What are you reading?
- marrymeflyfree
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What are you reading?
For me, it is _The State of Africa; A History of Fifty Years of Independence_ by Martin Meredith.
October was supposed to see us heading to Rwanda for 10 days with The Naughty Norwegian's cousin's wife, who is from there. Unfortunately the discovery that we were cooking up a wee one put that on hold, but we had dinner with her after she returned to Oslo to hear all about it.
One thing I learned after our discussions, and after trying to read up on the history there before we were to leave, is how much I have yet to learn about Africa. Aside from news images of refugees and the occasional movie, I know very little. Thinking back, it is amazing to me how little non-western history is taught to us in schools. Or at least that's how it was in my schools. I had vague notions that some parts had a lot of influence from certain European countries, and knew that corruption continues to be an enormous problem - but that's it. So it is really fascinating to be reading and learning about the history, because I am basically starting from scratch.
I had picked up another book specifically about the Rwandan genocide, but it was very dry and academic - and assumed that the reader already had a lot of knowledge on the conflict. This book is different. It is very readable, but also thorough. It gives the history of each country/territory as it transitioned into independence with the larger political landscape of Africa as the backdrop.
An excerpt, relating to the celebration surrounding Ghana's independence from Britain (the first country in Africa to do so):
"Messages of congratulations came from an aray of world leaders ... the most enthusiastic visitor was Richard Nixon, then the United States vice-president. From the moment he touched down in Accra, he rushed about shaking hands, hugging paramount chiefs, fondling black babies and posing for photographs. It was not always to good effect. Surrounded by a crowd of Ghanians at an official ceremony, he slapped one man on the shoulder and asked him how it felt to be free. 'I wouldn't know, sir,' replied the man. 'I'm from Alabama.'"
October was supposed to see us heading to Rwanda for 10 days with The Naughty Norwegian's cousin's wife, who is from there. Unfortunately the discovery that we were cooking up a wee one put that on hold, but we had dinner with her after she returned to Oslo to hear all about it.
One thing I learned after our discussions, and after trying to read up on the history there before we were to leave, is how much I have yet to learn about Africa. Aside from news images of refugees and the occasional movie, I know very little. Thinking back, it is amazing to me how little non-western history is taught to us in schools. Or at least that's how it was in my schools. I had vague notions that some parts had a lot of influence from certain European countries, and knew that corruption continues to be an enormous problem - but that's it. So it is really fascinating to be reading and learning about the history, because I am basically starting from scratch.
I had picked up another book specifically about the Rwandan genocide, but it was very dry and academic - and assumed that the reader already had a lot of knowledge on the conflict. This book is different. It is very readable, but also thorough. It gives the history of each country/territory as it transitioned into independence with the larger political landscape of Africa as the backdrop.
An excerpt, relating to the celebration surrounding Ghana's independence from Britain (the first country in Africa to do so):
"Messages of congratulations came from an aray of world leaders ... the most enthusiastic visitor was Richard Nixon, then the United States vice-president. From the moment he touched down in Accra, he rushed about shaking hands, hugging paramount chiefs, fondling black babies and posing for photographs. It was not always to good effect. Surrounded by a crowd of Ghanians at an official ceremony, he slapped one man on the shoulder and asked him how it felt to be free. 'I wouldn't know, sir,' replied the man. 'I'm from Alabama.'"
- MarleysGh0st
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The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans
by Simon Winchester
Wilde West
by Walter Satterthwaite
More than a whodunit or a Western, Wilde West also qualifies as historical fiction and psychological thriller. Its plot centers on the savage serial murders of red-headed prostitutes. Enter none other than Oscar Wilde, the young, witty, flamboyant British poet who, with his varied entourage, is making a lecture tour of the United States. Because the prostitutes are always slain in the cities Wilde visits, Federal Marshall Grigsby must consider Wilde and his friends as suspects. With point of view shifting between the melancholy, alcoholic Grigsby and the inspired, lusty, ever-jesting Wilde, as well as occasional scary plunges into the dark mind of the unknown killer
What do these books have in common? They were all available for mp3 download from my library.
by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans
by Simon Winchester
Wilde West
by Walter Satterthwaite
More than a whodunit or a Western, Wilde West also qualifies as historical fiction and psychological thriller. Its plot centers on the savage serial murders of red-headed prostitutes. Enter none other than Oscar Wilde, the young, witty, flamboyant British poet who, with his varied entourage, is making a lecture tour of the United States. Because the prostitutes are always slain in the cities Wilde visits, Federal Marshall Grigsby must consider Wilde and his friends as suspects. With point of view shifting between the melancholy, alcoholic Grigsby and the inspired, lusty, ever-jesting Wilde, as well as occasional scary plunges into the dark mind of the unknown killer
What do these books have in common? They were all available for mp3 download from my library.
Suitguy is not bitter.
feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive
The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.
feels he represents the many educated and rational onlookers who believe that the hysterical denouncement of lay scepticism is both unwarranted and counter-productive
The problem, then, is that such calls do not address an opposition audience so much as they signal virtue. They talk past those who need convincing. They ignore actual facts and counterargument. And they are irreparably smug.
- silvercamaro
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- fuzzywuzzy
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Beaufighters in the Night: 417 Night Fighter Squadron USAAF.MarleysGh0st wrote:What good timing for you to ask!
I just started Beaufighters in the Night: 417 Night Fighter Squadron USAAF by Lt. Col. "Brick" Eisel. And on audiobook, Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome, by Steven Saylor.
Its the must have gift for the holidays! I am getting my Dad & fwh a copy from our friend Brick
I am not reading right now...will be by the end of the week!
Any suggestions?
fuzzy
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."
— Mark Twain
"Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."
- Judy Garland
— Mark Twain
"Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else."
- Judy Garland
- TheCalvinator24
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Settling Accounts: Drive to the East
I discovered that I had already read all of Return Engagement before. DttE is the one I had read a portion of at Borders.
I checked out DttE, The Grapple, and In at the Death from the Garland Library. I hope I can finish them all by November 24th.
I discovered that I had already read all of Return Engagement before. DttE is the one I had read a portion of at Borders.
I checked out DttE, The Grapple, and In at the Death from the Garland Library. I hope I can finish them all by November 24th.
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. —Albus Dumbledore
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- KillerTomato
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Re: What are you reading?
Martha Grimes' "Dust" at the moment. It's the latest in her Superintendent Richard Jury mystery series. IMO, Jury's pretty much of a stiff (although he gets busy with 2 different colleagues in the first 50 pages of this one), but Melrose Plant (Jury's civilian sidekick) and his friends are an absolute hoot.
I finished up Leonie Swann's "Three Bags Full" -- a sheep detective story -- the other day. It was fun, but the ending disappointed somehow. Still well worth a look, if you like quirky mysteries starring sheep.
And I'm picking at about 3 books about Hawaii, in preparation for my trip.
I finished up Leonie Swann's "Three Bags Full" -- a sheep detective story -- the other day. It was fun, but the ending disappointed somehow. Still well worth a look, if you like quirky mysteries starring sheep.
And I'm picking at about 3 books about Hawaii, in preparation for my trip.
There is something wrong in a government where they who do the most have the least. There is something wrong when honesty wears a rag, and rascality a robe; when the loving, the tender, eat a crust while the infamous sit at banquets.
-- Robert G. Ingersoll
-- Robert G. Ingersoll
- Ritterskoop
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Dewey's Ethical Thought, Jennifer Welchman
Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks
I am not reading either, just now, as I am at work. But I will start the Dewey tonight for school and the Sacks in a few days as a treat.
Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks
I am not reading either, just now, as I am at work. But I will start the Dewey tonight for school and the Sacks in a few days as a treat.
If you fail to pilot your own ship, don't be surprised at what inappropriate port you find yourself docked. - Tom Robbins
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At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you. - attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
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At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you. - attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
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- silvercamaro
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I haven't read the book yet, but I read a long excerpt from the Sacks book. It was fascinating!Ritterskoop wrote:Dewey's Ethical Thought, Jennifer Welchman
Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks
I am not reading either, just now, as I am at work. But I will start the Dewey tonight for school and the Sacks in a few days as a treat.
- PlacentiaSoccerMom
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- Vandal
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Lottery by Patricia Wood.
It's a wonderful debut novel about a man with a 76 IQ who wins $12 million in the Washington State Lottery.
It's written in first person, present tense POV - no small feat - and it really works.
It's a wonderful debut novel about a man with a 76 IQ who wins $12 million in the Washington State Lottery.
It's written in first person, present tense POV - no small feat - and it really works.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Available now:
The Secret At Haney Field: A Baseball Mystery
The Right Hand Rule
Center Point
Dizzy Miss Lizzie
Running On Empty
The Tick Tock Man
The Dragon's Song by Binh Pham and R. M. Clark
Devin Drake and The Family Secret
Visit my website: http://www.rmclarkauthor.com
Ready: Devin Drake and The RollerGhoster
Available now:
The Secret At Haney Field: A Baseball Mystery
The Right Hand Rule
Center Point
Dizzy Miss Lizzie
Running On Empty
The Tick Tock Man
The Dragon's Song by Binh Pham and R. M. Clark
Devin Drake and The Family Secret
Visit my website: http://www.rmclarkauthor.com
Ready: Devin Drake and The RollerGhoster
- MarleysGh0st
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- christie1111
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What a coincidence, I have that one too.MarleysGh0st wrote:What good timing for you to ask!
I just started Beaufighters in the Night: 417 Night Fighter Squadron USAAF by Lt. Col. "Brick" Eisel. And on audiobook, Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome, by Steven Saylor.
But will wait to read it after Dad reads his Christmas present.
I am reading the Patricia Cornwell book on Jack the Ripper.
"A bed without a quilt is like the sky without stars"
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- PlacentiaSoccerMom
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At the beginning of each section, the book telsl you who is talking, when they are talking and why they are talking.MarleysGh0st wrote:35 narrators?PlacentiaSoccerMom wrote:I am reading a novel called Maynard and Jennica by Rudolph Delson.
The novel has 35 narrators and is quite amusing.
Sounds like somebody attempted a Bored novel.
- mrkelley23
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I tried to start The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, but fell asleep before I could get past the review of past materials. I barely made it through the first Chronicles, and I fall asleep more easily now, so it's not too surprising. I'll have to make a trip to the library soon, I guess.
Although there are all those Erle Stanley Gardner books I bought at the last Friends of the Library booksale. Hmmmmmmmmm.
What I really want to do is find ALL the Travis McGee novels in one place. There's a relatively new reissue in paperback, but my library didn't get a complete set. At least not yet. And I want to read them in order.
Although there are all those Erle Stanley Gardner books I bought at the last Friends of the Library booksale. Hmmmmmmmmm.
What I really want to do is find ALL the Travis McGee novels in one place. There's a relatively new reissue in paperback, but my library didn't get a complete set. At least not yet. And I want to read them in order.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled. -- Richard Feynman
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Men of Tomorrow: Geek, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones. All about the men who started the entire comic book genre, especially the superheroes. Creators and publishers, their biographies, and their creative (and not-so-creative, in the case of some of the publishers) processes.
Next on the list are a couple of David & Leigh Eddings books, and getting caught up with the Harry Turtledove "WWII in North America" alternate history. I think I'm two books behind in that series.
Next on the list are a couple of David & Leigh Eddings books, and getting caught up with the Harry Turtledove "WWII in North America" alternate history. I think I'm two books behind in that series.
I just ordered chicken and an egg from Amazon. I'll let you know.
- tanstaafl2
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Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement, & Political Manipulation at America's Largest Charitable Trust by King and Roth.
About all noted above and them some by the people left to run the massive trust that was the amassed wealth of the last of the Hawaiian royal family in Hawaii that funds Kamehameha schools, amongst other things. No small part of the damage done by trustees, judges and politicians with Hawaiian ancestry, although they don't carry all the blame by any means.
And it must be pointed out that many of those that finally exposed the deceit were also of Hawaiian ancestry.
Wacky place, Hawaii. But not something you would know as a haole tourist. Have to spend a little time there to learn just how wacky it can be.
About all noted above and them some by the people left to run the massive trust that was the amassed wealth of the last of the Hawaiian royal family in Hawaii that funds Kamehameha schools, amongst other things. No small part of the damage done by trustees, judges and politicians with Hawaiian ancestry, although they don't carry all the blame by any means.
And it must be pointed out that many of those that finally exposed the deceit were also of Hawaiian ancestry.
Wacky place, Hawaii. But not something you would know as a haole tourist. Have to spend a little time there to learn just how wacky it can be.
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
~Mark Twain
Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...
~tanstaafl2
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium
Ne Illegitimi Carborundum
Cumann na gClann Uí Thighearnaigh
~Mark Twain
Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...
~tanstaafl2
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium
Ne Illegitimi Carborundum
Cumann na gClann Uí Thighearnaigh
- tanstaafl2
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Wow, that brings back memories! Read those over 20 years ago. Didn't realize that a new Quartet was being written to go with the original two trilogies.mrkelley23 wrote:I tried to start The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, but fell asleep before I could get past the review of past materials. I barely made it through the first Chronicles, and I fall asleep more easily now, so it's not too surprising. I'll have to make a trip to the library soon, I guess.
Might have to check that out. But that means I would likely need to reread the first six. Maybe something for my next long trip.
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
~Mark Twain
Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...
~tanstaafl2
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium
Ne Illegitimi Carborundum
Cumann na gClann Uí Thighearnaigh
~Mark Twain
Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...
~tanstaafl2
Nullum Gratuitum Prandium
Ne Illegitimi Carborundum
Cumann na gClann Uí Thighearnaigh
- minimetoo26
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