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What are you Reading now ..... other than comics ?
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Started by jimjum12,

1,854 posts in this topic

JuliusSeizure

JuliusSeizure

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I am a minor legend at work for having finished Cryptonomicon.

 

I have so little time to read non-technical stuff, but I'm slowly re-reading Vol. 1 of "The Road to Disunion" by William Freehling. I waited over 10 years for Vol. 2 to come out and got it for this past Christmas, so I'm re-reading the first.

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jimjum12

jimjum12

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Yeah 1984 is a good read He11blazer. It still stays pertinent every time I read it, which is the hallmark of a true classic to me.

 

The Hunt for Red October was interesting, but I can only take so much of Clancy's technical details. In that book he went a bit overboard and lost me during some parts as I'm not big into military and naval details. I think he hit it out of the park with 'Without Remorse' and the Rainbow Six's however - still two of my favorites I have read.

 

Anyone read any philosophical books? I like 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.' It's fantastic and the wiki on it can explain better than I possibly could:

 

"With this, the book details two types of personalities: those who are interested mostly in gestalts (romantic viewpoints, such as Zen, focused on being "In the moment", and not on rational analysis), and those who seek to know the details, understand the inner workings, and master the mechanics (classic viewpoints with application of rational analysis, vis-a-vis motorcycle maintenance) and so on."

 

 

......"Guide For The Perplexed" by Moses Ben Maimon a.k.a. Maimonides :cloud9: GOD BLESS....

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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I have so little time to read non-technical stuff, but I'm slowly re-reading Vol. 1 of "The Road to Disunion" by William Freehling. I waited over 10 years for Vol. 2 to come out and got it for this past Christmas, so I'm re-reading the first.

 

I read The Road to Disunion circa 1998 and am waiting to swap for the new volume and start back from Volume 1 ... How's Volume 1 upon re-reading? :popcorn:

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mikenyc

mikenyc

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I'm a big Hunter Thompson fan also. If you haven't read his political stuff, check it out. He was onto Nixon way before Watergate exploded.

 

My reading lately has been Objective C and iPhone programming books, as well as "Head First SQL." I've got a comic book want list app that's going to be submitted to Apple shortly. My artist delivered some great icon art last night.

 

Agreed, Fear and loathing on the campaign trail is gonzo journalism at it's finest. Awesome!!!!

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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The Last Man by Mary Shelley is on my short list right now. Maybe I can start it when I'm on vacation in April.

 

I read Frankenstein last year, and it was not quite as good as I hoped it would be. I was intrigued by the book's mention of The Last Man, so maybe I'll pick it up.

 

I just finished reading Rand's The Fountainhead a couple weeks ago, and am now reading Godless, by Ann Coulter.

 

Can't tell you when the last time I read a comic was. ;)

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JuliusSeizure

JuliusSeizure

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I have so little time to read non-technical stuff, but I'm slowly re-reading Vol. 1 of "The Road to Disunion" by William Freehling. I waited over 10 years for Vol. 2 to come out and got it for this past Christmas, so I'm re-reading the first.

 

I read The Road to Disunion circa 1998 and am waiting to swap for the new volume and start back from Volume 1 ... How's Volume 1 upon re-reading? :popcorn:

 

I'm about halfway through it and it's starting to get to be more narrative-based, which means it's really picking up. The first 200 or so pages talk about how differently people thought in different parts of the South, how a radical minority (large slaveowners) kept (and expanded) its foothold, and how attitudes towards slavery in the South grew from apologetic to militant. It kind of gets you into the antebellum zeitgeist, for want of a better word.

 

When I first read these chapters, they were a revelation to me. I had read a lot about the Civil War and never completely understood what made the South 'tick'. Why were they so willing to fight to protect a cruel economic system that so many of them knew was immoral? Why did poor non-slaveowning Southerners fight so hard for so long? Why did so many sensible people follow radical secessionists?

 

The Road to Disunion (Vol 1) really helped me get into the South's collective head a lot better, to understand how trapped they were by a backward economy, and the claustrophobia that came from the ever-present threat of violent revolt. They were just permeated with this class of inscrutable people that they knew they had wronged (and were continuing to) and lived in fear of in a way that they never dared talk about. Then they started to hear people around the country talking openly about the great wrong of slavery and how something should eventually be done about it, etc., etc., never knowing how much was getting to the ears of the people living in their house, preparing their food, cleaning their weapons...and eventually they get to the point where they start screaming "For God's sake shut up already!" But the abolitionists have history on their side and they won't shut up, and the tension just builds and builds.

 

Having read it once and absorbed the lessons, the first third of the book isn't quite as fresh on a second reading, though the prose is very good. Once it gets into the narrative and the personalities, it holds up a little better.

 

I'm excited to finish and start the second volume.

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Pirate

Pirate

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Reading Dune when I can.

 

Just finished the 4 Game of Throne books by Martin and a Markus Sakey book, think it was on the edge or something.

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Scrooge

Scrooge

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I have so little time to read non-technical stuff, but I'm slowly re-reading Vol. 1 of "The Road to Disunion" by William Freehling. I waited over 10 years for Vol. 2 to come out and got it for this past Christmas, so I'm re-reading the first.

 

I read The Road to Disunion circa 1998 and am waiting to swap for the new volume and start back from Volume 1 ... How's Volume 1 upon re-reading? :popcorn:

 

I'm about halfway through it and it's starting to get to be more narrative-based, which means it's really picking up. The first 200 or so pages talk about how differently people thought in different parts of the South, how a radical minority (large slaveowners) kept (and expanded) its foothold, and how attitudes towards slavery in the South grew from apologetic to militant. It kind of gets you into the antebellum zeitgeist, for want of a better word.

 

When I first read these chapters, they were a revelation to me. I had read a lot about the Civil War and never completely understood what made the South 'tick'. Why were they so willing to fight to protect a cruel economic system that so many of them knew was immoral? Why did poor non-slaveowning Southerners fight so hard for so long? Why did so many sensible people follow radical secessionists?

 

The Road to Disunion (Vol 1) really helped me get into the South's collective head a lot better, to understand how trapped they were by a backward economy, and the claustrophobia that came from the ever-present threat of violent revolt. They were just permeated with this class of inscrutable people that they knew they had wronged (and were continuing to) and lived in fear of in a way that they never dared talk about. Then they started to hear people around the country talking openly about the great wrong of slavery and how something should eventually be done about it, etc., etc., never knowing how much was getting to the ears of the people living in their house, preparing their food, cleaning their weapons...and eventually they get to the point where they start screaming "For God's sake shut up already!" But the abolitionists have history on their side and they won't shut up, and the tension just builds and builds.

 

Having read it once and absorbed the lessons, the first third of the book isn't quite as fresh on a second reading, though the prose is very good. Once it gets into the narrative and the personalities, it holds up a little better.

 

I'm excited to finish and start the second volume.

 

:hail: Though I have a fuzzy memory of the greater lines of his narrative, I remember liking the greater understanding the book afforded me compared to so many other books that focus mainly on the military aspect of the situation. I did have and still have a slight fear that his version / vision of the facts is not gospel and am reticent to take on faith all he put down in volume 1. Regardless, the book is information laden and was fascinating.

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adamstrange

adamstrange

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With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge

 

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker

 

Both are quite good so far.

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letsgrumble

letsgrumble

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After a driving trip to Virginia last summer, I wanted to learn more about the history of that area'n'stuff and picked up Capt. John Smith: Writings (Library of America). Truly fascinating, even with the King James' English.

 

Once I finish the book, I have a stack of Jack Kirby's Fourth World omnis to read. I'm not sure if that will be my reward or punishment.

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dupont2005

dupont2005

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Currently reading

 

"The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer" by Philip Carlo. It is all about Richard Kuklinski, a very interesting read, Kuklinski was certainly one crazy dude.

That sounds interesting, I have heard of that guy before.
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dupont2005

dupont2005

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Finishing Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson (finally...) and slowly going through The Brewmaster's Table by Garrett Oliver. Up next I have Brewing Up a Business by Sam Calgione (plus an entire shelf more...I was hooked on swap.com before they changed the format... :( )

 

I am not on Swap.com but am on PaperBackSwap.com. I just looked up Swap.com and ... yuck ... you have to be paired to swap? :P On PaperBackSwap.com, once you mail something away, you earn credit and then can redeem with anyone which is a heck of a lot better ... and no fee to the site either.

 

What was the format change that you didn't like?

 

Cryptonomicon was a one heck of a read but I couldn't get into his Baroque cycle :shrug:

I am on Paperbackswap.com too. I hardly ever get a book request anymore lol
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