What is the last book you read, and your rating?

[intelligentsiagirl]

Read ...

THE UNSETTLING OF EUROPE
HOW MIGRATION RESHAPED A CONTINENT
Peter Gatrell
Basic Books, copyright 2019

Rating: 8/10

Europe is very much like the United States in a number of ways. True, I think the European Union countries are much more rational with their concerns about migration than the United States. Yes, migration does increase right-wing nationalism: but Europe still understands the downside of nationalism compare to the United States.

[RDillard2019]

Hello I'm new to the forum (well forums in general) so I thought I'd dive in. The last book I read was The Book of a Thousand Sins by Wrath James White; and I would give it a 4/5.

[books_andpoetri]

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, 4 out of 5 stars.

[Redlegs]

In Fatelessness by Imre Kertesz, a fifteen year old Jewish Hungarian youth is waylaid one morning on the way to his normal place of labour and, with several others, is transported to what turns out to be the Auschwitz death camp.

He lies about his age (claiming to be 16) and therefore avoids immediate execution, and is put to forced labour with the other men. He is later transferred to Buchenwald, where he is subject to more of the same for the remainder of the war.

The style is dispassionate, stark and austere. The lad seems to accept his fate, and reports his daily activities with a minimum of emotion. By writing in the first person and present tense, the reader is brought right inside daily camp life, which is harsh and cruel, but mostly dull and routine.

This a fascinating and different look at life in the German death camps of WWII from the perspective of one who lived it, but who in no way wishes to sensationalize or exaggerate the experience.

4 stars out of 5

[intelligentsiagirl]

Read ...

ANOTHER KIND OF WAR
THE NATURE AND HISTORY OF TERRORISM
John A Lynn II
Yale University Press, copyright 2019

8/10

It was a little bit different that I first thought. Still, I am very happy that I did read the book. I did understand the basic history of the history of terrorism. The book just place meat onto the bones and made it more human.

[kali545]

The last book I read was The Last Lie by Alex Lake. I gave it a 4/5 stars because it was very suspenseful. I love suspense books. They intrigue me. It had action and deception in it which I also love. It was all around a great book.

[urrutiap]

Just finished reading the last 80 pages of Star Wars Aftermath Empires End earlier tonight.

Now I need to start reading the first book of Mistborn along with continue reading Star Wars Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy for the rest of this month

[intelligentsiagirl]

Read ...

LAKOTA AMERICA
A NEW HISTORY OF INDIGENOUS POWER
Pekka Hamalainen
Yale University Press, copyright 2019

6/10

[MeTime]

I just finished The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. I loved it. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. It was funny and I didn’t want to put it down.

[Redlegs]

Two relatively short books completed to begin 2020. Firstly, One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a bleak rendering of one man's daily existence in a Soviet Gulag, in the era of Stalin.

Based on his own experiences as a political prisoner, (he was sentenced to 8 years for criticizing Stalin in a private letter), Solzhenitsyn bring to life a single day, with its tough and freezing manual labour, its arbitrary rules and punishments, its limited and poor quality food and the general life of deprivation and misery.

This is a harsh world, where its inhabitants have learned, and largely come to accept, what it takes to survive another day, and to maintain that small sliver of hope that one day they may be free again.

4 stars out of 5

Secondly, A Grief Observed by C S Lewis, which is a brief, deeply personal memoir, reflecting on the nature of grief, written following the death of his wife, Joy Gresham, from bone cancer.

This is a reflective, intelligent and, I suspect, cathartic series of observations and questions about the nature of grief, how it changes over time and varies with context.

I really admired this brief memoir for its eloquence, intelligence passion and expressions of abiding love and affection.

4.5 stars out of 5

[[Danielle]]

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I have read The Handmaid's Tale and seen the 3 seasons on Hulu, so I am thoroughly invested in the world Atwood created. I really enjoyed the novel and it wrapped up so many loose ends for me! It did seem like she was writing it to set up Hulu for more content, but I didn't mind because it was so good.

[Melissa r smith]

I just finished an audible book entitled the silent patient by Alex michealides! It was full of twists and turns and was a delightful read! The ending was a big surprise that I never saw coming! Very good writing and totally enjoyable read!

[Oliver_books]

California: On the Edge of American History by Ronald Genini
Rating: 3 out of 4

[intelligentsiagirl]

Read ...

THE ENCHANTMENTS OF MAMMON
HOW CAPITALISM BECAME THE RELIGION OF MODERNITY
Eugene McCarraher
The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, copyright 2019

9.5 / 10

It is a very interesting book. Learn the term: Money = The God among Commodities Interesting that William J Levitt, developer of Levittown, New Jersey famously remarked in 1948, "no man who owns his own house and lot can be a Communist. He has too much to do." This is very interesting, as the move to build homes and move the public out of the city with a vast network or road and highways. This really makes me think about urban development since World War II for the purpose to stop communism.

[Oliver_books]

The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio by Belle Ami
Rating: 4 out of 4