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Author Topic: New! Reading Anything Thread 2.0  (Read 68891 times)
BoyScoutKevin
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« Reply #45 on: December 16, 2020, 05:18:43 PM »

A. J.. Baines' Dewey Defeats Truman

And thou shalt knoweth them by their supporters,

Wallace
aaron copland -- arthur miller -- charlie chaplin -- clifford odets -- edward g. robinson -- frank lloyd wright -- helen keller -- lillian hellman -- norman mailer -- paul robeson -- pete seeger -- studs terker -- thomas mann -- w.e.b. dubois

Truman
archibald macleish -- carson mccullers -- conrad aiken -- georgie jessel -- humphrey bogart -- lauren bacall -- perle "the hostess with the mostest" mesta -- ronald reagan -- sinclair lewis -- truman capote

Dewey
barbara stanwyck -- ginger rogers -- jeanette mcdonald -- john wayne -- lionel barrymore --  randolph scott -- walt disney

Thurmond
?
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BoyScoutKevin
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« Reply #46 on: December 19, 2020, 03:47:06 PM »

Harold Hober
American
award winner
The President vs. the PRess :
the Endless Battle between the White House and the Media --
from the Founding Fathers to Fake News.
39 more non-fiction.

To be continued . . .
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indianasmith
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« Reply #47 on: December 23, 2020, 10:28:11 PM »

TITAN: THE LIFE OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER by Ron Chernow

I knew a little bit about J.D. Rockefeller - one of the original robber barons, America's first billionaire, founder of Standard Oil, and philanthropist extraordinaire - but this rich, detailed biography provided a remarkable picture of a very complex man.  Absolutely ruthless in his business practices, and yet undeniably generous and kind-natured, Rockefeller is a study of everything that is wrong and right about capitalism, all in one package.  He built his empire by crushing or buying out all his competitors, but then gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to a variety of worthy causes before his death at the age of 98 in 1937.  Pioneering medical research, fighting infectious diseases, patronizing the arts, championing conservation - it is hard to imagine how any man of his generation could have done more good for a greater variety of causes.  But his use of monopoly to achieve dominance and his cut-throat business methods led to him being branded as a poster child for the evils of runaway corporatism.  In short, Rockefeller was both hero and villain, and defies all attempts to pigeonhole him into any particular stereotype.  Overall, an excellent read!  5/5
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« Reply #48 on: December 27, 2020, 10:16:32 AM »

I'll be starting THE WEIRD AND THE EERIE by Mark Fisher tonight.
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indianasmith
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« Reply #49 on: December 29, 2020, 08:16:56 AM »

RICHARD AND JOHN: KINGS AT WAR by Frank McLynn

   There is an ongoing trend in modern academia to tear down heroes and rehabilitate villains, and nowhere is this more evident in the way that many historians have written about the two sons of Henry II of England, Richard the Lionheart and John Softsword.  Richard, the famous crusader king, has been vilified as a brute homosexual thug, an inept diplomat, and an arrogant, corrupt warmonger; while John has been painted as a skilled diplomat, courageous warrior, and superb administrator.  McLynn goes back to the primary sources to see which version is true, and in so doing he eviscerates the sloppy scholarship and academic bias of Richard's detractors and John's admirers to arrive at a truth first proclaimed during these men's lives: that Richard was a brave warrior, an excellent diplomat, and a much-loved King; while John was a vile person and a failed monarch.  Well-written, thoroughly researched, and easy to follow despite its bulk, this book held up just as well in its second reading as it did the first time I read it several years back.  Definitely worthwhile for anyone who enjoys British history!
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Jim H
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« Reply #50 on: December 31, 2020, 12:35:06 AM »

TITAN: THE LIFE OF JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER by Ron Chernow

I knew a little bit about J.D. Rockefeller - one of the original robber barons, America's first billionaire, founder of Standard Oil, and philanthropist extraordinaire - but this rich, detailed biography provided a remarkable picture of a very complex man.  Absolutely ruthless in his business practices, and yet undeniably generous and kind-natured, Rockefeller is a study of everything that is wrong and right about capitalism, all in one package.  He built his empire by crushing or buying out all his competitors, but then gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to a variety of worthy causes before his death at the age of 98 in 1937.  Pioneering medical research, fighting infectious diseases, patronizing the arts, championing conservation - it is hard to imagine how any man of his generation could have done more good for a greater variety of causes.  But his use of monopoly to achieve dominance and his cut-throat business methods led to him being branded as a poster child for the evils of runaway corporatism.  In short, Rockefeller was both hero and villain, and defies all attempts to pigeonhole him into any particular stereotype.  Overall, an excellent read!  5/5

I have a relative who worked directly for David Rockefeller in 30 Rock, so I was able to meet him and shake his hand (this would have been when he was in his early 80s).  He of course remembered his grandfather and could talk about him, as he died when he was in his early 20s - which is just fascinating to think about in terms of history and how close seemingly distant times really are.  I'll have to read this one, maybe I can follow it with David's memoirs which I started to read (the opening is about JD's death if memory serves, so it'd work as a followup) but didn't finish.  He signed it to me, so it's my own tiny connection to Rockefeller history.

That said..  I'm reading the Cloud Roads by Martha Wells, a VERY VERY different book.  Pure high fantasy.  If you like non-human protagonists, it's a pretty interesting one, worth a read.  I'm about a third through it.
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lester1/2jr
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« Reply #51 on: January 08, 2021, 11:54:58 PM »

Standard Oil was THE great American company. Before they came in oil was found and taken out of the ground in haphazard ways. They revolutionized the industry. better methods and lower prices for consumers

I'm now reading Mary, the final in Sholem Asch's New testament trilogy for which he was banned from Israel, though that's where his archive is now. The first was the Nazarene which was the New Testament, then The Apostle which was the letters.
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indianasmith
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« Reply #52 on: January 18, 2021, 07:27:31 PM »

PRESIDENT WITHOUT A PARTY: THE LIFE OF JOHN TYLER by Christopher J. Leahy

John Tyler holds a number of records as President: He was the first "accidental President," a Vice President who succeeded to the Presidency when his predecessor died (after only 31 days in office!); he fathered more children than any President (15 kids across two marriages); first to get married while in office (he was 53, she was 22!), and the ONLY President who sided with the Confederacy during the American Civil War.  Tyler's political philosophy  was heavily influenced by the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798; ultimately, he placed states' rights over the Federal government and was one of the guiding forces behind Virginia's decision to leave the Union.  He never understood or sympathized with the abolitionist movement, believing slavery a necessary evil that would fade with time.  This was a well-written biography of an interesting (if deeply flawed) man. 

BTW: Fun fact:  Although John Tyler was born in 1790, he had two grandchildren still alive when this book was published in 2019!
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Rev. Powell
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« Reply #53 on: January 30, 2021, 12:04:51 PM »

Started



It's being made into a movie and for once I'm going to read the novel first. (That's usually a bad idea, I find, because you imagine the characters looking certain ways... then they don't.)
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indianasmith
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A good bad movie is like popcorn for the soul!


« Reply #54 on: January 30, 2021, 12:08:37 PM »

OLD BONES by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

  This is a spinoff series from the wildly popular "Agent Pendergast" novels that these two have been writing since the 1990's.  Two of Pendergast's more memorable associates, Corrie Swanson - now a newly minted FBI agent - and Nora Kelly, forensic anthropologist, team up investigating a long-lost campsite where part of the infamous Donner Party perished in 1847 amid horrifying scenes of madness and cannibalism.  But someone is trying to recover the remains of one of these long-dead cannibals, and is willing to kill to get his hands on them.  A nice, satisfying thriller!
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pacman000
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« Reply #55 on: January 31, 2021, 09:42:02 PM »

Exile’s Quest by Richard Meade
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Rev. Powell
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« Reply #56 on: April 17, 2021, 10:22:21 AM »



Sort of a girly, intellectual book about a woman helping a friend who's dying of cancer. Picked it up on a whim but I admit I'm enjoying it despite the fact that it's not in my usual wheelhouse.
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I'll take you places the hand of man has not yet set foot...
indianasmith
Archeologist, Theologian, Elder Scrolls Addict, and a
B-Movie Kraken
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A good bad movie is like popcorn for the soul!


« Reply #57 on: April 17, 2021, 12:54:42 PM »

THE YEARS OF LYNDON JOHNSON: THE PATH TO POWER by Robert A. Caro
I have had this book for at least 20 years - I think I may have even inherited it from my Dad; honestly, I'm not sure where I got it - but I had never read it until this month.  What a BRILLIANT biography!  Of course, it covers only the first 32 years of Lyndon Johnson's colorful life, but Caro went to many living sources to compile this story, and it is a compelling view of a cunning, ambitious, brilliant, and altogether ruthless young man whose only abiding principle seemed to be the pursuit of power.   Johnson is show as a calculating, amoral young man who would attach himself like a barnacle to anyone who could advance his career and jettison them the moment he found someone who could help him more effectively.  Yet, at the same time, he was incredibly hardworking, and got more done for folks in his district and out of it than any member of Congress.  I'm very excited about continuing the series, the second book is sitting on my dining table right now and I will be ordering the other two when I finish it. 5/5 - this book is what biographies should be!
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Jim H
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« Reply #58 on: April 19, 2021, 10:54:38 AM »

I'm reading the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.  Piling through them really, for me.  I read the first two books over about a month, and am a third of the way through the third.

If you've ever read a fantasy trilogy and thought wow, this is really overly dense and verbose I wish it was half as long, you'd like this series.  It's a dark medieval fantasy, brutally violent and harsh, and VERY fast moving.  It also has some of the most compelling characters around.  Like one of the POV leads is Glokta, a former "heroic soldier" ideal type who was brutally mutilated and tortured after getting his platoon killed, and now is an imperial "interrogator" himself.  Or Logen Ninefingers, who is basically a barbarian who has burned out on killing people, but still has to keep doing it anyway. 

Yet it goes in a bit different directions than you might expect.  An underlying current that's interesting - most of the POV leads are, at best, drawn in shades of grey, yet they have a small but (at times unfortunately) undercurrent of kindness running through them that occasionally peaks out in unexpected ways, and sometimes sends the story going in a direction you wouldn't guess.

Very much recommended. 
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indianasmith
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A good bad movie is like popcorn for the soul!


« Reply #59 on: April 20, 2021, 06:02:35 PM »

THE CASE FOR JESUS by Brant Pitre

This is a short but very readable book that takes some of the most popular arguments against the accuracy of the New Testament and refutes them one by one. Pitre addresses ideas popularized by recent skeptics like Bart Ehrman using hard data and solid analysis.  Among the topics he takes on:

Were the Gospels anonymously written and then attributed to the traditional authors to give them greater credibility?
Were the Gospels written too late to contain eyewitness testimony?
Were the stories in the Gospels exaggerated and significantly altered between the time they happened and the time they were written down?
Did Jesus truly claim to be God?

I've read a number of books on both sides of the argument, and this is one of the best and most succinct I have read in defending the traditional claims of the NT.
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