I read this in the last year or so, liked it alot, i think i did probably mentioned it in this thread somewhere but im too lazy to look
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Nice! I will look back for your comments. It will be good to share my thoughts too.
Bluebird, Bluebird (A Highway 59 Mystery)
by Attica Locke
A good small town Texas mystery book. Locke does have a good gift of painting a scene that feels like itâs from East Texas. So much so that even though the mystery at the end isnât the most amazing ever I still felt like I enjoyed the book
Roma
Steven Saylor
I donât know if Iâm angry or impressed that the whole thing turns out to be a dick joke. Otherwise impressive narrative and storytelling that is personal but epic in scale during ancient Rome. I donât usually read historical but suddenly felt like I understood the point of immersion that drives the genreâs biggest fans.
I have been finding it increasingly hard to focus on anything requiring real brainpower, so Iâve been churning out Agatha Christie novels. She is just so consistently good at her specific genre of story.
Any recommendations for similar authors? Iâve read all of the Sherlock stories/novels and Poe detective stories. Iâd love something in a more modern setting, but still confined to a simple detective story without a lot of social commentary or graphic violence. Something I can relax and punch out a few chapters a day while I chill in the back yard after work.
I guess youâve read The New York Trilogy.
About 25 hrs into listening to Hamilton, around 10 more to go.
Really interesting reading about the debates between founding fathers, many who were actually at the constitutional convention, regarding the meaning and intent of various provisions. They couldnât even agree at the time.
Also interesting to see the how much of the public back and forth was more vicious and trollish than just about anything in the 20th century. Hamiltonâs nasty letters and argumentative essays perfected the form, most of todayâs writing is superficial and utilitarian in comparison. People arenât kidding when they say Hamilton wielded the written word like a weapon. He would knock out so much strongly argued and polished prose that many of his enemies and detractors despaired. Try writing responses to the federalist papers at a pace of like 2x per week.
Iâm pretty firmly in the Hamilton/federalist camp, and itâs interesting to see how Hamilton vs Jefferson/Madison/republican debates are recapituated even today.
A small sample of Hamilton on Jefferson during the 1796 campaign:
On this day in history October 19, 1796, Former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton wrote an essay in the Gazette of the United States under the pseudonym âPhocionâ accusing presidential nominee Thomas Jefferson of having an affair with one of his slaves. During the contentious campaign between anti-Federalist Jefferson and Federalist Vice President John Adams, Hamilton wrote 25 essays attacking Jefferson. None of the attacks would plague Jefferson beyond the 1796 campaign as the accusation he was involved with his slave later revealed to be Sally Hemings. For 200 years, it would haunt Jeffersonâs legacy, which historian Joseph J. Ellis called, âThe alleged liaison between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings may be described as the longest-running miniseries in American history.â
On October 15, Hamilton started to write his articles in the Gazette attacking Jefferson as unfit for the presidency. Historian Thomas Fleming writes in his book The Great Divide: The Conflict between Washington and Jefferson that Defined a Nation President George Washington inferred a warning about Jefferson in his Farewell Address mentioned as the âspirit of partyâ taking over. Hamiltonâs attacks would mostly be about Jeffersonâs public views, his support for France the French Revolution. Many of the assaults attacked Jeffersonâs âlack of courageâ while Governor of Virginia and his âretreatâ from Washingtonâs cabinet as Secretary of State while the nation faced international problems.
Hamilton repeatedly attacked Jeffersonâs noble claim not to be seeking power or having âpolitical ambitions.â Hamilton writing as Phocion decried Jefferson as a âproto-Caeser, who âcoyly refused the proffered diademâ while secretly doing everything in his power to obtain it. In a word he was a hypocrite.â (Fleming) In contrast, Hamilton praised fellow federalist Adams, who was Washingtonâs handpicked successor. Hamilton ended his attacks on November 24. As Paul F. Boller noted, âThe first real presidential contest in American history turned out to be exuberantly venomous. On both sides, handbills, pamphlets, and articles in party newspapers denounced, disparaged, damned, decried, denigrated, and declaimed.â (Boller, 7)
The article on October 19 was intensely personal, and the first time Jefferson would be accused of having an affair with one of his slaves. Neither Jefferson nor Adams directly engaged each other during the campaign remaining above the fray. Adams would go on to win the 1796 election but by only three Electoral College votes, 71 to Jeffersonâs 69.
Gun, with Occasional Music by Lethem was a fun detective story.
Iâve been making some good work of an amazing fantasy series called the Wandering inn, all available for free on the authors website, or the first two volumes are available for the kindle as well for a pretty low price.
Iâm currently in volume 7 and have been reading it for about 5 hours a day, every day, for the last 2 months⌠So yeah Iâm in deep! Definitely very well written, highly recommend.
Just to give you a view into my world, I just read The Virtues of Violence: Democracy Against Disintegration in Modern France by Kevin Duong.
Read might be a bit of an overstatement. Itâs an academic book. I tend to pay more attention to the introduction and conclusions and glide over the narrative history in between those points, more so in this book because I donât particularly care for French history.
The book presents an alternative to the standard view of violence as an anarchic affront to the social contract. Instead there is the idea of âredemptive violenceâ, which regenerates society and forms social bonds.
Do other people read these sorts of books?
I am a fast reader and just blazed through a chapter of The ALL NEW Donât Think of an Elephant based on @skydiver8âs recommendation in the above-linked thread. This is already a fascinating book. Good enough to recommend as a blind buy 
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I read it a few weeks ago after it was recommended here as well. Definitely good things in there, and does go on to say that changing hardcore conservatives will not be possible lol
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Oh yes. Sounds great. Man I just hate how expensive these academic books are LOL. Did you shell out the $50?
I appreciate you bringing up this book. I have instinctive thoughts and feelings about violence. Perhaps this book will help me expand my understanding.
LOL
I really like the chapter on what conservatives believe. It resonates powerfully with the conservative ideology and mindset I was raised with and in many ways have not entirely discarded.
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I might have other sources for these kind of books
If you want some free academic books that are relevant
https://twitter.com/MattGrossmann/status/1271591183068942337
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Thatâs great. Much appreciated.
Yes, please. I downloaded half a dozen of the books from that list for later reading. (Annoying you canât DL the entire book, but whatevs.)
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Carlos Ruiz zafon dead at 55. What a shame.
If you havenât read Shadow of the Wind. Please do.