Author Topic: What Books are you reading???? just curious! (Read 42565 times)

taeyang · « **Reply #540 on:** April 12, 2012, 01:24:57 PM »

Quote from: Schellib39 on April 06, 2012, 04:20:52 PM

Just began reading Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden. This book was just released in March and is about Shin Dong-Hyuk, the only known North Korean to have been born inside a gulag and escaped. Has received very good reviews.

i was just about to post about this book. it is absolutely gripping. a must read!

mpark28 · « **Reply #541 on:** April 12, 2012, 03:23:45 PM »

Reading Empire of the Sun at the moment. Never read it before and only saw the movie once more than twenty years ago. It's great. I love Ballard's writing style. Nice and descriptive. Will definitely be reading more of his books after this.

hiphopopotamus · « **Reply #542 on:** April 12, 2012, 05:38:36 PM »

Quote from: mpark28 on April 12, 2012, 03:23:45 PM

Reading Empire of the Sun at the moment. Never read it before and only saw the movie once more than twenty years ago. It's great. I love Ballard's writing style. Nice and descriptive. Will definitely be reading more of his books after this.

I've read a number of Ballard's work. I think his short fiction is really good. There's a collection of short stories out there called "The Very Best of JG Ballard". Lots of dystopian future stuff (ie. the world is entirely enclosed in a building, but a boy invents wings and wants to test them. But airspace is limited and costs money, so he needs to find a way to buy cubic feet of air to test his flying machine, etc.)

My favorite story is called EndGame. About a prisoner and his executioner living in a remote, desert house, playing chess. The executioner knows the date, time and method he has been ordered to kill the prisoner, but cannot tell him. The prisoner's hope is that if they keep a game of chess on-going, the execution may never come.

Unfortunate that Ballard passed away recently, but he left a large body of work to explore.

Jrong · « **Reply #543 on:** April 13, 2012, 10:50:36 AM »

Quote from: rogue85 on April 05, 2012, 06:18:40 PM

Quote from: Jrong on April 05, 2012, 01:49:38 PM
"The Believing Brain" by Michael Shermer. http://www.michaelshermer.com/the-believing-brain/ I started it a while back and am finally getting around to finishing it. About 1/3 of it is detailed scientific experiments (booooring but necessary). Another 1/3 of it is all about Michael ("Hey, look at me, I'm Michael Shermer and I'm so cool." No, you're actually a d@#bag). The remaining 1/3rd definitely makes the book worth reading. Best book I've read in a long time. Great premise. World-view changing. I highly recommend it.

I don't recommend this book b/c I like the guy (I really dislike him), but he has some very good things to say concerning what neuroscientists are learning about why we believe what we believe.

Really good book.

It's also incredibly frustrating. Shermer is so un-selfaware and TYPE 3-ish (Enneagram). Constantly blabbering on about his achievements. The worst part is that even though his thesis is "belief-dependent realism" (amazing thesis), he's totally unaware to the ways in which this affects his on life. While he endorses what neuroscience has to tell us about spirituality, he dismisses what it has to say about politics. He even dips into cliches when talking about politics for which he deserves a beat down.

Michael readily agrees to what so many neuroscientists have to say about religion but dismisses their "liberal bias" all to prove the point in his book: "No one is immune from belief-dependent realism". Well, even if he's too obtuse to realize his own errors you have to admit that his thesis is rock-solid. Even if he doesn't take his own advice (i.e. "follow what science says and nothing else") can't blame him for being an average bipedal primate.

judy2012 · « **Reply #544 on:** April 13, 2012, 05:02:55 PM »

I'm reading an interesting book called "Outliers" at the mo. I forget the author but its fascinating. it looks at anomalies in data (research) and then takes a closer look to see why they crop up. Usually ther is a story behind why and we discover that the anomaly is the result of some confluence of events rather than a fluke or miracle or that the person is a genius.... it is very rare (and statistically it should be) for it to be 'miraculous' but when it is- thats a true outlier. Fascinating.

TheWB18 · « **Reply #545 on:** April 13, 2012, 05:36:23 PM »

Quote from: judy2012 on April 13, 2012, 05:02:55 PM

I'm reading an interesting book called "Outliers" at the mo. I forget the author but its fascinating. it looks at anomalies in data (research) and then takes a closer look to see why they crop up. Usually ther is a story behind why and we discover that the anomaly is the result of some confluence of events rather than a fluke or miracle or that the person is a genius.... it is very rare (and statistically it should be) for it to be 'miraculous' but when it is- thats a true outlier. Fascinating.

Malcolm Gladwell, I think. I read a chunk of it on the flight from LAX to Incheon, and it was really interesting. If you like Outliers, definitely check out another one of his, The Tipping Point. Gladwell does a great job of bringing at times rather academic sociological and anthropological theory and experimentation into very real situations. Also quite good at pitching a big idea, as in Outlier and Tipping Point.

mpark28 · « **Reply #546 on:** April 20, 2012, 10:54:21 AM »

Quote from: taeyang on April 12, 2012, 01:24:57 PM

Quote from: Schellib39 on April 06, 2012, 04:20:52 PM
Just began reading Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden. This book was just released in March and is about Shin Dong-Hyuk, the only known North Korean to have been born inside a gulag and escaped. Has received very good reviews.

i was just about to post about this book. it is absolutely gripping. a must read!

I read during the week in two very quick sittings. Fascinating and engrossing, highly recommended!
Currently nearly finished slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, a weird one but a good one.

loswillyams · « **Reply #547 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:02:48 PM »

If you're a fan of poetry, check out Li-Young Lee's "Behind My Eyes" and Brian S Ellis' "Yesterday Won't Goodbye" - both are available for e-books.

Jrong · « **Reply #548 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:37:44 PM »

Losing my Cool.
http://www.amazon.com/Losing-My-Cool-Fathers-Hip-hop/dp/159420263X
I met Thomas when I was working for a hotel driving the shuttle. Interesting guy and very deep-thinker.

Rusty Shackleford · « **Reply #549 on:** April 20, 2012, 12:52:15 PM »

http://mises.org/document/3095

God's Gold by John T. Flynn. One of the earliest biographies of John D. Rockefeller. I didn't know much about the guy until recently, beyond him being a robber baron, or what ever. The facts don't seem to back up the myth. Yes, he was a rapacious business man, but that was to the benefit of society at large.

DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP · « **Reply #550 on:** May 03, 2012, 04:37:36 PM »

Recently finished Agatha Christie's 'The ABC Murders.' Some nice easy reading and furthermore enjoyable if one reads her aware in the context of how cutting edge she was at the time.

Am reading 'Girl with a Dragon Tattoo' at the moment.

No whatthebook here in Shanghai...

Cereal · « **Reply #551 on:** May 04, 2012, 01:07:01 PM »

I just finished "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. It was funny and made me miss my dad.

I just started Slash's autobiography. He partook of a lot of illegal substances. I don't think Dr. Seuss would approve.

annab22 · « **Reply #552 on:** May 04, 2012, 04:12:22 PM »

Just finished We Need to Talk About Kevin, moving on the The Hunger Games! Want to read the book before I see the movie!

Frozencat99 · « **Reply #553 on:** May 04, 2012, 05:39:53 PM »

Quote from: annab22 on May 04, 2012, 04:12:22 PM

Just finished We Need to Talk About Kevin, moving on the The Hunger Games! Want to read the book before I see the movie!

Doing the same thing.

recordingtime · « **Reply #554 on:** May 04, 2012, 06:26:51 PM »

I get pretty ADD with book reading...so depending on my mood:

Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, in Korean to help me read faster.
Nothing to Envy (forgot who ;_;)
The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton

Finished 1Q84 by Murakami a couple of months ago so those who haven't read it, definitely should pick it up..

DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP · « **Reply #555 on:** May 05, 2012, 03:42:25 AM »

@hippo - Vermillion Sands is one of a kind.

@jrong - another great book about beliefs and their role in shaping the way we live and learned to navigate through the world through believing from experience that one event has causation upon the next is 'Six Impossible things before Breakfast' by Lewis Wolport.

williethewimp · « **Reply #556 on:** May 06, 2012, 01:25:05 AM »

Just finished "Escape from Camp 14" what got to me was how much trouble the author had had adjusting to life in the west, if that was just one case imagine how it will be dealing with millions of people with a similar experience if and when the north collapses. Economically it will make the unification of Germany seem easy.

Just downloaded all 4 of Robert Caro's book on LBJ. I was in grad school doing a Texas History through biography just before the second book came out the prof recommended it but I never got around to reading it. Now I have my reading set for the next 4 months

travelinpantsgirl · « **Reply #557 on:** May 07, 2012, 10:29:27 AM »

"The Sense of Ending" By Julian Barnes...
Meh...it was okay.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sense-Ending-Julian-Barnes/dp/0307360822/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1336346769&sr=8-7

I liked how he showed that our perceptions of our memories aren't always what really was, how they're tainted/distorted by our own selfish prejudices.
I also liked that it was a quick read-160 pages.

DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP · « **Reply #558 on:** May 07, 2012, 02:21:27 PM »

^^ Was kind of convoluted and concieted. Very cereberal and not very heartfelt. More like a story written just for the purpose of revealing a tricksy ending.

On Chesil Beach by MacEwan a much better take on the theme.

travelinpantsgirl · « **Reply #559 on:** May 07, 2012, 02:40:29 PM »

Quote from: DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP on May 07, 2012, 02:21:27 PM

^^ Was kind of convoluted and concieted. Very cereberal and not very heartfelt. More like a story written just for the purpose of revealing a tricksy ending.

On Chesil Beach by MacEwan a much better take on the theme.

Sense of Ending?
A little bit conceited and a lot convoluted, especially toward the end.