General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat non-fiction book did you read in 2013 that you most recommend?
I'd have to go with "The Fine Print" by David Cay Johnston. The subtitle is "How big companies use 'Plain English' to rob you blind", and it is equal parts fascinating and enraging. I dog-eared at least 2/3 of the pages, because there was so much good stuff in there.
Butch McQueen
(43 posts)By Hedrick Smith. I had to take about a month to read it through because the things I was reading there pissed me off so bad I had to keep putting it down and walking away from it for a few days. The funny part is that any sensible 1%er that read it would probably be equally pissed off at the .1%.
Butch
russspeakeasy
(6,539 posts)My blood pressure took a real beating.
godai
(2,902 posts)calimary
(81,436 posts)Glad you're here! Good recommendation. Sounds utterly infuriating. But then again, no way around that one. What the book discusses WAS and IS infuriating!
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Though I'll probably have to follow it with something humorous.
golfguru
(4,987 posts)by O'Reilly has amazing details and photo's of JFK assassination story.
merrily
(45,251 posts)golfguru
(4,987 posts)Not about to enrich O'Reilly. However the book is very interesting read.
Not attempting to place JFK in any bad light. Book is full of facts which
even I did not know, and I follow news closely. I was at my first job
when JFK was killed.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I don't think Boll-O is qualified to teach me anything about history. He better have a lot of footnotes and references!
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)minutes. The bias was obvious even though I did not know it was an O'Reilly production until much later, but I was not at all surprised when I found out.
Haven't and won't be reading the book, but if the TV version is a true representation of the book, it was trash imho.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)even the most stoic tv viewer. I didn't know it was an O'Reilly production but now that I do, it explains the reaction I had to what appeared to me to be total propaganda and not very well done.
golfguru
(4,987 posts)There are details of Oswald's life I never knew in the book.
There are wonderful pictures of JFK playing with his very young children.
And it kept my interest from beginning to end which is rare.
I get bored quickly reading non-fiction.
Logical
(22,457 posts)golfguru
(4,987 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)minutes into the tv rendition of his fact free propaganda piece. When I learned it was from O'Reilly, that explained it all.
golfguru
(4,987 posts)For me, JFK was the best president in my lifetime. You may be too young to have
watched his live press conferences and other face time on TV. He had more charisma
than all the presidents combined since his unfortunate departure. I saw more people
crying when he died than any other world figure. It was indeed Camelot during JFK.
So I love reading about JFK's life. It does not bother me who writes a book about him.
Frankly I did not see anti-JFK bias in O'Reilly's book. I did not find any blatant lies.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)What bothered me about it was that it was intended to push the WC findings despite the huge number of people who do not believe them.
But I understand what you are saying and he certainly did have a huge impact on this country which is why it is all the more tragic that he didn't live to finish the job he started.
I'm glad you enjoyed it and there were so many other more in depth documentaries throughout the month of Nov that people were given a lot to think about regarding his life and death.
Thanks for your comment and I am sorry for any misunderstanding.
Cal Carpenter
(4,959 posts)Highly recommend it.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)It was a real eye-opener.
raccoon
(31,118 posts)Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)I have several on various topics.
prairierose
(2,145 posts)not only do they talk about how we got to this point of legalized bribery and false advertising but they talk about voter suppression and gerrymandered districts and how all of that affects elections.
I am planning to read Thom Hartmann's The Crash of 2016 soon.
cilla4progress
(24,760 posts)The Crash of 2016.
He gives a very concise, easily digested history and perspective on the current state of our politics and economy. And, of course, I agree with him completely! Learning some new stuff here. Very illuminating, yet comprehensible.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)HuckleB
(35,773 posts)If you haven't read it, read it!
duffyduff
(3,251 posts)ancianita
(36,130 posts)Beaverhausen
(24,470 posts)rucky
(35,211 posts)meant to pick up the book. Thanks for the reminder!
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)Z_I_Peevey
(2,783 posts)Extremely well-written memoir/essay hybrid. It was a pleasure to discover one of my favorite comic actors is also a talented writer.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)A fascinating look at what makes an empire (Crossan is looking at you, USA).
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Sheds a lot of light on where the traditions come from, taking the "magic" out. I have many of his books on my list. I'll have to check out God and Empire, thanks.
chervilant
(8,267 posts)God is Not Great, by Hitchens, is the best nonfiction I've read this year.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Turbineguy
(37,364 posts)than "Choices, Values and Frames"!
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Response to arcane1 (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
Skittles
(153,174 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)And "Mortality" too.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)broiles
(1,370 posts)Red Knight
(704 posts)Great book about L. Ron Hubbard and the cult of Scientology.
Hubbard was calculating and probably crazy and he managed to connect with the right people, people with deep pockets and establish an insane religion.
tabbycat31
(6,336 posts)sakabatou
(42,170 posts)pangaia
(24,324 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)DUers rock!!!
OneGrassRoot
(22,920 posts)cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)tabbycat31
(6,336 posts)CTyankee
(63,912 posts)frogmarch
(12,158 posts)http://hawthornebooks.com/catalogue/love-and-terror-on-the-howling-plains-of-nowhere
Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere is a memoir by Chadron, Nebraska author, Poe Ballantine. The main focus of the book is the mysterious death of Chadron State College math professor Steven Haataja in 2006. A documentary has been made based on the book, and I'm looking forward to seeing it when it finally airs on TV.
Steven Haatajas charred body was found tied with extension cords to a tree just over the hill from my house. The case is still officially open, but local law enforcement is treating the death as a suicide. I dont believe for a minute it was. I believe the death was a homicide, and I have a strong feeling I know who did it.
I posted about it in the DU True Crime forum:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1201270
dhill926
(16,351 posts)always loved his writing in The Sun...
frogmarch
(12,158 posts)It's a fascinating case, and he certainly is a wonderful writer.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)An interesting first-hand account of her life as a slave in North Carolina.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)It's an almost day by day account of the civil war written by the wife of a bigshot in the Confederate government. A sort of very intelligent Scarlett O'Hara who opposed slavery and secession. She didn't oppose slavery for purely humanitarian reasons, she opposed it because of the evil it did to whites (masters who fooled around or raped slave women, and the effect it had on white men).
It's a fascinating read by a woman who lived at the time, living in luxury, surrounded by slaves that she feared, and knew just about every southern general and politician. And, it is very well written and readable.
LittleBlue
(10,362 posts)Right up my alley. Thank you!
MyshkinCommaPrince
(611 posts)The Glorious Burden, by Stefan Lorant. A history of the American presidency, through LBJ. It delves extensively into the election cycles and the issues of each era, and includes a wide range of photographs and illustrations. The political cartoons from the 18th and 19th centuries are particularly interesting.
I first came across this book as the 2012 election was heating up, and was able to get a copy on Amazon early this year. The book has been helpful to me by showing that our era isn't unique in having such contentious politics, as well as giving me some sense of how our two parties have changed or not changed, over the years. The book is, unfortunately, out of print.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Passage of Power, vol. 4 of Robert Caro's multi volume bio of Lyndon Johnson.
If at all possible, I recommend audio version, it is easier to get thru.
Caro is ...very detailed...
the books have been an eye opener.
follow that with the new movie Parkland, for a total immersion.
tavernier
(12,396 posts)Learned a lot of fascinating things about LBJ and that whole period of transition. A real eye opener.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)plus 4.00 S&H
at Amazon..I just ordered it, based on your rec.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)The causes that led to civil war.
It's followed by, The Road to Disunion, Secessionists Triumphant 1854-1861 by the same author. Which I have just gotten but haven't yet read.
Journeyman
(15,038 posts)one of the better Civil War books I've read, it details how close the nation came to deteriorating into anarchy in the closing months of the war, and how decisions by a variety of people -- both North and South -- set the stage to bring us together again.
Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look for those two.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)That title I can find on Amazon, under the name of Winik, but cannot find any for August 1965.
Journeyman
(15,038 posts)Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)Check out Freehling's The South vs. The South: How Anti-Confederate Southerners Shaped the Course of the Civil War. Another gem of his I would not have discovered but for directed reading.
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)bhikkhu
(10,720 posts)One of the best science writers of our time (he reminds me of Carl Sagan in some ways), a book about how, from top to bottom, the culture of violence worldwide has changed over the last 60 years. Its a definite eye-opener, and full of studies and research results ("mere facts", as the RW condescendingly might say) - not the view of things one would ever get from watching the media.
I especially like how he looks at studies in a way as to assess their possible weaknesses, and often argues possible alternative explanations to his own points, carefully weighing things to come up with a most likely result rather than a pre-determined result. Letting the evidence lead the argument is a simple way to put it, but his professorial experience is also on display - if one is constantly challenged with opposing points that must be fairly and openly met, one becomes accustomed to seeking out and working through weaknesses in ones own arguments as one goes along. He puts it all on the page, and it is refreshing to see.
mainer
(12,023 posts)Made me so glad not to be living in caveman days.
rrneck
(17,671 posts)HuckleB
(35,773 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)mainer
(12,023 posts)If you care about food, and what it means to our bodies, definitely something to read.
dem in texas
(2,674 posts)I enjoyed the book, In Defense of Food and it confirmed a lot of what I had already figured out. I will try to read his latest book.
ancianita
(36,130 posts)nutritionism industry are particularly enlightening, as well as the revelation that micronutrients are the glue that make whole foods' nutrients unduplicatable (is that a word?).
dem in texas
(2,674 posts)Good read, especially since we used to live in Alaska and we would go to Chitna to dip for salmon. That was in the 70's before the road to McCarthy was open.
Agony
(2,605 posts)by Huntington/Elliott about the life of Jimmy that will stick with you forever...
I will read Pilgrim's Wilderness, thanks.
legcramp
(288 posts)by Henry "Bombastic" Bushkin.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)The part I found interesting was how the author, Carson's attorney, blamed his own infidelity on Carson's behavior.
sorta " i would not have cheated on my wife if Carson had not dragged me along to where the gorgeous gilrs were".
Book offered some interesting insights into Johnny, tho.
nolabear
(41,990 posts)I'm aware he could be a total bastard (and it sounds like his mother was one of those utterly unpleasable ones, which might explain a lot) but I was utterly charmed by his talent at being him from a pretty early age (lots of late nights). I'd hate to find out more than I wanted to know. I'm tempted, though.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)is how he and a lot of his show biz contemporaries, were very outgoing on stage, so to speak,
but were at a loss how to be fulfilled when not working.
Booze, drugs and sex seemed to be the most popular to ignore the "terrors, fears and bewilderments"
of life off the staqe.
that dynamic did pertain to Carson.
Another thought I had, while reading Jane Fonda's several books...when you spend that much time in your life in show businesses,
other parts of a person do not become developed.
Many but not all show biz bios reveal people who had little interest or skills in other areas than show biz.
They were rather talented one dimensional beings.
nolabear
(41,990 posts)It gets fed onstage, but the "feeding" it gets offstage as people vie for attention can be massive trouble. As I said I'm not surprised but sorry. He was a cool, cool guy in his role.
TeamPooka
(24,248 posts)Napalm
Napalm is a revelation. In a story that takes us from Harvard Stadium to Vietnam, Robert M. Neer retells the past 70 years of American history through a single extraordinary and terrible invention. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the American way of war and its humanitarian dilemmas. (John Fabian Witt, author of Lincolns Code: The Laws of War in American History)
http://www.amazon.com/Napalm-Robert-M-Neer-ebook/dp/B00BL7IVS4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386464074&sr=8-1&keywords=napalm
Blazing Ice
Blazing Ice is the story of the team of Americans who forged a thousand-mile transcontinental ôhaul routeö across Antarctica. For decades airplanes from McMurdo Station supplied the South Pole. A safe and repeatable surface haul route would have been cheaper and more environmentally benign than airlift, but the technology was not available until 2000.
http://www.amazon.com/Blazing-Ice-Pioneering-Twenty-first-Century%C3%86s-ebook/dp/B009NH256S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386464142&sr=8-1&keywords=blazing+ice
Rocking the Pink: Finding Myself on the Other Side of Cancer
In 2008, just as Laura Roppé was poised to burst onto the music scene, her doctor called her with news that left her spinningshe had been diagnosed with an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer. Just days earlier, she had signed a dream-come-true contract with a record label; now, she wasnt even sure how much longer she had to live. Never one to back down to a challenge, however, Roppé gathered her courage, took stock of her priorities, and made a decision: Cancer may take my hair, she told herself, but thats all its getting.
More than a cancer journey, Rocking the Pink is a quirky, charming, and poignant ode to love, friendship, and music. Roppé is unflinchingly honest and unfailingly funny as she tells the story of her odyssey: from childhood dreamer and giddy valet parker to the Hollywood stars to disillusioned lawyer, wife, and mother; from budding songwriter and late-blooming recording artist to determined cancer survivor. Full of raw emotion and humor that will make you laugh through your tears, Rocking the Pink is a chronicle of discovering one's true self through lifes difficult circumstancesand a testament to the hang-in-tough, take-no-prisoners attitude it takes to kick cancers butt.
http://www.amazon.com/Rocking-Pink-Finding-Myself-Cancer-ebook/dp/B007OVT8XS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386464305&sr=8-1&keywords=rocking+the+pink
calimary
(81,436 posts)Good to have you with us! That sounds like a great one! Certainly up my alley! MAN did we EVER love Johnny Carson. He was must-see-TV at the end of every night. I remember when Ed McMahon did a promo saying it was "the late-night place to be!" I named my dorm room that when I was a freshman - in honor of the "Tonight Show."
dem in texas
(2,674 posts)I have been a book reader all my life and once read mostly fiction. But as I have grown older, I found that I like non-fiction much more. I sometimes get aggravated at the fiction writer, because their story line is so crappy. When I read non fiction, it is more straight forward. One great book I read about two years ago was "Nothing to Envy" about life in North Korea during the early 90's when so many people were starving. That book gave me a real lesson on their culture and some of the problems faced in the far east. My most delicious reading sin is to curl up on my bed with an old cookbook and read the recipes - oh how I love to read old recipes.
I just finished reading an old Mexican cookbook that I found at an estate sale, it was written in part Spanish and part English. In one recipe for a large stew to feed a crowd, the writer tells you to put the stew at 11:00 in the evening, then go to the midnight service at church and pray for your stew to turn out.
okaawhatever
(9,462 posts)prepare herself for her husband coming home for dinner and to think of witty things to say.....
Cobalt73
(6 posts)"Malcolm X: A life of Reinvention" by Manning Marable
Very interesting information about an influential revolutionary American.
calimary
(81,436 posts)Great to have you here! That one sounds intriguing, as well! Lots of catching up to do, and my favorite book-reading is nonfiction.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)It's about the crossing of animal viruses to humans.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)by Katherine Boo
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)It's been out for a couple of years but I just got around to it. A real eye-opener on the national security state.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)GeorgeGist
(25,322 posts)Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Right-Machu-Picchu-Rediscovering/dp/0452297982
LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)made me give up my thought that I would ever travel there.
Response to arcane1 (Original post)
Warren DeMontague This message was self-deleted by its author.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I have been looking for a good book about them, their era.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I just started it, so I can't really vouch, but it looks informative.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Brothers-Foster-Dulles-Secret/dp/0805094970
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)by Robert K. Massie. VERY interesting historical figure and well-written book.
duffyduff
(3,251 posts)Debunks all of the nonsense put forward by education "reformers."
LWolf
(46,179 posts)Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts)Bigmack
(8,020 posts)The appalling, well documented history of Israeli abuses of the Palestinian people, written by an American Jewish writer who has both Jewish and Palestinian friends in Israel. Ms Bigmack
Faygo Kid
(21,478 posts)I am an avid reader of history/biography, but that one I read that I got for Christmas last year really was the best all year. Read so many that I forgot more than I can remember, but that one stayed with me.
marmar
(77,088 posts)..... I was just thinking this morning, "I need some new lefty reading material."
arcane1
(38,613 posts)There's a non-fiction group here at DU, but it seems to have little activity.
rrneck
(17,671 posts)The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
Stephen Greenblatt
One of the world's most celebrated scholars, Stephen Greenblatt has crafted both an innovative work of history and a thrilling story of discovery, in which one manuscript, plucked from a thousand years of neglect, changed the course of human thought and made possible the world as we know it.
Nearly six hundred years ago, a short, genial, cannily alert man in his late thirties took a very old manuscript off a library shelf, saw with excitement what he had discovered, and ordered that it be copied. That book was the last surviving manuscript of an ancient Roman philosophical epic, On the Nature of Things, by Lucretiusa beautiful poem of the most dangerous ideas: that the universe functioned without the aid of gods, that religious fear was damaging to human life, and that matter was made up of very small particles in eternal motion, colliding and swerving in new directions.
The copying and translation of this ancient book-the greatest discovery of the greatest book-hunter of his age-fueled the Renaissance, inspiring artists such as Botticelli and thinkers such as Giordano Bruno; shaped the thought of Galileo and Freud, Darwin and Einstein; and had a revolutionary influence on writers such as Montaigne and Shakespeare and even Thomas Jefferson. 16 pages of color illustrations
navarth
(5,927 posts)Lucretius lives!
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Thanks!
Response to rrneck (Reply #58)
Logical This message was self-deleted by its author.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)there's a youtube movie about it as well.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Despite its negative effects on my blood pressure
99Forever
(14,524 posts)... " The Crash of 2016". Must reading for any informed, thinking person.
nolabear
(41,990 posts)It's really wonderful. It follows several families' migrations throughout American history. Very well done.
scarletlib
(3,418 posts)scarletlib
(3,418 posts)Drale
(7,932 posts)Son of the Revolution by Liang Heng & Judith Sharpiro. The first is done from interviews with different people in recent times about their experiences during the Recession and the second is Liang Heng's story growing up in the People's Republic of China during the late 50's, 60's and 70's and all the strife and terrible things that happened to the people of the country.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)is about 2/3 of the books I have read or sitting on the shelf waiting to be read.
good post!
arcane1
(38,613 posts)And it's fascinating, seeing all the diverse topics that DUers are into. So much more than just political books. It's exciting!
lordsummerisle
(4,651 posts)Last edited Sat Dec 7, 2013, 11:26 PM - Edit history (1)
The Fine Print is outstanding. You start out being outraged and by the end you're numb with outrage-exhaustion. I'm amazed that someone could do all that research and not throw their hands up in despair...
arcane1
(38,613 posts)What was interesting was that I expected it to be mostly about credit card fine print, that sort of thing, but it expanded to pipeline pricing, utility taxes, so many things I never ever gave a second thought to. It was mind-blowing. We're getting ripped off from every possible angle. Angles we didn't even know existed!!
DreamGypsy
(2,252 posts)...by Cal Tech theoretical physicist, Sean Carroll.
A well written, well presented analysis of what we know and don't know about time. I found the material very accessible, though working through all the explanations required some diligence and not infrequent backward page turning to refresh my understanding.
You can get a better understanding of the intent and content of the book from Sean Carroll's website here:
Why do we remember the past, but not the future? Why don't we meet people who grow younger as they age? Why do things, left by themselves, tend to become messier and more chaotic? What would Maxwell's Demon say to a Boltzmann Brain?
The answers can be traced to the moment of the Big Bang -- or possibly before.
Time pervades our lives -- we keep track of it, lament its loss, put it to good use. The rhythms of our clocks and our bodies let us measure the passage of time, as a ruler lets us measure the distance between two objects. But unlike distances, time has a direction, pointing from past to future. From Eternity to Here examines this arrow of time, which is deeply ingrained in the universe around us. The early universe -- the hot, dense, Big Bang -- was very different from the late universe -- cool, empty, expanding space -- and that difference in felt in all the workings of Nature, from the melting of ice cubes to the evolution of species.
The arrow of time is easy to perceive, much harder to understand. Physicists appeal to the idea of entropy, the disorderliness of a system, which tends to increase according to the celebrated Second Law of Thermodynamics. But why was entropy ever small in the first place? That's a question that has been tackled by thinkers such as Ludwig Boltzmann, Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman, Roger Penrose, and Alan Guth, all the way back to Lucretius in ancient Rome. But the answer remains elusive.
<snip>
If you don't want to spend time reading the ~400 pages of the book, there are two videos available at the link that provide less and more information about the book - 1). a 5 minute comedy interlude on the Colbert show with guest Sean Carroll; and, 2). a 16 minute TEDxCaltech talk by Sean Carroll on Cosmology and the Arrow of Time.
Fla_Democrat
(2,547 posts)By Jon Acuff
I like the audio book better, he has a nice delivery, but it's hard to highlight a mp3.
AmericanErrorist
(1,774 posts)by Brian Jay Jones.
dballance
(5,756 posts)also:
Neptune's Inferno - about WWII in the S. Pacific
The Last Investigation - Gaeton Fonzi on JFK
rgbecker
(4,834 posts)Has an interesting website where you can check to see if you are a conservative or Liberal.
Really great book if you are having trouble understanding why your brother-in-law is such wing nut.
rrneck
(17,671 posts)Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)fujiyama
(15,185 posts)but I really liked the "Passage of Power" by Caro. It's the fourth of his Johnson biographies and it chronicles his time as VP and the events of that fateful day he became president. Caro's recollection of the assassination day in particular is pretty riveting.
I'd recommend reading all of the Caro Johnson books. They are long and very detailed, but written in a way that isn't dry and tedious. They are a must-read for American political history buffs and cover a lot more personalities and places than just Johnson.
friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)Both illuminating and depressing, reading it will show that not much has changed in 99 years...
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)davidpdx
(22,000 posts)The one I did read that I'd recommend is 'I am Malala'.
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)It was hilarious, and disturbing, sometimes at the same time. A memoir about her life growing up with a very dysfunctional family, and the way that she deals with dark mental issues. And she makes you laugh out loud.
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)By Chris Anderson. Great read about democratizing means of production.
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)"The Long Tail--Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More".
MineralMan
(146,325 posts)Read it to learn why. www.Gutenberg.org
s-cubed
(1,385 posts)but who were actually British agents. Fascinating characters, fascinating story. Goes into how the British invented other German agents to feed back false intelligence. Handling the agents was a delicate task. Also discussed the fake Monty and using Patton and lots of tricks to convince the zgermans the invasion would be at Calais. Great read!
navarth
(5,927 posts)Just finished it a couple of hours ago. A truly great history of the civil war era. Amazing book, great read!!
This is the fifth civil war book I've read and I also strongly recommend the others:
Lincoln by Gore Vidal;
Cloudsplitter
Thunder At Harper's Ferry
The Confessions of Nat Turner
exboyfil
(17,865 posts)The Civil War. It makes for a good counter piece with Battle Cry which I enjoyed very much. Some of the other Oxford Books on American History are good as well (I have listened to all that have been completed to this point).
womanofthehills
(8,755 posts)a memoir by Cheryl Strayed of her 1,100 mile hike
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)So now I've added for more books to my request list at the library. So many books, so little time.
Anyway, here are some good ones I read this year not yet mentioned:
The Boys In the Boat by Daniel James Brown, about the 1936 Olympic Gold medal winning 8 man crew from the University of Washington. Excellent, if for no other reason that it puts you inside their lives in the mid-1930's.
The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America by Ernest Freeberg. Even those who choose to live off the grid, or who go camping without electricity may not fully appreciate what an incredible impact electric lights had when they first became available. The world we live in changed more profoundly than I had ever understood. It also shows how incredibly dangerous electricity was in those early years.
A Great Aridness by William deBuys. Essentially it's the past, present, and future of drought in the desert Southwest. I'd recommend everyone read it along with Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner, which came out in 1986 (I was living in Phoenix at the time) and even though I have not reread it, suspect it is not really outdated at all.
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. The assassination of President Garfield. In his short time as President he actually made some real changes. Well researched and written. So far she has only one other book out, River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey about a trip the ex-president took along the Amazon River. Haven't read it yet, but I'll get to it. I heard her on something on NPR recently and she's working on a book about, if I'm remembering correctly, some relatively obscure part of Franklin Roosevelt's life. I'll be reading that one when it comes out.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I LOVE your suggestions!
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)I've been saying for years that I sincerely hope that there is some sort of life after death and that there are libraries there.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Otherwise, what's the point?
Logical
(22,457 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)calimary
(81,436 posts)octoberlib
(14,971 posts)A narrative history of the John Birch Society by a daughter of one of the infamous ultraconservative organizations founding fathers
Long before the rise of the Tea Party movement and the prominence of todays religious Right, the John Birch Society, first established in 1958, championed many of the same radical causes touted by ultraconservatives today, including campaigns against abortion rights, gay rights, gun control, labor unions, environmental protections, immigrant rights, social and welfare programs, the United Nations, and even water fluoridatio
The daughter of one of the societys first members and a national spokesman about the society, Claire Conner grew up surrounded by dedicated Birchers and was expected to abide by and espouse Birch ideals. When her parents forced her to join the society at age thirteen, she became its youngest member of the society. From an even younger age though, Conner was pressed into service for the cause her father and mother gave their lives to: the nurturing and growth of the JBS. She was expected to bring home her textbooks for close examination (her mother found traces of Communist influence even in the Catholic school curriculum), to write letters against socialized medicine after school, to attend her fathers fiery speeches against the United Nations, or babysit her siblings while her parents held meetings in the living room to recruit members to fight the war on Christmas or (potentially poisonous) water fluoridation. Conner was on deck to lend a hand when JBS notables visited, including founder Robert Welch, notorious Holocaust denier Revilo Oliver, and white supremacist Thomas Stockheimer. Even when she was old enough to quit in disgust over the actions of those men, Conner found herself sucked into campaigns against abortion rights and for ultraconservative presidential candidates like John Schmitz. It took momentous changes in her own life for Conner to finally free herself of the legacy of the John Birch Society in which she was raised.
http://www.amazon.com/Wrapped-Flag-Personal-History-Americas/dp/080707750X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386473524&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=WRAPPED+IN+THE+FALG
starroute
(12,977 posts)The most brilliantly illuminating work I've read since I can remember. Every chapter contains something to completely upend your assumptions about how the world works.
calimary
(81,436 posts)Talked about how Ann Curry was so badly treated, among other things.
Also, "Wonderful Tonight" by Pattie Boyd - subtitled "George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me." Holy Cannoli - how can you lose?!?
CFLDem
(2,083 posts)Read that then play Bioshock Infinity.
It. Will. Blow. Your. Mind.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)His book In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin was also really good.
lapfog_1
(29,219 posts)dhill926
(16,351 posts)Great read. Amazing similarities with our own time .
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)but sounds like I will.
dhill926
(16,351 posts)which are drop dead funny. This is more history, but still amusing at times. A great writer .hope you enjoy.
flygal
(3,231 posts)Love Bill Bryson and this was one of his best.
ancianita
(36,130 posts)economic crippling of citizens on every continent.
merrily
(45,251 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)Both written superbly - the former is deeply chilling, and the latter is incredibly fascinating. Enjoy!
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)had a profound effect on Truman Capote and Harper Lee. Learning every detail they could about that horrible crime would alter everyone in some wy.
Harper Lee became a recluse. She may have become one anyway, but after learning about the Clutter family, I'm sure the urge to avoid most people would be appealing.
Capote was always going to be a trip. However, writing that book may have sent his bubble just a little more off of plumb.
There are so many vicious crimes in the news today, that it's hard not to know about some details of them. Capote and Lee lived in an era when that kind of crime could not be news 24/7.
In addition, they learned a lot of details that are usually not released to the general public even today. Finding someone who has a clue to talk with and possibly give you some relief would be next to impossible.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)the family make the crime deeply disturbing for readers, as if these were people you actually knew from back home, wherever you consider that to be. And for the author, the horror must have hit him psychologically many times worse.
Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts)>>>And for the author, the horror must have hit him psychologically many times worse.>>>>
One of my faves. Never a dull moment with the Tiny Terror around. But not quite tough enough for this world.
raptor_rider
(1,014 posts)Beautiful book on loss of a spouse and going through grief on raising a newborn daughter. I've followed his blog since the beginning, and finally finished the book after 2 years, because it makes me cry so much. A very moving journey, and a very dedicated father.
StrictlyRockers
(3,855 posts)This was a great read. Jobs is like a patron saint to many here in Silicon Valley. I really enjoy Isaacson's style. I have also read his biographies of Ben Franklin and Albert Einstein recently.
1monster
(11,012 posts)ismnotwasm
(41,998 posts)By Michael Kimmel
MFM008
(19,818 posts)Ive always preferred NON fiction. But lately have been reading Historical novels like "Wolf Hall", "Bringing up the Bodies" and "The Spanish Queen" Ive found i like the lush descriptions. Non Fiction is getting depressing.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)Good account of both the insanity directed at Obama and who's responsible for it.
dem in texas
(2,674 posts)I read the Hunting of the President which was about the "hate machine" that stayed after Bill Clinton all time he was in office and even before. It was an excellent read, they were after him even before he was president and were responsible for "white water" and much more. The book criticizes the main stream press because they took what was said and written at face value and never bothered to verify what these crazy right wingers were saying. Remember what Hillary said about a vast right wing conspiracy trying to bring Bill down? You totally believe it after reading this book.
I will get the Obama Hate Machine. I like Bill Press.
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)A "tell" is a term used a lot in poker. It refers to some mannerism that might give you a clue about what a person is thinking. These can be minute gestures that you subconsciously pick up.
This book explains "tells" and talks about their predictive value. He refers to a lot of studies and experiments. It is a fascinating glimpse into another facet of human behavior.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Looks like my library has just gotten it, as its current status is "In Processing". I'll probably have it by the end of the week.
JustAnotherGen
(31,866 posts)Read this past spring as I revisited The Great Gatsby - both in print and on screen. Belfort shows how greed overcame him. He is unapologetic too . . . Something to remember about the current wolves. . .
Logical
(22,457 posts)Amazing story of the shipping container industry.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I was laid off during the great cost-cutting of 2006, following deals made with Walmart, the Gap, etc, that drove down our revenue.
This one definitely goes on the list. Thanks!!
Logical
(22,457 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)Which comes first will depend on my mood after I'm finished with what I'm reading now
Logical
(22,457 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)It was more interesting than I expected it to be. Or rather, touched on more topics than I expected. The sinkings and the pirate stories were as gripping as any fiction.
I love the writer's style and prose too, I may have to check out some of her other books.
Thanks for the recommendation!!
Logical
(22,457 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)But currently I'm reading "Arguably" by Christopher Hitches. That should keep me busy for the rest of the year
Logical
(22,457 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)The Shipping Man, then.
Here is blurb from Amazon:
When restless New York City hedge fund manager Robert Fairchild watches the Baltic Dry Cargo Index plunge 97%, registering an all-time high and a 25-year low within the span of just six months, he decides to buy a ship.
Immediately fantasizing about naming a vessel after his wife, carrying a string of worry beads and being able to introduce himself as a "shipowner" at his upcoming college reunion, Fairchild immediately embarks on an odyssey into the most exclusive, glamorous and high stakes business in the world.
From pirates off the coast of Somalia and on Wall Street to Greek and Norwegian shipping magnates, the education of Robert Fairchild is an expensive one. In the end, he loses his hedge fund, but he gains a life - as a Shipping Man.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Shipping-Man-Matthew-McCleery/dp/0983716307/ref=pd_sim_b_4
I have it on my wish list, which means the list that waits for the price to go down after January.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)JanT
(229 posts)a great read on how people are brain washed.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Johonny
(20,878 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)Thanks!!
Johonny
(20,878 posts)There is so much in the book I never really thought about; From the Spanish silver trade with China via the Philippines which totally changes the food supply in China to the Irish Potato famine right on through to why rubber plantations aren't in South America but in Asia... there is so much information so interestingly put together.
krispos42
(49,445 posts)I couldn't finish DCJ's other book, "Free Lunch"; it made me too angry.
I also read "The Blind Watchmaker" recently, but I forget if it was this year or late last year. Another excellent book.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I loved "The World Before Yesterday", it was one of the highlights of my 2013 reading year
krispos42
(49,445 posts)On my to-do list.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)"A Short History of Progress" is another good book in that category.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)This describes what happens if there are suddenly no humans, e.g. massive epidemic.
If there is a long, slow decline, the recovery would be much longer and messier.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Thanks!!!
JHB
(37,161 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)arcane1
(38,613 posts)Thanks!
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)This is a personal story by the daughter of one of the original founders and leaders of the John Birch Society. It shares a lot of insight about the whole world of the extreme right and tells the story of how a fringe tendency of the far right of the Republican Party came to be a major force in America - and how its philosophy came to dominate and lead the modern Republican Party
http://books.google.com/books?id=JWPhb5Jet-wC&dq=Wrapped+in+the+flag&sitesec=reviews
the author on youtube:
Kablooie
(18,638 posts)It's an historical novel so not completely non fiction but creates a very involving experience of how the French Revolution developed through the eyes of Madame Tussaud as she ran her wax museum.
It is historically accurate and in a postscript the author explains where she took small liberties with history in order to make a more flowing narrative.
On the Road
(20,783 posts)this one specializing in the New York City vicinity:
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Alas, I don't have anything to contribute - I've mostly read textbooks this year, LOL, or stuff about dysfunctional people (trying to deal with an ex and parents) or recipe/food/diet books. Nothing I'd wholeheartedly recommend though.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)There's enough here to cover most of 2014
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)by Stephen W. Sears.
Sears is an excellent wordsmith examining one of the major battles of the Civil War. Not just a blow-by-blow of the battle itself but also takes a hard look at the pressures both Hooker and Lee were under from their respective governments, as well as a reinterpretation of Hooker's handling of Federal forces.
R0ckyRac00n
(84 posts)Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by neuroscientist David Eagleman
arcane1
(38,613 posts)I bought it used, and when it arrived I found that fully 75% of the text had been highlighted by the previous owner. That book led me to devouring as much Oliver Sacks and V.S. Ramachandran that I could get my hands on
Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts)His auto-bio.
Still reading it, btw. It's good stuff. His command of the lingo is enough to keep one paying attention even where the subject matter makes one long for the next paragraph.
I'll get finished one of these days.
intaglio
(8,170 posts)by William Rosen. Subtitled "A Story of Steam" far more of it is about the conditions which allowed the development of technology.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Logical
(22,457 posts)The making of the atomic bomb - Rhodes, Richard
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by McCullough, David
The Chip : How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution
Tube: The Invention of Television
The Invention That Changed the World: How a Small Group of Radar Pioneers Won the Second World War and Launched a Technological Revolution
How Apollo Flew to the Moon by W. David Woods
Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age
a la izquierda
(11,797 posts)I'm a historian, so I read for a living. I'm assigning this to grad students, so I figured I should read it.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)It does a good job of conveying the scale of death and destruction on the Eastern Front.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Last Call: The Rise and fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol...by Iain Gately.
which I have on the shelf but not yet read.
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Unfortunately the majority of my reading is school related, I don't really recommend financial accounting, managerial accounting, business ethics, or business statistics.
KatyMan
(4,209 posts)Volume 1 of the new Mark Lewisohn Beatles bio. Fantastic. THE Beatles bio. Ends Dec 31st 1962 and vol 2 isn't ecpected for 5 years....
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)Texasgal
(17,047 posts)Great reads!
defacto7
(13,485 posts)Great perspective of history from the author's study of an unusual and mysterious man.
Response to arcane1 (Original post)
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JHB
(37,161 posts)I'm only about 40% through it, but it's a definite must-read for progressives.
The part I find most useful so far is the chapter on the Washington breakfast- and lunch meetings for conservative activists which they use to network and coordinate (Grover Norquist's one isn't the only one). The behavior of the Republicans becomes much more understandable once you account for this alternate outside-the-party leadership apparatus. Nothing like this exists on the progressive/liberal side.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)It broke my heart and caused a mini-argument in my family. A close family member works for the corp that owns SeaWord...
It is a fascinating read, both for the look at whales in captivity and the stories of those followed by researchers in the wild.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Fascinating, enlightening, and infuriating