Summer reading

[wawot1]

The Premonition, by Michael Lewis. All about government's response to covid, and the systemic problems of our patchwork public health system. I'll read anything Michael Lewis writes - it's a page turner!

Other suggestions?

[CordMcNally]

The Chilton Repair Manual for whatever vehicles you own. You can never have enough useable knowledge.

[Lordosis]

I just finished Mars inc. by Ben Nova. It is about corporations leading the way to finding the financing for exploration of mars. I think it was written in 2012 or 2013 and Tesla was mentioned as a potential but then it went on about the fictional company that the story was about. I thought that was rather funny. It was kind of like an economical near future science fiction.

I just started the red Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. Still about Mars but a very different angle. They're all quite long and will probably take me a good chunk of the rest of the summer.

I get enough nonfiction in my day to day life.

[MPMD]

i'm reading Nine Nasty Words by John McWhorter.

it's a fascinating look back at the history of profanity in English.

central thesis which is pretty compelling is that English profanity has gone through 3 main phases, when the worst thing you could say were

1. Words that disrespect the christian god or suggest that people should go to a place of eternal torment (Middle Ages, Rennaisance, etc)
2. Words that refer to sex or body organs (1800s, most of 20th century)
3. Group slurs or insults to identity (now)

it's pretty fascinating, especially the way that you see that words that would be considered absolutely taboo now used to be in very common use and often used in purely descriptive ways (some of the terms for body parts fit this well).

he also talks about how the unthinkable words quickly become either part of fairly common parlance, become terms of endearment, or basically start to mean everything. the f word is a good example of this.

[jfoxcpacfp]

i'm reading Nine Nasty Words by John McWhorter.

it's a fascinating look back at the history of profanity in English.

central thesis which is pretty compelling is that English profanity has gone through 3 main phases, when the worst thing you could say were

1. Words that disrespect the christian god or suggest that people should go to a place of eternal torment (Middle Ages, Rennaisance, etc)
2. Words that refer to sex or body organs (1800s, most of 20th century)
3. Group slurs or insults to identity (now)

it's pretty fascinating, especially the way that you see that words that would be considered absolutely taboo now used to be in very common use and often used in purely descriptive ways (some of the terms for body parts fit this well).

he also talks about how the unthinkable words quickly become either part of fairly common parlance, become terms of endearment, or basically start to mean everything. the f word is a good example of this.

This sounds fascinating - just used a credit for it on Audible. Sorry, Cord, just can’t get into the Chilton manual 😂.

[Brains428]

Just finished the Joy Luck Club on the insistence of my sister. It was good.

Mutha Stuff and Things by Vincent D'Onofrio is my current coffee table read. It's mostly stream of consciousness nonsense stories that are pretty entertaining.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Tarantino's new book. So far so good.

Next up- Willful Blindness- insight into the CCPs infiltration into the West/Canada.

[pitt1166]

currently reading "battle cry of freedom" which is apparently the most comprehensive single book on the U.S. civil war. very good so far. the southern states really went through some mental gymnastics to justify slavery. the slave holding states were so desperate to expand slavery that they kind of sanctioned and supported a U.S. mercenary (physician and lawyer to boot) william walker to go down to Nicaragua and try to overthrow the government there and make that country a slave holding U.S. state. he was successful at first... he was even set up a fake election and declared himself president of Nicaragua but eventually latin american countries and local threw him out. he tried again later and they captured then killed him.

anyways, pretty mind blowing stuff imo. we like to think the civil war was so long ago but not quite. i met an older gentlemen at a wedding last year who actually knew a former slave. crazy stuff.

[VagabondMD]

Last 3 reads:

Noise by Daniel Kahneman: interesting and relevant to our profession, in that variations in judgment and decisions can have a significant impact on outcomes, but probably too long and too deep for most. It would be more efficient to hear Kahneman interviews on recent podcasts.

Preventable: Andy Slavitt’s diary and take on the pandemic. Fast read.

Madness in Meryton: Fun Jane Austen romp is Pride and Prejudice meets Groundhog Day

On deck:

Project Hail Mary: I am reading that Andy Weir’s latest is more like The Martian (which I loved and read twice) and less like the subsequent book, Artemis.

The Hobbit: read by Andy Serkis, known for being an accomplished actor, producer, and director, and perhaps best known for playing the roll of Gollum in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings series. This audiobook is getting rave reviews, and with his reading of the Fellowship being distributed this fall, I do not want to fall behind.

The Premonition: Micheal Lewis always delivers, but having recently finished the Slavitt book, I might wait a little while before reliving the first 15 months of the pandemic again.

[Antares]

The Premonition, by Michael Lewis. All about government's response to covid, and the systemic problems of our patchwork public health system. I'll read anything Michael Lewis writes - it's a page turner!

Other suggestions?

Agree, he's a great story teller, and he knows how to find and research an engaging angle. Just starting this one -

[Antares]

I just finished Mars inc. by Ben Nova. It is about corporations leading the way to finding the financing for exploration of mars. I think it was written in 2012 or 2013 and Tesla was mentioned as a potential but then it went on about the fictional company that the story was about. I thought that was rather funny. It was kind of like an economical near future science fiction.

I just started the red Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. Still about Mars but a very different angle. They're all quite long and will probably take me a good chunk of the rest of the summer.

I get enough nonfiction in my day to day life.

So Stan Robinson is one of my very favorite writers. In fact, he's one of a select few who's every book I pre-order and read. The Mars Trilogy was my intro to his work, but probably my favorites of his work is the Science in the Capital trilogy, beginning with Forty Signs of Rain. Along with many others!

[Antares]

i'm reading Nine Nasty Words by John McWhorter.

it's a fascinating look back at the history of profanity in English.

central thesis which is pretty compelling is that English profanity has gone through 3 main phases, when the worst thing you could say were

1. Words that disrespect the christian god or suggest that people should go to a place of eternal torment (Middle Ages, Rennaisance, etc)
2. Words that refer to sex or body organs (1800s, most of 20th century)
3. Group slurs or insults to identity (now)

it's pretty fascinating, especially the way that you see that words that would be considered absolutely taboo now used to be in very common use and often used in purely descriptive ways (some of the terms for body parts fit this well).

he also talks about how the unthinkable words quickly become either part of fairly common parlance, become terms of endearment, or basically start to mean everything. the f word is a good example of this.

McWhorter is an independent thinker. I love hearing his point of view!

[Antares]

Last 3 reads:

Noise by Daniel Kahneman: interesting and relevant to our profession, in that variations in judgment and decisions can have a significant impact on outcomes, but probably too long and too deep for most. It would be more efficient to hear Kahneman interviews on recent podcasts.

Preventable: Andy Slavitt’s diary and take on the pandemic. Fast read.

Madness in Meryton: Fun Jane Austen romp is Pride and Prejudice meets Groundhog Day

On deck:

Project Hail Mary: I am reading that Andy Weir’s latest is more like The Martian (which I loved and read twice) and less like the subsequent book, Artemis.

The Hobbit: read by Andy Serkis, known for being an accomplished actor, producer, and director, and perhaps best known for playing the roll of Gollum in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings series. This audiobook is getting rave reviews, and with his reading of the Fellowship being distributed this fall, I do not want to fall behind.

The Premonition: Micheal Lewis always delivers, but having recently finished the Slavitt book, I might wait a little while before reliving the first 15 months of the pandemic again.

A good recent podcast featuring Kahnman: https://samharris.org/podcasts/150-m...understanding/

I have Project Hail Mary - it's next up in fiction for me. I was concerned that The Martian might be a one-off for a writer who reports that he doesn't read (!), and character is not his strong suit. But I'm hopeful, having heard good things about this.

[Antares]

I'm reading Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett, an articulate and highly esteemed neuroscientist. I'm enjoying her insightful and short take on the brain: it's a breath of fresh air. Chapter One: "Your Brain is Not for Thinking" sets the tone.

In fiction, The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. Charming and masterful fantasy about the obligations of power and its personal cost.

[FIREshrink]

Harry Potter, Old Man and the Sea, Astérix

Flirting with French - William Alexander, about his year as a middle aged guy trying to pick up French. Also the author of the $64 tomato, in which he moves to an old farm house in rural NY or NH and tries to start an organic farm. Funny guy.

Exhalation, short stories by Ted Chiang

a bunch of others I've started but haven't finished.

[jfoxcpacfp]

• Life at the Dakota - fascinating inside story of the iconic NYC landmark apartment building (made famous by John and Oko’s occupancy and his unfortunate demise outside the door) and its history through 1979. Doesn’t matter that it was written 40+ yrs ago, grateful to have had that much, lots of juicy gossip.
• Our Crowd - The Great Jewish Families of New York - history of the rags to riches story of NYC Jewish royalty. Especially interesting to me were the 2 branches of Jews who immigrated and how the 2nd wave was unsuccessful at walking in the footsteps of the 1st wave.
• Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir - fabulous true story of the rape of Lacy Crawford at the elite boarding school, St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH, and how religious principles did not stand in the way of a coverup all the way to the top in an attempt to save its reputation. In the end, Lacy gets justice of her own choosing.
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz - those of you who have read my reading list in the past know that I love books about war (War Between the States, WW1, and WW2). This book depicting the life of concentration camp survivor, Lale Sokolov, and his impossible re-uniting with his love, Gita (and her incredible survival of the war), ranks as one of my my top picks in this category, along with The Seamstress and Nancy Wake. These books are both incredible and almost unbelievable, so chilling are the events and the depiction of what really happened in the camps.
• Currently reading Cilka’s Journey, the sequel to The Tattooist. Gita’s closest friend in Auschwitz also makes it out, only to be sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in Siberia. Unimaginable.