Last
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Books
sheetsadam1 — 4 months ago(November 30, 2025 03:35 AM)
Finished
Paper Girl
. I highly recommend this one to anyone who wants to understand America's ongoing radicalization and the reasons why so many are willing to "burn it all down." Macy looks at the decline of our public schools, the decline in local journalism, the job losses from globalization and the opioid epidemic in intimate detail. Speaking as someone from the same state she writes about, I found much of it to be quite relatable.
I've added it to my list of essential books to understanding the present class divide in the United States:
Fiction
The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake
by Breece D'J Pancake, 1983
Knockemstiff
by Donald Ray Pollock, 2008
Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill
, 2011
Ohio
by Stephen Markley, 2018
Cherry
by Nico Walker, 2018
Blacktop Wasteland
by S.A. Cosby, 2020
The Night Always Comes
by Willy Vlautin, 2021
On the Savage Side
by Tiffany McDaniel, 2021
Demon Copperhead
by Barbara Kingsolver, 2022
Rednecks
by Taylor Brown, 2024
Non-fiction
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls, 2005
Crapalachia: A Biography of Place
by Scott McClanahan, 2013
The Devil is Here in These Hills: West Virginia's Coal Miners and their Battle for Freedom
by James Green, 2015
Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
by Sam Quinones, 2015
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
by Nancy Isenberg, 2016
Listen, Liberal; Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
by Thomas Frank, 2016
Glass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town
by Brian Alexander, 2017
Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America
by Beth Macy, 2018
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
by Sarah Smarsh, 2018
Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America
by Beth Macy, 2025
Now re-reading:
Draft Barron Trump -
sheetsadam1 — 4 months ago(November 30, 2025 07:42 PM)
I was actually planning to rewatch An American Tail soon based on the poster being featured in the new season of Stranger Things lol. I remember loving A Wrinkle in Time as a kid! I read some of L'Engle's nonfiction a bit over a year ago.
How is the It show? I figure I'll binge it once the season wraps up.
Draft Barron Trump -
IsraHell — 4 months ago(November 30, 2025 07:56 PM)
So far, I'm loving it. In the moment, I'd say the first episode takes a little while to get going, but the first vilume overall looks like it mught be better than last season. That could just be recency bias.
I remember having more positive views of the Star Wars sequels when I saw them in the theater, but souring on then later on after the excitement died down.
I doubt that'll be the case here, but who knows.
Be careful. Spoilers are hard to avoid.
I think I read Wrinkle of Time as a kid, but it's been so long. Definitely want a refresher.
I love(d) the Fievel movies. I think I saw the sequel as a kid before the original. Had no idea it was a sequel for years lol. -
sheetsadam1 — 3 months ago(December 04, 2025 03:42 AM)
Finished my re-read of
The Thief of Always
, which remains my favorite Clive Barker book. It's a mystery why Hollywood hasn't seen fit to give us a film version.
Now reading this, about an obscure historical trend I'm completely unaware of.
Draft Barron Trump -
sheetsadam1 — 3 months ago(December 13, 2025 03:59 AM)
Just finished this one:
Larson is, as always, a tremendous writer. Primarily taking place in 1933 and '34, the book focuses on US ambassador William Dodd and his daughter Martha and offers a fascinating glimpse at the growing power of Nazism and how a status quo approach was ineffective in dealing with it. Very pertinent!
Now starting:
Draft Barron Trump -
sheetsadam1 — 3 months ago(December 14, 2025 01:10 AM)
Snowed in here, so I've already finished
The Intruder
. It was an entertaining enough thriller, although it relies a bit too heavily on improbable coincidences. I'm not sure it belongs on all of the year-end lists I've seen it on, but I'm definitely open to reading more of her work the next time I'm looking for something in that vein.
Now beginning another one by Erik Larson
Draft Barron Trump -
merry christmas — 3 months ago(December 14, 2025 01:37 AM)
War of the Copper Kings. It's about copper mining in Montana and Anaconda Copper. It begins with a seemingly mostly unrelated chapter about a Henry Plummer and his gang who have somehow never had their story turned into a movie.
-
sheetsadam1 — 3 months ago(December 14, 2025 01:44 AM)
Interesting! I've read quite a bit on the coal mining history in Appalachia, but not much on the copper mines out west. I've had the book
Big Trouble
by J. Anthony Lukas on my reading list for years, which is apparently about the assassination of a governor of Idaho where the Western Federation of Miners was implicated. Only reason I haven't gotten around to it is the damn thing is nearly 900 pages long
Draft Barron Trump -
merry christmas — 3 months ago(December 15, 2025 04:47 PM)
I just looked it up, J. Anthony Lukas killed himself before finishing the book. His agent said he was dissatisfied with the book, but it almost won a Pulitzer. There's so much labor history in the United States that is mostly forgotten now.
-
sheetsadam1 — 3 months ago(December 23, 2025 06:50 PM)
Finished
Somebody is Walking on Your Grave
. It's ok, basically a travel book about cemeteries on four continents. Worth reading for those with an interest in the topic or fans of Enríquez's fiction. Her fiction is much better though.
Up next, of course I had to read this one when I learned of it And it's actually getting decent reviews as well.
Draft Barron Trump
It was a major motion picture in 1947, all due respect to del Toro.