Re. The Only Woman in the Room — about a week ago, I came across a bio of Hedy Lamarr on PBS, American Masters. I knew that she was a famous movie star and among the most beautiful of women, but I had no idea that she was absolutely brilliant. Now, I know. You can probably find the PBS episode online. Fascinating.

Speaking of brilliant women, The Other Einstein is by the same author as the book about Hedy Lamarr. The author is Marie Benedict.

Turns out, Einstein’s wife, Mileva Maric, was studying physics in Zurich and was running circles around the male brainiacs in her classes. But, then, Albert Einstein noticed her, hit on her, made her his wife, and then overshadowed her. Was she “the wind beneath his wings”? How much of his genius was “inspired” by her? What did she contribute to Einstein’s theories, uncredited?

I refer to books like these two titles as being about women trapped in time. (sigh)

I never read fiction, I figured if I want a made up story, I'll just watch a movie and be done with it in two hours. PLus, I prefer to learn somthing, so non-fiction is it for me. The last book I read is 3 years old, it's Red, the Life of Sammy Hagar. I first saw him live in '84 when he opened for ZZTOP on the Eliminator tour. He put on one hell'va show. I watch his show on AXS TV when he goes on the road and interviews rock stars that have a worthy career.

The guy has been rocking for 50 years, he not a lightweight, he's been around, but he's not a tough guy, or a tattoo poser, he's a real rocker. Very interesting about his time in Montrose and his solo career and his time in Van Halen. If you like rock music, read it, I got it at the library at the Gold Dome.

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Heheh. Talk about different drummers. Sounds like I float around a bit more than you do...

I enjoy reading non-fiction, but I often find when I get well into a book that I am reading one person's slant on a person or an event and I'm not necessarily getting an accurate, detached description. So I tend to be very careful and research non-fiction books before I jump in.

I read more fiction than non-fiction. The real world is staring me in the face every day, and I love a good book to keep it at bay for a while. Plus, I love science fiction, which by definition is not available in non-fiction, so there ya go.

And as far as movies...I love movies too. But the fact that a good book takes much longer than the running length of a movie is a plus for me, not a negative. Nothing better than immersing in a fictional world that isn't here and gone so fast! Love it. Example you say? There are many, but to pick one of my favorites...Asimov. Get into his universe and you have some wonderful story-telling to settle into for a very long time. :)

Mysteries set in earlier centuries
 

I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan for many decades and over the last few years have found a number of book series set as British mysteries in the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially the Charles Lenox, Ian Hamilton, Ian Lavendar, and Sebastion St. Cyr series. Not only are they well crafted mysteries, but they provide a fascinating view of life in Great Britain during that time, with strong emphasis on the inequities in the lives of the fifferent classes. I'm also reading Peter Ashers "The Beatles from A to Zed", and Mo Rocca's "Mobituaries". Both are very informative and interesting, and they have the advantage of being books you can put down and come back to sometime later without having to worry about where you are in the story!

I too love Sherlock Holmes, did you happen to watch the British TV show Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman? I think I've seen everyone at least twice. They were like mini-movies, each was 90 minutes and no commercials and took 28 days to shoot. Really good show, makes the American show "Elementary" seem like kid's stuff. If you haven't you should, I originally saw them on the public channel WUCF channel 24 and they they were rerun on BBC America and sometimes they have on demand. Unfortunately they only made about four a year since they took so much time to make.

I became a fan of Martin Freedman who played Dr. Watson, he was the original "Jim" character on the British version of The Office. I watched as many of those as I could on Netflix and he was a featured character on the first season of Fargo on FX Channel, excellent 10 episode series with Billy Bob Thornton as the antagonist. That's available on demand I believe. Of course Benedict Cumberbatch has become a big star, I think that part of the reason that the American show Elementary fell out of favor, it just didn't hold up against the British version.

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I have read and enjoyed most of the books you listed herein including The Great Alone. It was an amazing story, quite sad in parts, as well as very descriptive about the reality and hardships of life in the Alaskan wilderness.

Antique Books
 

I’m an American history buff and frequent old book stores everywhere I go. I just finished reading America Fist published in 1953. It details the creation of the “America First Committee” established in1940 to keep America out of the European conflict that became the Second World War. Very interesting in depth study of the politics and the behind the Seen moves by President Roosevelt to get us involved. After Pearl Harbor their the movement fully supported the war effort. The powerful People behind the movement was and interesting list. Many WWI Generals, Hebert Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Igor Sikorsky, the list goes on.

“Those who forget their History are sure to repeat It”

The Lincoln Conspiracy -Meltzer

Have not seen them although I was aware of them. Will have to find them, thanks. We enjoyed Elementary also not because it tried to be authentic to Holmes, but because the writing and acting were pretty good for TV. I did watch the Holmes series from the 80's-90's starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes. Exceptional series and I agree with people who consider Brett's protrayal of Holmes as the definitive onscreen portrayal of the character.

Good Books
 

I tend to read a wide variety of subjects, but just finished a historical fiction I stumbled across on amazon. "A Matter of Corruption: Revenge can turn you into the person you despise". Pretty good read especially if you like New York City history.

I just finished The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson.

It is one of the most memorable books I have read in a long time.

It is a novel based on the real story of the Blue People of Kentucky. A recessive gene caused a blood disorder that made their skin turn blue. The main character, Cussy Mary, is one of the blue people.

Cussy Mary is a Packhorse Librarian. These were brave, smart women whose job it was to carry books into remote areas of the Appalachian Mountains between 1935 and 1943. The project was a part of the WPA.

As every librarian knows — the right book, in the right hands, at the right time can make a big difference.

The setting is in 1936 and its story of time and place and people makes the book a treasure.

I guess I could sum this book up faster by saying it is about humanity and inhumanity. It gives the reader a lot to think about — past and present.

Boomer

"Shock of Gray" by Ted C. Fishman. Kind of scary...

I mentioned this, a few weeks ago, in the thread about books set in Florida, but I thought I would put an update in here.

I have been listening to A Land Remembered on Audible. There was a time when I did not like listening to books — mainly because I had to keep rewinding because my mind always went wandering around. I usually use Kindle or an actual book. But lately, I am getting hooked on Audible.

A Land Remembered takes a family back to the time of the Civil War and brings them through generations. The things they have to go through to survive and make their way to success engages the reader (listener) in quite a saga.

The person narrating the book does an excellent job.

If it has been a long time since somebody read a story to you and you think you would like to try that — maybe to take your mind off 2020 — you might like listening to A Land Remembered.

Boomer

For you Sherlock Holmes fans out there...

I’d like to start reading Holmes novels. Any particular ‘best’ way to get started?

Currently reading the book “Why We Swim” and very much enjoying it.