Book recommendations

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DMan 11

DMan 11

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Putting a call out to the horde for any book recommendations you may have to offer a couch-bound recipient of a shoulder reconstruction ….
I’m into anything other than sci-fi and fantasy novels, lean more toward non-fiction and lap up anything decent in the personal development / autobiographical genres.

If you can throw any suggestions my way, including why you were compelled enough to recommend- it would be greatly appreciated


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I read a lot of crime so might not be your cup of tea, but here is a couple of recommendations. My favourite series is the Kate Atkinson Jackson Brodie series, starting with Case Histories. It was a tv series a few years back.

My fave Australian crime author is Garry Disher. His most recent, The Way it is Now was good but my favourite is the trilogy starting with Bitterwash Road, also published under the title Hell to Pay.

The most recent autobio I read was Debbie Harry’s. I enjoyed that, but then she was my era, and it all meant something to me.

I will follow this thread with interest as I should branch out with my reading.
 
Really hard one without knowing you personally but as I also tend towards non-fiction/essayists in my reading, I'll have a go.

Hitch 22 is possibly the best autobiographical memoir I have ever read, but it must be a decade old now. Christopher Hitchens was amazing, whilst I happen to agree with him on a lot of topics, I think it is well known that even those that fiercely disagree with him admire his writing.

PJ O'Rourke died recently and I have started re-reading Eat the Rich, it might be a little dated but it's still funny and educational

Last year I read a book about the Chernobyl disaster called Midnight in Chernobyl that was pretty well researched and amazing about how that unfolded, and with events of recent months it is suddenly more topical

Hope your shoulder gets better - you aren't Nat Fyfe, are you?
 

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Just came back from a walk and I was thinking about reading and thought I would make a couple of other comments.

I am intending on reading The World for Sale by Javier Blas. It is non fiction about commodity trading, the ethics, the political influence etc. it is supposed to be really good.

Getting back to crime novels, one of the things that is really enjoyable about many crime series is the locale. I have sat in a pub in Fitzroy feeling like I was in a Jack Irish novel, been to Glebe to see Cliff Hardy’s local, walked in Boston where Spenser walked his dog, and walked up and down Santa Monica boulevard in Los Angeles to try and pick where Elvis Cole’s office would be.

The most recent Jackson Brodie novel is set in Yorkshire. I read it just before spending some time in Yorkshire in 2019. I reread it immediately on return just to relive the locale.
 
Business / Leadership - I have a lot of recommendations but 'The Hard Thing about Hard Things' is helpful, practical and interesting.

Also Thomas Sowell - Discrimination and Disparities. Not a long read but a thorough and interesting one.
 
I just bought "Why we kneel, how we rise" by Michael Holding. It should be inspirational as I love Mikey!!
 
Alrightly! I read a fair bit in the self-development / business space. My favourite books of late have been those around emotional resilience and understanding, creating space between our experience and our response. Fantastic if you want to strengthen your ability to not be triggered by the football


Books that make you think -
  • The Gift of Imperfection - Brene Brown
  • Atlas of the Heart - Brene Brown (identifying our emotions and labelling them)
  • Emotional Agility - Susan David
  • Mindset - Carol Dweck
  • Think Again - Adam Grant
  • 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think - Brianna Wiest
  • The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek
  • No Rules Rules - Reed Hastings
  • Breath - James Nestor

Old faves -
  • Freakonomics - Two guys that are awesome
  • Predictably Irrational - Dan Something
  • Traction - Gino Something
  • Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
  • Principles - Ray Dalio
  • Never Split The Difference - Chris Voss
Agree with poshman about the Hard Thing About Hard Things - enjoyed reading that
 
Arcassius said:
Alrightly! I read a fair bit in the self-development / business space. My favourite books of late have been those around emotional resilience and understanding, creating space between our experience and our response. Fantastic if you want to strengthen your ability to not be triggered by the football


Books that make you think -
  • The Gift of Imperfection - Brene Brown
  • Atlas of the Heart - Brene Brown (identifying our emotions and labelling them)
  • Emotional Agility - Susan David
  • Mindset - Carol Dweck
  • Think Again - Adam Grant
  • 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think - Brianna Wiest
  • The Infinite Game - Simon Sinek
  • No Rules Rules - Reed Hastings
  • Breath - James Nestor

Old faves -
  • Freakonomics - Two guys that are awesome
  • Predictably Irrational - Dan Something
  • Traction - Gino Something
  • Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
  • Principles - Ray Dalio
  • Never Split The Difference - Chris Voss
Agree with poshman about the Hard Thing About Hard Things - enjoyed reading that
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Principles and Never Split the difference I absolutely loved!

I will add:

Influence - Robert Cialdini
Pre-Suasion - Robert Cialdini (great for teams)
The Great CEO Within - Matt Mochary
 
Sorry, late to the party here.
Jordan Peterson is not for everyone, but has a common sense approach to things. He is in the main part traditionalist, which I like as society moves to cancel culture. He does get categorised as controversial on topics such as identity and feminism, minority groups. So you pick and choose.
His popular book was 12 rules for Life. I liked it for a more modern day political self growth book - not sure how else to describe it. He has some good Youtube content, but his books are great IMO.

I like previous suggestions, such as anything Malcolm Caldwell. He is great - The Outliers was one of my favourite reads. An older one, was called "The World is Flat" by Friedman. Was a book on Capitalism and the essentially how trade has opened up an economy for all. Things have changed significantly since then. I have an interest in capitalism, and the banking sector making the rich richer, and the poor poorer. So, it talks about increased opportunities. A good segway into the world today in which the banking community has created legislation and lowered taxes for the rich, and created problems in America which follow here to Australia, essentially a way we are all taxed and money is wasted paying high wages for a small amount of CEO's. My 2 favourite fiction books are Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

Finally, I am big fan now of going for a run or doing some gardening and playing a podcast. Essential IMO:
1. Dan Carlin - Hardcore History. Not the Armageddon series to start with. Just the original.
2. Stephen West - philosophy. - I love this guy and learnt a lot. Great for dinner party discussions, as he keeps it open for debate on topics.
3. Mindfulness - there are many so I will not put one out there, as there great sports people, and physios, yoga\spiritual people. Really for you to find one that you relate to. I have many and sometimes just hearing people interviewed that have hit hard times that find this and share their journey is an insight into how to live in the now.

Anyway, I went through a shoulder reconstruction sometime ago, and the biggest part was trust. It took me a year to surf properly again. Most of it was confidence I think. In elite environments they get the premo service, and although I had private care, once you are "fixed" you are essentially on your own, and for me the confidence in trust was the big thing. Anyway, maybe you or others will get something out of my recommendations.
 
Albert Facey "A Fortunate Life" - there is someone that endured the most unfortunate and difficult circumstances throughout his life but still considered himself fortunate.

My all time favorite book.
 
BanjoRules said:
Albert Facey "A Fortunate Life" - there is someone that endured the most unfortunate and difficult circumstances throughout his life but still considered himself fortunate.

My all time favorite book.
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Any benefit having the hard back or paper back vs the kindle? Kindle isn't good with images.
 
poshman said:
Any benefit having the hard back or paper back vs the kindle? Kindle isn't good with images.
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I've got a hard back of this one for the bookshelf. Prefer that for my favorites.

Will definitely re read at some point.

Theatre180 did an awesome stage-cinema show of this book at Warwick Grand Cinemas some years back.

Well worth attending if they come back.
 

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BanjoRules said:
Albert Facey "A Fortunate Life" - there is someone that endured the most unfortunate and difficult circumstances throughout his life but still considered himself fortunate.

My all time favorite book.
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I won the Sir David Brand Award (tourism) for Albert Facey House many years ago, when I was working in tourism marketing. I put together their submission.
 
dockerfemme said:
I am a big fan of Michael Robotham. I like his early novels best. Do you have other favourite crime authors?
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Have you seen the series 'Trapped' on SBS on Demand? it's very addictive, if you like crime novels (and can tolerate subtitles). It's set in Iceland. I'm going to Iceland next year, so thought it would be worth watching, and it's better than I expected.
 
DMan 11 said:
Putting a call out to the horde for any book recommendations you may have to offer a couch-bound recipient of a shoulder reconstruction ….
I’m into anything other than sci-fi and fantasy novels, lean more toward non-fiction and lap up anything decent in the personal development / autobiographical genres.

If you can throw any suggestions my way, including why you were compelled enough to recommend- it would be greatly appreciated


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com
Click to expand...
Have you heard of Borrow Box? it's a free service from local libraries - you can download audio or ebooks for free!
 
dockerfemme said:
I am a big fan of Michael Robotham. I like his early novels best. Do you have other favourite crime authors?
Click to expand...
JP Pomare is meant to be pretty good. Fairly young Australian crime writer. Peter Temple is great, especially yhe novels Truth and The Broken Shore. He wrote the Jack Irish books, which is also a great show, not least for the Fitzroy pub scenes with the old Fitzroy Lions supporters resigned to being barflies at the Napier.
 
Sweetback said:
JP Pomare is meant to be pretty good. Fairly young Australian crime writer. Peter Temple is great, especially yhe novels Truth and The Broken Shore. He wrote the Jack Irish books, which is also a great show, not least for the Fitzroy pub scenes with the old Fitzroy Lions supporters resigned to being barflies at the Napier.
Click to expand...
I have read some JP Pomare. I love the Jack Irish novels, not so much Truth and the Broken Shore. If you want outback noir it is Garry Disher for me. The Hirsch novels are fantastic.
 
dockerfemme said:
I have read some JP Pomare. I love the Jack Irish novels, not so much Truth and the Broken Shore. If you want outback noir it is Garry Disher for me. The Hirsch novels are fantastic.
Click to expand...
I need to read some Garry Disher. Also Robert Gott and Shane Moloney. There’s also a guy named Mark Brandi who’s meant to be good. He’s got a new book coming out. Candice Fox is another one.
 
Late to the party on this discussion but love ready…when time permits.

My recommendations always start with Tim Winton, you can smell the WA landscape coming off the pages. And he is a Freo supporter.

The Slough House series by Mick Herron is unputdownable. In the spirit of John Le Carre but in an unmistakably contemporary setting with the darkest of humour. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Other books I’ve enjoyed reading this year:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingslover - a retelling of David Copperfield in the drug soaked Kentucky Appalachian Mountains.

Le Freak - Nile Rodger’s autobiography. What a career. What a life. Looking forward to seeing him play at Freo Prison next month.

Heat 2 by Michael Mann - picking up where the movie left off and filling in the characters back stories from the movies.
 

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