What are you reading?

But how did they compare with Lonesome Dove: the Series starring Bret Hart?

Im guessing pretty well. :)

About half way and enjoying it so far. Some interesting case studies.

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Reread Barbra Tuchmans Guns of August about the events leading up to the outbreak of WW1 and the first month of conflict, which defined its parameters.

This made me realize that I should have a deeper understanding of WW2. I tried to find the best single volume history from the last 20 years. Amazon/google led me to the Second World Wars by Victor Davis Hanson, but heā€™s a high volume scrivener associated with the National Review whoā€™s written a pro Trump book, so seemed like a bad idea. (Though it was decently reviewed by serious people.)

Finally found a good reddit thread on the question of best single volume history and general concensus is that Beevorā€™s The Second World War from 2012, so reading that now.

my diversity book club is going to read ā€˜Weapons of Math Destructionā€™. looking forward drinking hemlock and wine during that one.

I started this short story collection a couple of days ago and am really enjoying it. I think it counts as ā€œdiverseā€.

I need some good suggestions for audible books about mountain climbing or big wall adventures or basically anything like exploration adventures or war action that keeps me riveted.

Iā€™m hitting the diet pretty hard and also hiking and working out a ton. Stuff like Ed Viesturs book about K2 (or Into Thin Air obviously) and or even Krakauerā€™s book about Pat Tillman, keep me completely engrossed and help me push through.

I think Iā€™m running out of books about big Himalaya climbs. But I know there are tons of other climbing adventure stories. Has to be audible though.

I read Blackhawk Down when it came out but am thinking about reading it again - to give an idea of the kind of riveting adventure/tragedy (which sounds weird to say but it keeps me engaged) Iā€™m looking for.

Hell in a Very Small Place by Bernard Fall

We Were Soldiers Onceā€¦ and Young by Hal Moore

Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda by Sean Naylor

The Last True Story Iā€™ll Ever Tell by John Crawford (not really pure war action, more like Jarhead, but still riveting)

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Two books I couldnā€™t really finish

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

The first book in the series is a masterpiece. I couldnā€™t put it down. Its structure, a Canterbury Tales like structure of a series of people telling how they ended up all together, could have been terrible, but instead works perfectly with questions you have in one story get answered in another. I swore the author was reading my mind. Itā€™d be impossible to film but id love to see it as a movie.

This on the other hand is a straightforward epic sci story, but all the mystery and mysteriousness of the first book is replaced with more linear plotting. The interesting characters in the first book turn into convential protagonists. I just lost interest and couldnt keep going.

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee

Most political policy books really can be summed up in like 10 pages but then have 300 extra pages of antidotes, facts and figures.

Itā€™s not a bad book. The thesis is that race was used to destroy public goods that benefited people of color and white people and by bridging the color and advocating for universal public goods will make a better society of all.

In address race vs class she talks about addressing both.

Like I said a good book, but like I just canā€™t get through political policy books unless theyā€™re doing something outside of the box.

Iā€™ll probably finish it, chapter by chapter at a time, but for now Ive lost interest.

You might like Ilium and Olympus from Simmons. Itā€™s Homer and the Tempest instead of Keats and the Canterbury Tales. Itā€™s not a frame story, but my recollection is that it remains a bit more committed to the ā€œwtf is going onā€ bit for longer.

Iā€™m in the middle of Fall of Hyperion now and tbh Iā€™m enjoying it just as much as the first book. Hyperion is definitely a better written book - all of the stories would be outstanding as standalone short stories, except maybe the soldierā€™s tale which was kind of meh. But Hyperion left me with so many unanswered questions that Iā€™m appreciating the more straightforward rapid fire plot progression of the second book. Doubt Iā€™ll read either of the Endymion books, though, assuming this book wraps up the pilgrimsā€™ stories.

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Iā€™ll take a look at them

Just started reading ā€œGuns Of August.ā€ I mistakenly thought it was on WW2 but am excited that itā€™s WW1 as the video docuseries ā€œWW1 Apocalypseā€ really spiked my intrigue.

Princeton University Press has a sitewide 50% off sale this week. Iā€™m gonna buy some things that Iā€™ve had my eye on even though I probably wonā€™t get around to reading them for a few years.

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Try A Voyage for Madmen and Lost in Shangri-La.

Undaunted Courage about Lewis and Clark expedition worked well for recent cross country drive. Mix of adventure and legit history.

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Thatā€™s a great suggestion, loved it.

Touching the Void is pretty intense, a survival story in the Peruvian Andes.

Also you could read Anatoli Boukreevā€™s book, The Climb, for some balance of Krakourā€™s story in Into Thin Air

Halfway though book 2, great so far, thanks for suggestion

Really fun series, i think the 2nd trilogy is even better so if you enjoy the first few make sure to read those.