The Stand is his best novel
2 Likes
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
I guess if you’re into that sort of stuff… I found it a bit cliche and pedestrian.
2 Likes
It’s weird because I read a ton but it’s almost all academic journals now. Sometimes I read nonfiction books but find myself questioning how much of them I believe afterward and it feels slow like playing live poker. Nonfiction is basically impossible for me now; it feels like one-tabling live play money.
However, I have gained an appreciation for poetry here lately. Would definitely take some recs on that.
1 Like
Imagine multi tabling play money.
Any starting preferences? I’ve put some of my cards on the table here https://unstuckpolitics.com/t/there-are-no-good-english-poems-written-after-1977-come-at-me
I remember I was really into Emily Dickinson when I was in college. I am not knowledgeable about anything poetry related though, so take that for what it’s worth.
I am a total noob but will take a look at both, thanks. I’ve liked everything I’ve read by Edgar Allen Poe. Earliest serious exposure to poetry I can remember is being forced to read a lot of Thoreau and Emerson in high school and thinking “nope.” I’ve never really appreciated literature as an art form. I think it has a lot to do with how they force feed it to teens with no life experience. Dunno about you guys but in high school I had summer reading lists every year and we would plow through 8-10 classics for summer homework. So it’s July and my friends are out doing shit and I’m inside doing a critical reading and review of Little Women or Walden Pond. They lost me.
1 Like
I remember high school summer reading, but definitely do not remember it being 8-10 classics.
Just read Speculator and the follow up book Drug Lord. Both extremely well written. Both show how harmful government regulation often is and how corrupt regulators often are. Drug Lord is relevant to the health care debate. It shows how difficult it is for a small biotech to get a drug approved by the FDA. It shows how the FDA acts a protectionist racket when a drug does get approved to keep out competition that would lower costs. It points out the FDA kills multiple more people by keeping good drugs off the market with delays vs the lives saved by keeping bad drugs out for safety reasons. It shows how cheap generic drugs in other countries that aren’t subject to the patents are. It pointed out how ridiculous it is that pharmacists can’t prescribe drugs. It intertwined philosophy with great story telling. Much better written than Atlas Shrugged, imo. For someone looking to understand why people are skeptical of regulation these books make the case better than I have seen made.
Speculator is great. It is very accurate in the details of how a pump and dump scheme works in the junior mining sector.
Just finished Nomadland by Jessica Broder. She’s a journalism professor who spent 3 years in and off living in a van and documenting the stories of other people who do that, primarily out of necessity, and primarily people who are at least in their 60s.
I enjoyed it. Interesting, depressing and sometimes inspiring…at least to me. Maybe not for everyone, but it is my cup of tea.
Thanks to @zikzak for the recommendation.
2 Likes
Just finished “My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” by Ottessa Moshfegh. Wiki describes it:
Moshfegh’s second novel, it is set in New York City in 2000 and 2001 and follows an unnamed protagonist as she gradually escalates her use of prescription medications in an attempt to sleep for an entire year
I really enjoyed it. Read this faster than anything in a while.
Reading Ray Bradbury’s The October Country in honor of October. Man, that guy could create a world and drag you into it so quickly. I think Bradbury got pigeonholed as a “sci-fi” author and people didn’t take him as seriously as they should have.
Sounds good.
This one requires a process, but I’m announcing my intention to read War and Peace. Interlibrary loan requested. See you on the other side.
1 Like
If you want to start a book club, I’ll consider reading it alongside you.
1 Like
been reading a lot lately:
up to 26/40 on my goodreads challenge for 2019, not gonna make it, can’t really make up for the couple months i basically didnt read at all.
How to Be an Antiracist, Ilbram X Kendi: I had read this guys book “stamped from the beginning” a couple years ago, which was about the history of racism. would recommend this book if you want to learn more about how to approach racial thinking.
Where We Go from Here: Two years in the resistance: Bernie sanders book to followup from the election. It basically reads like a journal of various dates after the election talking about what he was doing but it mostly rehashes stuff that you already know about what he supports. I wouldn’t really recommend, it was a gift from someone.
Revival by Stephen King: had started this book months ago and then had let it set, jumped back into it and enjoyed the rest of it. Fairly standard King Novel with a bit of supernatural but not a lot. The ending was solid as well.
Missoula: Rape and the Justice system in a college town by Jon Krakauer. First book of his that I’ve read but liked it a lot, wasn’t sure how readable it would be but i flew through it. I hadn’t heard of the underlying stories before but man it makes you mad, at least some of the rapists were convicted. I also learned some things I didn’t previously know, rape statistics/acquantiance rape etc.
A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by Christian Miller. This is the book that the new netflix series “Unbelievable” is based off. I actually watched half of the first episode before reading the book and stopped when it got to the part where the cop goes to see the foster mom. It was easier reading the book but no less maddening. Would recommend.
Also:
Currently reading:
Fault Lines: [A History of the United States Since 1974 by Kevin Kruse. I’ve read White Flight and One Nation Under God and were both great. Looks like its going to be a long read but i’m already learning a ton about the 70s.
1Q84: I’m more than halfway through this but I’ve stopped twice, haven’t read any of it in the last couple months. I plan to finish it.
The Grinders Manual - i’ve read this once about a year ago but going back through it again as i was thinking of playing some more online soon. Its really good for learning how to play holdem these days 6max.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, two sons, and an unlikely road to manhood: kind of an autobiography by Tanehisi Coates. I’ve read a lot of his writing and enjoy it.
Sure. I don’t have it yet, but should soon.
I will check out The Echo Maker.
Finally finished reading The Overstory. You’re right, some stretches were better. But I also think I just didn’t understand where those stories were going, and wonder if re-reading (no plans to do this, already given away the book) would make me feel differently.
But what am amazing book. Fuck. I was literally crying in the Philadelphia airport reading parts of it … I think fundamentally it is a book about enlightenment that happens to also be about trees.
1 Like