What are you reading?

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. Just started it, but it teaches you to appreciate nature, and is best read outdoors.

Also, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, a dull compilation of translated and obscure primary and secondary sources from the time with virtually no synthesis whatsoever; it's just a series of these sources. Not worth $27.

 

To some people, that's exactly what they need, and very much worth $27! If you were writing a book, or a paper, on that period, such a book would be invaluable.

 

Maybe. But I prefer books that are readable and in which the author writes a narrative of events and cites claims with plenty of reputable sources, rather than just making a list of primary sources and deliberately omitting any sources that are well-known. So the book doesn't include any passages from Amianus Marcellinus, and frequently says something to the effect of "...but this source is well-known and widely available, so we didn't include it."

 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee for school, but I have now gotten interested in it.
The Color of Water by James McBride just finished this for english, wasn't the best nonfiction I've read.

 

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. Die Trying by Lee Child. You are your own gym by some Ex-Seal Guys and 4-Hour Chef by Tim Ferris.

Before that I finished the Fractal Prince.

 

The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister, by Peter C. Newman

And a whole lot of Star Trek fanfiction...

 

You just reminded me I had collection of short stories by Tolstoy that I had forgotten about, think I'll read those next.

 

Still slogging my way through China Marches West, which I've been reading for the past 2 months or so.

I finally got past his economics of the northwest frontier section, which was slow and not very interesting (well, not that some parts weren't interesting, just as a whole I can only take so much discussion of grain prices before I'm sick of them). So these last 100 pages or so should prove to be just as interesting as the first half of the book.

After I'm done with that, I'm debating whether or not to pick up another good history text, or instead take a break with a nice fiction. Tough choice.

 

The Science of Kissing. I got for like $3 at half-priced. Not that good.

 

I've always meant to ask you, Perfection- is there anyone on here with more posts than you do?

 

I can tell you the answer: no.

 

Nope,

Here's the top posters btw: http://forums.civfanatics.com/memberlist.php?order=DESC&sort=posts&pp=30

 

Mobboss is catching up quick, wonder when the eclipse will be.

 

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

 

Trying to get through Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks but haven't had any time to dedicate to a good read. This weekend though.. m aybe I'll even finish it

 

The Diary of a Madman by Gogol, English translation. Ive glanced at the cover regularly, and Im going to read it soon. Apparently Gogol inspired Dostoevsky with his short story, so I figure it must be good.

 

Borachio is on a faster clip than Mobboss.

OT: The Dead Sea Scrolls by Wise, Abeg, and Cook.

 

Mars. Ben Bova.

 

Finished Black Coffee Blues by Henry Rollins and Do I Come Here Often by Henry Rollins. Now I'm reading Smile, You're Travelling by Henry Rollins. I'll probably follow it up with either Get in the Van by Henry Rollins, or Eye Scream by Henry Rollins. Henry Rollins? Henry Rollins!

 

The entire blog of The Last Psychiatrist.

My intuition says there's something very insidiously wrong with his work, and might distort my knowledge and education for the worse. But my intellect says lots of it is right enough it's worth reading.

And oh my God it's some of the most entertaining writing I have ever read.