In addition to "Empire of the Summer Moon", am concurrently listening to "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi as well as thumbing through "The Illustrated Book of Five Rings". Cool to see woodblock prints and pictures of armor and swords to envision both the time period and technology of the times.

Once I get past those two, next up will be: "The Answer Is..." by Alex Trebek.

Set The Night On Fire

~Robby Krieger

Living, dying, and playing guitar with the Doors

The JBL Story - 60 Years of Audio Innovation by John M. Eargle

My speaker guy lent this to me today, due back in a couple of months so putting a stop of other books and other distractions (…sorry Dan…). More pictures and diagrams than text so I should be able to go through this rather quickly. I’ll be more interested in the Consumer Products chapter but the broad array of product lines should still be entertaining.

The testament John Grisham

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Rogue Lawyer- John Grisham.

Justice On The Brink ~ Linda Greenhouse

(The death of RBG and the rise of Amy Coney Barrett and the 12 months that transformed the Supreme Court)

Fenster would like it but I found it so much high-level tap dancing.

Hate Inc
Matt Taibbi

In this characteristically turbocharged new book, now in a new post-election edition, celebrated Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi provides an insider’s guide to the variety of ways today’s mainstream media tells us lies. Part tirade, part confessional, it reveals that what most people think of as “the news” is, in fact, a twisted wing of the entertainment business.

In the Internet age, the press have mastered the art of monetizing anger, paranoia, and distrust. Taibbi, who has spent much of his career covering elections in which this kind of manipulative activity is most egregious, provides a rich taxonomic survey of American political journalism’s dirty tricks.

After a 2020 election season that proved to be a Great Giza Pyramid Complex of invective and digital ugliness, Hate Inc. is an invaluable antidote to the hidden poisons dished up by those we rely on to tell us what is happening in the world.
320 pages • Paperback ISBN 978-1-68219-260-3 • E-book 978-1-68219-259-7.

(End of professional write up).

My Thoughts…
Halfway through. How a book can be so unexpectedly refreshing (a mid lefty reporter) strips it all down for a warts and all look at the media. The chit storms, half truths and The Sides not being dishonest as much as committing sins of knowing omission.

Refreshing and also infuriating. At least a few times a night, I read passages from the book emphasizing the bs Taibbi has written. Conspiracy Theories give away to Conspiracy Fact.

Vindicated are the people who “knew” CNN, FOX News, and MBCSN are universally untrustworthy. Lost are still those looking for Cronkite style news of the 70s. Little spin and closing with And that’s the way it is….

Just about nobody tells us the way it is any longer. Taibbi is a flicker of light.

Tesla: His Tremendous and Troubled Life.

Free audio through Chapter A Day on WPR.

finished "King Rat" by James Clavell...life among Western POWs ( Aussies, Brits and Americans) during WWII on an island in the Pacific, guarded by Japanese and Korean soldiers...

halfway through "The Mark of the Assassin" by Daniel Silva

I just recorded the movie King Rat but haven't watched it yet...I did see it a long time ago,and remember
it being pretty good movie

Gangsters of Capitalism
Smedley Butler, The Marines and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire
By Jonathan M. Katz

Brief History of Equality ~ Thomas Piketty

Cliff notes: The rich have too much so lets take it

Unsettled (What climate science tells us, what it doesn't, and why it matters)

~ Steven E Koonin former Undersecretary for Science, U.S. Department Of Energy

Cliff notes: A very critical look at the real science behind the the IPCC Assesments.

Jeb! and the Bush Crime Family
The Inside Story of an American Dynasty

By Roger Stone and Saint John Hunt

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The Secret History, Donna Tartt...good story about a group of college friends at a small New England college in the 70's, who kill a stranger and then unravel...

The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need ( revised 2022 ed.)

~Andrew Tobias

Think I first read this in around '80. He still writes some very funny and smart chit.

First chapter is titled "If I'm so smart, how come this book won't make you rich?"

The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonparte - Carl Marx
The Making of the English Working Class - E. P. Thompson

Up next

Lizabeth Cohen - Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919 - 1939

Edit: My bad. Sorry RayR.

Well, this took a dark turn.............................

Keep the politics out of this section ya basted!

Biography of Judge Isaac Parker

Political history of the Cherokee Nation

I am currently reading, Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know - Malcolm Gladwell. I just ordered an extra copy for the parents of a teenage daughter, holly cow!

I also ordered The Tipping Point and Blink.

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