Good Reads
Thoughts on some of my favorite books
I enjoy both reading and listening to books. I appreciate it when the author is the one reading the book but I don’t mind listening to a good narrator. If you are an audio book junkie as well, I am sure that you have learned that all narrators are not created equal. In the old days, you were pretty much stuck with a book on tape or CD. In these modern times, the digital versions allow us to return them and not pay at all if we don’t like it. Big Win!
My favorite go-to reads are those that are fearlessly written. Often by women who have overcome the odds to rise up against the patriarchy and societal norms that attempt to quiet them. Sports, adventure and industry related books.
I appreciate history and the study of the brain as well. I love learning and understanding the brain, how it works and what makes humans so human.
This is an ongoing list that I will continue to add to:
On the Plain of Snakes - Paul Theroux
Similar in context to Richard Grant's God's Middle Finger, this is the story of a gringo who goes searching for the real Mexico. Theroux take is very much about drawing attention the the inequities, border issues, politics and opinion and experiences of the people who live there with the United States. He offers a lot of interviews and conversations and wants to be taken everywhere. It's deeply explorative and a great present time history of Mexico. There is also some neat story telling from the people who live there that he incorporates nicely into the book. It's a fun read or listen and if you have any interest in Mexican culture or human relations.
Whore of New York a Confession - Liara Roux
Just finished the Audible version of her book. Her voice is great, very easy to listen to. Her story is big and, in your face, and likely a bit crud for the vanilla ear. Don’t let that dissuade you thought. Her story is just one person’s story. There is a lot of fun scenes and a lot of discussion about her life, kinky stuff and the challenges that she faces as a SW and as a human growing up in less-than-ideal conditions. The book is well written and wrapped up nicely. I thought that she left some things a little open ended and I hope that she will write a 2nd book with a continuation of the themes in this book.
God’s Middle Finger - Richard Grant
Crude & unfiltered documentation of Grant’s experience going sometimes solo in the notorious Sierra Madres Mountains of Mexico. It’s a fun read; filled with a new vocabulary of curse words, bandits with guns in dresses, really stupid ideas and well painted pictures of it all. An exploration of culture that is otherwise untouched.
The Other Hollywood – Legs Mcneil
The uncensored oral history of porn. This book is fantastic. Documenting all the behind-the-scenes life of the porn industry and the players at the time. It starts in the Deep Throat Era and rolls into modern times. It’s a fun and engaging documentary style read, not to be missed if you’ve ever wanted to know more about the history of porn.
Confessions of a Sociopath – M.E.Thomas
The Psychopath Inside – James Fallon
Both books are a rare peak into the minds of a Sociopath and a Psychopath. Both are fantastic and worthwhile reads.
Hunting Eichmann – Neal Bascomb
Citizen 865 – Debbie Cenziper
These two books went hand and hand for me. Both Nazi hunting books. Bascomb’s book is focused on Eichmann (a very well-known case) specifically and takes place much earlier. Citizen 865 is more recent (1990) and about hunting Nazi’s that were at the time still hiding in plain sight. Both books are very well researched and well told stories. Engaging and hair raising and recommended reads for anyone into Nazi hunting history.
Fast Girls – Elise Hooper
Boys in the Boat – Daniel Brown
Both of these are Nazi era sports history. And about people who over came everything to participate in Hitler’s Olympics. I read Boys in the Boat first and it was a very engaging page turner. What’s great is the picture that Brown paints of the times. It’s based in the Seattle area and he describes what Seattle was like(shanty town so to speak) in the 30’s and 40’s. Thinking of athletes only having very little resources, very little food and very little clothing. Working out all day in the rain and then getting to the Olympic games where the deck was intentionally stacked against them. Having to deal with Hitler’s BS on that level is unthinkable.
Fast Girls is about the first female runners in the Olympics. Hooper is great at telling a story and drawing the reader in. She’s also got articles from the 20’s & 30’s about societies perception of women. It’s pretty gross to think that women were definitely not celebrated as athletes. But the general stigma was that they would get manly and unattractive and not be able to raise babies and keep the house. ICK! And then, when they finally did make it to the Olympic games, they had to deal with Hitler’s BS. Not only in the form of him cheating the games, but the sexual assaults on the athletes that he dealt out.
The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
Originally a gift, this book sat on my shelf for a few years and one day I cracked it open and couldn’t put it down. It’s a story from a man in India that is writing about his entrepreneurial enterprises and how he rose from the ashes of the Caste system. The things that he did to get where he is at, the risks, the thrills, the unthinkable. There is now a movie out which follows the book almost verbatim.
What Doesn’t Kill Us – Scott Carney
This is for the Wim Hof fans out there. Or perhaps you think it’s a bunch of hooey…well, then this is really the book for you! Being someone who was taking cold showers before Wim Hof came onto the scene, it was easy for me to become an easy fan. Carney however is a skeptic, so he’s down to break it down and explore all the ins and outs of all that is the Wim Hof Method. If you want a deeper look into understanding the physiological side of the body, some new health strategies or just to read about some fun science trials and crazy adventures; then grab some hot cocoa and a warm blanket and crack open the fun!