Hey all, glad to see this thread exists. I'll share what I've been reading. It's pretty thematic - memoirs, business, and generally compelling nonfiction, including some science.

Have 'read' 8 (audio-)books last two months which might be some sort of personal adulthood best.

I'm currently reading A Promised Land (along with the rest of the country, it seems) - highly recommend the audiobook, as whatever you feel about Obama, he's an amazing orator.

2021:
13. A Brief History of Time, Hawking
12. Moonwalking with Einstein, Foer
11. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, Epstein
10. This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, Reinert and Rogoff [I found this dry and a really difficult audiobook to follow. I'm taking credit for the 'read' but I admittedly skipped around a lot.]
9. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Iger
8. Grinding it Out: The Making of McDonalds, Kroc
7. The Gambler: How Penniless Dropout Kirk Kerkorian Became the Greatest Dealmaker in Capitalist History
6. The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street, Frumes & Indap
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5. Iran Rising: The Survival and Future of the Islamic Republic, Saikal
4. American Kompromat, Unger
3. The Effective Executive, Drucker
2. Zero to One, Thiel
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Carnegie (started in ‘20)

2020:
1. Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahnemann
2. Outliers, Gladwell
3. Sapiens, Harari
4. The Fish Who Ate the Whale, Cohen
5. The Story of More, Jahren
6. Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, Burrough
7. Debt: The First 5,000 Years, Graeber
8. Shoe Dog, Knight
9. The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Horowitz
10. Culture Warlords, Lavin
11. Lean In, Sandberg
12. Predictably Irrational, Ariely


I think nearly everyone would really like (1) 'The Fish Who Ate the Whale' about the life of Sam Zemurray and his life in the banana trade, and (2) 'Moonwalking with Einstein,' about a journalist who covers an international memory contest and begins 6mo of training for the US memory championship in order to understand and write about the techniques.

Also 'The Gambler' was a fascinating read about the incredible life of a Las Vegas icon who was particularly private but massively influential in the making of modern Las Vegas. The Caesars book was a total rollercoaster and while fairly detail-dense (finance-types and lawyers may enjoy the most) it was a good, if a bit biased, description of an absolutely insane time. Friend said the book made him want to claw his eyes out, in case you're wondering if the book evokes emotion.

I personally enjoyed Bob Iger's book quite a bit and think it would have broad appeal. I don't think it was earth-shattering but I've actually referenced passages in the book a few times in the last few months in business settings so maybe it's more informative than I came away thinking.

And if anyone has a suggestion for a (layman-ish) 30+ year update to "A Brief History of Time" I'm all ears...

Cheers.

A Briefer History of Time was Hawking's follow-up.

Also might check out Brian Greene's books.

Looking for recommendations on "dystopian future" genre novels if anybody knows some good ones. I enjoy the genre but haven't read many of them. A couple of months ago I read Orwell's Animal Farm for the first time and loved it. I followed it up with a reread of 1984 which I hadn't read in 50 years. Struck more to home this time Then I read a real crappy one called The Rule of One which was one of those monthly "free reads" from Amazon. But still enjoyed it for the genre aspects of it. I enjoyed all of the Hunger Games books too so that is sort of the thing I am looking for.

So if anyone has any good ones up their sleeve let me know!

I tried reading Brave New World about three times and then gave up. Couldn't get along with it at all.

A Clockwork Orange is okay once you tune in to the language IIRC.

I read A Brave New World many moons ago around the first time I read 1984 back in the 60's. I saw Clockwork Orange movie Just wondering if there are any "good" new entrants into the genre.

Have you read the Wool books by Hugh howey?

We
Farenheit 451
Never Let Me Go

Snow Crash and The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson).

Oryx and Crake (Atwood). Two sequels.

Very good set of books. One of the few Sci-fi I really liked, so I'd recommend these as well.

Anyone have recs for good books while I'm waiting forever for the end of the Kingkiller Chronicles?

Aldous Huxley's "Island" might not be dystopian future, but it touches on similar themes to Brave New World. A battle between Utopian values vs Modern-day consumerism. It's not very long either.

jennifer government by max barry was fantastic

I accidentally left this book on an overnight bus from KL to Singapore in 2004, around half read. In the 17 years since then I've never been tempted to buy another copy.

Agree with the suggestions thus far; I'll add This Perfect Day by Ira Levin

Thanks to everyone for the recommendations. In time I hope to check them all out!

+1 for Jennifer Government. Hilarious.

And before we move on, I'd like to plug one of my faves, J.G. Ballard. The Drowned World is considered a classic by many. It's a 1960s take on global warming. It gets weird, as does all of Ballard's stuff.

High-Rise might fit the bill, but I'm not sure it takes place in the future. But it's dystopian enough-- sort of The Lord of the Flies with adults in a suburban mixed-use development.

Has anyone mentioned The Road by Cormac McCarthy?

Thank you

I'm enjoying Sohrab Ahmari's The Unbroken Thread a lot. He's an insightful perceptive guy with a great story, the right values, and a clarity and directness of expression that's refreshing.

Debating between Ed McBain and Raymond Chandler. Chandler obviously the better writer, but I loved McBain in my late teens, so a bit of a nostalgia trip.

Is there an Ed McBain novel that is the best?

...............

I'm very impressed with Joyce Carol Oates
I've read a few of her books
her characters seem very, very real to me


.

Started a couple new ones.

A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin. His history of the Apollo program. It's a tome at almost 700 pages.

It sounded familiar when I picked it up, but I didn't find a copy on my shelf. I'm sure it will be something I enjoy. About 9% of the way through, good so far for those that like that sort of thing.

The Demon-Haunted World...Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan. Just gotten started. Seems as if it's going to appeal to my love of rationality and logic, and debunk mythical thinking. Sagan someone I've enjoyed since the original Cosmos, kind of a hero trying to educate about scientific approach instead of, "I'll believe fairy tales just because."

I haven't read Oates in a long while, but I recall being very impressed by Them and Wonderland; also some of her short stories.

Then I was disappointed in Son of the Morning--and intimidated by her output. (Though I've managed to keep up with Atwood, who is certainly getting up there in numbers ... and has been uneven of late.)

Yes, def an underrated one.

Catch-22 is justly a classic, wildly hilarious in large part. Def some black humor if that's not your thing.

Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell
Standard Gladwell pop psychology, bounces around various events and theories on how we communicate or, more often, fail to. Was ok, had some interesting ideas which I immediately forget.

Might try his new book, The Bomber Mafia, next as it sounds a bit more interesting. Both books were 'written' to be audiobooks so have music, sound effects, as well as the interviews he did.

Is this a how-to book on how to strike up conversations with strangers?