USMB Book Club

[Ringel05]

Recently finished:
The Dark Valley, A Panorama of the 1930s by Piers Brendon

An Army at Dawn & The Day of Battle both by Rick Atkinson

Guderian, Creator of the Blitzkrieg by Kenneth John MacKsey

Getting ready to read

Fear's Empire, War Terrorism and Democracy by Benjamin R. Barber
and
The Secrets of Happily Married Men (Eight ways to win your wife's heart forever) by Scott Haltzman & Theresa Foy Digeronimo
(Looking for new ways to tweak the marriage never hurts).

 

[CrimsonWhite]

"Ray in Reverse" by Daniel Wallace. This book had a profound effect on me. Read it and I will discuss the hell out of it.

 

[Si modo]

My usual recreational reads are political thrillers. Not quite the same as a political thriller, but has excellent metaphors for current situations - World War Z by Max Brooks. Masquerade is reading it now, I think. She may have finished it. We've talked a bit about it.

I really hope everyone has read 1984, Brave New World, Farenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, and On the Beach.

Speaking of that, The Beach has some excellent metaphors, too. A scary read for anyone with even an iota of fear of authoritarian situations.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Right now I'm reading:

The Agony and the Ecstasy and

The Monster of Florence.

I'm writing and rewriting 2 screenplays:

Venus in the Balance: A Cautionary Tale on the Hazards of taking Cautionary Tales too seriously and as an added Bonus the real History of the Inner Solar System

Document 512 (rewrite as it was rounded slagged the first time I presented it) A tale of adventure, lost cities and hidden treasures

 

[boedicca]

A lot of good suggestions (particular favorites of mine: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Good Earth, anything by Tom Wolfe and Robert Heinlein, Alice in Wonderland - but nix on King and Thompson).

Working through my current reading pile:

Patriots: The Men Who Started The American Revolution

Dreaming The Bull (book 2 of the Boudica Saga)

Sacred Hearts: A Novel

How Democracies Perish

 

[Liability]

Currently reading "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis. Fascinating stuff about the collapse of the mortgage bond market. Lewis also wrote a book called "Liars Poker" which I am also reading at present. AND he wrote "The Blind Side" which became the movie earning Sandra Bullock her first Oscar.

In no particular order, here are other books that have made an impression on me over the years.

The original "Dune." By Frank Herbert. Brilliant stuff.

"Stranger in a Strange Land." Again, by Heinlein. A new way of seeing some things.

"Liberty and Tyranny." By Mark Levin. No joke. The man is brilliant and he wrote a very compelling book.

The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. J.R.R. Tolkien. I read them years and years ago, of course and again more recently to my kids.

Almost all the Navajo Tribal Police detective/mystery stories by Tony Hillerman, who recently passed away.

Believe it or not, one of the books that makes my list is The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. He incorporated some very interesting religious and philosophical discussions interspersed with the narrative.

Tons of others. Lots of beach reads, like Dan Brown works.

By the way, I now own and am enjoying the Nook from Barnes and Noble. Like the Kindle, it is an e-reader and the device is just really cool and convenient for folks who like to read a lot.

 

[Luissa]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

On the Road.

And Moby Dick, though I am disappointed by Melville’s lack of use of big cocks in the plot.

I actually have Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas on my want to read list, as well as On the Road. As for Thompson, I've been wanting to read more of his work, he seems like a excellent author.

I own Fear and Loathing, great book. I should read it again...
I have been reading all of the Sookie Stakehouse novels, and just finished the 10th book. They are more for chicks, though.

 

[Modbert]

Just started

Why Not Kill Them All? The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder - Chirot, D. and McCauley, C

recentlyfinished


Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (9780393317558): Jared M. Diamond: Books


Before that was

The Race Card: White Guilt, Black Resentment, and the Assault on Truth and Justice…

I just finished Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed not too long ago by Jared M. Diamond. Excellent book. Made me put Guns on my list of books to want to read as well.

 

[Modbert]

My usual recreational reads are political thrillers. Not quite the same as a political thriller, but has excellent metaphors for current situations - World War Z by Max Brooks. Masquerade is reading it now, I think. She may have finished it. We've talked a bit about it.

I really hope everyone has read 1984, Brave New World, Farenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, and On the Beach.

Speaking of that, The Beach has some excellent metaphors, too. A scary read for anyone with even an iota of fear of authoritarian situations.

World War Z is a great original read. Read 451, Lord of the Flies, and 1984. My friend just read BNW, told me it was great.

 

[Luissa]

Just started

Why Not Kill Them All? The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder - Chirot, D. and McCauley, C

recentlyfinished


Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (9780393317558): Jared M. Diamond: Books


Before that was

The Race Card: White Guilt, Black Resentment, and the Assault on Truth and Justice…

I just finished Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed not too long ago by Jared M. Diamond. Excellent book. Made me put Guns on my list of books to want to read as well.

If you read Hunter S Thompson, you need to read this Benjamin.
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Modbert]

I own Fear and Loathing, great book. I should read it again...
I have been reading all of the Sookie Stakehouse novels, and just finished the 10th book. They are more for chicks, though.

That's okay.

I'm currently working my way through the James Bond (the ones by Ian Fleming) and Dresden Files. I'm on the 7th book of the Bond Series and 8th book of Dresden.

 

[Modbert]

If you read Hunter S Thompson, you need to read this Benjamin.
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's also on my large list of books to read.

My appetite for reading books has only grown. The last three books I read (in order of from last to latest) was:

Collapse: How Societies choose to Succeed or Fail by Jared M. Diamond

The Invisible Man by H.G Wells

Doctor No by Ian Fleming

 

[Luissa]

If you read Hunter S Thompson, you need to read this Benjamin.
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's also on my large list of books to read.

My appetite for reading books has only grown. The last three books I read (in order of from last to latest) was:

Collapse: How Societies choose to Succeed or Fail by Jared M. Diamond

The Invisible Man by H.G Wells

Doctor No by Ian Fleming

You should read Sun Yat Sen's biography, very good. I would say read that right away. It is by a french author, I will try to find a link.

 

[Luissa]

The author's name is Marie-Claire Bergere.

 

[Modbert]

The author's name is Marie-Claire Bergere.

Forgot to say, thanks for the recommendation.

Though it will be a long while before I get to it.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

Can we pick a fuckin' book for the week/month already?

gawd, wtf can find the time to read a friggin' book after having to read through all this shit here in this thread.

 

[Sherry]

Can we pick a fuckin' book for the week/month already?

gawd, wtf can find the time to read a friggin' book after having to read through all this shit here in this thread.

Dante, just for you.

 

[Woyzeck]

I vote for To Kill A Mockingbird to start it off. It's a good enough one as any.

I would also recommend some Vonnegut, like Slaughterhouse-Five or Cat's Cradle. Mother Night is also a good one.

 

[random3434]

I vote for To Kill A Mockingbird to start it off. It's a good enough one as any.

I would also recommend some Vonnegut, like Slaughterhouse-Five or Cat's Cradle. Mother Night is also a good one.

Very nice, love Kurt Vonnegut. His childhood home is about 15 minutes from where I live. I got to see him speak at a lecture at Butler University a while back, entertaining and enthralling.

 

[Ringel05]

Can we pick a fuckin' book for the week/month already?

gawd, wtf can find the time to read a friggin' book after having to read through all this shit here in this thread.

Dante, just for you.

Small book, large type with lots of pictures. Much more appropriate in his case.