Posted on 07/29/2009 7:23:00 AM PDT by MplsSteve
Well, it's time again for my quarterly "What Are You Reading Now?" thread.
I do this thread to gauge what other Freepers are reading. As all of you know, Freepers are probably some of the more well-read individuals on the Internet and I'm always curious as to what we're reading.
It can be anything, a classic work of fiction, a NY Times bestseller, a technical journal, a trashy pulp novel...in short anything.
Please do not ruin this thread by replying "I'm reading this thread". It become un-funny a long time ago.
I'll start. I'm about halfway thru "The Horrid Pit: The Battle Of The Crater" by Alan Axelrod. It's a great book that concentrates on one of the more controversial and bloody battles of the Civil War.
Well, what are YOU reading now?
Gladwell also has a strong liberal bias that he has not been able to see in himself - it taints his work. That said, didn’t you love the stuff on jet pilots, culture and crashes? It was worth the price of the book.
I’m re-reading The Federalist Papers. After that I’m hoping for some mental chewing gum with the full Harry Potter series (finally.)
“Londonistan” by Melanie Phillips, and “We Are Soldiers Still”, Hal Moore and Joe Galloway’s follow up to “We Were Soldiers”. Just finished reading a few David Baldacci books, “Hour Game”, “Split Second” and Simple Genius”. Am fixing to go back and read his “Camel Club” series again.
Yep, it does help to have a working knowledge of history to bring some balance to today's headlines.
"Jonathan Edwards" - George M. Marsden
From that and one small study he concludes that southern men are aggressive and rude”
Gladwell can go screw himself. If I ever see him in person, I’ll break gis jaw.
ping for later
I have a broken ankle so am reading novels at the moment because that’s what friends are bringing me.
Just finished
The Help
A Reliable Wife
The Forgotten Garden
The only one I really liked was The Help. A Reliable Wife was loaned to me by an elderly friend who warned “it’s rather steamy”. Th Forgotten Garden was sort of gothic.
I wish I had read Flynn’s books in order.
I started with Memorial Day(a Christmas present from my wife) and then she gave me Executive Power as a birthady present.
I would now like to go back and read them starting from the first one.
Also, did you know he sold the movie rights for the Mitch Flynn character ?
I wish I had read Flynn’s books in order.
I started with Memorial Day(a Christmas present from my wife) and then she gave me Executive Power as a birthady present.
I would now like to go back and read them starting from the first one.
Also, did you know he sold the movie rights for the Mitch Flynn character ?
Gladwell has a really strong liberal bias. Of course he doesn’t see it, he’s been to too many New York cocktail parties.
I just loved much of that book, especially the age of hockey players and the 10,000 rule. The timing of your arrival in the world too.
If he had been less biased he would have pointed out how the timing of affirmative action had placed an increased number of blacks in college and later in high positions, e.g., Fannie Mae, American Express, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, TIAA-CREF, the government, etc.
Instead he says southern men have a problem. Huh? He cites one silly psychological study about men from the south and how they behave in the library in Minnesota (or was it Michigan)?. Double huh. Traces it back to Appalachia. Totally overlooks the bias on the part of the experimenters or the fact that these are out of state students and 100 other possible explanations. He totally overlooks the much higher level of aggression on the part of urban black men. That wouldn’t fit into his paradigm of southern white men are bad.
Oh yes, he also butchered the part about the Italian men who moved to PA who didn’t get heart disease. Any epidemiologist reading that chapter would tear their hair out.
In spite of all the crap he tries to peddle, the good parts were as interesting as anything I’ve read in the past 5 years.
I fell from a ladder in June and have a broken left wrist and left patella and tibial plateau. I spend a lot of my time on the internet, listening to Rush, etc. During the times I have to keep my leg elevated, I do a lot of reading. My husband gets me to the library at least once a week, thank goodness.
My right ankle, fell down front steps, it is slow to heal and continues to swell, so I am spending lots of time reclining on bed and sofa with toes above nose. Ladies from my book club have been bringing me books and my husband has been to the library for me.
The War Magician How Jasper Maskelyne and his Magic Gang Altered the Course of WWII by David Fisher. It’s a biography of Jasper Maskelyne Brittan’s top magician and the optical illusions he created to hid troops, installations and otherwise fool the Germans. He even made the Suez Canal “vanish” and developed a system of flashing lights that could be used against pilots to cause them to become disoriented and crash. The way he accomplished the later is still classified from what I understand.
I’m listening to InkDeath the final book in the InkWorld trilogy a kids book. Not bad.
However, if you have kids 5-15 or so or you like to read good kids books I highly recommend the series The Grimm Sisters by Micheal Buckley. They do need to be read in order and all including the last one he’s had published end in a cliff hanger. My wife and I read and enjoyed all 7 books (quick reads). Decent summary at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sisters_Grimm_(novel_series)
Long and short: The two girls age 5 & 11 are orphaned when their parents disappear and the car is located later with a red hand print on the seat. They are put into an orphanage who tries to place them since the records show they have no living relatives. They are placed with very strange people by a nasty social worker. One I remember was just released from prison where he served term for murder. Well murder of 12 people. He has control issues. The girls long lost grandmother turns up and the girls go to live with her in Fairyport Landing a small town in upstate New York. They don’t trust her because their father told them that their grandmother was dead. The town and house are weird. Turns out they are related to the Grimm Brothers and the town is inhabited by Fairytale characters who have morphed into humans to pass among the other humans. The Grimm Sisters’ ancesntor along with the witch Baba Yaga have created a barrier that prevents the EverAfters from leaving. The barrier will last as long as a Grimm lives in FerryPort landing. The Grimms solve mysteries and problems involving the EverAfters. The girls don’t believe the grandmother at first until a 300 foot tall giant stomps through the town trying to kill them.
Even if the child is too young to read the books themselves they will enjoy having them read to them. The 1st 4 are also on CD and the person who reads them does a great job. If you’re going on vacation and traveling by car pop the first book into the car’s cd player and the whole family will be caught up in the story and probably finish the entire series.
Great analysis - you’ve captured the essence of Gladwell.
Just finished “Summer of the Gods” about the Scopes Monkey Trial. The results were that the ‘dumb Southern hicks’ of Tennessee got a lot of ‘Smart Northerners’ to come to Dayton Tn and spend lots of money on an issue that they didn’t care that much about.
Now I am reading Wanderer of the West by Zane Grey.
I have also been listening to “Guilty” by Ann Coulter, but, it’s over, so, I have moved on to “The Pluto Files”
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