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Post by Voy on Apr 19, 2019 16:08:08 GMT 2
Code Girls - about the US women who were in the US version of Bletchley ( sans Enigma machine ).
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Post by Scrubb on Apr 24, 2019 5:06:47 GMT 2
"In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollen. He starts with his conclusion which is: "eat real food, not too much of it, mostly plant based", then goes on to pretty much totally discredit both nutritionists and industrialized food production. So far, about half way through, everything he has said is convincing and interesting. It mostly sums up into "food science is still in its infancy. We really just don't understand how food works - you can't break it down into its components or nutrients, because it seems to interact with other food in ways that are not comprehended". Also, he points out all kinds of flaws in studies, shows the very much less-than-solid basis for various food beliefs over the years, and demonstrates that the rise in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke - plus some cancers and dental problems - correlates to the introduction of the western diet. Regardless of race, gender, geography, etc.,
I think his conclusions are already pretty broadly accepted - everyone knows "we" eat more than we need to, and that processed/refined foods are not healthy, and that fruit and veg should make up the majority of every meal - but I'm finding his critique of all the various food fads and beliefs over the years very interesting.
My main weakness is pasta. I know I need to learn to love whole wheat pasta.
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Post by Voy on Apr 24, 2019 14:15:51 GMT 2
whole wheat angel hair is ok....
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Post by sophie on Apr 24, 2019 16:19:02 GMT 2
Read that book a while back and really liked it. Seems common sense works best!
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Post by wikki on Apr 24, 2019 21:57:18 GMT 2
whole wheat pasta is horrible... I was reading Noir from Christopher Moore. Fun little story. I just started to read The Witch that Came From the Cold. too early to sy anything about it.
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Post by Scrubb on May 27, 2019 6:25:55 GMT 2
Just finished "The Q" by Beth Brower - a really enjoyable, charming read. Set in a fictional country near England and France, with its own king, in the late 1800s.
It's sort of just a romance with some added quirks, but it's really quite lovely.
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Post by Baz Faz on May 27, 2019 10:07:59 GMT 2
I wondered why we weren't receiving any new books on our Kindles. Then Mrs Faz remembered we had had a fibreoptic cable connection put in with a new security code. Voila, problem solved. Now I can read onlyMark's Grummi.
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Post by OnlyMark on May 27, 2019 10:37:22 GMT 2
Again? I put most of it on here, didn't I?
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Post by Baz Faz on May 27, 2019 12:57:48 GMT 2
But if I read it again I can put a review on Amazon.
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Post by OnlyMark on May 27, 2019 13:09:34 GMT 2
That's what I'm afraid of!
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Post by Voy on May 27, 2019 14:00:49 GMT 2
Just finished "Our Tempestuous Times" - a history of Regency England . Very enjoyable and well written, but scary - the parallels to now, between the Regent and Trump, and the politics - hidebound conservatives in parliament totally ignoring the Reform movement - scary.
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Post by Baz Faz on May 27, 2019 19:04:51 GMT 2
That's what I'm afraid of! I promise not to mention your spelling of hangar
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Post by OnlyMark on May 27, 2019 21:17:59 GMT 2
I shall correct that shortly. My spell checker must have had a day off.
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Post by sophie on Jul 19, 2019 5:58:37 GMT 2
A book I am currently reading is Overstory by Richard Powers. I love it and highly recommended it.
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Post by Scrubb on Jul 20, 2019 5:44:15 GMT 2
THat sounds great, sophie - am adding it to my list.
I recently finished "The Far Pavillions" by M.M. Kaye - set in INdia during the Raj. Its central story is an unlikely romance with a HIndu princess, but the setting is really fascinating and includes a bunch of history. There are some interesting characters other than the "hero" - and that's in quotations because he's a jerk some of the time and not very likeable quite often, though he does improve some with age.
It's a very long book - 900 pages - written in the '70s I think. I know I used to see it in the library but never got around to reading it until now. Might have enjoyed it more when I was younger, actually, but still, overall it was worth reading.
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Post by Scrubb on Jul 22, 2019 5:19:15 GMT 2
OH, and now I'm reading my first ever Charles Bukowski - Post Office - and wondering why I didn't read his stuff before. It's cracking me up.
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Post by Netsuke on Jul 22, 2019 10:47:52 GMT 2
Scrubb, wasn't that also a movie? I seem to remember the advertising for it.
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Post by tzarine on Jul 27, 2019 20:27:59 GMT 2
i have been abandoning books lately links by nuruddin farah about somalia was too dark
elsa ferrante was boring
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Post by rikita on Aug 1, 2019 1:07:27 GMT 2
read some swedish books before/during my vacation ... started with "comédia infantil" (chronicler of the winds) by henning mankell (though the title doesn't sound swedish and the book doesn't place in sweden)
then bought a very short book written by astrid lindgren about the love story of her parents (En kärlekshistoria: Samuel August fran Sevedstorp och Hanna i Hult) and read that.
now am still reading "Dorés Bibel" by Torgny Lindgren. i'd like to re-read that one in german to see which things i understood well and which not, but i think it might not be translated ...
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Post by Voy on Aug 1, 2019 3:08:29 GMT 2
Colin Thubron , "Behind the Wall" -- he was greatly lauded at the time, but tho I am plowing thru it, the man uses a zillion times too many adjectives !
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 1, 2019 21:54:43 GMT 2
discovering the Harry Potter books via audiobook.
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Post by wikki on Aug 4, 2019 11:57:49 GMT 2
I am reading some German fantasy books. The Phileasson Saga. It is simply the best way to turn off my brain. But I need some serious stuff to read, to actually activate my mind 😊
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Post by Voy on Aug 4, 2019 15:43:20 GMT 2
Sicilian Carousel, by Larwence Durrell -- really enjoying it - mannered tho he is. It's much cheerier than the other 3 about Medit. Islands. And I loved the bit where he complains that people always want him to sign his brother's books !
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Post by sophie on Aug 4, 2019 17:29:59 GMT 2
Voy, I like writings by both of the Durrell brothers even though their styles and content were so different.
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Post by tzarine on Aug 12, 2019 17:46:16 GMT 2
a bio of isaac newton by peter ackroyd fascinating
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Post by Scrubb on Aug 13, 2019 7:03:38 GMT 2
On holidays I read a novel about the Irish uprising/rebellion that lead to independence, in 1916-1921. The book wasn't particularly great overall, but the parts where the author was writing from historical sources were good and there was a lot of clear, interesting information. It has inspired me to learn more about Michael Collins and I'm going to try to find a good history of the time/events.
I also read a couple of classics from WW2 - Jerzy Kosinski's "The Painted Bird" and Elie Wiesel's "Night". Both devastating.
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Post by Scrubb on Aug 13, 2019 7:05:19 GMT 2
Oh, and now I'm reading a memoir about living in Cambodia, written by the ex-wife of a former LPTT poster who passed away a couple of years ago. The editing is not great in the introductory/background chapters, but now that they're in Cambodia the setting is fascinating.
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Post by wikki on Aug 21, 2019 2:36:14 GMT 2
Just finished The Island of The Sea Women. A sad but interesting story. I did not know much about Korean History, specially not Jeju History.
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Post by Scrubb on Aug 21, 2019 5:16:48 GMT 2
I'm reading "The Muse" by Jessie Burton. She wrote "The Miniaturist" which I read, and really enjoyed a couple years ago and I think I'm liking this one even better.
It starts in 1967 with a girl from Trinidad who has moved to London, to find that the streets are not paved with gold. There's been a flashback to the 1930s in Spain and a girl who is a painter. There's a mystery around a painting. It's really good.
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Post by Voy on Aug 21, 2019 14:44:18 GMT 2
Agent ZigZag -- wonderful biography of the amazing double agent during the war - not only fascinating but brilliantly ( and very funnily) written by Ben MacIntyre
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