What book are you reading?

**Graiskye** · 01-03-2012, 21:10

I just received and started 'A People History of the United States', authored by Howard Zinn(RIP).
Its considered by many to be the unvarnished version of the history of the Americas, and starts with Columbus's rather complete genocide of the Arawak Indians, of what is now known to be Haiti/Dominican Republic.
And then it on to the Americas...yipee yee haw.
Mans own inhumanity to man, is deeply disturbing, to put it mildly.
Dont want to get too into it, but it seems a pretty interesting read, and I look forward to finishing it.
In his own words Zinn tries to tell the history from the view of the the people who were often oppressed by it.
Its a well known fact that history is wrought by the victors, and they simply don't tell the losers story.
In this book Zinn tries to correct some of these historic imbalances.
If you are interested in the more real history of the USA, and North America in general, you would do well to check it out.
If nothing else it should help me to achieve a more rounded, and complete understanding of our forefathers in the USA.
While I am Canadian, I am a child of history, and especially the more recent history of our world.
We just seem to forget things so quickly nowadays.
Peace all.

**Peasant Phill** · 01-05-2012, 00:31

Just finished 'I kill giants'. Actually it's a short comic series (not a book per se) but the subject, symbolism and pacing was very well done.
Great for a quick read in between bigger volumes.

**CountArach** · 01-05-2012, 12:44

I've got several books going in my post-Christmas binge...

I'm finally reading through Polybius cover-to-cover and comparing him to Livy as I go. This is for my PhD so is likely to be an ongoing project for quite some time.

I'm more than half way through the second part of A Storm of Swords. I think it is the second best book thus far in the series (after the original) - so many huge things happening. That and I really like all of the POV characters.

I've read a couple of chapters of 1813 Leipzig: Napoleon and the Battle of the Nations by Digby Smith. I admittedly know very little about the 1813 campaign and so asked for this as a Christmas present. The book is immensely detailed, but this can slow the narrative somewhat. Still, it uses a lot of fascinating translated accounts, particularly from the Prussian soldiers, that adds a real sense of 'closeness' to the battle.

**naut** · 01-13-2012, 10:17

Childhood's End. Sir Arthur C. Clark. In three words: Frantic, haunting, beautiful.

**Fragony** · 01-13-2012, 16:58

Rant about an entire genre alert

Crime novels. Is it just me or is everything a crime novelist writes an open sollicitation to a movie-studio.

**Hax** · 01-13-2012, 18:25

I picked up loads of books from a shop in Maastricht on Tuesday; included was some of Hafiz's poetry and Hugh Kennedy's "The Great Arab Conquests".

**Martok** · 01-15-2012, 14:00

I finished up 1984 last week.

I thought it was both brilliant and (of course) deeply disturbing, both thought-provoking and incredibly depressing. Regardless, I found it to be an enjoyable read (albeit in a horrific/macabre sort of way).

I also completed re-reading The Courtship of Princess Leia. Although I liked the book well enough, I didn't enjoy it as much this time around as when I first read it.

The dialogue felt "juvenile" in a lot of ways, and both Leia & Han felt...wrong, somehow. Their personalities (as portrayed in the book) didn't mesh very well with how most other authors in the Expanded Universe have written them, to say nothing of not fitting in with their personalities in the films. Of course, Courtship was one of the earlier Star Wars: EU novels (back when the main characters' personalities were less well-formed), so probably Dave Wolverton can be forgiven this.

Next up: Partially on a whim, but partially because I've long been meaning to check out the series (but have never gotten around to doing so until now), I picked up The Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower by C.S. Forester at the library.

Given how big a fan I am of David Weber's Honor Harrington books, I realized it's only natural & right that I read up on the character that inspired them in the first place.

Also, Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World (the film adaptation of Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin novels) is one of my favorite movies, which gave me further impetus to check out (what seems to be considered) the gold standard of the "Wooden Ships and Iron Men" genre.

I've definitely not regretted it so far. I'm already over 2/3 of the way through Midshipman after just two days of reading, and am eager for more. I'm actually having to pace myself so I don't get through the books too quickly!