Page 53 of 70 FirstFirst ... 343515253545563 ... LastLast
Results 1,041 to 1,060 of 1399

Thread: What Was the Last Book You Read?

  1. #1041
    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    By the long tidal river.
    Posts
    1,043
    Thanks
    2,713
    Thanked 2,570 Times in 695 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Quote Originally Posted by ethernautrix View Post
    Is anyone else having difficulty reading a book? I have a bunch -- more than a bunch -- that are all appealing to me, that I want to read, but when I pick up the book (or the Kindle, depending)... I can't. Maybe if I stopped checking the news....
    Not so much that, as having trouble sticking with one book all the way through before picking up another. I won't try to count how many I'm part way through right now. Although I generally do finish them eventually.

    Last one I finished was a fairly short one, The Voyage of Argo (or The Argonautica) by Apollonius of Rhodes, English prose translation by E.V. Rieux. Interesting portrayals of Jason and Medea in particular. All the characters seem very human, even when one can't help but notice the differences in attitudes between their society and ours.

    What I'm really having trouble with is watching TV. Well, I got rid of Netflix and Amazon Prime, don't have cable TV, and can't get any TV channels with a regular or electronically amplified antenna. But I do have lots of DVDs, and there is still plenty of free internet video content. I'll watch the occasional news clip if it will help illustrate a written story, and I put on YouTube music videos, but I stopped watching an episode of Twin Peaks on DVD in the middle a couple of weeks ago, and haven't wanted to watch anything since. Not sure why, just feel this disinclination to watch anything. At least I can read, even if I don't finish.

    Actually, I recall watching a movie on TV at some friends' house last week, but we had the fun of talking about it while it was going. And yes, I am way off the topic of this thread.
    Last edited by Kaputnik; September 14th, 2020 at 02:54 PM.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to Kaputnik For This Useful Post:

    ethernautrix (September 15th, 2020)

  3. #1042
    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Gulf of Mexico
    Posts
    3,886
    Thanks
    4,128
    Thanked 3,788 Times in 1,642 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    The Last Samurai by Helen Dewitt.

    This has nothing to do with the Tom Cruise movie (from the book Shogun) and is about a single mother rearing a genius son. She replaces the men in his life with daily viewing of Kurosawa’s movie “The Seven Samurai”. Clever, kinda intellectual, very amusing.
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to VertOlive For This Useful Post:

    Lady Onogaro (November 8th, 2020)

  5. #1043
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Location
    Washington, D.C
    Posts
    1
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Breasts and Eggs, by Mieko Kawakami. If you haven't read this book, you should read it. This is the book that has made the most impression on me lately

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to EvaWills89 For This Useful Post:

    Lady Onogaro (November 8th, 2020)

  7. #1044
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Location
    Mission Viejo, CA USA
    Posts
    15
    Thanks
    3
    Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Top of the Morning by Brian Stelter.... an inside look at morning television... an interesting and pretty easy read

  8. #1045
    Senior Member SIR's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    GB
    Posts
    1,635
    Thanks
    725
    Thanked 732 Times in 466 Posts
    Rep Power
    10

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Quote Originally Posted by ethernautrix View Post
    Is anyone else having difficulty reading a book? I have a bunch -- more than a bunch -- that are all appealing to me, that I want to read, but when I pick up the book (or the Kindle, depending)... I can't. Maybe if I stopped checking the news....
    Nope... if you want to read you will, if you don't you won't - kinda tells you your books worth reading.

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to SIR For This Useful Post:

    BlkWhiteFilmPix (September 25th, 2020)

  10. #1046
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Clinging desperately to planet Earth
    Posts
    474
    Thanks
    36
    Thanked 474 Times in 281 Posts
    Rep Power
    8

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    The thought crossed my mind that since the COVID restrictions of self-isolation and social distancing have changed life as we know it, particularly for those of us 'of age' or with medical issues, that more people are -- or at least may be -- turning to internet discussion groups such as this for some degree of social interaction and engagement. I know of people who, because of the pandemic, have become essentially hermetic 'shut-ins' for whom this is true. One in particular, who is a voracious reader under normal circumstances, has admitted he is spending more time social networking and communicating via the internet, and participating in a wide range of discussion groups since the pandemic began.

  11. #1047
    Senior Member BlkWhiteFilmPix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Looking up at the sky
    Posts
    539
    Thanks
    1,074
    Thanked 787 Times in 335 Posts
    Rep Power
    10

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Just arrived: Emotional Inflammation, by Lise Van Susteren, MD, and Stacey Colino.

    Excellent tips for identifying "triggers" and managing reaction to info overload.
    Bob

    Making the world a more peaceful place, one fine art print and one handwritten letter at a time.

    Paper cuts through the noise – Richard Moross, MOO CEO

    Indiana Jones used a notebook in the map room, not an app.

    www.bobsoltys.net/fountainpens

  12. #1048
    Senior Member Cyril's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Posts
    844
    Thanks
    1,903
    Thanked 556 Times in 290 Posts
    Rep Power
    7

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    "FaceBook." About some years back I go it for free. It was very interesting story and had been reading it for 5-6 Years nonstop not wanting to do anything sometimes even with out worring to sleep or eat.
    And then I finished it. It is about 5 years ago I read it.

  13. #1049
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Carlisle, Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    4,907
    Thanks
    1,396
    Thanked 6,390 Times in 2,505 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Quote Originally Posted by Cyril View Post
    "FaceBook." About some years back I go it for free....
    Sorry, but one of the worst books ever created IMHO.

    IMG_0452.jpeg

  14. The Following User Says Thank You to FredRydr For This Useful Post:

    CrayonAngelss (September 28th, 2020)

  15. #1050
    Senior Member BlkWhiteFilmPix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Looking up at the sky
    Posts
    539
    Thanks
    1,074
    Thanked 787 Times in 335 Posts
    Rep Power
    10

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Just in: The Last Great Road Bum, by Hector Tobar. Based on Joe Sanderson's life, using his handwritten letters and typed pages of notes.

    Left Bank: Art, Passion, and the Rebirth of Paris, 1940-50 by Agnčs Poirier.
    My Paris fix for the week. Perfect with a glass of vin chaud (hot wine) now that fall is settling in.
    Last edited by BlkWhiteFilmPix; October 7th, 2020 at 01:49 PM.
    Bob

    Making the world a more peaceful place, one fine art print and one handwritten letter at a time.

    Paper cuts through the noise – Richard Moross, MOO CEO

    Indiana Jones used a notebook in the map room, not an app.

    www.bobsoltys.net/fountainpens

  16. #1051
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Posts
    0
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    'Marketing Warfare' by Jack Trouts

  17. #1052
    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    By the long tidal river.
    Posts
    1,043
    Thanks
    2,713
    Thanked 2,570 Times in 695 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    This thread seems to be languishing recently. Hopefully people are reading, but just not particularly inclined to discuss it here.

    I just read John Milton's Areopagitica. Written in 1644, it is a criticism of a parliamentary law which prohibited the publishing of books without a license, to be issued by the government. Of pamphlet length, this work was itself published without a license, in defiance of that law.

    Honestly, I find Milton's prose rather turgid and repetitive at times, but his arguments are, trite as it may sound to say so, still relevant today. It is in the form of an address to Parliament, although not actually given as a speech; he frequently addresses himself to "My Lords and Commons". One point that particularly resonates with me, however, is the willingness of many ordinary people to accept such laws, to embrace an authority that tells them what they may read and think.

    Of the several other books, in the middle of which I currently find myself (yes, I phrased it that way on purpose ) I have gotten further in Gargantua and Pantagruel than I ever had before, somewhere in the middle of the third book. There is much in Rabelais that I find distasteful, but he is one of those authors whose reputation seems so secure that I wonder what I'm missing. And it's not without interest, or I wouldn't bother. The translation I'm reading is by J.M. Cohen.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

  18. #1053
    Senior Member Robert's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Houston, TX
    Posts
    654
    Thanks
    1,187
    Thanked 406 Times in 290 Posts
    Rep Power
    12

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    I've been reading quite a bit of WWII military history and memoirs, mostly on Kindle.

    *Panzer Ace: Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy* by Richard Freiherr von Rosen (1922 - 2015). Beautifully written/translated, with many interesting photographs. After the war the author served in the Bundeswehr and attained the rank of Major General.

    *Battle for the Solomons* by Ira Wolfert (pub. 1943). The author was a reporter who was in the Solomon Islands during the naval campaign of 1942-43. Interesting first person accounts of naval and air battles for which the author won a Pulitzer.
    Last edited by Robert; November 7th, 2020 at 07:51 PM.

  19. #1054
    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Gulf of Mexico
    Posts
    3,886
    Thanks
    4,128
    Thanked 3,788 Times in 1,642 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert View Post
    I've been reading quite a bit of WWII military history and memoirs, mostly on Kindle.

    *Panzer Ace: Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy* by Richard Freiherr von Rosen (1922 - 2015). Beautifully written/translated, with many interesting photographs. After the war the author served in the Bundeswehr and attained the rank of Major General.

    *Battle for the Solomons* by Ira Wolfert (pub. 1943). The author was a reporter who was in the Solomon Islands during the naval campaign of 1942-43. Interesting first person accounts of naval and air battles for which the author won a Pulitzer.
    Thanks for the Wolfert title, husband went off to check on it.
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

  20. #1055
    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Gulf of Mexico
    Posts
    3,886
    Thanks
    4,128
    Thanked 3,788 Times in 1,642 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Fiction: The Searcher by Tana French.

    Non-Fiction: The Diabetes Code by Dr Jason Fung.
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

  21. The Following User Says Thank You to VertOlive For This Useful Post:

    Lady Onogaro (November 8th, 2020)

  22. #1056
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    US
    Posts
    6,788
    Thanks
    642
    Thanked 897 Times in 689 Posts
    Rep Power
    11

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    I am reading The Zealot and the Emancipator John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and The Struggle for American Freedom by H.W. Brands. I also picked up a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe because Brand's referrenced the book.

  23. The Following User Says Thank You to Chuck Naill For This Useful Post:

    Kaputnik (November 8th, 2020)

  24. #1057
    Senior Member Kaputnik's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    By the long tidal river.
    Posts
    1,043
    Thanks
    2,713
    Thanked 2,570 Times in 695 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Quote Originally Posted by Chuck Naill View Post
    I am reading The Zealot and the Emancipator John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and The Struggle for American Freedom by H.W. Brands. I also picked up a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe because Brand's referrenced the book.
    I read Uncle Tom's Cabin quite some time ago now, having in mind the definition of a classic as a book that everyone talks about but nobody reads. I only read it that one time, but I recall being surprised at how good it was; sometimes a book deserves its reputation. It's not hard to imagine why it was so influential and controversial at the time that it was first published.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

  25. #1058
    Senior Member eachan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2020
    Location
    Highlands of Scotland
    Posts
    507
    Thanks
    1,442
    Thanked 868 Times in 341 Posts
    Rep Power
    4

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee, by Casey Cep. This is a tale of several murders and a recounting of Harper Lee's troubled life.

  26. The Following User Says Thank You to eachan For This Useful Post:

    Lady Onogaro (November 8th, 2020)

  27. #1059
    Senior Member Lady Onogaro's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Lafayette, LA
    Posts
    2,197
    Thanks
    5,214
    Thanked 1,578 Times in 943 Posts
    Rep Power
    13

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    Quote Originally Posted by VertOlive View Post
    Fiction: The Searcher by Tana French.

    Non-Fiction: The Diabetes Code by Dr Jason Fung.
    How did you like The Searcher?
    Lady Onogaro

    "Be yourself--everybody else is already taken." --Oscar Wilde

  28. #1060
    Senior Member Lady Onogaro's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Lafayette, LA
    Posts
    2,197
    Thanks
    5,214
    Thanked 1,578 Times in 943 Posts
    Rep Power
    13

    Default Re: What Was the Last Book You Read?

    I just finished a book of short stories by Daniel Mason called A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth. I loved every story in it. The characters are richly drawn as are the circumstances that provide the plot. I found it a deeply satisfying collection.
    Lady Onogaro

    "Be yourself--everybody else is already taken." --Oscar Wilde

  29. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Lady Onogaro For This Useful Post:


Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •