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?

[Giles]

@steelworker How was what?