My reading challenge

[MoneyGuy]

Update….

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.

[EldrickOnIce]

Do audio books count?
Probably not...
I read 3 books last year. Listened to about 100 audio books

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

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.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

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.

[MoneyGuy]

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.

[SutterBrother]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

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.

[MoneyGuy]

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