Baron's Book Club...est January 1, 2023.

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Baron Samedi

Baron Samedi

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We all have our New Year's Resolutions that we make and break every year.

I have decided that mine is that, beginning in 2023, I will turn off all electronics, television, computer, smart phone, at 9PM, and that I would end every day reading a book, something I did a lot more of in my younger years, pre-internet years, and I still do when on vacation or camping, and I love it, but for some reason, I just don't do it at home. It's too easy to just turn on some electronic distraction.

Based on some other discussions, I know we have a cadre of readers here on the Planet, and I thought it would be great to have a book club here to talk about what we are reading.

No format, no list that we all read, just a forum for discussion of literature.

I was thinking that, when we start a book, bring it here as an introduction, show us the book, what it's about, and why you are interested in reading it, then when finished, do a follow up post and book review. That's my notion, anyway.

All are welcome, any type of book, fiction, non-fiction, etc.

Baron's Book #1

I will begin with a book that I began this summer, and never finished because....electronic distractions....lol, so it will be the first on my list to read;

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I picked this up in a small gift shop on Deer Isle in Maine. It was an interesting little shop, a man that looked about 8o sitting at the open door, and a little store about 20 feet by 10 feet absolutely crammed with all kinds of things..books, toys, odd bits of old fishing vessels and rope hanging from the ceiling, old camping lanterns and antiques, along with children's books and coffee mugs...I wish I took a picture of it.

I am sort of an amateur history buff ( to be honest, I am interested in just about everything...like a human encyclopedia...I know a little about a lot of things, and a lot about a few little things)...this book got my attention because I know how crucial salt is to human civilization and history, but only in a sort of passing way, so I thought there will be fascinating facts and correlations that I would never have guessed regarding salt and it's impact on history.

I am going to re-read it from the beginning rather than try to pick up where I left off and remember what I had already read.
 
my reading has also faltered too much. If I were to follow your format as laid out I'd show you my latest Agatha and explain that the reason I'm reading it is because I was wondering who dunnit.
 
I have mentioned before I like to read autobiographies. I find it interesting why people do what they do and what they think of themselves.
I picked up It's always something by Gilda Radner thinking I was getting a bunch of one liners and her history of becoming a comedienne. Was I shocked to find out it is a story of cancer, the process and how she is dealing with it. Fascinating.
 
This is one of the books I'm reading.It is hard for me to put down.

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Thirteen year-old Johnny Merrimon had the perfect life: a warm home and loving parents; a twin sister, Alyssa, with whom he shared an irreplaceable bond. He knew nothing of loss, until the day Alyssa vanished from the side of a lonely street. Now, a year later, Johnny finds himself isolated and alone, failed by the people he'd been taught since birth to trust. No one else believes that Alyssa is still alive, but Johnny is certain that she is—confident in a way that he can never fully explain.

Determined to find his sister, Johnny risks everything to explore the dark side of his hometown. It is a desperate, terrifying search, but Johnny is not as alone as he might think. Detective Clyde Hunt has never stopped looking for Alyssa either, and he has a soft spot for Johnny. He watches over the boy and tries to keep him safe, but when Johnny uncovers a dangerous lead and vows to follow it, Hunt has no choice but to intervene.

Then a second child goes missing...

Undeterred by Hunt's threats or his mother's pleas, Johnny enlists the help of his last friend, and together they plunge into the wild, to a forgotten place with a history of violence that goes back more than a hundred years. There, they meet a giant of a man, an escaped convict on his own tragic quest. What they learn from him will shatter every notion Johnny had about the fate of his sister; it will lead them to another far place, to a truth that will test both boys to the limit.
 
patswin said:
I too am into history. I’d recommend anything by David McCullough or Ron Chernow.
I just gifted this one to a good friend.


View: https://www.amazon.com/Grant-Ron-Chernow/dp/159420487X/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=5a6c1eb1-1ebe-4513-969a-6e79ce1ad329
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Nathaniel Philbrick is far and away my favorite history novelist.

He does incredible research using original sources and builds a novel around it in a way that not only makes for a great story, but also has a way of teaching you the way of life in the time period.

I always loved Moby Dick as a story, but when Philbrick wrote In the Heart of the Sea, I discovered that the true story that inspired Moby Dick was much more interesting, and much more tragic, than the fictional one, and the way he describes life aboard ship, the food, the culture, how native Americans often served aboard whaling ships because on ship only your skills mattered, how they captured and processed the whales...all described in a way that makes you feel like you were there.

I haven't read all of his stuff, but his book on the Mayflower is on my list, since my ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower, so I want to read it.
 
patswin said:
I have not, but will look into it! Thanks for the tip
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I would humbly recommend either The Splendid & The Vile or Devil In The White City to start. The former is about Winston Churchill at the start of WWll and the latter is deals with the Chicago World’s Fair and the serial killer H.H. Holmes.
 
My favorite book to date about Churchill is "The Last Lion" thought I need to read the first of the two. H.H.Holmes was no joke.
 
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