Reading some movie books
Heat 2 - good enough, some high points mixed with a few woofs
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Halfway through and it’s great.
I recently learned this existed and was considering it. The Goodreads reviews are surprisingly strong.
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Pete Hamilton is my favorite space opera author I’ve read everything. Try Pandora’s Star next.
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Thanks for the rec, I’ll try that one.
Finished the series, enjoyed it quite a bit. Like I said above, it’s just fun.
Just to warn you this isn’t a space skit this is space opera space opera. Star is like 900 pages, its followup and conclusion to the 2 book series is just as big, probably like 6 plus storylines/POV characters in it.
But his writing reminds me of dark souls 1 level design - you’ll be going through it, he’ll open a door, you’ll walk through and be like “wtf, how did we get back here, that’s amazing”. Plus, you know, weird alien/future sex stuff.
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I’m on the WW2 chapter, which is decent. Delong is a very smart guy and he really tries to avoid saying things that are false. As a result he can be a bit dull, but when he makes insightful connections they are revealing. I wouldn’t say it’s a great book, but it’s pretty good.
I didn’t need him to be exciting. I wanted the book to expand his thesis. He sort of made the case for 1870 as the starting point, but mostly as observation without much explanation. The long middle bit of his “grand narrative” doesn’t really have a narrative. His justifications for 2010 being the end are utterly predictable and shallow. I mean, this is my confirmation bias sweet spot and he didn’t even convince me of something I already believe. And his final conclusion [spoiler alert] is basically that money can’t buy happiness. I expected a lot more from the book.
I’m not there yet, but I would say that the 2010 date gives me concerns.
If you haven’t seen the HBO show. Watch that next.
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I watched it years ago and enjoyed it. Didnt quite capture the experience for me tho. Felt a pretty standard war movie…
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The audiobook was fantastic.
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I keep track of what I read, for a couple reasons. One, I just like to keep track of stuff. Two, I do re-read books (mostly on purpose, sometimes by accident) so I want to manage that. I rate every book from 0-10.
Here are the books I’ve read over the past five or so years that I rated 9 or higher. I highly recommend them all, although a couple may be a bit rough going if you’re not interested in that particular topic.
Remains of the Day, Ishiguro. I am tough on fiction but this was really good. Not too long, either.
Making of the Atomic Bomb Rhodes. FYI the neutron was only discovered in 1932, and less than 15 years later we were dropping atomic bombs.
The Coming of the Third Reich. Evans. The whole series is great, start with this first one and then continue if desired. I wouldn’t say it quite answers “how could it happen”, but it does as good a job as can be expected. You’ll be appalled at some parallels to the US
Emerson: The Mind on Fire Richardson. Great bio of one of the greats. I love the short chapters, it makes the reading go quickly. His bio of Thoreau is also excellent
All the Light We Cannot See Doerr Just fantastic
The Impending Crisis Potter. Leading up to the Civil War. Very detailed, would not call it a quick read.
Cadillac Desert Reisner. I’ve read this a few times. He knew even back then how fucked we are w/r/t water out west.
Emerald Mile Fedarko. Just read it, I promise you will love it.
Blood and Thunder Sides. Maybe lets Carson off the hook a bit too much, but a fairly even-handed summary of the era
Wind, Sand, and Stars Exupery. They don’t write them like this anymore. So good. Nice and short
The Splendid and the Vile Larson. England being bombed during WW II. Even though I try to resist my imperialist roots, this is inspiring. Churchill was amazing
Kindred Butler. Tough to stomach in spots but very good.
A People’s Tragedy Figes. Very detailed, only read if you’re interested in the topic of the Russian revolution etc.
Ghost Soldiers Sides. I am a WW II buff so I might be overrating this a tad. Great story though.
Empire of the Summer Moon Gwynne. I’m sure it’s hard to write about the Comanches in a neutral way. And of course it does not end well. Still, very gripping
Lonesome Dove McMurtry. Just a great story.
Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality Kumar. I’ve read a lot of these type of books and this might be the best as far as balancing biography with enough technical details to at least get your feet wet. Great bibliography too, so you can jump to other books for more detail
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Lonesome dove is one part of four. All great
Ishiguro. Everything is great.
At the time I found this book I didn’t know that there were history books other than general history. Someone had left the book in the donate pile and I picked it up thinking I’d enjoy a good novel. It blew my mind that someone would write a book about water in the West, like I didn’t even know it was possible to write such a thing. I wonder if there’s been someone who’s done an update. If I remember the book ends in the 90’s with dire predictions of the aquafers running out in the 2000’s, but that didn’t happen because water usage got decoupled from population growth.
Reading this during the W administration was an eye-opening experience.
That man writes some dark books
Im reading the bone tree by Greg isles. Book 5 of 6 of this double triology. Really like his stuff.
Also reading the executioners song by mailer. Only 20% in, but the sparse almost script like writing is engaging
Also reading book 3 of the broken earth series (shout out to potato and others for the sci fi / fantasy recs about a year ago
All three of these are great.
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Finally finished it(Hail Mary project) That I finished two different books in between should tell you how much I liked reading it. The end was especially disappointing but thats surely up to individual preference.
Awe! Sorry you didn’t enjoy it. The audio version made it for me.