Books You've Read in 2020

[j44ke]

I got to hear her talk to a small group of activists on Zoom a few weeks ago. Articulate, personable and prepared.

While I've got concerns about her national-level experience, I think she could be the just the ticket needed for the ticket.

Do we need a Biden VP thread? (ducks thrown book)

[davids]

Just finished The Mirror and the Light. It's too long, as every reviewer says, but Hilary Mantel didn't do any injustice to her trilogy by slowing up at the end. I'm tempted to pick up Wolf Hall again but there are too many books I haven't read.

I re-read Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies before tackling The Mirror and the Light. Total immersion into Mantel's version of Thomas Cromwell's head. It was so worthwhile - I'd loved Wolf Hall from the fifth page, but Bring Up the Bodies sunk in much deeper the second time around. And then there is the long exquisite march through The Mirror and the Light!

[robin3mj]

I'm reading the Great Influenza right now and it is worth it.

[HorsCat]

Just about done with These Truths by Jill Lepore. It is a dense masterpiece, both a history of the United States and a history of race in the United States.

Before that it was Dean King's Skeletons on the Zahara, which was a quick and enjoyable read that will appeal to the adventurers and survivalists among us.

And in between I have been reading Eric Dinerstein's What Elephants Know with my 6-year old. She loved it.

[Matthew Strongin]

Someone posted a link to an article on the Sojourners site about how to be a better ally. One of the suggestions was to take some time for educating ourselves about systemic racism in America and recommended some reading. So Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me showed up today. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

[theflashunc]

Someone posted a link to an article on the Sojourners site about how to be a better ally. One of the suggestions was to take some time for educating ourselves about systemic racism in America and recommended some reading. So Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me showed up today. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

I would also recommend Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch. Just in case you don't despair enough about our country's legacy of racial inequality after reading Coates' stuff.

[bigbill]

Based just on what I've rented and sent back to Chegg, I've read 25 books this year on American History in support of my MA program. Plus there are the books I had to buy because Chegg didn't have them and a few reference books I've put on my Kindle account. Right now, I'm reading The Search for Order 1877-1920 by Robert Wiebe. It was written during the new left period of historiography but pays homage to the progressives in the new middle class.

[Scott G.]

My winter reading list was
DW Blight, "Fredrick Douglass",
(look for his interview on C-Span, which got me started, and led to the rest of the books)
then "The War Before the War" by A. Delbanco,
then W.E.B. Du Bois "The Souls of Black Folk"
finally "Gods of the Upper Air" by Charles King

[72gmc]

The Sojourners link, for the inspiration: For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies | Sojourners

Among other things I’m reading, I’ve just chosen a book of short stories by Mavis Gallant. The New Yorker fiction podcast introduced me to several of her stories. I’ve listened to them all and want more.

[72gmc]

I re-read Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies before tackling The Mirror and the Light. Total immersion into Mantel's version of Thomas Cromwell's head. It was so worthwhile - I'd loved Wolf Hall from the fifth page, but Bring Up the Bodies sunk in much deeper the second time around. And then there is the long exquisite march through The Mirror and the Light!

I wonder if it took days or just hours for Henry to wish he had saved Cromwell.

[monadnocky]

I just re-read Dune. I'm not really clear why.

I have a tendency to re-read a lot of the stuff I read as a teenager and loved it back then, only to be completely disappointed in it now. A lot of Stephen King stuff comes to mind (I find about 90% of his stuff complete insufferable garbage, the other 10% pure genius). Dune was no different. Neat concept, but reads like it was written by a 14 year old boy.

Note to Frank, if you're listening: the neat thing about a Kindle is that you can count how many times you use the term "elfin-faced" to describe the female lead. It's 34. 34 times you wrote "elfin-faced Chani."

UGGGGGH.

[ides1056]

The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London

This was a pretty freaky read.

[Scott G.]

I just re-read Dune. I'm not really clear why.[snip]

If you want read of desert people, try Wilfred Thesiger "Arabian Sands" published in 1959
his travels with the Bedu across the Empty Quarter.

[Saab2000]

I just re-read Dune. I'm not really clear why.

I have a tendency to re-read a lot of the stuff I read as a teenager and loved it back then, only to be completely disappointed in it now. A lot of Stephen King stuff comes to mind (I find about 90% of his stuff complete insufferable garbage, the other 10% pure genius). Dune was no different. Neat concept, but reads like it was written by a 14 year old boy.

Note to Frank, if you're listening: the neat thing about a Kindle is that you can count how many times you use the term "elfin-faced" to describe the female lead. It's 34. 34 times you wrote "elfin-faced Chani."

UGGGGGH.

Speaking of re-reading stuff, I'm re-reading Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October. It's a good read and a nice story but in 2020 it's very dated in a lot of ways, not least of which are the tired cliches of masculinity, privilege and cultural stereotypes we now recognize that weren't maybe obvious a generation or two ago. Additionally, the technology references are almost funny in how outdated they are today. That is, of course, inevitable in a time of ever accelerating technological development. But a cold war story that was interesting in the 1980s now seems like ancient history.

It would be interesting to hear the perspective of a real life submarine officer @bigbill on this type of story.

[vvv321]

Based just on what I've rented and sent back to Chegg, I've read 25 books this year on American History in support of my MA program. Plus there are the books I had to buy because Chegg didn't have them and a few reference books I've put on my Kindle account. Right now, I'm reading The Search for Order 1877-1920 by Robert Wiebe. It was written during the new left period of historiography but pays homage to the progressives in the new middle class.

So you have read 25+ books, which is great, but the question is, who wrote them? Whose perspectives are brought to bear? Which version of history are you learning? What you read and the understanding of what you have read is far, far, more important than the number of books you have read.

Finally, an education is not the same as a degree, in fact they are often at odds with each other, the academy is as culpable as any other institution for the perpetuation of systemic racism.

[davids]

My winter reading list was
DW Blight, "Fredrick Douglass",
(look for his interview on C-Span, which got me started, and led to the rest of the books)
then "The War Before the War" by A. Delbanco,
then W.E.B. Du Bois "The Souls of Black Folk"
finally "Gods of the Upper Air" by Charles King

Gods of the Upper Air was really well written. It's a great social history/history of science, and it reminded me why I majored in Anthropology!

Plus who knew Margaret Mead lead such a wild life?!?

[72gmc]

I feel under-read in just about all genres, so I tend to limit my re-reads to essays and just a few novels such as Stegner’s Crossing to Safety and Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop. I consider Pogo and Bloom County to be references so they don’t count as re-reads.

[bigbill]

So you have read 25+ books, which is great, but the question is, who wrote them? Whose perspectives are brought to bear? Which version of history are you learning? What you read and the understanding of what you have read is far, far, more important than the number of books you have read.

Finally, an education is not the same as a degree, in fact they are often at odds with each other, the academy is as culpable as any other institution for the perpetuation of systemic racism.

Do you have any other settings than smarmy? I'm getting my masters in American History which primarily a study in historiography covering the history of written history. The written history up until the new left pretty much reinforced systemic racism. The collection of books, journal articles, and other primary and secondary sources are compared and contrasted to show the shift in narratives. An overtly racist narrative still has historical value if you consider the time that it was written.

[bigbill]

Speaking of re-reading stuff, I'm re-reading Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October. It's a good read and a nice story but in 2020 it's very dated in a lot of ways, not least of which are the tired cliches of masculinity, privilege and cultural stereotypes we now recognize that weren't maybe obvious a generation or two ago. Additionally, the technology references are almost funny in how outdated they are today. That is, of course, inevitable in a time of ever accelerating technological development. But a cold war story that was interesting in the 1980s now seems like ancient history.

It would be interesting to hear the perspective of a real life submarine officer @bigbill on this type of story.

OMG I hated that movie. We all pitched in as a crew to rent out the theater for a private matinee showing when it came out. Not the best crowd if you're looking for accuracy. Funny Clancy story; my last submarine was somewhat famous or infamous depending on your point of view. The USS Parche was the most decorated ship in naval history but everything we did was cloaked in secrecy. One afternoon while we were in port at Bangor, WA, the base commander showed up on our pier (we had our own) with Tom Clancy to get him a tour of the ship. The Captain said no, the base commander insisted, the Chief of Naval Operations said no. This all happened in a five minute span.

[Saab2000]

OMG I hated that movie. We all pitched in as a crew to rent out the theater for a private matinee showing when it came out. Not the best crowd if you're looking for accuracy. Funny Clancy story; my last submarine was somewhat famous or infamous depending on your point of view. The USS Parche was the most decorated ship in naval history but everything we did was cloaked in secrecy. One afternoon while we were in port at Bangor, WA, the base commander showed up on our pier (we had our own) with Tom Clancy to get him a tour of the ship. The Captain said no, the base commander insisted, the Chief of Naval Operations said no. This all happened in a five minute span.

I’m sure the movie was awful for a submariner. But entertaining for the masses. The further away we get from it the cornier it looks.