I have relatives with dyslexia who have serious problems reading. My grandfather was a doctor, but he was a slow reader all his life. I don't have that problem, but I will say I suck at doing math in my head. I got much better grades in advanced math like trig and calc than I did in basic math in elementary and junior high because once you get to that point you can use calculators. I would literally not trust myself to add 7+7 without using my calculator.
I know I'm late to the game here, but I think you would find Malcolm Gladwell's "David and Goliath" interesting. He talks about some really famous/smart people who had dyslexia, and how it actually helped them become who they are.
Also, I just finished "Unbroken". Wow, just wow. Talk about a redemption story. On one hand I'm excited to see the movie, but on the other hand I know it will be nowhere near as great as the book.
About halfway through "fake" Tom Clancy's "Full Force and Effect" (It wasn't written by Tom Clancy even though his name is on the cover. Tom Greaney is the author). I was surprised at how good "Command Authority" was considering Clancy and Greaney co-wrote it, but it was eerie how much it mirrored the real world situation between Russia and Ukraine a couple years before it happened. I wonder how closely FF&E will mimic what may happen in the future with North Korea.
Read this last week. Two of my friends praised it, so I had a feeling I would like it. It was pretty much non stop entertainment. Definitely suggest it to anyone that would be interested in a WW2 historical fiction piece.
Excellent book. One of the executive producers/showrunners for Game of Thrones wrote it.
Just read What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe, the author of the xkcd webcomic. If the idea of humor centered around topics like physics, astronomy, and other scientific topics might appeal to you, I heartily recommend you read this book. Examples of the absurd hypothetical questions include "Is it possible to build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns?", "What if everyone on earth aimed a laser pointer at the moon at the same time?", and "What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% of the speed of light?". Some of these have been posted on the xkcd website, but about half of the answers are unique to the book.
I own, but haven't read it yet. North Korea related.
Looks interesting. I just bought it. Thanks for the referral!
Did you get a chance to look at this yet? I finished a couple of days ago and also watched the Frontline North Korea streaming on Netflix. It's a nice companion piece. Pretty amazing what the people of North Korea have been going through while the rest of the world around them live in a general state of surplus.
So good. It discusses some of the biggest mistakes in a few famous scientists careers such as Einstein, Darwin, and my favorite story of Pauling. I suggest every scientist read this, but the story telling is fantastic that even if you're not a scientist it's a good read.
I'm about 80% through the audiobook for Unbroken. Anybody else read this? What an amazing story! I find myself questioning whether all this is real or if the author/Zamperini added a little flair. I don't know how many times I've come away listening to this and wanting to find The Bird and beat the living daylights out of him - knowing full well the guy is probably dead by now.
Don't know if he details it in the book, but he visited Japan as part of the 1998 Olympics. (I think he lit the torch?) Met with many of his former prison guards and forgave them for what they did. The Bird was apparently the only captor who refused to meet with Zamperini.
Did you get a chance to look at this yet? I finished a couple of days ago and also watched the Frontline North Korea streaming on Netflix. It's a nice companion piece. Pretty amazing what the people of North Korea have been going through while the rest of the world around them live in a general state of surplus.
Finished it a while back. It really shows the complete collapse of the North Korean economy and the lengths to which the North Korean regime goes to in order to keep the people brainwashed. The stories from the people interviewed by the author are tragic. I think the most telling part is where Dr. Kim defects to China and walks into a Chinese village, and she is shocked to see a bowl of rice and meat just sitting on the ground. It's more food than she's seen in one place in months, and she is puzzled why someone just left it there. She figured it out at the same time the dog showed up to eat its dinner, and Dr. Kim related to the author her realization that "dogs in China eat better than doctors in North Korea." It's also really hard to read how the elementary schoolteacher literally watched many of her students starve to death before her eyes. One by one, students would stop coming to class, and she knew it was because they had died from malnutrition.
I'm about 80% through the audiobook for Unbroken. Anybody else read this? What an amazing story! I find myself questioning whether all this is real or if the author/Zamperini added a little flair. I don't know how many times I've come away listening to this and wanting to find The Bird and beat the living daylights out of him - knowing full well the guy is probably dead by now.
Don't know if he details it in the book, but he visited Japan as part of the 1998 Olympics. (I think he lit the torch?) Met with many of his former prison guards and forgave them for what they did. The Bird was apparently the only captor who refused to meet with Zamperini.
Yeah it was in the book. It was my favorite part. He had every right to want to search and kill the Bird making his transformation all the more heart warming.
Did you get a chance to look at this yet? I finished a couple of days ago and also watched the Frontline North Korea streaming on Netflix. It's a nice companion piece. Pretty amazing what the people of North Korea have been going through while the rest of the world around them live in a general state of surplus.
Finished it a while back. It really shows the complete collapse of the North Korean economy and the lengths to which the North Korean regime goes to in order to keep the people brainwashed. The stories from the people interviewed by the author are tragic. I think the most telling part is where Dr. Kim defects to China and walks into a Chinese village, and she is shocked to see a bowl of rice and meat just sitting on the ground. It's more food than she's seen in one place in months, and she is puzzled why someone just left it there. She figured it out at the same time the dog showed up to eat its dinner, and Dr. Kim related to the author her realization that "dogs in China eat better than doctors in North Korea." It's also really hard to read how the elementary schoolteacher literally watched many of her students starve to death before her eyes. One by one, students would stop coming to class, and she knew it was because they had died from malnutrition.
The stories from the doctor and the teacher were especially hard. I thought some of the characters experiences with the marketplaces that formed were really interesting. How these people are forced into them against their dedication to the idiotic state that tried to condemn the free market.
The comparison between the state of the collective gardens vs the small private plots was also interesting.
picked up the magicians by Lev Grossman. So far it pretty much reads like Harry Potter with "F" words for the sake of putting "F" words in a book. I hope it gets darker or changes tone pretty soon, because the world in the book is actually pretty cool.
Last night I finished The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock. Not a bad book. Definitely weird, but to me that's a good thing. Seemed rushed at some points but I enjoyed how it all came together.
I just finished Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut and then after reading a little about it I found out that The research plant that Felix Hoenikker in the book works at is based on the GE plant in Schenectady NY, where my friend that I got to read the book works.
I guess that means Vonnegut and I are in the same karass or something.
Just read the World According to Garp. That and Owen Meany were both page turners, I'm not sure I want to read anything more from him, because I fear I'd be let down after how much I enjoyed those two books.
I just finished Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut and then after reading a little about it I found out that The research plant that Felix Hoenikker in the book works at is based on the GE plant in Schenectady NY, where my friend that I got to read the book works.
I guess that means Vonnegut and I are in the same karass or something.
did you know ice IX actually exists? it's not anywhere as cool as in the book though.
Just read the World According to Garp. That and Owen Meany were both page turners, I'm not sure I want to read anything more from him, because I fear I'd be let down after how much I enjoyed those two books.
I noticed the other day that I haven't read any of Irivng's book since Owen Meany. I'm not sure why since I enjoyed every single one of his novels up to that point. Maybe I was fearing a letdown, too?
American Pastoral was my first Roth book, and I thought it was a little dense at times, but was enthralled with the depth of the story. Just got Operation Shylock, and my fiance had Indignation, Plot Against America and Everyman.
Bought Death in Vence and Buddenbrooks after I read Magic Mountain.
I've read White Noise and Mao from Delillo, with the former being substantially more entertaining. I'd like to read Libra and Underworld this year.
Never read Chandler, but I liked my friend description of something he read from him, where it's a detective novel where the chapters all start with him getting over a hangover.
As I Lay Dying is great. Check out Walker Percy if you're into Southern Lit. Moviegoer and Lancelot are two of my favorites.
I can't tell yet. I'm seeing a bit of a similarity between Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy though.
Somewhat related,I just got an anthology of Cult Authors, I should have gotten it when I was in high school. better late than never. It goes from widely known to obscure, so it's interesting to just thumb through as a coffee table book.
