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Has Achieved Nirvana |
 I'm maybe half way through this. It's quite interesting. It's a history of 'the negro race'. Lots of great detail about African history that I didn't know except in the broadest of outlines. Now that I'm approaching the second half he's getting into more modern history, the slave trade and emancipation in various countries in the world. (the book is global in scope, not just US).
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
I'm intrigued. Please do post samples. | |||
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| knitterati Beatification Candidate  |
Currently reading Ready For a Brand New Beat: How "Dancing in the Street" Became the Anthem for a Changing America by Mark Kurlansky. Here’s the blurb from Amazon: “Can a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William “Mickey” Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote “Dancing in the Street.” The song was recorded at Motown’s Hitsville USA Studio by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording—a precursor to disco, and a song about the joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of the icons of American pop culture. The Beatles had landed in the U.S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election. As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, “Dancing in the Street” gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all changing as the country changed. Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places, Ready for a Brand New Beat chronicles that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that a simple song about dancing played in history.” It’s only $4.99 on Kindle, and I had a $3 ebook credit. Score! 21% into it, and I’m enjoying it.
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Minor Deity |
I picked up "Music by the Numbers" by Eli Maor while I was in NY and read about half of it on the way home. A good read.
https://www.goodreads.com/book...music-by-the-numbers I also picked up "The Impossibility of Religious Freedom" by Winnifred Fallers Sullivan but I've only read the Preface so far. Looks promising.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
http://well-temperedforum.grou...0004433/m/5851042266
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| Pinta & the Santa Maria Has Achieved Nirvana  |
I just blasted my way through "Educated," a memoir of a woman who grew up in a doomsday prepper family in Idaho. I found it fascinating and infuriating. I don't want to include any spoilers, because there are plenty of twists and turns. There were times when I got so angry I wanted to throw the book across the room. (Full disclosure, I was reading it on a kindle  ). It's a really fascinating look at what it's like to grow up being told that "everyone" is out to get you, and no one can be trusted outside the family. It really outlines how a family can descend into what I would describe as willful ignorance, and the power of a cult leader (in this case, the father). | |||
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
I just ordered it based on your recommendation and one Amazon reviewer comparing it to "The Glass Castle", which I enjoyed quite a lot. Thanks!
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| knitterati Beatification Candidate |
I heard about this on one of the podcasts I listen to. Probably Dear Sugars? Which I love, and is ending soon. Anyway, I just requested it from the library, ebook. Thanks for reminding me!
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
 I'm halfway through and it's excellent!
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Minor Deity |
Still reading (mostly) Edith Wharton - whatever my quirky Kindle will let me access. I actually don't know the title of the current novel (from Complete Works of), but it's about an American woman who married unhappily into the NY upper crust. She abandoned her stifling husband, including baby daughter, running off to Europe with young lover (who turns out to be an SOB). After he leaves her, she lives years of sterile life as expatriate drifter in shabby US colony in Paris (WWI passes). First ex then his autocrataic mother die, both having forbidden all contact between remorseful mother and daughter. One magic day, a telegram from now-grown (and hugely wealthy) daughter enthusiastically invites her back. Where I am now, mother is struggling to cope with impending marriage of said daughter - to same creep! Extenuating circumstances for him (but not enough). Only she knows the shocking connection. I'm most enjoying the marvelous descriptions of the lives and settings from ~ 1915-30s. Wharton wrote a lot of shlock and a few masterpieces (think "Ethan Frome"), but she always excels at bringing the reader into the times and social environments she observed so keenly. Much better than historical novels for that. (Afraid to try to check the title, for fear Kindle will maliciously delete the rest as it's been wont to do. Guess that makes this largely a recommendation to have a go at classics like Wharton, especially if you like period pieces with total immersion. I find it really fun.)
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| Pinta & the Santa Maria Has Achieved Nirvana |
You might want to search out "The Age of Innocence," if you're enjoying the other Edith Wharton novel. I read it in school and really liked it. I struggled with Ethan Frome--it just didn't grab me. | |||
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| Minor Deity |
I have read "The Age of Innocence" and liked it a lot, though scarily, I can't at the moment call to mind any of the theme or characters  I DO know I considered it one of her classics - i.e., not just engrossing because of the wealth of detail and environment. As for "Ethan Frome" - strange experience. Assigned it in as freshman at Sarah Lawrence (first higher ed school), I loathed it. Having a go at it again recently (very warily - ready to toss it, metaphorically, at faintest sign of the tediousness I remember), I absolutely loved it. Found it so worthy both for the writing and stunning life lesson, I forwarded it to both sons (whose silence I interpret to mean, they never "cracked" it). Now I see why the knowledgable teacher assigned it in what was to be essentially a writing course. (FWIW, he, Curtis Harnack, was a somewhat recognized novelist and a truly excellent writing critic/instructor. Also, known for having married Hortense Calisher - much his senior.) Being short, I highly recommend it, Nina - at least, on a trial basis. Maybe it's a maturity (of reader) thing? I'd be curious to see how you react second time around.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Read The Boys in the Boat . In 1936 9 blue collar boys won the Gold Medal in the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany. Very well written. The author puts everything in the context of the time. He uses one of the boys as the main character.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
The Paris Wife Great tale of Hemingway and his first wife in Paris in the 20s. Plan to read more of the author's work.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Note the author. The master of the witty aphorism discussing the 
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