Just finished Journey by James Michener and loved it.

A friend and I wanted to do a classic over the summer and dragged our feet so she eventually suggested why don't we do a Michener book (The Drifters is my favorite book of all time). Given most are ~1,000 pages she suggested Journey bc it was shorter and without knowing a thing about I agreed.

This book doesn't really have any major cliffhangers or some elaborate plot but Michener is just so perfect at taking you somewhere. For all 202 pages I felt like I was on the trek through Canada with Evelyn and his crew. I loved the characters especially Irina Kozlok. Just a great book. Makes me want to travel. Makes me want to read more Michener but not the commitment to such massive novels like most of his are

I loved it. One of the few novels I've read in the past couple years I truly enjoyed.

An interesting note about that book, one that provides insight into Michener's generosity and support for apprentice writers:

Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black.

A mostly-autobiographical series of stories (there's some socio-political rants in there too).

Enjoyed his comedy on The Daily Show. It was a fun read, especially as I read the stories in his voice. Also, even though it wasn't written, I mentally always ended them with the throwback to Stewart. "<rant>...Jon!"

Got me to look up his schedule, and got a ticket for his show here in November. Looking forward to that.

This was excellent, thanks for the recommendation. Echoes of Philip Kerr but also reminded me a bit of Olen steinhauser’s Yalta Boulevard series.

Read one Phillip Kerr and didn't love it but went on a huge Russia kick last year with the standout being The Romanovs. Nicky and Alex and 1917 particularly interested me so gonna a give this White Russian a go

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System

I'm ~15% in, and already the author has set up some compelling stories. Looking forward to this one.

Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr’s latest, hit my kindle app last night. At first glance feels very David Mitchell which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’m curious to see if he can pull it off. David Mitchell himself hasn’t been able to since the Bone Clocks.

I thought All the Light we Cannot See was one of the best books I had read in years when it first came out, so I am hopeful.

Amor Towles also has a new book coming out shortly, which I’m also eagerly anticipating.

This sounds amazing! Adding this to the list as well. Love this thread

Yeah was on one of the more recent lists from bill gates and the author has a Pulitzer. Probably will get thru it over the next week.

Very excited for new Amor Towles!

New Jonathan Franzen novel coming out in a few days, Crossroads. Getting good reviews from what I can tell.

An essay I recently read in The Daily Beast set me on Robert McCrum’s new Shakespearean. Excellent so far.
Read This: "Nobody Illuminates Everyday Reality Better Than Shakespeare"

This Is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay
A comedian now, but was a doctor. The book's hilarious extracts from his diaries as a doctor.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is really, really good. I want to take the day off so I can keep reading it good.

I’m nearing the end of Novel Explosives by Jim Gauer. This is a comic masterpiece, not to mention a grand experiment in circular narrative. It’s as good as Pynchon or Wallace, in my humble view.

Excellent, halfway done, very happy so far.

Yep I finished new Doerr and immediately started new Towles.

Jonathan Franzen's new book Crossroads is very good, evidently slated to be the 1st in a 3-book trilogy after which Franzen says he's gonna quit for good. Crossroads isn't up in the Corrections and Freedom stratosphere but it's quite a bit better than Purity was.

I bought a copy of The Black Swan last night at Goodwill for $1. It's ok I guess, but where are the crazy hot ballerinas I was promised!

edit: Lol this Taleb guy is really insufferable. I remember now how I read 5 pages of Skin in the Game before quitting. I know I quit on too many books but that's just me, and to beat myself up or try to force myself to finish books I hate would be throwing good finite resources after bad. As a young man it seemed like I had almost infinite reading energy, but not now.

Taleb is really full of himself. I didn't really care for Black Swan but I thought Fooled by Randomness is a very good and important read. After Black Swan I had no interest in anything else he had to say.

Taleb is insufferable and insightful at the same time.

Just about done with The Lufthansa Heist by Henry Hill and Daniel Simone.

It's strange. On the plus side, the story is very compelling and is a page-turner. It's also interesting to see some details that didn't make Goodfellas.

On the other hand, it's poorly written; quite a few grammatical errors. Flips between first and third person (this seems to be Hill's telling the story and Simone's writing, I guess). Unnecessarily detailed in spots (I don't care that the FBI guy was eating pistachios or the hit man wore a Bill Blass jacket when doing the deed).

Overall, I think the story overcomes these shortcomings.

Also reading The Man Who Walked Through Time by Colin Fletcher. It's an account of his 1963 walk through the Grand Canyon.

Meh, doesn't do it for me. Can't put a finger on it, just isn't compelling.

I discounted him when I started reading his stuff because of his insufferability -- usually it's bluster designed to obscure weak arguments -- but a lot his arguments that I've worked through seem to hold up.

It’s funny how everyone keeps repeating “insufferable,” that’s exactly the word I’ve been associating with the tone of his work/twitter, too. Seems we’ve all identified the living quintessence of the word.

Agreed that everything is downhill after Fooled by Randomness.