As an avid reader, I would love to hear from fellow forum members about the books that they have read and found engaging and enjoyable.
It could be either fact or fiction, on any topic that they think others could be interested too. Many of the best books I have read were recommended by someone else.

 

Being a history fanatic in general and the Cold War in particular, my first recommendation would be “Betrayal in Berlin” by John Vogel.
It describes Operation Gold, the daring joint Anglo-American tunnel from West to East Berlin, which tapped into communications cables used by the Soviets and their DDR allies.
And how this magnificent engineering operation was betrayed by a Soviet mole deep within the SIS, George Blake. And its dramatic escape from a British prison into the Soviet Union.
If you like espionage stories, this book is for you.

 

Boy, that's a tough one because there have been so many over the year.

The first one that comes to mind is "The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage" by Clifford Stoll.

Others include:

"The Code Book" by Simon Singh
"Skunk Works" by Ben Rich and Leo Janos
"The Fullness of Wings: The Making of a New Daedalus" by Gary Dorsey
"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes

The last one is long but almost impossible to put down. It is extremely well crafted and seamlessly blends technical and historical details with deep and interesting dives into the lives of the people that were involved.

One that I'm hesitant to recommend is "Lost Moon" by Jeffrey Kluger and James Lovell, the book that inspired the movie "Apollo 13". It is rather poorly written, but filled with enough detail about such an engaging event that you can't help but keep going. Fortunately, the folks that made the movie took the approach of, hey, this story would make a good movie, and then threw the book away and started from scratch. But it does have details that the movie didn't cover or did so in a skewed way for the sake of dramatization. But, be forewarned, you will find yourself groaning from time to time.

 

If you want to read something fun and light go for the Odd Thomas collection by Dean Koontz

 

For a deep dive consider the Encyclopedia Britannica's Great Books of the Western World. Check it out online. 54 volumes, considered a 10 year reading program, used to be reading clubs dedicated to reading and meeting for discussing them (may still exist), can be found individually, as a set, or online PDFs for free. There is a second set for the high school and lower readers as well.

 

As an avid reader, I would love to hear from fellow forum members about the books that they have read and found engaging and enjoyable.
It could be either fact or fiction, on any topic that they think others could be interested too. Many of the best books I have read were recommended by someone else.

Did you read Dan Brown's Origin?

 

Did you read Dan Brown's Origin?

If it's like his other books that I've read, it will be very well-written and captivating and everything in it will sound ultra accurate, but will be pure rubbish.

When I read The Davinci Code, I was amazed at all the art and religious history details, but everything that he said related to technology wasn't just technobabble, it was ludicrous technobabble that was absurd at first blush. But I just figured he was someone that really knew art and religious history and was winging it on the tech side. Then I ran into a seminary professor at some event whose doctorate was in the history of art in religion and we got to talking and I asked him if he had read the book. He said yes and that he was fascinated by Brown's knowledge of technology and ability to related it, but that his grasp of art history, especially as it related to religion, was pathetic and almost unreadable. Our conversation was eye-opening for both of us and moved on to other areas, such as the news media, where we tend to accept as accurate things that we don't know enough to question, even when we have ample experience knowing that, when we do, they almost universally have major errors in the facts and understanding.

 

Berlin diary, by William L. Shirer. A realistic look at the life on an English writer living in Germany during World War II.

 

The Smiley trilogy by John LeCarrè

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien

I have read both at least five times. No other books have enticed me to read them a second time.

 

Any of the many sci fi books by Robert Heinlen! Always loved his style...

 

Heinlein, heck yeah!
Speaking of sci-fi, Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke is one of my faves.

 

If you like epic fantasy Give "Malazan Book of the Fallen" a read.
10 books, starting with Gardens of the Moon.

 

"The Making of the Atomic Bomb" by Richard Rhodes

The last one is long but almost impossible to put down.

This is the second time I have seen it mentioned, I will look for it.