Notes from recent audio book listening

Since my milestone of listening to 100 audio books in March 2023, I kept going. I read at about the same cadence, and select the audio books using the same criterion, nonfiction and available now. I like a few of the books, but none reached the level of love or resonate. One major outcome of the audio books in the last 12 month was that I was provided different perspectives on some familiar persons, institutions and events.

Fall and Rise is a book about 911. Through portraits of individuals involved in 911, both victims and villains, the book gave a personally relatable story of 911. It is poignant and fatalistic. One thing I did not  hear before was that 911 was the outcome of genius of evils! The other thing was that the book made me to think and probe into the physical root cause of the collapse of twin towers. 

The biographies I read included Napoleon's Plunder and the Theft of Veronese's Feast, Life with Picasso and Elizabeth the Queen. 

From Plunder I learned about Napoleon Bonaparte, French history and the Louvre museum where many historical art collections were from Napoleon's looting. 

Life with Picasso was a book written by Picasso's long time mistress Francoise Gilot. Despite acrimonious separation between Gilot and Picasso, The book had a good start, gave an accurate description of Picasso. Picasso had deep insight into art and life, and was a womanizer. Later chapters of the book, especially the last two, were more about trivia. The two quotes from Picasso according to the book that impressed me: If you can do 10, do 5, so you can handle it with ease and mastery. "I paint to disturb, not to harmonize"

Elizabeth the Queen, portraited the Queen very similar to what I read from other sources. The one surprise from the book was its negative description of Princess Dianna  - an emotionally unstable woman, and opportunist. 

The books with big or heavy topics include the battle of your brain, Uncovered, Magathreats, Nine Black Robes, and  A life on this Planet. I also listened a few books about bird watching - Mrs. Moreau's Warbler, the Homing Instinct, and A wing and a prayer.