Which book are you reading now? Volume XI

[Antilogic]

I have not had much reading time this year, figured I'd post my current list:

Truman by David McCullough (finally!)
The Pursuit of Glory by Tim Blanning (I think I talked about this one last time I posted)
The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848 by Eric Hobsbawm (a highly recommended-to-me work)

 

[mangxema]

Just finished Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.

Truman by David McCullough (finally!)

Reading The Johnstown Flood myself. Everything that man does is solid.

 

[Antilogic]

Reading The Johnstown Flood myself. Everything that man does is solid.

That's an excellent account of an otherwise unknown disaster in the US. I won't spoil the ending, but it's not a happy one.

 

[madviking]

1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth.

Coming in at a tidy 200 pages, this book uses primary sources extensively and tries to parse through the biases of all sides (Norse, Saxon, Norman, French, etc.) to construct a balanced recount of the year 1066. Very informative and contains good maps of Stamford Bridge, Hastings, and more.

I don't know how much of 1491 by Charles Mann I'll be able to read during the next few weeks (finals, ugh), but it's going to be my next book.

 

[Borachio]

I must get this! I already have Sellar and Yeatman 1066 and all That. But yours looks like it has a much better focus. Also 200 pages is a good length. The best things never just go on and on.

 

[Masada]

and all that? Oh, right. At least is pillories Whiggism I guess?

 

[ParkCungHee]

Picking up The Kingdom of God is Within You again, while I wait for my copies of The Manly Art: Bareknuckle Boxing in America and Boxing: A Cultural History to arrive.

Also browsing through Boxiana, or sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism, From the Days of the Renowned Broughton and Slack, to the Championship of Cribb.

 

[1889]

1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth.

Awsome book, loved it.

 

[Arakhor]

I'm about to start The Leper of St. Giles, the fourth book in Ellis Peter's Cadfael series.

 

[Borachio]

1066: The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth. Came today.

 

[MajKira]

Vendetta The Borg -- half organic being and half machine, they are the most feared race in the known galaxy. In their relentless quest for technological perfection, they have destroyed entire star systems, enslaved countless peoples, and, in a single brutal attack, decimated Starfleet's mightiest vesels. Only a final desperate gambit by Captain Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise™ crew stopped the Borg from conquering the entire Federation. And now they have returned.

VENDETTA

In the bestselling tradition of Metamorphosis and The Lost Years, here is the newest Star Trek ® Giant Novel, a story of vengeance and obsession.

Publication Date: May 1, 1991

 

[Smellincoffee]

At the moment I'm reading The Coffee Trader by David Liss, which is a historical/business thriller set in 17th century Amsterdam, about the flourishing of the coffee trade in Europe. I'm also reading The Early Asimov at the rate of a story a day, and my nonfiction read is Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Vendetta The Borg -- half organic being and half machine, they are the most feared race in the known galaxy. In their relentless quest for technological perfection, they have destroyed entire star systems, enslaved countless peoples, and, in a single brutal attack, decimated Starfleet's mightiest vesels. Only a final desperate gambit by Captain Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise™ crew stopped the Borg from conquering the entire Federation. And now they have returned.

VENDETTA

In the bestselling tradition of Metamorphosis and The Lost Years, here is the newest Star Trek ® Giant Novel, a story of vengeance and obsession.

Publication Date: May 1, 1991

I think I remember reading that one. Doesn't it involve the Planet-Eater thing from a TOS episode and feature Guinan on the cover?

 

[Cutlass]

A Clash of Kings. George RR Martin. The new book in the series is getting so much positive reviews that I thought I'd remind myself of the story line in case I want to get caught up. And that was the only volume that I had here.


Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal. William Leuchtenburg. Some I knew, some details I'd forgotten. FDR as flawed hero, but the right man for the times.

 

[MajKira]

I think I remember reading that one. Doesn't it involve the Planet-Eater thing from a TOS episode and feature Guinan on the cover?

Yep. The TOS episode, where Kirks crew managed to give the planet eater a halt is part of the Vendetta story.
In the german Heyne cover Ive as german resident theres Guinan, Borg and Picard on the cover.

Written by Peter David.

 

[timtofly]

Vendetta The Borg -- half organic being and half machine, they are the most feared race in the known galaxy. In their relentless quest for technological perfection, they have destroyed entire star systems, enslaved countless peoples, and, in a single brutal attack, decimated Starfleet's mightiest vesels. Only a final desperate gambit by Captain Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise™ crew stopped the Borg from conquering the entire Federation. And now they have returned.

VENDETTA

In the bestselling tradition of Metamorphosis and The Lost Years, here is the newest Star Trek ® Giant Novel, a story of vengeance and obsession.

Publication Date: May 1, 1991

There is nothing like a New book that is 21 years old? The good ole days before computers took away my desire to read. That and playing this little known game by Sid Meiers called civ. If it had not been that easy to turn one more page instead of just one more turn. This week I have to make a decision to keep the whole set of books, or get rid of them. Yes, I read them, 21 years ago.

 

[Yui108]

George RR Martin. The new book in the series is getting so much positive reviews that I thought I'd remind myself of the story line in case I want to get caught up.

Positive reviews? Where might those be? The only hope for the fandom now is he manages to actually tie up half of his plot threads before he dies of heart disease.

 

[Cutlass]

Positive reviews? Where might those be? The only hope for the fandom now is he manages to actually tie up half of his plot threads before he dies of heart disease.

On the radio several people have said that the latest of the series should have won the Pulitzer that was not given out this year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/books/a-dance-with-dragons-by-george-r-r-martin-review.html?_r=1

 

[MajKira]

The Inverted World is a 1974 science fiction novel by Christopher Priest, expanded from a short story by the same name included in New Writings in SF 22. In 2010 it was included in the SF Masterworks collection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inverted_World_(novel)

Author: Christopher Priest
Publisher: Faber and Faber, 1974
Galaxy Science Fiction, 1974
Harper & Row, 1974
Series: This book does not appear to be part of a series. If this is incorrect, and you know the name of the series to which it belongs, please let us know.
Awards: 1974 BSFA Winner 1975 Hugo Nominated
Lists: SF Masterworks David Pringle's Best 100 Science Fiction Novels
Sub-Genre Tags: Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic

read, was good

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Finished Russia and the Soviet Union (6th edition, new chapter on Putin's presidency) by John M. Thompson. Just as the subtitle says, it's An [sic] Historical Introduction from the Kievan State to the Present. Emphasis on "Introduction", as it doesn't go in-depth into historical issues. Not so bad at the beginning, but becomes worse as 2008 beckons. The worst example would be the Soviet space program covered in only one sentence , and that was talking about Khrushchev's leadership. And of course he doesn't cover the military history satisfactorily (to my opinion) and Russia's scientific legacy. Why mention Chekhov, a writer who undoubtedly contributed a lot to world literature, but not Mendeleev? His contribution is actually quite fundamental to his field.
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Anyway, it's time to go to Africa. Tinderbox, by Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin, Ph.D, about "How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It". A top journalist and a top epidemiologist work together to write a scientific history of the AIDS epidemic with tons of citations and new, groundbreaking research that overrules misconceptions about AIDS. I didn't think I'd come face-to-face again with the Congo Free State. Who knew King Leopold's ghost also refers to the specter of AIDS haunting the world today?

Enough of the praise. Quick question: who here doesn't know what a tinderbox is? The book starts with a definition of it. The authors don't seem to be confident in the reader's breadth of knowledge. I can't fathom why the authors can't introduce some scientific terms seeing as they explain them anyway. Also, hunting for the word "tinderbox" would be a good drinking game with this book.

 

[_random_]

Picking up The Kingdom of God is Within You again, while I wait for my copies of The Manly Art: Bareknuckle Boxing in America and Boxing: A Cultural History to arrive.

Also browsing through Boxiana, or sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism, From the Days of the Renowned Broughton and Slack, to the Championship of Cribb.

Interesting contrast there...