What book are you reading, and what do you think of it?

[ZLoth]

Just finished The Spy with No Name, a two hour listen involving espionage and a false identity made from a real orphan. Also, a true story.

[ZLoth]

And, I have started The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways.

[ZLoth]

My mother and I completed Now I Know: The Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?! ...And 99 More Interesting Facts, Plus the Amazing Stories Behind Them and are now on Hey Ranger! True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America's National Parks.

Meanwhile, I just completed The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways which provides a good history of the highway system including the challenges of building urban Interstates. Baltimore is highlighted in this book. A worthwhile listen (or read) for the participants of this forum.

[ZLoth]

Just completed Dr. No (Celebrity Performance). This book was used as the basis for the first James Bond film, and because it was low budget affair, some elements of the book were changed in the film. There are references back to the previous book From Russia With Love which actually served as the film's sequel.

[elsmere241]

Just finished The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency by David M. Rubenstein.

[ZLoth]

Just "wasted four perfectly good hours" on Car Talk Classics: The Pinkwater Files. Now onto a book that I just picked up this morning... The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist's Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System.

[ZLoth]

Just finished The Asteroid Hunter: A Scientist's Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System. A good book about the OSIRIS-REx expedition to the asteroid Bennu including Dr. Dante Lauretta's career as well as the challenges in getting the project approved and clearing milestones as well as some of the leadership challenges. Dante clearing is a science fiction geek, and one of the movies that I want to view now is Hayabusa (2011).

The only annoying part of this book is the Interludes which interrupt the book about a half-dozen times.

Now listening to Evil Eye which is 1 hr and 38 mins long and is dramatized.

[elsmere241]

I read Sharon McMahon's The Small and the Mighty: Twelve unsung Americans who changed the course of history, from the Founding to the Civil Rights movement yesterday - when I was supposed to be doing laundry.

[ZLoth]

I read Sharon McMahon's The Small and the Mighty: Twelve unsung Americans who changed the course of history, from the Founding to the Civil Rights movement yesterday - when I was supposed to be doing laundry.

That's why I'm an audiobook listener instead of a book reader... multitasking.

Here is a recent Auidible commercial:

[ZLoth]

Just finished Evil Eye . It's told mostly in phone conversations and voice mails, but, yeah, it takes a dark twist.

[elsmere241]

I've started On Freedom by Timothy Snyder.

[elsmere241]

I've started On Freedom by Timothy Snyder.

And I just finished it, because I put it down for a few days.  One of the books I read during that time was Bob Woodward's War.

[ZLoth]

My mother and I are in the final chapter of Hey Ranger! True Tales of Humor and Misadventure from America's National Parks. Some funny stories, but just isn't as good as the Bear in the Back Seat: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park series.

[elsmere241]

Just finished Attack from Within: How disinformation is sabotaging America by Barbara McQuade.

[ZLoth]

Just completed Goldfinger (Celebrity Performance) read by Hugh Bonneville. Definitely a good Bond book even with some notable differences between the book and the movie, including some additional details missing from the movie. I can understand the changes that were made.

Ah well, off to listen to Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events.

[ZLoth]

Halfway through Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events already. Did I mention that this is written by Brent Spiner and Jeanne Darst, with narrations by most of the STTNG cast?

Meanwhile, my mother and I completed NPR Road Trips #2: Postcards from Around the Globe which was a little over an hour worth of listening. We've started listening to Harry: A Biography of a Prince.

[ZLoth]

From The Autopian:

Complex Audiobooks Are More Dangerous For Drivers: Study

We all have our own preferences for what we listen to when driving. Some of us like to rock niche EDM tracks, others get around pumping only the most soulful Norwegian black metal. Others still prefer audiobooks for a more literary driving experience. As it turns out though, your choices could have a very real impact on driving safety.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[ZLoth]

Just finished Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events. This is definitely for the hard core Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, but was definitely fun to listen to.

Of course, there is another book, Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas, that I would recommend. It's by John Scarzi and narriated by Wil Wheaton. I listened to it years ago, and enjoyed it.

[ZLoth]

Currently listening to Car Talk: 25 Years of Lousy Car Advice... or rather skipping through most of this audiobook. All of the Car Talk books are clips from the previous shows, and since most of the clips have been heard before in previous audiobooks, there is a lot of repetition that I'm skipping through. I did listen to the "My Government Vehicle Shakes at 17,500 MPH" clip again... it's a classic!

Now listening to Don't Hang Up which should be a short (3 hrs and 8 mins) thriller listen.

[ZLoth]

Don't Hang Up turned into a pretty good listen with a nice, twist ending.

[ZLoth]

So yeah, I wasted several more perfectly good hours listening to these Car Talk titles:

• No Factory Recalls. So Far.
• MIT Wants Its Diplomas Back
• The Puzzler's Greatest Hits

And, that ends the series.

[ZLoth]

Now on For Your Eyes Only, and Other Stories (James Bond) which consists of five short stories. I'm not expecting them to be anything like the movies by their titles.

Meanwhile, my mother and I aren't making much progress on Harry: A Biography of a Prince because we haven't had any car trips.

[ZLoth]

Finished For Your Eyes Only, and Other Stories (James Bond). Interesting set of short stories.

[ZLoth]

Now listening to The Day of the Triffids. I initially tried the Kingsley Ben-Adir released in 2021, but found the narration a bit harsh. I'm now listening to the Graeme Malcolm version which was released in 2009 which is a bit better on my ears, but is now "out-of-print".

[ZLoth]

I finished The Day of the Triffids. My interest in the book was originally the 1963 film which showed up on television right when I only caught the beginning. It is available on streaming, but a proper physical release has been impossible due to rights issues. The book is a post-apocalyptic survival tale with the Triffids serving as the book's MacGuffin.

I'm now listening to the celebrity performance of Thunderball.