OT: Book Thread
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Babajingo
Registered User
For those history buffs. I highly recommend Peter the Great by Massie.
I know Russia isn't anyones favorite topic right now but it really tells a story of how one man brought Russia out of the dark ages.
I know Russia isn't anyones favorite topic right now but it really tells a story of how one man brought Russia out of the dark ages.
Her ted talk was good and she's done a few others. I appreciate that she's come out and actually apologized to victims and is trying to do something positive. It takes real guts to put yourself out there the way that she has.
I've seen a few interviews. She seems sincere.
Apparently, she was an attentive parent and devastated by her son's actions.
Unimaginable pain, guilt, depression, etc.
Yet she brought light from darkness.
It takes great strength of character to do what she's done.
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100% agree. Cullen made it a point to say repeatedly that she was very attentive as was his dad.
It is 25 years this year.
I will check the .pdf of Cullen's book.
My understanding is that Harris was a psychopath.
As with the Kip Kinkel case
What Happens to a School Shooter’s Sister?
Jennifer Gonnerman speaks to Kristin Kinkel, whose brother, Kip, killed their parents and opened fire at their high school. Today, Kristin is close with Kip—and still reckoning with his crimes.
and the Waltham business, I can be morbidly interested in subjects like this, though not overly so. For the most part, I prefer to focus on good stuff.
Just finished reading this. Read it in a day and a half on a flight to the West Coast and back. I like Michael Lewis' work but never got around to reading this one when it came out 5 years ago. Warning.....It IS a little political and is not flattering to the previous administration, but that's not the main intent. This is a fascinating book about the unsung heroes who work for the Federal Government, behind the scenes, to keep our country running on a day to day basis, and keep our nation safe.
Civilian government workers are often unfairly stigmatized for being under-educated and under-qualified hacks who can't cut it in the private sector. This book crushes that myth. I've never heard of any of the folks portrayed in this book and many of them are truly national heroes for the work they do behind the scenes with little fanfare. These are career government officials, who've worked through multiple adminstrations. Their dedication matches anything I've seen from my time in the military.
@Alicat , you'd be interested to know that Kathy Sullivan and Kim Klockow are two people featured. Kathy Sullivan is a bad-ass former Naval Officer and Astronaut who ran the NOAA. Kim Klockow is a psychologist who worked at NOAA and revolutionized how the National Weather Service warns people about approaching tornados, after the Joplin disaster.
Civilian government workers are often unfairly stigmatized for being under-educated and under-qualified hacks who can't cut it in the private sector. This book crushes that myth. I've never heard of any of the folks portrayed in this book and many of them are truly national heroes for the work they do behind the scenes with little fanfare. These are career government officials, who've worked through multiple adminstrations. Their dedication matches anything I've seen from my time in the military.
@Alicat , you'd be interested to know that Kathy Sullivan and Kim Klockow are two people featured. Kathy Sullivan is a bad-ass former Naval Officer and Astronaut who ran the NOAA. Kim Klockow is a psychologist who worked at NOAA and revolutionized how the National Weather Service warns people about approaching tornados, after the Joplin disaster.
I'll have to check it out. Thanks!
A lot of things changed after Joplin and Moore and thankfully, are still changing for the better.
Just finished The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson. I'm a big fan of his work and this one did not disappoint. I think its one of his better books. Its about the events leading up to, and including the firing on Ft Sumter to start the Civil War. Its exceptional.
- Feb 3, 2009
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Just finished this one. It’s obviously political. I liked it but it was dark.
Now I’m into this one. I remember it being a big deal almost 10 years ago, and I can see why. The writing is great.
Then onto this:
Now I’m into this one. I remember it being a big deal almost 10 years ago, and I can see why. The writing is great.
Then onto this:
Mr. Make-Believe
The happy genius of my household
Being a huge mark for China Mieville’s writing, I have been waiting years for his latest novel. When I learned that it was to be this…
... I didn't know how I was going to react to it.
Oh boy, is it awesome.
Lacking perhaps the philosophical allegory that is often so inherent to Mieville's previous works - this is just as strangely obtuse and bewildering as anything he's written. It's also more violent and entertaining.
There have been better books released this year and I'm sure there will be more yet. But it would take some kind of crazy miracle for one to release that I love as much as this one.
... I didn't know how I was going to react to it.
Oh boy, is it awesome.
Lacking perhaps the philosophical allegory that is often so inherent to Mieville's previous works - this is just as strangely obtuse and bewildering as anything he's written. It's also more violent and entertaining.
There have been better books released this year and I'm sure there will be more yet. But it would take some kind of crazy miracle for one to release that I love as much as this one.
I'm a Sci-Fi fan ...
I have always like Robert A Heinlein and his futuristic histories series. My favorite book is "Time Enough For Love". So many great short stories contained within that one novel; and perhaps one of the greatest short stories of the 20th century in "The Tale Of The Adopted Daughter" within its pages. If I could live in a book universe it would be that one and if I could be any one character it would be Lazarus Long.
I have always like Robert A Heinlein and his futuristic histories series. My favorite book is "Time Enough For Love". So many great short stories contained within that one novel; and perhaps one of the greatest short stories of the 20th century in "The Tale Of The Adopted Daughter" within its pages. If I could live in a book universe it would be that one and if I could be any one character it would be Lazarus Long.
BigBadBruins7708
Registered User
Agreed, I've come around to looking at it this way. How many of us as teenagers got into stuff or did things that our parents had zero clue about?
I also cant imagine the mind twist of wanting to grieve the loss of your son while also trying to come to grips with that he did.
Dennis Bonvie
Registered User
I will check the .pdf of Cullen's book.
My understanding is that Harris was a psychopath.
As with the Kip Kinkel case
What Happens to a School Shooter’s Sister?
Jennifer Gonnerman speaks to Kristin Kinkel, whose brother, Kip, killed their parents and opened fire at their high school. Today, Kristin is close with Kip—and still reckoning with his crimes.www.newyorker.com
and the Waltham business, I can be morbidly interested in subjects like this, though not overly so. For the most part, I prefer to focus on good stuff.
Quite a story.
recently finished
The last place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen's race to the south pole. loved the book.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the brilliant dual biography, the award-winning writer Roland Huntford re-examines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain's Robert Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen. Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain's beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out. THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford's masterly trilogy of polar biographies. It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise and update this edition.
The last place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen's race to the south pole. loved the book.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the brilliant dual biography, the award-winning writer Roland Huntford re-examines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain's Robert Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen. Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain's beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out. THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford's masterly trilogy of polar biographies. It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise and update this edition.
- Feb 3, 2009
- 18,905
- 5,364
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