What Are You Reading?

[Chip-skiff]

Pure entertainment.

[downthecreek]

The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry (for the second time - clearing out vast numbers of books does get you re-reading stuff)

Barry is a wonderful writer.

[skuthorp]

I find it almost impossible to read fiction these days. I might start but seldom finish, knowing it's just a story and unimportant means I lose interest quickly. So I don't buy any.

[David G]

I find it almost impossible to read fiction these days. I might start but seldom finish, knowing it's just a story and unimportant means I lose interest quickly. So I don't buy any.

That's too bad. I view fiction as far from unimportant. It's just a different way of viewing the world. A useful adjunct to non-fiction. An alternative way, and often a better one, to sidle up to truth. Fiction is a way of traveling to far places without leaving your home... of meeting types of people one will never meet in real life (nor, in some cases, would you want to)... of gaining perspective and understanding that one would never garner otherwise.

I just reread 'Wayfaring Stranger' by James Lee Burke. Which is a book that shines at illustrating what I just said. When I read it the first time, I was still so muddy-headed from the cancer treatment that I didn't fully appreciate it. This time I realized his laconic style disguises a density of diamonds. I do believe there is more wisdom packed into the first 100 pages than in any book I've picked up.

[FF]

Since a few years my pile of cookbooks is growing bigger then the boatbooks. And to save shelfspace I have more and more ebooks. The last is Tom Pamperins' Jagular goes anywhere' ( hope I spell the title well)

[mmd]

When, as a young man in the 1880s, Benjamin Lundy signed up for duty aboard a square-rigged commercial sailing vessel, he began a journey more exciting, and more terrifying, than he could have ever imagined: a treacherous, white-knuckle passage around that notorious "graveyard of ships," Cape Horn.

A century later, Derek Lundy, author of the bestselling Godforsaken Sea and an accomplished amateur seaman himself, set out to recount his forebear's journey. The Way of a Ship is a mesmerizing account of life on board a square-rigger, a remarkable reconstruction of a harrowing voyage through the most dangerous waters. Derek Lundy's masterful account evokes the excitement, romance, and brutality of a bygone era -- "a fantastic ride through one of the greatest moments in the history of adventure" (Seattle Times).

[Puttputt]

The Man who Loved Dogs, by Leonardo Paduro. He’s also written an amazing noir series about a Havana police detective who aspires to be a writer, and failing that,a rare book collector. Definitely worth a look.

[paulf]

On Tyranny Tim Snyder, a quick one day read, a frightening look at where we are headed. It's 3 bucks...get it.

[Chip-skiff]

Circe, a retelling of Greek myth from the witch's point-of-view.



Like it so far. Circe is a popular subject, much abused.

This is my favourite painting by Waterhouse: Circe Invidiosa.

[skuthorp]

Archaeology, Zimbabwe and the African east coast to the north along the old trade routes.
Lots and lots of ancient gold mines.

[UCanoe_2]

The History of Underclothes, by C. Willett and Phyllis Cunnington. Exactly what it sounds like, from Middle Ages to ca. 1950.

American Fire, by Monica Hesse. Arson and romance gone very, very wrong on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

[Puttputt]

. Arson and romance gone very, very wrong on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
Sounds like a hunk, a hunk of burnin’ love.

[J P]

Rereading Norman Maclean's "Logging and Pimping, and 'Your Pal, Jim"'. It's one of the stories in "A River Runs Through It". I've been working on some crosscut saw related stuff recently (not pimping) and this story's humorous descriptions of the character 'Jim' and being on the end of a crosscut with him while logging early in the last century just crack me up. And it's just plain, pleasant writing. I'll probably go ahead and reread the other stories too; it's been a few decades since my first read of them.

[webishop14]

I just reread 'Wayfaring Stranger' by James Lee Burke. Which is a book that shines at illustrating what I just said. When I read it the first time, I was still so muddy-headed from the cancer treatment that I didn't fully appreciate it. This time I realized his laconic style disguises a density of diamonds. I do believe there is more wisdom packed into the first 100 pages than in any book I've picked up.

Burke is an incredible author. I first encountered him with "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead." He's at the top of my favorites list.

[NickW]

"If you could travel back in time, the period from 1660 to 1700 would make one of the most exciting destinations in history. It is the age of Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London; bawdy comedy and the libertine court of Charles II; Christopher Wren in architecture, Henry Purcell in music and Isaac Newton in science ― the civil wars are over and a magnificent new era has begun.

But what would it really be like to live in Restoration Britain? Where would you stay and what would you eat? What would you wear and where would you do your shopping? The third volume in the series of Ian Mortimer’s bestselling Time Traveller’s Guides answers the crucial questions that a prospective traveller to seventeenth-century Britain would ask.

How much should you pay for one of those elaborate wigs? Should you trust a physician who advises you to drink fresh cow’s urine to cure your gout? Why are boys made to smoke in school? And why are you unlikely to get a fair trial in court?

People’s lives are changing rapidly – from a world of superstition and religious explanation to rationalism and scientific calculation. In many respects the period sees the tipping point between the old world and the new as fear and uncertainty, hardship and eating with your fingers give way to curiosity and professionalism, fine wines and knives and forks. Travelling to Restoration Britain encourages us to reflect on the customs and practices of daily life – and this unique guide not only teaches us about the seventeenth century but makes us look with fresh eyes at the modern world."

Nick

[Lew Barrett]

I just picked up Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff. Fascinating.

[Flying Orca]

Burke is an incredible author. I first encountered him with "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead." He's at the top of my favorites list.

Picked up his first Robicheaux book and damn can that man write!!! Thank you guys!

[Paul Pless]

[David G]

I'm intrigued by this one, but haven't read it yet. Please do report back.


From NYT --

Ms. Isenberg’s project in “White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America” is to retell United States history in a manner that not only includes the weak, the powerless and the stigmatized, but also places them front and center.

As such, she has written an eloquent volume that is more discomforting and more necessary than a semitrailer filled with new biographies of the founding fathers and the most beloved presidents. (Look, here are six more in my mailbox.) Viewed from below, a good angle for no one, America’s history is usefully disorienting and nearly always appalling. “White Trash” will have you squirming in your chair.

[CWSmith]

“White Trash” will have you squirming in your chair.

Frankly, they have for years.

[Canoeyawl]

Sort of obscure, this details the story of the German fleet of square rigged ships bottled up in the Gulf of California for the duration of Ww1
Non-fiction, almost a textbook I read it 30 years ago and am reading it again. Eventually the sailors abandonded ship one by one and walked to San Francisco!( Harold was a friend of my uncle, both settled in PNW they held unlimited masters tickets.)

[Chip-skiff]

The Wife's Tale by Aida Edemariam. Beautifully written personal history/biography set in Ethiopia.

[PeterSibley]

"An Utterly Impartial History of Britain " Informative and highly amusing!

[Mike H]

[Jim Mahan]

[Flying Orca]

That's a good one. His latest is apparently very good too.