What Book Are You Reading? Issue.8

[Smellincoffee]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.

 

[Irish Caesar]

The Battle Cry of Freedom - I'm up to Chapter 13.

McPherson? I read that for a class. It's a pretty good volume.

 

[suiraclaw]

After not reading any book in the last 2 years, I decided to use the summer holidays to start reading again.

Got these from the library:
- Guns, germs and steel by Jared Diamond
- A small history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson
- The God Delusion by Dawkins
- 2 books from David Baldacci. No idea why, as the plots in the book I read from him were all extremely improbable, far fetched and stupid.

All in Dutch...

 

[Zack]

Longitudes and Attitudes by Thomas L. Friedman.

 

[wilbill]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig.

A wonderful book. I pull it out and read it every couple of years. My copy is pretty tattered - I bought it in the mid-70's.

My current read is Renegade: The Making of a President by Richard Wolffe. Wolffe covered the Obama campaign for Newsweek and had pretty full access to the candidate and his inner circle of advisors. Pretty interesting.

 

[capslock]

I just read The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield. It wasn't as good as Gates of Fire, but it was still cool.

 

[Adria]

I finally finished reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (well, the first 4 books); it had been on my to-read list for years. I think Shake Hands with the Devil is probably up next.

 

[Godwynn]

A Tale of Two Cities - Chuck Dickens

 

[capslock]

I'm finishing up (again) The Village by Bing West. The story of a Marine Combined Action Plt. in Vietnam, great read and some valuable lessons.

 

[cardgame]

Shadows of Steel
by... by... uhm... Dale Brown

A "Military adventure" set in the future that is already woefully outdated. Set in the late '90s when Iran supposeduly becomes a huge military power from Russky/Chinese arms deals and tries to take over middle east's oil.

 

[Babbler]

McPherson? I read that for a class. It's a pretty good volume.

Yes it is. I finished it, BTW. I enjoyed the political stuff the most, as I find it difficult following the battles.

 

[Irish Caesar]

I felt the same. I'd actually read a book before that one that was more centered on the battles, and that one was even tougher to follow. I think to really "get" the battles, you'd need some field trips; the way NoVa is being built up these days, it may be near impossible in the future to do that.

Personally, I find the politics before the war more interesting than those during the war itself, and I was glad McPherson spent the first couple of chapters on that period.

That may be the only non-engineering textbook I kept once the class was over... but given the lack of liberal arts courses I've needed (or been able) to take, that's not saying a whole lot.

 

[hugatree]

Just finished reading The Working Poor. Great insight into the lives of the forgotten working class.

 

[Dachs]

[Re]reading Archer Jones' History of the Art of War in the Western World in preparation for something or other.

I felt the same. I'd actually read a book before that one that was more centered on the battles, and that one was even tougher to follow. I think to really "get" the battles, you'd need some field trips; the way NoVa is being built up these days, it may be near impossible in the future to do that.

Most of the relevant sites are national battlefields... The Manassas Battlefield hasn't changed a whole lot except the roads are built up and serve as a primary transportation artery to get to the city of Manassas.

Following the battles isn't so hard even for people who don't particularly like or know much about military history if the author provides enough maps.

 

[Azale]

Ok, I'm reading something different now. Kennedy was boring me.

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said which will be followed by VALIS. Both by Philip K. Dick.

And In Search of Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence. His style is very readable and enjoyable.

 

[Dachs]

Ok, I'm reading something different now. Kennedy was boring me.

Then you'll probably get even more bored with Power and Plenty, which is slightly less userfriendly.

 

[Shylock]

I'm reading Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. It's a library copy that's about ready to fall apart.

Oh, I finally finished Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon last week. Traded one doorstop for another I guess

 

[Azale]

Then you'll probably get even more bored with Power and Plenty, which is slightly less userfriendly.

Well, it was boring because I wasn't learning anything I didn't already know. Which you warned me about.

If I can make it through Hobsbawm, I can make it through anyone

 

[Irish Caesar]

Most of the relevant sites are national battlefields... The Manassas Battlefield hasn't changed a whole lot except the roads are built up and serve as a primary transportation artery to get to the city of Manassas.

Following the battles isn't so hard even for people who don't particularly like or know much about military history if the author provides enough maps.

I think you need a little more than the field itself; most of the war wasn't battles. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not a preservationist as such. It'd be crazy to keep everything the way it was a hundred fifty years ago.

And if the play-by-play on battles isn't what you're in it for, your eyes kinda glaze over sometimes.

 

[Imperialmajesty]

[Re]reading Archer Jones' History of the Art of War in the Western World in preparation for something or other.

Most of the relevant sites are national battlefields... The Manassas Battlefield hasn't changed a whole lot except the roads are built up and serve as a primary transportation artery to get to the city of Manassas.

Following the battles isn't so hard even for people who don't particularly like or know much about military history if the author provides enough maps.

You're a southerner?