So what books are we reading?

[Ad Hoc]

Originally Posted by Leo Lazauskas

Thanks for the suggestions, Eric and Ad Hoc.

A few more..??

I agree the stuff by S.Sharma, on the British Isles et al, was excellent. He did a far better job than my "dull" history teachers in school.

Comedy-wise
Classic stuff, like "Yes Minister" et al, and "Black Adder" (I must watch those again). A lesser known "Game On" was real 'boys' stuff, as was the excellent "Men Behaving Badly".

Political Stuff
"House of Cards"..a few more but struggling to remember the names (It has been a while)

Health/Politics
"Bodies"..this was an excellent BBC 2 drama, all centered around the political messing about with the NHS and its consequences.

Going back on topic..books

Last year I read "Mishima's Sword" - Christopher Ross (topical for me)..was very interesting.

A good introspective book is "The English" by Jeremy Paxman. Very enlightening.

Half read..as i pick it up when i have time to read and chilled out (and it is a very thick book) "The Origins of the British" by Stephen Oppenheimer..a DNA review of where most Brits came from, linked with the rise of the human population in Europe from the ice age, an eye opener!

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by Ad Hoc

I agree the stuff by S.Sharma, on the British Isles et al, was excellent. He did a far better job than my "dull" history teachers in school.

Yes it was, but I was referring to "The American Future: A History" which is worth watching, especially the first one.

I re-read "Cryptonomicon" a while ago - it's a good ripping yarn which could be made into a decent movie or two.

[Eric Sponberg]

I also recently read "Game Change" by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, which is a look behind the scenes at the Obama, Clinton, Edwards, and McCain presidential campaigns in 2008. Very revealing! and to me fairly even handed. Obama's campaign was by far the most organized and prepared. Clinton struggled with bad staff talent. Edwards, we know, went down in flames, and his wife was NOT the angel she was made out to be in the press. And McCain could not seem to care any less (do we really have to do this??). Well written prose that kept the story going on.

Eric

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by gonzo

The sword and the Cross. It is the story of a couple of french soldiers during the colonial conquest of Algeria and Sudan. It reads like the bungling happening in current wars. I keep on becoming more convinced of the importance of reading history

I couldn't agree more. I just today picked up "The Prince and Other Writings" by Niccolo Machiavelli.

"And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.

[SheetWise]

Originally Posted by hoytedow

I couldn't agree more. I just today picked up "The Prince and Other Writings" by Niccolo Machiavelli.

"And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.

Here's a book that can be had for a penny, but that's worth a million. Dictatorships and Double Standards by Jeane Kirkpatrick. If only we could have elected her instead of Bush ...

She would have put even Thatcher to shame ...

[troy2000]

Veering off in a different direction...

I was given a Kindle e-reader for Christmas. And when I found out Zane Grey westerns were either free or dirt cheap (depending on what packages you ordered), I downloaded a few.

Interesting stuff. Although I've heard him described as the father of westerns, his novels seem to be romances (love stories) based in the old west, rather than shoot-em-up westerns. He tends to be wordy and preachy, too.

But I have to admit: he could paint the countryside using just words, and make it as visible as a color photograph. I've seen some of the landscapes and viewpoints in person that he describes in his novels, and he conjures them up like a hologram on the printed page.

[Leo Lazauskas]

Originally Posted by troy2000

But I have to admit: he could paint the countryside using just words, and make it as visible as a color photograph.

Raymond Chandler does the same for me in an urban setting, and I love his
tongue-in-cheek tough guy style.

"You do that one more time and you're gonna wake up in an alley with cats looking at you."

She was the kind of blonde that would make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by troy2000

Veering off in a different direction...

I was given a Kindle e-reader for Christmas. And when I found out Zane Grey westerns were either free or dirt cheap (depending on what packages you ordered), I downloaded a few.

Interesting stuff. Although I've heard him described as the father of westerns, his novels seem to be romances (love stories) based in the old west, rather than shoot-em-up westerns. He tends to be wordy and preachy, too.

But I have to admit: he could paint the countryside using just words, and make it as visible as a color photograph. I've seen some of the landscapes and viewpoints in person that he describes in his novels, and he conjures them up like a hologram on the printed page.

Exactamundo. I read most of his books several decades ago. My dad had the entire Zane Grey collection.

[hoytedow]

A littlle book with which some of you may already be familiar.:

[Eric Sponberg]

Another of my favorite books is Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason", his last major work, a discussion of the old and new testaments of the Bible. They never tell you much about Paine in school other than "Common Sense," his explanations and defense of American Independence, but he was a very influential writer. He also wrote "The Rights of Man", which defended the philosophy of The French Revolution in France. In fact, he served as one of two foreign nationals elected to the French National Convention in 1793, for which he was later arrested and imprisoned. He spent just less than a year in jail, watching his cell mates be guillotined or commit suicide, until James Monroe, who had newly come to France as the American ambassador, got him out. Paine led quite a fascinating life--even practice a little bridge engineering. You can buy his Collected Writings through Amazon, published by The Library of America.

Eric

[hoytedow]

Unbroken, the story of Louis Zamperini, by Laura Hillenbrand.

[SheetWise]

Originally Posted by troy2000

Veering off in a different direction...

I was given a Kindle e-reader for Christmas ...

They're cool -- It's a different experience, very different. What an interesting age we live in. Do you want the complete works of Shakespeare for 4.99 delivered in about 10 seconds ... Dostoevsky somewhere between free and 99c, amazing.

I've added the Kindle reader to my Android phone which syncs with my Amazon account, which is convenient.

As much as I have reservations about the future, it would be hell to go backwards.

[SheetWise]

Originally Posted by Eric Sponberg

They never tell you much about Paine in school other than "Common Sense," his explanations and defense of American Independence, but he was a very influential writer.

Also try John Locke. And as has been established, the Kindle will deliver Locke free of charge upon request