Beach Reading Tips

In the last month, I've read a few books that I highly recommend. They're all good, but I particularly recommend River of Doubt.

First, I raced through River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Miller.  It's great stuff, particularly if you are interested in Roosevelt, Native South Americans, Brazil, or the Amazon. From the publisher: "At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubtis the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth."


Then I slowly, but steadily consumed 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann . This book will permanently change the way you think about the America's before European settlement. Highly recommend for those who teach or consume history, anthropology or geography.
From the publisher: "Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering."

Then it was on to the only Kurt Vonnegut novel I had never read before, Player Piano, his first. This is not as wacky and irreverant as his later works, but holds up better as a traditional story than many of them. You can find hints of his later genius throughout. He gets many things right in this futuristic distopian tale, particularly "the replacing of men [sic] by machines," but it's interesting that he does not forsee at all the changes that were coming in the role of women in society. From the publisher: "Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut—wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality."