BOOKS THREAD

Two solid books about US foreign policy

March 1917 by longtime Moscow correspondent Will Englund about how the US and USSR reacted to events of WWI in that one month. Very good. And...it is from March 2017.

The Bomb by Slate's Fred Kaplan. It focuses on presidents and nuclear weapons/arms control. Mostly focuses on JFK and beyond. Interesting look at at a high stakes topic. From January 2020.

 

Finally reading Heat 2 and LOVING it. Godfather II-esque in that it's a prequel and sequel and it's so fun being back in Mann's world.

 

Lessons From the Edge by former U.S. diplomat Marie Yovanovitch (March 2022). A passionate, intense memoirs of her long time in the Foreign Service which came to an abrupt end with her collision with....of course, who else? Donald J. Trump.

She gave her whole life to the service (she doesn't mention any personal relationships outside of her blood relatives) only to be tossed aside by Trump and his goons.

Fascinating section deals with her time stationed in Mogadishu long before Black Hawk Down.

 

OMG, amazing! I don't normally bring books home from vacation, but it was too good to leave in some random hotel. That said, it's an intense World War II novel so be warned if you're planning to bring it to the beach.

 

Really looking forward to reading this. Just picked it up at library.

 

It was well written but structure of the book didn’t really work for me

 

Just got this. It will be keeping me busy shortly.

 

Straight Man is one of my favorites, just an hilarious campus novel. I interviewed Russo about a decade ago surrounding a new release. Love his books, including Empire Falls of course.

 

Cool! I've read all his books (except this one). Didn't like Straight Man, maybe I need to reread it. I think I was expecting more along the lines of Mohawk and Risk Pool when I read it. Empire Falls is my favorite book of all time. And of course Nobody's Fool and Everybody's Fool are great. Was turned on to him when he was brought in to one of my college classes 30 years ago. Right after The Risk Pool came out. And what a wonderful book that is. I suppose he's my favorite author.

 

David Grann’s “The Wager” is every bit as good as I’d hoped. I devoured it in two days, an 18th century winding, thrilling story of mutiny, murder and empire I’d never even heard about until Grann took it up.

A writer whose prose is aerodynamic, engaging and bursting with nutrients.

 

"President Garfield" by C.W. Goodyear. Brand new tome about our nation's 20th chief executive. Lacks the flair of Candice Millard's work on the same subject, but a strong, comprehensive biography of an important American and his era.

 

"In League with America," by Bill Craib.

In 1991, Bill Craib and his girlfriend, Sue Easler (no relation to Mike "Hit Man" Easler) took to the road with this aim: See a baseball game at every minor- and major-league park that season. Remember, this was before the Internet made things such as researching schedules for Pioneer League teams relatively easy. Their journey became known as "Bill & Sue's Excellent Adventure." The weekly MLB magazine that aired on ESPN showed a lot of footage they shot along their way. As the trip and their renown picked up steam, they were profiled by many local newspaper and TV outlets as well as by The New York Times.

More than 30 years after the adventure, Bill Craib wrote about the trip, about baseball and about America.

The book has wonderful, memorable anecdotes from the adventure as well as some heartfelt reflections on the state of the game and America. I recommend the book.

P.S. What's with the Tigers? (You'll understand if you read the book.)