|
|
Post by Taildragger on Nov 22, 2023 17:30:54 GMT -5
What's yours?
My favorite recent ones:
•"The Third Chimpanzee" (non-fiction) by Jared Diamond. I'm pretty obsessed with paleoanthropology and primatology lately. This book was written during the 1990s, so is a little dated, but still contains some interesting observations/speculations about human evolution and our genetically-closest cousins.
•"Demonic Males" (non-fiction) by Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson. I'm about half way through this and am finding it to be pretty fascinating. It examines the role of violence in the lives of various animals, focusing primarily on humans and the great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans and gibbons) but also touching on other primates, birds, and social predators such as wolves, lions and hyenas. This one was also written during the mid 1990s, but a lot of it still makes pretty good sense, IMHO. There are no moral/ethical justifications or challenges/condemnations here: observed behavior is explained purely on it's likelihood to confer advantage to the perpetrator in terms of sending his/her genes forward in time.
•"The Goodness Paradox" (non-fiction) by Richard Wrangham. This is a more recent (2019) book about the duality of human nature and how it may have evolved to be so.
•"Almost Chimpanzee" (non-fiction) by Jon Cohen. More comparisons/contrasts drawn between ourselves and our primate relatives.
As a layman, I found all these books to be very readable/"accessible", which is sometimes not the case with other, dryer, more academic material covering the same topics.
|
|
|
|
Post by Seldom Seen on Nov 22, 2023 18:01:01 GMT -5
After blowing through some epic historical fiction and sci-fi last winter and spring, I’ve been parked on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books. Over the summer I read the three prequels and a couple of titles somewhere in the middle of the series. I enjoyed them so much I decided to knock them down systematically so currently on the third book in the initial series “Tripwire”. Yes I’m guilty of going for the l action stuff and liking it. I promise I’ll tackle some more serious books after I finish the first five in the series.
|
|
|
|
Post by gato on Nov 22, 2023 18:07:28 GMT -5
John Grisham's "A Time for Mercy" at the moment. Just picked it up at the library yesterday.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ragtop on Nov 23, 2023 5:34:54 GMT -5
I've been all about JFK lately. Read "JFK and the Unspeakable," which was a terrible grind but informative. Am reading "Killing Kennedy" now, and watching the "Kennedy" 8-part series on the History Channel. It is very good.
|
|
|
|
Post by tahitijack on Nov 23, 2023 17:51:17 GMT -5
I'm close to finishing Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Somehow I never read this in high school or college. There are parts that still ring true today. There are some that should read it to know what real hard times are like, it would be an eye opener as they say.
|
|
|
|
Post by Laker on Nov 23, 2023 19:21:06 GMT -5
I'm close to finishing Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Somehow I never read this in high school or college. There are parts that still ring true today. There are some that should read it to know what real hard times are like, it would be an eye opener as they say. I’ve read this book several times over the last fifty years and have always found it it a story that should be read by all who think they are experiencing tough times. The book I want to read that we just gifted to a friend is Jonathan Karl’s “Tired of Winning” because it sounds like an informative read. |
|
|
|
Post by bluzcat on Nov 23, 2023 23:42:48 GMT -5
I am reading “The Kill Artist” by Daniel Silva. This is my first read of his, and so far so good.
|
|
|
|
Post by Taildragger on Nov 24, 2023 0:11:01 GMT -5
I am reading “The Kill Artist” by Daniel Silva. This is my first read of his, and so far so good.
I've read and enjoyed a bunch of his books.
|
|
telebob
Quarternote
Posts: 32
Formerly Known As: Tele-Bob
Age: 64
|
Post by telebob on Nov 24, 2023 10:15:08 GMT -5
Hear Yourself: How to Find Peace in a Noisy World by Prem Rawat
|
|
|
|
Post by Pinetree on Nov 24, 2023 11:48:34 GMT -5
My E'ffin Life ~ Geddy Lee
|
|
|
|
Post by Lesterstrat on Nov 24, 2023 14:40:00 GMT -5
The Wingmen by Adam Lazarus
|
|
|
|
Post by satele on Nov 26, 2023 1:27:28 GMT -5
"This Wheel's On Fire", Levon Helm...A really great read!
"Testimony", Robbie Robertson next.
Recently, the Jimmy Barnes books. He's the singer from Australian legends Cold Chisel and his story is a real rags, almost imprisonment, to fame and stardom...
|
|
|
|
Post by slacker 🐨 on Nov 27, 2023 11:06:45 GMT -5
"Honey, Let's Get a Boat"
|
|
|
|
Post by Taildragger on May 3, 2024 10:50:14 GMT -5
• "Empire of the Summer Moon---Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful tribe in American History" by S.C. Gwynne I'm 50 pages in. Very interesting. I've read extensively about the Apache, Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Pueblo, Cheyenne and Souix tribes but only about the Comanches is passing. The Apaches were a rough bunch, but even they feared the Comanches. |
|
|
|
Post by Seldom Seen on May 3, 2024 11:17:17 GMT -5
The Big Burn - Timothy Egan
A fascinating account of the beginnings of the U.S. Forest Circus and the efforts of Teddy Roosevelt and Gilbert Pinchot to create National Forest and other public lands against the backdrop of potent political opposition and the largest forest fire in U.S. history. The stories of these early firefighters and their desperate battles in the white pine forests of northern Idaho and western Montana are epic. If you’re a fan of Teddy Roosevelt you’ll love this book.
|
|
|
|
Post by rickyguitar on May 3, 2024 12:28:44 GMT -5
Anatomy of a Breakthrough by Adam Alter. A very good look at overcoming creative blocks. I highly recommend.
|
|
