So, What Are You Reading?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Ted Heiks, Jul 27, 2013.

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  1. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    I am sure Sigmund Freud would be able to make astute comments here...

    The last thing I read was Lone Wolf: Flight From the Dark. I got killed by a lunatic in Holmgard. Gosh darn to heck...
     
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  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I've been killed by lunatics on DI several times over the years. Always surprises them when I come back! I think I have a few lives left, yet.
     
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  3. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Political Discussions on degree-info :D
     
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  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Some big updates in my reading life.

    First, I cracked my Kindle in the most boneheaded of ways- by swatting at a fly and watching hopelessly as the device escaped its case, careened wildly with a helicopter-style spin into the wilderness and landed face first into an inconveniently located rock on the ground. Thanks to a huge Kindle sale Amazon had in October, and a generous trade-in policy, I was able to upgrade to a new one for a net cost of $40, and I'm extremely happy with the updated model :)

    I also started getting into audiobooks, which I should have done years ago. I've finished 3 in the past week! They were free from the Libby app which lets you "borrow" e-books and audiobooks from your local library. I've been wanting so badly to read more books (I average about 2 per month these days), and I'm finding this to be a great way to consume, so to speak, more books even during those points in my life where I don't dedicate as much time as I'd like to reading.

    It's also helping me to settle another problem. The one that I was having with 12 Rules for Life. As Johann said in response-
    My library, via Libby, has the audiobook and I was pleased to find that it's narrated by the author! I haven't started listening yet, but it might be the key that fixes my rut and allows me to finish the book.
     
    Dustin likes this.
  5. GregWatts

    GregWatts Active Member

  6. GregWatts

    GregWatts Active Member

  7. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    The Third World War: August 1985 by John Hackett. Not a nice read. But it made me rethink the role off armies and the NATO in general and the Bundeswehr in particular.
     
  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    "Tsuka mo ugoke waga na ku koe wa aki no kaze" - quoted by Mac Juli on his DI profile. Yeah, I looked it up, and this Haiku by Basho affected me deeply. Japanese poets have written so well, and so poignantly, over ages. "Shake even the grave, my wailing is the autumn wind."

    @Mac Juli - "You have great taste, Mac. I am suitably humbled. Keep up the good work." Hey! 5-7-5. I made a Haiku! Yay, me! :)
     
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  9. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity. Really interesting read. The author is a Professional Engineer and former city planner who came to the realization that most cities struggle with development because they build new things without paying attention to the liabilities they create. A mile of road or pipe is considered an asset on the balance sheet, but of course it's not really, it's a liability because it now has an associated maintenance cost.

    Many cities prioritize new development that's shiny but merely making them poorer over time because the tax dollars generated aren't put aside for the future maintenance needs, and the jobs that are created aren't necessarily increasing the city's prosperity (e.g. money is spent in the town but only 1% or less makes it back to the city in the form of sales taxes, most going to the state government.)

    Instead he proposes small investments in areas with little maintenance needs that are actually producing a lot of revenue for the city. He emphasizes walkability and placemaking, as well as avoiding community forums and instead talking to people in their environment.
     
  10. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    GOOD ONE! - Yes, Japanese Haiku poets are great at bringing something to the point. But hey, there was a competition made by Open University UK some weeks ago! It was named UO50, and the task was writing a text with exactly 50 words. Some did a terrific job!!
     
    Johann likes this.
  11. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I'm about halfway through The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.

    Bryan Alexander (the author of Academia Next, which may interest people here) has an informal book club and recommended people read it, and he's interesting, so I'm participating.

    So far it's a good read, its semi-epistolary approach jumps around a lot, but that helps establish its broad scope. In a way it's a little reminiscent of Neal Stepheson's Cryptonomicon, if the latter had been written as a response to climate change by someone rather far to the left, as Robinson is.
     
  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Maybe we should have a competition for 50-word posts.
     
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  13. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    Well, we have a thread now...
     
  14. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    A book with recipes from Jamie Oliver.

    I'm going to make fetucinni with peppers and sausage tonight.

    Bon appétit :)
     
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  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    My favorite! Make enough for FOUR then. I'm comin' over. You'll need it. :) .. And beef sausage please...no pork for me. Not allergic, not religious -- just don't like it.
     
  16. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    I always make enough for an entire army :p

    I also adore it. It's one of my favorite dishes as well :p

    With some parmezane to finish it hmmm
     
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  17. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Providence lost : Cromwell's last year.
     
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  18. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I'm half-way through T.E. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". The Turks have been driven out of the Hejaz and Damascus is the next goal. Lawrence's descriptions of Arabian life are amazing. These people lived pretty much as Abraham lived and they have the same problems he had, too. The book is also worth reading because it illuminates much of the motivation behind current Middle Eastern affairs. The British and French don't come out looking very good. Even Lawrence himself is bitterly ashamed that his duties required him to deceive and then betray his Arab friends.

    The Hejaz, by the way, sounds a lot like Southern New Mexico with a coastline. And camels. Gotta have camels.

    And yes, this IS "Lawrence of Arabia".
     
    Dustin likes this.
  19. Tireman 44444

    Tireman 44444 Well-Known Member

    A Higher Calling- Adam Makos
     
  20. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

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