This month’s choices:
Nonfiction
It’s remarkable that so few people know this true story. If you’ve seen the movie “Jaws”—which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year—you may remember the harrowing tale told by the character Quint.
Well, this is the true story behind that tale.
In late July, 1945, the USS Indianapolis took on a top-secret mission to deliver the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima. But on their way back, they were torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. About 900 sailors survived the initial blast and went into the water.
And yet, because the mission was so secret, they weren’t even reported missing for days.
It didn’t take long before the sharks showed up.
Can you even imagine spending days in the ocean, fighting dehydration, blazing sun, and sharks?
Stanton is able to make you feel what these men felt, the misery, the despair, and the fear. I can’t even wrap my brain around the fear aspect. To watch so many of your shipmates—your friends—hunted and consumed by sharks?
Of the 900 men who went into the water, 317 of them survived.
This is their story. And it really should be shared with everyone.
I loved this historical novel, and for ages I’ve been thisclose to featuring it in the book club. But I’ve held off because . . . well, I’ve wondered if anyone else would like it. Ha!
But what the hell? I was riveted by the story, and surely a few other people will feel the same.
Irving Stone did a ton of research in order to tell this story of the incomparable Michelangelo, the Renaissance genius who created some of the most famous—and most beloved—works of art the world has known.
The book follows him from his start as a young man, through his psychological battles with a Pope, his relationship with the powerful Medici family of Florence, and even tracks his emotional relationships with the women who inspired him.
I’ve seen several of Michelangelo’s masterworks in person, and I can tell you the stunning David sculpture and the mind-boggling ceiling of the Sistine Chapel can’t be summed up in words or even pictures—you need to see them and feel the energy they radiate.
Stone’s incredible storytelling is perhaps the next best thing.
Fiction
Last Month’s Picks
The Psychology of Money
By Morgan Housel
Whether you’re 19 or 59, this will help you look at money and investing in a whole new way.
Hyperion
By Dan Simmons
Science fiction the way it was meant to be written, with tech, political intrigue, and lessons about humanity itself.
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Happy reading!