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

[elsmere241]

Just finished Squeezed: Why our families can't afford America by Alissa Quart.

Printer's Error, I'll be reading next.

[ZLoth]

So, since it's been a while...

For myself: I've completed The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work. It was a worthwhile listen, and I was working on some of those principles already. I really hope that my (former) manager gets to read that book.

I've almost completed The Six, and have about two hours left in my listen. This one has a few twists and turns.

For my mother: We completed Tradition! The Highly Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of Fiddler on the Roof, the World's Most Beloved Musical. This book covers the creation of this beloved musical, some of the challenges in bringing it on to the stage, and the outstanding reception it received, plus some behind the scenes stories. It then talks about the challenges in filming that musical, and the box office success. This is followed by the post-Broadway successes, including how the musical has been performed in schools, and it's legacy.

We are now listening to Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens. This is a repeat listen for me.

[ZLoth]

I completed The Six yesterday. This is indeed a dark thriller with some dark twists. I enjoyed it.

Now, I'm listening to Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin.

[wanderer2575]

I'm rereading A Day in the Life of The New York Times by Ruth Adler.  I read it years ago when I saw it in my local library, but I came across a used copy at an independent bookstore and bought it.  It details a 24-hour period, 3:00am Friday 02/28/1969 (when that day's final edition was locked up) to the following 3:00am (when the final edition of the Saturday 03/01/1969 paper was locked up).  The day was randomly picked not too far in advance.  It's interesting to read about the multiple production elements, but really interesting to consider how much things have changed since then.  In particular, there's a good amount of discussion about the efforts and frustrations in sending stories from across the country and across the world to the New York newsroom in a time before faxes, cellphones, and the Internet.

[ZLoth]

I completed Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin over the weekend. This biography covers the life of Carlin, and gave me some additional insight including the fact that the comedian actually testified in the US Supreme Court on obscene language in the FCC v. Pacifica Foundation case. I did enjoy his role as Rufus in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures and as the voice of Fillmore in Cars, and I had previously listed to Carlin in the audiobook George Carlin Reads to You: An Audio Collection Including Grammy Winners 'Braindroppings' and 'Napalm & Silly Putty'. I'm now listening to Alita: Battle Angel - Iron City.

As for listening with my mother, we just completed Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens, and listened to CFI! The Book. This is the story of a flight instructor who is trying to get in their flight hours to move on to another job at the shadiest flight school in Florida run by the sleeziest owner with students who should not be behind the controls of an airplane.

[1995hoo]

I've been reading Brandon Sanderson's Wind and Truth, book five of his Stormlight Archive series, for the past two or three months. It's 1330 pages long and my Kindle says I'm on page 1285, so I should finish it tonight. This is a massive, sprawling series and he has another five books planned. On the plus side, he's more consistent in finishing his books than George R.R. Martin is! I still had to go online for a refresher on the events of the previous book before starting this one just because of how long all the books are (they've all been 1000+ pages). This has been a really good series with a complex storyline.

Normally after I finish a book of this length I might take a short break from reading for a week or two, but I have a short upcoming business trip, so I suppose I will be reading something else in transit. I think it's time for something much lighter-weight.

[ZLoth]

From Psychology Today:

Can We Just "Read" Audiobooks Instead?
Audiobooks are great for entertainment, but not as great for learning.

Audiobooks have become my constant companions, whether I'm commuting, doing dishes, or juggling daycare drop-offs. As a parent, it's often the only way I "read." But as an educational psychologist who studies how people understand text, I've been wondering: am I actually learning anything? The short answer is: It depends.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[1995hoo]

I have never gotten into the idea of audiobooks, especially when driving (which seems to be when most people I know listen to them). I tend to get engrossed in the books I read, to the point where I can sometimes be semi-oblivious to what's going on around me (not totally, of course; I never miss my stop on the subway or the Acela). I don't particularly like not getting somewhat engrossed in a book. And that feels fundamentally incompatible with driving to me because my attention should be on the road and not on the story. Maybe it would work better with nonfiction books, but most of what I read is fiction.

[Max Rockatansky]

I find it way easier to just listen to audiobooks at 1.5x speed nowadays.  Commuting time is a pretty empty void for me and one of the few times I have the energy to get engrossed into a story.

[ZLoth]

From Book Riot:

More Than 50% of Americans Have Listened to An Audiobook: Latest Data on Audiobook Trends

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) released the findings of their latest survey on audiobook sales and listenership in the past year. The numbers are mind-boggling. In 2024, audiobook sales revenue reached $2.22 billion–a 13% increase from the previous year. Much of this increase in sales is attributed to the growth of digital audiobooks, which now comprise 99% of revenue.

APA's Consumer Survey found that more than half of Americans age 18 and older–51%– have listened to an audiobook. There's also been an increase in the number of Americans who state they're interested in trying out an audiobook, 38% in 2025 as compared to 32% the previous year. Americans indicating they're "very interested" in trying an audiobook has gone from 10% in 2024 to 18% in 2025.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[elsmere241]

I recently finished Fight: inside the wildest battle for the White House by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes.  Next up is Uncharted: how Trump beat Biden, Harris, and the odds in the wildest campaign in history by Chris Whipple.  (Those two books are all I'm going to indulge for the election for a while.)

For our trip west in July and August, I've requested 1,000 places to see in the United States and Canada before you die by Patricia Schultz.  I've read it before, but since this may be the last road trip we do for a while, my wife wants us to take our time going to central Washington and back - this hopefully will give us some ideas about where to stop.

[elsmere241]

Just read American Crucifixion: The murder of Joseph Smith and the fate of the Mormon Church by Alex Beam.  Interesting perspective.

[ZLoth]

I've completed two audiobooks. The first book completed is Alita: Battle Angel - Iron City. This is the prequel to the book/film Alita: Battle Angel/url], and has several characters from that movie including Doctor Ido and Hugo. The "superchip" is the MacGuffin of this story, and is used to delve deeper into the characters and the setting of the dystopian Iron City.

The other book is Talk of the Devil - The Collected Writings of Ian Fleming. Beyond the two early stories by Ian Flemming, this book covers the journalism and other writings of the famous 007 author. Only one chapter, "The Guns of James Bond", is outright James Bond and how the chapter of Major Boothsby aka "Q" came to be because of the real-life expertise of a fan of the books. In other writings, only 007 is slightly referenced writings contain no reference to James Bond at all. However, I do see some of the ideas and origins from his writings which later on made it into the novels and then the films. Pretty good if dated (we are talking post World War II here), and makes me want to pursue the two other Ian Fleming non-fiction books as well. I know they are in my library.

[ET21]

Most recent book I finished was Star Wars Reign of the Empire, Mask of Fear. It is quite a heavy book dealing with the politics/morality of the universe in the weeks/months right after Revenge of the Sith.

On the side I'm currently reading through the Initial D manga re-releases, currently on Volume 4.

[elsmere241]

Just started Hope: the Autobiography by Pope Francis.  This is going to take me a little while.

[elsmere241]

Just started Hope: the Autobiography by Pope Francis.  This is going to take me a little while.

And I've finished it.  Lots of good stuff there.

[vdeane]

Just started Hope: the Autobiography by Pope Francis.  This is going to take me a little while.

Just started Hope: the Autobiography by Pope Francis.  This is going to take me a little while.

And I've finished it.  Lots of good stuff there.

"This is going to take me a little while"

Two hours later: "I've finished it"

[elsmere241]

Indeed.  Something about today being a holiday for me.  At least it isn't kicking around the bedroom unread, like it had for about a month.

[gonealookin]

I've been working through Robert Caro's legendary biography of Lyndon Johnson.

The first volume is The Path to Power, which covers LBJ's childhood years, his time as a Congressional aide and his first several years as Congressman from the Texas 10th, and ends with his defeat in his first run for Senate in the special election of 1941.  Just completed:  the second volume, Means of Ascent, which covers his "service" (if you can call it that) in WWII, but is mostly devoted to the infamous 1948 Senate election.

I'm not sure anyone's life is worth four volumes and something like 3000 pages.  Caro's work is incredibly detailed and honestly sometimes bogs down in the minutiae; he takes four pages to discuss a point that seems like it could be covered in three paragraphs.  So it goes slowly at times.  I did particularly enjoy, however, the deep dive into the theft of the 1948 election in Means of Ascent.  In the present day we have politicians who scream about "stolen elections" without providing any proof.  Caro narrates this story like it's a crime thriller with all the detail, and I loved those 300 pages or so.

So now I've spent the last 2+ months reading about LBJ, pre-Senate career, and still have two volumes to go with the Senate, Vice Presidency and "Hey, Hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" Presidential era.  I don't like LBJ very much after reading these first two books and doubt my impression will improve with the post-1948 volumes, but we'll see.

I'll come back to LBJ later in the year; can't really read four consecutive books about the same person without a break.  On topic, sitting here next up is Henry Grabar's Paved Paradise:  How Parking Explains the World, which should be a bit lighter fare.

[kphoger]

Just started Hope: the Autobiography by Pope Francis.  This is going to take me a little while.

And I've finished it.  Lots of good stuff there.

"This is going to take me a little while"

Two hours later: "I've finished it"

Definition checks out. 

while

noun

1 :  a period of time especially when short and marked by the occurrence of an action or a condition : time

[Scott5114]

So now I've spent the last 2+ months reading about LBJ, pre-Senate career, and still have two volumes to go with the Senate, Vice Presidency and "Hey, Hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" Presidential era.  I don't like LBJ very much after reading these first two books and doubt my impression will improve with the post-1948 volumes, but we'll see.

I have not read the series you speak of, but I would imagine your opinion might change somewhat with the next volume—it's often stated that LBJ was one of the most effective Senators in US history (as in, he developed a masterful command of both hard and soft power, as well as the rules of the Senate, to make what he wanted to happen in the Senate happen). Whether you agree with his positions or not, and though his behavior is absolutely atrocious when viewed through present-day eyes, it's hard not to have at least a grudging respect for someone with that kind of aptitude (as much as it pains me to admit it because of how little I like his positions, I have a similar feeling toward Mitch McConnell, who has much the same skill set as LBJ did.)