Francesca R
Girl
"Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science" by Charles Wheelan
What book is everyone reading at the moment?
- Thread starter Jim Bowen
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Blinding Light, Paul Theroux, 2005. Bleagh. Self-indulgent maundering. Some authors write way too much.
Theroux is a travel-writer, not a novelist (although I like Saint Jack and The Family Arsenal well enough).
Theroux is a travel-writer, not a novelist (although I like Saint Jack and The Family Arsenal well enough).
Francesca R
Girl
"The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else" by Hernando de Soto"
The King and the Gentleman: Charles Stuart and Oliver Cromwell, 1599-1649, Derek Wilson, St. Martin's Press, 1999. A pretty good read so far, but after all only pop psychologizing. So a small, dense, prim, conceited mind met a large, coarse, fierce, conceited mind, and guess who won?
RobRoy
Not A Mormon
Heroic with Grace: Lengendary Women of Japan. This book was recommended to me as I was doing research for a fiction novel on Tomoe Gozen. I bought the book, but I'd been working on some other projects first (and I'm lazy). I finally got around to picking this one up to read.
Francesca R
Girl
"The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies", by. Bryan Caplan
Dave_46
Graduate Poster
Worlds in Collision. I found my old copy from thirty odd years ago and thought I'd give it another try. I didn't finish it the first time, and I doubt I'll finish it this time.
Dave
Dave
Polaris
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2006
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- 11,396
Armageddon by Max Hastings. One of the best World War Two histories I've ever read, and certainly the best on the fall of the Third Reich.
Skunk Works, by Ben Rich. Having just finished Boyd, I wasn't ready to give up the aerospace kick. It's a bit dated (published 1994) and I'm a little skeptical about some of what's printed (he refers to the C-130 as a "jet-transport"), but the development of the U-2 is very interesting.
Skunk Works, by Ben Rich. Having just finished Boyd, I wasn't ready to give up the aerospace kick. It's a bit dated (published 1994) and I'm a little skeptical about some of what's printed (he refers to the C-130 as a "jet-transport"), but the development of the U-2 is very interesting.
headscratcher4
Philosopher
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2002
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- 7,776
Whurthering Heights
Chris Haynes
Perfectly Poisonous Person
Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson. I heard his interview on The Skeptic Zone, and learned it is going to be a George Clooney movie. Should be interesting.
arthwollipot
Observer of Phenomena, Pronouns: he/him
I've been most disappointed by poor-quality bindings recently. I opened Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers recently, turned the title page, and it fell out in my hand.
The problem continued. Every page I turned fell off the binding. I can't read a book like that. Now I'm reading The Indie Band's Survival Guide (can't remember the authors' names right now) which was recommended by George Hrab - who is mentioned several times in the book.
The problem continued. Every page I turned fell off the binding. I can't read a book like that. Now I'm reading The Indie Band's Survival Guide (can't remember the authors' names right now) which was recommended by George Hrab - who is mentioned several times in the book.
MetalSeagull
Critical Thinker
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2002
- Messages
- 378
I've just started Sex and Death to the Age 14, by Spalding Gray. I'm enjoying it so far.
I just finished Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, by Laurence Bergreen. Very interesting.
Before that I was reading a story about a family that gets shipwrecked in the Pacific, Black Wave, by John and Jean Silverwood. An interesting story, but they wrote it themselves, and at times it really showed.
"John came back to the wheel and we kissed. Such a fine and salty kiss from that old man! I felt welded to him in that kiss. We did need each other, terribly and always."
Later on, a chapter written by him boils down to, "If the dinghy's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'."
I just finished Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe, by Laurence Bergreen. Very interesting.
Before that I was reading a story about a family that gets shipwrecked in the Pacific, Black Wave, by John and Jean Silverwood. An interesting story, but they wrote it themselves, and at times it really showed.
"John came back to the wheel and we kissed. Such a fine and salty kiss from that old man! I felt welded to him in that kiss. We did need each other, terribly and always."
Later on, a chapter written by him boils down to, "If the dinghy's a-rockin', don't come a-knockin'."
Boomsday by Christopher Buckley A Modest Proposal vs The Boomers & a complete sendup of the political process & spin zones.
Makes me want to read Thank You For Smioking, but as a rule, I try not to read books by the same author sequentially because I distract myself with comparisons.
Makes me want to read Thank You For Smioking, but as a rule, I try not to read books by the same author sequentially because I distract myself with comparisons.
bruto
Penultimate Amazing
You might consider getting a couple of his other books and setting them aside for later then. He's an amusing writer. Little Green Men was also fun, and so was his non fiction account of life on a merchant vessel, Steaming to Bamboola.
CrikeyBobs
Critical Thinker
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2005
- Messages
- 420
The Ancestor's Tale : Richard Dawkins
I am very much enjoying the approach taken by this book, that of a human genealogical pilgrim searching back through time, meeting up at intervals with pilgrims from other species, with whom we join forces and continue our journeys further and further back in time until (well I haven't got that far yet). The book is divided into 'tales' inspired by Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' (eg The gibbon's tale, The beaver's tale). Each one marks a "rendezvous" point with another genealogical branch of the Tree of Life and engages in discussions (archealogical, genetic etc) pertinent to the 'pilgrim' encountered.
Don't Sleep: There are Snakes : Danien Everett
An interesting multi-pronged (true) story about a missionary family among an Amazonian tribe: part sociological study, part adventure and part personal 'awakening'.
Fatal Revenant : Stephen Donaldson
Book 8 (and the latest) of a scheduled 10(!) in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series. These books are not exactly light reading: the story is many-faceted and detailed (and there is more than a passing resemblance to LoTR in places). I have found this latest book and the previous one to be quite slow going actually. They are sizeable books and it can take many pages for the story to progress. I can't help but get the feeling that there is more padding than needed. I like multi-book stories (Dune, Foundation, Amtrak Wars, Rama) and I've got this far, so I will not fall at this point.
The Republic : Plato
I bought this one purely on the basis that someone here mentioned it in a thread and I figured it could be good to read a 'classic' (I've read a few Dickens, Bronte etc, but they are not my usual fare). Of all the books I've listed here, this is the one I am making the slowest progress with. It is in the form of a dialogue (with Socrates as a main character) that discusses the nature of justice. I am having problems getting used to the format and how I should approach it: do I simply read it, or do I attempt to "join in" the discussion.
I am very much enjoying the approach taken by this book, that of a human genealogical pilgrim searching back through time, meeting up at intervals with pilgrims from other species, with whom we join forces and continue our journeys further and further back in time until (well I haven't got that far yet). The book is divided into 'tales' inspired by Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' (eg The gibbon's tale, The beaver's tale). Each one marks a "rendezvous" point with another genealogical branch of the Tree of Life and engages in discussions (archealogical, genetic etc) pertinent to the 'pilgrim' encountered.
Don't Sleep: There are Snakes : Danien Everett
An interesting multi-pronged (true) story about a missionary family among an Amazonian tribe: part sociological study, part adventure and part personal 'awakening'.
Fatal Revenant : Stephen Donaldson
Book 8 (and the latest) of a scheduled 10(!) in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series. These books are not exactly light reading: the story is many-faceted and detailed (and there is more than a passing resemblance to LoTR in places). I have found this latest book and the previous one to be quite slow going actually. They are sizeable books and it can take many pages for the story to progress. I can't help but get the feeling that there is more padding than needed. I like multi-book stories (Dune, Foundation, Amtrak Wars, Rama) and I've got this far, so I will not fall at this point.
The Republic : Plato
I bought this one purely on the basis that someone here mentioned it in a thread and I figured it could be good to read a 'classic' (I've read a few Dickens, Bronte etc, but they are not my usual fare). Of all the books I've listed here, this is the one I am making the slowest progress with. It is in the form of a dialogue (with Socrates as a main character) that discusses the nature of justice. I am having problems getting used to the format and how I should approach it: do I simply read it, or do I attempt to "join in" the discussion.
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiel Hammet. Yep, that one. He was a master of padding -- well, almost a master; you still notice it. I'm managing not to visualize the characters from the movie too much. How and the hell did they ever cast wimpy little Humphrey B. as Sam (Knock Ya Down & Kick Ya) Spade?
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