Except that I was perusing the archives from a different era, and found a list of what others were reading!
Here's what one fellow had to say:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Brey during the second millenium
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Just finished reading Neil Gaiman's "Norse Mythology". Fun read! Some of the stories I was familiar with, some not.
I finished The Tiger. Excellent nonfiction. Now I’m on to The Crying of Lot 49. My first Pynchon. God help me when I’m too dumb to understand it.
I read A Gentleman in Moscow while on vacation and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was charming and genteel and the perfect complement for a relaxing trip. Highly recommend if you're looking for some satisfying and lighthearted fiction.
Past Tense, latest Jack Reacher novel by Lee Childs.
I read Norse Mythology earlier this year.
I love Neil Gaiman, and I read a lot of Norse mythology growing up.
My key complaint (or “it must be nice”) is that without going back and re-reading what I read when I was younger, is that I am blissfully unaware of any originality or value that came along for the ride with Neil Gaiman’s name on the book jacket.
My favorite Neil Gaiman book is the Ocean at the End of the Lane. That is a great, original piece of fiction.
I'm about half way through "Big Week" by James Holland. It covers the air war over Europe in WWII. Even with everything I've read in books or seen in movies, I don't think I've come across anything else that describes the experience of European air combat as well as this book.
About 25 years ago, one of our senior engineers that I worked and travelled with had been a B-17 navigator during the war. He and I travelled back and forth between Birmingham and Cincinnati every week for about two years. On any Friday that we got to the airport, and saw that the weather was ugly, Willie would just say, "See you later. I'm going to drive back home". He said he felt he had seriously overdrawn his flying luck during the war, and was not willing to push it any further.
Not that I could every remotely appreciate or understand what he experienced flying over Germany, this book goes a long way towards developing that understanding.
I wish I had talked to him more (if he had been willing) about his service. He died 13 years ago.
I definitely recommend the book.
Just finished The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins.
A modern fantasy with a lot of twists.
I’m reading Edward Rutherfurd’s London. It’s an epic-type novel of London, with each chapter covering a certain period of the city’s history, starting with the pre-Roman Druids and running into the late 20th century. It’s really more fictionalized history than historical fiction, if that makes sense...Rutherfurd essentially tells the history of the city using a series of fictional characters, rather than using a historical setting to tell a fictional story. I picked it up because I thought it would be fun in preparation for my trip to London in the spring, and I’m really enjoying it. It’s long (1100+) and very richly conceived, but a fun and pretty easy read. Some echoes of Game of Thrones in its saga/family history dimensions, and a ton of obviously very well researched setting and context.
Slightly different topic, but wanting to pick up a lecture or audiobook of Joseph Campbell. Any recommendations on which one to start first?
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.
I absolutely devoured this book.
I’m not a student of Chinese, Japanese, or Asian Pacific history or mythology.
This book reads like a re-imagining of history as fantasy.
It doesn’t really compare to (the movie) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but that might be the closest analogy I can make.
Some fun world building that could perhaps lead to some follow up novels.
My first Le Carre novel. Not afraid to admit I wad often confused at the start, as it's steeped in lingo and Le Carre doesn't seem to dumb things down for the reader. Between that and the large number of characters it took me a little while to get into it, but by the second half of the book I was rapt with trying to unravel the mystery. Really enjoyed it, will have to check out the movie.
Started Reading the Awaken:Online series by Travis Bagwell. It's similar in concept to "Ready Player One" if you're interested in Sci Fi. Kind of an immersive Game of Thrones/D&D style Virtual Reality RPG. The hook is that the lead character is essentially the Bad/Evil character in the universe, and it is largely told from his perspective.
Pretty quick read and on the teen fiction side of the genre ledger, but I'm enjoying it. The books are pretty cheap for Kindle.
After finishing Indianapolis, I moved on to Never Call Me a Hero an autobiography by N. Jack "Dusty" Kleiss who flew a Dauntless SBD-3 dive bomber at the Battle of Midway. It is a great read. CAPT Kleiss served 28 years in the Navy and lived to be 100 years old before passing in April 2016.
On Thursday June 4, 1942, LTjg Kleiss scored hits on two Japanese aircraft carriers, Kaga, in the morning action, and Hiryu, in the afternoon action, two of the four carriers sunk that fateful day (Akagi and Soryu were the other two). He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions.
https://www.historynet.com/book-revi...-me-a-hero.htm
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/da...sbd-dauntless/
Kleiss was a member of Scouting Squadron 6 (VS 6) and flew off the USS Enterprise (CV 6).
I finished Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. I liked it. Short, quick read. He does a good job of simplifying things for us lay people. Starting Ill Will by Dan Chaon. My wife picked it up from the library for me. Sounds interesting enough.
I finished The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr (sir!) by H.W. Brands last week and this weekend I started The Marquis (not Bolden, you silly DBR readers:p) by Laura Auricchio. I've really become a US (and Hamilton ;)) history fan the last few years so the Burr book was fascinating and an easy read. The first part of The Marquis was fairly easily as it provides a rather detailed report of his background leading up to and including the Revolutionary War. The second half of the book so far is more difficult as it discusses his involvement in the pre-French Revolution days.
(bolded mine)