I really enjoyed The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Lepore. I’m not a big fan of comics or super heroes, but that was almost a minor part of this book. The creator of Wonder Woman was this brilliant eccentric man who invented the lie detector test and lived with his two wives and their four children – and no one ever knew, not even the kids. His second wife was related to Margaret Sanger, so the book also explores the birth control movement and feminism. One of the more bizarre things about the arrangement was that the first wife agreed to having the second wife in the home so she could have a career – she figured out a way to balance her career with her kids.
@tatinG regarding - The Lady In Gold
Totally agree- in fact, I never finished it.
Did you see the movie ? How does it compare?
Haven’t seen the movie. It got mediocre reviews and I don’t think is in theaters here any longer.
I’ve been trying to read The Lady in Gold and it’s been a slog fest. Glad to know its not just me.
Enjoyed this Netflix movie last week-
The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir (2014)
In light of recent event s I picked up the Prince Edward county school closing book. I am a few chapters in. Easy reading so far.
One River by Wade Davis. A young scholar heads to the Amazon in the 1970s to retrace the steps of his mentor, Harvard ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes.
A Fortune Teller Told Me by Tiziano Terzani. An Italian expat journalist living in Asia spends a year eschewing air travel as he visits 11 countries offering keen insights into politics, religion and everyday life.
Something must be done about Prince Edward County
Whoops. Disregard post #84 - this was intended for another thread ( grateful dead final tour )
I wondered why mods would have taken it down, they didn’t I misplaced it here ! Lol
Highly recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. And I second those who recommended Devil in the White City and Unbroken. I’m just starting Boys in the Boat, but a well-read friend just finished it and gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.com. I started Gulp by Mary Roach but didn’t finish it (yet).
Agree with Boys in the Boat, Sotomayor autobiography and Lean In.
Highly recommend these two books:
Our Kids - The American Dream in Crisis by Robert D. Putnam. Dr. Putnam is a Professor of Public Policy at Harvard. He has a gift for taking an academic subject and making it very readable and engaging. Basically, Dr. Putnam examines inequality by examining trends over time. His method of comparing different families in similar geographical areas to illustrate his observations makes for a very interesting read. He covers the gamut from parenting, schools, drugs, religious involvement, etc… and at the end of the book gives some suggestions on what can be done to help out children caught in the cycle of poverty and inadequate family and social supports. Can these children be “saved” from repeating the cycle or are they doomed to emulate their parent’s/neighbor’s disastrous lives?
The President’s Club - Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. If you are a history buff, or have an interest in the behind-the-scenes-happenings in the White House, this book is for you. And if you aren’t interested in these things you will be if you pick up this book! I can’t really do it justice here. If you check out the reviews on Amazon you will gain insight on why this is such a great book.
I also second the recommendation for Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Babara Demick. It is hard to believe the “ordinary lives” that the people of North Korea are living. For example, all citizens must hang a photo of the Dear Leader in their homes and keep the photo clean and in good repair and “worship” it daily. In the meantime, while they are fervently thanking the Dear Leader for all that he does for them they are slowly starving to death. And starving isn’t the only way that people are dying in this country. This book is based on first hand accounts from defectors. Hard to believe this is going on in the world today.
Another book, from a few years back, but still relevant is Freakonomics - A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
I second The President’s Club. I passed it to my husband, daughter, and friend. All liked it.
@my2sunz, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was one of the best books I’ve ever read. It stayed with me for weeks, even now I still feel emotional thinking about that book. I would assign it to the world to read if I could.
Another book I really enjoyed was Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Could not put it down.
Going back a ways a great book is Yeager: An Autobiography for anyone who is enjoying The Astronaut Wives Club on TV and wants a little perspective of what came before in the test pilot days.
The Glass Castle, Columbine, A Journey Into the Deaf-World
The Brethern (older book about the SCt), House by Tracey Kidder (the building of a house from owners, architect and contractor’s perspectives), Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth (early adventure racing), On Rue Tatin (living in France); Soul of a New Machine By T. Kidder (building of the earliest PC’s).
Another couple I really liked, as an ex-bike racer: “Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour de France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever” by Reed Albergotti. Tyler Hamilton, Lance’s longtime teammate, covered the same topic from an insider’s perspective in his book “The Secret Race.” I came away from these a big fan of Betsy Andreu, wife of teammate Frankie Andreu, and her no-BS style.
“109 East Palace” by Jennet Conant, a story of the people of the Manhattan Project more than the science, was interesting.
I have read a lot of fluff non-fiction for entertainment purposes: biographies of Dave Grohl, Marilyn Manson, and Jenna Jameson, all by Neil Strauss, some of Chelsea Handler’s books, and a few more less serious mountaineering books.
Well, I read “Devil in the White City”. I can’t say it was a real gripping story but I learned about the invention of the Ferris Wheel. 
As companion experience, I recommend. an amazon - movie " expo - magic in the white city"
Narrated by Gene Wilder, “Expo - Magic of the White City” immerses viewers in one of the most unforgettable events in American history, the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.
Starring: Claire Litton, Gene Wilder Runtime: 1 hour, 56 minutes