Read any good books lately?

pedonbio · « **Reply #195 on:** August 12, 2006, 04:50:17 PM »

Quote:

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Hmmm. There are several versions out there, most of them redacted to remove certain observations Franklin made about the joys of sex. Even the most complete edition, by Jesse Lemisch in 1964, which included several letters to and from various women, redacted some of Franklin's observations...

pedonbio · « **Reply #196 on:** August 12, 2006, 04:52:11 PM »

And I just read I'm With The Band by Pamela Miller des Barres, one of the foremost groupies of my generation and a totally accomplished cock sucker.

homevintner · « **Reply #197 on:** February 20, 2007, 03:20:47 PM »

Since a lot of other threads have been resurrected lately, I might as well take my turn and bring back a fave of mine, again.

Fighting the Flying Circus by Capt. Eddie V. Rickenbacker

ZoD · « **Reply #198 on:** February 20, 2007, 03:40:13 PM »

Waterlandby Graham Swift. A fantastic novel that I had to read twice to remind mysel fit was that good. Themes like time, narrative and the human habit of storycrafting all make this worthwhile and charming as a read. Also, the only time in my life I will ever find East Anglia interesting.

ZoD · « **Reply #200 on:** February 20, 2007, 03:48:59 PM »

Funny AND true.

BillN · « **Reply #201 on:** February 20, 2007, 04:18:39 PM »

I read one recently called "UNLEARN!" by Dick somebody......

I'm awaiting "Somebody's Gotta Say It" by Neal Boortz.

Bill "cumon Amazon" N

rtpoe · « **Reply #202 on:** February 23, 2007, 05:00:52 PM »

Just finished:

Beau Brummel: The Ultimate Man of Fashion by Ian Kelly. The first "**29**" (i.e. famous for being famous), he created what would become (with minimal changes) the modern business suit. Then he crashed and burned in a spectacular fashion when his gambling debts caught up with him.

Next up:

The Trouble With Physics, in which Lee Smolin argues that the obsession with string theory is ruining physics.

DruulEmpire · « **Reply #203 on:** February 23, 2007, 05:20:18 PM »

Whenever discussions seem caught up in an endless polyangular tug of war between "We've got to win in Iraq" and "We should never have gone into Iraq" and "Iran is playing us" and "Bush the Elder was a wuss for not killing Saddam" and "al-Qaeda gambled on our overreacting and won," I have to keep reminding myself that my single favorite book of analysis is George Friedman's America's Secret War. Friedman works for Stratfor.com and is pretty much the only person I know who dares to identify the unmentioned elephant in the room, namely Saudi Arabia. As a straightforward "The case for WMDs and Colin Powell's UN presentation was just TOO compelling" venture, the war makes nightmarishly little sense; as a ploy in an elaborate geopolitical chess game to finally win some respect-via-fear from Saudi Arabia, it all begins to fit together. When I read it, our world is still a mess, but at least it's a mess with some recognizable logic behind it.

homevintner · « **Reply #204 on:** March 04, 2007, 09:29:36 PM »

Watch on the Rhine by John Ringo and Tom Kratman

rtpoe · « **Reply #205 on:** March 10, 2007, 07:47:58 PM »

Just got done with Blindsight by Peter Watts, and I'm still having trouble getting my mind around all the concepts in it. It's super-hard SF, where the science is "cognition science". What is intelligence? What is sentience? What's the difference?

Since the sales of the hardcover were so disappointing, Tor decided not to do a second printing. Watts was upset, so he grabbed back the rights to it and posted the entire thing on his website. He also has added a hell of a lot of background info to his website.

Download it, read it, and if you like it, send him some money via PayPal.

(It's got vampires, too.)

homevintner · « **Reply #206 on:** March 17, 2007, 08:50:17 AM »

BOLO! by David Weber. The first two stories I've read in other anthologies, but they help set up the last two that were new for this book.

homevintner · « **Reply #207 on:** March 31, 2007, 09:08:21 PM »

The Great Escape From Stalag Luft III by Tim Carroll

homevintner · « **Reply #208 on:** May 05, 2007, 03:44:49 PM »

Old Soldiers by David Weber. It picks up where BOLO! left off.
Enemies of Fortune , a Thieves' World anthology edited by Lynn Abbey
The Kuhfra Run by Jack Higgins

MaxBigfoot · « **Reply #209 on:** May 06, 2007, 11:21:34 AM »

David Weber & John Ringo - March Upcountry, March To The Sea, March To The Stars, We Few.

Military sci-fi, with great characterization.

Re: Read any good books lately?