What Book Are You Currently Reading? (2.0.)

[PSOL]

It's excellent but parts of it are hard to translate. The last scene is used extensively in Mahler's Eighth Symphony - the bit with the Anchorites is a personal favourite.

Alright, I’ll pick it up next.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I've almost finished Stephen King's first Dark Tower book, as part of my effort to read more fiction. I also finally finished reading Dune, which I had stopped about halfway through some years ago. Both are somewhat enjoyable, but they're not really rekindling my interest in fiction. The Dark Tower is too miserable and weird for my taste, and Dune-- while fantastically creative-- is really a slog to get through. The terminology alone is enough to induce a headache.

I swear I am the only person I've met who found "Dune" to be a surprisingly easy read given its length. I was obsessed and raced through it.

[Aurelius]

"Champlain's Dream" by David Hackett Fischer. Taking a break from the presidents while Andrew Jackson is stuck somewhere in post office purgatory. It's a biography of Samuel Champlain, the founder of New France. I'm halfway through and so far it's excellent.

[Aurelius]

"Champlain's Dream" by David Hackett Fischer. Taking a break from the presidents while Andrew Jackson is stuck somewhere in post office purgatory. It's a biography of Samuel Champlain, the founder of New France. I'm halfway through and so far it's excellent.

Champlain's Dream: 🟊🟊🟊🟊½

Now reading "The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini.

[Big Abraham]

Now reading "The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini.

One of the finest presidential biographies in my opinion.

[Aurelius]

Now reading "The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini.

One of the finest presidential biographies in my opinion.

So far it's excellent. I'm reading the abridged version because I'm sticking to one volume per President (except Lincoln, who will get Burlingame's two volume series). If I didn't do that this would take me a decade probably.

[Aurelius]

On that note, the presidential bios I've read so far:

"Washington" by Ron Chernow (5 stars)
"John Adams: A Life" by John Ferling (4 1/2 stars)
"Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power" by Jon Meacham (2 stars, huge disappointment)
"James Madison: A Life" by Ralph Ketcham (3 1/2 stars)
"James Monroe: A Life" by Tim McGrath (4 stars)
"John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit" by James Traub (4 1/2 stars)

[John Dule]

I've almost finished Stephen King's first Dark Tower book, as part of my effort to read more fiction. I also finally finished reading Dune, which I had stopped about halfway through some years ago. Both are somewhat enjoyable, but they're not really rekindling my interest in fiction. The Dark Tower is too miserable and weird for my taste, and Dune-- while fantastically creative-- is really a slog to get through. The terminology alone is enough to induce a headache.

I swear I am the only person I've met who found "Dune" to be a surprisingly easy read given its length. I was obsessed and raced through it.

Towards the end I got much more into it. I think it might be the single most imaginative book I've ever read, and that carried me through.

[Schiff for Senate]

"John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit" by James Traub (4 1/2 stars)

Yeah, I got that book as a birthday gift last year and read the first 100 or 200 pages but then lost interest (I last read it something like 9 months ago now). I plan on restarting it soon. Seems like a pretty good book, though it is a little bit boring at times, I must admit. The plan is for me to start it from the beginning again soon, though not sure when that'll happen (currently I'm reading a book about India's post-independence history).

[afleitch]

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimara.

[Aurelius]

On that note, the presidential bios I've read so far:

"Washington" by Ron Chernow (5 stars)
"John Adams: A Life" by John Ferling (4 1/2 stars)
"Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power" by Jon Meacham (2 stars, huge disappointment)
"James Madison: A Life" by Ralph Ketcham (3 1/2 stars)
"James Monroe: A Life" by Tim McGrath (4 stars)
"John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit" by James Traub (4 1/2 stars)

"The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini (4 stars)

Now reading: "Martin Van Buren and the American Political System" by Donald Cole.

[Brother Jonathan]

I've been doing a close reading of Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West and Francis Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man for a project. 

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I've been doing a close reading of Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West and Francis Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man for a project. 

That's awesome.

[GoTfan]

I decided to take the plunge and buy the full set of Three Kingdoms from my Red Cross.

Wish me luck, ladies and gentlemen.

[Aurelius]

On that note, the presidential bios I've read so far:

"Washington" by Ron Chernow (5 stars)
"John Adams: A Life" by John Ferling (4 1/2 stars)
"Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power" by Jon Meacham (2 stars, huge disappointment)
"James Madison: A Life" by Ralph Ketcham (3 1/2 stars)
"James Monroe: A Life" by Tim McGrath (4 stars)
"John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit" by James Traub (4 1/2 stars)

"The Life of Andrew Jackson" by Robert Remini (4 stars)

Now reading: "Martin Van Buren and the American Political System" by Donald Cole.

3.75 stars.

Now reading: "Old Tippecanoe" by Freeman Cleaves.

[Middle-aged Europe]

The Communist Manifesto

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Considering buying a Michel Houellebecq book.

Currently in the fourth book of the Book of the New Sun.

[Middle-aged Europe]

The Prince by Machiavelli

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The Prince by Machiavelli

Same.

[beaver2.0]

The Age of Jackson by Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
John Brown's Body by Stephen Vincent Benét

[Aurelius]

"President Without a Party: The Life of John Tyler"

[All Along The Watchtower]

[Aurelius]

120 pages in... I did not expect a book on John f***** Tyler to be so engaging. Maybe my baseline is skewed after 350 pages of a 1939 book on William Henry Harrison with a deliberately archaic writing style that reads more like 1889.

-snip-

Read the first one about a month ago. Excellent book and a great character study.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Read the first one about a month ago. Excellent book and a great character study.

It has indeed been an excellent read so far. I find it interesting that, unlike his father, JQA experienced a remarkable second act in politics after a failed one-term Presidency, and ended up dying as one of the most effective and celebrated champions of the most important cause in America at the time, in addition to being the last prominent link to the Founders when he passed. And as for his Presidency, his foreign policy vision has aged quite well.

Then again, he had a vast range of experience in that realm before he was elected, even ignoring the invaluable education he received from both of his parents. Fascinating man and family.

[beaver2.0]

Finished John Brown's Body.  This is truly one of the best things I have ever read.  The First Manassas scene is one of the best things I've ever read.  I was glued to my seat on the metro reading it.