What We're Reading: December 2014

I just finished The Unconquered, which I enjoyed a lot. It took me awhile to read it because I haven't had as much time to read lately, but I liked it and learned a lot about the Amazon.

I just started The Poisoner's Handbook, which I am LOVING so far. It's fascinating and a breezy read. The author used to be a reporter, so her writing is concise, yet she still provides a lot of good info. I highly recommend.

I also just received several Amazon.com gift cards for my birthday, so clearly I went on a book shopping spree. I picked up The Drunken Botanist, Curse of the Narrows, Triangle: The Fire that Changed America, To Sleep with the Angels, and The Plutonium Files. I still have some more to spend so more to come!!!

You are certainly on a disaster spree! Ordered The Drunken Botanist on audio - Yay! I shan't be without good audio!

I've started Countrymen about the Jewish question in Denmark during the German Occupation. The Danish government maintained that there was NO Jewish question. So far, it's mostly politics.

2wonderY, let me know how you end up liking Countrymen. Seems as if it could be good.

Yeah, I tend to like disaster stories. The Triangle shirtwaist factory fire has come up a lot in the past few months, and I think that incident shaped how we build buildings and approach fire safety, so I am curious to get into that one.

Since you've read The Unconquered you might also enjoy The River of Doubt, about Teddy Roosevelt's exploratory trip through the Amazon basin.

2wonderY, HA! I just added that to my Amazon wish list last week!!! I've also heard The Lost City of Z is good. Have you read that one?

No, I read the other because I so admire Roosevelt and have several of his own travel books. I recommend you borrow The River of Doubt, as the writing quality is only mediocre. I didn't see it as a keeper.

Finished In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides yesterday and started The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins today.

Both are E-library books.

Still working on my dead tree book, The World is Flat: Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman. About halfway through it now.

Bill_Masom, how did you like In the Kingdom of Ice? That one is on my Amazon wish list.

I spent the last of my Amazon gift card (it was burning a hole in my pocket) and got The Great Starvation Experiment, The Cruelest Miles, and Island of the Lost.

I'm still loving The Poisoner's Handbook and am flying right through it. It's the perfect blend of science, mystery, and history.

Also, let me know what you think of The God Delusion!

slug9000,

I gave it four stars. Arctic and Antarctic exploration is a favorite sub-genera of mine, so I considered this a very good read. You might want to see if your local library has it as an E-library book. Mine did.

I had not hear of the first two books you listed, but added them to my Amazon wish list. Island of the Lost was already on it. Please let me know how all of those were.

Bill_Masom, Arctic and Antarctic exploration are also favorite topics of mine.

My local library has a really great selection of e-books, so I need to use it more often. If I find ebooks cheaply through Bookbub (definitely sign up if you haven't already - they send you cheap ebook offers daily in your favorite genres), I just tend to buy them, and when I get Amazon gift cards I spend them almost entirely on full-priced ebooks. But I was very surprised - I was looking for some books on my Amazon wish list at the Boston Public Library and they weren't available for e-readers, so I was able to click a link to suggest that the library buy the ebook. And about a month later, they bought about five of my suggestions! I felt as if I had made a difference. :)

Have you read Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff, if you are into Arctic exploration? This one is slightly different but I LOVED it. I can't recall if we talked about that one already.

I just finished For the Good of Mankind which is a history of the people of Bikini who were displaced from their homeland by the American use of the Bikini Atoll as a nuclear testing ground. It's a story of hardship, near starvation and finally reparations by the US government. Sizable parts of it told by interviewing elders who had lived through the times.

I finished Nearly Everybody Read IT which is a series of essays by former Bulletin employees when the Bulletin was one of the best afternoon papers in the US until its demise on 29 January 1982. People who know Philadelphia will enjoy the book. I certainly did as it brought back many good stories and 'characters' in Philadelphia politics. Those who don't know Philadelphia will enjoy it as some of the reporters who wrote the essays ended up with many good papers and magazines to carry on their trade like Claude Lewis and Rose DeWolf. I guess I have a bit of a soft spot for the Bulletin as I delivered it in our neighborhood for a year back in the 60's. I also loved the annual almanac they put out. Maybe that is part of the reason while I still love lists, indexes and have a ball messing around in LT!

ulmannc, have you read Finders Keepers or Doctor Dealer? Both of them are by Mark Bowden. If you like Philadelphia-related nonfiction, you might like those. I loved them both. Mark Bowden is one of my favorite authors. My brother lived in Philly for awhile and I like reading books set in Philly. The Great Influenza also has a very interesting section on Philadelphia.

snash, that sounds like a good book. I'll add that to my list.

The lists of Philadelphia-related books intrigue me although I've only lived here for three years now. I've spent a bit of time in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania researching on some Philadelphia home front activities during the Civil War with hope of writing it up.

I'm reading The Morning After: The 1995 Quebec Referendum and the Day that Almost Was by Chantal Hebert.

snash, Philadelphia has a fascinating political history. The two Mark Bowden books don't really deal with that so much, but I got to read more about it in the book about the 1918 flu pandemic.

In other news, I finished The Poisoner's Handbook and am onto Triangle: The Fire that Changed America. It looks like a good book, but I only got two pages in last night before I decided I was too tired to start a new book. I'll report on how it's coming along once I'm further in!

I'm reading The Winter King, a history of Henry VII's reign.
He's one of those Kings who I know where he sits (between the Wars of the Roses and the extravaganza that is Henry VII) but not a lot about him.

I'm reading An Infidel Body-Snatcher and the Fruits of his Philosophy: The Life of Dr. Charles Knowlton by Dan Allosso.

>19 Hovav-Heth:. As per https://www.librarything.com/topic/183721#4953927 :

">23 Seajack: Hovav-Heth: Sorry, reading your own book - see https://www.librarything.com/topic/184635 \since deleted and https://www.librarything.com/topic/184634 \three flags (if they've not been flagged to deletion yet) - comes pretty close to flag territory in my books."

For reference, the messages read:

"Hovav-Heth Today, 2:07pm
Don't miss out on my collection of short stories The Lobster's State of Mind.
Avelibalve now as e-book on Amazon: http://...
Or you can check my website at: http://... - for book reviews by me."

Finished Ten Miles From Aspen yesterday. Fun read about running resort cabins in Colorado.

I finished With Light Steam: A Personal Journey through the Russian Baths. This is ostensibly a description of the Russian steam bath (banya) culture but I found it most interesting in its insight into Russian culture, particularly after communism. It was enjoyable and well written.

Worlds Apart - essays from the 60s/70s/80s by Gavin Young, including (South) Vietnam before and after unification, fall of Benizir Bhutto's father in Pakistan, etc. Great snapshots of historical moments.

Finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand yesterday. It is one of those books you just get immersed in and hours go by like minutes. I can't wait to see the movie.

I finished The Winter King and it was really interesting. Lots of detail, lots of people with small parts to play. And interesting how his reign completely changed. From the early years of hope and new beginnings to a old miser, swept away by his glorious son (who was an awful King, btw - but that's a story for another day).

Finished The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. That was an E-library book. Finished another Ebook, The Myth of a Guilty Nation by Albert Jay Nock, it debunks the notion that Germany was guilty of starting WW1.

Reading another E-library book I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali. Almost done with that one. Still plugging away with The World is Flat: Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. Just over halfway done with that.

Bill

>26 Bill_Masom:
re: what started WW1.

I recently came across another book that spells out the deliberate political set-up by British imperialists in order to eliminate German competition. Did not note the title, but I think it was conspiracy related.

I'm reading 50 Canadians Who Changed the World by Ken McGoogan

Just finished Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives and Our Lives Change Our Genes, by Sharon Moalem.

The book has changed the way I think about health, individuality, nutrition, and the science of genetics. I highly recommend it.

I finished a LTER, The Porcelain Thief. This memoir about contacting family in Taiwan and China on a quest for the family porcelain, turns into a social commentary, travelogue, and history of China, on a personal relatable scale. My early review copy was missing a family tree and three maps which would have been very useful. This was an enjoyable evenhanded look at China from 1900 to today.

>13 slug9000: No, I haven't read either one of these. I have added it to my list!

I started reading Brandywine: A military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777. It has clearly kept my interest as I am the curator of the Christian Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford and Chris was one of the people in the area responsible for the creation of the state park to honor the battle! I know the basic facts and have read many long and short accounts of it and this one is clearly keeping my attention! It appears most of the information was gathered from primary sources.

As of today in my reading the British are starting to sail up the Chesapeake. That's the LONG way to get to Philadelphia from New York(sic).