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Post by sophie on Feb 23, 2024 7:08:26 GMT 2
Mostly because I know some of you are readers, I thought this might be a worthwhile thread.
I have just finished and excellent nonfiction,’The Wager’ by David Grann. It’s about a British ship and its crew mid 1700… shipwreck, mutiny and murder… excellent writing and research. The description of the waters going through Drake’s passage were exceptional. One of the survivors of this particular ship was Lord Byron’s grandfather.
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Post by Voy on Feb 23, 2024 14:31:39 GMT 2
Sophie - that sounds excellent - thank you ! I'd like to add "The Frozen River" , by Ariel Lahwon... it's , of all things, a murder mystery about Martha Ballard - in Hallowell , Maine, in the around the turn of the 18th century. ( She, the real "heroine" of the fabulous "The Story of a Midwife", by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich - that won the Pulitzer and changed the writing of history forever ). I'm pretty picky - but the research is pretty good !
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Post by tzarine on Feb 23, 2024 19:23:03 GMT 2
reading somerset maugham short stories & a book from my childhood - taran wanderer - bout a bout destined for greatness & a princess who would rather fight alongside him than wear frocks & crown
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Post by kuskiwi on Feb 23, 2024 23:13:07 GMT 2
I've given up, temporarily, on my kindle as the exchange rate makes it super expensive. Have instead gone onto the much upgraded electronic library system called borrow box and the Australian version. The old system was so clunky it was hopeless. Result. Now reading more Australian authors, or books set in the southern hemisphere and in areas I relate to. Recommendations will follow eventually.
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Post by Scrubb on Feb 24, 2024 1:58:06 GMT 2
That sounds really good, sophie! In a similar spirit, one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read was "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing. I went through a south pole phase a few years back and read about a dozen books by and about the famous explorers (Scott, Shackleton, Amundson) and their crews, and this one was absolutely fantastic. Head and shoulders above the rest - even Scott's journals.
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Post by sophie on Feb 27, 2024 2:57:57 GMT 2
Scrubb and Kushkiwi, I just ordered those 2 books.
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Post by sophie on Feb 27, 2024 3:02:01 GMT 2
And I just started Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh. I had never read his work before this past year and somehow got one which happened to be the first book of a trilogy and then his new one (mostly about Burma) and now this which is non fiction but based on his research for those books.
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Post by Scrubb on Feb 27, 2024 4:22:45 GMT 2
Hope you enjoy Endurance, sophie!
I've read a few books by Amitav Ghosh, and enjoyed them a lot. I liked the fiction more than the non-fiction one that I read, though. I do keep meaning to read more of his stuff.
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Post by Netsuke on Feb 27, 2024 6:04:58 GMT 2
There was this really great book about London called “Londinium” which told the history and beginnings of what is today called London. From pre-Roman times.
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Post by sophie on Feb 27, 2024 6:13:46 GMT 2
The novel by Edward Rutherford, London, was also excellent.
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Post by auntieannie on Feb 27, 2024 15:03:59 GMT 2
these days, I'm a book dragon... I hoard books, but don't have the headspace to read.
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Post by sophie on Mar 7, 2024 6:02:16 GMT 2
Scrubb, your recommendation for Endurance was a god one. I enjoyed that book. Amazing it was written in the late 1950’s. And how fortuitous was it that so many of the expedition members were still alive and able to be interviewed!
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Post by Scrubb on Mar 7, 2024 6:24:59 GMT 2
Glad you liked it! I thought it told a remarkable tale, very well.
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Post by Baz Faz on Mar 7, 2024 13:13:55 GMT 2
Today is International Book Day. I am reading internationally with Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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Post by Scrubb on Mar 11, 2024 10:00:29 GMT 2
Today is International Book Day. I am reading internationally with Gabriel Garcia Marquez I didn't know that it was International Book Day, but I started a book written by: who seems fairly international!
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Post by tzarine on Mar 11, 2024 18:31:01 GMT 2
Today is International Book Day. I am reading internationally with Gabriel Garcia Marquez I didn't know that it was International Book Day, but I started a book written by: who seems fairly international! i met her husband ages ago she is an interesting woman. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Hagedorn
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Post by Scrubb on Mar 12, 2024 5:41:20 GMT 2
Interesting!
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Post by sophie on Mar 14, 2024 6:31:57 GMT 2
Voy, I just finished The Frozen River. Thanks for the recommendation. I enjoyed it.. and I can certainly see how you, being a history fan (especially early Maine!) would enjoy this book.
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Post by kuskiwi on Mar 17, 2024 1:19:10 GMT 2
Steve Mushin. ultra Wild. And a disclaimer as I know his parents. This is a book that just keeps on questioning, gives ideas and is very almost off the planet. It's aimed at children at the 9 and up years to adults and through his cartoon drawings, Ballon explanations, exploratory ideas it turns into fascinating ideas around how to fix our munted cities, and other than edits and printing all his work. I'm fascinated and somehow I can visualize Sophie's grandson/my grand daughter picking up up and exploring a page. Putting it down for a while then going back to it. At first glance it's overwhelming as it's full of "stuff" but tapped into its magical.
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Post by sophie on Mar 17, 2024 2:31:55 GMT 2
I just checked Amazon and it seems that book isn’t available here…
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Post by kuskiwi on Apr 4, 2024 9:05:23 GMT 2
Just finished The Covenant of Water. Thoroughly enjoyed it although a little confronting in many ways, including the chapters on leprosy. For those interested in the history of India and the Kerala area its an interesting read.
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Post by lumi on Apr 4, 2024 14:19:06 GMT 2
I think my taste in books may be rather different than those of you who've already commented on this thread. Some recent reads of mine that I've enjoyed include:
- The Culture Map by Erin Meyer (took me a while to really get into it but gives insightful info on how people behave and communicate differently in various cultures and how to best work in collaboration if your style/culture differs from your team/colleagues etc)
- The Warlords Son by Dan Fesperman
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins
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Post by Voy on Apr 4, 2024 14:20:37 GMT 2
Sophie - some how I just saw this ! "Voy, I just finished The Frozen River. Thanks for the recommendation. I enjoyed it.. and I can certainly see how you, being a history fan (especially early Maine!) would enjoy this book."
Just to say that Pownalborough Court House is one of the 3 museums where I am co-curator, and that I impersonate Martha with some regularity when we talk about the actual trial in our courtroom.
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Post by lumi on Apr 4, 2024 14:25:16 GMT 2
I'm currently reading Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat which was a birthday gift from the inlaws. It felt a little passive aggressive to gift me a self-help book but I am reading it nonetheless. It is only really once I've reached halfway that I liked what I was reading, but I do hope that by the end I will find more value in the text. I think I just need some time/quiet to actually think about what it is saying to really appreciate how the info can fit my life/thinking and that's hard to do when my son keeps begging me to play with him instead of reading.
I was actually thinking this book may be interesting for you, Annie, and I promise I meant that with kindness, no passive-aggressively intent (despite what I said about me being gifted the book!). I was thinking about your current circumstances and thought it may be an inlet to help you reframe your present point in life and move forward positively. I do enjoy reading certain self-help type books though, so not sure if that is a genre you're also open to.
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Post by lumi on Apr 4, 2024 14:27:43 GMT 2
these days, I'm a book dragon... I hoard books, but don't have the headspace to read. I am a little bit like that though got back into reading last holidays when we were with the in-laws a lot so I retreated and read so I could get a break. I also decided not to watch any TV over the holiday so every night I just read which was wonderful. I have not been able to give up my TV addiction upon returning home though but on weekends I tend to find a little time. Maybe try scheduling a regular hour or so on your weekly calendar to read. When it is scheduled, it is more likely to happen!
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Post by tzarine on Apr 4, 2024 18:48:47 GMT 2
just finished garden of the finzi continis bout a wealthy fam @ fascism who believe their wealth will protect them really captures the life & is a coming of age tale now want to see the flick www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKFv3obpdo8
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