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retrofade

What have you read this year?

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As for me, I've read or re-read (audiobooks anyway) the following books so far this year:

  • Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 8)
  • Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan (WoT 9)
  • Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (WoT 10)
  • Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (WoT 11)
  • The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (WoT 12)
  • Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (WoT13)
  • A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (WoT 14)
  • Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
  • Fear by Bob Woodward
  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
  • Armada by Ernest Cline
  • The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism by Steve Kornacki
  • Skyward by Brandon Sanderson 
  • Hunt for the Skinwalker by Colm A. Kelleher
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
  • Everything Trump Touches Dies by Rick Wilson
  • A Skeptic's Guide to American History
  • Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
  • The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
  • Path of the Assassin by Brad Thor

I've got a list of books a mile long that I still want to get through. My wife has been building her Audible library for 5-6 years now, so there's still a ton of stuff for me to read or re-read, and then stuff that doesn't interest her that I'm getting on my own. I was only going for this calendar year, which is why there's only the last seven WoT books listed. I spend a lot of time in my car between commuting and driving all over the state to my customer's offices, and I'll often spend an hour or two in the evenings listening to books. I love actually reading, but audiobooks are just more convenient for me right now.

How about the rest of you, what all are you reading?

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mwcboard 

/thread 

thelawlorfaithful, on 31 Dec 2012 - 04:01 AM, said:One of the rules I live by: never underestimate a man in a dandy looking sweater

 

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18 minutes ago, retrofade said:

As for me, I've read or re-read (audiobooks anyway) the following books so far this year:

  • Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 8)
  • Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan (WoT 9)
  • Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (WoT 10)
  • Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (WoT 11)
  • The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (WoT 12)
  • Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (WoT13)
  • A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (WoT 14)
  • Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
  • Fear by Bob Woodward
  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
  • Armada by Ernest Cline
  • The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism by Steve Kornacki
  • Skyward by Brandon Sanderson 
  • Hunt for the Skinwalker by Colm A. Kelleher
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
  • Everything Trump Touches Dies by Rick Wilson
  • A Skeptic's Guide to American History
  • Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
  • The Lions of Lucerne by Brad Thor
  • Path of the Assassin by Brad Thor

I've got a list of books a mile long that I still want to get through. My wife has been building her Audible library for 5-6 years now, so there's still a ton of stuff for me to read or re-read, and then stuff that doesn't interest her that I'm getting on my own. I was only going for this calendar year, which is why there's only the last seven WoT books listed. I spend a lot of time in my car between commuting and driving all over the state to my customer's offices, and I'll often spend an hour or two in the evenings listening to books. I love actually reading, but audiobooks are just more convenient for me right now.

How about the rest of you, what all are you reading?

I'm reading the WOT books too for the first time and enjoying them. Im in the middle of book 8 right now.

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Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose. About the legendary Easy company from WW2.

Public Enemies by Bryan Burrough. 1930’s bank robbers and the beginning of the FBI

The Best Land Under Heaven by Michael Wallis. A solid Donner Party history (I read them all) with the best research into the pre-wagon train experience of the members I’ve read. Desperate Passage is still the best account in book form of the journey, but this is indispensable if you like the story. 

Ghost Fleet by P.W. Singer and August Cole. A bad novel about a potential WW3 in the not far future that is redeemed by the very interesting technical aspects that could arise in a near future war between great powers.

The Republic for Which it Stands by Richard White. A dense, Oxford series history of the United States. It was alright, but lacked the greatness for me of the two volumes preceding it in the series. That’s probably my own historical tastes seeping in though.

The Conservatarian Manifesto by Charles C.W. Cooke. Nothing in there was anything I didn’t already believe. But Cooke is better at spreading his message through speaking and debating than he is at writing a book. If you think his way already, skip it, if you don’t and want a clear concise view of another side it’s decent.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. I’d never read one of his books. He is goddamn good.

Suicide of the West by Jonah Goldberg. An excellent lament for the ideas and values that led us to prosperity, tolerance, and greatness; which we are all too quick to throw to the side for the lesser evil.

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jarred Diamond. Evolutionary biology ftw!

The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Properly rated.

I’ve also done a deep dive on Dan Carlin’s hardcore history which has occupied a lot of my would otherwise be reading books time. He’s great.

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

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George Washington by Chernow.

Grant, about Ulysses, also by Chernow.

Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Fantasyland by Kurt Anderson

Fear, Bob Woodward.

Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker

The Reckoning, by Grisham

The Rooster Bar, by Grisham

 

Unending list of This American Life and Throughline podcasts.  Uncivil is good, too.

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41 minutes ago, Stealthlobo said:

I'm reading the WOT books too for the first time and enjoying them. Im in the middle of book 8 right now.

Just a warning, 9-11 are a bit of a slog to get through... it's good stuff, but it feels like the story stalls out a bit. It was easier for me to get through on audiobook than it's been in some of the other times I've read through them. I think this one was my 2nd re-read since A Memory of Light came out. I'm really excited that Amazon is turning it into a show.

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Just now, retrofade said:

Just a warning, 9-11 are a bit of a slog to get through... it's good stuff, but it feels like the story stalls out a bit. It was easier for me to get through on audiobook than it's been in some of the other times I've read through them. I think this one was my 2nd re-read since A Memory of Light came out. I'm really excited that Amazon is turning it into a show.

I’ve always kept wheel of time at arm’s length because the things I like about asoiaf is the intrigue, the politics, the sleight of hand with the world. Have I been missing out?

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

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36 minutes ago, thelawlorfaithful said:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. I’d never read one of his books. He is goddamn good.

 

If I had a list of top 5 books ever written, that'd be in there for sure, and might be up there as #1. The real contender to me is "Tropic of Cancer" by Henry Miller, but both are absolute classics. 

I read a lot, some notable things that stand out, including a couple re-reads

Ask the Dust by John Fante

Fast Times at Ridgemont High by Cameron Crowe

Perfume, by Patrick Suskind

Glow: The Autobiography of Rick James, by Rick James

The Revised Boy Scout Manual, by William Burroughs

Barbarians at the Gate, Bryan Burrough

The Hero with A Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell

The Book of The Law, Aliester Crowley

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (for the 1000th time or so), HST

Big Sur, Jack Kerouac

The Greeks in Bactria and India, William Tarn

 

and others. But those stand out. 

 

 

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1 minute ago, thelawlorfaithful said:

I’ve always kept wheel of time at arm’s length because the things I like about asoiaf is the intrigue, the politics, the sleight of hand with the world. Have I been missing out?

It's not nearly as "dark" a series as ASOIAF... you're not going to see a red wedding type event, but the battle sequences are unreal. Jordan was a Vietnam War vet, and he did an amazing job of taking his experiences and translating them into his world. In fact, there's a sequence in Lord of Chaos that's absolutely chilling. There's a battle campaign in one of the middle books that is almost a deep dive in guerrilla warfare strategy. As far as the intrigue goes, there's still a decent amount of that, one of the countries in the books is famous for their nobility playing Daes Dae'mar, or the Game of Houses, which I still maintain that GRRM stole for his Game of Thrones from, where they try to manipulate and get advantage of others to further their own interests... a little bit like Littlefinger and Varys do in ASOIAF. 

In ASOIAF you get graphic detailed descriptions of the food that is present in a scene, in WoT you get descriptions of the people and what they're wearing. Main characters don't necessarily just get killed off out of nowhere, but there's still the concern that they might, and some do, just not with the degree of regularity that seems to happen in ASOIAF. WoT is probably more akin to LotR than ASOIAF in that it's more high fantasy than what ASOIAF is.

I don't know... they're different, and the best part is that you'll get to read a completed series rather than being disappointed in the ending of the TV show. ;)

One of the next series I'm trying to gear myself up to read is Malazan, which is apparently super epic and expansive, but also super dark as +++++.

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Too many books that no one here would care to read. But, I do have, on my desk, some books I plan to read after an important deadline on Aug. 15 that a lot of people here might like...

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson, true story about a teenage kid who got arrested for stealing a bunch of rare birds from England's national natural history collection for the purpose of selling on the black market to artisan fly tiers. It looks pretty rad. 

As well as these 4...

 

 

20190712_122600.jpg.3df8008630c36d59b9882f3a3a25322f.jpg

Planning is an exercise of power, and in a modern state much real power is suffused with boredom. The agents of planning are usually boring; the planning process is boring; the implementation of plans is always boring. In a democracy boredom works for bureaucracies and corporations as smell works for skunk. It keeps danger away. Power does not have to be exercised behind the scenes. It can be open. The audience is asleep. The modern world is forged amidst our inattention.

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30 minutes ago, retrofade said:

It's not nearly as "dark" a series as ASOIAF... you're not going to see a red wedding type event, but the battle sequences are unreal. Jordan was a Vietnam War vet, and he did an amazing job of taking his experiences and translating them into his world. In fact, there's a sequence in Lord of Chaos that's absolutely chilling. There's a battle campaign in one of the middle books that is almost a deep dive in guerrilla warfare strategy. As far as the intrigue goes, there's still a decent amount of that, one of the countries in the books is famous for their nobility playing Daes Dae'mar, or the Game of Houses, which I still maintain that GRRM stole for his Game of Thrones from, where they try to manipulate and get advantage of others to further their own interests... a little bit like Littlefinger and Varys do in ASOIAF. 

In ASOIAF you get graphic detailed descriptions of the food that is present in a scene, in WoT you get descriptions of the people and what they're wearing. Main characters don't necessarily just get killed off out of nowhere, but there's still the concern that they might, and some do, just not with the degree of regularity that seems to happen in ASOIAF. WoT is probably more akin to LotR than ASOIAF in that it's more high fantasy than what ASOIAF is.

I don't know... they're different, and the best part is that you'll get to read a completed series rather than being disappointed in the ending of the TV show. ;)

One of the next series I'm trying to gear myself up to read is Malazan, which is apparently super epic and expansive, but also super dark as +++++.

I think you’ve swung me. Good writing is good writing and enough people swear by this that I should probably at least start it. 

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

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Jesus I need to read more, although this is a nice list of potential reads for me. Anyways I got two so far.

The Coddling of the American Mind - Jonathan Haidt

The Curse of Bigness - Tim Wu

About to start The Anti-Doping Crisis in Sport by Paul Dimeo and Verner Moller. 

And eventually I’ll get through Dance of Dragons by George R.R. Martin. Probably won’t be motivated to finish it until a release date for Winds of Winter is released. 

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18 minutes ago, SalinasSpartan said:

Jesus I need to read more, although this is a nice list of potential reads for me. Anyways I got two so far.

The Coddling of the American Mind - Jonathan Haidt

The Curse of Bigness - Tim Wu

About to start The Anti-Doping Crisis in Sport by Paul Dimeo and Verner Moller. 

And eventually I’ll get through Dance of Dragons by George R.R. Martin. Probably won’t be motivated to finish it until a release date for Winds of Winter is released. 

Ooh tell me about the anti doping crisis?

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

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So I read 3-4 books a week of the junk sci-fi and fantasy crap.

Some of the series i have read this year include

Dragons Gift series

RCN series

Chronicles of an Imperial Legion series

Tales of the Seventh series

The Karus Saga

The Jessica Keller Chronicles

CS-405 series

The Dorset Boy Series

Daughter of War

Carlisle and Holbrooke series

The Thrice named Man series

Time of Hero series   (did not finish this series it was horrible)

Schooled in magic series (first 10-12 books are good but it get repetitive after that)

Disinherited Prince series

The Dusties Series (really good series written by a college friend of mine)

A few John Sandford novels as they come out

 

John Grisham Books I had never managed to read but i did this year.

The Testement

The partner

Calico Joe

The Reckoning

The Broker

A  Painted House

Playing for Pizza

The Last Juror

The Street Lawyer

The Summons

The Raketeer

The Litigators

 

Other stuff I read that is has some redeemable value.    Short list so far this year.

In The Hurricanes Eye  (American Revolution about George Washington)   A very good history covers some stuff not normally covered in the many other biographies of the man.

The Spy and the Traitor (cold war espionage book)  I never heard of this event before and it is very well written.

The Earth Abides (recommended to me the last time we had a thread like this.  I liked it.)

The Blood Meridian  (recommended to me the last time we had a thread like this.  I liked it.)

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1 minute ago, bluerules009 said:

So I read 3-4 books a week of the junk sci-fi and fantasy crap.

Some of the series i have read this year include

Dragons Gift series

RCN series

Chronicles of an Imperial Legion series

Tales of the Seventh series

The Karus Saga

The Jessica Keller Chronicles

CS-405 series

The Dorset Boy Series

Daughter of War

Carlisle and Holbrooke series

The Thrice named Man series

Time of Hero series   (did not finish this series it was horrible)

Schooled in magic series (first 10-12 books are good but it get repetitive after that)

Disinherited Prince series

The Dusties Series (really good series written by a college friend of mine)

A few John Sandford novels as they come out

 

John Grisham Books I had never managed to read but i did this year.

The Testement

The partner

Calico Joe

The Reckoning

The Broker

A  Painted House

Playing for Pizza

The Last Juror

The Street Lawyer

The Summons

The Raketeer

The Litigators

 

Other stuff I read that is has some redeemable value.    Short list so far this year.

In The Hurricanes Eye  (American Revolution about George Washington)   A very good history covers some stuff not normally covered in the many other biographies of the man.

The Spy and the Traitor (cold war espionage book)  I never heard this one before and it is very well written.

The Earth Abides (recommended to me the last time we had a thread like this.  I liked it.)

The Blood Meridian  (recommended to me the last time we had a thread like this.  I liked it.)

You’re such a nerd!

Cheers on Blood Meridian. As with most great literature, it’s funner to think about than to read at the time.

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

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5 minutes ago, thelawlorfaithful said:

You’re such a nerd!

Cheers on Blood Meridian. As with most great literature, it’s funner to think about than to read at the time.

I liked the fact that it was a realistic depiction of the time and place.   

Murder and fighting for your life are dirty and ugly.

Morals are something that depends on your situation to a great extent.    That is something driven home hard in that book.

I think it should be mandatory reading especially for the soft city dwellers of this country.

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