Books! How do you read and what do you read?

I just finished "The Women" by Kristin Hannah. It was about the role played by women nurses in Vietnam and the lasting effects (PTSD) that were mostly downplayed and ignored at that time. I had to lay it down on occasion and then come back to it later.
 

The book I'm about to read is'Our Prince Of Scribes'Writers Remember Pat Conroy'edited by Nicole Seitz&Jonathan Haupt
Pat Conroy{1945-2016} was one of my favorite authors, read most of his books
This is a tribute book from other writers who he helped over the yrs,their stories about him
 
DebraMae said:
I just finished "The Women" by Kristin Hannah. It was about the role played by women nurses in Vietnam and the lasting effects (PTSD) that were mostly downplayed and ignored at that time. I had to lay it down on occasion and then come back to it later.
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I really, really liked that book. Everyone I know who has read it had the same reaction: How did we know so little about much of what was going on during the Vietnam War, despite watching the news and reading the papers?
 
StarSong said:
I really, really liked that book. Everyone I know who has read it had the same reaction: How did we know so little about much of what was going on during the Vietnam War, despite watching the news and reading the papers?
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Yes, and as the book touched on, if you were in the military the news you got was even more propaganda than what people in the states were getting. Those years changed me for life as I am sure they did for most of our generation.
 
Continuing my recent interest in anthropology of how ancient civilizations developed, came across this book so just ordered for $11 used hardcover of Marriage and Civilization: How Monogamy Made Us Human by William Tucker.

https://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Civilization-Monogamy-Made-Human/dp/B00NIYB10S/ref=sr_1_1

Decades ago in college classes took an anthropology class that began my interest in that science field. Today with societal monogamy, gender issues, and religious dogma, have interest in understanding its deeper issues more. This page has an excellent summary that led me to buy.

Book Summary: “Marriage and Civilization: How Monogamy Made Us Human” by William Tucker
snippet:

  • Almost all non-human mammals are polygamous, usually with one male mating with multiple females. Because of this, males tend to be highly aggressive towards each other.
  • The evolution of pair bonding among early humans reduced the sexual competition between males. The result was that unrelated males could cooperate together.
  • Since many human societies have polygamy, particularly among high-status males, cultural factors are critical to the maintenance of monogamy.
  • Hunter-gatherer, Agrarian and Industrial societies tend to have widespread monogamy. Polygamy is rare and socially unacceptable.
  • Horticultural and Herding societies tend to have widespread polygamy, particularly among high-status males. Polygamy is considered a sign of success.
  • The inevitable result of polygamy is that large number of young males will have no means to mate and reproduce. This is the root cause of many of the societies problems.
  • Societies that accept polygamy tend to have:
  • Older men marrying many far younger women.
  • Males who focus on hunting, herding animals and waging war.
  • Women do almost all the physical labor other than hunting and waging wars.
  • Higher rates of war and violence, particularly rape.
  • Low levels of male parenting of their biological children, particularly girls.
  • Much higher levels of gender inequality
  • Young males who group together with their peers to form warrior bands to express their masculinity
  • Single-parent families and multiple marriages are the cultural equivalent of polygamy in Industrial societies.
 
moviequeen1 said:
Hi,one of her books I read 3 yrs ago was 'Becoming Mrs Lewis' - historical fiction about, Joy Davidman and her romance& marriage to C.S. Lewis in the 50's. It's a terrific book, I recommend it Sue
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Oh thank you, Sue. I've been looking for my copy of C.S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed" which is about his thoughts and feelings after the death of his wife. That was an absolutely fascinating relationship between the couple after it looked like he was heading towards becoming a life-long bachelor.I look forward to getting and reading. "Becoming Mrs Lewis".
 
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I mainly read military and social history, biographies and detective novels.

Currently I am reading The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. A sequel to Notes from a Small Island. This guy's writing really is funny.
 
Ted51 said:
I mainly read military and social history, biographies and detective novels.

Currently I am reading The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson. A sequel to Notes from a Small Island. This guy's writing really is funny.
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HI Ted51, I've read most of Bill Bryson's books.Two of his funniest books' A Walk in The Woods, The Thunderbolt Kid', I recommend both Sue
 
Finally getting my turn with The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, 2024 book by Zoe Schlanger, staff writer for the Atlantic. I'm enjoying it for the science about plants but just as much for her perspective as someone who specialized in climate change out of concern for the living world but then found the news she had to report increasingly depressing. At a time when many news sources were laying off staff she took a voluntary leave to research this book and because she felt the need for “something in the natural world that felt wonderful and alive".

As a philosophy guy I find the relationship of plants to the animal world very interesting. Of course they are foundational to our world, no animal could exist without them. But many questions arise about how our experience of the world is different and how it may be similar.
 
Yesterday afternoon, I finished reading' Our Prince of Scribes:Writers Remember Pat Conroy'
I was a fan of author, Pat Conroy, read most of his books, Prince Of Tides, The Great Santini,Lords of Discipline,The Water is Wide
This is a terrific book how Conroy was generous helping other writers early in their careers,some would become life long friends. A few I did recognize, Rick Braggs,Patti Callahan Henry, Anne Rivers Siddons,others mostly Southern writers
If you were a fan of Conroy I recommend the book Sue
 
StarSong said:
I really, really liked that book. Everyone I know who has read it had the same reaction: How did we know so little about much of what was going on during the Vietnam War, despite watching the news and reading the papers?
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My book club has this one coming up in a few months and I think I had better skip the meeting.

From what I've heard it sounds to me like Kristin Hannah got her research from the Rambo movies. For example she has her protagonist coming home to be booed and spit on and that sort of bad reception has been proven to be a myth.

She also vilifies the "dirty hippies" for protesting against the war. Most of the protestors were college kids who, by getting the powers to be to end the war, saved thousands of young lives.
 
Della said:
My book club has this one coming up in a few months and I think I had better skip the meeting.

From what I've heard it sounds to me like Kristin Hannah got her research from the Rambo movies. For example she has her protagonist coming home to be booed and spit on and that sort of bad reception has been proven to be a myth.

She also vilifies the "dirty hippies" for protesting against the war. Most of the protestors were college kids who, by getting the powers to be to end the war, saved thousands of young lives.
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I think you've gotten some very bad information about both Kristin Hannah's depth of research and the book.

The book is less about the war itself and more about the evolution of a young woman during a very difficult time in her life and American history. It takes place over many years, and as information about the war comes out, she (like the rest of us) learns the ugly truths and eventually comes to protest the war.

The war was an embarrassing period for America and it's a given that we weren't particularly kind or supportive to returning veterans. While I can't imagine they were literally spat on, the truth is they were not welcomed home in the style of their fathers and grandfathers in WWI & WWII. (No idea how Korean War vets were treated.) Vietnam Vets were often shamed and felt the brunt of the public's anger over the war itself, so they were victimized twice. Once by our government, then again by the public.

I recommend this book highly. Seeing the war through the eyes of a fictional (but well-researched) character not only didn't soften my staunch antiwar positions about Vietnam and wars in general, it hardened them. Same was true for the other members of my book club.
 
Just finished reading "The Many Lives of Mama Love", the true story about a woman who goes from having the ideal suburban housewife life to becoming, in her words: a lying, stealing, heroin-addicted addict who goes to jail and has to navigate the bafflingly complex incarceration and probation system.

Highly recommend.

On an aside, it might seem I recommend every book I read. Not so. I typically read at least two books a week, and only recommend what strikes me as the best of the best.
 
Olivia said:
Oh thank you, Sue. I've been looking for my copy of C.S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed" which is about his thoughts and feelings after the death of his wife. That was an absolutely fascinating relationship between the couple after it looked like he was heading towards becoming a life-long bachelor.I look forward to getting and reading. "Becoming Mrs Lewis".
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My library doesn't have "A Grief Observed" but I've placed a hold on it anyway to see if they can get it from somewhere or order another copy. Thanks for the tip.
 
StarSong said:
I think you've gotten some very bad information about both Kristin Hannah's depth of research and the book.

The book is less about the war itself and more about the evolution of a young woman during a very difficult time in her life and American history. It takes place over many years, and as information about the war comes out, she (like the rest of us) learns the ugly truths and eventually comes to protest the war.

The war was an embarrassing period for America and it's a given that we weren't particularly kind or supportive to returning veterans. While I can't imagine they were literally spat on, the truth is they were not welcomed home in the style of their fathers and grandfathers in WWI & WWII. (No idea how Korean War vets were treated.) Vietnam Vets were often shamed and felt the brunt of the public's anger over the war itself, so they were victimized twice. Once by our government, then again by the public.

I recommend this book highly. Seeing the war through the eyes of a fictional (but well-researched) character not only didn't soften my staunch antiwar positions about Vietnam and wars in general, it hardened them. Same was true for the other members of my book club.
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I probably shouldn't have said anything about the book since I haven't read it, I'm basing what I said on what our leader said and she loved the book, I just heard her say that the character was treated horribly when she came home and I know research has said that is only reported by about 1% of the returning Vets and the Vietnam era nurse in our group who said it was ridiculous to think people who worked for the military didn't know there were women in Vietnam.*

True, there were not the parades the WW vets had, but the Vietnam Vets weren't all coming home at the same time and the country was very divided about whether we should have been in the middle of that country's civil war at all.

My book club practically worships Kristin Hannah. All 15 of us gave The Nightingale 5 stars. Unprecedented over 25 years of fighting over books. We are, largely, not me, a bunch of retired librarians and English teachers and we take our books very seriously.

Yesterday we had a big red-faced argument about, "Lessons in Chemistry."

Sorry you got some of my leftover testiness, Star. I :love: you.

Myth of the spat-on Vietnam veteran - Wikipedia*
 
If you like Kristin Hannah (as I do), I recommend you give the book a whirl and decide for yourself.

p.s. I quite liked "Lessons in Chemistry." Lighthearted and sometimes even a little silly, but rooted in truth. A lot of women dealt with very frustrating realities during the 50s & 60s. (Had my mother been born in the 1950s instead of the 1920s, her life would have been far more interesting, happier, and fulfilling.)

Even as late as the mid 1970s, despite being over 21 and employed, to get my first CC and establish credit. my father had to co-sign the application.

My brother had no problem getting a CC, no co-signer needed. It was infuriating.
 
StarSong said:
If you like Kristin Hannah (as I do), I recommend you give the book a whirl and decide for yourself.

p.s. I quite liked "Lessons in Chemistry." Lighthearted and sometimes even a little silly, but rooted in truth. A lot of women dealt with very frustrating realities during the 50s & 60s. (Had my mother been born in the 1950s instead of the 1920s, her life would have been far more interesting, happier, and fulfilling.)

Even as late as the mid 1970s, despite being over 21 and employed, to get my first CC and establish credit. my father had to co-sign the application.

My brother had no problem getting a CC, no co-signer needed. It was infuriating.
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Maddening. One of our bookies is a retired judge and she said, while in law school, some man said to her, "What are you doing here? Don't you know you're taking the place of a man who has a family to support?!"
 
MarkD said:
My library doesn't have "A Grief Observed" but I've placed a hold on it anyway to see if they can get it from somewhere or order another copy. Thanks for the tip.
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Mark, l hope you find the book. As I was reading it, l wondered how was he so able to know what l was thinking and feeling. But he was. You're welcome!
 
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