What book are you reading?

[Moros]

The Early History of God: Yahwah and the other deities in Ancient Israel by Mark Smith. Quite worthy of a read even if slightly dated.

[Crandar]

"How gods are born and die" of Yemelyan Yaroslavsky.
Pretty horrible, even for the standards of 1923.

[Montmorency]

"Maximize rape" gets more hits on Google than "maximize killings".

I guess I know how I'm spending tomorrow night. :creep:

[rickinator9]

The rise of the Seleukid empire - John D Grainger.
I liked this book a lot. I learned a lot more about the Seleucids because of this book. I hadn't even heard of the babylonian chronicles before this book.

The Peloponnesian war - Donald Kagan
I had little previous knowledge of the Peloponnesian war before this book. Sure, I knew the spartans won and then lost their hegemony not too long after. This book goes into detail while still staying very well readable. I can't believe how stupid the Athenians were sometimes. They still had a chance after the blunder that was Sicily, but they wasted it by killing, banishing or just not reelecting their best navarchs.

[Gilrandir]

Decided to actually finish 1984 this time. I understand how, in the context of its publication, it became so widely acclaimed. But, honestly, it sucks. It reads like an angst ridden teen pouting, in exaggerated terms, about the injustices and machinations of the 'system'. OH NO COMMUNISM IS BAD. OH NO CAPITALISM IS BAD. This duality is no longer relevant, and is a mindset that has caused so much propaganda fuelled partisanship that it needs to be taken round back and shot through the head like the broken legged horse that it is.

It's more than that though. Blair's writing style is straight up dull. Duller than brown rice cooked in a brown pot over an electric stove in a brown kitchen. And the march of the plot... when he's not complaining about this that or the other thing he's got his characters doing sweet FA. If I want some sweet FA I'll go sit in the park and daydream. I WANT SUBSTANCE!

Three black-eyes and a bucket of crabs out of 10.
I appreciated the book because Orwell without visiting the USSR pinpointed life in it with such a precision that it seems he was there.
As for reading, Steve Runciman "The history of the crusades" and Jonathan Sumption "the Hundred years war" (volumes one through three).

[Gilrandir]

I'm reading The Silmarillion to begin yet another full journey through Middle-earth. This time I'm reading them in historical order rather than the order they were published (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion) like I usually do.
If you wanna get deeper into how the Tolkien legendarium has developed, his son published ten-volume "History of Middle-earth" and "The children of Hurin" and "The Unfinished Tales". If you are interested, I can give more details.

[Gregoshi]

I've read Unfinished Tales (wish I could remember where I put my copy), The Children of Hurin and Volumes 1-4 of The History of Middle-Earth - volume 5 I have and is next to read. The History books are a tough read due to their nature though - incomplete or fragments of stories and multiple versions thereof. Still my favourite place to visit in all of fiction though.

[Gilrandir]

I've read Unfinished Tales (wish I could remember where I put my copy), The Children of Hurin and Volumes 1-4 of The History of Middle-Earth - volume 5 I have and is next to read. The History books are a tough read due to their nature though - incomplete or fragments of stories and multiple versions thereof. Still my favourite place to visit in all of fiction though.
You tell me! My PhD thesis was about Tolkien's legendarium.
"The history of Middle-earth" should not be viewed as a consistent book, but rather as a story of how THE STORY developed and grew in the creator's mind. The volumes you mentioned are the early stages of The Silmarillion development, then come those that deal with The Lord of the Rings, then those about The Silmarillion evolution after LotR was published. But if you are interested in characters and peoples of Middle-earth, I would recommend volume 12. I also like The atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad. She is a professional geographer and geologist, so she scientifically approaches the terrain described by JRR.

[Gregoshi]

My PhD thesis was about Tolkien's legendarium.
:bow: I bow before your Greatness!

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas. Thanks for the recommendations. It is much appreciated!

[Gilrandir]

:bow: I bow before your Greatness!

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas. Thanks for the recommendations. It is much appreciated!
You are welcome.:bow: To tell the truth, I didn't acquire any History of Middle-earth volumes connected with the LotR. To me the book is a kind of magic and I don't want the spell to disappear when I know how it is made.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Very busy this quarter, but I am working my way through The Power Makers​ by Maury Klein

[Gilrandir]

I'll definitely check out volume 12 and the atlas.
Forgot to mention: volume 12 contains the sketch of a new book JRR was contemplating (or rather asked to give it a try) which was to be a sequel of LotR.

[Gilrandir]

Forgot to mention: volume 12 contains the sketch of a new book JRR was contemplating (or rather asked to give it a try) which was to be a sequel of LotR.
Speaking of sequels, a guy in Russia called Nik Perumov wrote what he considers to be a sequel of LotR. I must admit that he carried it on pretty well, perhaps focusing too much on the martial element of it and offered some interesting ideas adding to the conceptual background of the story. Still, the book can't rival the original one.

[HopAlongBunny]

Just picked up Clearing the Plains http://www.canadashistory.ca/Books/Lire-sur-l%E2%80%99histoire/Reviews/Clearing-the-Plains-Disease,-Politics-of-Starvatio.
The book consolidates the scattered narrative of Canada's history of isolation, starvation and disease as tools of public policy. After a long and thorough discussion of the natural process of disease introduction in virgin soil, the author embarks on an analysis of gov't use of these levers as conscious policy choices; never actually called genocide by the author, the facts make a pretty clear case.

I recommend it to anyone interested in Native History or the history of settlement in Western Canada.

[Neric]

Halfway through "Raising Steam" by Terry Pratchett and really enjoying it. Especially since I didn't liked the previous title, "Snuff" as much as the other Discworld novels.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Coling Gee's Sacrifice and Levinger on Conflict Analysis

[bumpyibexe]

I'm currently reading the Maze Runner Trilogy by James Dashner, i'm done with the 1st book (the maze runner). I'm now reading The Scorch Trials

[Tuuvi]

Right now I'm reading Europe and the People Without History by Eric R. Wolf. The book is about the role that non-Europeans played in Colonialism and the spread of Capitalism, which is supposed to show that nations and societies are inter-connected and not bounded, separate entities.

I just finished the chapter on the fur trade and it was really interesting to learn how American Indians participated in the trade and how it influenced their own history. Usually all you hear about is how Native Americans served as guides for explorers and traded with mountain men which gives the impression that they didn't do much but in reality Native Americans played a pretty big role in the fur trade.

[ShadesWolf]

Game of thrones book 4 - A feast of crows
Just finished book 3 part 2 - A storm of swords - blood and gold by George RR Martin

A fantastic story, you never know what is just around the corner, and which main character will be killed of next

[HopAlongBunny]

I seem to be on a Native History streak.
The Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King is an overview of his understandings, observations and experience; he describes the book as a "story" as opposed to "history". The issues it touches on are serious and emotion laden, but he relates the tale with humour and insight. No bibliography but a useful history guide nonetheless. Loved reading it, just wish there was more.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/the-inconvenient-indian-the-true-story-of-native-north-americans----whites-want-land/article5841075/

[Montmorency]

Writing Amish science-fiction is perhaps the ultimate vindication of the view of sci-fi as a consolatory genre.


Pennsylvania is a short story, 16,500 words (about forty five pages,) and it is the first in the Pennsylvania series.

Jedidiah Troyer is now a traveler. He has signed up for an emigration program that is colonizing the planet of New Pennsylvania. He just wants to start a farm and homestead on affordable land in a new Amish community. Space pioneering isn't as easy as it sounds when you're "plain." Things might work out for Jed... if he can ever get to his new home.

At the time of my posting, it seems to be free!

[Montmorency]

^^^ Philipvs Vallindervs Calicvla might like this (http://www.amazon.com/Pennsylvania-1-Michael-Bunker-ebook/dp/B00C79B08I) sort of thing.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

That's just weird...

How would you even justify that theologically - you're leaving the Earth God created for you and getting on this horrific spacecraft that's probably powered by a Nuclear Reactor and probably rips a dirty hole in space-time...

Not my kinda thing - much more a fan of Black Jack Geary giving the Syndic Worlds a bloody nose whilst coping with massive culture shock.

[Montmorency]

In the story, it's justified by analogy to previous Amish colonization efforts within and from Europe, as well as the whole "God created all the other worlds" angle.

Actually, looking at the author's other work (http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Off-Off-Grid-Decolonizing-Industrial/dp/0615447902/ref=la_B004IU4B62_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423540258&sr=1-1) and biography, it seems this is more up Rhyfelwyr's alley.

I find I enjoy well-written 'dialectical' fiction, even if it's totally wrong-headed. I'm just coming off a string of totally dry, sophomoric, and uninspired titles (I'm looking at you "Crimson Worlds")...

[AntiDamascus]

The Stand by Stephen King. I made it about 700 pages in. It got weird, I rolled out.

[Visor]

The Stand by Stephen King. I made it about 700 pages in. It got weird, I rolled out.

Worth finishing IMO, at least if you got 700 pages in. I know IT is at least 1200.

Reading Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy at the moment, I love sci-fi even though his main characters are always a little too impervious for my liking generally.

[AntiDamascus]

It got oddly religious and I was not ready for that in my sci-fi book

[edyzmedieval]

The Moor's Account by Layla Lalami. Splendid so far (one third into it).

[Hooahguy]

With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain, by Michael Korda. Really excellent. Also slowly making my way though the Witcher series. I just finished the first book, The Last Wish. Hugely enjoyable series so far!

[Shaka_Khan]

The Ends of the World
Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions
- Peter Brannen

"Brannen excels at evoking lost worlds." - THE NEW YORKER

I bought this in January, but was busy with other things and had forgotten about it. I found it in a pile of books next to my bed.
It's fascinating and easy to read.

[Xantan]

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque.

Can only read one chapter at a time, it's just too loaded and dark. Splendid book however.

[Hooahguy]

The Eichmann Trial, by Deborah Lipstadt. Far less controversial than the Hannah Arendt version.

[Joey Deacon]

Panzer Leader - Heinz Guderian... :turtle:

[calculage]

grapes of wrath. its just very good ! I would tell you more about the plot but i don wanna spoil it

[Seamus Fermanagh]

grapes of wrath. its just very good ! I would tell you more about the plot but i don wanna spoil it

A rather "dusty" choice...

:creep:

[edyzmedieval]

A rather "dusty" choice...

:creep:

Heh, I just learned of the Grapes of Wrath last night, as I was doing some research. Going to read it myself.

Right now I'm reading Ardennes 1944 about the Ardennes Offensive of WW2.

[Papewaio]

The Air War eighth book in the Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

I'm cheating because I use audio books now more often - helps on train travel to block the noise, and I can download a new book as I go.

[ShadesWolf]

Warhammer, warhammer and warhammer

Main one being von carstein trilogy

[decorationwin]

The book I am currently reading is Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by the respected Turkish writer and history ?lber Ortayl?.

[alexjohn]

think and grow rich. i love that book