At this point I would have a hard time to name my favourite books. A lot of the stuff I loved as a kid for example Karl Mays books with Winnetou didnt age really well although I might have to check again if they were as over the top as the movies with their tale of friendship between Whites and Indians.
After 20 years I could do with another run of LoTR but I probably have the same problem with drifting away while listening. I mean among those 1000 pages is a lof of boring stuff. I would face the same problem with Ken Folletts āKingsbridgeā series.
I read a lot of generic thrillers and I am not sure I want to listen to Chris Carterās books. I was happy when they caught or killed the murderer. Couldnt think of one killer where I was sympathetic.
I love to re-read certain chapters similar how I love to re-watch certain movie scenes.
If I think more about it āThe Hobbitā would probably end up as my top choice.
The last ten years Iāve fallen for Mitchell, murakami, Ishiguro and Asimov
Just love everything these cats do
In the last few years I read remains of the day, and then buried giant. How is this the same author?
About 25% through when we were orphans. I like it so far but havenāt really reached the hook so far
That makes sense. I am a big fan of stuff that is fast-paced yet meditative. Most books donāt translate well to audiobooks for me, but the ones that do are infinitely rewarding to revisit through audio.
The Hobbit was written to be epic yet contained, so I think thatās a good choice.
Iād also recommend World War Z. Look at that cast!!
- Nathan Fillion
- Simon Pegg
- Denise Crosby
- Bruce Boxleitner
- Jeri Ryan
- Mark Hammill
- Rob Reiner
- Rene Auberjonois
I think itās worth reading Harold Bloom here. He wrote about being unable to read it after a couple of tries, but then concluding that itās a masterpiece. Obviously itās an extremely unsettling thing to read, but I think thatās the point.
Iāve read Never Let Me Go, which is probably my favourite book, and Remains of the Day which was very good, although I found the protagonist so unlikeable that it was difficult to spend time with him.
I have tried like five times to read The Unconsoled and have now accepted that I will never be able to finish it. Not sure why I havenāt got to the others yet. Did you like Buried Giant?
I understand not having warm and fuzzies for him for sure, but it seemed pretty clear that his primary flaws were very much a nurture-over-nature thing, which made him perpetually sympathetic to me.
Buried giant was weird compared to remains of the day. Felt like it was in old timey endland sword and the stone land. Some fantasy.
I liked it just interesting this guy can write all kinds of stuff
Part of the reason I like David Mitchell. Dude can just write any style he wants. Sometimes he just does six different styles in one book
Canāt argue there. Cloud Atlas is quite an achievement in both forms.
Last week I went to a book store to get inspired and see what is new. In the end I decided to not leave empty handed while getting the books I found interesting on my kindle. I took āA Good Girlās Guide to Murderā from Holly Jackson. It wasnt too thick and it sounded interesting. I also decided to read few minutes before sleeping this week. With decent thrillers it hopefully comes to the point where you just want to know how it finishes.I read the remaining 200 pages in one session tonight.
Overall a decent thriller if you are into that. Something for in between serious reading.
Iām reading the first Sherlock Holmes book and came across this bit that threw me for a loop
Why would you make a claim and then 3 sentences later say that claim is false? Arthur Conan Doyle was a real goofball.
If youāre looking for another movie that may as well be The Road part 2 
Dang I knew Spotify added audio books, but I thought it was for purchase only. Theyāve gotten a lot of good audio books. I want to say almost more than they should for the subscription cost. Audible is more expensive and has less selection with their plus subscription catalog
I read The Enlightenment by Ritchie Robertson. At 970 pages itās kind of a shitkicker, although the footnotes/bibliography/index section is like 150 pages of that.
Itās good; the chapter are structured as āThe Enlightenment andā¦ā topics. E.g. the scientific revolution, toleration, religious belief, social stuff, aesthetics, government, etc.
Sometimes the structure is a little forced. For example there is a section that discusses coffee houses and salons. The author says basically āitās not clear that salons and coffee houses contributed as much to the advancement of enlightenment ideas as previously thoughtāā¦ then goes on to discusses salons and coffeehouse for eight pages anyway.
Recommended, but only if you have a previous interest in the period. Good reference book and resource for other articles/books (the footnotes are very comprehensive).
Read the Isaacson bio of Einstein. The explanation of the physics was not bad for a popular bio. Overall I liked it.
On another note, did anyone actually like One Hundred Years of Solitude? I couldnāt finish it, it was boring and tedious. The page-long paragraphs didnāt help, nor did the rape-y stuff.
The audiobook of Werner Herzogās memoirs is about what youād expect.
Recommend a good book about the history of world civilization? Not sure Iāve dug into something like this since I long ago picked up Guns, Germs, and Steel in an airport.
Probably not what you had in mind but Herodotus is really good
Listened to the audiobook. Really liked this to further my understanding of the development of science, knowledge, and society. I also liked that he leans pretty heavily on primary sources and long quotations, as it gives a much richer sense of the topics. The book reflects a full lifetime of knowledge and learning. Also, screw Rousseau, viva Voltaire!
I would recommend the Origins of Political Order by Fukyama, which is actually fairly brisk. https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Political-Order-Prehuman-Revolution/dp/0374533229. For a more niche and specific work about ancient civilization, I would recommend Against the Grain, Amazon.com