What books are you reading?

[40hz]

Sandman Slim: A Novel by Richard Kadrey.



First book in a series. Quite funny - in a real bad-attitude way. Not my usual thing. But sometimes we can all use a break from the heavy metaphysics we get for our daily fare. If you're a fan of John Butcher's Dresden Files you'll feel right at home here. It's an enjoyable straight-ahead action story with some surprises and great characters. Some of the best 'snappy' dialog I've read in a long time too. Recommended.

[mouser]

Finished the well-reviewed auto-biography of Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones.  Pretty entertaining.




http://www.amazon.co...chards/dp/031603441X

[40hz]

@Mouser - if you enjoyed that, check out fellow Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood's: Ronnie: The Autobiography

What books are you reading?

Fascinating guy. And one of the best known underrated guitarists out there.

Here's the opening

--------------------------------------------------

But even more fascinating is Levon Helm's personal (and band) autobiography. (In case anybody's wondering, Levon was most well known as the drummer and a vocalist for The Band.) Check out This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band

What books are you reading?

It's not only interesting from a musical perspective. It's also fascinating because he illuminates a period in American history where the South was transitioning from it's agricultural heritage into the 'something else' we know it as today. Levon was there for the dawn of Rock & Roll. Recommended!

sample

[panzer]

How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes uses illustration, humor, and accessible storytelling to explain complex topics of economic growth and monetary systems:
http://freedom-schoo...an-economy-grows.pdf

[40hz]

Just finished re-reading Hermann Melville's  Moby-Dick. Totally engrossing story that, for some reason, seems to get better and better the older I get. What can that mean? 

[rjbull]

Just started:
Mandarin Gate by Eliot Pattison, seventh in his 'Inspector Shan' series of thrillers set in present-day Tibet, detailing the Chinese cultural genocide of Tibetan Buddhist culture, the very monks oppressed fugitives in their own country.

Just finished:
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovich.  Great fun, though a bit of a deus ex machina ending (rather literally).  This is the fifth in Aaronovich's series of 'Peter Grant' thrillers, the first being Rivers of London.  Up-to-the-minute police procedurals - except that the viewpoint detective constable (of mixed race) is also England's most recently recruited wizard...  Somehow it all works.

Just finished:
Prayer by Philip Kerr.  Kerr is better known for the excellent though grim 'Bernie Gunther' series of thrillers, but this is a stand-alone novel.  It's an unpleasant, uncomfortable book that picks out examples of God's wrath from the Bible to postulate God as a kind of Manichaean monster, with a frequently Stalinist contempt for human life.  Theists, especially Christians, you have been warned.

[rjbull]

Wounding the World: How Military Violence and War-Play Invade Our Lives by Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London.
- how militarism and the horrific injuries caused by modern weapons are euphemised, sanitised, obfuscated, and distanced by treatment as abstract theoretical problems, to normalise a permanent state of war.

[40hz]

Thinking, Fast and Slow by David Kahneman.



A book on how we think (duh!). It's excellent. Read it!

[Curt]

Thinking-Fast-Slow-by David Kahneman.
It's excellent. Read it!

-40hz (February 13, 2015, 09:04 PM)

^ +1 

[f0dder]

Just finished The Psychopath Test, which was a nice read. Jon Ronson has an engaging and humorous writing style, without feeling crude or silly, given the somewhat serious topic.

Next up is Halting State, while I'm waiting for the paperback edition of The Rhesus Chart to become available. I have the rest of the laundry files in that format, so getting the hardcover edition would clash with the rest of series in the bookshelf

[wraith808]

Currently, I'm re-reading the Demon Cycle by Peter V Brett- preparing for the new book to come out later this month.  If you've not read them, they're very good.

I'm also reading Point of Impact- the movie that Shooter (with Mark Wahlberg) was based on.  Definitely very different a much more engaging than the movie.

I'm also reading Promise of Blood by McClellan- promises to be a very good series.  

As I read very fast, I try to read multiple books at once in order to string each one of them out.

[Mark0]

Just finished the first 3 books of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein. Non especially deep, but a nice light page turner.

Now I'm reading The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga, by Jimmy Maher.

[rjbull]

Currently reading:
   Resurrection Engines ed. Scott Harrison
15 steampunk responses to (mostly) 19th century fiction, e.g. Kim Lakin-Smith's conflation of Peter Pan with The Island of Doctor Moreau, Adam Roberts on the [C]rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Juliet McKenna's feminist response to Rider Haggard's She.

Just finished:
   The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells
One of the ur-texts of fantasy and science fiction
   Soul of the Fire by Elliot Pattison
Latest in his "Inspector Shan" mysteries set in present-day Tibet, this one focuses on the increasing number of self-immolations of a people unable to express their protests in other ways.

[xtabber]

Just finished "The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere" by Kevin Carey.

http://www.amazon.co...where/dp/1594632057/

Like many journalists, the author does a better job of explaining the way things are and how they got that way than in predicting where they are going, but this should be a must read for Mouser!

[lindberg]

At those boring breaks at work, currently reading "All the presidents men" (I assume that everyone knows the story of Bob Woodward´s and Carl Bernstein's journalistic work, a.k.a "the Watergate Scandal"). a great movie too... (Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein).
[attachimg=#3][/attachimg]

 Just finished a re-reading of "Pink Floyd, människorna, musiken, myterna" (Pink Floyd, the people, the music, the myths) by Bengt Liljegren. A great book if you are a Pink Floyd fan and fluent in the Swedish language, as the masterpiece doesn't seem to have been translated to English (?).
[attachimg=#1][/attachimg]


Now reading "Collapse" by Jared Diamond.
Very, very interesting. What is it that make societies collapse? Historical examples...

[attachimg=#2][/attachimg]

[panzer]

Flasar: I Called Him Necktie
http://www.amazon.co...Flasar/dp/1939931142

[Mark0]

The book on the history of the Amiga was very nice.

Now, I just started Becoming Steve Jobs.

[MilesAhead]

The book on the history of the Amiga was very nice.

Now, I just started Becoming Steve Jobs.

-Mark0 (March 28, 2015, 06:02 AM)

Heh.  That photo makes him look like the greatest ATP Tennis Champion ever. 

[Renegade]

Just finished the first 3 books of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein. Non especially deep, but a nice light page turner.

Now I'm reading The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga, by Jimmy Maher.

-Mark0 (March 16, 2015, 10:36 AM)

I read the review. It reminded me of when I was a kid at a "computer camp" and wrote my first program of any "length" at the time. The Commodore PET computer froze and I lost it.

[4wd]

Continuing my L. P. Davies^w trend from the movie thread:

The White Room
Dimension A
The Land of Leys
Adventure Holidays, Ltd

All available for free via the Open Library, although The White Room was seriously munged in some places by the OCR process.

[hisroyalhighness]

I am currently reading: the name of the wind
http://www.amazon.co...rds=name+of+the+wind
It is actually pretty amazing if you are any into fantasy. The development of characters is quite nice.

[MilesAhead]

Currently I am reading Idoru by William Gibson.  It is the first of his works for me.  The protagonist is a genius researcher.  His gift is the ability to sift massive amounts of data and intuitively pursue productive threads.

The plot beings to focus when he is hired by the high tech equivalent of a Tabloid juggernaut.  I am only a few chapters in.  But the hero seems to be moving inexorably (do they not always move inexorably in novels?) toward the nexus of idols, fame, entertainment, tabloid journalism and scandal.

The book is classified SciFi and as yet the only thing that would distinguish it as such is the rebuilding of Japan using nanotechnology.  I am hoping this changes as the plot gains momentum.

[Renegade]

I have no idea what I'm going to be reading over the next month or so, but I think "The Law" will be about at the top.

I will have a good amount of time available to read at length, and have got my mini-library ready.

My mini-library of choices to read is available for free (really) and is distributed through The Pirate Bay.

These are the titles I've downloaded (structured):

Code: Text [Select]

1. Anarcho-capitalism 202
2.  Bastiat, Frederic
3.  Block, Walter
4.  Friedman, David
5.  Hayek, Friedrich
6.  Hazlitt, Henry - Economics in One Lesson
7.  Hoppe, Hans-Hermann
8.  Huemer, Michael
9.  Kinsella, Stephan
10.  Konkin, Samuel Edward III
11.  Mises
12.  Murphy, Robert A
13.  Nock, Albert
14.  Rothbard, Murray
15.  Schumpeter, Joseph
16.  Tannehill, Morris and Linda
17.  
18.  
19. Bastiat, Frederic
20.  Law, The - Frederic Bastiat.jpg
21.  Law, The - Frederic Bastiat.mobi
22.  Law, The - Frederic Bastiat.opf
23.  The Law Frederic Bastiat.mp3
24.  The Law.epub
25.  The Law.pdf
26.  
27.  
28. Block, Walter
29.  Defending the Undefendable.epub
30.  Defending the Undefendable.pdf
31.  The Privatization of Roads and Highways.epub
32.  The Privatization of Roads and Highways.pdf
33.  
34.  
35. Friedman, David
36.  The Machinery of Freedom (1973).pdf
37.  
38.  
39. Hayek, Friedrich
40.  The Road to Serfdom Friedrich A Hayek.wmv
41.  The Road to Serfdom.pdf
42.  
43.  
44. Hazlitt, Henry - Economics in One Lesson
45.  Economics in One Lesson - Henry Hazlitt.pdf
46.  
47.  
48. Hoppe, Hans-Hermann
49.  Economic Science and the Austrian Method.epub
50.  Economic Science and the Austrian Method.pdf
51.  Hoppe_Democracy_The_God_That_Failed.pdf
52.  
53.  
54. Huemer, Michael
55.  The Problem of Political Authority_ An E - Michael Huemer.epub
56.  The Problem of Political Authority_ An E - Michael Huemer.mobi
57.  
58.  
59. Kinsella, Stephan
60.  Against Intellectual Property - N. Stephan Kinsella.jpg
61.  Against Intellectual Property - N. Stephan Kinsella.mobi
62.  Against Intellectual Property - N. Stephan Kinsella.opf
63.  Against Intellectual Property.epub
64.  Against Intellectual Property.pdf
65.  
66.  
67. Konkin, Samuel Edward III
68.  Agorism - New Libertarian Manifesto.pdf
69.  
70.  
71. Mises
72.  Human Action.epub
73.  Human Action.pdf
74.  
75.  
76. Murphy, Robert A
77.  chaostheory.pdf
78.  Lessons for the Young Economist - Murphy.pdf
79.  
80.  
81. Nock, Albert
82.  Our Enemy, The State.pdf
83.  
84.  
85. Rothbard, Murray
86.  Anatomy of the State (essay)
87.  Ethics of Liberty
88.  For a New Liberty
89.  Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty
90.  Man, Economy, and State
91.  
92.  
93. Rothbard, Murray\Anatomy of the State (essay)
94.  Anatomy of the State - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
95.  Anatomy of the State Murray N Rothbard.mp3
96.  Anatomy of the State.epub
97.  Anatomy of the State.pdf
98.  
99.  
100. Rothbard, Murray\Ethics of Liberty
101.  The Ethics of Liberty.epub
102.  The Ethics of Liberty.pdf
103.  
104.  
105. Rothbard, Murray\For a New Liberty
106.  Ethics of Liberty, The - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
107.  For A New Liberty - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
108.  For a New Liberty The Libertarian Manifesto.epub
109.  For a New Liberty The Libertarian Manifesto.pdf
110.  
111.  
112. Rothbard, Murray\Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty
113.  Left, Right, & the Prospects for Liberty - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
114.  Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty Murray N Rothbard.mp3
115.  Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty.epub
116.  Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty.pdf
117.  
118.  
119. Rothbard, Murray\Man, Economy, and State
120.  Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market - Murray N. Rothbard.jpg
121.  Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
122.  Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market - Murray N. Rothbard.opf
123.  Man, Economy, and State, with Power and Market.epub
124.  Man, Economy, and State, with Power and Market.pdf
125.  
126.  
127. Schumpeter, Joseph
128.  Methodological Individualism.pdf
129.  
130.  
131. Tannehill, Morris and Linda
132.  The Market for Liberty.pdf

They can be downloaded here:

https://thepiratebay...archo-capitalism_202



Not every download on The Pirate Bay is "illegal".

While there are a few "must reads" that I want to get to, "Our Enemy, The State.pdf" just seems too tempting. I gotta see what that's about.

[Renegade]

Along with the ancap stuff above, I "saved" one book while packing to move.

It is an old book, and a collection of science fiction short stories. My edition is from 1958, but the original was from 1956. The dust jacket was near destroyed, and my toddler ensured the rest of its destruction. So much for the dust jacket.

But I saved it because I'd somehow picked it up in Korea at some point in the many years I spent there. I don't remember how I got it. It's odd to have picked up an English book that old there, and it somehow survived the journey through Malaysia and on to Australia. It seemed somehow cruel to throw it out after having lasted and endured so much.

Now, in a Vietnamese province bordering Cambodia, I've managed to read almost the entire book, with only a few pages remaining. It's been very enjoyable. There are some oddities that stick out as it was written well over 50 years ago, but they're simply quaint and only add to the enjoyment.

Author: Clifford Simak
Title: Strangers in the Universe

http://www.goodreads...gers_in_the_Universe

I'd recommend it for anyone interested in sci-fi with a strong emphasis on humanity. The stories have points to be made, although very often the point is only half made with the rest left for you to think about. I think that's the best part - the author leaves a lot to the reader.

[MilesAhead]

Currently I am reading Idoru by William Gibson.  It is the first of his works for me.  The protagonist is a genius researcher.  His gift is the ability to sift massive amounts of data and intuitively pursue productive threads.

The plot beings to focus when he is hired by the high tech equivalent of a Tabloid juggernaut.  I am only a few chapters in.  But the hero seems to be moving inexorably (do they not always move inexorably in novels?) toward the nexus of idols, fame, entertainment, tabloid journalism and scandal.

The book is classified SciFi and as yet the only thing that would distinguish it as such is the rebuilding of Japan using nanotechnology.  I am hoping this changes as the plot gains momentum.

-MilesAhead (May 05, 2015, 07:38 AM)

I got half way through this and it is dead dog slow.  A girl in a fan club goes to Japan to find out why one of the guys in the band is going to marry somebody.  Other than the fact she has a weird computer and buildings in Japan are "grown" by nanobots, it is just bad guys looking to find her.  Too much of a plodder for me.  I am trying Mirkieim by Poul Anderson.