RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) discussion

Oh wow, this is a big one for me, as most of the books I get from netgalley are non fiction. I didn't get to read Origin of the Species in classics month, so I'll bump that into here. Not sure which other ones I will be doing, but I'll try and get as many from this list as possible:

The Origin of Species started
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
How Google Works
A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Non-Fiction - started
Revolution
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are

and from netgalley:

The United States of Excess: Gluttony and the Dark Side of American Exceptionalism - started
Rome's Revolution: Death of the Republic & Birth of the Empire
The Obama Doctrine: American Grand Strategy Today

Here are my projected reads for June. This is probably way more than I can read in a month, but I do like nonfiction!

This Is What You Just Put in Your Mouth?: From Eggnog to Beef Jerky, the Surprising Secrets of What's Inside Everyday Products - FINISHED, 3 stars
Influence - STARTED
Audio - I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Churchill's Cold War: The 'Iron Curtain' Speech That Shaped the Postwar World
Spies, Patriots, and Traitors: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War
Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894
Tonight We Die As Men: The untold story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Toccoa to D-Day
Southern Sin: True Stories of the Sultry South and Women Behaving Badly
Netgalley ARC - Seventeen Fathoms Deep: The Saga of the Submarine S-4 Disaster

I've few biographies lined up.

I already finished I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban today.

I am planning on reading:
Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch
Orange Is the New Black
Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

Hopefully I can squeeze in some more of my TBR.

Dagny wrote:"I'm interested in this one, Simona. I see you rated it four stars."

Chapeau to this girl. I am thoroughly impressed by what she has achieved, by her courage, and by her perseverance.

Aside from what happened to Malala, the book gives a lot of insight into the history/political workings of Pakistan. It is really instructive.

I really recommend it, Dagny.

Finished #2: Influence

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished #2: Elizabeth the Queen.

Finished #3 and #4.

Tonight We Die As Men: The untold story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Toccoa to D-Day. 3 stars. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend. 3 stars. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#5 complete.

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions 5 stars. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dagny wrote: "That sounds like a super read, Steve!"

It's probably the most-fun book I've read so far this year. :D

I'll be starting What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions sometime this week. Looking forward to that, the author also does the xkcd comic strip, which is hilarious.

I've finished A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Non-Fiction which made me sad, and The United States of Excess: Gluttony and the Dark Side of American Exceptionalism which made me depressed.

Indeed! :)

#6 complete and reviewed.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, 3 stars. Review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#3 #4 and #5. Biographies of Catherine the Great by Massie, Lucrezia Borgia (not the best I've read), and Orange is the New Black.

#7 complete.

Seventeen Fathoms Deep: The Saga of the Submarine S-4 Disaster, 4 stars. Review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#8 complete.

Churchill's Cold War: The 'Iron Curtain' Speech That Shaped the Postwar World, 4 stars.
Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dagny wrote: "Good for you, Steve! I only have two done and am going to be hard pressed to get a third, but I'm trying."

I haven't decided yet if I'm going to start another nonfiction book this month. I need to catch up with my Netgalley and Edelweiss ARCs! :)

I've got 7 books finished, with two more wrapping up.

Origin of the Species is taking a long time, there's a lot of mental readjustment to get into the mindset of the audience Darwin was writing for. Luckily I'm also reading The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence For Evolution which refers back to The Origin of Species a lot and really clears up a lot of details :)

Ok, got all my books finished for the month :) A nice fix of politics, history, science and religion.

4 five stars here, although Origin of the Species gets it more for it's impact and in how much Darwin got right first time than for the writing, which is very much a product of it's time. The other 5 stars though are all well worth checking out.

I managed to get through

The United States of Excess: Gluttony and the Dark Side of American Exceptionalism 4/5
A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Non-Fiction 5/5
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions 5/5
How Google Works 4/5
Nelson Mandela: A Life Inspired 3/5
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason 3/5
Revolution 3/5
The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence For Evolution 5/5
The Origin of Species 5/5