What Book Are You Currently Reading? (2.0.)
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  What Book Are You Currently Reading? (2.0.)
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Author Topic: What Book Are You Currently Reading? (2.0.)  (Read 43279 times)
MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!
Kalwejt
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« on: November 15, 2019, 08:55:32 AM »

New thread.


"Muhammad" by Maxime Rodinson.
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2019, 10:43:23 PM »

Permanent Record - Edward Snowden
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Cathcon
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« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2019, 02:00:28 AM »

Just splurged on a book order since I worked overtime last paycheck.

Currently:
Crime & Punishment, Fyodr Dostoevsky
Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
The Age of Extremes, Eric Hobsbawm

Just put on my bookshelf without finishing because I needed to organize my desk:
Seeing Like a State, James Scott

Bought a week ago or ordered today:
We the Living, Ayn Rand
Strategies of Containment, John Lewis Gaddis
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Jason Omnibus, Frank Miller, et al
Armenia on the Horizon of Europe: Successes and Shortcomings of Democratization Efforts by European Organizations in a Post-Soviet State, Anahit Babayan
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LAKISYLVANIA
Lakigigar
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« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2019, 12:01:32 PM »

Currently:

Our House is on Fire by Malena Ernman (mother of Greta Thunberg)
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
Defying Hitler by Sebastien Haffner
The Red Flag: A History of Communism by David Priestland
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John Dule
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« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2019, 07:30:50 AM »

I got Michael Lewis's The Fifth Risk for Christmas and read it yesterday. Good book; kind of an antimatter version of Atlas Shrugged. I thought it was educational, and it was interesting to see the interlocking parts of government bureaucracy close-up. Ultimately though, I think I'm unsympathetic to its central argument. I don't think non-ideological bureaucrats are an inherently good thing, and the implication that they ought to be able to do their work with no political influence just strikes me as naive.

I'm now reading Bad Blood. Honestly, I think I've done more reading in the past two days than in my entire semester at school.
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brucejoel99
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« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2020, 01:03:36 AM »

Currently switching back & forth between "The Restless Wave" by John McCain, & "The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship Between George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush" by Mark K. Updegrove.
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President of the civil service full of trans activists
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« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2020, 01:51:23 PM »

L. Elizabeth Storm - Pulitzer (Quantum Leap: Book Eight, 1995)
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diptheriadan
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« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2020, 05:02:53 PM »

Collapse by Jared Diamond
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2020, 10:34:35 PM »

Devil in the White City - Erik Larson

Excellent take on Gilded Age Chicago at the time of the World's Fair and a serial killer using the fair too.
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diptheriadan
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« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2020, 09:46:53 PM »
« Edited: February 18, 2020, 06:50:24 PM by diptheriadan »


I finished reading it about three days ago. Whoa, what a doozy of a book! It alternated between being enthralling and utterly boring depending on the chapter. Still, it was pretty informative. The Further Readings section at the end is also a treasure trove of information.

Currently reading: Four Months Afoot in Spain by Harry A. Franck (1911).

I expect this to go by much quicker than Collapse. It is consistently entertaining and about only about 300 pages.

EDIT: Everytime he mentions only paying one peseta for a meal or room, I cry. If only it were like that now. To put this into perspective, here's what he says after buying a long-distance train ticket good for two thousand kilometers:
Quote
The costs thereof -- besides the infelicity of sitting to a photographer in a sadly mosquito-bitten condition -- covering transportation, government tax on the same, printing and the tax therefor, the photograph and the tax for that privilege, and the government stamp attesting that the government was satisfied it could tax no more, footed up to seventy-three pesetas, or concisely, thirteen dollars and thirty cents. p.115-116

EDIT2: The Spaniards of yore really loved their dog/puppy idioms(?).
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World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
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« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2020, 02:38:53 AM »

Currently forcing myself through the dreck churned out by a far-right Catholic "historian" called Warren Carroll so I can write a takedown of him at some point in the future. Also rereading Tree and Leaf, which is vastly more life-affirming and fun.
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Middle-aged Europe
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« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2020, 08:24:14 AM »

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
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YPestis25
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« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2020, 02:04:47 PM »

Just finished Memoirs from the House of the Dead. Can't recommend it enough. Certainly more manageable than my attempts at The Brothers Karamazov.
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VPH
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« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2020, 02:34:20 PM »

Currently on The Dean by John Dingell and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus by Douglas Rushkoff. Two very different books and two fantastic reads!
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Mexican Wolf
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« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2020, 08:31:42 PM »

Just finished reading Willa Cather on Writing. I've read three of her novels, several short stories, and many essays on her. Definitely a fascinating author, even though I disagree with her artistic viewpoints about half the time.
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Yellowhammer
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« Reply #15 on: February 12, 2020, 09:11:00 PM »

I haven't read as much as I would like in the past year, outside of required reading for college courses (which has been a lot!), but I've recommenced for pleasure as of late. I'm currently reading:

Lady Chatterley's Lover, D.H. Lawrence
Commentaries on the Laws of England, Sir William Blackstone
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #16 on: February 12, 2020, 09:20:44 PM »

We have a thread for this.
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Mr. Smith
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« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2020, 09:53:06 PM »

Throne of Glass
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President of the civil service full of trans activists
Peebs
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« Reply #18 on: February 12, 2020, 09:54:33 PM »

This, albeit in the political debate thread. That being said, I'm still working on Pulitzer (Quantum Leap #8, 1995) by L. Elizabeth Storm.
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diptheriadan
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« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2020, 04:35:19 PM »
« Edited: February 23, 2020, 04:44:15 PM by diptheriadan »

Done reading Four Months Afoot in Spain. I will definitely try to read some of Franck's other books. Looking back immediately after reading, not a whole lot happened, basically just a dude's account of travelling Spain for four months, and most of the books consists of doing the four things most commonly done while traveling: obtaining shelter, food, transportation; and interacting with the locals. Franck's writing style really makes the book. Wikipedia describes it pretty well "plain, somewhat sardonic" and "undiscriminatingly humane, unpretentious, and courteous, if informal".

Because of the fact that his observations are so important in the book, one does have to wonder if he's biased. Frequently in the book he assigns certain values to the cultures he meets (ex. Andalusians being happy-go-lucky party people whereas Asturians and Galicians being hard-nosed, introverted mountain folk). Since i've not been to Spain, I can't really confirm any of this, but these sorts of generalizations are usually wrong. He also writes very negatively about the clergy, mainly blaming them for Spain's plight. Since i'm not well-read on Spanish history in the early 20th century, I can't really confirm this either. I would imagine that for those that are, this book would be a real treat for them to dissect.

Here's the link for the book on the Internet Archive.
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diptheriadan
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« Reply #20 on: February 23, 2020, 04:38:50 PM »
« Edited: February 23, 2020, 06:27:20 PM by diptheriadan »

Now onto Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. Hopefully my brain doesn't short-circuit trying to read Scots.
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Kingpoleon
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« Reply #21 on: February 23, 2020, 05:54:21 PM »

The Journal of John Wesley. I must say, if anyone ever were to read it without the faintest clue of religion beforehand, there is no other book so convincing. It reads like a sequel to the Book of Acts, and if half the claims in it are true, I would be greatly afraid to oppose a word of Wesley’s - on multiple occasions, mobs attempt to kill him and cannot harm him; his prayers bring a man back to life; his frequent rebukes unto Christians are startling and terrifying.

He was, by several records, the first to ordain blacks and women, and his writings elsewhere on such subjects are astounding. I have heard some call him the Thirteenth Apostle, but to my mind, he seems to surpass even the apostles.
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Storebought
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« Reply #22 on: February 23, 2020, 07:24:27 PM »

Music in the Galant Style, by Robert Gjerdingen. It's not "scientific" enough to be a true book of music theory, but that is probably a blessing.
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World politics is up Schmitt creek
Nathan
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« Reply #23 on: February 23, 2020, 10:07:46 PM »

The Journal of John Wesley. I must say, if anyone ever were to read it without the faintest clue of religion beforehand, there is no other book so convincing. It reads like a sequel to the Book of Acts, and if half the claims in it are true, I would be greatly afraid to oppose a word of Wesley’s - on multiple occasions, mobs attempt to kill him and cannot harm him; his prayers bring a man back to life; his frequent rebukes unto Christians are startling and terrifying.

He was, by several records, the first to ordain blacks and women, and his writings elsewhere on such subjects are astounding. I have heard some call him the Thirteenth Apostle, but to my mind, he seems to surpass even the apostles.

I have a high opinion of John Wesley as well, but I doubt he'd want you thinking this.
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President of the civil service full of trans activists
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« Reply #24 on: February 24, 2020, 01:52:55 PM »

April Daniels - Dreadnought (Nemesis #1, 2017)

This woman is a genius.
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