Whatcha reading?

[kevwun 15,758]

Almost done with Marcus Agrippa by Lindsay Powell.  I've enjoyed it quite a bit.  For someone who was so important during the rise of the Roman Empire, there's almost no books about him.  Relatively quick and enjoyable read if you like Roman history.

[PittsburghTiger 6,174]

Just finished, The Women Who Flew For Hitler, a highly entertaining book. It's kind of topical today, July 20, because one of the women, was married to Alexander von Stauffenberg, the brother of Claus, he of Tom Cruise fame from the movie Valkyrie.

 

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/clare-mulley/the-women-who-flew-for-hitler

 

Synopsis

Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg were talented, courageous and strikingly attractive women who fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. With the war, both became pioneering test pilots and both were awarded the Iron Cross for service to the Third Reich.

But they could not have been more different and neither woman had a good word to say for the other.
Hanna was middle-class, vivacious and distinctly Aryan, while the darker, more self-effacing Melitta, came from an aristocratic Prussian family.

Both were driven by deeply held convictions about honour and patriotism but ultimately while Hanna tried to save Hitler’s life, begging him to let her fly him to safety in April 1945, Melitta covertly supported the most famous attempt to assassinate the Führer. Their interwoven lives provide a vivid insight into Nazi Germany and its attitudes to women, class and race.

Acclaimed biographer Clare Mulley gets under the skin of these two distinctive and unconventional women, giving a full - and as yet largely unknown - account of their contrasting yet strangely parallel lives, against a changing backdrop of the 1936 Olympics, the Eastern Front, the Berlin Air Club, and Hitler’s bunker. Told with brio and great narrative flair, The Women Who Flew for Hitler is an extraordinary true story, with all the excitement and colour of the best fiction.

[idahorn 26]

William the Conqueror by David Bates.  Much thicker than its Yale Monarchs Series predecessor of the same title by David Douglas.  Very detailed on Williams bastardy and how this didn't really matter at that time and place.  I'm only about 30 pages into it.

[Washpark 176]

Hall of Uselessness - Heavy reading but interesting

https://www.amazon.com/Hall-Uselessness-Collected-Essays-Classics/dp/1590176200

Quote

Simon Leys is a Renaissance man for the era of globalization. A distinguished scholar of classical Chinese art and literature and one of the first Westerners to recognize the appalling toll of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, Leys also writes with unfailing intelligence, seriousness, and bite about European art, literature, history, and politics and is an unflinching observer of the way we live now.

how portugal forged the first global empire - easy read as good as his book on venice

https://www.amazon.com/Conquerors-Portugal-Forged-Global-Empire/dp/0812994000

Quote

In Empires of the Sea and City of Fortune, New York Times bestselling author Roger Crowley established himself as our generation’s preeminent historian of the great European seafaring empires, and the go-to author for post-Crusade clashes of East and West. Now, in Conquerors, Crowley gives us the epic story of the emergence of Portugal, a small, poor nation that enjoyed a century of maritime supremacy thanks to the daring and navigational skill of its explorers—a tactical advantage no other country could match. Portugal’s discovery of a sea route to India, campaign of imperial conquest over Muslim rulers, and domination of the spice trade would forever disrupt the Mediterranean and build the first global economy.

 

[PittsburghTiger 6,174]

I'm about 100 pages in The Red Sphinx, the sequel to The Three Musketeers, by Alexandre Dumas.

 

It's good. A shit ton of names though. Dumas really added a lot of characters in this one.

[Chad Fuck 17,658]

Just finished this one:

Great concept and a good read.  It's fascinating to hear the first hand tales of centenarians about their WWI experiences.  Rubin does a great job of weaving in the context of America's entry and experience in the war as well.  If I have any critique, it's that the writing style is a little too folksy for my taste, but I freely admit I go for a more literary rather than colloquial style.  Either way, if you're an armchair fan of history, this is a worthy addition to your library.  

[wild_turkey 3,159]

Just finished East of Eden. Holy hell that was a great book. Why have I never read Steinbeck before?

[michaelpshayes 417]

just finished this one and really enjoyed it 

about half way through this one and it's already my favorite this year 

[Washpark 176]

Very interesting accessible reading

Quote

Why did humans abandon hunting and gathering for sedentary communities dependent on livestock and cereal grains, and governed by precursors of today’s states? Most people believe that plant and animal domestication allowed humans, finally, to settle down and form agricultural villages, towns, and states, which made possible civilization, law, public order, and a presumably secure way of living. But archaeological and historical evidence challenges this narrative. The first agrarian states, says James C. Scott, were born of accumulations of domestications: first fire, then plants, livestock, subjects of the state, captives, and finally women in the patriarchal family—all of which can be viewed as a way of gaining control over reproduction.

Scott explores why we avoided sedentism and plow agriculture, the advantages of mobile subsistence, the unforeseeable disease epidemics arising from crowding plants, animals, and grain, and why all early states are based on millets and cereal grains and unfree labor. He also discusses the “barbarians” who long evaded state control, as a way of understanding continuing tension between states and nonsubject peoples.

 

[demos 3,002]

On 7/17/2018 at 11:54 AM, idahorn said:

Just finished The Mormon Murders, by Naifeh and Smith (re-read) and starting to re-read No Man Knows My History, (about Joseph Smith) by Fawn M. Brodie.

If you're interested in Mormon stuff/history, might check out The Texas Republic and the Mormon Kingdom of God by Michael Scott Van Wagenen and Polygamy on the Perdenales by Melvin C. Johnson.

[demos 3,002]

Recently finished these:

[kevwun 15,758]

On 8/15/2018 at 9:57 PM, demos said:

If you're interested in Mormon stuff/history, might check out The Texas Republic and the Mormon Kingdom of God by Michael Scott Van Wagenen and Polygamy on the Perdenales by Melvin C. Johnson.

Also Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

 

Finished A Great and Terrible King: Edward 1 and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris.  It was a good book and relatively fast read.  I knew Braveheart was not historically accurate going in, but holy shit Mel Gibson.

Now starting on Peter the Great by Robert Massie.  He's going to end up being my favorite writer if he doesn't watch out.

 

Edited August 29, 2018 by kevwun

[0xdeadbeef 1,645]

Just finished Dreadnought - Britain, Germany, and the Coming if the Great War. By Robert Massie.  

While  it was incredibly insightful as to the politics and personalities that drove the world to war in the 75 years leading up to WWI, it does drag at times while digging into the childhood and upbringing of some of the major players.  The 1000+ pages should probably have been edited down by a few hundred.  

That said, before reading this, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the causes of WWI, but most of what I knew, while not wrong, was a simplistic understanding of things.  As always, history is rich and complex.  I recommend it highly for anyone who is a history buffs. 

 

Edited August 30, 2018 by 0xdeadbeef

[kevwun 15,758]

It could have been a 1,000 pages longer and I would have still loved every page of it.  He can clearly describe incredibly complex events in a way that few others can.

Edited August 30, 2018 by kevwun

[0xdeadbeef 1,645]

9 minutes ago, kevwun said:

It could have been a 1,000 pages longer and I would have still loved every page of it.  He can clearly describe incredibly complex events in a way that few others can.

The problem with reading someone as good a Massie is my next book always seems like it was written by an hack in comparison. 

 I just started  Monash by Grantlee Kieza; supposedly an "award winning" author.     It's.not.very.good.

 

[kevwun 15,758]

I run in to the same problem.  I went on a kick a couple of years ago where I read all of Robert Caro's books and then all 3 of Edmund Morris' books on Teddy Roosevelt.  Talk about ruining other authors for awhile.  Glad I finally found someone in their league again in Massie.

[Continental Op 3,934]

Finally chewing through SPQR.  Well done if you haven't read it. 

[Chad Fuck 17,658]

Finally chewing through SPQR.  Well done if you haven't read it. 

Fires of Vesuvius is a good companion. Kind of Rome Macro and Rome Micro.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,184]

Surefire Pulitzer winner.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,184]

Prior to Astroball I read this:

It took me forever to finish it, but that was because I never had a lot of time to sit down and read it for an extended period at a time - not because it wasn't good.  It is a great book and anyone interested in the subject should get it.

[Washpark 176]

Quote

Mohsin Hamid’s dynamic yet lapidary books have all explored the convulsive changes overtaking the world, as tradition and modernity clash headlong, and as refugees — fleeing war or poverty or hopelessness — try to make their way to safer ground. His compelling new novel, “Exit West,” is no exception, recounting the story of the migrants Saeed and Nadia, who leave an unnamed country in the midst of a civil war and journey to Greece, England and eventually the United States in an effort to invent new lives for themselves.

 

[closetojumping 62,510]

I recently finished "Hold the Dark" by William Giraldi. It's apparently about to be released as a movie by Netflix. It's a fucking lunatic dream of a wilderness story. I liked it and it moves fast, but it is grim subject matter cast against a hellish, if frozen, landscape.

"At the edge of civilization, nature and evil collide in what “stands out as one of the decade’s best books of its kind” (Alan Cheuse, Boston Globe).

Written with “force and precision and grace” (John Wilwol, New York Times Book Review) Hold the Dark is a “taut and unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness” (Dennis Lehane). At the start of another pitiless winter, wolves have taken three children from the remote Alaskan village of Keelut, including the six-year-old son of Medora and Vernon Slone. Wolf expert Russell Core is called in to investigate these killings and discovers an unholy truth harbored by Medora before she disappears. When her husband returns home to discover his boy dead and his wife missing, he begins a maniacal pursuit that cuts a bloody swath across the frozen landscape. With the help of a local police detective, Core attempts to find Medora before her husband does, setting in motion a deadly chain of events in this “chilling, mysterious, and completely engaging novel” (Tim O’Brien) that marks the arrival of a major American writer."

https://www.amazon.com/Hold-Dark-Novel-William-Giraldi/dp/1631490427

 

[Longhorn94 2,448]

A Brave New World. Pretty good so far and a little scary how much more realistic it is than 1984.

[Francisco 2.0 32,386]

[Ten Bears 2,479]

On 8/15/2018 at 9:59 PM, demos said:

Recently finished these:

I was in junior high and my mom gave me Salem's Lot and said you won't read that alone in your room.  I said watch me.  A couple of chapters in and I moved into the living room.

[Post Oak 20,204]

 

WINNER OF THE 2013 PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY

General Alex Dumas is a man almost unknown today, yet his story is strikingly familiar—because his son, the novelist Alexandre Dumas, used his larger-than-life feats as inspiration for such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.

But, hidden behind General Dumas’s swashbuckling adventures was an even more incredible secret: he was the son of a black slave—who rose higher in the white world than any man of his race would before our own time. Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Alex Dumas made his way to Paris, where he rose to command armies at the height of the Revolution—until he met an implacable enemy he could not defeat.

The Black Count is simultaneously a riveting adventure story, a lushly textured evocation of 18th-century France, and a window into the modern world’s first multi-racial society. TIMEmagazine called The Black Count “one of those quintessentially human stories of strength and courage that sheds light on the historical moment that made it possible.” But it is also a heartbreaking story of the enduring bonds of love between a father and son.  

 

SEE LESS

READ AN EXCERPT

 

[happyfunball 481]

Huidu - Inside Huawei 

Quote

Meanwhile, the company is at an inflection point in its coming of age as a global leader, seeking to blend Western business practices with a unique Eastern corporate culture – in so doing experiencing monumental success across the globe in terms of sales and operations – but also struggling in terms of branding, communications, transparency, image management, and the inability to truly integrate with many things non-Chinese.

Huidu – Inside Huawei is a personal account of my experiences over the last eight years with the company, based on all of the above and more. 

Myths are unraveled. Frustrations – internal and external – are exposed. The reality and complexity of today’s information and communication technology industry is unveiled, and specifically in the context of national security concerns being wielded as trade barriers.

Interesting read for anyone having worked for a foreign MNC specifically Chinese. 
 

[demos 3,002]

Finished these a little while ago:

Carcosa

[demos 3,002]

Finished the first one.

[idahorn 26]

Arnhem by Antony Beevor; just started it.  Beevor may be starting to show his age.

[Hellraiser97 181]

Finished the first one.

I'm envious! The last few Jordan books do drag, but fight through it. The Sanderson books are worth it

I do not like OU

[demos 3,002]

We'll see how far I make it in the series; started book 2 and went ahead and got book 3.

Just finished this one:

Timely read and interesting thesis.

[Continental Op 3,934]

Finished SPQR.  Starting A Dream of Reason by Anthony Gottlieb, which is an overview of Western philosophy from the Ancient Greeks to the Renaissance.  I am fairly ignorant when it comes to philosophy and I figure this is a good start.  

[demos 3,002]

Been sitting on my shelf for 4 years; finally read it. Wish I read it sooner.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,184]

Started this last night.  It's not going to take long to finish...

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,867]

I just finished this

It was really interesting. It was written by a combat journalist who went ashore with the Marines at Guadalcanal. It’s basically just his day by day journal of what he experienced during the first few months of combat there. It was first published during WWII. It’s interesting not only for its description of the combat, but it’s also a window into what people in general were like then because of the way he writes it.

[idahorn 26]

Daniel Silva's The Other Woman.  Maybe the best of the Gabriel Allon Israeli super spy series.

[Fudge Nuggets 19,184]

 

Read the first 25% yesterday.  Man, it's really good.

[South Austin 52,432]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 11:06 PM, wild_turkey said:

Just finished East of Eden. Holy hell that was a great book. Why have I never read Steinbeck before?

I had to read The Red Pony in seventh grade and was so bored out of my mind that it turned me off to Steinbeck.  I read Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden in my thirties and was blown away. 

[ajax 2,600]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:34 PM, TexArcher said:

Currently reading David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.  If you like short fiction, at all, read this collection.

DFW is my favorite non fiction author. I'll have to check that out. Broom of the System was weird and I tapped out on Infinite Jest. To bad he blew his brains out.

I re-listened to Wrath of the Khan's and so I picked up Conn Iggulden's Conqueror series which is a finalized account of the secret history of the Mongols.

[usmc0331horn 953]

As a WWI junkie I am always on the lookout for interesting new reads, especially on the still way under-researched Eastern Front, and I came across this one that was recently published. It's based on the diary of a Jewish doctor in the Austro-Hungarian Empire's army in Ukraine. Really good and descriptive so far. I for some reason had no idea so many Jews were both killed and displaced during WWI in the East.

 

[usmc0331horn 953]

This guy also has a fabulous succession of books on the Eastern front going from 1914 to 1921. I'm digging into the first one.

 

[NBMisha 224]

Currently on Issackson's bio of Leanardo Da Vinci.  Just fascinating from so many perspectives, no pun intended.

 

Also slowly going thru McMasters'  Dereliction of Duty.  A version of his PhD dissertation, absolutely packed with every detail possible.  Maby too much.  Still, a depressing take on the evolution of US involvement in Viet Nam.   And that nothing has really changed since.

[Continental Op 3,934]

Dipping my toe into the Dostoyevsky pool for the first time with Crime and Punishment.

[Stoogey 219]

On 5/9/2018 at 10:01 AM, Longhorn94 said:

East of Eden is probably my favorite book right now. Steinbeck is such an amazing writer. 

 

On 8/10/2018 at 11:06 PM, wild_turkey said:

Just finished East of Eden. Holy hell that was a great book. Why have I never read Steinbeck before?

 

On 10/31/2018 at 8:31 AM, South Austin said:

I had to read The Red Pony in seventh grade and was so bored out of my mind that it turned me off to Steinbeck.  I read Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden in my thirties and was blown away. 

Have you guys read The Winter Of Our Discontent ? 

[usmc0331horn 953]

After watching Medal of Honor on Netflix I am reading this and loving it so far.

 

[wild_turkey 3,159]

Sharp Objects

I liked Gone Girl okay, and I thought Sharp Objects must be decent if HBO and Amy Adams were making it into a series, but I basically hated this book. The main character was unlikable for me, the setting seemed very cliche, and the plot was entirely predictable. I stuck it out because it's a short read and I thought maybe there would be a good payoff, but the end was exactly what I predicted and it felt like an entire waste of time.

[wild_turkey 3,159]

Turn Right at Machu Picchu

I was given this book and I liked it for the most part. It's split into 3 main parts:  1) the creation of Machu Piccu by the Incas 2) the "re-discovery" by Hiram Bingham and 3) the author's own experience visiting Machu Picchu. They are all woven together and told simultaneously, which is a little clunky at times but not too bad. I found the first 2 parts very interesting since I didn't have any history on Machu Picchu. The last part about the author I could do without. Overall a pretty good read.

[wild_turkey 3,159]

The Dog Stars

Credit to BillyBadAss who recommended this in another thread. I loved this book. It's a post-apocalyptic book that reminds me a lot of The Road but not quite as dark. Highly recommended for anyone who is into these types of books. I was sad to see it end.

[MAROON 445]

collection of his speeches published by his son.  Very interesting read.