If there's already a thread on this then my apologies, but I thought it would be fun for share what books we're currently reading, or favorites that we've read in the past and why we enjoyed them. Here's my recent list:
Currently Reading:
"JFK and the Unspeakable" by James Douglass
I used to think that the CIA killing JFK was conspiracy theory whacko stuff, but after listening to RFK talk about it I became less convinced. This was the book he recommended that listeners read and I'm about halfway though, but I'll be damned if I'm not thoroughly convinced at this point that the CIA was absolutely behind his murder and had been plotting it for years. It's also incredibly interesting to draw parallels between the cold war during this era and the tensions we see around the world today, completely changed my perspective and I can't recommend it enough.
Next Up:
"Walking Disaster" by Deryck Whibley
Huge Sum 41 fan so this one is easy for me, looking forward to reading it. Obviously if you're not into punk of Sum 41 this book probably isn't for you 🤣
Past Favorites:
"Build" by Tony Fadel
If you're entrepreneur minded this is an incredible book that's entertaining to read and full of useful info. It's not just some idealized story talking about how great starting a company or developing a product is, it get's into the good, bad, and ugly with a ton of great personal stories and just enough jokes and F-bombs to keep the reader entertained. I learned a ton from this book about product development and how to reframed my mindset to be more customer/end user focused, highest recommendations from me.
"Area 51" by Annie Jacobsen
Gives a great history of Area 51 and the development of the U2 spy plane. Tons of really interesting and inspiring stories about engineering leaps made during the cold war, but also provides a lot of very dire warnings about just how powerful the depths of the US government really are and the lengths they will go to to "win" at all costs. Very interesting read, with a serious tone.
"Elon Musk" by Walter Isaacson
I've read a few of Isaacson's books but this one was my favorite, maybe because of the recent subject matter. It gives a very in depth look at Elon's life, his way of thinking, and follows him through the Twitter purchase and the dumpster fire that quickly became for him. I had mixed feelings about Elon before reading it and have different mixed feelings after reading it, so I think Isaacson does a great job of presenting the stories and facts while letting the reader draw their own opinions and conclusions. His book "Steve Jobs" is also fantastic.
"1984" by George Orwell
I'm sure most are already familiar with this book and I had read it back in high school, but I decided to revisit it since the subject matter seemed very relevant to our current time. In the same vein is "Animal Farm" also by Orwell dealing with similar subject matter, if you haven't read these classics I think they provide a great insight into how people can be misled and oppressed by a compelling message and mass conformity.
I don't like to read, but some pasts that I've enjoyed are Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler....For the articles....
Can’t wait for walking disaster to come out. While I love pop punk, sum41 was never one of my favorites, it’s more so their legendary party status that has me intrigued by this
If you want an easy read that will have you laughing the entire time “Apathy and other small victories” is one of the few books I can pick up every few years to re-read and die laughing
Reading "the dirt" again.
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Most everything by Chuck Palanhuik (fight club)
All of his earlier books are amazing, Choke and invisible monsters are a good start, as is right club obviously
Hubert Selby jr - last exit to Brooklyn | very unique writing style (no punctuation) takes awhile to get used to it but once you do it is very good
Nofx and the hepatitis bath tub - I’ve read a few biographies from bands and this is my favorite
I just finished one of the Michael J. Fox biographies; closest a book has ever gotten me to crying.
About to give The Time Machine another spin. Read it too many times as is but it's such a great ride.
Victor Davis Hanson;
-The Dying Citizen
-Why the West Has Won
-The Demon-Haunted World
by Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan
The Ian Rutledge series by Carles Todd is fantastic. Rutledge is a Scotland Yard detective in England post WWI. He has lots of leftover issues from the War, but succesfully continues to investigate and solve muder cases.
Small collection of great ones. 'Ghost In The Wires' is a autobiography from a telephone hacker (absolutly fascinating), turned computer hacker. 'Wolf Of Wall Street' needs no introduction - I dont care what you think of the movie - the book SMOKES the movie, and its not even close. 'Kitchen Confidential' is the most honest look into the real world of a blue collar worker that has ever been put into words, period. The 2 John Phillips (from Car And Driver) books are fantastic, 1st is about 2 young kids who created a multi million dollar scam out of thin air, and the 2nd is a collection of essays about living a secluded life in Montana, and seeing first hand how beautiful and horrifying Mother Nature can be.
1984 was fantastic but chilling. I've got some more George Orwells that I will get stuck into shortly.
I love war books. My favourites are Chicken Hawk, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Tunnels of Cu Chi. Would happily take some more recommendations.
Dead in 5 Heartbeats - by Ralph 'Sonny' Barger is a good novel. Easy but enjoyable
VDH has been on fire lately, explaing shit, how it really is.
Some of my favorites:
Breakfast of Champions -Kurt Vonnegut
Tristessa -Jack Kerouac
Brave New World -Aldous Huxley (In the same vein as 1984.)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and all the related sequels -Douglas Adams
I, Robot -Isaac Asimov (This one is actually a collection of short stories, most of which are quite good.)
Freakonomics -Levitt and Dubner (Surprisingly entertaining; they take an economics-minded approach to EVERYTHING. I'm a bit of a pragmatist, so it was refreshing to hear a bare-bones "money" approach to world problems you don't often associate with dollars.)
Lonesome Dove (i'm currently on the 4th and final book in the series)
Terminal List - Jack Carr (Series) i'm all caught up on this one, had a really hard time putting them down
anything Cormac McCarthy (The Road, Blood Meridian)
i'll read anything Western
I drive 2 hours for work each day, so I get to listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks. These books helped me process situations that I have experienced and why I may have reacted the way I did. Very interesting what our bodies and mind can and will do under extreme stress.
On Combat - The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace
On Killing - The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
I finished up The Splendid and The Vile by Erik Larson awhile back. It's about England during the Blitz, good stuff if your into war/history books.
Currently reading Andromeda Strain.
Lonesome Dove is up next.
A Clockwork Orange is my all time.
I have ADD before it was a known thing and have never been good at reading books, in fact I cannot think of one book I have read other than the one by Chuck Yeager.
But just last week, my cousin Paul knows I've been struggling and told me he was gonna send me a book to help me.
I'm about 30 pages into it, as I can only read 5 or 6 pages at a time, but so far it's really good. It helps to lessen the worry about where Jan is going next, because I know she will have an express ticket to heaven.
I suggest it to anybody else who is interested in people that have had Near Death Experiences (NDE's) and have come back. I have no idea that was so many and they have very similar stories.
Favorite:
The Neverending Story
Current:
The Great Book of BASE
Pit Row
Ghost Rider / Neil Peart ( Rush)
A really solid recommendation is Descent Into Darkness: Pearl Harbor 1941: A Navy Diver's Memoir by Edward Raymer. He was a salvage diver for the US Navy in the aftermath if Pearl Harbor. Only book I've ever read that made me audibly gasp more than a few times.
I just finished re-reading the entire Terminal List series over the past year, leading up to the release of the latest book (Red Sky Mourning) a few months ago.
Terminal List was incredibly hard for me to put down, think i read the first book in 3 nights. the rest of the series pretty much the same, good stuff.
i actually met Jack Carr, he's a Park City resident and it was just a chance meeting. i was wearing a Salute to Service Detroit Lions hat at the High West saloon and he asked if i was in the service (i'm not i just like the shade of green), long story short had a couple whiskeys and chat about his book series. really down to earth guy and All American badass.
My first introduction to Joseph Campbell was my freshman year of college, a class titled “Symbolism and Mythology in Western Civilization”. One of the required books was his “The Flight of the Wild Gander”.
That book and class led to far too many Anthropology and Philosophy classes, because I always had more questions than I could find answers to……!
That's awesome, I'd love to meet the guy. I saw on his YouTube channel last night that he has a new book coming out in the spring about James Reece's dad. I'm assuming it's about his time as a SEAL in Vietnam through working for the CIA.
With a Machine Gun to Cambrai.
It’s the memoirs of a 17 year old child soldier in the British Army who was in a Vickers gun team during WW1 on the Western Front. It is truly horrific, nightmare inducing stuff.
What makes it so unique is the last chapter is his experience of revisiting where he fought in the 1970s, there is also a chapter full of letters sent to him by other WW1 veterans after the book was first published. A Generation that is now long gone.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom - Thomas Edward Lawrence
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
Beowulf – Unknown
Gods and Generals - Jeffrey Shaara
Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
Figured it would be good to update since it's been a few months:
Completed:
Walking Disaster by Deryck Whibley
Pretty quick read a highly entertaining/personal, very much recommended if you're a Sum 41 fan. Deryck doesn't hold back on anything, from the sexual abuse by their first manager, to the wild and fun times in the early days, and his eventually massive drinking problem and subsequent recovery. I had no idea how bad his addition to alcohol was and it really puts their last album into perspective for me and how amazing of a recovery both he and the band have been able to pull off over the past few years. Definitely an even bigger fan now.
Imminent by Luis Elizondo
I haven't ever been super into the whole UFO thing, but after hearing Luis on a podcast I figured it might be a good read. Well, that was an understatement, I had no idea how much our government has been keeping from us and how big on an issue this actually is. As a quick contextual overview Luis used to work at the Pentagon on a secrete (at the time) investigation into UAP (essentially UFOs but changed to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena since they are also underwater), but became so frustrated with how the government was withholding information from citizens and even members of congress and the president that he resigned in protest and has worked ever since to reveal as much information as he legally can. Very interesting book not just for the amount of information released but also as a case study for how our government really operates and how corrupt the defense industry can be. Highly recommended read, but be ready for a potentially very significant shift in how you view yourself within the universe, the data seems very clear to me that we are not only not alone, but also vastly unprepared to deal with a potential invasion or continued visits from a far more advanced race.
Currently Reading:
Good Energy by Casey Means
I haven't gotten too far into it yet but so far it seems very interesting. Essentially the guiding principle of the book is a look at how our environment (including food, water, pollution, etc.) are effecting our metabolic health at the cellular level and leading to all sorts of the modern chronic diseases we're seeing today. My mom (who is very healthy and has fully recovered) went through a bout with cancer last year so this topic hits close to home for me, as I'm sure it does for many on here, and she is the one who recommended it to me. As I get further along I'll report more, but something within our medical system has just seemed vastly off to me for a long time now and this book is really starting to tie a lot of the pieces together.
.....didn't think you could read...my bad..🙃
Mostly Non-Fiction.
One of my favorites is Chickhawk - Robert Mason.
My stash....
+1 on ‘Imminent’. Staggering that that whole story is being largely ignored.
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