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What are you reading?

Hi,

I'm reading 'Hitler's Private Library: The Books that Shaped his Life." by T.W. Ryback.

Couldn't find anything on Trumps 'private library'. :confused:

A.
 
"The Pigeon Tunnel" by John Le Carre.

An interesting look at the British spy stuff that he was involved with. And how he used his day to day life to provide material for his books he wrote.
Wally
 
The Life of Muhammad - Ibn Ishaq

A basic document, the earliest surviving major biography of Muhammad. Dry and hard to read, and rather unpleasant. Muhammad was unpleasant.
 
I read 91 books in 2016. That's up from 83 books in 2015.

And yet, I wish I could read more.
 
We Are Legion (We Are Bob), Dennis E Taylor

Bob is an atheist who arranges to have his brain cryogenically preserved in the event of his death - and who then discovers that the afterlife is absolutely nothing like he had imagined.

I really enjoyed this book, but I did feel that there were some big questions about personhood and slavery in the back-story that could have been dealt with in rather more depth, before moving on to the main plot (or even as a part of it). That minor criticism aside, I really enjoyed this one; it has IMO (largely) successfully avoided being sucked into the usual cliches, and instead exploits them to humorous effect. Lots of nods here to nerdism and Sci-Fi culture; And the author clearly has a very low opinion of those US Christian fundamentalists who seek to erode the separation of church and state.

It is the first part of a trilogy, with book two scheduled for March 2017, and perhaps some of the deeper questions raised by the basic premise of the story will get a bit more attention in the remaining two volumes. Or perhaps it will regress to the usual cliches found in this kind of Sci-Fi. I reckon it will be good fun either way.
 
Eagles at War - Ben Kane.

The lost legions of Varus;

''In the summer of 9 CE, Publius Varus, the Roman governor of Germania, and Lucius Tullus, a centurion garrisoned on the Rhine, march east with three legions. As they prepare to return to their winter quarters, they are lured off the road and ambushed by German by German warriors. The Germans are led by Arminius, a chieftain who is a trusted ally of Rome.
 
I should have kept a list of books I have read.

Just finished "Sex Object" by Jessica Valenti. It is kind of a rant but easy read and she does make some good points.

Now reading "Myself in the World" a biography of William Faulkner. I may take a day trip to Oxford soon, fly or drive.

I will retire next week so will have even more time to read!

I love our local library
 
The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven

Doing classics now.

You can tell it's dated. The values are really old fashioned. Which I assume was part of the thing, but they pushed it to a level where it feels like an act. Basically, it's first contact with aliens and humanity are not the good guys. So I guess it's an interesting twist.
 
DrZoidberg said:
The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven

Doing classics now.

You can tell it's dated. The values are really old fashioned. Which I assume was part of the thing, but they pushed it to a level where it feels like an act. Basically, it's first contact with aliens and humanity are not the good guys. So I guess it's an interesting twist.
Click to expand...


Considering our history of a long procession of Lunatic Leaders with overblown egos, it wouldn't be surprising if we stuffed it up somehow.
 
Just finished A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Loved the writing style, confronted (in a good way) by the content.
 
Started reading the 1895 novel The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli.

An interesting perspective on the corruptive power of great wealth.
 
I wanted to learn more about ISIS so I found this. So far it seems respectable. It's remarkable how the discussions about ISIS are so infected and riddled with lies that I keep questioning how true any of the stuff I'm reading is.

It is thorough and does go into great detail. It also explains the inner workings of Al Qaeda and ISIS, which I wonder how he could possibly know? How much is conjecture? It explains that an organisation organised by independent cells awards individuals within those cells a hell of a lot of autonomy. They might not tow the party line exactly, but once they're in the network it's hard to fix it for the higher ups. If you take out mid-lever tiers anything below that cell is cut loose from the organisation. An aspect I hadn't thought of. And if only some people are killed in a cell, the cell can radically change it's strategy over-night. This is given as a reason Al-Baghdadi (in Zawahiri's cell) could (when Zawahiri died) break free from Al Qaeda, controlling a massive branch of Al Qaeda and there was nothing Al Qaeda could do about it. Which led to ISIS.

According to this book Osama Bin Laden spent a lot of his time chastising people in the network for beheadings. Something which he was against all the time. He wanted Al Qaeda to have a mass market appeal, who used terrorism sparingly but with great effect. And not come across as a bunch of violent goons. The leaders who encouraged beheadings were further down the ladder. But hard to do much about other than just to ask them nicely. And when Al-Baghdadi, (who really loved beheadings) took his toys and left Al Qaeda just had to roll with it.

One interesting bit is how A-Baghdadi has been learning on the job. When ISIS started he really had no idea what he was doing. Which explains why their strategy has been a bit hit'n'miss. He's described as a far cry from a James Bond villain. Sounds plausible.

I have no idea if it's bullshit or not. But it seems legit. I'm going pick up more books on this. I think anybody reading about this needs to read books from every perspective to get a balanced view.

https://www.amazon.com/ISIS-Apocalypse-History-Strategy-Doomsday/dp/1250112648
 
Welcome to Orphancorp.


Are there more dystopian books around lately? This is a little slim volume. and likely intended for teenagers, but a very good book.
 
In the middle of I Peed on Fellini by David Stratton. I was hoping for interesting film related anecdotes. While interesting, it is a bit dry, being over 300 pages of dates and names. The only potentially funny anecdote is disposed of in the title.

Also at the start of Relativity by Antonia Hayes, which promises to be a sweet book. And, having read the Aubrey/Maturin novels through twice, I'm trying to decipher Patrick O'Brian's handwriting in the unfinished 21st book.
 
Picked up a few books on North American Indigenous culture a few weekends ago, and this weekend 'A Brief History of Time', and 'Albion's Seed'. The indigenous books are pretty good, but the latter two are some of the more interesting books I've read in a while (particularly Albion's Seed, which tries to map out the origins of American culture)
 
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben. Not very far into it, interesting, however, he writes like trees have brains....
 
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