Author Topic: What are you READING right now?  (Read 821629 times)

BicycleB

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1400 on: October 30, 2019, 01:28:50 PM »
Just finished NK Jemison's The Fifth Season, I think due to a recommendation upthread. Intriguing, well written, very good.

I'm not into the fantasy (ish) end of science fiction so much, but expect to the read the next book in the trilogy quite soon!

The ongoing mysteries of How Does This World Work and How Does that Relate to the Characters' own Mysteries reminds me of the first 6 seasons of Game of Thrones. Also reminds me of Robert Jackson Bennett's Divine Cities trilogy, though I found that to be more gripping than The Fifth Season.

BuffaloStache

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1401 on: October 30, 2019, 02:16:44 PM »
Anyone got any recommendations on post apocalyptic/zombie books?

No zombies (well, not the traditional sort, anyway), but the first half-dozen of S.M. Stirling's "Dies The Fire" series are pretty good.  Even better, IMHO, is the connected inverse "Island in the Sea of Time".  (Connected in that the premise of the latter is that an 'Event' throws the island of Nantucket back to the Bronze Age, while the side effects basically kill off most technology in the modern world.  So you have one bunch trying to recreate enough tech to survive from a very small base, another bunch learning to survive without it,


I just finished On the Beach, which is an interesting post-apocalyptic novel set in Australia. It also has been mentioned as an influence of the Mad Max films/series. It's slow moving, but I think that's intentional and adds to the suspense.

I'm now reading some Kurt Vonnegut short stories, and enjoying them.

grantmeaname

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1402 on: October 30, 2019, 04:04:39 PM »
I LOVE that book. I just re-read it earlier this year for the first time since junior high school and found I got a lot more out of it this time around.

TempusFugit

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1403 on: October 30, 2019, 04:58:50 PM »
The Last Ship by William Brinkley is an interesting novel set post nuclear war.  The recent TV series isn't really much like the novel at all, so don't judge the novel by that. 

Tyson

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1404 on: November 16, 2019, 11:37:38 AM »
Just finished Postwar by Tony Judt.  It was pretty incredible.  It explained a huge swath of what happened to Europe, both east and west, to get us to our current point.  At almost 900 pages it's not a short read, but I can say that the prose and writing was excellent and always engaging.  Highly recommended.

Noodle

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1405 on: November 16, 2019, 11:44:51 AM »
English memoirs, for some reason. "Always and Always" a book of letters between two (now) obscure English actors who were a married couple--I gather they were sort of B-list celebrities in their day--during WWII when the husband was serving. The letters were very human and it's interesting to see their reactions as the war plays out--also there's quite a bit of celebrity namedropping as they knew and socialized with Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, etc.  Then "A Bookseller's Diary" by Shaun Bythell who runs a used bookstore in Scotland. Lots of gritty details about the day-to-day of owning a book business in the age of Amazon.

rocketpj

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1406 on: November 16, 2019, 12:04:20 PM »
Currently reading about the 30th year of 'The Year's Best SF and Fantasy Short Stories'.  A mighty tome that makes for a lot of excellent writing.  Also widely available in thrift stores in my experience, and there are a lot of them full of a lot of great writers.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1407 on: November 16, 2019, 01:45:28 PM »
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Dan Pink
The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer, by Gretchen Reynolds

Noodle

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1408 on: November 22, 2019, 10:06:24 AM »
Just finished the new Margaret Atwood book, The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. I really enjoyed it, although it is very different from the first book, which is hyperfocused on the experience of the Handmaid Offred and told only from her point of view on her very restricted life. In the Handmaid's Tale, plot events that are a big deal to Offred are actually fairly minor events (which of course is the point.) The Testaments is told from the perspectives of three very different women and includes a lot more action. I really loved the more extensive world-building and learning more about life outside the Handmaids (who are fairly minor characters here...this book focuses on Wives and Aunts). For those who watch the television series, the book reflects events through the end of the second season (so beyond the end of the original book) but at that point the two narratives head off in independent directions; when the series and the first book differ, it follows the precedent set by the book. For instance, in the book wives of the non-elite have a very distinctive costume that was not used for the show, but it's referenced in The Testaments. I really liked what the novel did with the character of Aunt Lydia so I am curious to see if the television series borrows it at all--they may decide they are too far down their own path, although I think there has been some hinting in the past season that they might be going there.

TempusFugit

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1409 on: November 22, 2019, 11:26:27 AM »
Trying to get into Hyperion by Dan Simmons but it hasnt really grabbed me yet. 

I’ll give it another 50pp before moving to something else.

I used to feel defeated when i couldn’t finish a book, but I’ve become much more willing to just abandon one if I’m not enjoying it. 

Luke Warm

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1410 on: November 22, 2019, 11:49:58 AM »
i just finished 'johnny got his gun'. horrifying.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1411 on: November 22, 2019, 12:16:36 PM »
Trying to get into Hyperion by Dan Simmons but it hasnt really grabbed me yet. 

I’ll give it another 50pp before moving to something else.

I used to feel defeated when i couldn’t finish a book, but I’ve become much more willing to just abandon one if I’m not enjoying it. 

I feel the same way, and I gave up on another Dan Simmons book part of the way through.

koshtra

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1412 on: November 22, 2019, 01:38:11 PM »
Quitting Hyperion fifty pages in was the right call :-)

It was always maybe about to get really good, but then... it didn't.

TempusFugit

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1413 on: November 22, 2019, 04:01:44 PM »
Quitting Hyperion fifty pages in was the right call :-)

It was always maybe about to get really good, but then... it didn't.

Like a bad M. Night Shyamalan film?  Seems to be building up to something .. and then it ends. 

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1414 on: November 23, 2019, 09:56:41 AM »
Quitting Hyperion fifty pages in was the right call :-)

It was always maybe about to get really good, but then... it didn't.

Got this book recommended when I asked for sci-fi books. I am a voracious reader. I finished Hyperion, but decided that I am never going to try another Dan Williams books!

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1415 on: November 23, 2019, 10:00:37 AM »

I just finished On the Beach, which is an interesting post-apocalyptic novel set in Australia. It also has been mentioned as an influence of the Mad Max films/series. It's slow moving, but I think that's intentional and adds to the suspense.

Another great book by the same author (Nevil Shute) is "A town like Alice". Around the end of WWII and the years following that.

sui generis

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1416 on: November 23, 2019, 10:10:51 AM »
I finally finished Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.  The earlier part, in the imperial period, is quite interesting, but most of the book is focused on the Communist period and within that, the Cultural Revolution.  This really opened my eyes, as I've never learned a lot about it.  I think I thought it was just like a lot of book burning and no music or films or anything, especially if any Western influence. But I had no idea it was so violent and also how severe the oppression of education was altogether.  Where this family lived, at least, there was no schooling of any kind for the better part of a decade!  Highly informative and written well overall.

I put The Testaments on hold a month or so ago and I thought it would be weeks or even months before I got it.  Yesterday I looked at my account online and I'm #188 in line...but for 177 copies!  So I realized I'll have that in no time!

In the meantime, I'm reading Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love.  My relationship is doing great right now, but I've heard good things about this book and it can be used for relationships in any stage, so I'm seeing if some of the 7 conversations might be valuable for us. We had fun discussing these questions (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/23/fashion/weddings/marriage-questions.html) over the course of a couple months before we got married, so I think this would kind of build on that.

Minion

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1417 on: November 24, 2019, 12:49:41 AM »
i just finished 'johnny got his gun'. horrifying.

read that a few years back. Apt description for sure.

LennStar

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1418 on: November 24, 2019, 02:00:47 AM »
I finally finished Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.  The earlier part, in the imperial period, is quite interesting, but most of the book is focused on the Communist period and within that, the Cultural Revolution.  This really opened my eyes, as I've never learned a lot about it.  I think I thought it was just like a lot of book burning and no music or films or anything, especially if any Western influence. But I had no idea it was so violent and also how severe the oppression of education was altogether.  Where this family lived, at least, there was no schooling of any kind for the better part of a decade!  Highly informative and written well overall.

It was an really awful time. Also you may find out that most of the death contributed to "communism" resulted from non-knowledge or straight out ignorance of science (the oppressing intellectuals). Right wing and climate change anyone?

There was a really good documentation about China's current PM, unfortunately in German. It placed heavy weight on his past - and what the result was. (Son of an official, forced labor etc)
Maybe there is a book about him at your local library?
It pays off to know his background. The Wikipedia is very short on it :( I am of the opinion that you cannot understand current China actions without it.

Travis

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1419 on: November 24, 2019, 09:59:20 PM »
Son and I started reading Guns of August a couple nights ago.  I've owned it for years, but he asked me to read it to him.  It's a pretty dense book, so I expect we'll be reading it for a month.

mountain mustache

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1420 on: November 25, 2019, 10:13:03 AM »
Becoming- Michelle Obama. Everyone should read this, it's so good!

1967mama

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1421 on: November 25, 2019, 10:28:34 AM »
“Playing With Fire”
I can’t believe my local library has it!

BicycleB

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1422 on: November 25, 2019, 01:17:40 PM »
“Playing With Fire”
I can’t believe my local library has it!

The personal finance book? (Or the thriller by Tess Gerritsen?)

MatthewK

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1423 on: November 26, 2019, 05:40:15 AM »
Ryan Holiday's new book, Stillness is the Key.

I've read his previous 2 books and also The Daily Stoic which he co-authored. Really good stuff, all on Stoicism.

Side note, looks like I just bought Stillness is the Key from our library....left it on our couch and found our puppy had gotten on the couch and decided to chew on it! Brand new book, I'm the first to check it out :-(

TempusFugit

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1424 on: November 26, 2019, 07:35:32 AM »
Ryan Holiday's new book, Stillness is the Key.

I've read his previous 2 books and also The Daily Stoic which he co-authored. Really good stuff, all on Stoicism.

Side note, looks like I just bought Stillness is the Key from our library....left it on our couch and found our puppy had gotten on the couch and decided to chew on it! Brand new book, I'm the first to check it out :-(

Sounds like the puppy needed to read it : )

I just heard the author interviewed on the Kevin Rose podcast. Sounds like an interesting book, but my library doesn't have it.  Then again, neither does yours anymore...

calimom

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1425 on: November 26, 2019, 08:01:03 PM »
Just finished On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong for book group. And started Ann Patchett's The Dutch House which is very well written, like most of her work.

horsepoor

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1426 on: November 28, 2019, 07:39:17 PM »
Almost done with Catch and Kill - Ronan Farrow's account of reporting the Weinstein story and NBC's quashing it, being followed by Weinstein's shady PI company and trying to silence the women.

Next I think I'm going back to Jack London's complete works.  Last I read The Sea Wolf and Martin Eden from that collection.

Wrenchturner

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1427 on: November 28, 2019, 07:43:42 PM »
Just finished listening to "The Old Man and The Sea", which was nice.  Never read it as a kid and I probably wouldn't have appreciated it anyway.  Now I'm finishing Goggins' audiobook "Can't Hurt Me".  Looking forward to starting "Talking to Strangers" by Malcolm Gladwell.

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1428 on: December 02, 2019, 10:39:15 PM »
Yesterday I finished "Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love." I thought this was a great book that could be really useful potentially in the future and helped me recognize many reasons why my relationship is so successful. As I told my husband, it also helped me figure out a lot of what went wrong in my prior relationship, which was sort of interesting and instructive. We both sort of laughed about that, but I feel both simultaneously super grateful and just a little sad that I didn't have this book back then.

Today I finished "The Cabin at the End of the World" which is a sort of horror novel. As hoped it kept me turning the pages (so to speak, I actually listened to it) but it became predictable and too bloody after a while, as is too often the case. In recent months, if I get a recommendation for a book (including from here) I make a note about where I got that recommendation, which I'm hoping will come in handy in the future. This book was on my list for a year or two at least? And I have no idea how it got there, but it would be good to be able to trace back successful and unsuccessful recommenders! This source seems not so reliable.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1429 on: December 02, 2019, 11:04:06 PM »
Yesterday I finished "Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love." I thought this was a great book that could be really useful potentially in the future and helped me recognize many reasons why my relationship is so successful. As I told my husband, it also helped me figure out a lot of what went wrong in my prior relationship, which was sort of interesting and instructive. We both sort of laughed about that, but I feel both simultaneously super grateful and just a little sad that I didn't have this book back then.

I was about to post that I started this! I'm trying out emotional maturity and open communication, and I'm hoping this book will help.

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1430 on: December 03, 2019, 03:41:42 PM »
Next I think I'm going back to Jack London's complete works.  Last I read The Sea Wolf and Martin Eden from that collection.

Great choice.

Kindle had his books for free and I got the whole set. One of my favorites was the Valley of the Moon and the Call of the Wild.

koshtra

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1431 on: December 04, 2019, 12:56:27 PM »
Interesting, quick read: Empy Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline. Argues that we'll top out midcentury at 9 billion, not 11 billion, and that global population will probably decline thereafter indefinitely. I don't know if they're right, but they're plausible anyway. It was just interesting to run the thought experiment. Dread of inevitable, exponential population growth has been a fixture in my psyche since I was a kid, and it's interesting to explore what the place looks like without it.

Also read Too Like the Lightning, and Seven Surrenders, which are pretty damn wacky bizarre science fiction. The best stuff I've read for ages. Heading off to get the third one. Ada Palmer is amazing.

sui generis

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1432 on: December 04, 2019, 01:13:57 PM »
I just finished "Object of Beauty" by Steve Martin. First book I've read by him, although when I was on Twitter years ago, I followed him and realized he's a semi-successful musician as well as actor. And he's a successful and well-reviewed author as well?? Wow!

I liked this book pretty well. It was a bit unique and definitely held my interest.  I'm afraid I might have liked it more than I would by any other author because I always liked him as an actor when I was young. So I'm not sure how good it is, objectively, but it's a solid read. I'll probably try to read another book or two by him. Seems like Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company are better known and could be worthwhile.

MonkeyJenga

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1433 on: December 04, 2019, 02:00:39 PM »
Halfway through Switch: how to change things when change is hard, by Chip and Dan Heath. Already making me rethink some things, and I'm approaching one change in my personal life a new way.

Started Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett as a mental break from thinking too deeply about anything. His writing is reliably clever and entertaining.

OtherJen

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1434 on: December 04, 2019, 07:02:03 PM »
Just finished the new Margaret Atwood book, The Testaments, the sequel to The Handmaid's Tale. I really enjoyed it, although it is very different from the first book, which is hyperfocused on the experience of the Handmaid Offred and told only from her point of view on her very restricted life. In the Handmaid's Tale, plot events that are a big deal to Offred are actually fairly minor events (which of course is the point.) The Testaments is told from the perspectives of three very different women and includes a lot more action. I really loved the more extensive world-building and learning more about life outside the Handmaids (who are fairly minor characters here...this book focuses on Wives and Aunts). For those who watch the television series, the book reflects events through the end of the second season (so beyond the end of the original book) but at that point the two narratives head off in independent directions; when the series and the first book differ, it follows the precedent set by the book. For instance, in the book wives of the non-elite have a very distinctive costume that was not used for the show, but it's referenced in The Testaments. I really liked what the novel did with the character of Aunt Lydia so I am curious to see if the television series borrows it at all--they may decide they are too far down their own path, although I think there has been some hinting in the past season that they might be going there.

Aunt Lydia is an intriguing character in the TV series. I'm going to put this book on my hold list. Thanks for the review!

sui generis

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1435 on: December 09, 2019, 12:54:14 PM »
Just finished the Testaments as well and also enjoyed the world-building and different perspective.  I worried it would be too perfunctory - like people were just demanding it of Atwood and she gave in, having no reason to resist the royalties and other remuneration that were likely to follow.  But this was a legit effort and I appreciated it as a fair continuation of the first book.  Though, there was a bit of the epilogue that I was thrown off-balance by.  Not so much a spoiler, but just in case:

Spoiler: show
the keynote speaker of the symposium indicated that he had made some poor jokes in the past (should I review the first book for concrete info?  I assumed this was a vague reference not to anything specific we could look up) and seemed like Atwood was honestly trying to portray him as, like, nervous in the same way women/people in Gilead had to be apologetic and repentant and to guard their thoughts?  Was she definitely trying to lay a little groundwork there, or am I imagining things?  It reminded me a bit of The Power and how weird it is to see men do some of the apologizing and genuflecting to norms that women use constantly.


I also just finished Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee.  If you are really into history, particularly of the South/Alabama, I definitely recommend it.  It goes into *great* detail.  But I actually found it rather too detailed at times and then weird how it smooshed at least 2-3 different books together.  Like the whole first part is about this guy who likely murdered a lot of people for insurance payouts and the whole last part is a mini-biography of Harper Lee and the only way in which they are connected is that she was attempting to write a book on the topic of the former.  While it did definitely spend a long time on those specific efforts of hers, it was not well-integrated.  I heard about this book from having listened to a podcast about the case and I think I probably should have just stopped there! https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-127-the-reverend-11-8-19/

horsepoor

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1436 on: December 09, 2019, 08:22:33 PM »
Next I think I'm going back to Jack London's complete works.  Last I read The Sea Wolf and Martin Eden from that collection.

Great choice.

Kindle had his books for free and I got the whole set. One of my favorites was the Valley of the Moon and the Call of the Wild.

I'm looking forward to reading White Fang and Call of the Wild as an adult.  Right now I'm reading Daughter of the Snows and honestly, it's a bit of a slog.  This complete works Kindle book was like <$5, IIRC, so I think I'm getting my money's worth.

BuffaloStache

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1437 on: December 13, 2019, 01:02:28 PM »
I'm reading The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China. It provides an interesting insight into modern Chinese society, but also some introspection into American (where I live) society and how it's viewed.

TempusFugit

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1438 on: December 13, 2019, 01:10:04 PM »
Starting The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon.  I liked Adventures of Cavalier and Clay and Wonder Boys, so let's see how this one is...

Tyson

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1439 on: December 13, 2019, 01:24:42 PM »
Just finished Beyond Good and Evil and am now plowing through Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

LennStar

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1440 on: December 15, 2019, 06:13:15 AM »
Just finished Beyond Good and Evil and am now plowing through Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Spoiler: God is dead!

Tyson

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1441 on: December 15, 2019, 02:39:00 PM »
Just finished Beyond Good and Evil and am now plowing through Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Spoiler: God is dead!

I'm finding that Nietzsche is best when he's being critical of other ideologies.  But when it comes to his own ideas - man he has bad ideas.  Mainly he comes off as a petulant adolescent going into a rage/rant. 

I kind of want to do a deep dive into Kant next, but I'm finding that philosophy has less and less meaningful things to say in the wake of all the new science around human behavior.  Particularly the work of people like Robert Sapolsky. 

LennStar

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1442 on: December 16, 2019, 09:09:29 AM »
Just finished Beyond Good and Evil and am now plowing through Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Spoiler: God is dead!

I'm finding that Nietzsche is best when he's being critical of other ideologies.  But when it comes to his own ideas - man he has bad ideas.  Mainly he comes off as a petulant adolescent going into a rage/rant. 

I kind of want to do a deep dive into Kant next, but I'm finding that philosophy has less and less meaningful things to say in the wake of all the new science around human behavior.  Particularly the work of people like Robert Sapolsky.

Nietsche is also in the bad tradition, like so many before him, to not always write what he means (or put it into a lyrical form like Zarathustra). That he got mentally sick does not help either.

On the other hand, he tends to have shorter sentences than e.g. Kant ;)

Too bad those guys didn't know the game Go. I wonder what they would have thought about it.

koshtra

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1443 on: December 16, 2019, 10:48:00 AM »
Just finished Beyond Good and Evil and am now plowing through Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Spoiler: God is dead!

I'm finding that Nietzsche is best when he's being critical of other ideologies.  But when it comes to his own ideas - man he has bad ideas.  Mainly he comes off as a petulant adolescent going into a rage/rant. 

I kind of want to do a deep dive into Kant next, but I'm finding that philosophy has less and less meaningful things to say in the wake of all the new science around human behavior.  Particularly the work of people like Robert Sapolsky.

In that vein I really, really liked The Secret of Our Success by Joseph Henrich.

sui generis

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1444 on: January 02, 2020, 07:33:35 PM »
Just finished The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay.  Really good book, although I didn't love the end which I thought was predictable.  The rest was not at all predictable and was beautifully written and fascinating, especially in these times of Hindu nationalism in India.  I actually listened to it and thought the narrator was excellent, which is a rare experience.  So often they are awful (especially when doing the opposite sex voices) and just "not remarkable" is the best you can ask for.  This narrator was just right, so definitely recommend the audio version for those that may be interested in the book.

Warlord1986

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1445 on: January 07, 2020, 08:56:10 AM »
A History of India, but John Keay. I know next to nothing about India, so this should be good.

Tyson

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1446 on: January 07, 2020, 09:46:57 AM »
Just finished Beyond Good and Evil and am now plowing through Thus Spoke Zarathustra.
Spoiler: God is dead!

I'm finding that Nietzsche is best when he's being critical of other ideologies.  But when it comes to his own ideas - man he has bad ideas.  Mainly he comes off as a petulant adolescent going into a rage/rant. 

I kind of want to do a deep dive into Kant next, but I'm finding that philosophy has less and less meaningful things to say in the wake of all the new science around human behavior.  Particularly the work of people like Robert Sapolsky.

Nietsche is also in the bad tradition, like so many before him, to not always write what he means (or put it into a lyrical form like Zarathustra). That he got mentally sick does not help either.

On the other hand, he tends to have shorter sentences than e.g. Kant ;)

Too bad those guys didn't know the game Go. I wonder what they would have thought about it.

I try to alternate a fiction book and a non-fiction book in my reading.  After Nietsche I'm reading "The Pilgrim's Progress" by Bunyan.  Bah, terrible.  I've read tons of classic books that were amazing but this is not one of them.  Should be done with it in the next couple of weeks.

Next up is the big one, the one I've been avoiding reading my whole adult life - The Bible.  As I'm from the South, a bunch of it has seeped into me just through osmosis.  But it'll be good to read the source, directly.  So that way I can know with greater precision exactly what I am rejecting.  Ha, but it won't be a short read - probably 6 months, or longer!

SunnyDays

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1447 on: January 07, 2020, 01:20:57 PM »
Current read is Women Talking by Myriam Toews.  Fictionalized account of a true story of a Mennonite colony in Bolivia where some of the men were drugging and raping the women at night.  Women have to decide whether to stay and endure or leave into a world they are poorly equipped to cope with.  Contains some burst-out laughing sentences in spite of the horror.  I've read all of her books and this one is great.  Warning:  don't read unless you have lots of time, because there are no chapters so it's hard to find a natural stopping point because you want to find out what happens next.

caracarn

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1448 on: January 07, 2020, 01:55:38 PM »

Next up is the big one, the one I've been avoiding reading my whole adult life - The Bible.  As I'm from the South, a bunch of it has seeped into me just through osmosis.  But it'll be good to read the source, directly.  So that way I can know with greater precision exactly what I am rejecting.  Ha, but it won't be a short read - probably 6 months, or longer!
Tyson, just felt compelled to chime in on this one.  As a believer it always pains me to see this type of attempt to "understand" the Bible.  Likely what I will share will not do much, but will share/offer just the same.

The Bible is not a book that will make a lot of sense by just reading it.  It does therefore make it easy to proof text and look for where things seem to not align or seem to contradict other portions and build up that rejection, or to focus on passages that are offensive in today's culture.  Whether you believe or not is something that is between you and the God it seems you reject, but if you did ever want to engage in a bit of discussion, I have had several conversation with several other atheists/non-believers/whatever your variation that I was told were appreciated for their reasoned approach and lack of bible thumping, including some on this forum.  You can always PM me with questions if you'd like.  Just offering in case you do want to explore or understand what the other side sees in a specific area.

As an additional point if you do get through the Bible in 6 months you will have gotten through much faster than most, so can feel accomplished for that, as a year long Bible reading plan is pretty brisk.  Keep in mind there are over 1,000 chapters so even a year means a pace of around 3 chapters a day.

BicycleB

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #1449 on: January 07, 2020, 02:30:41 PM »
Shanghai Free Taxi (thanks, recommendations from this thread!)
Motherless Brooklyn (thanks again)

Fate of the Fallen, by Kel Kade (young adult-ish swords and sorcery...50% quest, 25% mystery;10% sorcery, 10% humor, 5% swords)

^All very good so far. Shanghai Free Taxi is a superb mix of story telling and vital points, impressively excellent for getting a clue about America's global rival. Has been adding depth to my understanding of Chinese friends/acquaintances.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2020, 07:11:48 PM by BicycleB »