Author Topic: What books are you reading? (Read 1,140,538 times)

mouser · « **Reply #550 on:** December 07, 2014, 07:42 PM »

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

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Keith-Richards/dp/031603441X

40hz · « **Reply #551 on:** December 07, 2014, 11:43 PM »

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

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

Here's the opening

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panzer · « **Reply #552 on:** December 11, 2014, 09:12 AM »

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-school.com/money/how-an-economy-grows.pdf

40hz · « **Reply #553 on:** December 20, 2014, 05:54 PM »

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?

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rjbull · « **Reply #554 on:** December 21, 2014, 11:14 PM »

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 · « **Reply #555 on:** February 11, 2015, 08:57 PM »

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 · « **Reply #556 on:** February 14, 2015, 03:04 AM »

Thinking, Fast and Slow by David Kahneman.

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Curt · « **Reply #557 on:** February 15, 2015, 10:41 PM »

Quote from: 40hz on February 14, 2015, 03:04 AM

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

^ +1

f0dder · « **Reply #558 on:** March 15, 2015, 04:07 PM »

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 · « **Reply #559 on:** March 15, 2015, 10:22 PM »

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 · « **Reply #560 on:** March 16, 2015, 03:36 PM »

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 · « **Reply #561 on:** March 16, 2015, 10:51 PM »

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 · « **Reply #562 on:** March 20, 2015, 04:11 PM »

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

http://www.amazon.com/End-College-Creating-University-Everywhere/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 · « **Reply #563 on:** March 21, 2015, 12:28 AM »

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

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panzer · « **Reply #564 on:** March 28, 2015, 10:07 AM »

Flasar: I Called Him Necktie
http://www.amazon.com/Called-Necktie-Milena-Michiko-Flasar/dp/1939931142

Mark0 · « **Reply #565 on:** March 28, 2015, 11:02 AM »

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

Now, I just started Becoming Steve Jobs.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #566 on:** March 28, 2015, 11:31 AM »

Quote from: Mark0 on March 28, 2015, 11:02 AM

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

Now, I just started Becoming Steve Jobs.

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

Renegade · « **Reply #567 on:** March 28, 2015, 03:19 PM »

Quote from: Mark0 on March 16, 2015, 03:36 PM

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.

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 · « **Reply #568 on:** May 02, 2015, 08:34 AM »

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 · « **Reply #569 on:** May 05, 2015, 11:40 AM »

I am currently reading: the name of the wind
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0575081406/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430825924&sr=8-1&keywords=name+of+the+wind
It is actually pretty amazing if you are any into fantasy. The development of characters is quite nice.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #570 on:** May 05, 2015, 12:38 PM »

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 · « **Reply #571 on:** May 05, 2015, 04:28 PM »

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: (generic)

Anarcho-capitalism 202
 Bastiat, Frederic
 Block, Walter
 Friedman, David
 Hayek, Friedrich
 Hazlitt, Henry - Economics in One Lesson
 Hoppe, Hans-Hermann
 Huemer, Michael
 Kinsella, Stephan
 Konkin, Samuel Edward III
 Mises
 Murphy, Robert A
 Nock, Albert
 Rothbard, Murray
 Schumpeter, Joseph
 Tannehill, Morris and Linda


Bastiat, Frederic
 Law, The - Frederic Bastiat.jpg
 Law, The - Frederic Bastiat.mobi
 Law, The - Frederic Bastiat.opf
 The Law Frederic Bastiat.mp3
 The Law.epub
 The Law.pdf


Block, Walter
 Defending the Undefendable.epub
 Defending the Undefendable.pdf
 The Privatization of Roads and Highways.epub
 The Privatization of Roads and Highways.pdf


Friedman, David
 The Machinery of Freedom (1973).pdf


Hayek, Friedrich
 The Road to Serfdom Friedrich A Hayek.wmv
 The Road to Serfdom.pdf


Hazlitt, Henry - Economics in One Lesson
 Economics in One Lesson - Henry Hazlitt.pdf


Hoppe, Hans-Hermann
 Economic Science and the Austrian Method.epub
 Economic Science and the Austrian Method.pdf
 Hoppe_Democracy_The_God_That_Failed.pdf


Huemer, Michael
 The Problem of Political Authority_ An E - Michael Huemer.epub
 The Problem of Political Authority_ An E - Michael Huemer.mobi


Kinsella, Stephan
 Against Intellectual Property - N. Stephan Kinsella.jpg
 Against Intellectual Property - N. Stephan Kinsella.mobi
 Against Intellectual Property - N. Stephan Kinsella.opf
 Against Intellectual Property.epub
 Against Intellectual Property.pdf


Konkin, Samuel Edward III
 Agorism - New Libertarian Manifesto.pdf


Mises
 Human Action.epub
 Human Action.pdf


Murphy, Robert A
 chaostheory.pdf
 Lessons for the Young Economist - Murphy.pdf


Nock, Albert
 Our Enemy, The State.pdf


Rothbard, Murray
 Anatomy of the State (essay)
 Ethics of Liberty
 For a New Liberty
 Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty
 Man, Economy, and State


Rothbard, Murray\Anatomy of the State (essay)
 Anatomy of the State - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
 Anatomy of the State Murray N Rothbard.mp3
 Anatomy of the State.epub
 Anatomy of the State.pdf


Rothbard, Murray\Ethics of Liberty
 The Ethics of Liberty.epub
 The Ethics of Liberty.pdf


Rothbard, Murray\For a New Liberty
 Ethics of Liberty, The - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
 For A New Liberty - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
 For a New Liberty The Libertarian Manifesto.epub
 For a New Liberty The Libertarian Manifesto.pdf


Rothbard, Murray\Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty
 Left, Right, & the Prospects for Liberty - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
 Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty Murray N Rothbard.mp3
 Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty.epub
 Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty.pdf


Rothbard, Murray\Man, Economy, and State
 Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market - Murray N. Rothbard.jpg
 Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market - Murray N. Rothbard.mobi
 Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market - Murray N. Rothbard.opf
 Man, Economy, and State, with Power and Market.epub
 Man, Economy, and State, with Power and Market.pdf


Schumpeter, Joseph
 Methodological Individualism.pdf


Tannehill, Morris and Linda
 The Market for Liberty.pdf

They can be downloaded here:

https://thepiratebay.se/torrent/11118106/Anarcho-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 · « **Reply #572 on:** May 23, 2015, 01:10 PM »

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.com/book/show/1928796.Strangers_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 · « **Reply #573 on:** May 23, 2015, 02:42 PM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on May 05, 2015, 12:38 PM

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.

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.

Renegade · « **Reply #574 on:** May 27, 2015, 11:49 AM »

Quote from: MilesAhead on May 23, 2015, 02:42 PM

dead dog slow

That's one of the reasons I like short stories.