Book(s) you are currently reading.
- Thread starter LionJim
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Am now finishing up a series of mysteries by an author from Newport News VA named S.A Cosby. Razorblade Tears, asphalt wasteland and all the sinners bleed are very good.
Recommend if like your mysteries on the violent side.
What with the hoopla over The Odyssey, there has been some discussion online over who is the American Homer. England has Shakespeare, Ireland has Yeats, Italy has Dante, you get the idea. No consensus emerged but there were a few who suggested Whitman or Frost. Apparently there was this poll that suggested that the poem most familiar to American high school students is Fire and Ice. Without further ado:
Paul's Enslavement: The Early Life of Saul the Zealot.
The little-known early years of Paul's life.
The little-known early years of Paul's life.
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"Flames over the Susquehanna" by Glenn Banner. Civil War historical fiction leading to the burning of the bridge to prevent any Confederate advance toward Philadelphia. Really like it, half way through, lots of local history.
"The List" by Steve Berry. One of his non-series books. About a paper company in GA where the owners have concocted a nefarious scheme to keep their company (and town) thriving as well as their fortunes. Great, suspenseful, summer-time read!
I am reading “On The Spine Of Italy” about a year spent in the Abruzzo region of Italy. This is in preparation for my third ever trip out of the country (the first two being Canada, eh). Looking forward to visiting multiple small hilltop villages in the area, which is located just north of the area (Agnone in Molise) where my great grandparents emigrated from.
Some ideas for your summer reading list. Came here curious to see where LionJim's fave, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, fell. Number 2 with Huck Finn at top. Unfortunately have not read most of these.
collider.com
The 10 Greatest American Books of All Time, Ranked
The best American books span multiple genres and explore complex themes, from the bleakness of Blood Meridian to the melancholy of The Great Gatsby.
collider.com
That’s a pretty standard list, it seems. If you ask me, Catch-22 belongs up there. Blood Meridian is a difficult, nightmarish read, a much more accessible read by McCarthy is All the Pretty Horses.Some ideas for your summer reading list. Came here curious to see where LionJim's fave, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, fell. Number 2 with Huck Finn at top. Unfortunately have not read most of these.
The 10 Greatest American Books of All Time, Ranked
The best American books span multiple genres and explore complex themes, from the bleakness of Blood Meridian to the melancholy of The Great Gatsby.
I’ve never read Morrison or Franzen. The book I gift is Straight Man by Richard Russo.
Fun fact: in every parallel universe to this one I’m a literature professor. Dang, I am rotten glad I dodged that bullet. (Rotten glad, that’s from Huck Finn.) I’m one of those who can really find bliss in mathematics. That’s my biggest regret now as a 69-yo, all the time I spent as a kid reading Solzhenitsyn I wish I’d spent on calculus. Well, off to the gym!
I'm trying to knock out some of the classics. Currently reading Metamorphoses by Ovid. It's written as a collection of narrative poems covering many of the tales from Greek and Roman mythology. It's going to take me a while to get through it.
I recently completed The Loyalist Experience and Aftermath in Revolutionary Philadelphia, by Kimberly Nath. It examines five individuals/families that were loyalist in Philadelphia, and what happened to them during and after the American Revolution. Nath used these five in large part because there were extensive letters and diaries left by them which detailed their respective situations. She admits in the book that it's not a perfect situation to draw sweeping conclusions about all the loyalists in Philadelphia based on the five she details, especially since they were in the top echelon of affluence. But she also argues rather persuasively that there isn't a good work around for the limitation, as for the most part it's affluent individuals whose papers had the greatest likelihood of being saved and preserved.
To me, there were two disappointments in the book. First, I was well versed on the respective stories of three of the five individuals/families, so in that context there wasn't a lot to learn from from those sections of the book for me. Second, the book grew out of Nath's Ph.D. thesis. And like most of the other books on the American Revolution that are based on the author's thesis, at times it spends too much time supporting some of the points and arguments advanced by the author (as a thesis would), as opposed to making the argument a few times and leaving it at that.
If you're not all that familiar with the individuals/families that are examined in the book, the book would be a good read on what took place to loyalists in the Philadelphia region during and after the American Revolution. Throughout its history, the USA has had an internal struggle about how to respect the rights of those that are in some way affiliated (either directly or just by general background) with a group/country with whom they are fighting. To a large extent, in the first war in which the USA was involved, the rights of those opposed to the patriots were trampled left and right. Modern studies of the treatment of loyalists in the 13 states after the American Revolution has shown that it was quite varied. South Carolina, where the patriot-loyalist battles were especially ugly, is interesting in that after the Revolution the leaders realized that there was a lot to be gained if they were able to reintegrate loyalists back into the state. Pennsylvania, by contrast, was rather unforgiving, and really screwed most of their former residents that were loyalists.
Since I knew a good bit about the subject covered by the book (as mentioned above), I rated it a 3 out of 5 for me. For those that don't know much about the treatment of loyalists in Philadelphia/Pennsylvania during and after the American Revolution, I'd rate it a 4 out of 5.
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I just now read an article about McCarthy that described Blood Meridian as “the bloodiest book since The Iliad.”
Someone on here recommended this years ago on this thread. Had it for a while but just started it a couple weeks ago and about half way thru. Whoever recommended it, thank you, I am really enjoying it.
I have read maybe 1/2 dozen of Larson's books and they are all great.
Nathaniel Philbrick is another author that you should check out, if you haven't already.
Just finished One Summer - America 1927 by Bill Bryson....lots of interesting stuff went down that summer.
Currently reading Commander in Cheat by Rick Reilly....about someone we all know who cheats at golf each and every time he plays....and he plays a lot!
Ah, almost picked that up this week at B&N. Good to hear. His Churchill book and HH Holmes book were outstanding.
Instead I picked up the David Grann book below about the disappearance of Percy Fawcett in the Amazon jungle. Really enjoyed his book Killers of the Flower Mood which someone here also recommended.
Just finished great book in Sam Adams... Never fully grasped the impact he had on early revolutionary movement
They Stole A City...historical recount of the 1898 race riot in Wilmington , NC...Lauren CollinsJust finished:
I read it again after twenty years and was extremely impressed by how it holds up. Weiner is a great voice for scientists; he did a fantastic job with the earlier The Beak of the Finch.
Now reading, another re-read. I'm really digging this.
Some ideas for your summer reading list. Came here curious to see where LionJim's fave, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, fell. Number 2 with Huck Finn at top. Unfortunately have not read most of these.
The 10 Greatest American Books of All Time, Ranked
The best American books span multiple genres and explore complex themes, from the bleakness of Blood Meridian to the melancholy of The Great Gatsby.
I decided two months back that I need less screen time and a new hobby. I also realized I don't read. I've been picking off books I've never read but should have, and some I knew I'd like. There are a few from this list I've read, a few that are on my list already, and a few I'm going to add now. Thanks.
I'm about to start "Swamp Kings" by Jason Ryan.
Restless by William Boyd. First published 20 years ago. Based on British and Russian espionage in Britain and the US prior to Pearl Harbor. An interesting take on American entry into the war.
@DELion I am reading The Portable Greek Reader (Viking Portable Library) in preparation for our upcoming trip to Greece. Some very hard going, but some brilliant translations, very fine. The Orestes Trilogy by Aeschylus (458 BC) is translated into iambic pentameter, awesome and makes for an easy read. The cumulating trial of Orestes (for killing Clytemnestra, his mother) takes place on Areopagus Hill, just northwest of the Acropolis in Athens; it will be nice to stroll those ancient grounds with this play in my head. I am also reading the Greek poet George Seferis, Nobel Prize for Literature in ‘63. The introduction to this collection was all, look, all any Greek poet needs to do is to look out the window and he finds himself immediately transformed to the time of Socrates, Plato, Euclid, and Aristotle, best to keep that in mind. “There’s no Parthenon in Pennsylvania,” an actual quote, slightly altered.
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There’s also one overlooking the Danube near Regensburg. Ludwig I’s Walhalla for German heroes.
Reading relevant works before making a trip is a laudable approach. I'm not usually disciplined enough to do it - I end up reading works about a place after I've visited. Have a great trip to Greece! The board expects a full report upon your return!
You might then be ripe for The First Circle by Solzhenitsyn. You discover real nobility in that one.Recently finished:
The Brothers Karamazov.
That was me…fantastic book…author is one of the very best.
Want to read a book - a true classic - read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.”
It will show you the depth of what human beings are capable of…and should cure anyone who reads it from throwing around the word “Nazi” to describe contemporaries.
An incredibly long read. I remember sacrificing much sleep because I literally could not put it down.
It will show you the depth of what human beings are capable of…and should cure anyone who reads it from throwing around the word “Nazi” to describe contemporaries.
An incredibly long read. I remember sacrificing much sleep because I literally could not put it down.
You should also read Shirer's "Berlin Diary".....dude was front & center for all of the significant **** that went down in 1930's Europe
Yes, very good. Shirer’s wife was with him at the time and she plays a prominent role in Berlin Diary.
I would recommend A Woman in Berlin which was originally published anonymously in 1954. It's a memoir by a German woman covering April, May, & June of 1945 as Berlin falls to the Soviets. The author's identity was released two years after her death. It's a rough but vital read.
Thanks....a quick search and I had it checked out of the local library within 1 hour of your recommendation!
Speaking of recommendations, no less than 50% of what I read is a recommendation from the AKB, going all the way back to the BWI days, so THANK YOU all for that! I have never been disappointed. A shout out to the Chester County library system, too.
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