What are you reading now?

[bachophile]

Project Hail Mary.
Andy Weir

If you liked The Martian you should really like this.

Loving it. Great summer vacation read.

[Catseye3]

@bachophile Thanks, Bach. I've not redd The Martian; it's been on my semi-enthused reading list . . . the Look Inside looks great for this one. Love his lively style.

20,038 ratings, 4.5 average stars.

[kluurs]

Finished

Kind of uneven - plot is good, detail that is interspersed is good, but I thought the lead character was particularly not credible - but it was an engaging morality play.

[jon-nyc]

@kluurs

I’m 560 pages in. With Wolfe the plot is just the substrate on which he paints his insights on culture and psychology. You definitely read him for those insights.

[Doctor Phibes]

Are there any dirty bits?

[George K]

@doctor-phibes said in What are you reading now?:

Are there any dirty bits?

You mean, "Does it have the 'Right Stuff'?"

[kluurs]

@george-k said in What are you reading now?:

@doctor-phibes said in What are you reading now?:

Are there any dirty bits?

You mean, "Does it have the 'Right Stuff'?"

For Phibes, I think he's referencing the Right Stiff.

[kluurs]

Collection of essays

[jon-nyc]

Let me know what you think about that Ken. I respected his writing during the Iraq war years ago.

[kluurs]

@jon-nyc I just finished it. I heard Packer discussing this book on a podcast which is why I thought about reading this book.

He divides the country into 4 major categories Smart America (the meritocracy), Just America (social justice youth), Free America (libertarian types) and Real America (traditionalists - ala Sarah Palin). He does a decent analysis of how these groups developed - goes back prior to the Civil War.

One of his major premises for why we are where we are is that the happy days of post WWII where we were the shining city on the hill with economic opportunity for all is not quite as true in the front half of the twenty-first century.

He talks about the the politicization of Covid, not pleased with what DJT did with that and goes into some detail.

He does also has some brief bios of Frances Perkins, Andrew Greeley, and A Philip Randolph.

There's a lot of territory covered. He's a leftist but with plenty of abuse of wokeness and idiocy for the Smart America group. If you like Sam Harris, this would be on the same shelf. I think this is easily as good as his last book.

[Catseye3]

@kluurs This sounds really good. I'd like to read it someday. But even if I don't, I applaud you on a very well-written review.

[jon-nyc]

Thanks @kluurs

[Horace]

@kluurs said in What are you reading now?:

I couldn't abide this one. She writes as if she assumes her readers are imbeciles. Or maybe 10 years old.
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This one I loved. Also it has better practical knowledge. It's interesting that the "scientific consensus", and in particular the officially supported one from the governmental authorities, is still so wrong about weight loss. (Says a lot about "scientific consensus" in general.) There shouldn't be any reasonable doubt anymore that low carb diets are the best general approach. I was amused how Taubes, near the end of the book, gave a middle finger to diet books in general when he begrudgingly gave some simple diet advice: tape up on your refrigerator a one-page dietary outline given in a 1951 endocrinology textbook. It basically says to avoid carbs.

[kluurs]

Knocking off another book I didn't read in school.

[Horace]

I am amused by the disclaimer. "This book is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult a medical provider to determine the appropriateness of this information."

Then the book goes on to explain how most medical professionals are completely wrong and cannot be trusted on this subject.

[kluurs]

@horace I just started reading this one. I prefer Dr. Fung's take on things to the Fast Feast Repeat book written by the teacher/educator. The thing I dislike about this latest book is the heavy handed promotion of Mr. Moore's other books. That seems a trend in a few of these books - hawking other books, supplements, products, etc.

[Catseye3]

I haven't redd this book, but as there are a number of Le Carre fans here, I'm posting it because of what Kirkus Review said about it: “An absorbing, superbly written novel likely to stand as one of the best spy novels of the year”

https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Intelligence-Oliver-Harris-ebook/dp/B07T3J2GJD/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+shadow+intelligence&qid=1627655453&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

[George K]

@catseye3 thanks for the heads-up. I love a good spy thriller.

I remember @bachophile recommending Red Sparrow, which I loved. However, the next couple of books in the series were not quite as good.

However, fiction is never as good as fact.

Want some real good spy stuff? Read Ben MacIntyre!

[bachophile]

Cats I hope u enjoyed the Hail Mary project. I thought it was very cool sci if.

I can also recommended the bomber mafia, which I listened to as an audio book. For WW2 history buffs.

[Catseye3]

Thanks for the recco.

Perusing his book The Spy and the Traitor, here's the last line of the Amazon blurb: "Like the greatest novels of John le Carré, it brings readers deep into a world of treachery and betrayal, where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional, and one man's hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations." !!!

Speaking of Le Carre, he wrote, "“The best true spy story I have ever read.” Whoa! Could you ask for a better cover blurb???