January 2020 Book Club - The Last Days of Night

Discussion in 'Reading Pad' started by Karen, Sep 26, 2019.

  1. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    Here we go! We have another batch of books to read together. And this one will be our first book of 2020! How weird is that to type? :giggle

    Like I've been doing the last couple of times, I am posting the next few months (October 2019 -February 2020) all at once, so we can all get these books on hold at our libraries in time. :) The book we will be reading for January 2020 is The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore. Please label spoilers or even type them in white like I just did right here(highlight that blank space) so that a person has to highlight it to read it.

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    Just a note, anyone can read these books at any time and join in the discussion at any time too! The more the merrier! :agree
     
  2. bonnenuit

    bonnenuit Why do I always have to be Captain?

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    Hurray! It finally got a month!
     
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  3. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

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    I bought this at the 2nd hand book fair today! It's terrible but I must say the navy cover with the sparkly light globe & lady liberty cover with Gillian Flynn's (Gone Girl) recommendation on the front sold me (yep, I'm apparently a cover snob )
     
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  4. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    I just started listening to this one at work yesterday. So far I'm liking it... it's interesting to think about the interactions of these three amazing inventors.
     
  5. djp332

    djp332 She sells seashells down by the seashore

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    I just can’t get interested in this book. Too scientific for me. I thought I was reading a book that my husband bought.
     
  6. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    This made me chuckle. (about a book your husband would buy)

    I think I like it because I was always interested in science, but I totally get it if it doesn't interest everyone. I do kind of glaze over when the technical details though :agree
     
  7. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    I just finished this one today. I'm going to copy my Goodreads review here: >>> This was such an interesting read about the "current war" between Edison and Westinghouse at the birth of the light bulb era. I enjoyed all of the scientific references and the stories about how each of the 3 inventors (Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla) worked and what motivated each of them to invent. I never knew about the battles they fought over patents in the courts about who invented the light bulb first and thought it was very interesting to read about the grey areas when they all were developing the same ideas in completely different methods. Edison just filed the patent first, but possibly didn't actually have a working light bulb when he filed that patent. Finally I really enjoyed reading the afterward from the author about how much of the book was based on facts of history, but how he rearranged and compressed some of the timeline to suit his story line. <<< end Not really spoilery... but just in case I hid it in white. :)

    I enjoyed this one, especially because it was about such a different topic. :agree
     
  8. bonnenuit

    bonnenuit Why do I always have to be Captain?

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    This is my review from Goodreads which has no spoilers at all for a reason that is abundantly clear:

    "I just finished writing a long review that got erased when I shelved the book so now it's gone forever.
    In a nutshell, this is a fabulous book. Everyone who read it in my book club liked it too and we had a wonderful discussion of the book.
    The writing is superb and you won't regret taking the time to read this book.
    2019 - read it again for another book group - Ditto to my reaction and all those who also read it. Highly recommend reading this book!"

    Some non-spoilery specifics of what I liked:
    • The book has a jolt-you-in-your-seat hook at the beginning.
    • Having the lawyer (who knows nothing about science) be the main character allows the author to not only use the lawsuit conflict to provide drama but also allows the author to have characters explain the science stuff to the lawyer, thus indirectly explaining to the reader.
    • An unexpected ending/resolution of the conflict.
     
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  9. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    Perfectly stated... I agree with everything you said! :)
     
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  10. berniek

    berniek I have a girl crush on the Naming Fairy

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    My library actually has this one available right now! (In Dutch too! Win!) So I’m off to grab it and start reading in the new year.

    I must say I like this \/ cover a lot more.
    C9282803-4C41-48DB-A7F1-0D9467ED12BB.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2019
  11. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    Oh! That IS a much cooler cover! And hooray for your library having it in Dutch! :)
     
  12. AnneofAlamo

    AnneofAlamo Slippers IN sunshine? Even better!

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    just downloaded the book to read! eek, been an audio girl for a while..so this may be hard for me! lol
     
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  13. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    You can do it Anne! :)
     
  14. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

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    Yikes, I got this one on hold from the library, brought it home, then wondered why did I want to read this? I read a few pages and presumed I might have put it on hold for my dh even though he almost never reads fiction. I asked him about it and he said he had been given the book while in hospital but after a bit he gave up on it.

    I guess this one is not going to be a read in our household.
     
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  15. berniek

    berniek I have a girl crush on the Naming Fairy

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    Against the main reaction in this thread, I’m actually enjoying this book so far!

    I’ve taught social subjects to technical engineering students years back and it all comes back to me when I’m reading this book. The names, the inventions, etc. I love the story so far.

    My only problem is that I’m having difficulty with the fiction vs non-fiction. I usually don’t like it when books are fiction, but very close to reality. I know for a fact that some of the things in this book are going to get into my brain as facts that I’ll fabricate years later and make me look like a fool.
     
  16. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    I worried about this too, but I think a lot of it is true. They obviously had to make up the dialogue, but there is a epilogue at the end of the book that discusses how he did play with some of the timeline, and also about the parts that are true in the book.
     
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  17. AmandaJ

    AmandaJ Adagio, or Allegro? I can't decide.

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    My library has this right now! And I need a new book. I’ll be back to join the discussion!

    After watching Doctor Who this week with Tesla this will be a fun read!
     
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  18. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    Was Tesla a quirky character on Dr. Who? I loved his character portrayal in this book!
     
  19. berniek

    berniek I have a girl crush on the Naming Fairy

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    So I didn't finish this book as it needed to be returned to the library and I wasn't willing to speed read till the end.
     
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