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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. What are you reading now?

What are you reading now?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion
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  • jon-nycJ Offline
    jon-nycJ Offline
    jon-nyc
    wrote on last edited by
    #924

    I only just yesterday finished Chernow’s Mark Twain. While I liked the book and was never really tempted to put it down, it was definitely an endurance test. 1200 pages. I listened and the narration was 44 hours. I think they would do well to create an abridged version.

    Still a fascinating man and a fascinating life.

    The whole reason we call them illegal aliens is because they’re subject to our laws.

    kluursK 1 Reply Last reply
    • jon-nycJ jon-nyc

      I only just yesterday finished Chernow’s Mark Twain. While I liked the book and was never really tempted to put it down, it was definitely an endurance test. 1200 pages. I listened and the narration was 44 hours. I think they would do well to create an abridged version.

      Still a fascinating man and a fascinating life.

      kluursK Offline
      kluursK Offline
      kluurs
      wrote on last edited by
      #925

      @jon-nyc said in What are you reading now?:

      I only just yesterday finished Chernow’s Mark Twain. While I liked the book and was never really tempted to put it down, it was definitely an endurance test. 1200 pages. I listened and the narration was 44 hours. I think they would do well to create an abridged version.

      Still a fascinating man and a fascinating life.

      I read/lillstened to that book as well - great listen - but you're right, lonnng.

      1 Reply Last reply
      • kluursK Offline
        kluursK Offline
        kluurs
        wrote on last edited by kluurs
        #926

        image.png

        Very interesting book. I highly recommend, regardless of one's political persuasion as it provides a pretty decent view of how DJT got to where he is today. It spends a decent amount of time on DJT's father and how he grew the business. Donald clearly effectively leveraged his father's connections, influence and contacts to get his start. Most of us have lived through those days - so it's revisitng territory we may have heard about back in the day - but with more detail on actual vs. reality. Trump's a great bluffer and salesman. It brings me back to the quote from Bill Gates and what he thought his own most essential skill for success - and his answer, "the ability to sell an idea."

        1 Reply Last reply
        • taiwan_girlT Offline
          taiwan_girlT Offline
          taiwan_girl
          wrote on last edited by
          #927

          Just finished kind of an "academic" book - Germany 1923

          9781324093466_p0_v1_s1200x630.jpg

          Interesting, but also kind of a hard read for me. Not surprise, but it goes into depth about 1923 Germany (and a little bit of the year before and after) and some of the causes for the problems they had in economics, politics, etc.

          As I said, and interesting book about that period of history and gave me a bit of background on that part of the world in that period of time.

          Glad I read it, but probably will not read it again. LOL

          1 Reply Last reply
          • jon-nycJ Offline
            jon-nycJ Offline
            jon-nyc
            wrote on last edited by
            #928

            Interesting. My bedside read is a very academic book called The Nazi Seizure of Power that goes into great detail of how a single town (Northeim) got Nazified. Down to what local personalities, businesses, newspapers, etc did at the end of the republic through the transition and terror and finally through the end of the regime. It was written within 15-20 years of the war’s end and relies on months of local interviews as well as archives.

            The whole reason we call them illegal aliens is because they’re subject to our laws.

            1 Reply Last reply
            • taiwan_girlT Offline
              taiwan_girlT Offline
              taiwan_girl
              wrote on last edited by
              #929

              @jon-nyc It was interesting to read about the "hyper inflation" and how incredibly bad it was. Prices were initially changed monthly, then weekly, and then hourly. There was a story about how a diner went to a restaurant, and when they got the bill, it was like twice what they thought. They complained, and the waiter asked what time they arrived, and gave them that price. LOL

              I think I mentioned before that I knew a guy who was in Brazil during the early 1990's when they had a similar (but not as bad) inflation. He was with TECO (Taiwan Economic and Cooperation Office) and they would regularly have to carry in large amounts of cash (US$) as most places stopped accepting credit cards as the period of time between charging and getting reimbursed meant that their money was worth so much less. When they would go buy something, the money would be changed right before purchasing anything so as to get the current "best" rate.

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              • jon-nycJ Offline
                jon-nycJ Offline
                jon-nyc
                wrote on last edited by
                #930

                A friend of mine lived in Argentina during their hyperinflation. Grocery stores would announce new prices on a loud speaker throughout the day. He remembers seeing a woman crying while putting back some groceries she could no longer afford after the latest announcement.

                The whole reason we call them illegal aliens is because they’re subject to our laws.

                1 Reply Last reply
                • jon-nycJ Offline
                  jon-nycJ Offline
                  jon-nyc
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #931

                  My current bedtime/sofa/airplane read (a third reading for me):

                  IMG_0295.jpeg

                  My current audiobook:

                  IMG_0296.jpeg

                  I’m a glutton for punishment. After the endurance test of Twain I pick up two 1000+ page reads.

                  The whole reason we call them illegal aliens is because they’re subject to our laws.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  • jon-nycJ Offline
                    jon-nycJ Offline
                    jon-nyc
                    wrote last edited by
                    #932

                    This is my audiobook. It’s a little weird because my kindle book at the moment is Shirer still. So I go back and forth between Weimar and WWII.

                    IMG_0997.jpeg

                    The whole reason we call them illegal aliens is because they’re subject to our laws.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    • Andrea BA Offline
                      Andrea BA Offline
                      Andrea B
                      wrote last edited by
                      #933

                      Never cared (too much) for King's horror stuff. Thought I'd give this a try.

                      Screenshot 2026-03-12 at 7.09.08 PM.png

                      Has anyone read the other books in the series?

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • bachophileB Offline
                        bachophileB Offline
                        bachophile
                        wrote last edited by
                        #934

                        I’ve read the whole series. In general I like king, not because I’m a horror fan, I’m not, but I find his literary style so accessible, readable. Just a great story teller.

                        1 Reply Last reply

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