's about all I've been reading that might hold general appeal.
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Post by TKennedy on Jun 24, 2024 19:32:31 GMT -5
Walter Isaacson’s bio of Elon Musk. About 1/3 into it. Pretty good.
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Post by howard lee on Jun 24, 2024 19:37:16 GMT -5
I finished the Sam Fuller autobiography. This short documentary,
produced by Tim Robbins, is mentioned in the book.
If you're looking for some light and charming non-fiction summer reading, I highly recommend Julia Child's memoir, "My Life in France." If you didn't like her before, you will love her by the time you are halfway through.
And if you are hot and sweltering in the Arizona summer, get a hold of Jennifer Niven's historical account of the ill-fated Arctic voyage of the Karluk, in 1912: "The Ice Master." Gripping.
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Post by Marshall on Jun 24, 2024 22:46:30 GMT -5
Fareed Zakaria - Age of Revolutions
It's kinda cut an dry. But it's a very fascinating look at modern history from the 1600s to the present based on globalization and economics
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Post by epaul on Jun 24, 2024 23:09:11 GMT -5
This is a timely thread. I am reading a series that is so good I was going to start my own thread to trumpet it.
The author is William Kent Krueger and the series is "The Cork O'Conner Mystery Series". Krueger is a Minnesota author and his stories take place in Aurora, Mn, a small town in the Arrowhead region of northeast Minnesota, a land of pine trees, lakes, state forests, Indian reservations, and the Boundary Waters Area Wilderness.
Great mysteries. And the stories and people ring true as bell. The books are very much in the vein of the Longmire Series by Craig Johnson and the Tony Hillerman books. Every bit as good. Maybe even better. But, I'll leave it as every bit as good. They are damn good!
And the plum in the pudding, like the Hillerman and Johnson books, there are a lot of them. If you like Cork O'Conner book one, you are in for a long treat. So far, there are 20 of them, and I don't think William Kent Krueger is done.
I recommend without reservation.
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 20,472 
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Post by Dub on Jun 25, 2024 0:02:34 GMT -5
I've nearly finished reading Mental Floss History of the World, an interesting tome.
What I'd recommend is a series I just finished by Richard Hood: Regret the Dark Hour, Carolina Blood, and White Oak Flats.
Richard is a wonderful storyteller who writes with precision and detail. He doesn't just relate a story, he jumps in and out, back and forth, and lets the reader develop the story as he goes. These novels are set in the mountains of east Tennessee and western North Carolina and Richard does a wonderful job of bringing the reader to the people and vice versa.
Once begun, I couldn't put these down. I don't read a lot of fiction but these were well worth the time.
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Post by Dave Poor on Jun 25, 2024 0:56:42 GMT -5
This is a timely thread. I am reading a series that is so good I was going to start my own thread to trumpet it. The author is William Kent Krueger and the series is "The Cork O'Conner Mystery Series". Krueger is a Minnesota author and his stories take place in Aurora, Mn, a small town in the Arrowhead region of northeast Minnesota, a land of pine trees, lakes, state forests, Indian reservations, and the Boundary Waters Area Wilderness. Great mysteries. And the stories and people ring true as bell. The books are very much in the vein of the Longmire Series by Craig Johnson and the Tony Hillerman books. Every bit as good. Maybe even better. But, I'll leave it as every bit as good. They are damn good! And the plum in the pudding, like the Hillerman and Johnson books, there are a lot of them. If you like Cork O'Conner book one, you are in for a long treat. So far, there are 20 of them, and I don't think William Kent Krueger is done. I recommend without reservation. I just made it to page 71 of Iron Lake on the sample from iPhone Books. Neither of the two libraries on my Libby list have the ebook. Maybe one of them has the paper version. I'll look in the morning. Thanks. |
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Post by millring on Jun 25, 2024 4:23:34 GMT -5
This is a timely thread. I am reading a series that is so good I was going to start my own thread to trumpet it. The author is William Kent Krueger and the series is "The Cork O'Conner Mystery Series". Krueger is a Minnesota author and his stories take place in Aurora, Mn, a small town in the Arrowhead region of northeast Minnesota, a land of pine trees, lakes, state forests, Indian reservations, and the Boundary Waters Area Wilderness. Great mysteries. And the stories and people ring true as bell. The books are very much in the vein of the Longmire Series by Craig Johnson and the Tony Hillerman books. Every bit as good. Maybe even better. But, I'll leave it as every bit as good. They are damn good! And the plum in the pudding, like the Hillerman and Johnson books, there are a lot of them. If you like Cork O'Conner book one, you are in for a long treat. So far, there are 20 of them, and I don't think William Kent Krueger is done. I recommend without reservation. I had listened to several of them right before I started at the PO. Audible books are a perfect match for pottery work. Now that I'm on my own route I've been thinking about starting up with audible books again. Anyway, the comparison to Longmire is apt. |
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Post by epaul on Jun 25, 2024 8:06:54 GMT -5
The first five Cork O'Conner books are free if you have Kindle Unlimited. Unfortunately, Kindle Unlimited isn't free. But there is a free three-month trial period if you have Prime. Otherwise, you could sign up for one month ($12), read like a sun of gun, then cancel... I keep meaning to cancel. It's been a year. I got to get around to cancelling.
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Post by Cornflake on Jun 25, 2024 8:49:38 GMT -5
"I keep meaning to cancel. It's been a year. I got to get around to cancelling."
I decided to try Amazon Prime over a year ago. The trial was free. Now I think I pay something like $15 per month for it. I don't order nearly enough from Amazon for that to be cost-effective. But I haven't gotten around to cancelling either.
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Post by howard lee on Jun 25, 2024 8:58:50 GMT -5
"I keep meaning to cancel. It's been a year. I got to get around to cancelling." I decided to try Amazon Prime over a year ago. The trial was free. Now I think I pay something like $15 per month for it. I don't order nearly enough from Amazon for that to be cost-effective. But I haven't gotten around to cancelling either.
That's how they suck you in—free trial or first month free. Then they count on the fact that people won't get around to canceling if they don't wish to continue, and charge you for the account.
21st-Century business models.
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Post by Cornflake on Jun 25, 2024 10:16:57 GMT -5
"Fareed Zakaria - Age of Revolutions
It's kinda cut an dry. But it's a very fascinating look at modern history from the 1600s to the present based on globalization and economics."
I may try that one. It reminds me of a terrific book I read recently, Jacques Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence. It's a history of Western civilization for the last 500 years. He tackles religion, politics, music, visual arts, philosophy, science and just about everything else. Barzun was brilliant and an excellent writer. The downside is that it's 800 pages long. There were some parts if it I wasn't interested in. But I came away from reading it with my thinking changed about many subjects. I've seldom underlined so many passages of a book.
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Post by Marshall on Jun 25, 2024 10:34:07 GMT -5
Fareed focuses on "globalization" and economics. Plus forms of government; authoritarian vs democratic. And it's 350 pages, not 500. He would surmise (I guess) that art and religion are going for a ride on the economic successes of the times. Not that they are unimportant, just that they are a result, rather than a cause for the milieu of the times.
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Post by martinfever on Jun 25, 2024 12:04:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the recommendation, epaul, I will start the William Kent Krueger series when I finish the latest Craig Johnson book, "First Frost."
Are you familiar with Steve Thayer, another MN author? I'm guessing you are.
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Post by Hobson on Jun 25, 2024 12:24:34 GMT -5
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Post by epaul on Jun 25, 2024 12:40:35 GMT -5
... Are you familiar with Steve Thayer, another MN author? I'm guessing you are. No, I am not. I just found out about William Kent Krueger a couple weeks ago, and his Cork O'Conner series was started 25 years ago. Prior to, I had been reduced to reading "The Lincoln Lawyer" series for the third time. (still good, getting old has its benefits). Anyway, back to topic, as it turns out, "The Wheatfield" by Steve Thayer is free on my not-yet-cancelled Kindle Unlimited account. Has to be a worthwhile read if there is something about a wheatfield in it. So, it's on its way. (probably already here, it's for my Kindle, without which I would no longer read... as much.) |
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Post by martinfever on Jun 25, 2024 13:38:27 GMT -5
Saint Mudd is his first and worth a look.
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Post by millring on Jun 25, 2024 14:27:17 GMT -5
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Post by coachdoc on Jun 25, 2024 14:48:50 GMT -5
Stephanie Plum, written by another Jersey Girl,Janet Evanovich keeps me entertained and interested. The NJ setting so familiar and Stephanie the bounty hunter is so inept, lucky and entertaining. Will not cause you to think deeply. Best read on hot days in air conditioned spaces.
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Post by coachdoc on Jun 25, 2024 14:49:47 GMT -5
And let me know how you like Lula.
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