What Books Have You Read Recently?

[Rubeskies]

For those who love baseball: two suggestions.

Ironically Underated Philip Roth novel: "The Great American Novel"

Story of a fictional(?) third baseball league (besides the AL and NL) and is a great read for any baseball fan.

and

"Moneyball" Story of Billy Beane and the Oakland A's small market triumpth through statistics.

[Rubeskies]

"Time's Arrow" by Martin Ames. The entire story is written backwards. Example: If I wanted to go to the grocery store and buy a can of soup it would be expressed: I enter the store, the cashier gives me some money, I put the can of soup on the shelf, and walk out. Every morning the garbage man brings lots of goodies!!! The book is actually pretty intense but it has some comical scenes.


"The White Hotel" by D.M. Thomas. Psychological story involving the case histories of Freud. Part 1 is letters, Part 2 is a poem, Part 3 is fiction, Part 4 is a case history etc. The story has a crazy twist at the end that you should NOT read the back of the book to avoid knowing. It is intensely sexual and often violent but very well written.

[thecincykiddo]

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1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann.

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Any thoughts on it?
Did it focus on North America?
Did it talk about MesoAmerica (Olmecs, Mayas, Aztecs)?
Did it talk about Incas?
What lead you to read it?

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I'd been researching copper mining in the Andes mountains and trying to get a read on the forces involving how and when labor unions came to power in South America and whether or not that might have been a response to profit-hungry North American mining companies squeezing and otherwise exploiting the labor forces in South America.

This book came up in a conversation about cultural hegemony and I thought I would take a look at it first, since it looks at a lot of the factors and forces behind why it is that South American (and North American, pre-colonization) history does not factor into World History or even many modern perspectives. This area is still new for archaeologists, and especially for anthropologists and historians, etc., and really has yet to emerge popularly.

In addition to taking a look at histories (traces, really) of peoples unknown to us, Mann does a wonderful job of providing context with which to better understand how it is that an entire continent remains one of the least discussed and understood places despite its obvious place in the world, and how it factors into a modern environmental perspective. 'Civilization' takes on a whole new meaning. What the invading white people put down as savagery was actually quite cunning, but Mann takes care to ensure that he doesn't overstep his bounds by making false claims, connections or conclusions.

We already know that white North Americans prescribed South Americans as being too sensual and fiery, too emotional, to be great leaders or really to have much to do with politics or decision-making at all, but 1491 looks well beyond that to dig at the sources of these civilizations and find out what made them tick and move on or pass on so that we might get a better sense of a world that was once peopled much more evenly than most people realize that they've been taught.

I liked it a lot, the writing's sharp, but I was intrigued enough by the title alone.

[Enrique]

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.
First sequel to Hitchhiker's. It is very funny and quite an enjoyable read. It is not as good as the first one, since the end doesn't feel like you finished reading a story, just patches of a story. I liked it, I already started the third one.

[ChipWrecked]

How about some tripe: 'Whiteout' by Ken Follett.

This was probably in the remainder pile for a reason. But, Follett is always good fun. He sure has sunk from the 'Pillars of the Earth' or 'Eye of the Needle' days though. Anyhoo, this yarn about a Scottish biotech lab and the robbery thereof moves along well, with the standard Follett thriller formula intact.

I'm currently reading Paddy Whacked: the Untold Story of the Irish-American Gangster by T.J. English. Well researched and blood-drenched. Ah, my Mick ancestors, they had it going until the Dagos muscled them out.

[Blarg]

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I'm currently reading Paddy Whacked: the Untold Story of the Irish-American Gangster by T.J. English. Well researched and blood-drenched. Ah, my Mick ancestors, they had it going until the Dagos muscled them out.

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That sounds interesting. I had a history of Irish stick fighting that was revelatory to me. The Irish used to be absolutely huge into that, and it made for great stories and history.

Mob history in general is great reading.

[EYEWHITES]

Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster. This was really good. It was the second book i read from him the first was Oracle night, this one is alot better i think. The first 30 pages or so are alittle tuff to get thru, but once your thru them the chacters open up like flowers and eventually bloom...i would highly recomend this book

[zenfurni]

Lurker here, but I'd like to contribute, and I love to read. After a recent slump, I've read some good ones (I love long flights):

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
It's a biography of Abraham Lincoln, as well as his three main rivals for the Republican nomination in 1860, who all joined his cabinet. A beautiful and stirring account of their lives, and and interesting look into all the political drama that Lincoln had to deal with.

Mao, the Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday
A real eye-opener, and a MASSIVE contrast to the previous. Where Lincoln always aired on the side of compassion, even with people who had committed treason, Mao Tse-Tung would have found Hobbes' view of life overly tame and cushy.
I knew Mao Tse-Tung was a brutal dictator, but I didn't understand the extent. He was much more callous to his own people than Hitler, and even more hostile to culture than Stalin, and managed to probably live a more lavish life. Not even most people in China know the whole story.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry
A humorous caper set in a world of libertarian paradise.

Carry Me Down by M.J. Hyland
An Irish novel nominated for the Man Booker in 2006, about an adolescent boy who is obsessed with truth and lying, with the family trauma that this exacerbates.

For those of you who were interested in Islam/the Middle East, this is a must-read. It's not about mainstream Islam, but it's about America and radicals in the Middle East:
Through Our Enemies' Eyes by Michael Scheuer (formerly Anonymous)
A high-ranking CIA man, originally afraid to use his own name, gives a well-researched account of the motivations and the goals of al-Qaeda, going far beyond "They hate us for our freedom." I wish somebody in charge would read this. I also recommend the follow-up, Imperial Hubris.

[MyTurn2Raise]

The Case Against Adolescence

Roger Epstein, the editor of Psychology Today, writes one of the most revolutionary books I've ever read.
I got into this one after Guids started an OOT thread on how children are growing up 'emo' and not being 'men.' Somehow, I got inspired to research what is going on with American teens. This book is a scientific inquiry into adolescence....a time period the author believes is made-up and should not exist. Epstein argues that the current world infantilizes teens and is creating lots of blowback. The results to our society are very bad.

[MyTurn2Raise]

The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes

a new history on the Great Depression in the United States. Goes through Hoover, Roosevelt, their top advisors, the programs, and the results. Argues that government prevention not only didn't stem the Great Depression but worsened and lengthened it. The book points out the flaws in government intervention and planning in general. This should be obvious, but it seems most of this world seems to acknowledge this. Nobody is bright enough to run an entire complex system. Nobody can come close to the workings of a market. oh wellz