What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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PhilosophyAndrew
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by PhilosophyAndrew »

1983: Reagan, Andropov, and a World on the Brink by Taylor Downing.

An historical analysis of an incident on 1993 when the Soviet leadership came to believe that an American first stroke was imminent. Downing argues that an accidental thermonuclear war nearly occurred.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35508945-1983
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FreeAtLast
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by FreeAtLast »

"Waterloo" by Bernard Cornwell (Harper Collins Publishers, 2014)

Two weeks ago I was at the library staring at several shelves worth of books about this famous battle. After about one-half hour of perusing, I picked this tome. Good choice. It's an comprehensive, engaging, and very readable overview of the famous confrontation between the forces of the Emperor Napoleon and the Duke of Wellington/Prince Blucher, including the oft-forgotten preliminary "skirmishes" at Quatre-Bras and Ligny. The Duke said that the Allies' victory was the "nearest thing you ever saw in your life"; this book repeatedly hammers home that point. I was reminded of all the "what if" alternative histories that have been postulated concerning the battles of Gettysburg and Midway. This book would be perfect for the first year cadets' curriculum at Sandhurst and West Point. High recommendation.
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stemikger
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by stemikger »

The Vanguard Experiment by Robert Slater. Five Stars!! I'm sure most of the Bogleheads here already read this book being it was written in 1996. However, if you already love John Bogle, this will make you love and admire him even more (if that's possible).
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

Silence of the Grave, by Arnaldur Indridason.

This is a murder mystery set in Iceland. A body is found in the excavation for a new home. The first clue is a line bushes on a nearby hillside, where neighbors have seen a crippled woman dressed in a green coat.
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EddyB
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by EddyB »

"The Curve of Time" by M. Blanchet.

A very pleasant memoir by a widowed mother of five, recounting several summers' sailing explorations of coastal British Columbia with her children.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by PhilosophyAndrew »

Gorbachev: His Life and Times by William Taubman.

2017 biography of Mikhail Gorbachev; Taubman won a Pulitzer Prize for his 2003 biography of Nikita Khrushchev.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33860134-gorbachev
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ruralavalon
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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The Roman Republic, by Michael Crawford.

I am disappointed, I hoped for more discussion of the inception and workings of the Roman Republic rather than a history of it's downfall. The book is plagued with incomprehensible run-on sentences. I don't think that I will finish the book.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bertilak »

Don’t Look Now and Other Stories (1952 – 1976) by Daphne du Maurier

Stories included:
  • Don’t Look Now
  • The Apple Tree
  • The Pool
  • The Blue Lenses
  • Kiss Me Again, Stranger
  • The Chamois
  • Not After Midnight
  • The Old Man
  • The Birds
Daphne du Maurier is very inventive. These stories are all quite different, demonstrating a wide range of subject matter, especially when also considering her novels (e.g. Rebecca, Jamaica Inn). Her stories are evocative -- it is easy to be drawn into them and keep reading. The variety keeps you from getting bored. Each story Is something new. If there is one thing in common, it is subtle suspense. There is often some hint of the supernatural, with “natural” being the keyword. Mother Nature often (but not always) plays a part. Think of The Birds!

Note that Hitchcock made movies of Jamaica Inn, The Birds, and Rebecca.
Last edited by bertilak on Sat May 12, 2018 7:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bertilak »

Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier
A character-driven, Gothic-like, mystery-thriller involving a rich man, his new working-class wife, and the circumstances surrounding the recent death of the man’s first wife, Rebecca. The sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers keeps everyone on their toes. The large foreboding estate called Manderley supplies the background. The protagonist (the working-class wife) is the narrator and is never named.

(I thought I'd posted this earlier but can't find it.)
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by nisiprius »

The Philosopher's Flight, by Tom Miller. I'm more than halfway through, I'm enjoying it a lot... although I want to say it is like "Harry Potter meets Starship Troopers." Interesting twists of ideas, and, so far anyway, interesting characters and skillful storytelling. It's about an alternate universe (I guess) in which a sophisticated technology-like magic called "sigilry" has been developed. Sigilry is considered entirely a women's field, and the protagonist is a young man who is surprisingly good at it, and suffers sex discrimination trying to study sigilry at Radcliffe College. Which just sounds silly, but it's a good book and I'm enjoying it so far.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by abuss368 »

I just finished Sam Zell’s first book “Am I Being Too Subtle”. I enjoyed it.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Nicolas »

goodbye, things — The New Japanese Mininalism by Fumio Sasaki.

How (and why) to get rid of your stuff to simplify life and increase happiness. I just started it but so far it's promising. I checked it out of my public library.

My wife is always after me to get rid of my stuff and so far I’ve been resisting. I (seemingly) can’t bear to part with these things. Maybe this book will help me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03936 ... ctObb=used

Image
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bpp »

ruralavalon wrote: Wed May 09, 2018 9:19 am The Roman Republic, by Michael Crawford.

I am disappointed, I hoped for more discussion of the inception and workings of the Roman Republic rather than a history of it's downfall. The book is plagued with incomprehensible run-on sentences. I don't think that I will finish the book.
Try SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, by Mary Beard. She covers from the founding up to the year 212, explicitly not covering the downfall. Just started it myself, but so far it is a ripping yarn, well written.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Dave55 »

Read "The Lock Artist" by Scott Hamilton, and really enjoyed it.
Picked up "The 2nd Life Nick Mason" and "Winter of the Wolf Moon; An Alex McNight Mystery" both by Hamilton. "Winter of the Wolf Moon; An Alex McNight Mystery" is good, and "The 2nd Life Nick Mason" is excellent.

Dave
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Darth Xanadu »

letsgobobby wrote: Tue Oct 04, 2016 11:25 am
Bungo wrote:I recently read The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Excellent book, a rare five star rating from me.
Ishiguro's command of the language is astounding
Especially since English isn't even his native tongue (although he did move to I think England as a young kid).

Non-Fiction: Brain Rules for Baby, John Medina
Fiction: A Wild Sheep Chase, Haruki Murakami

Murakami is a rare talent. Many of his stories have an element of magical realism in the vein of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Salman Rushdie. Not sure how to describe it ... maybe, frustratingly engaging? :confused
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SagaciousTraveler
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by SagaciousTraveler »

For all my tech/sci fi nerds, please read Robin Sloane's Sourdough or Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour book store.

For people who like political science, I'm going to recommend by Uncle's book: Framing the Farm Bill by Christopher Bosso. Absolutely fascinating on the politics that go into this single bill every 5 years.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by lthenderson »

I just finished "Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting" by Michael Perry.

This is the third book by Michael Perry that I've read and pretty much continues where the previous two, (Population 485 and Truck) left off. This book covers the birth of his first daughter, moving to a farm and trying to become more self-sufficient by raising pigs and chickens. Perry's writing style of short non-fiction essays collected together to form a moving story keeps my attention and are very enjoyable reads.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Artful Dodger »

Nicolas wrote: Sun May 13, 2018 11:29 pm goodbye, things — The New Japanese Mininalism by Fumio Sasaki.

How (and why) to get rid of your stuff to simplify life and increase happiness. I just started it but so far it's promising. I checked it out of my public library.

My wife is always after me to get rid of my stuff and so far I’ve been resisting. I (seemingly) can’t bear to part with these things. Maybe this book will help me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03936 ... ctObb=used

Image
I picked this up as an Audible daily deal, and have been listening to sometimes during my morning stretching / yoga. Very good with useful insights.
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ruralavalon
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

bpp wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 4:24 am
ruralavalon wrote: Wed May 09, 2018 9:19 am The Roman Republic, by Michael Crawford.

I am disappointed, I hoped for more discussion of the inception and workings of the Roman Republic rather than a history of it's downfall. The book is plagued with incomprehensible run-on sentences. I don't think that I will finish the book.
Try SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, by Mary Beard. She covers from the founding up to the year 212, explicitly not covering the downfall. Just started it myself, but so far it is a ripping yarn, well written.
I had already read SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. You are correct, it is well written and is a much better book.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Cycle »

Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose

I learned more about American Indian culture from reading this book than a visit to the new Smithsonian in Washington. I would highly recommend the book if you like history.
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Artful Dodger
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Artful Dodger »

PhilosophyAndrew wrote: Sun Apr 29, 2018 4:47 pm
Artful Dodger wrote: Sun Apr 29, 2018 3:01 pm While working in the yard this weekend, I began to listen to the second book of Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson, Means of Assent, which covers his career from early WW2 to his campaign for the Senate in 1948. As many others have noted, this series is one of the best biographies written of an american president.
Caro’s boographies of Johnson are superb — perhaps the best biographies I’ve read. I’ve not yet read his biography of Robert Moses, but I want to read it.

Andy.
Just about done; an hour left. Even though I knew the ending, this is still a thrilling tale.
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ruralavalon
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

Cycle wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 7:38 pm Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose

I learned more about American Indian culture from reading this book than a visit to the new Smithsonian in Washington. I would highly recommend the book if you like history.
I read that some time ago, it did give a lot of insight into the traditions and customs of the Sioux and the U.S. Army in the 19th Century. This is a very good book.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by FreeAtLast »

"Strange New Worlds: The Search For Alien Planets" by Ray Jayawardhana (Princeton University Press, 2011).

The author is an active astrophysicist and he has done us all a favor here by publishing this little book (227 pages of text). Ever wonder how astronomers have been able to discover and characterize planets around stars other than our Sun? Dr. J. summarizes all the necessary methods, evidence, and detective work in a readily comprehensible 9 chapters. He also humanizes the science by giving us brief biographies of the talented and fascinating individuals who work in this field of astronomy. If the reader has had a good course in high school physics, he/she will have no trouble understanding the scientific concepts in this book.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by MP173 »

John Sandford - Twisted Prey....yet another Lucas Davenport series novel.

Davenport is now an agent with US Marshal Dept and investigates an attempted assassination of Minnesota Senator Porter Smalls.

I had felt Sandford had slipped some recently...this is an excellent Davenport novel and moves Sandford back into the elite mystery writers...at least in my opinion.

Ed
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Dave55 »

"Trophy Hunt" by C.J. Box

Dave
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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The Acadian Exiles, by Arthur G. Dougherty.

This history was published in 1916, based on primary sources. This is a history of the French settlement of Canada's Maritime Provinces starting in 1604, the multiple shifts of the territory between English and French control, and finally the mass forced deportations of 1762 of about 6,000 Acadians from Nova Scotia and the burning and confiscation of their property. The deportations were primarily to South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York. I thought that the book was very interesting.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by DanMahowny »

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World -by Harry Browne
Funding secured
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steve roy
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Re: What Book Are YOU Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by steve roy »

JANE AND MARK

One benefit of retirement is having large stretches of time in which to fiddle around. For me, that means reading. Magazines, news articles, smart-aleck blogs, and random junk mail.

Also books. I've lately finished "Pride and Prejudice" -- one of Jane Austen's major works -- and "Tom Sawyer, Detective" -- a third-tier production from the pen of Mark Twain.

But I'll be frank. "P & P" was a read-it-because-it's-good-for you enterprise. I've enjoyed movie adaptations of Ms. Austen's book, but the page-turning itself was a rough slog, partly because of the meandering plot (will Elizabeth Bennet fall for the rich and good-looking Mr. Darcy or WON'T she?), and partly because of the ornate, plummy dialogue. Like this:
"My beauty you had early withstood, and as for my manners -- my behavior to YOU was at least always bordering on the uncivil, and I never spoke to you without rather wishing to give you pain than not. Now be sincere, did you admire me for my impertinence?"

"For the liveliness of your mind, I did."
And so on.

(I've got my doubts people talked this way in the early 19th century, but what do I know? I wasn't there at the time. Maybe the above is exactly the way they talked.)

Mr. Twain, on the other hand, knows how to make his characters spout frontier dialects, even inside a less than compelling plot: here's Tom Sawyer explaining a crime to a packed courtroom:
"Your honor, it wasn't right to call him a thief, and I'll let up on that a little. He did steal the di'monds, but he didn't know it. He stole them from his brother Jake when he was laying dead, after Jake had stole them from the other thieves; but Jubiter didn't know he was stealing them, and he's been swelling around here with them a month; yes sir, twelve thousand dollars worth of di'monds on him -- all that riches, and going around here every day just like a poor man. Yes, your honor, he's got them on him now."
"Tom Sawyer, Detective" is Mark Twain's attempt at an Agatha Christie style murder mystery, long before the arrival of Ms. Christie. It doesn't come off, but it's nice to hear Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (the narrator) bloviating.
Last edited by steve roy on Fri May 25, 2018 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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Finished my annual re read of War and Peace, took two months but read slowly and enjoy more each year, though next year may take a sabbatical and re read Anna Karenina. Then picked up used copy of Moby Dick at Strand bookstore in Manhattan for $10, a prior owner had underlined passages and I of course underlined more, maybe should resell to Strand so another reader can add even more. And after reading about the slaughter of whales with harpoons and lances I was rooting for whale at the end so turned out good. Then read The Driest Season by Meghan Kenny, which I thought was wonderful, a short bittersweet coming of age novel of 15 year old girl on dairy farm in Wisconsin during bleak years of WWII. Highly recommend. Now part way through River of Doubt by Candice Millard, true and riveting story of Teddy Roosevelt and his last great (and almost fatal) adventure exploring uncharted river in Brazilian Amazon rainforest. And so it goes.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by MJW »

jdb wrote: Thu May 24, 2018 5:04 pm Now part way through River of Doubt by Candice Millard, true and riveting story of Teddy Roosevelt and his last great (and almost fatal) adventure exploring uncharted river in Brazilian Amazon rainforest. And so it goes.
I will be interested to hear what you think of it. I received it as a birthday gift but haven't read it yet.

I read David McCullough's TR biography, "Mornings on Horseback," several years ago and enjoyed it.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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MJW wrote: Thu May 24, 2018 5:56 pm
jdb wrote: Thu May 24, 2018 5:04 pm Now part way through River of Doubt by Candice Millard, true and riveting story of Teddy Roosevelt and his last great (and almost fatal) adventure exploring uncharted river in Brazilian Amazon rainforest. And so it goes.
I will be interested to hear what you think of it. I received it as a birthday gift but haven't read it yet.

I read David McCullough's TR biography, "Mornings on Horseback," several years ago and enjoyed it.
I read River of Doubt several years ago, and felt that it was very good.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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Noir, by Christopher Moore.

This is a spoof of Raymond Chandler or Dashiel Hammet style novels, set in San Francisco in 1947, and begins with an beautuliful young blonde woman walking into a bar. The cast of characters includes --
the hero bartender,
the attractive blonde,
the bartender's Chinese pal Moo Shoes.
the pal's Uncle Ho,
the bartender's huge black friend Lone (short for Thelonius)
a black mamba,
a crooked cop,
assorted low lifes,
an Air Force General, and
mysterious federal agents, dressed in black suits and hats, always wearing dark glasses.

Definitely an odd sense of humor , sort of funny, but I don't believe I will be reading the author's other novels.
Last edited by ruralavalon on Fri May 25, 2018 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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The Man in the High Castle by PKD. I preferred the TV series than the book in this case but would recommend both, with different perspectives.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by nisiprius »

Just finished The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, by Kirk Wallace Johnson, on my wife's recommendation. It's nonfiction and about the first 4/5ths of it are just sensational. It sort of peters out at the end (because the author, who'd taken it on as a personal project to solve a loose end in the mystery, failed to solve it). Warning, especially for eBook readers: just about half of this book consists of notes on sources, so when pacing yourself be aware that it's only half as long as it looks.

I hate to describe what the book is about because it doesn't sound fascinating, but it is. The national history "heist" was a theft of feathers from the British Museum's ornithology collection, and it was stolen by a fly-tier. It turns out that the classic salmon flies of the Victorian era uses feathers that belong to endangered species that can't legally be hunted, so the number of feathers available is limited to those that were existed before the CITES treaty came into effect. Small feathers can be worth hundreds of dollars... and, thus, the bird collections in natural history museums have become fabulously valuable.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by nisiprius »

I'm 1/3th of the way into Love in the Time of Cholera (in English translation) by Gabriel García Márquez. I've never read anything by him before and it seems long overdue. I'm not trying to read it in Spanish because I am still working on two titles in Spanish (La Sombra del Viento (Shadow of the Wind), by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, which I probably wouldn't have tackled if I'd realize how hard it was. Among other things, it's full of regional Spanish colloquialisms that have been influenced by Catalan; and a children's title, Una Semana in Lugano (A Week in Lugano), by Francisco Hinojosa, which is much easier--and has the great appeal that it does not seem to have been translated into English so I can't "cheat!")
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by bpp »

htdrag11 wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 5:52 pm The Man in the High Castle by PKD. I preferred the TV series than the book in this case but would recommend both, with different perspectives.
Read the book recently. Not sure what to think. The general atmosphere is interesting, but some jarring details just kept taking me out of the story. Like the I Ching -- what the heck does that have to do with Japan? And the Japanese names seem mostly nonsensical.

I suspect PKD spent a lot more time studying WWII German culture than Japanese. In fact, almost none of the latter. Too bad then that most of the novel takes place in the Japan-occupied zone.

(I understand PKD studied WWII German military culture in some depth, which depressed him sufficiently that he never wrote a planned sequel to The Man in the High Castle.)
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by mancich »

"Factfulness" by Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans Rosling, and Ola Rosling. Recommended as a summer reading book on the Gates Notes site, and so far, it is very interesting.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by BrooklynInvest »

Blues wrote: Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:28 pm
BrooklynInvest wrote: Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:20 pm "The Force" by Don Winslow. Such style and grit. Everything he does is great for different reasons. "The Cartel" and "Walking the Dog" I especially loved but his earlier, and somewhat less grand books I liked for different reasons.

On other end of spectrum I'm really enjoying the Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell series by Laurie King. A road well travelled but for fans of the canon, the stories with a later-in-life Holmes (sans Watson) and his new protege are very worthwhile.
I think you mean "The Power of the Dog".

(You must've been a yo-yo enthusiast or a fan of Rufus Thomas. 8-) )
Yes! "Power of the Dog." Thank you. "Walking the dog" is another favorite from Walter Mosley -his sequel to "Always Outnumbered, always outgunned" . . . assuming I haven't confused something else.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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Voices, by Arnaldur Indridason.

This mystery is set in Reyjkavik Iceland where a hotel doorman, who is dressed to act as a Santa Claus for children of hotel guests, is found stabbed to death in his shabby room in the hotel basement. The Santa had been a child star as a choirboy. The mystery involves a collector trying to buy rare recordings, the Santa's estranged family, prostitution and thievery at the hotel, and drug addiction.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

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How I found Freedom in a Unfree world: by Harry Browne.
I suspect many readers of this site recognize Harry Browne's portfolio.
I applaud Harry Browns other advocacies in the book, there uniquely eye-opening for some. He wrote this book and it's not dedicated to his portfolio advice, it's his accompanying insights that are unique. This book is in its 3rd or 4th updated re-release, although he claims to have changed little reading the prologue.


*Thx to LGeek for the wiki link below!
Last edited by aspirit on Wed May 30, 2018 4:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by LadyGeek »

For those who don't recognize Harry Browne, see the wiki: Permanent Portfolio
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by gretah »

The Death of Expertise:
The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
by Tom Nichols

From Publisher's Weekly
"The crux of the book's argument is that people-specifically in the American public-have grown increasingly hostile to expertise. Nichols explores the sources of this hostility ("some of which are rooted in human nature, others that are unique to America and some that are unavoidable product of modernity and affluence"), discusses the notion of "expert," and considers the devastating consequences of the loss of trust on democratic institutions. He blames changes in higher education, the explosion and fracturing of media outlets, and confirmation bias and other psychological effects of an oversaturated media environment."

I found the book a good reminder that those of us who have done well financially have a responsibility to help those less fortunate. Perhaps with donations to fund college scholarships, perhaps through investments in things like affordable rental housing. Or just be certain people we hire or work under us get livable wages.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by cfs »

Currently reading "The Old Ways, a Journey on Foot" by Robert Macfarlane. Checked out from my local library. If you like mother nature, if you like walking long distances (as I do) you will like this book.

Here is a good review (Paths of Enlightenment, by Rob Nixon) of the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/book ... rlane.html

Good luck, y gracias por leer ~cfs~
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by DanMahowny »

Educated
by Tara Westover

Not done yet, but WOW!
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by PhilosophyAndrew »

Krusxhchev: The Man and His Era by William Taubman.

I just finished reading Taubman’s excellent biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, and an turning next to this earlier biography, which won the Pulitzer Prize.


Andy.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by ruralavalon »

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, by Agatha Christie.

Poirot investigates when his dentist is shot. Initially thought a suicide, it quickly becomes a murder investigation involving spies, political intrigue, family squabbles, and personality issues in the dentist's family and office staff, and the families of his patients.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by heartwood »

I Heard a Romantic Story by Lee Child.

It's a short story, actually described by the editor as "One paragraph, one story, one voice by Lee Child. Enough said."

Luckily I borrowed it as an ebook from the library. No Jack Reacher, $1.99 if you pay for it, seven and a half pages (one paragraph) of a stream of consciousness.

Don't bother. I almost stopped on the 2nd page. Enough said.
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by abuss368 »

President Ronald Reagan "An American Life". Really good!
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Koogie »

SagaciousTraveler wrote: Mon May 14, 2018 1:52 pm For all my tech/sci fi nerds, please read Robin Sloane's Sourdough or Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour book store.
I read Penumbra on vacation last week. It was good although I thought the difference between the premise and the resolution was a little bit of a bait and switch. Still, sharp writing, good humour and good characterization. Very enjoyable overall.
nisiprius wrote: Sat May 12, 2018 8:18 pm The Philosopher's Flight, by Tom Miller. I'm more than halfway through, I'm enjoying it a lot... although I want to say it is like "Harry Potter meets Starship Troopers." Interesting twists of ideas, and, so far anyway, interesting characters and skillful storytelling. It's about an alternate universe (I guess) in which a sophisticated technology-like magic called "sigilry" has been developed. Sigilry is considered entirely a women's field, and the protagonist is a young man who is surprisingly good at it, and suffers sex discrimination trying to study sigilry at Radcliffe College. Which just sounds silly, but it's a good book and I'm enjoying it so far.
Also read this last week. I would agree that it was a bit of a blatant attempt to create an American version of the Potter franchise. The by the numbers plot was predictable and the characters were sometimes a little typecast. Still, quite enjoyable. Inventing "sigilry" was a clever and stylistic way to build an alternate history for the American Civil War and American involvement in WW1 (and I am a sucker for alternate history). Felt a little juvenile to me at times as well, as if it was intended for a late teen/twenties audience. Didn't know that going in.

I also read Rookie Privateer by Jamie McFarlane but will review that in the Sci-Fi thread.

And lastly, The Hard Way by Lee Child. Decided to see what all the Jack Reacher fuss was about. Not my thing. Basic omniscient military hard man wins through all obstacles kind of stuff. Predictable and cookie cutter. I get the attraction to it but again, not my thing. Luckily, we don't all have to like the same stuff in life... :)
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Re: What Book Are You Currently Reading? Part VI

Post by Fallible »

Just finished Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, a WSJ investigative reporter who previously wrote a series of articles about the health care startup, Theranos, and its young founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes. It’s about Holmes and the Valley, but also about those who believed in and enabled her (board members included former secretaries of state and an Army general), and it’s about the courage of those Theranos employees and others who spoke up to make possible the WSJ articles that have led to SEC fraud charges and lawsuits. I recommend it.
Last edited by Fallible on Wed Jun 13, 2018 8:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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