Time for a new book - any suggestions?

[Buster Highmen]

Just back from Flordor (why anyone would want to live in that pit is well beyond me) and chewed a bunch of books en route (with my seat moderately back).

Best of that bunch was "The Bad Assed Librarians of Timbuktu".

It really is about some bad assed librarians, but also about Sufis and other tolerant forms of Muslim faith, dispossessed Tuaregs, US and French foreign policy and activity, cultural factions and a long rich history of literacy largely unknown by such honky white boys as myself.

**** (Four flakes recommendation, really, really well done)

[John_B]

HUE 1968- By Mark Bowden ( Black Hawk Down). Holy shit, great book. Most detailed account of the Battle for Hue, and the Tet Offensive in general. Highly recommend.

Ordered it the other day and it should show up soon.

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[dookeyXXX]

For sure, a really good read - didn't even know it was made into a film, I'll have to check that out.

interestingly enough, the author of the book, M.R. Carey (aka Mike Carey, best known for his work on the Vertigo comicbooks Lucifer and Hellblazer) wrote the book and the screenplay concurrently. I think I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book more than the film, but actually enjoyed/appreciated the ending of the film more than the ending of the book.
highly recommend watching the film and reading the book or reading the book and watching the film, especially if you dig post-apocalyptic shit. and the Walking Dead.

[iceman]

Will finish Hidden Life of Trees tonight or tomorrow. Kind of charming, pretty interesting, sort of pedantic but short and I'd say worth reading overall.

[iceman]

HUE 1968- By Mark Bowden ( Black Hawk Down). Holy shit, great book. Most detailed account of the Battle for Hue, and the Tet Offensive in general. Highly recommend.

Speaking of 1968, read Mailer's "Miami and the Siege of Chicago", about the political conventions of 1968, very worthwhile in these times. Mailer was a force when he put his mind to it.

[iceman]

Read "Whitey" by O'Neill and Lehr recently. Kind of turgid dead prose for the most part (two authors will do that, they cancel each other out so there's no voice) but meticulously researched and documented.

Kind of painful for me in a way, as a Boston Irish guy I still at some level held onto the myth of Whitey the Robin Hood of Boston crime, pushing the Italians back and helping his people, and it's so clear that he was just an absolute monster piece of shit by halfway through the book that it became a slog. Just blow after blow to that myth.

Whitey was an evil murderous bastard who didn't give one shit and may he rot in hell. With his pious brother Billy by his side. I can't recommend the book, I just told you all you need to know.

[Skidog]

Stephen king. 11/23/63

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[Buster Highmen]

Will finish Hidden Life of Trees tonight or tomorrow. Kind of charming, pretty interesting, sort of pedantic but short and I'd say worth reading overall.

Yeah. Some of the claims are a little thin on supporting data and it was a little too precious.

[hatchgreenchile]

"Back Over There" by Richard Rubin.

WW1 buffs will love this one. He travels through northeast France visiting many sites of the war, some famous, some quite obscure. His writing style is very engaging.

[seano732]

Speaking of 1968, read Mailer's "Miami and the Siege of Chicago", about the political conventions of 1968, very worthwhile in these times. Mailer was a force when he put his mind to it.

Ordered. Thanks for the recco.....

[stalefish3169]

Love and Other Pranks by Tony Vigorito is amazing.

If philosophical ideas were harpoons , Tony Vigorito could turn every whale in Ahab's ocean into floating pincushions..." —Tom Robbins.





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[The AD]

I just started "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed. I'm kind of going in with a bad attitude about it, but I figure it's probably worth reading. I haven't seen the movie yet, either.

I have to say this was better than I expected. If you're looking for a book about the PCT look elsewhere. Yes, she talk about the hike, but it's essentially a warts and all memoir and a pretty good one.

[wyeaster]

just started "empire" by gore vidal.

[SkiBall]

The Reunited States of America.
We need a "3rd Story". Or 4 or 5.

[Skistack]

Been reading Jim Harrison for 15 years, but finally got around to Legends of the Fall. Holy shit it's good.

[Meanfruit]

only partway through Where Men Win Glory by Krakauer. The story is about Pat Tillman who quits the NFL to go fight in Afghanistan, but also about that area of the world and how it's got to be the way it is. My mind was blown by the end of the second chapter and it just keeps getting better.

great read

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[Bronic]

"Where the Water Goes" by David Owen. Just finished it, great account of the Colorado River and the struggles the West faced/is facing with water. It is exremely easy to read and he breaks water law down into very easy to digest bits and pieces. I'm an earth sciences student at CU currently and still I learned a ton from this book.

Would recommend to anyone, let alone all of us who live on the west coast and are deep in this issue

[Flyoverland Captive]

"Where the Water Goes" by David Owen. Just finished it, great account of the Colorado River and the struggles the West faced/is facing with water. It is exremely easy to read and he breaks water law down into very easy to digest bits and pieces. I'm an earth sciences student at CU currently and still I learned a ton from this book.

Would recommend to anyone, let alone all of us who live on the west coast and are deep in this issue

Read "Cadillac Desert" for the deepest analysis of the issue ever. Dense reading, but so thorough.

[Bronic]

Thanks, That happens to be referenced multiple times throughout

[Grange]

I just finished Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. Apparently he's the same guy that wrote American Gods which is also a TV series. It is basically a retelling of some myths about the Norse Gods. It's a quick read and was interesting.

[babybear]

just finished a bunch of good books-
"Pacific" by simon winchester- I had read "Atlantic" prior, which was great- but it's the history that we all learned.
In the US we don't get as much Pacific history (and speaking of settling the west- prob have rec'd before but Astoria is a great book on the western expansion around early 1800 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 )
Pacific is also fairly recent so it delves into the current S China sea and greater area power struggles so really a worthwhile read

also Ghengis Khan and the making of the modern world was really good for more history on asia

[Flyoverland Captive]

I'm a fan of Kurlansky ("Salt", "Cod"), and just started one of his older titles, "A Continent of Islands", a history of the Caribbean. Interesting so far, if a bit dated (1992).

[babybear]

read all the kurlansky's too- so good and informative
once I get hooked on an author I usually read all their books (unless they get a really shitty review on one)

[Flyoverland Captive]

Then you would love Daniel Boorstin's masterpieces "The Discoverers", "The Creators", and "The Seekers". Absolutely essential reading for the curious mind.

[babybear]

goody thank you bc I need some new reads. started the Doug Coombs hunting the wild coomba the other night but think that will pass quickly and have had so many good ones in a row that I am on a reading high i need to continue