I had to ask google about this

Limitless

 

will have to check it out

That’s the one! The cold episode is my favorite.

Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity

by Peter Attia, MD

 

 

Circling back around on this.

Just finished last night and the final chapter dealt with mental health, which plays an important part in life span and health span.

Author writes about his struggles, especially depression, and how he finally sought help.

Bit of a gut punch for me to read.

He references a book by one of his therapists I Don't Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression

Amazon just delivered

Finished Masters Of The Air, a VERY detailed account of the exploits of the 8th Air Force in Europe.  Hoo-wee, what a ride.  Gave me a new appreciation for my maternal grandfather, who served as the ball turret gunner on a B-17.  Which is exactly the place I would not want to be on a Fortress, for many reasons.

Also made me understand why he rarely talked about his time serving, if ever.  If I'm correctly matching up the years he was there with the events in the book, his may have been one of the crews ordered to carry out some of the...less than humane missions toward the end of the European Campaign.  We unfortunately dipped our toe into "terror bombing" as frustration over Hitler's refusal to surrender grew.  Nasty stuff, and I would understand my kindhearted Grandad not wanting to revisit that time in his life.

Anyway, I've moved on to much lighter fare, The Watchers.  Not the old Dean Koontz one with the Corey Haim movie adaptation, this one's by an author named A.J. Shine.  I heard about it from watching the trailer for the new movie coming out starring Dakota Fanning.  I actually didn't make it all the way through the trailer...it was intriguing enough that I knew I'd want to read the book, so logged right in to Audible and started listening.

It's pretty good...main character gets lost in the woods, and stumbles on a mysterious, concrete, Spartan shack in which she and three other people, already there, take shelter from mysterious creatures that live in the woods, hunting/"watching" them.

There's going to be some kind of twist - I figured that out on my own, before I noticed M. Night Shyamalan produces and his...daughter?...Ishana directs the movie.  Just a lot of big holes in the logic of their situation that I feel certain will make sense once the "real situation" is revealed.  It's a fun read so far.  Beautiful, poetic descriptions that remind me a little of Cormac McCarthy's.  Nowhere as deep as Cormac as a whole, though.  It's just a nice break from the real-world horrors of WWII, trying to figure out if the twist is going to be something like The Village, or Identity, or Cabin In The Woods, or what.

Have read a handful of books since last posting here, just haven’t gotten around to it. But here are two I highly recommend:

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President
by Candice Millard

This book tells the story of the assassination of James Garfield in 1881. I am usually a somewhat slow reader, but I flew through this one. It’s not too long, and it kept me riveted all the way through. It provides a thorough background on Garfield, as a truly self-made and well-rounded man, along with an overview of the politics of the time. It gives you a good idea of the kind of President he might have been—potentially one of the great ones, making his death after only six months in office that much more tragic. In parallel it provides an in-depth look at the killer Charles Guiteau—his background, delusional personality, and inexplicable motivations. The level of tragedy was compounded by Garfield’s medical (mis)treatment—he would have very likely survived if under the care of a different doctor (or no doctor at all), or if it happened even ten years later. As a reader—despite knowing his death was coming, after two months of intense suffering following being shot, the moment he finally passed was very emotional and got me a little misty.

Millard can really tell a story. I’ve now read three of her four books, the others being The River of Doubt (about an ill-fated Teddy Roosevelt expedition in the Amazon) and River of the Gods (about the search for the source of the Nile); they’re all outstanding. If you enjoy the narrative non-fiction genre—just pick one and you won’t be disappointed. The fourth one is on my list (Hero of the Empire, about a young Winston Churchill in the Boer War), and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War.
by Erik Larson

Larson’s brand new release; in my mind it’s one of his best, and I’ve read and enjoyed nearly all of them. Of course there have been innumerable books written on the Civil War. But this one is a bit unique—it’s a virtually day-by-day look at the eventful five months from Lincoln’s election till the first shots being fired at Fort Sumter. It provides a little background prior to that—enough to give you an idea of what kind of man Lincoln was, and the unenviable position he was put into upon being elected. There is a heavy focus on the horrible situation Robert Anderson and those under his command at Sumter were forced to deal with. Of course you know how the story will end, but it’s fascinating to read how the path developed over that brief time period, the outsized personalities involved, and how the outcome ultimately became inevitable.

Some chilling parallels to the present-day political climate. Although as bad as the divisions are now, they still don’t quite rise to the levels of that time (yet). Incidentally, there was also a great fear after Lincoln’s election as to whether the Congressional certification of the electoral count—generally considered a formality then like it is now—would go through without some kind of rebellion. Lincoln breathed a great sigh of relief when it did. And then came the hard part.

My copy of Wordslut arrived from Amazon yesterday. I think it was Dave who recommended it.

Yes! I think you will enjoy it.

We do still have a Barnes & Noble near us. I enjoy bookstores although I am part of the reason they are disappearing; I’m 100% e-books borrowed from the library. When I’m in bookstores I’m usually looking for books to borrow later. Of course my tax dollars pay for the library, which buys books. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

I finished Material World by Ed Conway. Likely a Dave recommendation, I think? It was good. I learned some stuff. The info on all the byproducts was crazy. I was surprised to see lithium on the list until he started talking about the importance of batteries. I wish I could unlearn a few things about how fragile our supply chains are. 

I started Never Enough by Jennifer Wallace. I believe shu posted about this one. I’m only 25% in and have already learned that my “fuck that shit” attitude about loading this kid up with activities 6 or 7 days a week is supported by actual data. Some of the stories and interviews she includes are crushing.

Just banged out John Sanford's newest, Toxic Prey and Harlan Coben's Think Twice

Big fan of both