Any good reads ?

Post by **Sveedy** » 30 Mar 2021, 17:46

I was thinking it might be nice to have some folks input on good books they've read.
No matter the subject or if it's fiction, nonfiction, reference or whatever.
For me, I still enjoy the time spent going to the book store, so having something to start with is kind of nice. Pretty much have a library as is at this point, so I can put out a couple of titles / writers as well.

For instance : " Evil Geniuses " The unmaking of America. By Kurt Andersen The title kind of says it all.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 30 Mar 2021, 19:45

Good idea. I will create a list.
volvolugnut

Post by **matthew1** » 01 Apr 2021, 21:09

Anything by Cormac McCarthy https://amzn.to/3mhoeWb
The Three Californias trilogy, Mars trilogy, and Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson https://amzn.to/3cIYvCR

I can't get enough of those two.

Post by **abscate** » 11 Apr 2021, 15:17

Two eye opening books, rank with politics that will challenge your views on many things...with facts.

'Black Banners' by Ali Soufan - recently available with most redactions removed.

'All the Shahs Men' by Kintzer.

Warning - if you are settled in your views on politics of the Middle East, dont read these, you wont like them.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 11 Apr 2021, 19:22

abscate wrote: ↑11 Apr 2021, 15:17 Two eye opening books
Warning - if you are settled in your views on politics of the Middle East, dont read these, you wont like them.

It's funny but I watched an old, they are all old, Bruce Lee movie that is on Youtube, The Chinese Connection US or Fist Of Fury World Wide and one of the comments said the Japanese market loved it.

Here is another: The book is "A Higher Call"

If people could only at least "Try To" put themselves in other people's shoes or see the other person's point of view, unless it's the Po Pots of the world of course. And no, none of our politicians are Po Pots and hope there will never be any.

*

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 12 Apr 2021, 03:07

MoVolvos wrote: ↑11 Apr 2021, 19:22 If people could only at least "Try To" put themselves in other people's shoes or see the other person's point of view,

"The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.

--- Aldous Huxley"

Post by **Sveedy** » 12 Apr 2021, 18:51

I have McCarthy's " The Road " which I liked more than the movie, though the movie was good.

I will have the pick up " All the Shahs men ". Funny how peoples memory of recent history can just sort of conveniently fade away.

Well I haven't read Huxley in a few years ( decades ) but I did enjoy his writings.

Got to mention Fredrik Backman ( he is a Swedish writer after all ) for a fun light read. " A man called Ove " was my favorite of his.
But it looks like he might be a fan of Saabs.
I'm also like the writing team of Preston & Child. Most any of the Pendergast stories are good, starting with " Relic " which was made into one of the worst movie adaptations ever. " Still life with Crows " was kind of hard to put down as I recall. Nothing heavy with their stuff. Just good reads.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 12 Apr 2021, 19:36

For fast action fiction, I like Lee Child's Jack Reach novels and the Tom Clancy novels that Clancy actually wrote. Later in life, Clancy used co-writers. These never seemed to be as sharp as the originals. Since Clancy died years ago, many writers have continued writing books under his banner.
The Clive Cussler novels with Dirk Pitt were interesting, if you did not think about the plot too much. Again, the originals that Cussler wrote were better than with co-writers or later other writers using Cussler's name branding.
I do read non fiction, but I will have to look up titles and authors.
volvolugnut

Post by **matthew1** » 12 Apr 2021, 21:08

I read The Road in one sitting, something like 4pm start, 4am finish. It was certainly the most Page Turning™ page turner I've ever picked up. That was about two years before my son was born. I re-read it when he was 5, and I had to pause for a few days after about 20 pages and ask myself if I really wanted to read it again as a dad.

Post by **Sveedy** » 14 Apr 2021, 19:01

Haven't read much of his work, but I'm not sure if Tom Cruise was what Lee Child had in mind for his Reacher character

For a non-fiction interesting read, Malcolm Gladwell is good pick. His " Outliers " made the suggestion that it takes about 10,000 hours to become really good at something. Based on that, I don't know how " good " of a Volvo mechanic I'll ever be.