Swarm Book Club

[TechBurn]

For the history buffs among us,,,
The British naval series, including
"Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian featuring Captain Jack Aubrey

The Napoleonic war series by Bernard Cornwell featuring Richard Sharpe, following the Duke of Wellington's military campaigns,,,
Both pretty historically accurate,,,

Anything by Jon Krakauer, i.e., "Into the Wild," etc.,

 

[Jim Prather]

Of course, if current events aren't enough for you...Stephen King's "The Stand"

LOL... That's just cruel.

 

[RonJohn]

I am currently listening to the Jack Ryan series. I have gotten to Executive Orders. I am not that far in the book yet, but it has some things in common with current events. The audio book is 51 hours 24 minutes long so it will take a while to get through it.

 

[CuseJacket]

I am currently reading Dreamland which is a pretty damn interesting book on how the opioid crisis came to be, backtracking and tying everything from Mexican towns, interviews with individual dealers who detail their reasons for getting into it, their marketing strategy and operations, pharma, faulty scientific research and conclusions, etc.

Update: Dreamland was solid; just got a little redundant at the end. Still very interesting read. Receives a 4* on the @CuseJacket rating scale.

Going to bump this recommendation. Dreamland is a solid read. And if you're in to how new drugs get approved/prescribed and how that can go wrong (paging Covid debaters), this book provides an interesting perspective.

 

[Milwaukee]

Finally got around to finishing Black Flags by Joby Warrick yesterday. Highly recommend.

This morning I started Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber. Really good so far. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44573628-super-pumped

 

[GTRoy]

I am reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X right now. It's a very good read so far.

I've never been much for Sci-Fi, but I did love what I read of the Foundation series.

For those of you interested in history, I read the three part biography on Teddy Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. Probably the best biographical book/series I've ever read.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

"Raised In Captivity" by Chuck Klostermsn.

Bizarre short stories. Thought provoking in a Gary Larson perverse sort of way. I was given the book and will pass it on when done.

 

[Milwaukee]

I finished Billion Dollar Whale last month and thought it was crazy good. True story, he was known as the Malaysian Wolf of Wall Street. Very good book.

Thought I’d bump this since I saw this article this morning regarding Jho Low from Billion Dollar Whale. http://via.fox6now.com/oNh5W
http://via.fox6now.com/oNh5W
Highly recommend the book. It’s rumored that he still has close to a billion dollars from his cons.

 

[CuseJacket]

Thought I’d bump this since I saw this article this morning regarding Jho Low from Billion Dollar Whale. http://via.fox6now.com/oNh5W
Highly recommend the book. It’s rumored that he still has close to a billion dollars from his cons.

Thanks for sharing that link. Enjoyed Billion Dollar Whale as well, though maybe a tad less enthusiastic than you.

Currently reading Black Flags due to your recommendation here. Really enjoying it.

 

[TampaBuzz]

For you GT fans, you should read "Jackrabbitt" by Bill Chastain. A nice history on Clint Castleberry and 1942 GT football.

 

[Milwaukee]

Finished with Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.
It was really, really good. Highly recommend.

Starting this afternoon: American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpin

 

[Milwaukee]

Finished with Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.
It was really, really good. Highly recommend.

Starting this afternoon: American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpin

New personal record due to the lockdown. Finished American Kingpin this evening after starting yesterday around noon. Couldn’t put it down, extremely interesting.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Read Noah Feldman's new book Arab Winter. It's about the failure of the Arab nations to capitalize (pun intended) on the Arab Spring to introduce democracy into the Middle East and North Africa. The only country that was successful in maintaining an self-realizing government was Tunisia. Very good non-fiction read. He's a liberal journalist, but his viewpoint in this book is pretty neutral. He's a throw-back journalist, one that doesn't allow his personal politics to cloud his writing (too badly, we all have our view points).

 

[forensicbuzz]

Another interesting read is Malcolm Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers". I find him fascinating. He is a liberal Canadian, but he isn't married to his opinions. He says things that many conservatives and even moderates don't agree with, but he is a strong proponent of the media not interjecting their biases into their stories. I found this book fascinating. He explores so many different facets of human nature and how we communicate with each other. I'm convinced that preconceived notions are the vast majority of the interpersonal problems we experience today.

 

[forensicbuzz]

As a staunch Centrist, I've just recommended two left-leaning authors. I think the people on the right would enjoy and learn something from these books. Go in with an open mind, and you might learn something about how others think and see the world. Too often we try to convince everyone around us that we're right instead of just listening to what others think. In general, we're all intelligent, highly educated people who think deeply (Bette Midler reference) about what's going on. So, if we can get past trying to convince others that we're right and they need to agree with us, we can get on to a better understanding of the world around us.

(yes, I've been drinking bourbon tonight...well every night since this has started. I hope I don't develop a problem)

 

[Milwaukee]

Another interesting read is Malcolm Gladwell's "Talking to Strangers". I find him fascinating. He is a liberal Canadian, but he isn't married to his opinions. He says things that many conservatives and even moderates don't agree with, but he is a strong proponent of the media not interjecting their biases into their stories. I found this book fascinating. He explores so many different facets of human nature and how we communicate with each other. I'm convinced that preconceived notions are the vast majority of the interpersonal problems we experience today.

As I’m looking for a new book this one keeps popping up from the person I get my recommendations from, he hasn’t let me down yet. But the reviews look bad.

 

[Techster]

I read this book YEARS ago, and thought it was interesting. Didn't recognize the book until I clicked on the link and the details started coming back. Fascinating read considering what's going on today. Need to see if I still have it and re-read it:

 

[Milwaukee]

Picked up Killers of the Flower Moon yesterday.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the B…

A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one…

www.goodreads.com

 

[CuseJacket]

Picked up Killers of the Flower Moon yesterday.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the B…

A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one…

www.goodreads.com

Great book. Read it a couple years ago.

Since we both seem to like the crazy non-fiction-that's-better-than-fiction stuff, I recommend "I'll Be Gone in the Dark". HBO just came out with a mini-series which is meh, but you'll have to watch after reading the book.

"Say Nothing" was another good one you might like about Ireland v. Northern Ireland.
Also "The Sun Does Shine".

 

[Milwaukee]

Great book. Read it a couple years ago.

Since we both seem to like the crazy non-fiction-that's-better-than-fiction stuff, I recommend "I'll Be Gone in the Dark". HBO just came out with a mini-series which is meh, but you'll have to watch after reading the book.

"Say Nothing" was another good one you might like about Ireland v. Northern Ireland.
Also "The Sun Does Shine".

Will do, thanks. I just found out Scorsese is making the Flower Moon movie currently as it’s scheduled to be released next year. Leo is his lead, as usual. 200M budget I expect it to be phenomenal.