Books

[popvulture]

Man that cover is cool!

I haven’t read the sequel to TC yet, been waiting til it comes out in paperback. I’ve gotten back to reading Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, which is enormous but hilarious and rewarding so far. I started it earlier this year but had to restart because I put it down to read a couple easier books

[Bridger]

Great name for a doom metal band

[mclaincausey]

A few audio books I have read of late. I have mentioned some of these no doubt:

• James: A Novel by Percival Everett. This one has gotten a lot of praise and recognition. Everyone should read it. It is a retelling of Huck Finn from Jim's perspective. The narration on the audiobook is fantastic by Dominic Hoffman
• Ray Porter is a gifted narrator, and several of his are great in the hard-ish sci-fi domain. These would be worth reading, but he brings them to life in the same way Hoffman does James:
  ** Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, soon to be adapted to film.
  ** The Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor. Very nerdy sci-fi by a former software engineer about a man who becomes a von Neumann probe that explores the galaxy. One of my favorite pieces of sci fi I've ever experienced
  ** Flybot, also by Dennis E. Taylor. This is a one-off in a near future about an artificial intelligence. A bit of a detective story, similarly nerdy to Bobiverse but much more terrestrial

Nonfiction, I will skip most of the business and product strategy books I've been reading, but this one has general applicability to anyone and the others are interesting:

• Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, by Chip and Dan Heath. This incorporates a lot of psychology and behavioral economics to reveal things that impact effective dexisionmaking and a framework to get around those things.
• The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber, David Wengrow
• Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber
• Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder and One Man's Fight for Justice by Bill Browder: reads like a biography crossed with a suspense novel
• Agave Spirits: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals by Gary Paul Nabhan Ph.D., David Suro Piñera: this one gets you so deep into the weeds about mezcal, amazing stuff
• Finding Mezcal: A Journey into the Liquid Soul of Mexico, with 40 Cocktails by Ron Cooper, Chantal Martineau: great coffee table book, kind of biographical by the founder of del Maguey

[SKT]

@mclaincausey some great stuff. +1 for James, one of the best things I’ve read in the past few years. Will add some of your recommendations to my list

[Giles]

@endo said in Books:

Gustave M. Gilbert, Nuremberg Diary

Just bought:

[Giles]

@Bridger said in Books:

That makes sense @goosehd.

I really should do more reading about the history of places I visit.

I am off to Japan next year. Any reading recommendations from the forum are welcome.

Any Japanese written whodunnits, You will learn a lot about social structure and behaviour. I wish I have read them 25 years ago.....

[Giles]

@goosehd said in Books:

Bought

[Giles]

@Bridger said in Books:

Seize the Fire by Adam Nicolson

Bought that too. Off on a longish diving holiday, plenty of time between dives to look like I give a fuck....

[68degreesorless]

@Bridger Ametora for some denim and japanese culture

[Chap]

@Bridger said in Books:

That makes sense @goosehd.

I really should do more reading about the history of places I visit.

I am off to Japan next year. Any reading recommendations from the forum are welcome.

Haruki Murakami
Michiko Aoyama
Satoshi Yagisawa
Hisashi Kashiwai
Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Yuki Yoshida

[goosehd]

I love this thread ️

[mclaincausey]

@SKT James really conveys the terror of being black in that era, which of course extended well beyond the Emancipation. That’s the main reason I think of it as requires reading, though it has all sorts of other merit as well.

[endo]

@Giles said in Books:

@endo said in Books:

Gustave M. Gilbert, Nuremberg Diary

Just bought:

@Giles I'm glad you want to read this. It's certainly not light reading, although it's quite readable. I found the topic timeless. Hope you'll find it interesting.

[goosehd]

@endo We need reminders on occasion to remember how barbaric humans can be…if we don’t look to our past on occasion, we can never move forward.

[mclaincausey]

Unfortunately, we an look to the present for plenty of evidence these days as well

[steelworker]

I rolled my eyes at Folk Songs' title . What do I know.

[Bridger]

@Giles said in Books:

Any Japanese written whodunnits, You will learn a lot about social structure and behaviour. I wish I have read them 25 years ago.....

Interesting, @Giles - any titles you would suggest?

I enjoyed Tokyo Vice the TV series, I thought they balanced the social aspects of Japanese censorship on reality rather well and impressed they were allowed to film such a series in Tokyo.

[Bridger]

Amazing! Thanks @Chap - good think I have until the end of March to get reading

[steelworker]

@Jord said in Books:

@SKT Have you read Pet Sematary? That one really gets parents emotions going... Great book

And critics still turn up their noses.
I guess he got some kind of a tinsel imprimatur from them eventually. And his editor need a kick in the ass.

[steelworker]

@Giles well? How was it?