So...what are you reading lately?

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
"The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space, and Speed" by Scott Parazynski. Awesome read of his adventures as an astronaut and explorer. Well written with more than a touch of humor. I just started reading it and wouldn't put it down if I didn't have to! :lol:

I downloaded the Kindle version and it is the first book produced especially for interactive features [Kindle in Motion] that adds an extra dimension to the book: full-bleed images, maps, animated graphics, and videos of space exploration shot from an astronaut’s point of view. Wow factor indeed! :yay:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
"The Sky Below: A True Story of Summits, Space, and Speed" by Scott Parazynski. Awesome read of his adventures as an astronaut and explorer. Well written with more than a touch of humor. I just started reading it and wouldn't put it down if I didn't have to! :lol:

I downloaded the Kindle version and it is the first book produced especially for interactive features [Kindle in Motion] that adds an extra dimension to the book: full-bleed images, maps, animated graphics, and videos of space exploration shot from an astronaut’s point of view. Wow factor indeed! :yay:

Thanks! I loved the Mike Mullane books and it happens that I just finished a book and need a new one. :yay:

PS, it's a FREE pre-release when you're a Prime member - it doesn't get officially released until Aug 1. I just downloaded it and the author, who is on the cover, blinked at me. :shocking: This is super cool!!! Thanks, Jazz!!
 
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jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
Thanks! I loved the Mike Mullane books and it happens that I just finished a book and need a new one. :yay:

PS, it's a FREE pre-release when you're a Prime member - it doesn't get officially released until Aug 1. I just downloaded it and the author, who is on the cover, blinked at me. :shocking: This is super cool!!! Thanks, Jazz!!
Didn't want to spoil the surprise. Kind of freaked me out at first, like 'did he do what I thought he did?' :lol: And forgot to mention the Prime thing in my excitement. :doh: Still loving it and hopefully this rainy weekend I can devote more time to it than a few pages here and there. :yay:
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
Didn't want to spoil the surprise. Kind of freaked me out at first, like 'did he do what I thought he did?' :lol: And forgot to mention the Prime thing in my excitement. :doh: Still loving it and hopefully this rainy weekend I can devote more time to it than a few pages here and there. :yay:

Two weeks later and another rainy weekend, so I finally got to finish the book. :yay:

I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars. The man has led an incredible life and did many amazing things. The writing was good but a bit stilted. Loved the interactive features and wish there had been more.

Now to search for something new. :lol:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Two weeks later and another rainy weekend, so I finally got to finish the book. :yay:

I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars. The man has led an incredible life and did many amazing things. The writing was good but a bit stilted. Loved the interactive features and wish there had been more.

Now to search for something new. :lol:

I loved it - thanks for the recommendation :yay: The media features are a natural progression to ebooks and I'm glad to see them finally being implemented. I predict in the future that all books will have visual and audio media embedded. Super cool!

Currently I'm reading "All the Presidents' Children" by Doug Wead. It's a thumbnail sketch of presidential offspring, beginning with Martha Washington's kids from her first marriage - a combination biography/psychological profile. Very interesting. :yay:
 

glhs837

Power with Control
For the science fiction fans, Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is pretty cool. Like Walter Jon Williams latests stuff, not technically up my alley, but the story and writing are some well done I cant stop reading them. And free on Prime right now.
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
I loved it - thanks for the recommendation :yay: The media features are a natural progression to ebooks and I'm glad to see them finally being implemented. I predict in the future that all books will have visual and audio media embedded. Super cool!
You're welcome and glad you enjoyed it. I too am looking forward to more ebooks using these technologies. I just wonder why it took them so long as this has been a part of online courses forever. :lol:

Currently I'm reading "All the Presidents' Children" by Doug Wead. It's a thumbnail sketch of presidential offspring, beginning with Martha Washington's kids from her first marriage - a combination biography/psychological profile. Very interesting. :yay:
That does sound interesting and I will add it to the queue. :yay:
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
For the science fiction fans, Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is pretty cool. Like Walter Jon Williams latests stuff, not technically up my alley, but the story and writing are some well done I cant stop reading them. And free on Prime right now.

Thanks for the recommendation. I haven't picked my free book yet and nor read any sci-fi in ages so I will give it a whirl. :yay:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I just finished re-reading Kitty Kelley's bio of President Oprah. Now I'm re-reading Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins - another oldie. Once I've consumed enough junk I'll move on to something more substantial.
 

luvmygdaughters

Well-Known Member
Just started a new one, "The Darkness Beneath" murder mystery, pretty good so far. My daughter started a book club in her neighborhood, I'll get some titles from her and share.
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Policing Saigon by Loren Christensen. Well written stories. If you served you will relate to many of the examples he gives about fellow service members, high ranks, local nationals, etc.

Not that I doubted any of his stories but I did some additional research on a few of his tales.
 

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
The Shweinfurt Raid in WWII and what a complete disaster it was for the US Army Air Force. Although the mission was considered a success, the terrible loss of men (600 were lost in those few hours), and 60 bombers lost, for a mission deemed successful, was a cluster screw up from the start, and still haunts the Army.
 
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Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
In Contempt by Chris Darden. It's his take on the OJ Simpson trial from the mid 90s. I saw the book at the dude ranch and picked it up to look at the pictures. Then I started reading it and found it hard to put down.

Hard to believe that the crime happened over 20 years ago. He wrote the book shortly after the trial. It gives a bit of his history of growing up and how he became a lawyer. It also shed a lot of details that weren't well known about the trial. He gives insight to the prosecutor's office mindset.

His nemesis is Johnnie Cochran, who up until the trial he considered a friend. The book tilts a lot towards race relations in the trial and in Los Angeles in general. This was on the heels of the Rodney King beatdown. Darden paints a lot of his narrative with descriptions such as black man, black community, white community, racist white cop. He states several times that he wasn't chosen to prosecute the trial because of his color and would have rejected it if he felt his office was trying to use his skin color for an advantage.

He comes off as a decent guy that is only seeking justice for 2 people who were killed. His entire family was hounded by the media for months. He had a brother that was a drug addict and the tabloids ran a lot of unflattering stories about him. He was also crucified in the black press.

I have a few more chapters to go. I know how it ends but I do like getting the inside scoop that only he is able to provide.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
"Autumn of the Black Snake".

A remarkable tale of the adventures of George Washington, "Mad Anthony" Wayne, and the first Federal Army fighting in their first war, the invasion of the Ohio valley and eventual defeats of the many Indian tribes and nations that resisted them there. The almost vicious contest that ensued within the two opposing groups in Congress and Executive regarding the establishment of a Federal army was really something. So was the degree and extent of corruption surrounding the sale and distribution of new lands to the west in places like western VA (later Kentucky) and Ohio. Ole George and other highly-placed officials had their hands deep in to that.

Amazing stuff. Paints G. Washington in some interesting new lights...some good...some not so much.
 
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vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I am re-reading Kitty Kelley's biography of Frank Sinatra, but I'm getting bored with it so I just downloaded "From Here to Eternity" and will start on that this evening.
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
I am reading one of my first reads from Amazon Prime called "A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea" by Masaji Ishikawa.

It's a true story about his life and ultimately his escape from North Korea in 1996. Absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking what he goes went through.

The harrowing true story of one man’s life in—and subsequent escape from—North Korea, one of the world’s most brutal totalitarian regimes.

Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the lowest social caste. His father, himself a Korean national, was lured to the new Communist country by promises of abundant work, education for his children, and a higher station in society. But the reality of their new life was far from utopian.

In this memoir translated from the original Japanese, Ishikawa candidly recounts his tumultuous upbringing and the brutal thirty-six years he spent living under a crushing totalitarian regime, as well as the challenges he faced repatriating to Japan after barely escaping North Korea with his life. A River in Darkness is not only a shocking portrait of life inside the country but a testament to the dignity—and indomitable nature—of the human spirit.

https://www.amazon.com/River-Darkness-Escape-North-Korea-ebook/dp/B06XKRKFZL
 
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