You've surely read this one in the past, but it's such a good one, it's worth
reading again. I'll keep you in suspense as to the title, I'll just say this:
It can be read in one sitting, and....................................................................
it's DARK.

Happy Reading!!

* Okay, it's not really a "Fluff" piece of writing.

I have been reading several books latley. All of them are just for casual reading and nothing major like you book lovers.

The books I have been reading are:

Alec Baldwin dosent love me : and other queer trials from my life
Thats Mr. Faggot to you: Further trials from my queer life

Both by Michael Thomas Ford

Both of these books talk about the queer trials that this person has to face, and I can really relate with some of these problems he has been through. Great reading for straight and gay people

I just picked up a book last night titled Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell. I was killing time while waiting to head to bowling league and picked it up. After the first chapter I was completely hooked.

I'm only on the 3rd chapter, but this is probably the most fascinating book I've read this year. I'll post more when I finish. I'm curious if anyone else has read it or his other book The Tipping Point.

Been reading a lot of old science fiction and fantasy:

Moonstar Odyssey by David Gerrold (1977)

This unusual science fiction novel takes place in the far future, on a planet of another solar system which was settled by humans many generations ago. Before humans arrived, it was an airless, bone-dry chunk of cratered rock. Now, after terraforming, it is a world of shallow oceans dotted with small islands (the peaks of the craters.) The planet's temperatures are kept within a livable range by a series of gigantic shields (made out of a sort of opaque plasma) which surround the planet, providing cooling shade during the hottest part of the long days, and acting as mirrors which provide light and warmth during the coldest part of the long nights.

The people who live on this world have transformed themselves as well. All children are born sexless. As they grow into adolescence, they experience aspects of both female and male, and eventually make the decision to become one or the other as adults (a ritual known as the Choice.) The novel shows the life of the protagonist from birth until the time of choosing. At the time of Choice, a catastrophe destroys one of the shields, leading to deadly heat waves and violent storms which threaten to kill the inhabitants of a large part of the planet.

This makes Moonstar Odyssey sound like an action-packed novel; in fact, it is almost entirely an introspective one. The disaster which threatens the planet is shown through the effects it has on the emotions of the protagonist.

The author uses multiple ways of narrating his story. The protagonist's story is told both from the first person and the third person. There is also a story-within-a-story which tells of two lovers who decide to remain together, even though one has been forced by family members to make the wrong Choice of sex. (In this section, as in the sections dealing with outcasts who are unable to make the Choice, and who remain neuter, the novel is clearly dealing with the theme of homosexuality in an allegorical way. However, the society which Gerrold has created is too strange -- too "alien," and yet very human -- for his story to be a simple parable.)

Space Skimmer by David Gerrold (1972)


Another offbeat tale of the far future from this author. In this one, we slowly, one by one, meet (depending on how you count them) five or six or maybe even seven characters as they are brought together for the novel's climax.

The setting is centuries after a vast human galactic empire fell. The first character leaves his home planet (for reasons not explained until the very end of the book) in search of whatever remains of the empire. He finds it in the form of a "space skimmer," a super-sophisticated starship that allows him to travel to other planets in a much shorter period of time. His quest continues as he obtains a pilot and a passenger, and seeks healing for his passenger. This requires the services of two more characters. There's also a little puppy dog aboard ship, who plays an important role.

If you've been keeping count, that's five characters; six, with the puppy. The seventh is not revealed until the climax of the novel, but has been there all along.

I'm being a little vague because any plot summary would give away everything that happens in the book. It's a rather simple story, really. The props of space opera are used to tell an intimate, emotional tale.

There are signs that this was a novel by a new writer. Many concepts will seem familiar, and some of the story seems rather padded. (The characters sing a lot to each other, which adds pages to the book.) Overall, it's a decent read.

Junction by Jack Dann (1981)

This was a weird one. It's a surreal fantasy, and I'm not sure what happened in it. As far as I can tell, the protagonist starts off in the town of Junction, which seems to be a sort of 19th century/Victorian/Old West type of place, dominated by churches and brothels. It also seems to be the only town left on the planet, and it sits next to the border of Hell. The protagonist is elected "president" of the town (an office of no function, I think) and is persuaded to take a walk into Hell. A bird-like demon, covered with eyes, carries him through Hell into modern New York City. It seems that everybody in New York City has been dreaming of the protagonist. After some strange adventures, the protagonist winds up in the wilds of Turkey, and had more odd experiences.

I'm not sure if I liked this novel or not. It's certainly different, but I'm not sure if it really communicated anything to me.

I haven't had as much time for reading lately as I'd like but I've put in my pre-order for Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots and the Rise of People-Powered Politics by Markos Zuniga (of DailyKos) and Jerome Armstrong (of MyDD).

Preview of the chapters courtesy of Markos:


If you are of the progressive/liberal/democratic persuasion this one is worth checking out

I guess I’m quite the opposite when I comes to book reading. I find books to be one of the most persuasive forms of communication and often for the wrong reasons. I like historical writings, I find most writing about current events is bent too much in ideological favor of the writer. “No Parachute” is a favorite of mine. It was written by a fighter pilot during World War 1. It tells the story that happened to him.

Why educated people buy and read books by Ann Coulter or David Corn is beyond me. I can get that political drivel from a website in 15 minutes. I certainly do not need to read their books to be further indoctrinated.

Honestly anyone that reads “The I Hate Republicans Reader: Why the GOP is Totally Wrong About Everything” and believes that is far too polarized to have an objective opinion. It is easy to understand why someone who actually believes that would have no objection to the US involvement in the Balkans and was against the Iraq conflict from the beginning. Anyway, both political ideologies have problems and neither side has the perfect answer. If one side did, there would not be a debate.

I’m currently reading the latest Wheel of Time book. It is a fantasy series and at least I know what I’m getting.

I'm currently reading "Andrew Jackson" by HW Brands... a book about the first common man to rise to the Presidency.... great book. It talks about his Revolutionary War prowess, his rout of the British in the Battle of New Orleans, etc. It's a great book, and completely non-partisan!!! I think y'all would enjoy it.

I just finished reading the best book I've read in years which is saying something, I don't tolerate stinkers and I can tell by about the first twenty pages.

I also nearly never buy anything, even this was a library check-out.

So here's el-cheapo's guide to a good book.

Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda


is such a terribly good book I'm actually thinking of buying it, not to re-read as I won't have the time but just to loan it out for anyone remotely interested in the UN or any of its member states (including and especially the US) and how they react to crisis.

The source is not some journalist who spent the genocide in a hotel of some politician state side.

The author in Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire the UN force commander in Rwanda before, during and after the genocide and the story is told in detail that will literally keep you awake at night... reading this book.

I mean I woke up on Christmas morning...and immediately continued to read this book.

I read this book for exactly one week (culminating in th day after Christmas) of my typical quick reading, it's 522 pages long and not one of them loses the reader's interest for a moment.

It is a perspective from the military commander of international forces in Rwanda of precisely what happened, what went wrong, and why 800,000 civilians had to be murder over a period of 100 days while the world watched.

I could keep talking but it would be pointless as the book is indescribable.

Anywhoo...

I haven't dove into Knife of Dreams it's been a while since a WOT book has come out and I worry about risking the inevitable confusion.

nemov you're a braver man than I.

I got two books for Christmas.

The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks

Team Of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This should be a non-controversial and non-partisan thread, but honestly, I can't sit back and let this kind of snide remark slide by.

Regarding The I Hate Republicans Reader: Why the GOP is Totally Wrong About Everything, let me explain this in plain and simple language: THAT IS JUST A TITLE FOR A BOOK! It is not either a policy statement or a personal belief!

Reading the Bible doesn't make someone a Christian anymore than reading "The Communist Manifesto" make someone a Communist. Following that same logic, just because I read a book called, "The I Hate Republicans Reader" doesn't mean I think hunting down and neutering Republicans is a good idea.

I'm surprised I have to point this out. While I don't hate Republicans, I am a bit annoyed at people who assume what you read determines who you are and how you think.

Don't judge a book by it's cover. OR it's title.

...Amen, Nighttimer. Anyone that makes wild assumptions about someone based off of book titles is obviously oblivious to who Nighttimer is.

I've just recently finished "Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led The Band of Brothers". I was hooked from the foreword, the book was that good.

The book details his young life as a young man from Pennsylvania, who intially did not want to join the army, but when given the choice of either being drafted or beating the government to the punch, he enlisted.

The book goes on to describe his paratrooper training in Georgia, the assualt on D-Day (which includes the attack on the artillery at Brecourt Manor which is tought at acadamies nationwide as a textbook method of attacking a position), Holland, Bastogne (one of the best chapters), and his return home. Later chapters detail his life after the army (which didn't stop with WWII, he was alomost sent to Korea) and his experiences with Stephen Ambrose and Tom Hanks.

This book is inspiring. That's the only way to describe the book and the man himself. It's a must read for any Band of Brothers fan or servicemember who wants to learn about leadership, especially in combat.

I just started reading The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Dubois.
(published in 1903)

Next on my list is Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr.
(published in 1963)

And I'll be reading a textbook entitled The African-American Odyssey
co-authored by Darlene Clark Hine, William C. Hine and Stanley
Harrold.

Also on my list of reading, African-American Biographies: Volumes One
and Two. by Pamela Smoot and Alan Ball. They will cover notable
figures ranging as far back as 750 BCE, with King Pianky of Kush - to 1957,
Spike Lee.

All of the above books are required reading for an African-American Studies
class that I am about to start. As a history major, I'm really looking forward
to this class.

Well, I don’t know about you, Amlord, but A Feast for Crows started off slower than A Storm of Swords for me. I had hoped Martin would continue giving the villains as good as the heroes got. He doesn’t pick up the pace until halfway through. I’m scratching my head as to why he delayed publication by going into great detail with Cercei and King’s Landing. Think he did it to publish two more books instead of one, ahem, a little more bling-bling?

We spent Christmas at my boyfriend’s father’s house. In his mini-library I picked up The Prince, Beyond Good and Evil, Second Treatise on Government, and Profiles in Courage.

The Ethiopian Holy Bible was also recommended to me. It doesn’t include (omit may be a better word) the political selection process that took place in the Biblical councils of Nicea, Liodicia, Carthage, Trullo, Florent etc. resulting in the King James version.

The Original Star Wars Trillogy, hard back. I got it for Christmas from my sweetie...

The good people at UPS should be sending me my copy of "The Heritage Foundation's Guide to the Constitution" in the next few days.

CP

Darn. It had been so long, I'd quit watching for the release. Gonna hafta go out and pick up the latest. Thanks Lesly.

Hey, I just finished reading A Feast for Crows, and I thought it was good; however frustrating. I would have much rather have had half the story with all the characters, as opposed to Martin's version of the 'whole story with half the characters.' At least Cersei got what she deserved (hope thats not a spoiler).

Additionally, Im almost finished reading Knife of Dreams and it's much better than I expected. I think it starts off slow, and it took me about a hundred pages to get into. Im glad Mat is one of the main story lines, because I think he'd been ignored in the last few books. Plus, he's my favorite.

Im also reading Collapse by Jared Diamond, but Ive gotten a little side tracked with the aforementioned books. Ive been reading too many things on politics, so it was a nice change. But I am big fan of J. Diamond, and the premise of the book sounds interesting: what makes societies collapse?

Belated thanks for recommending this. My minister and I are both in the midst of it. I asked him about this book and he bought it for both of us as an early Christmas gift.

My recent reads:

Vodka, by Boris Starling (he also wrote Messiah) - a pretty interesting bit of escapist fiction, taking place around the privatization of a distillery in post-cold war Moscow. Also a frightening read about the descent into alcoholism.

Blood Memory, by Greg Iles - I never read Stephen King or Dean Koontz and this is probably as close as I've gotten. Forensics, surpressed memories, serial killers, another character dealing with alcoholism... It was a compelling read, but a teeny bit uncomfortable. Hard to put down.

I'm also reading the Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam. I like Robert Spencer, but you do get at least some feeling that you could selectively slam any religion like this. He minimizes moderate Islam as "countries where people don't speak classical arabic," meaning they just don't understand the Koran yet. Which seems more than a little mean-spirited. I'm looking forward to the second part, which deals with the Crusades.

I just finished Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt. I found the book to be highly interesting in the way that it encourages you to think about things in a different way. I would have been more pleased with it had it spent a little time discussing the methodology to do this type of analysis instead of just presenting findings.

I'm currently reading The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century by Thomas L. Friedman. I'm about halfway through it at the moment but I'd highly recommend this book to anyone. This book is basically the bible on globalization helping you to understand where we are, how we got there and where we are going. It also poses some very interesting questions about how the new world order will sort itself out.

Thanks for the idea turnea. I'm extremely interested in this debaucle, and believe that we're both standing on the same side of this awful issue. It's hard to believe that this even happened, and sad that it took a movie (Hotel Rwanda) to bring it to the consciousness of the American public.

I'm gonna swing through Barnes and Noble on the way to the house to see if I can pick it up... it's listed on their website, so it will hopefully be on the shelves as well.

I would also give a hearty recommendation to Shake Hands with the Devil. Its an excellent resource, well-written and thoughtful. It did a lot to clarify why the genocide happened, and how it could have been easily prevented.

I also finished reading Justice on the Grass which is also another excellent book about Rwanda, this one focuses on the trials of those in the media, particularly the three that were involved with the radio and newspaper. Additionally, it goes into a bit of current Rwanda's problems dealing with the whole genocide, restorative justice and how the current administration (Rwanda's, not ours) aggravates the problem. If you're interested in seeing how Rwanda is still struggling, ten years later, I'd recommend this book as well.

Well.. that's just uncanny. I have been very much looking forward to reading both of those books for a long time, as is everyone else in the vicinity of Birmingham it seems because they've been checked out solid for months.

I'll likely get a hold put in as I'm done waiting my turn and I intend to spend exactly zero money on books until I start working again.

Like some others I've also been reading up on Islam, from the perspective of several Muslim authors I've gained some interesting perspective in letting them speak for themselves.

The book discussion group I belong to read Freidman's The World is Flat. Frankly, I found it a bit simple minded. He failed to really analyze the policy decisions that have led to the wholesale movement of American manufacturing and high tech jobs to third world countries nor to really come to terms with the long range consequences for those societies as well as our own. Perhaps, most importantly, he fails to address the effect that the eventual peaking of oil production will have on the expanded world trading system. (I doubt that we will continue to move the average food item 1500 miles before consuming it. He also fails to deal with the challenge that global warming presents to this unfolding system.

Our group just finished one group of books on the Middle East: Orientalism by Edward W. Said, What went Wrong and The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis, The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization by Richard Bulliet, and The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer. Orientalism is interesting but a heavy going literary analysis, Bernard Lewis is Bernard Lewis and his books make clear why the policy makers in this administration consult with him, Bulliet's book is good counter argument to Lewis and one the most interesting short books I've read. I was disappointed in Assassins' Gate. It is an easy read and tooks one through all the blunders of the war but is told from the perspective of several idealistic but naive individuals that the author interviews throughout the lead up to war and thereafter through 2004. Packer's treatment of the organized peace movement in opposition to the war is cursory, lacks any treatment of major figures, and is altogether insulting.

We are just beginning the 1136 page The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East by the reporter Robert Fisk. It is a history of about the last 100 years covering Western involvement in the region including the current Iraq War. It promises to be an interesting read.

I'm currently reading The Last Kaiser: The Life of Wilhelm II, by Giles MacDonogh. It's an interesting look at the decay of monarchial rule versus the rise of liberal democracy in Europe. It also gives a glimpse of Prussian Junker idealogy that was viewed as both an anathema and a strength in early 20th century German national culture.
It's not spellbinding, but it's a bit humorous reading about the near incestuousness, pomposity and political intrigue that was rampant in these dysfunctional dynasties.

I'm just getting into Barbara Ehrenreich's new book, "Bait and Switch." This is a similar work to her 2001 title, "Nickel and Dimed: on (Not) Getting By in America." In the new book, however, she focuses on white-collar workers who are unemployed and seeking work. I would be interested in discussing it with anyone who has read or is reading it. I'm only a few pages in, so can't give any impressions just yet.

A book that I failed to mention in my last post is one that I recently finished: Imperial Grunts by Robert Kaplan.
I highly recommend this book to anyone that follows the war on terror and the ever present threads on said war and the theories on American imperialism.
Kaplan travels to various US military outposts; a lone Army Attache in Mongolia, Marines in Djibouti, Special Forces in Iraq, Afghanistan the Philippine island of Basilan and a Civil Affairs Team in Kenya.
This book in many ways closes the gap in reporting by the MSM, and lets the average citizen discover the forgotten fronts in the war on terror, and it makes for a poretty good read.

I'm reading team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kerns Goodwin.

It's a great book, but a slow read. It's more than 700 pages.

The problem is that I get so relaxed when I read that I go to sleep and sometimes wake up a couple of hours later with the book and a cat in my lap.

I have recently been reading a couple of books that I highly recommend. The first is 'Night', by Elie Wiesel. It is in Oprah's book club, which should tip you off that this isn't lighthearted reading material, but it is a book that will make an impact on you. Mr Wiesel describes his experience living in a concentration camp at Auschwitz as a teenager. It is unbelievable, and makes Angela's Ashes look like a fairytale childhood experience. My signature, "if you think it can't be worse it's only because you lack sufficient imagination" is wrong in his case. It really, really, couldn't have been worse.

The other book, one-eighty out from that one, is 'Never Cry Wolf', by Farley Mowat. I love this author's writing style so much I have decided to read everything else he has ever written. It is really that good. He describes his experiences with skillful wit and colorful prose. This particular piece is about his time spent living as a naturalist in the frozen tundra and studying wolves during the 1940s. This read will satisfy everyone from the most adamant left leaning tree huggers to the strictest conservatives. I truly cannot imagine anyone not being touched by this book. It is especially an animal lover's delight.

I read Night in high school, Mrs. P. It's excellent. Short, easy to read, and horrifying. If you go through and see enough, you can become as numb as Elie.

I'm working on (for the second time) Desire of the Everlasting Hills. It's a really interesting historical perspective of the time around Jesus' life. It's by Thomas Cahill, who wrote How the Irish Saved Civilization. He's a breath of fresh air in terms of history. It's a handy reminder of how the Greek, Roman and Hebrew worlds were colliding during the time of Christ.

Trainspotting 10 thumbs up (all my own too). The Berkut (Awesome "fiction" about Hitler's dramatic escape from Berlin and trek to his hideout in the Harz mountains).

Normally books are recommended on this thread, but for those who think there are those among us who would welcome a theocracy, I would suggest picking up a copy of the February, 9 issue Rolling Stone.

Jeff Sharlet, who is on the religious studies faculty at New York University, has an article about Sam Brownback of Kansas entitled “God’s Senator.” According to Sharlet, “[Brownbeck] believes the both Bible and the Constitution promise, the state will simply wither away. In its place will be a country so suffused with God and the free market, that the ocial fabric of the last hundred years—schools, Social Security, welfare—will be privatized or simply done away with. There will be no abortions, sex will be confined to heterosexual marriage. Men will lead families, mothers will teach children, and big business and the church will take care of all.” Pages 50-51.

I find it a bit ironic that Rolling Stone would juxtapose an article on the religious right with Kayne West wearing a crown of thorns on the cover. Also in this issue is a tribute to 60s soul singer “Wicked” Wilson Pickett who died on January 19th.

After reading about Sam Brownback and his prayer “cell” mates and supporter--Tom Coburn, the physician turn U. S. Senator from Oklahoma, who wishes to impose the death penalty on doctors performing abortions, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, Beverly LeHaye, Rod Parsley, David Barton, Chuck Colson, Jack Abramoff, and high ranking officials of Koch Industries, it appears that it really wasn’t Wilson Pickett, who deserved the title wicked, but Brownback and his band of religious thugs.

This is must reading.

I only finished reading Nickel and Dimed a couple of months ago, but I thought it was excellent. I've not yet read Bait and Switch, but a colleague just finished it and said that, while the research was quite good, she didn't find Ehrenreich's personal experiences as convincing or compelling in this one. Her main cavil seemed to be that a woman of Ehrenreich's age seeking white collar employment would have a more authentic resume and its attendant connections in terms of networking and so on. She didn't feel that a potential employee springing full-grown from the void worked as well as the inexperienced woman seeking unskilled labor in Nickel and Dimed.

I'll be interested in hearing your take on it, Vibiana.


I'm currently in the midst of Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History by James Morone, which, so far, is brilliant. Morone reexamines US history from the Massachusettes Bay Colony through the Sixties in the context of its evolving moral consciousness. His well-researched and -written social history is an enlightening assesment of the tension between the elitist Puritan impulse and the egalitarianism of the Social Gospel in their struggle for the moral high ground. Each section explores one of the social conflicts that have shaped our collective history - from the Salem witch hunts and the Great Awakenings through abolition and prohibition to the New Deal and the civil rights movement.

Morrone has his own moral views and is unabashed about his personal bias, but he objectively examines how moral fervor has fed both sides of the political divide and the legacies with which we are left as the "righteousness" of one point of view after another triumphs and fades.

It is one of the most refreshing, stimulating, and insightful histories of the United States that I've ever come across and I'll no doubt post more when I've finished it. Meanwhile, Hellfire Nation is already on my must-read list.



By the way, Ted, that book discussion group sounds great. How is it organized?

Don't miss Uzodinma Iweala's Beast of No Nation. It follows a young boy who is recruited as a child soldier in Africa. It is very moving and even disturbing.

I'm currently reading Michael Crichton's Prey, which is pretty good. His Jurassic Park, The Lost World, The Andromeda Strain, and Timeline are also very good. These aren't just a typical thriller, the author provides a real educational background of the subject of which he is writing. Dan Brown, another good thriller author, does this as well. You come away not only entertained but having learned interesting knowledge about a subject.

My current favorite book is Stephen King's The Stand, the uncut version. It is quite long but well worth it. simply magnificent.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies- Alexander McCall Smith
Hogfather- Terry Pratchett
I have recently finished reading Pratchett's Going Postal, which is excellent, and Esperanza Rising, a wonderful YA novel. (unfortunately I dont remember the author's name)

I currently reading a book called "Sådan...Og hvad så" by the danish author and soldier Nicolai Moltke Leth

The book describes the the training to be a Navy Seal in Denmark and the training abroad. Quite interesting actually.

I've been reading "Goldwater" by Barry Goldwater and "Political Fictions" by Joan Didion.

I just finished reading a very interesting book called God's Debris by Scott Adams, the Dilbert cartoonist.

It isn't a humor book, it is philosophy and it contains some very interesting concepts. It is available for free download in PDF format from the site I linked. It is short and a quick read, but very thought provoking.

I recommend everyone check it out.

I read that a few years ago. I thought it odd he gave up soldiering after he'd finished his training. I've often wondered what happened to him.

I've just finished reading 'The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia' which is the only surviving eye witness account of the German/catholic crusade against the Baltic states of Livonia (which no longer exists) and Esthonia.

The account is extremely biased, being written by a Christian crusader priest, and a lot of the book reads like a warning of the religious mentality. There was nothing glorious about crusading. Both sides are brutal in their war fighting and the common practice is to massacre civilians for loot. Neither side has any redeeming features. The Christians eventually destroy the pagans because they have a constant flow of well armed crusader pilgrims brought from Germany and Scandinavia but thats not how Henry see's it of course. He ends the account with a 'glory be unto the Lord' sermon that would do Goebbels proud. Its a shame the pagans were not writers because we'll never know their side of the story.

Next up is. 'The Northern Crusades' by Erik Christiansen for a more contemporary and far less biased account.

The Whole Man by John Brunner (1964)

This novel tells the life story of a telepath, from birth to maturity. Gerald Howson is born a cripple, the illegitimate child of a terrorist and a woman who became pregnant only in a failed attempt to get the man to marry her. The setting, although not given explicitly, would seem to be London in the near future, when some sort of serious political crisis has caused the United Kingdom to be occupied by United Nations peacekeepers. Among the UN forces are the very rare telepaths, who are vital to keeping order.

Howson grows up with a stunted body, in poverty and without love. It is only after a risky attempt to make himself important by acting as an informer for a local crime boss than he realizes that he has developed powerful telepathy. On the run from the police, he finds a companion in the form of a girl born deaf and dumb, with whom he is able to communicate mentally.

Howson's powerful mental output is detected immediately by the UN, who enlist him in their telepath training program. He eventually becomes a healer of damaged minds. Despite this success, his life feels incomplete. he returns to London in an attempt to become a "whole man."

This is a fine novel, despite a few minor flaws. The story is episodic, probably because parts of it are based on stories published in the late 1950's. One major plot point is the fact that Howson's body cannot be healed surgically, because the part of his brain which controls his healing and body image has been damaged by the extensive growth of the part of his brain which makes him a telepath. Even accepting the premise of telepathy, I found this hard to believe. Overall, however, this is one of the best novels about ESP that I have ever read.

Members of may be interested in American Vertigo by the French philosopher/journalist Bernard-Henri Levy (translated by Charlotte Mandell.)

More information:

Amazon Link

Levy undertook to explore the United States in the way that Alexis de Tocqueville did in his famous classic Democracy in America. The result is a book that can be divided into three parts.

The introduction (entitled "En Route!") is dense, difficult to read, and probably requires far more knowledge of philosophy than I could ever dream of possessing. Don't let that put you off the book. In fact, feel free to skip this section.

The meat of the book (entitled "Le Voyage en Amerique") is made up of a series of short articles about a wide variety of people, places, and institutions that Levy encountered. He speaks to movie stars and authors; visits churches and brothels; and pays particular attention to prisons (as did de Tocqueville.) He praises the cities of Seattle, New Orleans, and Savannah. (Jaime and Mike please note!) No doubt you will disagree with some of his opinions about the things he sees, but his observations are always interesting and provocative.

The third section of the book ("Reflections") returns to a more difficult style, but should not be skipped. Here the author sums up his thoughts about the United States, from his perspective as a member of what he calls the "antitotalitarian left." He strongly rejects European anti-Americanism, and calls the USA "one of the few countries in the world where, despite everything, you can still breath freely today." Along with this praise, he also offers criticism when he feels it is due, particularly when he deals with American prisons, the state of the very poor in the USA, and the war in Iraq. (In no way can the author be thought of as "soft on terrorism," since he clearly labels "Islamic fascism" as the third wave of totalitarianism in modern history.)

In general, a thoughtful book.

The Ancient Child
by
N. Scott Momaday

Read this for a gig. Interesting take on Native American culture and spirituality. Momaday is a master at description. This one is about the Kiowa and Navajo.

Along these lines, Little Big Man by Thomas Berger is a thousand times better than the 1970 Dustin Hoffman movie. Your public library probably has it.

The Northern Crusades

By Eric Christiansen

This is a contemporary look at all the various crusades which were waged in the Baltic and northern European regions. It begins in the mid 1100's with the German and Danish crusades against the Celtic people of Northern Germany (called the Wends) and moves, chrobologically through the Baltic and Finnish crusades to finally end with the ongoing struggles of the German order of Teutonic knights against the Russians and Poles.

This book is said to be the best single source detailing the northern crusades and its a pretty decent read, if a little dry in places. Christiansen does a good job though and the whole sequence of campaigns falls neatly into place, along side the other great events of Crusadng history.

4/5

I've recently started perusing books about world war II, many of which have gone out of print, and would be difficult to find even at the library, but can be found for cheap over e bay (love the internet). I really, really wish I'd read these before some of the debates of Christmases past. The things I should've said....

I'll plug two of the old books here. Most definitely worth the read:

The Interrogator: The Story of Hanns Scharff, Luftwaffe's Master Interrogator by Raymond F. Toliver.

This is a book about a master German interrogation officer. He was so good that he was invited to the US to speak about his techniques after the war. The book is basically a diary full of rich personal anecdotes from Hanns Scharff, offering an amazing perspective one seldom gets, accompanied by the author's supplementation. He spent the remainder of his life living in the US, and became a mosaic artist. Some of his work can be found on the walls of Cinderella's castle in Disneyworld.

In the Spring the War Ended by Steven Linakis.

Although this is deemed to be a novel, the writer is a voice of experience, and offers a side of the war that is seldom seen. The criminal underground. He was first a very decorated soldier who went AWOL in Europe and became a black market war profiteer.

And a new one: Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson

This is a recent book about the often-overlooked but crucial portion of the war...the battles in North Africa. It is a Pulitzer prize winner, with good reason. Here is the Prologue.

Hey Mrs. P,

Just thought you'd like to know that Jack Crabb of the Little Big Man book refers to Mrs. Pendrake as Mrs. P.

Nice observation that many out-of-print books are available from online used book sites. Bustin' a button from pride, cuz this is exactly what the vision was in the 1980s, back when people wondered what the heck I did for a living. I'm no Vinton Cerf though, just one of the trench grunts. Still part of the vision thing.

Heh, so it's like feeling proud about winning WW II, even though just a soldier among many. Or maybe a factory worker is closer. Whatever, we got it.

I mostly only read Fiction and am a big fan of what they call...Cyber Punk.

I just finished Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
And even tho i found the ending a little rushed and abrupt, I loved it. Stephenson has a pretty amazing view of the future. And the whole tribal aspect he portrays in this versus statehood is brilliant.

I have finally gotten around to reading 'Shake Hands With the Devil' by General Romeo Dallaire. It's one of those that I've had on my bookshelf forever, but never picked it up until last week. It's a great read so far, but I'm only into the book as far as Dallaire finishing his technical mission to Rwanda.

I am currently reading F.A. Hayek's masterpiece The Road to Serfdom. I am enjoying it immensely and definately recommend it to every political minded person even though I suspect most of you have read it.

I’ve always liked Congressional Quarterly columnist Craig Crawford’s analysis on Hardball, Countdown and when I’m awake at such an ungodly hour, his work on Imus in the Morning. I usually agree with Crawford, but in those instances that I don’t, I find he’s done his homework and his words are powerful enough to warrant reconsidering one’s position.

Crawford has amazed me with his new book Attack the Messenger: How Politicians Turn You Against the Media, Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. In a brief 148 pages of text, plus some useful appendices on media watchdog and advocacy groups, Crawford has presented a mountain of information.

Crawford maintains that there has always been uneasiness between politicians and the media. Thomas Jefferson blamed the media, but, according to Crawford, had enough respect for freedom of the press to express it in personal correspondence.

Crawford traces the current state of affairs back to the 1988 presidential election. Dan Rather was supposed to interview candidate George H. W. Bush for CBS. The Bush team, knowing that Iran-Contra would come up set a trap. Roger Ailes, the big shot at Fox News, held up cue cards to prompt Bush's responses. Not only did Bush manage to turn public opinion against the messenger (Rather) but escaped scrutiny of his Iran-Contra role.

In the 2004 presidential election Bush Jr.’s team again made Rather the story. Although the documents Rather used were bogus, team Bush’s making the reporter the story may have prevented us from learning the truth about Bush’s military service or lack there of.

According to Crawford:



For those of you whose almost automated response is, “but Bill Clinton…” will be pleased to find that Crawford doesn’t allow Clinton to escape his microscope.

One of the most dead on lines in the book is:



Crawford concludes with these words:



Although this is a fairly long recommendation for this thread, I’ve just scratched the surface of Crawford’s wisdom.

The next time you hear some politician whining and trying to turn you against the press, reach for Crawford’s little pearl.

In short, this is a small book with loads of octane. I highly recommend it.

Some people may remember a book that made it big on Earth Day in 1989 called 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. It quickly became one of the best selling environmental books of all time and it spawned all kinds of books on the subject.

The newest by the same authors is called 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Fight the Right. It comes out in a few weeks but you can pre-order from Powell's Books or Barnes & Noble.

I've got an advanced copy of it and if you are tired of the right and want to do something about it then this book is for you. The great thing about it is you don't have to be an activist to enjoy it and employ the strategies it suggests. It covers everything from the importance of bumper stickers to being a media watchdog, to taking back the bible to becoming a precinct captain in your town.

Put in a pre-order or look for it in a few weeks and browse before you buy - I'd highly recommend it.