One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad. A blistering account of the West betraying its values, particularly in regard to the Palestinian crisis.
I happened upon the book, Letters From Prison , an anthology of letters to and from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor imprisoned by the Germans in WW2 for his opposition to Hitler. The letters were written during Bonhoeffer’s two-year imprisonment before being executed just before the end of the war.
The letters have remarkable continuity and tell the story of Bonhoeffer’s thoughts and concerns during his imprisonment. Far from being despondent, Bonhoeffer used the time for study and reflection. It was this studying that added an unexpected benefit to reading the Letters from Prison.
Bonhoeffer had wide-ranging interests and enjoyed reading on a variety of subjects, sharing his opinions of his readings in his letters to friends and family. This led to that wonderful reward for my own reading, that ripple-effect of secondary exposure to new books.
Since reading Bonhoeffer’s letters I’ve read three other books that were nowhere on my radar, but were influential to him: The Microbe Hunters (Kruif ) and two different versions of the story of Reynard the Fox (Goethe’s poem and Anne Avery’s new prose version). This expansion of one’s horizon is one thing that makes reading so precious to me.
Without a doubt, it was The Gales of November about the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck. It was on my radar before you mentioned it here but your review was the nudge I needed. And man, was it fantastic! A sad story that was beautifully told. I have a huge book hangover!
I also really enjoyed listening to this. There is something about a good shipwreck story and I appreciated how the author personalized it. Found a nice doc on YouTube that included the author. Thanks for the Rec Jeremy
My favorite November books are "Red Scare" by Clay Risen - a non fiction on facism in America's past and present and "The House of Beauty" by Arabelle Sicardi which I have almost finished - another non fiction about things that have contributed good or bad to the beauty industry
My favourite November read has been Autumn Chills, a collection of short seasonal stories. Agatha Christie for the colder weather, great to snuggle up to!
Good morning from England Jeremy it’s not quite as cold here, but we are hoping for snow for Christmas. This months read included Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. A fascinating a big book on how geography has been the mould of civilisations. I have an enjoyed Gilgamesh and how much other works seem to be ‘connected’ such as the search for a way to beat death. For the oldest author the Epic of Gilgamesh is piped by Enheduannna. I read Sophus Helle's Enheduana The Complete Poems of the World's First Author translation, which also includes a fair amount on his research and background to Enheduana.
I have tried/started Tom Holland 's book several times but never can quite get past the first 30 pages or so... I'm curious (perhaps it will give me hope I can get through it some time): wat was it that challenged you? The content or the writing style or something else entirely?
The challenge was rethinking contemporary American movements and framing them as distinctly Christian in their responses even when the movement might try to separate itself from Christianity.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad. A blistering account of the West betraying its values, particularly in regard to the Palestinian crisis.
I've seen a lot about that one - glad to hear you found it worthwhile.
My favorite book this month was Katabasis by R. F. Kuang. A wildly inventive journey through Hell.
Oh nice, I haven't read that one yet. I've enjoyed her other work though.
Just that title alone had me scurrying to Amazon. Thanks, Mimi!
Can't wait to read this one!
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Spent a long time on the To-Read list but was worth it.
That's a big undertaking
I happened upon the book, Letters From Prison , an anthology of letters to and from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor imprisoned by the Germans in WW2 for his opposition to Hitler. The letters were written during Bonhoeffer’s two-year imprisonment before being executed just before the end of the war.
The letters have remarkable continuity and tell the story of Bonhoeffer’s thoughts and concerns during his imprisonment. Far from being despondent, Bonhoeffer used the time for study and reflection. It was this studying that added an unexpected benefit to reading the Letters from Prison.
Bonhoeffer had wide-ranging interests and enjoyed reading on a variety of subjects, sharing his opinions of his readings in his letters to friends and family. This led to that wonderful reward for my own reading, that ripple-effect of secondary exposure to new books.
Since reading Bonhoeffer’s letters I’ve read three other books that were nowhere on my radar, but were influential to him: The Microbe Hunters (Kruif ) and two different versions of the story of Reynard the Fox (Goethe’s poem and Anne Avery’s new prose version). This expansion of one’s horizon is one thing that makes reading so precious to me.
I’ll have to check that out. I love when reading good books leads to other good books
For me, without a doubt, it was "Rebecca" from the Big Read. And I can't beleive no one has mentioned it yet.
Without a doubt, it was The Gales of November about the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck. It was on my radar before you mentioned it here but your review was the nudge I needed. And man, was it fantastic! A sad story that was beautifully told. I have a huge book hangover!
I also really enjoyed listening to this. There is something about a good shipwreck story and I appreciated how the author personalized it. Found a nice doc on YouTube that included the author. Thanks for the Rec Jeremy
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams. Hark The Lover what’s my favorite for October.
Heart the Lover is a classic
Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido. And as far as delightful reading experience, the Emma M. Lion series!
Never heard of it! I'll look it up.
My favorite November books are "Red Scare" by Clay Risen - a non fiction on facism in America's past and present and "The House of Beauty" by Arabelle Sicardi which I have almost finished - another non fiction about things that have contributed good or bad to the beauty industry
I've read a couple other Risen books - I'll check this one out too.
My favourite November read has been Autumn Chills, a collection of short seasonal stories. Agatha Christie for the colder weather, great to snuggle up to!
Oh that's fun, I've read a bunch of her novels but never the stories.
Good morning from England Jeremy it’s not quite as cold here, but we are hoping for snow for Christmas. This months read included Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. A fascinating a big book on how geography has been the mould of civilisations. I have an enjoyed Gilgamesh and how much other works seem to be ‘connected’ such as the search for a way to beat death. For the oldest author the Epic of Gilgamesh is piped by Enheduannna. I read Sophus Helle's Enheduana The Complete Poems of the World's First Author translation, which also includes a fair amount on his research and background to Enheduana.
The Little Drummer Girl, le Carré. He develops characters well.
My favorite book is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. Spiciness warning.
She’s been on my list a long time but I haven’t read anything from her.
This is the first one I read of hers. I enjoyed it.
I finally got around to reading Dominion which I enjoyed — and was challenged — more than I expected
I have tried/started Tom Holland 's book several times but never can quite get past the first 30 pages or so... I'm curious (perhaps it will give me hope I can get through it some time): wat was it that challenged you? The content or the writing style or something else entirely?
The challenge was rethinking contemporary American movements and framing them as distinctly Christian in their responses even when the movement might try to separate itself from Christianity.
Hawaii by Michener