Freeper Reading List (Please add your Suggestions)

[SamAdams76]

I know there have been similar lists in the past but would like to start a new thread with a focus on NEW books but feel free to throw in an old classic as well.

My reading has really increased over the past year since I switched to Kindle and now spend two hours a day commuting to Manhattan by train. I've actually punched through most of my reading list and I'm looking for some more books to add to it.

So I'm looking for Freepers to turn me (and others) on to some good reading.

Currently I'm re-reading Winston Churchill's massive 6-volume series on WW2 (I'm on "Their Finest Hour" volume) but would like to mix some other books in there as I like to read 2-3 books simultaneously, switching from one to the other depending on my mood. Sometimes I want to just read a good novel but love reading non-fiction as well as well as some historical or science fiction. I also like reading business books as well, for instance, I just read "Good to Great to Gone" which is the story of the rise and fall of Circuit City.

I know that Freepers have the best book recommendations and it's been a while since I've seen a thread so I think it would be a good time to start a new one.

One book I might add to my Kindle today is "Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein. I borrowed that from the library a few years back and got just a couple chapters into it before I had to return it but it looked like it was going to be pretty good.

Looking at new books, "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough and "Dead Wake (Last Crossing of the Lusitania) by Erik Larson look good.

[P.O.E.]

“Fahrenheit 451” - prescient about the thought police

“Road to Serfdom” - will explain Obama’s increasingly dictatorial tone

“Brave New World” - prescient about sexualizing youth, substituting feelings for thought

[IwaCornDogs]

Yea, I love this thread!

Skeletons of the Zahara - Dean King - It is said that Lincoln formed his opinions about slavery having read this true account of survival of the men aboard the shipwrecked Commerce out of Connecticut in 1815.

The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche - Gary Krist

Citizen Washington _ William Martin - Loved this book

The Terror , A Novel - Dan Simmons ~ This is a long and fascinating and historical novel, filled with beautifully rendered characters and period detail. Simmons has obviously done his homework on both Lord Franklin’s doomed arctic expedition and on the lives and customs of mid-19th century sailors.

Good for you for tackling the Churchill biography. I cheated and watched the Lecture series offered by Hillsdale College ;)

[sauropod]

Mine are heavily history oriented.

[hecticskeptic]

One book that I’ve mentioned many times here when the discussion shifts towards understanding what is going on in the Middle East is Secrets of the Koran by Don Richardson. A read of this book is essential to any kind of understanding of many many issues involving islam etc....
http://www.amazon.ca/Secrets-Koran-Don-Richardson/dp/B00LA9G8GA/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1448753236&sr=1-1&keywords=secrets+of+the+koran

[Dartman]

Some of my favourites,

Conquistador by Buddy Levy - The conquest of Mexico by "El Grande Conquistador, Hernand Cortes. Bought this on a whim, didn't think I was really interested. Once I started, couldn't put it down. Fascinating.

For Liberty and Glory by James R Gaines - The American Revolution and the French Revolution with an emphasis on the relationship between George Washington and the marquis de Lafayette. For those who think the Americans did it on their own, ever wonder why so many towns, parks and streets are named "Lafayette"?

Holy War by Nigel Cliff - The voyages of Vasco Da Gama. It wasn't a sense of adventure that drove him to find a way to sail around Africa, it had something to do with muslims ...

1812 The Navy's War by George C Daughan - If Americans want something to cheer about regarding the War of 1812, you'll love this book. The tiny American Navy went up against the most powerful Navy in the world, and did themselves proud. As a Canadian, I found myself cheering for the Americans throughout the book as they took it to the Royal Navy while being outnumbered by about 100 to 1.

[EvilCapitalist]

Washington’s Circle by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler.

[Yardstick]

Big Head Todd...hadn’t thought about them in years.

http://youtube.com/?#/watch?v=pimNYafGIZs

[Kudsman]

Whirlwind by James Clavell. Gives an insider’s glimpse of Iran, Islamic Revolution time period.

[SamAdams76]

I’m a big fan of Tom Wolfe but was not aware of “Back to Blood”. That one somehow got past me. Thanks, I’m checking it out.

[Yardstick]

Everyman Revived by Drusilla Scott. It's about the writings of renowned chemist turned philosopher Michael Polanyi, who was interesting because he considered the scientific method to be a crock. Sounds totally contrarian but he makes a good case. And then he uses the way science really works to make a novel argument for political liberty and against collectivism.

[Chickensoup]

I tend to love fiction from the 30s through 70s. So Miss Read’s two series Fairacre and Thrush Green resonate for me. I also like a good laugh and Patrick Dennis’s The Joyful Season, Mame and Little Me are all good for a chuckle.

I also enjoyed the John Marquand books from the thirties. Describe a kind of world we rarely see now, my grandparents heyday.

Recent book that met my fussy stringent requirements for thickly textured novels is ALL the LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE. Found it captivating, and took a while to read and digest.

[SisterK]

Price of a Horse by Ralph Cotton
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Unintended Consequences by John Ross
any Arthur W. Upfield (Australia mystery stories)
Frank O’Rourke westerns

[tumblindice]

`Under the Grandstands’ by Seymour Butts