Books you read in 2019

Discussion in 'TMB Book Club' started by billdozer, Jan 2, 2019.

  1. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    1. The Future of Humanity by Machio Kaku ****
    2. The Giver by Lois Lowry ***
    3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes *****
    4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess ****
    5. An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena **
    6. Grain Brain by David Perlmutter ***
    7. Beartown by Fredrik Backman *****
    8. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller ***
    9. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks **
    10. Us Against You by Fredrik Backman *****
    11. Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, a s Redemption of Stonewall Jackson by S.C. Gwynne *****
    12. The Road by Conor McCarthy **
    13. The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home by Denise Kiernan **
    14. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs ****
    15.The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah *****
    16. The Stranger by Albert Camus ***1/2
    17. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells ***
    18. Edgedancer (The Starlight Archive 2.5) by Brandon Sanderson *****
    19. Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World ****1/2
     
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  2. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
     
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  3. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    1. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History -- Sidney Mintz (6/10)
    2. Popularity: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World -- Mitch Prinstein (9/10)
    3. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets / Sudhir Venkatesh (10/10)
    4. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War / Mary Roach (4/10)
    5. Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose / Deirdre Barrett. (10/10)
    6. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man / John Perkins. (10/10)
    7. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain / Oliver Sacks (8/10)
    Second Oliver Sacks book I've read. Don't really dig the case files like way he writes them where each chapter is some guy named Rob P. or Alice T. that we're never gonna remember. The conditions he writes about are fascinating though. As a musician I was super interested to read this book, which is focused on all the crazy things that can happen to the brain as a result of music. It can help people with Parkinson's learn how to walk straight again. It can help people who strokes have rendered mute learn how to talk again. People with profound amnesia/dementia/Alzheimer's who can't remember anything more than 60 seconds can sometimes perfectly sing (or play on piano) songs from their youth. It's crazy the elemental power music has and the mysterious nature of it where we still don't have good answers on stuff like how it originally evolved or if it may have been around before speech even.

    8. Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu (10/10)
    Read this over the weekend. Obviously a book of wisdom that has persisted for thousands of years is quite good. This is one of the easiest major religious texts you can read, especially compared to something like the Bible, Quran or Bhagavad Gita -- whole thing is 81 chapters and each chapter is 10-20 lines long. Do not seek TMB -- become.

    Still Working On --
    [​IMG]
     
  4. Blackterno

    Blackterno Well-Known Member
    TMB OG
    Penn State Nittany LionsPhiladelphia Phillies

    1) The Force by Don Winslow 3/10
    2) The Way of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks 8/10
    3) Shadow’s Edge (Night Angel #2) by Brent Weeks 9.5/10
    4) Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel #3) by Brent Weeks 9/10
    5) Broken Lands by Jonathan Maberry 6/10
    6) Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab 8/10
    7) Vengeful (Villians #2) by V.E. Schwab 9/10
    8) Daughter of War (Pike Logan #13) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    9) The Final Hour (Victor the Assassin # 7) by Tom Wood 8.5/10
     
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  5. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
     
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  6. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Clemson TigersCarolina Panthers

    1. Nyphron Rising (Riyria Revelations #3) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    2. The Emerald Storm (Riyria Revelations #4) - Michael Sullivan (7.5/10)
    3. Wintertide (Riyria Revelations #5) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    4. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    5. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    6. The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    7. The Rose and the Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    8. The Death of Dulgath (Riyria Chronicles #3) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
     
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  7. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
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    1. Marine Sniper 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles Henderson 6/10
    2. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy by Eric D. Weitz 8/10
    3. Operator Down (Pike Logan #12) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    4. The Confessor (Gabriel Allon #3) by Daniel Silva 8/10
    5. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins 4/10
    6. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany June 7, 1944 to May 7, 1945 by Stephen E. Ambrose 9/10
    7. The Enemy (Jack Reacher #8) by Lee Child 7/10

    8. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan 6/10 I finished this a few days ago and will write more in the book club thread but I didn't love the book in general but am still glad to have read it.
     
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  8. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
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    Clemson TigersCarolina Panthers

    1. Nyphron Rising (Riyria Revelations #3) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    2. The Emerald Storm (Riyria Revelations #4) - Michael Sullivan (7.5/10)
    3. Wintertide (Riyria Revelations #5) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    4. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    5. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    6. The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    7. The Rose and the Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    8. The Death of Dulgath (Riyria Chronicles #3) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    9. Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Gary Wolf (8/10)

    Completely different than the movie. Written as a first person detective novel and was pretty entertaining. When most of the toons speak they have a speech bubble like in a comic strip. Jessica Rabbit was in toon porn movies in the book.
     
    #108 billdozer, Mar 1, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2019
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  9. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
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    Truman I've gotten to the speculative part of Homo Deus you were talking about. I agree it's not as good as the first 3/4 of the book. However, I find I keep thinking about this stuff when I'm away from the book so it's pretty impactful. The future is fucked man, I don't want to turn people into inorganic algorithms
     
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  10. BigRed

    BigRed Well-Known Member
    South Carolina GamecocksLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles LakersAtlanta FalconsMontreal Impact

    Has anyone read The Kite Runner? I started it today, and not sure if I will finish it.

    Just finished the part where hassan gets raped and beaten. And I am pissed at Amir for being such a coward. Seriously hate him and feel like I am wasting my time for reading a book that creates so much dislikeness [/endspoiler]
     
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  11. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
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    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    Yes, it’s an excellent book. Keep reading.
     
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  12. Blackterno

    Blackterno Well-Known Member
    TMB OG
    Penn State Nittany LionsPhiladelphia Phillies

    1) The Force by Don Winslow 3/10
    2) The Way of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks 8/10
    3) Shadow’s Edge (Night Angel #2) by Brent Weeks 9.5/10
    4) Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel #3) by Brent Weeks 9/10
    5) Broken Lands by Jonathan Maberry 6/10
    6) Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab 8/10
    7) Vengeful (Villians #2) by V.E. Schwab 9/10
    8) Daughter of War (Pike Logan #13) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    9) The Final Hour (Victor the Assassin # 7) by Tom Wood 8.5/10
    10) The Mastermind by Evan Ratliff 8/10
     
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  13. Gonff

    Gonff Prince of Mousethieves
    Donor
    Oklahoma SoonersMetal

    1. Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany - Stephen E. Ambrose (7.5/10)
    2. Uprooted - Naomi Novik (6.5/10)
    3. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics - Daniel James Brown (9/10)
    4. The Twelve (The Passage #2) - Justin Cronin (8/10)
    5. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (8/10)
    6. Washington Black - Esi Edugyan (6.5/10)
     
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  14. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    1. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History -- Sidney Mintz (6/10)
    2. Popularity: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World -- Mitch Prinstein (9/10)
    3. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets / Sudhir Venkatesh (10/10)
    4. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War / Mary Roach (4/10)
    5. Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose / Deirdre Barrett. (10/10)
    6. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man / John Perkins. (10/10)
    7. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain / Oliver Sacks (8/10)
    Second Oliver Sacks book I've read. Don't really dig the case files like way he writes them where each chapter is some guy named Rob P. or Alice T. that we're never gonna remember. The conditions he writes about are fascinating though. As a musician I was super interested to read this book, which is focused on all the crazy things that can happen to the brain as a result of music. It can help people with Parkinson's learn how to walk straight again. It can help people who strokes have rendered mute learn how to talk again. People with profound amnesia/dementia/Alzheimer's who can't remember anything more than 60 seconds can sometimes perfectly sing (or play on piano) songs from their youth. It's crazy the elemental power music has and the mysterious nature of it where we still don't have good answers on stuff like how it originally evolved or if it may have been around before speech even.
    8. Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu (10/10)
    Read this over the weekend. Obviously a book of wisdom that has persisted for thousands of years is quite good. This is one of the easiest major religious texts you can read, especially compared to something like the Bible, Quran or Bhagavad Gita -- whole thing is 81 chapters and each chapter is 10-20 lines long. Do not seek TMB -- become.

    9. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow / Yuval Noah Harari (10/10)
    As was already stated, the first 3/4 of the book is the best part. The last 1/4 becomes more speculative. However, it's a 10 all the way through because it's changed how I think. I've read plenty of Ray Kurzweil futurist prophecy type stuff before so it's not that this guy is breaking new ground necessarily -- he's just a master at taking something big, like oh all of human history, and illustrating these concise insights from it. I'm kind of scared now that after 200k years as the "dominant species" on Earth that the human being's days are soon to end :ohdear:

    Next Up --
    [​IMG]
     
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  15. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club


    Interested in what you think of Chang's book. It's on my list.
     
  16. DeToxRox

    DeToxRox Uncle T
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Detroit PistonsDetroit LionsDetroit Red WingsWolverhampton WanderersDetroit Tigers

    Finished “The Border” by Don Winslow.

    I really enjoyed the book. Thought it was a good ending to the series.
     
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  17. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    Not great so far. Kinda wishing I had tried "23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism" instead. To be fair, the first few chapters were a history to set the scene and we're just now getting to the main points he wants to make, so I don't want to speak prematurely. And while I'm interested in economic stuff, I'm no kind of expert so it's possible economic writing is just a little dry and that doesn't click with me. Dude's also foreign and it seems like his English is really direct, not the captivating prose of some authors. I feel like the first two chapters were basically "this country used this % tariff" and "this country used this % tariff" over and over.
     
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  18. billdozer

    billdozer Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Clemson TigersCarolina Panthers

    1. Nyphron Rising (Riyria Revelations #3) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    2. The Emerald Storm (Riyria Revelations #4) - Michael Sullivan (7.5/10)
    3. Wintertide (Riyria Revelations #5) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    4. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    5. Percepliquis (Riyria Revelations #6) - Michael Sullivan (9/10)
    6. The Crown Tower (Riyria Chronicles #1) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    7. The Rose and the Thorn (Riyria Chronicles #2) - Michael Sullivan (8.5/10)
    8. The Death of Dulgath (Riyria Chronicles #3) - Michael Sullivan (8/10)
    9. Who Censored Roger Rabbit? - Gary Wolf (8/10)
    10. The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe - (10/10)

    Loved this book. Was especially interesting to me because me father-in-law was an Air Force test pilot and knew guys like Chuck Yeager well, so I was able to get side stories and talk with him about his experiences.
     
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  19. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
     
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  20. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
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    Love this author. Seems like he’s got a lot of range between this, the Ken Kesey hippie stuff he wrote, the bonfire of the vanities which is a kickass novel, etc
     
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  21. Mookie Blaylock

    Mookie Blaylock Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Auburn Tigers

    1. The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead 6.5/10
    2. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing - Hank Green 2/10
    3. The New Geography of Jobs - Enrico Moretti 7/10
    4. My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Otessa Moshfegh 9/10
    5. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood - Trevor Noah 8.5/10
    6. Homesick for Another World - Ottesa Moshfegh 7/10
    7. Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World - Adam Tooze 9.5/10
    8. Less - Andrew Sean Greer 5.5/10
    9. Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association 8/10
    10. Heavy: An American Memoir - Kiese Laymon 10/10
    11. The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed it - Scott Patterson 5/10
    12. The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good in Politics - Bruce Bueno de Mesquita 8.5/10
    13. Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World - Michael Lewis 7.5/10
    14. SuperFreakonomics - Steven Levitt 6/10
    15. Only Child - Rhiannon Navin 6/10
    16. Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economics Have Damaged America and the World - Jeff Madrick 8/10
    17. The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw 6/10
    18. Economix: How and Why Our Economy Doesn't Work - Michael Goodwin 8.5/10
    Graphic novel that covers basic economic concepts & history in an engaging way. I don't own a ton of physical copies of books but this is one I would consider having around just to flip through. The second half of the book does get a bit political.
    19. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness - Michelle Alexander 8/10
    Alexander's focus on the War on Drugs and it's targeting of African American males that has resulted in the creation of a new caste system is very well argued but there were several points in the book where I thought I was re-reading the same points she had already made. This is very well reviewed and has a Good Reads rating of like 4.5.
    20. The Fifth Risk - Michael Lewis 8/10
    Typical Michael Lewis, very well written and easy to get through. Book focuses on the transition (or lack thereof) after Trump won the election in 2016. I had never really given much thought about what a lot of our governmental agencies do and have probably thought in the past that we need smaller government so this was certainly eye opening.
    21. War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence - Ronan Farrow 8.5/10
    Book about how the State Department has taken a backseat to the military & intelligence community when it comes to foreign policy in the last two decades. Very well researched and written, highly recommend this.
    22. Brazillionaires: Chasing Dreams of Wealth in American Country - Alex Cuadros 6.5/10
    Using the wealthiest individuals in Brazil as a backdrop, Cuadros tells the story of the growth and recent struggles of the Brazilian economy. Having no real knowledge of the culture of Brazil or it's history, this was a nice introduction and I've added a couple of books on my to read list. The book focus on several individuals but the main focus is Eike Batista, a do-it-all entrepreneur who went from being the richest man in Brazil to broke in the span of a few years.
    23. The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone - Brian Merchant 7.0/10
    Read this as a few posters in this thread had marked it as read and it was available at the library. Pretty incredible to read how much has to come together to produce a product that has such a profound impact on our everyday lives. The story of how the original iPhone came together was interesting to read about as well.
    24. Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con that is Breaking America - Matt Taibbi 9.5/10
    Browsing through the Economics/Finance section and the title of this book caught my eye and I'm glad it did. Definitely one of my favorite books that I've read about the 2008-2010 financial crisis, I was not familiar at all with Taibbi before reading this but will definitely check out of some of his other stuff after having read this. The chapter where he goes in dry on Alan Greenspan had me cracking up several times. Really enjoyed this.
     
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  22. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
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    If you've never read it, his Esquire profile of Junior Johnson is pretty badass.
     
  23. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
     
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  24. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
     
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  25. Blackterno

    Blackterno Well-Known Member
    TMB OG
    Penn State Nittany LionsPhiladelphia Phillies

    1) The Force by Don Winslow 3/10
    2) The Way of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks 8/10
    3) Shadow’s Edge (Night Angel #2) by Brent Weeks 9.5/10
    4) Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel #3) by Brent Weeks 9/10
    5) Broken Lands by Jonathan Maberry 6/10
    6) Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab 8/10
    7) Vengeful (Villians #2) by V.E. Schwab 9/10
    8) Daughter of War (Pike Logan #13) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    9) The Final Hour (Victor the Assassin # 7) by Tom Wood 8.5/10
    10) The Mastermind by Evan Ratliff 8/10
    11) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo 8/10
     
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  26. The Blackfish

    The Blackfish The Fish in Black
    Staff Donor TMB OG
    Alabama Crimson TideIndianapolis ColtsBook Club

    1. Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World - Adam Tooze (10/10)
    2. The Lost World - Michael Crichton (7/10)
    3. The Rithmatist - Brandon Sanderson (7.5/10)
    4. Economix: How and Why our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures - Michael Goodwin (9/10)
    5. Skyward (Skyward #1) - Brandon Sanderson (7/10)
    6. Legion (Legion #1) - Brandon Sanderson (7.5/10)
    7. Legion: Skin Deep (Legion #2) - Brandon Sanderson (7/10)
    8. Legion: Lies of the Beholder (Legion #3) - Brandon Sanderson (7.5/10)
    9. Citizen Soldiers - Stephen Ambrose (8/10)
    10. The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance (9/10)
    11. Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman (7.5/10)
    12. The Corporation: The Pathelogical Pursuit of Profit and Power - Joel Bakan (8/10)
    13. The Worldly Philosophers - Robert Heilbroner (9/10)
    Thinking Fast and Slow was about how we think and make decisions, both with our intuitive "System 1" and our deliberate "System 2" and how we are affected by biases and heuristics etc... Very good.

    The Corporation was very thought provoking, and hits pretty close to home working for one of said corporations. Most thought provoking was how Corporations are legally required to act in concordance with what is most profitable to their shareholders, even if that means breaking other laws. Any "socially responsible" things that corporations do are in the pursuit of profit or else subject to shareholder lawsuits. Really enjoyed the book, although its somewhat terrifying.

    The Worldly Philosophers is an economic classic which walks you through the history of economic (and somewhat philosophic) thought by teaching you the lives of its foremost thinkers. Enjoyed the hell out of it.
     
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  27. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    1. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History -- Sidney Mintz (6/10)
    2. Popularity: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World -- Mitch Prinstein (9/10)
    3. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets / Sudhir Venkatesh (10/10)
    4. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War / Mary Roach (4/10)
    5. Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose / Deirdre Barrett. (10/10)
    6. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man / John Perkins. (10/10)
    7. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain / Oliver Sacks (8/10)
    Second Oliver Sacks book I've read. Don't really dig the case files like way he writes them where each chapter is some guy named Rob P. or Alice T. that we're never gonna remember. The conditions he writes about are fascinating though. As a musician I was super interested to read this book, which is focused on all the crazy things that can happen to the brain as a result of music. It can help people with Parkinson's learn how to walk straight again. It can help people who strokes have rendered mute learn how to talk again. People with profound amnesia/dementia/Alzheimer's who can't remember anything more than 60 seconds can sometimes perfectly sing (or play on piano) songs from their youth. It's crazy the elemental power music has and the mysterious nature of it where we still don't have good answers on stuff like how it originally evolved or if it may have been around before speech even.
    8. Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu (10/10)
    Read this over the weekend. Obviously a book of wisdom that has persisted for thousands of years is quite good. This is one of the easiest major religious texts you can read, especially compared to something like the Bible, Quran or Bhagavad Gita -- whole thing is 81 chapters and each chapter is 10-20 lines long. Do not seek TMB -- become.
    9. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow / Yuval Noah Harari (10/10)
    As was already stated, the first 3/4 of the book is the best part. The last 1/4 becomes more speculative. However, it's a 10 all the way through because it's changed how I think. I've read plenty of Ray Kurzweil futurist prophecy type stuff before so it's not that this guy is breaking new ground necessarily -- he's just a master at taking something big, like oh all of human history, and illustrating these concise insights from it. I'm kind of scared now that after 200k years as the "dominant species" on Earth that the human being's days are soon to end :ohdear:

    10. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism / Ha Joon Chang. (7/10)
    Started off really dry for me; got more interesting as I went along. Basic theme of the book is big countries like US and UK try to dictate to developing countries now that they need to follow strict free market principles if they want to grow wealthier, but that the rich countries themselves only started following said principles after becoming wealthy and used many of the same practices they decry (tariffs, disregard of patents, subsidies, protectionism, etc) to their advantage when they were in developing stages themselves. The last chapter could have been the most interesting -- "Lazy Japanese and Thieving Germans" -- where he talked about the effects of culture on economic development. Some blame the culture in poor countries for their poverty -- they're lazy, they're immoral, they don't plan for the future. Author points out these same things were said about many cultures that subsequently became wealthier and that there's a lot of revisionist history in the cultural argument, with "culture" itself being basically impossible to define.

    Next Up --
    [​IMG]
     
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  28. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    Never read any Krakauer but that looks good as shit
     
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  29. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    I have never read any Krakauer either but I just ordered three of his books from amazon yesterday because they looked very interesting
     
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  30. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    1. Marine Sniper 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles Henderson 6/10
    2. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy by Eric D. Weitz 8/10
    3. Operator Down (Pike Logan #12) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    4. The Confessor (Gabriel Allon #3) by Daniel Silva 8/10
    5. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins 4/10
    6. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany June 7, 1944 to May 7, 1945 by Stephen E. Ambrose 9/10
    7. The Enemy (Jack Reacher #8) by Lee Child 7/10
    8. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan 6/10

    9. Gunmetal Gray (Gray Man #6) by Mark Greaney 8/10 I enjoyed this installment of the series better than some of the others and am hopeful from looking at reviews that they continue to get stronger.

    10. Terrorism: A Critical Introduction by Richard Jackson 6/10 This was interesting at times but at other times rather dull and repetitive, fairly serious academic work that lacked some credence and was less thought provoking then I would have expected.

    11. A Death in Vienna (Gabriel Allon #4) by Daniel Silva 9/10 I enjoy this series a great deal and whip through the books extremely quickly, the last three that were all dealing with fallout from the Holocaust are truly right up my alley as well. Would just like to continue reading these but have such a backlog of books already purchased that I'm going to try and knock a few more of those off the shelf first.


    Next Up:

    The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

    and

    An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson
     
  31. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    I’ve only read Into Thin Air by Krakauer. It was good
     
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  32. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
     
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  33. Tangman

    Tangman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    North Carolina State WolfpackCharlotte HornetsWashington Football TeamEvertonBook Club

    1. Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany (Stephen E. Ambrose) - 8/10
    2. The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov - Burgin/O'Connor Translation) - 9.5/10
    3. The Personality Brokers: The Strange History of Myers-Briggs and the Birth of Personality Testing (Merve Emre) - 6.5/10

    4. Washington Black (Esi Edugyan) - 6/10
    5. Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms (Hannah Fry) - 8.5/10
    - Enjoyed reading this one. The author explains how algorithms are being used today and then explains how they have the potential for being misused (an example being facial recognition software which has caused people to be held for crimes they didn't commit). Clearly written for a general audience and never gets too technical. I particularly enjoyed the section on self-driving cars and where we are in that process. She doesn't really get too much into "being human" on an individual level but does make suggestions as to how we as a society should implement these technologies. Worth your time.
    6. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Mary Beard) - 9/10 - A really great piece of popular history from Beard. She breaks the history of Rome unto easily digestible eras and is a stronger writer than many in her field. Part of me wonders if she may have benefitted from spending a bit more time on the end of the Republic but that's a very minor quibble. This will be my go-to recommendation for any reader who isn't especially well-versed in Roman history.

    Up Next - 1) Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (150 pages in on this one and I'm loving it) 2) The Right Stuff
     
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  34. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
     
    BigRed and Tangman like this.
  35. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    1. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History -- Sidney Mintz (6/10)
    2. Popularity: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World -- Mitch Prinstein (9/10)
    3. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets / Sudhir Venkatesh (10/10)
    4. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War / Mary Roach (4/10)
    5. Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose / Deirdre Barrett. (10/10)
    6. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man / John Perkins. (10/10)
    7. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain / Oliver Sacks (8/10)
    Second Oliver Sacks book I've read. Don't really dig the case files like way he writes them where each chapter is some guy named Rob P. or Alice T. that we're never gonna remember. The conditions he writes about are fascinating though. As a musician I was super interested to read this book, which is focused on all the crazy things that can happen to the brain as a result of music. It can help people with Parkinson's learn how to walk straight again. It can help people who strokes have rendered mute learn how to talk again. People with profound amnesia/dementia/Alzheimer's who can't remember anything more than 60 seconds can sometimes perfectly sing (or play on piano) songs from their youth. It's crazy the elemental power music has and the mysterious nature of it where we still don't have good answers on stuff like how it originally evolved or if it may have been around before speech even.
    8. Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu (10/10)
    Read this over the weekend. Obviously a book of wisdom that has persisted for thousands of years is quite good. This is one of the easiest major religious texts you can read, especially compared to something like the Bible, Quran or Bhagavad Gita -- whole thing is 81 chapters and each chapter is 10-20 lines long. Do not seek TMB -- become.
    9. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow / Yuval Noah Harari (10/10)
    As was already stated, the first 3/4 of the book is the best part. The last 1/4 becomes more speculative. However, it's a 10 all the way through because it's changed how I think. I've read plenty of Ray Kurzweil futurist prophecy type stuff before so it's not that this guy is breaking new ground necessarily -- he's just a master at taking something big, like oh all of human history, and illustrating these concise insights from it. I'm kind of scared now that after 200k years as the "dominant species" on Earth that the human being's days are soon to end :ohdear:
    10. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism / Ha Joon Chang. (7/10)
    Started off really dry for me; got more interesting as I went along. Basic theme of the book is big countries like US and UK try to dictate to developing countries now that they need to follow strict free market principles if they want to grow wealthier, but that the rich countries themselves only started following said principles after becoming wealthy and used many of the same practices they decry (tariffs, disregard of patents, subsidies, protectionism, etc) to their advantage when they were in developing stages themselves. The last chapter could have been the most interesting -- "Lazy Japanese and Thieving Germans" -- where he talked about the effects of culture on economic development. Some blame the culture in poor countries for their poverty -- they're lazy, they're immoral, they don't plan for the future. Author points out these same things were said about many cultures that subsequently became wealthier and that there's a lot of revisionist history in the cultural argument, with "culture" itself being basically impossible to define.

    11. Under The Banner Of Heaven: A Story Of Violent Faith / Jon Krakauer (8/10)
    I'm not super into true crime, but I heard this book tackles a lot more than that, plus I wanted to know more about Utah and the Mormon community. Book is very good. Starts with the story of some murders but built throughout is the question "where is the line between being religious and just being crazy/delusional?" You get a nice history of the Mormon faith built in -- I knew who Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were but I definitely have a better understanding now. I'll probably read some more Krakauer books in the future like "Into The Wild" and "Into Thin Air."

    Next Up --
    [​IMG]
     
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  36. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
     
    #136 Kevintensity, Mar 26, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2019
    BigRed, Tangman, CBH and 1 other person like this.
  37. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
    13) The System: the glory and scandal of big time college football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 9/10
     
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  38. Blackterno

    Blackterno Well-Known Member
    TMB OG
    Penn State Nittany LionsPhiladelphia Phillies

    1) The Force by Don Winslow 3/10
    2) The Way of Shadows (Night Angel #1) by Brent Weeks 8/10
    3) Shadow’s Edge (Night Angel #2) by Brent Weeks 9.5/10
    4) Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel #3) by Brent Weeks 9/10
    5) Broken Lands by Jonathan Maberry 6/10
    6) Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab 8/10
    7) Vengeful (Villians #2) by V.E. Schwab 9/10
    8) Daughter of War (Pike Logan #13) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    9) The Final Hour (Victor the Assassin # 7) by Tom Wood 8.5/10
    10) The Mastermind by Evan Ratliff 8/10
    11) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo 8/10
    12) Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo 8/10
     
    CBH likes this.
  39. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
    13) The System: the glory and scandal of big time college football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 9/10
    14) A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 10/10

    Probably my favorite book I've read this year thus far.
     
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  40. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
    13) The System: the glory and scandal of big time college football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 9/10
    14) A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    15) When the Game was Ours by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jackie MacMullan 8.5/10
     
    CBH, Truman, billdozer and 1 other person like this.
  41. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    1. Consent to Kill (Mitch Rapp #7) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    2. Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, by Isabell Wilkerson (9.5/10)
    3. Act of Treason (Mitch Rapp #8) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    4. Citizen Soldiers by Stephen Ambrose (8.5/10)
    5. Protect and Defend (Mitch Rapp #9) by Vince Flynn (9/10)
    6. Extreme Measures (Mitch Rapp #10) by Vince Flynn (8/10)
    7. Pursuit of Honor (Mitch Rapp #11) by Vince Flynn (7.5/10)
    8. American Assassin (Mitch Rapp #12) by Vince Flynn (6/10)
    9. No Exit by Taylor Adams (7.5/10)
    10. An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendrick (6.5/10)
    11. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (8.5/10)
    12. Last Man (Mitch Rapp #13) by Kyle Mills (6.5/10)
    13. The Survivor (Mitch Rapp #14) by Kyle Mills (6.5/10)
    14. Star Wars: The Queen's Shadow by EK Johnston (8/10)
    15. American Spy by Lauren Wilkenson (9/10)
    16. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, And Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires by Salwyn Raab (9/10)
    17. Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse #8) by James S A Corey (10/10
    20 Cherry by Nico Walker (8/.510)


    Mitch Rapp books - These havent been as good since Kyle Mills took over, but still ok - whatever

    Queens Shadow - Great book if youre a SW nerd

    American Spy - Takes place in the 90s. About a daughter of Haitian immigrants who grew up in brooklyn gets recruited by the CIA to subvert a government in a fictional African country. Starts to realize the harm in Imperialism. Really good, some good action, good character building.

    Five Families - After that Mob boss got murked, I got an itch to learn more about the American Mafia. Great read. Insane some of the stuff they got away with. Thanks for the rec JGator1

    Tiamat's Wrath - It was great. Sad this series is nearing an end.

    Cherry - Semi autobiographical novel of the author. About a dude that went into the army, came back all fucked up, got hooked on drugs, started robbing banks. The author is still in prison for robbing banks. Dude wrote this while in prison. Still has 2 more years of an 11 year sentence Good, quick read.


    I need to do a better job of keeping up.
     
    #141 Truman, Apr 2, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2019
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  42. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    Wanna read Five Families
     
  43. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    Those two were definitely the weakest ones I think, after those Mills seems to be improving with the other books he's wrote for the series, though not really coming close to Flynn's books.
     
    Truman likes this.
  44. CBH

    CBH Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Michigan WolverinesDetroit Red WingsEastern Michigan EaglesUnited States Men's National Soccer TeamBook Club

    1. Marine Sniper 93 Confirmed Kills by Charles Henderson 6/10
    2. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy by Eric D. Weitz 8/10
    3. Operator Down (Pike Logan #12) by Brad Taylor 7/10
    4. The Confessor (Gabriel Allon #3) by Daniel Silva 8/10
    5. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins 4/10
    6. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany June 7, 1944 to May 7, 1945 by Stephen E. Ambrose 9/10
    7. The Enemy (Jack Reacher #8) by Lee Child 7/10
    8. Washington Black by Esi Edugyan 6/10
    9. Gunmetal Gray (Gray Man #6) by Mark Greaney 8/10
    10. Terrorism: A Critical Introduction by Richard Jackson 6/10
    11. A Death in Vienna (Gabriel Allon #4) by Daniel Silva 9/10

    12. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 9/10 Not sure what to say about this, it was different than I expected it to be but still such a profound book that has an affect on you.

    13. Zionism: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Stanislawski 8/10 This was really enlightening and gave me some good background on a part of history that I don't know a lot about. Lots of information packed into a very short and condensed book.
     
    TC, BigRed, Tangman and 2 others like this.
  45. JGator1

    JGator1 I'm the Michael Jordan of the industry
    TMB OG
    Florida GatorsTampa Bay RaysTampa Bay BuccaneersTampa Bay LightningChelsea

    For any other mob stuff Jerry Capeci is the most respected NYC writer and George Anastasia is the best at covering Philadelphia (extremely violent in the 80s and 90s).
     
    Truman likes this.
  46. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
    Donor
    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    1. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History -- Sidney Mintz (6/10)
    2. Popularity: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World -- Mitch Prinstein (9/10)
    3. Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets / Sudhir Venkatesh (10/10)
    4. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War / Mary Roach (4/10)
    5. Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose / Deirdre Barrett. (10/10)
    6. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man / John Perkins. (10/10)
    7. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain / Oliver Sacks (8/10)
    Second Oliver Sacks book I've read. Don't really dig the case files like way he writes them where each chapter is some guy named Rob P. or Alice T. that we're never gonna remember. The conditions he writes about are fascinating though. As a musician I was super interested to read this book, which is focused on all the crazy things that can happen to the brain as a result of music. It can help people with Parkinson's learn how to walk straight again. It can help people who strokes have rendered mute learn how to talk again. People with profound amnesia/dementia/Alzheimer's who can't remember anything more than 60 seconds can sometimes perfectly sing (or play on piano) songs from their youth. It's crazy the elemental power music has and the mysterious nature of it where we still don't have good answers on stuff like how it originally evolved or if it may have been around before speech even.
    8. Tao Te Ching / Lao Tzu (10/10)
    Read this over the weekend. Obviously a book of wisdom that has persisted for thousands of years is quite good. This is one of the easiest major religious texts you can read, especially compared to something like the Bible, Quran or Bhagavad Gita -- whole thing is 81 chapters and each chapter is 10-20 lines long. Do not seek TMB -- become.
    9. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow / Yuval Noah Harari (10/10)
    As was already stated, the first 3/4 of the book is the best part. The last 1/4 becomes more speculative. However, it's a 10 all the way through because it's changed how I think. I've read plenty of Ray Kurzweil futurist prophecy type stuff before so it's not that this guy is breaking new ground necessarily -- he's just a master at taking something big, like oh all of human history, and illustrating these concise insights from it. I'm kind of scared now that after 200k years as the "dominant species" on Earth that the human being's days are soon to end :ohdear:
    10. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism / Ha Joon Chang. (7/10)
    Started off really dry for me; got more interesting as I went along. Basic theme of the book is big countries like US and UK try to dictate to developing countries now that they need to follow strict free market principles if they want to grow wealthier, but that the rich countries themselves only started following said principles after becoming wealthy and used many of the same practices they decry (tariffs, disregard of patents, subsidies, protectionism, etc) to their advantage when they were in developing stages themselves. The last chapter could have been the most interesting -- "Lazy Japanese and Thieving Germans" -- where he talked about the effects of culture on economic development. Some blame the culture in poor countries for their poverty -- they're lazy, they're immoral, they don't plan for the future. Author points out these same things were said about many cultures that subsequently became wealthier and that there's a lot of revisionist history in the cultural argument, with "culture" itself being basically impossible to define.
    11. Under The Banner Of Heaven: A Story Of Violent Faith / Jon Krakauer (8/10)
    I'm not super into true crime, but I heard this book tackles a lot more than that, plus I wanted to know more about Utah and the Mormon community. Book is very good. Starts with the story of some murders but built throughout is the question "where is the line between being religious and just being crazy/delusional?" You get a nice history of the Mormon faith built in -- I knew who Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were but I definitely have a better understanding now. I'll probably read some more Krakauer books in the future like "Into The Wild" and "Into Thin Air."

    12. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values / Robert Pirsig (9/10)
    Anybody else read this? I have some questions about the ending. A very profound and enjoyable book, but at the very end didn't quite deliver for me. The guy who wrote it had a 170 IQ and started college at 14 before having a mental breakdown later in life so if nothing else it's fascinating to read the deep thoughts of someone so smart. He's good at making it easy to follow and not boring. You get a nice history of philosophy course thrown in here with Kant, Plato, Aristotle, and other lesser known names.

    Next Up --
    [​IMG]
     
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  47. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
    13) The System: the glory and scandal of big time college football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 9/10
    14) A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    15) When the Game was Ours by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jackie MacMullan 8.5/10
    16) The Breach by Patrick Lee 9/10
     
    Tangman likes this.
  48. Kevintensity

    Kevintensity Poster/Posting Game Coordinator
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    Florida State SeminolesAtlanta BravesTampa Bay BuccaneersNashville PredatorsCalgary FlamesPoker

    1) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 5/10
    2) The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer 9/10
    3) Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 8/10
    4) Beartown by Fredrik Backman 10/10
    5) Shortest Way Home by Peter Buttigieg 9/10
    6) Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 10/10
    7) Supernormal Stimuli by Deirdre Barrett 8/10
    8) 1776 by David McCullough 7/10
    9) Popular: the power of likeability in a status obsessed world by Mitch Prinstein 7/10
    10) Promise not to tell by Jennifer McMahon 6/10
    11) Us Against You by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    12) The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace Wells 7.5/10
    13) The System: the glory and scandal of big time college football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian 9/10
    14) A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 10/10
    15) When the Game was Ours by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jackie MacMullan 8.5/10
    16) The Breach by Patrick Lee 9/10
    17) The 1997 Masters by Tiger Woods 8/10
     
    CBH, TC, Tangman and 1 other person like this.
  49. TC

    TC Peter, 53, from Toxteth
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    South Carolina GamecocksCarolina PanthersCarolina Hurricanes

    Just found out "Factfulness" will be the common read for incoming freshmen at my school this year. Pumped because I wanted to read this anyway. I know opinions on the book varied here but I think it'll be a good type book to get college freshmen talking?
     
  50. Truman

    Truman Well-Known Member
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    Missouri TigersSt. Louis CardinalsChicago BullsSt. Louis BluesEvertonBook Club

    Have you not read it?

    I liked it. Good book for incoming freshman because it highlights perspective, or lack thereof.