This may have been brought up in this thread or years ago but if you ever get a chance to read "Bluegrass Conspiracy".......read it. I gave this book to probably 15 people, many of whom never get past the sports page (and who can blame them) and ALL of them loved it. It's non-fiction about some of the seedy doings in the '70's and early '80's in this state. A lot of name dropping. Really fascinating book. It is probably 15 years old now.

 

Great book.

Finished up Michael Phelps autobiography in about a week. Wasn't well written, but I thoroughly enjoyed remembering his races again.

 

Started, Split Second by David Baldacci today.

Just finished Split Second, which is pretty quick work for me. Loved it, just like I do all David Baldacci's books. Moving on to the 2nd in the King & Maxwell series, Hour Game.

1 will be starting this book sometime this week

 

Thomas Jefferson The Art of Power by Jon Mecaham Narrated by Edward Herrmann and Jon Mecaham

 

Publisher's Summary

 

In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson’s genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of power.

 

Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet his understanding of power and of human nature enabled him to move men and to marshal ideas, to learn from his mistakes, and to prevail. Passionate about many things - women, his family, books, science, architecture, gardens, friends, Monticello, and Paris - Jefferson loved America most, and he strove over and over again, despite fierce opposition, to realize his vision: the creation, survival, and success of popular government in America. Jon Meacham lets us see Jefferson’s world as Jefferson himself saw it, and to appreciate how Jefferson found the means to endure and win in the face of rife partisan division, economic uncertainty, and external threat. Drawing on archives in the United States, England, and France, as well as unpublished Jefferson presidential papers, Meacham presents Jefferson as the most successful political leader of the early republic, and perhaps in all of American history.

 

The father of the ideal of individual liberty, of the Louisiana Purchase, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and of the settling of the West, Jefferson recognized that the genius of humanity - and the genius of the new nation - lay in the possibility of progress, of discovering the undiscovered and seeking the unknown. From the writing of the Declaration of Independence to elegant dinners in Paris and in the President’s House; from political maneuverings in the boardinghouses and legislative halls of Philadelphia and New York to the infant capital on the Potomac; from his complicated life at Monticello, his breathtaking house and plantation in Virginia, to the creation of the University of Virginia, Jefferson was central to the age. Here too is the personal Jefferson, a man of appetite, sensuality, and passion.

 

The Jefferson story resonates today not least because he led his nation through ferocious partisanship and cultural warfare amid economic change and external threats, and also because he embodies an eternal drama, the struggle of the leadership of a nation to achieve greatness in a difficult and confounding world.

©2012 Jon Meacham (P)2012 Random House Audio

 

 

 

What the Critics Say

 

"Jon Meacham resolves the bundle of contradictions that was Thomas Jefferson by probing his love of progress and thirst for power. This is a thrilling and affecting portrait of our first philosopher-politician." (Stacy Schiff)

"This terrific book allows us to see the political genius of Thomas Jefferson better than we have ever seen it before. In these endlessly fascinating pages, Jefferson emerges with such vitality that it seems as if he might still be alive today." (Doris Kearns Goodwin)

"Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power is a true triumph, a brilliant biography. Jon Meacham shows how Jefferson's deft ability to compromise and improvise made him a transformational leader. We think of Jefferson as the embodiment of noble ideals, as he was, but Meacham shows that he was a practical politician more than a moral theorist. The result is a fascinating look at how Jefferson wielded his driving desire for power and control." (Walter Isaacson)

^ I've read just about all of them and the reading order is not critical (although I've read them pretty much in order). Here's the order in which they were written; although "The Enemy" was something of a prequel and probably should be read first:

 

Killing Floor, Die Trying, Tripwire, Running Blind, Echo Burning, Without Fail, Persuader, The Enemy, One Shot, The Hard Way, Bad Luck and Trouble, Nothing To Lose, Gone Tomorrow, 61 Hours, Worth Dying For, The Affair, Jack Reacher's Rules.

 

Thanks, my library didnt have a lot of these in so Im starting with ONE SHOT.

Just starting Jeffery Deaver's Sleeping Doll.

"Summer of '49" by David Halberstam.

Gardens of the Moon, the first of 10 books in Steven Erickson's "Malazan Book of th Fallen" epic fantasy series.

 

Really difficult read at first (took me a couple attempts to get through the first 150-200 pages), but now I can't put it down. If you're a Game of Thrones fan, I suggest you give these a try. The guy at the book store suggested them to me when I asked for something similar and it hasn't disappointed thus far. Not quite as graphic as GOT, but a lot of dark twisting plots and characters in a fantasy realm.

Gardens of the Moon, the first of 10 books in Steven Erickson's "Malazan Book of th Fallen" epic fantasy series.

 

Really difficult read at first (took me a couple attempts to get through the first 150-200 pages), but now I can't put it down. If you're a Game of Thrones fan, I suggest you give these a try. The guy at the book store suggested them to me when I asked for something similar and it hasn't disappointed thus far. Not quite as graphic as GOT, but a lot of dark twisting plots and characters in a fantasy realm.

 

Good luck. Read the first two books. Characterization is not his strong suit. You should look up Brandon Sanderson. Best fantasy author out there right now. He's actually starting hos own epic series. The Way of Kings is the first of the series. Check it out.

Good luck. Read the first two books. Characterization is not his strong suit. You should look up Brandon Sanderson. Best fantasy author out there right now. He's actually starting hos own epic series. The Way of Kings is the first of the series. Check it out.

 

Sounds intriguing....Just placed an order for book one.

 

With regards to Erickson, that's my biggest complaint. He jumps around between so many different characters it's still difficult to know who's who. I have to constantly keep checking the "Key Players" list at the front of the book to remind myself who's involved with whom and what their role is.

Sounds intriguing....Just placed an order for book one.

 

With regards to Erickson, that's my biggest complaint. He jumps around between so many different characters it's still difficult to know who's who. I have to constantly keep checking the "Key Players" list at the front of the book to remind myself who's involved with whom and what their role is.

Agree. I was trying to follow with the reread that tor does on their website but it was still too boring. I will say he does bring things together at the end but the first 600 pages of slow reading kills it.

Agree. I was trying to follow with the reread that tor does on their website but it was still too boring. I will say he does bring things together at the end but the first 600 pages of slow reading kills it.

 

 

I'm around 300 pages in and I've thought the last 75 pages or so have picked up with action and plot. Still a bit confusing, but my hope is that as the book starts to wind down things will start making more sense.

I'm around 300 pages in and I've thought the last 75 pages or so have picked up with action and plot. Still a bit confusing, but my hope is that as the book starts to wind down things will start making more sense.

 

It does tie together a good amount at the end. The second book is kinda like the first book. You get all new characters. The third book I just checked my shelf. I'm 448 pages in, but you get all your characters from the first book back. I've read either you love the series or you dont. I kinda gave up but eventually I'll go back to it.

Re-reading my grandfather's WWI diary and letters. It is an eloquently written, fascinating account of his experiences during the war.

 

I have a copy of them, given to me by my grandmother 30 years ago. She did not wish to have a book made from them, though there were several offers. Instead she gave them to UofL, to keep for posterity. The originals are in the University of Louisville Special Collections and Archives.

 

Michael A. Lewis (1891- 1970) papers

Right now I am reading ,The Age of Edison , The Host , Reporting the Revolutionary War ( Before it was History , it was News ) , The Striker .