Feb. 6, 2024, finished Book 3: Best Evidence - Disguise and Deception in the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, by David Lifton
I’m old enough to remember (no old jokes, please) what the author calls the “crime of the century” and what the NY Times calls “one of history’s most agonizingly unresolved mysteries.”
A great book for the author’s intent, it’s no easy read. This tome (which took 15 years to research and write) covers the topic in excruciating detail. It’s 700 pages long but I would have preferred about 150 pages shorter with less medical detail.
I may find a book that tells this fascinating story (including Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby), the plot and coverup with less medical detail. Many have been written, including these: https://jfkassassinationbooks.com
This exhaustive analysis of the JFK assassination, along with its introduction of a theory underlying the crime, is a valuable book for anyone interested in this tragic event and the medical and autopsy evidence. Lifton’s research is extremely thorough. If I'd ever committed a crime, the last person in the world I’d want investigating the crime would be David Lifton.
David Lifton discounts the lone gunman theory and points to a successfully executed conspiracy that reached to the highest levels of government. After reviewing all the evidence, Lifton feels that the "best evidence" is that JFK’s was covered up by conspirators who successfully deceived the nation and the world and have escaped justice for six decades. It’s a riveting read that just make you question what really happened in Dallas that day.
Note: If this topic fascinates you, I recommend the podcast Who Killed JFK? with Rob Reiner and Soledad O’Brien.
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Do audio books count?
Probably not...
I read 3 books last year. Listened to about 100 audio books
Doesn’t matter where you get your learning from as long as you get some.
I have drifted from the heavier tomes to light fiction; Joel Scott(from BC) has written three books - Arrows Flight, Arrows Run, and Arrows Rest. Read in that order they describe a coastal lifestyle that resonates with a short period in my life; not the killing or the sailing, just the drinking.
Do audio books count?
Probably not...
I read 3 books last year. Listened to about 100 audio books
Not for my personal book-reading challenge but if course audio books count. Reading books is time consuming so audio books are a great option, especially if you need to fill time while communing, on a flight, exercising, etc.
The Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know by Mark Plotkin, 248 pages
I’ve finished book 4 of my challenge to read 10 this year. I’m on track to hit 25, which is half of the number of books my wife read last year.
This is the fastest I’ve ever read a book. We’re sailing in the Amazon now and a generous fellow passenger lent me a copy of this book. Read it in two days. I loved it - solid 4.75/5.
The Amazon is a land of superlatives and seeing this massive river from the Atlantic has been my dream; we did the Pacific side several years ago and the two, of course, are vastly different.
The complex ecosystem covers an area about the size of the continental U.S. The Amazon discharges enough water in two hours to supply all of New York City's 7.5 million residents with water for a year.
One of every four flowering plant species resides in the Amazon. The Amazon is believed to contain more fish species than all European rivers combined. It is home to the world's largest anteater, armadillo, freshwater turtle, and spider, as well as the largest rodent (weighing over 90 kg), catfish (115 kg), and alligator (more than half a ton).
This book is an excellent overview of this fascinating place. It’s organized by chapters that begin with the place itself: Geology, Soils, Vegetation, and Rivers, then moves through its inhabitants- Plants, Animals,#and finishes with how the rain forest is endangered and how we can (and must) save it. Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know by Mark Plotkin, 248 pages
I’ve finished book 4 of my challenge to read 10 this year. I’m on track to hit 25, which is half of the number of books my wife read last year.
This is the fastest I’ve ever read a book. We’re sailing in the Amazon now and a generous fellow passenger lent me a copy of this book. Read it in two days. I loved it - solid 4.75/5.
The Amazon is a land of superlatives and seeing this massive river from the Atlantic has been my dream; we did the Pacific side several years ago and the two, of course, are vastly different.
The complex ecosystem covers an area about the size of the continental U.S. The Amazon discharges enough water in two hours to supply all of New York City's 7.5 million residents with water for a year.
One of every four flowering plant species resides in the Amazon. The Amazon is believed to contain more fish species than all European rivers combined. It is home to the world's largest anteater, armadillo, freshwater turtle, and spider, as well as the largest rodent (weighing over 90 kg), catfish (115 kg), and alligator (more than half a ton).
This book is an excellent overview of this fascinating place. It’s organized by chapters that begin with the place itself: Geology, Soils, Vegetation, and Rivers, then moves through its inhabitants- Plants, Animals, and finishes with how the rain forest is endangered and how we can (and must) save it.
If you want a recommendation, this was an enjoyable read.
The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk
I bought this (used) on your recommendation, and yeah, if you're a fan of "doomed" 18th - 19th century explorers, it's a hit!
Brings to mind Irving and Mallory on Everest in 1924, and The Franklin Expedition of the 1840s.
Gives me the shivers while reading, but also somewhat inspiring to think about these guys who were putting it all on the line to explore using the best tech they had at the time... or in the case of the Karluk totally just "ass in the wind"ing it.
Update on my personal challenge to read 10 books this year…. I read two books on a recent trip to South America. That gives me six and it’s still March. I’m on track for 24.
Jasper - A Backward Glance by Nora Findlay (signed copy found in one of those neighbourhood libraries)
Findlay was a teacher and former editor of the Jasper Totem newspaper. With all of the errors in grammar and style she couldn’t have been a good editor. I was also a newspaper and magazine editor and would have loved to fix this one.
Despite this failing, I enjoyed the book for its folksy look at the history of my favourite mountain park and town. There are 57 chapters of a couple of pages each.
Favourite chapters were Controversy Over Townsite, Early Elegance -the JPL, Hazardous Driving to Edmonton, and the Jasper-Banff Highway.
3.5/5 despite the errors.
V2, by Rob Harris (author of Munich and Fatherland, another good book)
Enjoyed this gripping tale of Germany’s attack in England by V2 rockets, told from the perspective of both the assailants and the Brits who lived in fear of what they couldn’t see or hear coming.
Despite the fear it caused, the V2 program was considered a failure due to the resources used for so little result. There was lots of damage but the death numbers were far less than hoped for.
The super-sonic rockets (V for vengeance) impacted without audible warning, and proved unstoppable, as no effective defense existed. The Allies raced to seize major German manufacturing facilities, procure the Germans' missile technology, and capture the V-2s' launching sites.
4.25/5
Last edited by MoneyGuy; 03-22-2024 at 01:16 PM.
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My seventh book so far this year…. I’m on track now for 21 for the year, easily exceeding my 10-book target for the year.
Just finished A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. this is a great book but a hard read at times because his subject is highly technical and the author is thorough. If you love science, you’ll love this book; Bryson is a terrific writer, excelling at making highly technical topics interesting. His book is a well researched mix of historical anecdotes, gee-whiz facts, and fascinating science. One reviewer described the book as moving so fast that it’s “science on a toboggan.”
Some highlights for me:
Bryson writes about the Burgess Shale fossils in Yoho near Field, B.C. One of the most important paleontological sites in the world, these were discovered accidentally in 1909 by Charles Walcott, then secretary of the Smithsonian Institute. More than 500 million years old, these are older than dinosaurs and famous for how well preserved they are, showing details such as eyeballs and brains. There are guided hikes and you can hold some of the oldest animal fossils on Earth.
Yellowstone National Park is a giant caldera, the largest in the world. It’s also a dangerous volcanic hotspot that’s about due to go off. The caldera measures 50x70 km and was formed by a cataclysmic eruption 640,000 years ago. When it erupts again, its effects will be worldwide. Such an eruption will have regional effects such as falling ash and there will be global climate impacts over years or decades.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of our oceans. Its 63.8 million square kilometres comprise 46% of the earth’s water surface and 32% of the planet’s total surface area. The Pacific is larger than all of the total land area on Earth. Note: this feature is of particular interest as we’ve sailed across the Pacific from San Diego to Australia.
I give this book a solid 4.8/5. If you love all aspects of science, read it. It took me a few weeks to read these 480 pages. It requires concentration and isn’t an easy read, as I wrote earlier.
Last edited by MoneyGuy; 05-01-2024 at 08:59 PM.
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I need to find shorter, easier books to read. As book 8 of my personal challenge to read 10 this year, I chose A Terrible Glory by James Donovan. It’s a very detailed, 400-page story of American General George Custer - his life and events leading up to the Little Bighorn, “the last great battle of the American west.”
The battle occurred on June 25-26, 1876, and was the culmination of years of unrest, conflict, skirmishes and battles between American settlers and military, against the Indians who set out to preserve their territory. The government expected a rout; it was, just not the one that had been counted on. Custer and his five undermanned companies of his famed Seventh Calvary were trapped overlooking the Little Bighorn River. Surrounded by more than 1,000 Lakota and Cheyenne warriors, Custer and his forces were slaughtered.
A Terrible Glory is a great work brimming with authentic detail and an unforgettable cast of characters including Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Ulysses S. Grant. The book took 25 years of painstaking research and what results is lauded as “the fullest and most accurate account ever written about Custer’s Last Stand.” The book ends with the army court of inquiry that sought to assign blame for the stunning defeat.
Today, the site of the battle is Little Bighorn National Monument and is located in southeastern Montana. The site memorializes the 263 soldiers and army personnel and the 136 Indians who died in the battle. It’s worth a visit.
I give the book a solid 8.5/10. It could be tightened up by ~15%.
Book 9 of my challenge to read 10 books this year. I have another partly read so am on pace to hit 18 (maybe 19). My reader wife has already hit over 20.
Joachim Fest is my favourite author on WWII topics. He hasn’t written as many books as some others but his books are meticulously researched and well written. His books aren’t overly long so I don’t lose interest.
His book Inside Hitler’s Bunker describes in riveting detail the war’s final weeks, from the desperate battles that raged night and day in the ruins of Berlin, fought by boys and old men, to the growing paranoia that marked Hitler's declining mental and physical health, to his suicide and the efforts of his loyal aides to destroy his body before the advancing Russian armies reached Berlin.
Inside Hitler's Bunker uses spellbinding storytelling to shed light on events that, for those who survived them, were nothing less than the end of the world.
This book has been turned into a very good film, The Downfall. Great book, 9.5/10, 173 pages. I think Downfall is on Prime Video.
I'm jealous, I used to read 5 to 10 books a month when I was younger, but ever since my brain exploded, its hard for me to read books in the same way and comprehend them. It literally takes me a couple of months to read a book, and I'll be luck if by the time I get to the end of it, I can remember what happened at the beginning.
If I did a book review thread it would be sad. But the good news is, I can pick up a book I read 10 years ago, and its like reading a brand new book.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I'm jealous, I used to read 5 to 10 books a month when I was younger, but ever since my brain exploded, its hard for me to read books in the same way and comprehend them. It literally takes me a couple of months to read a book, and I'll be luck if by the time I get to the end of it, I can remember what happened at the beginning.
If I did a book review thread it would be sad. But the good news is, I can pick up a book I read 10 years ago, and its like reading a brand new book.
My wife read over 50 last year, fueled by her book club.
Book 10 of my challenge…. (I’ve attained my goal but I’m not stopping; I’ve finished an 11th that hasn’t been posted yet.)
The Klondike Quest, Pierre Burton
I’ve chosen some great books but this one may be my favourite as I pass the mid-way point in the year. It’s book 10 of my personal quest to read 10 books in 2024.
I’m ashamed as admit that I’d never read Pierre Burton before, but The Klondike Quest was a great one to start with. I have a friend who names Burton as his favourite author and aims to read every one of his over 50 books.
This classic book is a great account of an historic event that made millionaires of a few but crushed thousands more in a hostile climate and unforgiving terrain anticipated by none. It’s more interesting to me as we were recently in the Yukon and Alaska.
The Klondike Gold Rush was 125 years ago and the Yukon-born Pierre Berton tells the story best. Canada's leading historian compiled over 200 rare period images from the more than 10,000 images in public archives and private collections. Depicting every aspect of what Berton called "one of the strangest mass movements in history," many of the compelling images were first published in this book.
The Klondike Quest brings to life the great stampede for gold as seen by the ordinary gold-seeker. The photographs are beautifully reproduced and informatively and colourfully captioned. One million people fortune seekers planned to go to the Klondike. One hundred thousand actually did. Of those, 30,000 made it. The others died or gave up. And so the Klondike saga is a chronicle of humanity in the mass.
