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I think the third book is only moderately more likely to ever be written than remaining books in ASoIaF.Quote:
Originally Posted by JNort
In the sense that winning the lottery after purchasing a ticket is moderately more likely than winning without doing so.
In this, I'm an optimist. I think both series will be done in my lifetime and hopefully within the next 5 to 10 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by BLPOG
My high school American history teacher gave me Battle Cry of Freedom as a graduation gift. I’ve put it off for 16 years (wow I got old). No time like the present to finally tackle it. Wish me luck! Oh and I just finished The Forever War. Really liked it.
The author and WSJ reporter who broke the story, John Carreyrou, is a Duke graduate (Trinity 1994). He and I were in the same freshman dorm, very good guy.Quote:
Originally Posted by DUKIECB
My newest undertaking is Grant by Ron Chernow. I'm into Chapter 3 and hooked.
Battle Cry of Freedom (Pulitzer Prize winner) is easily the best single volume history of the Civil War.The opening chapters leading up to the War have some big time stuff in them concerning Slavery and national growth. Am embarrassed I didn't read it until last year. It includes everything you should know about the American Civil War but don't. It follows the war chronologically and you don't get to Gettysburg until 600+ pages. McPherson is a brilliant history writer with great transitions among topics. And he covers a lot of topics and the footnotes are the bottom of the page. Particularly like his use of newspaper editorials to illustrate public opinion. Cannot recommend an American history book more highly. He wrote a much smaller book on Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation (he is the gold standard on this topic) if you want a less ambitious introduction to his Civil War efforts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cormac
At 960+ pages, that is indeed an undertaking. I thoroughly enjoyed it last year. An excellent choice!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Green
Thanks! That’s quite the endorsement. I’m about 100 pages in and really liking it so far. I learned some things just in his introduction which is probably an indictment on my own knowledge base and a compliment to him.Quote:
Originally Posted by WV_Iron_Duke
Spearhead by Adam Makos. Just an incredible story. Shoot out between a Pershing and a Tiger amid the rubble of Cologne in the shadows of the cathedral. Battle was filmed by combat cameraman and can be seen on youtube. The tank's crew members experiences are simply amazing.
I just finished "Hillbilly Elegy - A Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis" by J.D. Vance
Good read but it wasn't quite what I expected. He talked a lot about the dysfunction in his family and that of other Kentucky "hillbillies" who had moved to Ohio for jobs. It was interesting but there was less discussion of the broader culture than I hoped for.
The author had a tough family life and joined the Marines out of high school . The Marine experience transformed him and freed him from the low expectations of his family and neighbors. He ended up graduating from Yale Law School.
Superb recommendation. I signed it out of the local library 2 weeks ago and had to renew it today having "only" covered about 400 pages. An amazing, comprehensive detailing of the ~20 years leading up to the Civil War so far. I suspect it'll take another two weeks to finish the book (850-900 pages total :eek:), but that should work out well with a light week of work planned next week. After that, it may be Chernow's Washington: A Life (before Lin-Manuel Miranda makes a Broadway show out of it, hopefully :rolleyes:).Quote:
Originally Posted by Cormac
Michael Lewis's The Fifth Risk. This is an NYT best seller. It is a compilation of anecdotal studies of the shortcomings of the severely undermined Trump transition team as it slowly took over various departments of government. It is a clear indictment of the process, demonstrating that the people who eventually arrived had no idea what the department does. In fact, they often did not want to learn. Invariably, the Obama people had left detailed summaries of their work and maps of what needed to be done. The Trumpists never bothered to read them.
The book is easy to read, fairly short at 219 pages and ends abruptly without stating Lewis's conclusions. But the reader will already know what they are.
This was my sentiment as well. It had been heralded as an examination of how the "Obama economy" didn't work for white blue collar Appalachians and how that demographic's cultural crisis helped explain their breaking for Trump. Maybe I was reading the wrong reviews but I didn't get the sense that Vance wanted to or tried to make his book do that. He makes the connection in a few spots but the book is mostly a biography...Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyClark
Anyway, they're making a movie and Glen Close and Amy Adams are in it so make of that what you will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyClark
I refused to finish it. I just became angry at how deliberately ignorant these people were/are. The opportunities are there, but the folks just won't take advantage. Vance managed to get through the ignorance, perhaps because he bounced between Ohio and Kentucky. Smart kid. Why couldn't other smart kids do something similar? A high school diploma is never out of reach. Community colleges, always inexpensive, are there to be used.
I've just started reading this as well. Perhaps my favorite nugget so far is that General Winfield Scott's nickname was Old Fuss and Feathers.Quote:
Originally Posted by devildeac
I'm also one of those misty-eyed those-were-the-days kind of guys who wishes modern congressional delegations broke out in more fist fights.
Any recommendations for anything by Sam Kean?
This caught my eye. Out today.
The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb
https://www.sciencefriday.com/articl...hitlers-hands/
But he has other books that look good too.
I came across a different excerpt of the same book over at Deadspin.Quote:
Originally Posted by rthomas
@Ian_OConnor
Who says I don't listen to my readers? I just signed with Houghton Mifflin, publisher of my NYTimes bestselling Belichick, Jeter, and Arnie & Jack books, to write a biography of Mike Krzyzewski. Thanks so much for the input.
Just started Rick Atkinson's The British Are Coming, the first of his trilogy on the American Revolution. I hope it's as good as his trilogy on the American army in ETO during WWII. Atkinson does this sort of thing as well as anyone.
About to finish Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers.
An epic novel in a similar vein to Stephen King’s The Stand.
My first Wendig book. Will be reading more.
Highly recommended.