Anybody read a good book lately?

[MURP]

I have also just finished the 1960 Eagles championship book.  It was a great read.  Man was football different back then or what!  FS64 sums it up quite well.  

[Sgt PSN]

Next up however is Gibbon's complete Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

I don't know if the copy I have at home is Gibbon's or not.  I've had it since high school and haven't read it since then.  What ever version I have, I'm going to have to read it again since I enjoyed it in hs and will probably have a greater appreciation for it today.  

[satoshi]

A few days ago I finished The Clash of Civilizations and the Remarking of World Order. I don't say if the book is good, but it obviously gave me the great impression. A very informative book and a good way to know how the world was, is or will be. Also, I already finished the first half of The Big Picture. Those two book worth a read. At least I think so.

[Fan_Since_64]

Okay, got a couple of recent additions to add to this one.

First, there's "The Quiet One - A Life of George Harrison" by Alan Clayson. Not a bad read, although the copy editing was atrocious. Clayson, who is British, does a nice job of recounting what life growing up in Liverpool in the 50s and early 60s was like, and also wants Harrison, who was so often overshadowed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in life, to get his due (this book was published before Harrison's death, incidentally). He is hardly fawning, and is often quite critical of some of Harrison's work. And the book falls into the problem area that all books about musical artists fall into - the author's personal taste in music can get in the way. If the author prefers a particular style or genre, then what the artist did that fits into that vein is "good". Anything else is "bad". But it only reminds the reader to think critically of the judgments being made in turn, and to listen and come to his or her own conclusions. At least, if you read this particular book, you can listen to Harrison's stuff with some insight into what was driving him when he created and performed it.

Second, "President Kennedy - Profile of Power" by Richard Reeves. I've read a number of books about Kennedy over the years, and in terms of getting into JFK's head and really giving the reader a sense of his leadership style, decisionmaking, personal interactions, and all the rest of it - which is the author's stated goal - this is the best of the bunch. It deals strictly with his presidency, so if you want to know about the early years, you should probably read something like Herbert Parmet's "Jack - The Struggles of John F. Kennedy". But for insight into his presidency and the times that he governed in, this is an excellent work.

[AE]

Ritter, well, be careful who sees you carrying that book around.  I'd put a brown cover on it if I were you.  In these parts reading that book makes you a commie pinko fag, and anti-American, which is to say, a target.

C'mon, Dio.  The guy is losing it.  Gets snagged for trying to rape a teenager (statutory rape), very recently states the US is going to lose the war (no matter how folks feel about it, almost no one thinks the US will lose).

What value is there in his book?  How to score with teenage chicks?  I have my own conspiracy theory.  I think he dabbled in his sickness while in Iraq.  Iraqi agents show him the pics and tell him to change his tune or they release 'em.  Far fetched?  I don't put anything past the sick freak.

[General_Failure]

I wouldn't call it a good book, but I'll mention it anyway. I just finished the short story Anthem by Ayn Rand. Rand is far from a great fiction writer, but I burned through it anyway since the guys in my current gaming group are Randists.

[AE]

What is a "Randist?"

[Fan_Since_64]

What is a "Randist?"

Oh wow, I didn't think there were any left! Ayn Rand had quite the cult following for many years, right up to when I was in college (all those years ago!    ). Supposedly, Alan Greenspan is, or was, a "Randist". I had a girlfriend in college who purported to be one, and as a result I slogged my way through "Atlas Shrugged" one summer. GF, you are quite right, she's no great fiction author, but wow, what a polemicist! And if everyone bought into her philosphical system, the world would be a far more bleak place than it is.    

[AE]

I read some of her work. but never realized there were "Randists."  I guess I'm more close associated with the Heffnerists.  That is, if I read the articles.

[Fan_Since_64]

I read some of her work. but never realized there were "Randists."  I guess I'm more close associated with the Heffnerists.  That is, if I read the articles.

Ah yes, the Hefnerists were in their heyday at the same time as the Randists, but the Guccionists and Flintists (a truly sorry lot) have made inroads in the years since. And the internet has spawned a whole new generation of imitators, which may lead to yet a new group of "ists" of that genre.

Um.....but I'm only familiar with the interviews.  

[Sgt PSN]

Next up however is Gibbon's complete Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

I don't know if the copy I have at home is Gibbon's or not.  I've had it since high school and haven't read it since then.  What ever version I have, I'm going to have to read it again since I enjoyed it in hs and will probably have a greater appreciation for it today.  

Dio, I checked at home and the copy I do have is from Giddons which I read back in high school.  I was looking on the net last week at Barnes and Noble or something and found a 6 book set from Giddons.  The book I have at home  isn't numbered so I don't know if it was part of the series or not.  Have you read just 1 book or did you read the entire series?  I was thinking about ordering it but it was like $80 for the series and before I dropped that much cash on some books I was hoping to find oot if it's worth it.    

[AE]

Ever hear of a library?

[Sgt PSN]

Ever hear of a library?

.

I can't even remember to take videos back to the store after I've had them for 3 days, there is no way in hell I'd remember to return books after having them for a week or two.  Besides, I know it's kind of pathetic but I don't even know where the public library is in this small KC suburb and I've been living here for 3 years now.  I wonder if they even have their own library here....never seen one.  

[satoshi]

I'm reading Stephen King's Dreamcatcher. I'm not a huge fan of him, but this book is really awesome. hehe. SSDD.

[General_Failure]

I just finished the third and fourth books in the Firestar series by Michael Flynn. It's a near future story that starts in 1999 (which was the near future when the first book was published) about a wealthy CEO and her overwhelming fear of asteroids. She starts up her own privately funded space program in Brazil without letting most of her presidents or shareholders know. The first book covers her, the space program in Brazil, the test pilots in the program, her family, one pilot's family, and a few students and teachers from a "quasi-public" school district her corporation runs in northern New Jersey.

Right now I'm in the middle of the fifth book, which takes place late 80's of the 21st century. I'm finding it a little tougher to follow than the first book, mainly because the 16 characters in the book all have strange names. Still a good read. It's a nice departure from the first four books with plenty of reminders how the characters from those books changed the wolrd they live in.