Some of the latest books I’ve read in the past few months. I’m always reading and have about 5 going at any time, of various genres.
Recent Books:
- Churchill – Walking with Destiny, Andrew Roberts
- Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick
- The Republic of Plato
- The Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy
- On Writing, Stephen King
- The Mistborn trilogy (on the 3rd), Brandon Sanderson
- Love in a Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
- Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
- Resurrection, Leo Tolstoy
- The Stand, Stephen King
- Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
- The Passage, Justin Cronin
- Moby Dick, Herman Melville
- I’m Your Huckleberry, Val Kilmer
- Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell
- One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
- The Wright Brothers, David McCullough
- Catherine the Great, Robert K. Massie
- Martin Luther, Eric Metaxas
- Lord Foul’s Bane, Stephen R. Donaldson
- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
- The Little Paris Bookshop, Nina George
- Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
- Verbal Judo, George J. Thompson
As an educator, designer and just generally interested person, I am curious about so many things from history, other cultures, languages, cooking, travel, relationships and so much more. Dale Carnegie said, “Today is life – the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.”
Soccer
I have a daughter on a club soccer team that takes us all around the midwest, and am on a city league myself, and we watch a lot of soccer. It truly is the “beautiful game.”
Reading
I don’t understand people who don’t read or even listen to audiobooks. It’s sort of like a country giving you the ability to vote and have your voice heard, without taking advantage thereof. The world of publishing and storytellers has provided endless entertainment and learning through reading, and to not take advantage of that is, well, there aren’t … words.
Running
Running is physically rewarding and mentally. There’s no better way to see a place than to run a few miles around it, which I was finally able to do recently when I ran around Central Park in New York City as well as a few miles of the old stretch of Route 66 in Shamrock, TX.
History / War Sites
My life has afforded me amazing opportunities to visit fascinating places, from medieval castles to walking through the remains of World War 1 trenches at Verdun, France. I have a great personal World War 1 library and study everything to do with that conflict in my free time, especially as it relates to my relative Earle Freeman Howe who died in France in April 1918.
Tennis
I’ve been playing tennis since I can remember. I love watching it and playing it.
Railroads
The Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 locomotive rolled through and stopped overnight 45 minutes away down in Van Buren, AR, and I was sure to get there to see it pull in. Dad and I used to go down to Ridley Park in Philadelphia and watch the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1s and always seek out old roundhouses or railroad traces.
Aircraft
I love aviation, especially wartime or armed forces aircraft of all sorts. I’m a big fan of two local aviators, award-winning and aviation pioneer Louise McPhetridge Thaden, of Bentonville, AR, and World War 1 Ace Field Eugene Kindley, from Prairie Grove, AR, who counted as one of his victories the downing of Lothar von Richthofen, brother of the Red Baron.
Weather
If I were to jump over to another career, it would be something to do with weather. I look forward to rainy days or snow days, as I constantly notice what’s happening with the atmosphere around me and what’s coming my way. Also, I’m a pluvophile.
Movies
Favorites: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Midnight in Paris, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Family Man, Serendipity, Contact, Arrival, Interstellar, Edge of Tomorrow
