Kolek planning to go pro
My two favorite books I read in the past year:Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. Uses the family of a disappeared woman as the jumping off point to write about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Won several awards.They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib. He's a music writer that I'm a big fan of. This is a collection of essays that gradually transitions from music to race and other social issues. It's from 2017. Last year he wrote Go Ahead in the Rain about A Tribe Called Quest, which I also recommend if you're at all into hip-hop. But I liked Kill Us more.
One thing this pandemic has showed is that my excuse for not reading more, "because I don't have the time," is a load of crap.
I'll check these out, thanks.I just ordered The Topeka School by Ben Lerner and Lot by Bryan Washington. Will probably order two of your suggestions afterwards.
Anyone have some good book recommendations? I'm open to all genres, looking for books published in the few years. I'm ordering a book every week or so during quarantine and I figured it may be easier to start a thread than do research every time. Any suggestions welcome and appreciated! Books I've read so far that I've enjoyed:The Nickel Boys - Colson Whitehead The World Doesn't Require You - Rion Amilcar Scott The Victory Machine - Ethan StraussGood Talk - Mira JacobLong Road to Mercy - David BaldacciA Minute to Midnight - David BaldacciAll The Pieces Matter - David Simon
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Yes, it's the book that inspired the musical, and it is fascinating. Maybe 5% of it actually made it into the show.
Not recent, but a few I have read/reread lately:The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DidionThe Bell Jar by Sylvia PlathInto The Wild by Jon Krakauer
Paco' StoryFr. JoeThe Boys in the BoatThe LiberatorGuns at Last LightI Heard You Paint Houses
Glad to see you're doing OK vogue.
Truman by David McCulloughThe Age of Eisenhower by William HitchcockLords of the Realm by John HeylarPresident Carter by Stuart EizenstatStrong Inside by Andrew MaranissLittle bit of background. I'm a political junkie who will read political books about almost anyone. McCullough's is a classic and Hitchcock's book about Eisenhower is an especially good peek into the 1950s and the Eisenhower Presidency. The Eizenstat book about President Carter is brand new and probably did more to illuminate the good President Carter did as president than anything I've read to date. It's a great read. Full disclosure: I rather admire President Carter and I think his work as President was lost in the fog of two ayatollahs -- Khomeini and Volcker.Two sports books I really like: The first is Lords of the Realm. It's the best synopsis of baseball's business history ever. It takes one from the beginning of baseball through free agency and the first strikes. It's a great companion to The Game, by John Pessah, who picks up where Heylar left off and runs baseball into the modern era.The second is Strong Inside. This book is an incredible book about an incredible man, Perry Wallace. Mr. Wallace played for Vanderbilt, which is not extraordinary, except for one thing. Mr. Wallace was African-American. Up until 1967, no African American ever before played basketball in the Southeastern Conference. The part of the book about Mr. Wallace's critical frankness about his time at Vanderbilt, the largely forgotten legacy he left Vandy and then the university's redemption of its legacy with Mr. Wallace was incredible.
I have about 40 or 50 unread books on my shelf, and I finally have an opportunity to start in on it.Some of my recommendations (and I promise that none of it is Chick Lit):Anything by Marquette alum Steve RushinJames Martin, S.J. brings some interesting and humorous perspectives on religion and the modern world.Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Yes, it's the book that inspired the musical, and it is fascinating. Maybe 5% of it actually made it into the show.Kitchen Confidential by Anthony BourdainFor those planning a little post-virus travel: 1000 Places to Visit in the U.S. and Canada Before You Die. I am a big fan of Paperback Swap to get books.