Recommendations on good books to read

[time]

I missed this thread completely the first time round.

Slo, if you want to read an interpretation of how BNW might fit into a realistic possible future, hunt down Harry Harrison's "Brave Newer World", a novelette that's included in his "greatest hits" anthology or whatever it's called. It's by no means seminal, but it might strike a chord if you're fresh from BNW.

 

[The Grammar Police]

Stand on Zanzibar. Yes indeed. Fool, you are no fool.

 

[LiamC]

Tannin, if you like history, then I'd recommend Richard Overy - Why the Allies Won (WWII). And if anybody is into arguing who, what, where et. al. of WWII, this should be a must read.

 

[slo crostic]

Slo, if you want to read an interpretation of how BNW might fit into a realistic possible future, hunt down Harry Harrison's "Brave Newer World"

Thanks for the recommendation time, I'll see if I can hunt it down.

 

[fool]

Hesitant as I am to resurrect threads whose shelf life seems to have expired, I had to recommend

The Last Lion, volumes 1&2, William Manchester.

Yes, its somewhat one sided, to the point, almost, of special pleading but for all that it remains the best biog of WS Churchill I’ve ever come across.

 

[Tea]

Fool, this is the sort of thread that never expires, it just goes to sleep for a month or two at a time. Sort of like Tannin, really.

 

[Tannin]

Thankyou, Tea. I must remember to come up with a snappy response to that. But not right now, I'm due for my afternoon snooze.

Anyway, LiamC recommends Why the Allies Won a post or two and a week or three earlier. I agree. It is as good a short summary of the topic as I have come across. I think I have two or three other works by the same author here somewhere. I'll look for them after my snooze.

I've read several biographies of Churchil, Fool, but The Last Lion is not among them. Hell - Churchil is the sort of larger-than-life figure that you are allowed to be a bit one-sided about.

 

[mubs]

Tuesdays with Morrie

 

[fool]

Right I’m going to get a copy of this Why the allies won the war thing.

I was talking to my dad the other day, he more or less instructed me to read Evelyn Waughs Vile Bodies. So I told him to read,

Erwin Schrodinger,
What is life, with Mind over Matter and Autobiographical Sketches.

Based on lectures he gave at Trinity college Dublin in 1943 and 1956.

Mind over matter in particular is incredibly thought provoking.

 

[fool]

Another quick rec,

The Daosadi Experiment.
Frank Herbert.

Worth reading for the Gowachin legal system alone.

 

[Mercutio]

Knowing full well that no one shares my particular taste in fiction, I'm going to go ahead and mention that I thoroughly enjoyed the three books to date that have been published in John Ringo's "Posleen saga".

Today I bought and finished "Wigfield, the Can-do Town that just May Not", by Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert, which I found enormously funny, as much for the narrator's play with words as the fact that I know a couple of similar towns.

Beat the living crap out of the second Matrix movie, which I also had the misfortune of watching today (the power was out in my apartment all day and I didn't feel like terrorizing my neighbors with classical music from large stereo system + UPS, my usual blackout thrill).

 

[Mercutio]

OK, so a few weeks ago, I recommened a series of books by John Ringo. His lastest book came out in hardcover, uh, yesterday. I didn't get home from working last night until about 1:00AM. I still managed to finish the book by 6:00 this morning.

The cover blurbs specifically make comparisons to Tom Clancy and Larry Bond. The author has a frickin' clue about computers (occasional references to Protoss and the joys of being a web designer).

It's good. I swear. Like Spire HSFs. Good. Not bad. Worth the time to read.

And, here's the incredibly cool thing about this book:
Included in the purchase price was a CD, a CD that includes not only everything that the author has written, but everything he's co-written with other authors, and a not-insubstantial chunk of the published material from a couple other authors from the same publisher.

In five formats including PDF, RTF and HTML.

With a license to redistribute, for free granted to anyone who has the files.

And also audio book versions of several novels, in MP3 format.

And fan fiction, something most copyright holders hate passionately.

And a role playing game, based on the d20 (3rd edition D&D) rules.

And I can give away all of it.

I'm telling you people that these books are good reading. I can give them to you, if you want proof. Want copies? PM me and I'll email them to you.

 

[timwhit]

I'd like to have it in pdf format if you can, I will even host it for you on my website if you want. Send it to tim@timwhit.com. I probably won't be able to look at it for a week or so because I am in Europe right now. This message is actually being posted from a BT internet kiosk, the keyboard really sucks too.

 

[Howell]

Send me an audio book please.

 

[blakerwry]

I would love an audio book. I spend so much time in the car and it's almost all wasted. It would be great to burn books to CD.

 

[Dozer]

I would love one, as well. Sounds like my type of reading.

 

[Mercutio]

Anyone willing to host the files?

 

[timwhit]

Anyone willing to host the files?

Didn't I say that about 4 posts ago? I will be able to host them after June 2 when I am back in the USA.

 

[Howell]

Anyone willing to host the files?

I'll host them unless Tim wants to come back from vacation early. Gimme a day or so to set up the ftp for you.

 

[fool]

I just finished,
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
by Haruki Murakami

Its very very good. And very difficult to summarise. So I wont.

 

[timwhit]

Has anyone read American Theocracy?

It looks interesting.

 

[Mercutio]

Bought it. Haven't read it yet.

 

[timwhit]

I would buy it, but I don't feel like I want to spend close to $20 on a hardcover book.

Plus, I hate hardcover books, they are too heavy to read properly.

 

[timwhit]

Bought it. Haven't read it yet.

Let us know what you think after you are done reading it.

It has some pretty good reviews on Amazon.

 

[paugie]

You, people, are awesome. A book thread! A movie thread is run of the mill, but a book thread???

I used to devour books when I was a kid. Ok, that was when I was 6 or 7 years old. Now, I spend too much time in front of this machine to be able to read on a regular basis. But I confess I pretty much finish anything I get started on.

the novels which come to mind:
"How Green Was My Valley" Richard Llewellyn. I've had 4 copies which have all gone missing (the sequel was blah)
"Shogun" lost 3 copies of this. I watched the abridged version of the mini-series starring Richard Chamberlain in a movie house and I would love to see the complete movie.
"Triple" I forgot the author, was it Len Deighton? I've lost 2 copies of this.

Books entertain me. And I'm easily entertained. I tend to forget the plots in a day or two.

Thing is, I'm too stingy to buy anything which costs more than 2 dollars, especially if I am not really familiar with what I'm buying.

 

[Gilbo]

Shogun is a classic paugie. Absolutely terrific. I've read it more than half a dozen times over the years. I've also read James Clavell's Gai-jin. Not as good, but very enjoyable.

I've currently got a bit of a line up of programming books, which will keep me from more enjoyable reading for some time. First on the list when I have the chance is to reread Dawn to Decadence. A very long, but very good book on the history of Western culture. I highly recommend it for curious people with too much time on their hands.

 

[Mercutio]

Always wanted to read Shogun. I've never found a copy at a time when I was looking for something to read.

I just finished several science fiction novels by Elizabeth Bear that I enjoyed very much.

 

[timwhit]

I ended up buying American Theocracy after Amazon gave me $30 for free for signing up for a credit card. Suckers...I will never use it again.

Anyways, the book is very interesting. With each passing page I hate GWB even more. I also wonder what this country will be like in 5-20 years. I think there are some drastic changes ahead.

 

[Mercutio]

I *still* haven't gotten around to reading that. I keep finding fiction that I want to read more. It'll probably be out in paperback by the time I get around to actually reading the hardcover.

Sigh.

I've been reading books by Eric Flint for several years. He's actually lives in nearby East Chicago, Indiana. I like his alternative history "1632"-series a lot.

 

[Mercutio]

Two more things:


1. Literature Map, a tool for finding authors much like the tool timwhit posted for finding (non-classical) bands whose music you like.

2. I keep raving about comic books. Here's a small collection of a comic that I really enjoy. The files are in .cbr format, and can be most easily viewed with a program called cdisplay.

 

[timwhit]

I *still* haven't gotten around to reading that. I keep finding fiction that I want to read more. It'll probably be out in paperback by the time I get around to actually reading the hardcover.

Sigh.

Since American Theocracy deals with current events it would be a good idea to start reading it as soon as possible, especially since you already own it. Many of the events that the author writes about happened in late 2005. The book will still be relevant later, but it will have the largest impact now.

 

[mubs]

On a 15 minute errand, I heard an interview with Kevin Philips on public radio. I know little about the guy, but he came across as very knowledgeable, a deep thinker, and what he had to say made my hair stand on end. Based on various things I read in the media, I've been saying similar things to friends and relatives for a few years now (anybody with some economics / business background can do the same, if they're awake), and these people have looked at me like I'm on drugs. Kevin is very articuate, and what I heard (though I knew all this was probably coming) him say was very disturbing. He was very candid about GWB, saying he was the worst candidate for prez at a time like this. He tore through the dems too (and they deserve every bit of it). He was unequivocal that Iraq was actually all about oil - from the VP's pooint of view, and the prez, being an oilman, added the family grudge to the list of reasons to get Sad damn.

 

[timwhit]

Mubs, do you want to borrow the book when I am done reading it? I feel bad buying a hard cover book, reading it, and then putting it on a bookshelf to gather dust for all eternity. USPS media mail is pretty cheap for shipping.

 

[Mercutio]

Slightly related to that subject...

I used to love to go to the library. I can't stand the ones we have where I live, though. Nothing worse than getting a book you've been looking forward to reading and finding out that some jackass took a sharpie and marked over every time used the word "God" in dialogue... and that the librarians don't think that's a problem.

I miss being able to go to the library.

 

[timwhit]

The library near me is not much better. Unless you like smelly homeless people that rant loudly to no one in particular and computers that look like they have 4 mm of black grit on the keyboards.

Requesting a book from another Chicago Public Library takes an inordinate amount of time considering they are all within a few miles of each other.

 

[mubs]

Tim, thanks very much, but where I'm moving to, it'll cost you more than the book to ship it to me . I might just buy a copy in a week or two.

Kevin (I'm on first name terms with him now) mentioned that one of the reasons for the downfall of great nations in the past was religious fundamentalism, and he said that this country has that problem now.

I am constantly amazed at how blind the general public is to what's happening around them. My brother is an extremely successful doctor, very affluent, and you gueesed right, a Repub. His faith in the American Way and America's future is unshakeable, despite all the proof you can provide - financial and economic data, detailed analyses by experts, etc. He will just pooh-pooh all of that. On the one hand, I admire his optimism and faith, but on the other, I think he is in denial that his good life may get a wee bit nastier in the future, and that his kids may not have as good a life as he has. I think most affluent people, who should know better by virtue of their education and means to know, fall in this category. And then there are the poor innocents who don't know what's happening around them and are helpless to do anything about it anyway.

Walmart.com sucks, big time. I had ordered a couple of DVDs for my daughter (weren't available or priced x2 elsewhere), got a "shipped, here's the tracking #" email which in the same breath said to expect the package in 8 weeks. Naturally I follwed up with a reply and played tag for a while till they broke down and gave me an 800 number to call. I call that to cancel, and tell the lady "your company's service is very bad", and she freaks out, saying "it's not my company, I only work here", etc. etc. JEEZ! I had to explain to her that I wasn't mad at her, but at her employer. Dealing with her scared the shit out of me. Is this what we have stooped down to?

ps: If my typing resembles Eric's, it's because I've switched to my laptop, and am not used to this keyboard.

 

[Mercutio]

mubs, You aren't going back to India, are you?

 

[timwhit]

Where are you moving to?

Have you finally broken down and decided to abandon the good 'ol US of A?

 

[Howell]

I will be reading American Theocrasy next month with my book group. We should discuss it here.

 

[timwhit]

I would definitely like to discuss it here. But, we need to get a few more people to read it.

We already know that Mercutio owns the book.

Anyone else interested in reading American Theocracy?

I will even offer to ship the book to anyone in the continental USA via USPS media mail once I am done reading it as long as you promise to ship it back. Media mail will only cost about $2 each way.