What book(s) are you reading right now?

[DainBramaged]

Haven't seen you posting in awhile, Dain! Hope all is well.

Between the Kindle HD I got for Christmas, regular books, and my Android phone, I've got quite a few going:

On Killing - Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France - Ernest R. May
Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 - Max Hastings
Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945 - Catherine Merridale
Dreams from My Father - Barack Obama (I read "Obama's America by D'Souza recently so I decided to read this as a complement)
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young - Harold Moore & Joe Galloway

All has been well, here. A lot has changed and I don't have much time, now. Family, and all.

Interesting list. I bet we have similar tastes.

 

[Pheran]

Finished Cloud Atlas about two weeks ago. Not bad, but some of the storylines just didn't interest me at all.

I'm reading Cloud Atlas right now. After about a third of the way in and several shifts in the story, I was like "WTF is this thing going anywhere?" but now I'm about 3/4 done and I'm really liking it, though I'm pretty sure my favorite parts are all behind me now since I really liked the future stories.

EDIT: Also, I'm really curious how they made a movie out of this without it being a total mess. I haven't seen it yet.

 

[Elbryn]

just finished this one
a sliver of redemption by david daglish

 

[gorcorps]

World War Z

Just so I can say the book was better

 

[surfsatwerk]

World War Z

Just so I can say the book was better

Finished a couple weeks ago, very enjoyable read.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Just finished reading Going Clear. It's good. The account of Hubbard's life was particularly fascinating. His writing style got a little grating towards the end, as he adopted a more argumentative tone, rather than simply laying out his reporting. Overall an excellent read.

I haven't figured out what to read next. I might start to read the Game of Thrones books, but that feels like a hefty investment of time (I'm also a little annoyed that they actually charge more for the Kindle version than the dead tree variety). After listening to an interview with the author the other day, Detroit: An American Autopsy also seems worthwhile.

 

[KeithTalent]

About half way through Snow Crash right now with The Passage and The Hour Between Dog and Wolf on deck.

KT

 

[darom]

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
It was immensely boring during the first 500 pages, I am on page 800 and have 300 more to go. The action has finally picked up pace.

The author makes a lot of references to her theory over and over again, that coffin has over a thousand nails. The characters are either "capitalistically" good/positive or explicitly union lazy/negative. There are no protagonists stuck in the middle.

This book has been a big commitment and I will feel like a looser if I give up now. The writing style of Rand is engaging, some statements take a while to process. 10-20 page monologues disrupt the natural flow of reading especially when the same point is being brought up over and over again. At this moment my brain experiences Rand induced aneurysm and wants to shut down. A day break usually helps to continue.

 

[Nemesis13]

World War Z

Just so I can say the book was better

Good Call

 

[Gunslinger08]

Arc Light. It's about a nuclear exchange between Russia and the US.

 

[thirdeye]

The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two

 

[KeithTalent]

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
It was immensely boring during the first 500 pages, I am on page 800 and have 300 more to go. The action has finally picked up pace.

The author makes a lot of references to her theory over and over again, that coffin has over a thousand nails. The characters are either "capitalistically" good/positive or explicitly union lazy/negative. There are no protagonists stuck in the middle.

This book has been a big commitment and I will feel like a looser if I give up now. The writing style of Rand is engaging, some statements take a while to process. 10-20 page monologues disrupt the natural flow of reading especially when the same point is being brought up over and over again. At this moment my brain experiences Rand induced aneurysm and wants to shut down. A day break usually helps to continue.

The wife and I were just talking about reading this one together since it seems to come up in various other forms of entertainment all the time. Sounds like a bit of a slog though.

KT

 

[geecee]

I'm reading Cloud Atlas right now. After about a third of the way in and several shifts in the story, I was like "WTF is this thing going anywhere?" but now I'm about 3/4 done and I'm really liking it, though I'm pretty sure my favorite parts are all behind me now since I really liked the future stories.

EDIT: Also, I'm really curious how they made a movie out of this without it being a total mess. I haven't seen it yet.

I am very curious about the movie as well, waiting for when DVD rental becomes available.

I had a similar opinion as you with the book. I honestly did not have a lot of interest in the plotlines of the self-absorbed musician and the self-righteous notary, and the publisher's story really only served as comic relief for me.

 

[crashtestdummy]

The wife and I were just talking about reading this one together since it seems to come up in various other forms of entertainment all the time. Sounds like a bit of a slog though.

KT

It's a huge slog, but much more tolerable than The Fountainhead (I stopped reading that book when it got to justifying rape).

The most useful thing I got out of Atlas shrugged is that it is to some degree a study on rhetoric and the role it plays in forming our thoughts. It presents a moral tone that opposes most literature (changing "selfish" to "just and productive" and "selfless and egalitarian" to "leeching and corrupt".

In doing so, it helped me understand how much of what I believed at the time (I was a college freshman) was formed by the way it was told to me. It never really drew me to her principles, though. I found her understanding of human nature and economics to be every bit as naive and oversimplistic as Marx.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

About half way through Snow Crash right now with The Passage and The Hour Between Dog and Wolf on deck.

KT

Don't you mean, YT?

 

[biostud]

game of thrones book 5 (2nd time)

but damn there are some chapters where nothing really happens...

 

[khon]

A memory of light

It took 14 books and more than a few years, but at least I'll finally know how the damn Wheel of Time series ends. :biggrin:

 

[thirdeye]

game of thrones book 5 (2nd time)

but damn there are some chapters where nothing really happens...

I stopped reading the series about 1/3 through this book. It was just impossible for me to care about what was happening (or not happening) really.

 

[surfsatwerk]

A memory of light

It took 14 books and more than a few years, but at least I'll finally know how the damn Wheel of Time series ends. :biggrin:

Rand wakes up and realizes it was all a dream.

 

[DainBramaged]

World War Z

Just so I can say the book was better

Read that in Afghanistan a couple years ago. I was more scared of that than the Taliban.

 

[DainBramaged]

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand..

Interesting side note from my audiobook collection:

Ghost in the Wires: 14 cds long
No Easy Day: 6 cds long
The Generals: 15 cds long
Atlas Shrugged: 63 cds long

 

[KlokWyze]

CCNA part one. On ch.11 out of like 27.... FML. :'(

 

[KeithTalent]

It's a huge slog, but much more tolerable than The Fountainhead (I stopped reading that book when it got to justifying rape).

The most useful thing I got out of Atlas shrugged is that it is to some degree a study on rhetoric and the role it plays in forming our thoughts. It presents a moral tone that opposes most literature (changing "selfish" to "just and productive" and "selfless and egalitarian" to "leeching and corrupt".

In doing so, it helped me understand how much of what I believed at the time (I was a college freshman) was formed by the way it was told to me. It never really drew me to her principles, though. I found her understanding of human nature and economics to be every bit as naive and oversimplistic as Marx.

Interesting. Just grabbed an e-reader for the wife, so I think I will buy the book for both of us and give it a go.

Don't you mean, YT?

:awe:

KT

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Interesting side note from my audiobook collection:

Ghost in the Wires: 14 cds long
No Easy Day: 6 cds long
The Generals: 15 cds long
Atlas Shrugged: 63 cds long

Recently did unabridged Dune and then LotR (with appendices). I could only meaningfully measure these in gasoline consumed. I'm thinking about 350 gallons.

 

[Delita]

Finished 'Salem's Lot. Added:

A Life in Leadership: John Whitehead