Posted on 10/02/2009 8:21:19 AM PDT by MplsSteve
The parallels between the administrations of FDR and Obama are chilling.
Also trying to finish up a biography of John Lennon. My daughter gave it to me for Christmas, and she'll have time to read it during her next school break.
I've always been a Beatles fan, and John's always been my favorite. I learned at a young age that his character was extremely flawed, so I focused on the music. This biography buttresses what a vile prick Lennon was. Maybe that was starting to change during his final years playing a househusband.
My Anonia!
Doyle Brunson’s Super System, a Course in Power Poker.
Cool. Deerslayer was my favorite of them all.
How to put wheels back on wagon by B.H.O.
The action picks up tremendously toward the end of the books. Later in the series, some things tend to drag a bit also. The first book suffers from having to lay so much groundwork. People either love or hate the books after reading it. I have seen little middle ground.
“The Ghosts of Gettysburg, Book III”, by Mark Nesbit. Little bit of light reading for ghosting season!
William Safire, “Watching My Language: Adventures in The Word Trade”
(Roger Penrose, “The Road To Reality: A Complete Guide To The Physical Universe”, makes accessible alot of the higher math of modern physics.)
Patrimony by Alan Dean Foster
It’s 13th book in the series of Pip and Flinx
It’s Sci-Fi but sometimes I need something to take my mind
off the troubles of our country. And I do love Sci-Fi.
Fortune’s Stroke, Belasaurius series. (again)
The Road to Serfdom - Hayek
on deck:
Invasive Procedures - Card/Johnston
Fleet of Worlds - Niven/Lerner
Awaiting ILL delivery -
Mark of The Lion - Sandford
The Eye of Beholder pace wise isn’t bad, “New Spring” was horrrific.
Believe me I understand world building and have no issues dealing with the overhead it can create on an first books of Fantasy series. (I consider Tad Williams Memory Sorrow and Thorn to be probably THE seminole example of what a true fantasy EPIC should be, if that gives you an idea of how I can tolerate the overhead of world building).
I don’t hate “Eye of the Beholder” I think some of the things he’s done with his “world” are interesting and enjoyable. Generally I like it, but I don’t think it lives up to the hype its gotten as Great, but I’m not finished with it yet, so I may change my mind.
Personally I find Memory Sorrow and Thorn, the example of as close to perfection you can get as heavy epic in the fantasy genre, and Dragonlance Chornicle the best example for ligher fair.
So far I am of the opinion Eye of the World is a good book, far above average, but not quite to the level of those. Though I may change my mind.. we’ll see.
Just finished “The Next Conservatism” by Paul Weyrich and Bill Lind. I recommend it.
I'm shocked that I'm finding it not dry at all and even discovering quite a bit of humor. I'm understanding why Tolstoy is considered The Great Novelist.
Just Finished: Levin “Liberty and Tyranny”
Now Reading: James R. Hanson “First Man” The Life of Neil Armstrong
Ian Plimer “Heaven and Earth” global warming and the missing science
The above is the Australian geologist who, along with McIntyre and others, exposed the “hockey stick” hoax. It’s a terrific read! It’s now available in USA in paperback form.
Them: Adventures with Extremists, by Jon Ronson. I've been slogging through this book for the last few years and am finally on the last chapter. It wasn't nearly as interesting as I thought it would be, and I've put it down for months at a time, but I hate to start something I don't finish.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. Reading it because one of the kids left it lying around.
Children: The Challenge, by Rudolf Dreikurs. One of the best books on child rearing in existence. It asks parents to make their children responsible for their own behaviors. I re-read this periodically.
And: they aren't books, but I'm reading through the latest issues of Skeptic & Skeptical Inquirer magazines.
The Closing of the American Mind
I am presently reading “The Black Book Of Communism”-—By Stephane Courtois. It came out in 1997 and I found it last year. It really is an accounting of how many people Communism and Nazism killed in the previous century, most of which is information from the ‘then’ recently opened Soviet Archives. If you want to really understand how horrible the ‘ideals’ of Communism were, (and still are), then you need to read this book. On Deck though, I have “The Roosevelt Myth”———By John T. Flynn, which is a Re-Print from 1948 by The Ludwig von Mises Institute, and shows how he prolonged the Depression and frankly it shatters the MYTH of FDR being good for this country.
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