Waiting on The Last Day - Saturday Morning Alternative Book Thread

I preordered on Amazon.  Still no estimated delivery date.  In the meantime,  I know y'all read other books aside from our monthly shared pleasure.  What are you reading?

My bus-reading this week consisted of Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet, Captain of the USS Santa Fe.  It's a book about leadership.  He took command of the most dysfunctional nuclear submarine in the Navy and turned it around in to the best.  He changed the leadership style from 'leader-follower' to 'leader-leader'.  It's good.  I mean it's not page-turning and I'm always skeptical of the value of reading self-help or secret to success type books, but I think it's good to at least think about these things. 

I'm reading this book on my new Kindle that Steph got me for Christmas.  I am enjoying this a lot more than My First Kindle Experience:

 When I first got it, I enjoyed the ability to preview books.  SO I was downloading free previews and checking things out.  Then I decided on my first book.  Inspired by the talk of Gothic novels ala Tangerine, and the references to the Scarlet letter in Little Fires Everywhere, I decided to read some Hawthorne, but something I have never read.  I chose The House of The Seven Gables.  

I found it difficult to read.  It wasn't difficult in the sense that the language was dense or old-times, so much as there were grammatical errors and awkward diction.  I began to suspect that either Hawthorne had failed grammar school or that the kindle version was fffffed.  Turns out it was the latter.  I went to the library and compared it to a paper copy:

I''l be sticking to newer books on Kindle from now on.

Other books I have on my shelf with bookmarks in them but haven't touched for a while are :

• 1984, by George Orwell​
• American Catholic, by Charles R. Morris
• Up From Liberalism, by William F. Buckley
• For the Common Defense: A Military History of The United States from 1607 to 2012, by Allan R. Millett, Peter Maslowski, and William B Feis.  This is basically a textbook at 709 total pages.  I keep this on my nightstand and read before falling asleep some times.  I have no intention of ever reading this cover-to-cover.
• Democracy's Schools, by Johann N. Neem.  This one was really good and I am so closed to finishing it that I really should make a point to do so.    It talks about the development of public schools from colonial days to modern times in 'Merica.  It goes through the different philosophies that were held at different times and in different regions.  Debates that are still not quite settled.  Education for the purpose of being a citizen.  Education for the purpose of being a skilled worker.  Education as self-discovery and self-actuation.  And it's only 240 pages, not a textbook.

As you can see, I am well on my way to becoming an old man who only reads history books.  Oh yeah, and I just bought the book that my friend Jen wrote, but haven't really started it yet.  I am looking forward to reading all the hot sex.

What about you book club?  What else are you reading?  Anything you are really enjoying?