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Pit Book/Discussion Thread

#9 South to America by Imani Perry.

I have read a lot of “study the South to understand the nation” type books. This fits into that bucket. The book is a series of essays, with each chapter set in a different location, focusing on race and racism. Perry examines US history as well as her own roots.

I think it was the blending of her childhood into the essays that kept me thinking about this book long after I finished reading it because just going through a historical list of shameful or horrific events would be exhausting. The book is more than that, however. It is also about resistance and heroism, as well a mix of travelogue, current events, and literary criticism.
 
Demonwolverine said:
Just heads up: I loved Kitchen Confidential (even reading it way past its prime), but really struggled to even finish the follow up, Medium Raw. It felt far more like a personal rant and just didn't have any of the charm or interesting info that made Kitchen Confidential so good.
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That's really disappointing to hear as I was looking forward to it, but I can definitely see how it could become that.

I actually started listening to the first chapter the other day but then took it off because I wanted to save it/was a bit Tony storytellinged out at that point. The very opening story of that book being about Ortolan kinda set the stage for it/immediately showed me the differences in the books/his life.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
I promised Townie a top 10 list of the books I read in 2023. With Townie on hiatus I have been slow to fulfill my obligation. These will all be nonfiction. I did read a little more fiction in 2023, but I would guess I read at least 85% nonfiction.

#10: Eight Bears by Gloria Dickie.

This book is about the eight types of bears that still exist. This is not the type of book I typically read. Then again, maybe it is, because it takes place in eight different areas of the world. When I saw this book, I realized I knew little about bears. Eight bears? Can I even name five? My kids certainly knew a lot more than I did and part of the fun of reading this book was discussing it with my kids. Like, how did my son know the seal is the closest relative of the bear? Is this common knowledge?

The primary focus of the book is to detail the dangers that face bears due to humans. Climate change is challenging the polar and spectacled (my personal favorite of the eight after reading the book) to the greatest degree. Dickie is especially pessimistic about the polar bear being able to survive in the wild much longer. The moon bear is subjected to bile harvesting. Humans are crowding out the aggressive sloth bear. (The sloth bear is terrifying, by the way. If I had sloth bears around my house I would never go outside.) On the other hand, the North American bears, black and brown (grizzly), are faring better, especially the brown.

It is an entertaining book, with some history, science, geography, and myth all included in a relatively quick read.
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Adding this to my list. It sounds really interesting.
 
#8 The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

I am certain this is the most popular book on my list. I kept getting recommendations to read this book and finally decided the time was right on the eve of a trip to Washington.

I am sure most are familiar with this book, as I was surprised to see it was a movie when looking for Godzilla showtimes around Christmas. The movie appears to have lackluster reviews, so read the book instead. I can see how it could translate into a stereotypical sports movie. The journey was the compelling part to me. The story could have ended before the 1936 Olympics and would not have lacked for anything. I was completely surprised learning how widely popular rowing was as a sport a hundred years ago.

(I previously read, and recommend, his most recent book about Japanese American families and their sons who volunteered for military service in WWII.)
 
Boys in the Boat is so, so good. When I first read it I didn’t think the story would resonate with me at all. But the story and writing are just so compelling. I was completely invested. Easily one of my top 5 favorite nonfiction books.
 
BeachBumDeac said:
Anyone read The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff? I thought it was amazing.
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I've read some of her short stories and got about a third of the way through Fates and Furies before putting it aside. Not because I didn't like it, but I didn't like it well enough to stick with it ahead of some other stuff on the list. The older I get the less inclined I am to keep reading unless the book really moves me. I do think she's a good writer, though.

I've never been impressed with any of Gaiman's fiction but I like him personally. And in fairness I haven't read everything by him.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
#8 The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

I am certain this is the most popular book on my list. I kept getting recommendations to read this book and finally decided the time was right on the eve of a trip to Washington.

I am sure most are familiar with this book, as I was surprised to see it was a movie when looking for Godzilla showtimes around Christmas. The movie appears to have lackluster reviews, so read the book instead. I can see how it could translate into a stereotypical sports movie. The journey was the compelling part to me. The story could have ended before the 1936 Olympics and would not have lacked for anything. I was completely surprised learning how widely popular rowing was as a sport a hundred years ago.

(I previously read, and recommend, his most recent book about Japanese American families and their sons who volunteered for military service in WWII.)
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Boys in the Boat was at the top of my best books read in 2022 list. I read Facing the Mountain this past year and thought it was nearly as good.

ETA: The Boys in the Boat movie wasn’t bad, but it translated as a book significantly better.
 
#7 Dead Mountain (The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident) by Donnie Eichar

In 1959 a group of nine young Soviet hikers never returned from the northern Ural Mountains. A search party eventually found the group’s campsite but were baffled by what they uncovered. The group’s tent was empty and had been cut from the inside. The party began to find bodies scattered alone or in groups a mile or more from the tent. Most were not wearing shoes. Some were in underwear only. One had a cracked skull, and another had chest fractures. There was evidence of a fire and of a small tree whose limbs had been broken by what they thought was caused by someone climbing it. It took months to find all the bodies due to some being in a ravine under many feet of snow.

The initial investigation raised more questions than answers. Another group of hikers reported seeing strange orange spheres in the sky that night. Radiation was found on some of the clothes. Did the group stumble into some USSR nuclear test? Aliens? Others thought they were murdered by local indigenous people. Yeti? Avalanche? Storm?

I had come across this story a couple of times, so I looked to see if there was a book specifically about this incident. Eichar did a fantastic job detailing the 1959 investigation while also doing his own investigation in 2012.

Edit: I did a search and found many posts about the Dyatlov Pass incident.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
#7 Dead Mountain (The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident) by Donnie Eichar

In 1959 a group of nine young Soviet hikers never returned from the northern Ural Mountains. A search party eventually found the group’s campsite but were baffled by what they uncovered. The group’s tent was empty and had been cut from the inside. The party began to find bodies scattered alone or in groups a mile or more from the tent. Most were not wearing shoes. Some were in underwear only. One had a cracked skull, and another had chest fractures. There was evidence of a fire and of a small tree whose limbs had been broken by what they thought was caused by someone climbing it. It took months to find all the bodies due to some being in a ravine under many feet of snow.

The initial investigation raised more questions than answers. Another group of hikers reported seeing strange orange spheres in the sky that night. Radiation was found on some of the clothes. Did the group stumble into some USSR nuclear test? Aliens? Others thought they were murdered by local indigenous people. Yeti? Avalanche? Storm?

I had come across this story a couple of times, so I looked to see if there was a book specifically about this incident. Eichar did a fantastic job detailing the 1959 investigation while also doing his own investigation in 2012.

Edit: I did a search and found many posts about the Dyatlov Pass incident.
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I read an article this year that pretty definitely explains what happened. I think it was Outside magazine. Unsure if the book got this far.
 
#6 Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre

During WWII British intelligence got a dead body, created a new identity for it, planted fake documents on his person, and arranged for the body to wash up into the hands of the Nazis. The level of detail and the amount of work that went into it was mind boggling. The goal was to contribute to a misdirection to leave Sicily unprotected from an Allied invasion. The audacious idea proved effective.

This entire operation was enthralling from start the finish. If the Germans picked up on the ruse, then they would have to think Sicily was the target. It was a big risk, big reward plan. If I recall correctly the origin of the idea was from a fictional book. A lot of British spies seemed to be wannabe spy authors at that time, including Ian Fleming.

This is at least the fourth year in a row a Ben Macintyre book has been one of my favorites of the year.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
#6 Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre

During WWII British intelligence got a dead body, created a new identity for it, planted fake documents on his person, and arranged for the body to wash up into the hands of the Nazis. The level of detail and the amount of work that went into it was mind boggling. The goal was to contribute to a misdirection to leave Sicily unprotected from an Allied invasion. The audacious idea proved effective.

This entire operation was enthralling from start the finish. If the Germans picked up on the ruse, then they would have to think Sicily was the target. It was a big risk, big reward plan. If I recall correctly the origin of the idea was from a fictional book. A lot of British spies seemed to be wannabe spy authors at that time, including Ian Fleming.

This is at least the fourth year in a row a Ben Macintyre book has been one of my favorites of the year.
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This sounds like a good one - I’ll add it to my list. I read the Spy and the Traitor a few years ago; I assume that’s one of your other Macintyre favorites (I thought it was quite good).
 
Wakelaw2006 said:
This sounds like a good one - I’ll add it to my list. I read the Spy and the Traitor a few years ago; I assume that’s one of your other Macintyre favorites (I thought it was quite good).
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Yes, that was my favorite one. A Spy Among Friends and Prisoners of the Castle are the others. Agent Sonya was a step below those, in my opinion.

Also read The Man Who Would Be King about 15 years ago and loved it. Did not even realize it was the same author for a while.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
#6 Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre

During WWII British intelligence got a dead body, created a new identity for it, planted fake documents on his person, and arranged for the body to wash up into the hands of the Nazis. The level of detail and the amount of work that went into it was mind boggling. The goal was to contribute to a misdirection to leave Sicily unprotected from an Allied invasion. The audacious idea proved effective.

This entire operation was enthralling from start the finish. If the Germans picked up on the ruse, then they would have to think Sicily was the target. It was a big risk, big reward plan. If I recall correctly the origin of the idea was from a fictional book. A lot of British spies seemed to be wannabe spy authors at that time, including Ian Fleming.

This is at least the fourth year in a row a Ben Macintyre book has been one of my favorites of the year.
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I saw the film adaptation which was also pretty good
 
The Underworld was phenomenal. Tremendously informative and compellingly written. There is so much we don’t know about the ocean and its critical role in the Earth’s ecosystem.
 
#5 House Of Sticks by Ly Tran.

This is the memoir of a Vietnamese woman who immigrated to NYC as a child. Tran has an abusive father who suffers from PTSD from his time in the South Vietnamese army and decade as a prisoner of war. The family’s roach infested apartment functions as a sweatshop for Tran who spends a lot of her childhood hours outside of school making cummerbunds or whatever other work her father can find for the family.

She desperately needs glasses, but her father does not believe her or the school. He thinks she can make her eyes stronger if she does not become dependent on glasses. Also, glasses cost money. She is able to get contacts eventually but has to hide them from her father, which leads to some ridiculous situations. That is one example of the obstacles she faced. There were many more, but no spoilers here.
 
Started reading The Midnight Library this week and was getting into it and then got notified that it was due at the library and I couldn't renew it because there were people on the waiting list for it. #cancellibraries
 
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