Anyone reading anything good now?
- Thread starter St. Louis Hawk
- Start date
Just finished the Revenant. It is loosely based on fact but some filler is added. I thought the book was excellent.
The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot by Blaine Harden. I'm only 30 pages into it but it is fascinating. It is giving me a very nice lead up to the formation of North Korea and the creation of Kim Il Sung, and follows a young fighter pilot who flies his Mig 15 to Kimpo Air Base in 1953. It's very interesting to see how the Korean people traded colonial masters from Japan for conquerors from the USSR as WWII ended and Stalin claimed the recently created N. Korea. Yet another example of why a few people shouldn't get together and create national boundaries. Much of China and N. Korea's frayed relationship can go back to Kim's imprisonment at the hands of Chinese communists.
These are some of my favorite books because you get a history lesson along with a compelling human interest story.
These are some of my favorite books because you get a history lesson along with a compelling human interest story.
Recommend The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig. Fictional account based very loosely upon escapees from a settlement of Russian conscripts who fled SE Alaska what is now the Washington coast. I generally prefer non-fiction, but found it really good reading.
The Flyboys, by James Bradley I think. Good read, about 3/4 through it. Whenever I read an account of the heroism and patriotism of the boys that fought in WW2 I am amazed and humbled that so, so many young men gave their lives, both in victory and defeat, for their countries.
You need a strong stomach for that puppy. Agree it's an excellent book.
I recently read "Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania" by Erik Larsen and "Black Thursday," by Martin Caidin, which is about the Schweinfurt raids. Recommend both.
I just finished reading the Will Hillary be indicted thread, but you said you prefer non-fiction so that wouldn't qualify. 
Just finishing up Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
Even if you consider yourself reasonably well-read in the evolution and history of man, you'll find a lot to interest you here. Here's the Amazon summary:
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six human species inhabited the Earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism?
This blurb from an Amazon reviewer does it justice:
Harari focuses on the three great revolutions of human history: Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific. He asks how "An Animal of No Significance" managed to become the dominant life form, and whether that animal's learning to produce his own food and then to further harness the natural world to his will through science were boons or setbacks, both for that animal and for the rest of the biosphere. In 20 brilliant chapters Harari asks his readers to consider not only what did happen, but what might have occurred had things turned out slightly differently (the roles of chance and accident are given a lot of attention.) He reveals the mutually agreed upon "stories" that helped shape human societies and questions their validity, not to disillusion but to challenge his readers. At times the tone is unavoidably cynical, but at others there's a real optimistic air (leavened by some cautions here and there).
Even if you consider yourself reasonably well-read in the evolution and history of man, you'll find a lot to interest you here. Here's the Amazon summary:
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six human species inhabited the Earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism?
This blurb from an Amazon reviewer does it justice:
Harari focuses on the three great revolutions of human history: Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific. He asks how "An Animal of No Significance" managed to become the dominant life form, and whether that animal's learning to produce his own food and then to further harness the natural world to his will through science were boons or setbacks, both for that animal and for the rest of the biosphere. In 20 brilliant chapters Harari asks his readers to consider not only what did happen, but what might have occurred had things turned out slightly differently (the roles of chance and accident are given a lot of attention.) He reveals the mutually agreed upon "stories" that helped shape human societies and questions their validity, not to disillusion but to challenge his readers. At times the tone is unavoidably cynical, but at others there's a real optimistic air (leavened by some cautions here and there).
"Jimmy Hoffa Called My Mom a Bitch".....just finished "What Would Jesus Drive"...both by Jason Vines, a local boy made good.
