Rate the latest book you've read.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Just finished One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich by Alexandr Solzhenitsyn. It's much better the second time around.. The guys life sucked living in a Soviet gulag, but he makes the best of things and learns to appreciate the tiniest of decency in people and his day..
Just started In The First Circle by the same author..

[PickelledEggs]

Does anyone know of an audiobook version of this? http://www.amazon.com/Godless-Evangelical-Preacher-Americas-Atheists/dp/1569756775

My friend gave it to me for my birthday and I want to read it, but I usually have an easier time listening to audiobooks while I draw, rather than put aside time to sit read.

[trdsf]

On a Douglas Hofstadter jag now.  Working on Metamagical Themas, a collection of his columns for Scientific American in the early 1980s.  And I think I need to replace my copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach because I sure can't find my last copy (my second copy, I've read and re-read the everloving hell out of that book)

[Shiranu]

Reading Dostoyevski's "The Idiot". It is really good so far, 70 pages in. The socio-political climate of Russia at the turn of the century, told through the eyes of a Jesus-like (morality wise) simpleton.

[Mr.Obvious]

Not a real review, but i just want to mention one of my favorite authors just died.
If you havent read terry pratchett yet, i fullheartedly suggest you do. The man was sublime. I'm going through his discworld saga and have yet to find a dissapointing read. And 'small gods' Will always be one of my favorite books of all time.

You've shown us that The reaper is an okay Guy, but i am still sad he game for you so soon.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

Today I both started and finished Jeremy Robinsons' Project Nemesis (A Kaiju Thriller). Not because it's a short book, but because I found it that engrossing. The last time I instantly fell in love with a kaiju like this was when I watched Godzilla vs Gigan at the age of 3. Equal parts horror and thriller, the story centers around the eponymous Nemesis, a kaiju who personifies revenge, who rampages her way through Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, killing and/or consuming every human being unfortunate enough to be in her way.

The human characters have about as much character development as you'd expect from a standard movie of the same genre, and wouldn't be out of place in a SyFy original movie. Quite a bit of the book is written from the perspective of Jon Hudson, a DHS agent heading up Fusion Center - Paranormal, a branch the rest of the DHS considers a joke at best, and a downright disgrace at worst. Hudson's perspective is written from the 1st person, even though the rest of the book is entirely in 3rd person; an odd choice, but it works. The characters are interesting enough to carry the story, but if you're expecting them to uncover the meaning of life, you're reading the wrong book.

The real star of the show is Nemesis herself. A decent chunk of the book is actually written from Nemesis' perspective, another odd choice that Robinson nevertheless executes quite well. For a giant monster, Nemesis is a surprisingly nuanced character, and arguably has the most development by far as the story progresses. The most interesting aspect of Nemesis is that she has a young girl's soul attached to her mind, the reasons for which I won't spoil. Suffice it to say, it leads to a fascinating conflict of interests: Nemesis feeds on humans, and doesn't particularly care if they're still alive when they go down her gullet, but at the same time she is disgusted at what she does. She fulfills a function of seeking vengeance against injustice, but has no problem destroying human society along the way; after all, a society that produces the degenerates she hunts can surely be no better.

If nothing else, I can promise you one thing about Project Nemesis: You will be entertained.

[Shiranu]

Bet you haven't seen this thread in awhile (since March 18th)... took me a little while to find it.

Currently reading Achebe's "Things fall Apart", one of the best pieces of literature to come out of modern Africa.



To quote the wikipedias, "Things Fall Apart, a novel set in Pre-colonial Nigeria in the 1890s highlights the fight between colonialism and traditional societies. ". It is written in a very understandable format, not overly complex or wordy just for the sake of it, and incorporates alot of Igbo (Nigerian tribe) folk lore into it to help tell the story.

It also doesn't shy away from pointing out some of the darker sides of Igbo society, nor does it preach that they are either good or bad... simple that they are there. This isn't a book that is just, "Europe sucks, white people suck, how dare they destroy our culture!" but rather a book that simply wants the reader to acknowledge that there was culture there before the white man arrived and that is was irreversibly changed.

I am only a quarter through it, have yet to get to the colonization, but it is great and Achebe is brilliant, even if I disagree with him on some things (the whole reason I bought this book was after reading his criticism of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" [another absolutely brilliant book], as much as I disagreed with him to extents I still deeply respected his opinion and his views on Africa).

I your interested in seeing the world from a "primitive" culture, or don't know much about African culture that existed pre-colonization, it's a good read.

[jonb]

Read that then you must read this-



Download pdf avalable
http://www.ouleft.org/wp-content/uploads/CLR_James_The_Black_Jacobins.pdf

The Black Jacobins
by  C. L. R. James published 1938

C L R James was a truly great man activist scholar and author and not a bad cricketer.

[Shiranu]

Read that then you must read this-



Download pdf avalable
http://www.ouleft.org/wp-content/uploads/CLR_James_The_Black_Jacobins.pdf

The Black Jacobins
by  C. L. R. James published 1938

C L R James was a truly great man activist scholar and author and not a bad cricketer.

from the brief bit of wiki I read about it, it definitely sounds really good and is going right up to next book on my list. I love Caribbean history, partly since I have family from St. Thomas and Puerto Rico and french history as well... and of course the whole dynamic of "Liberty and equality for all... so long as you look like me, talk like me, dress like me!".

[jonb]

Right I can't remember on how much CLR mentions him much in the book (its a long time since I read it) but if you are interested in the Caribbean then I have to point to this man who is an absolutely astounding figure.

John Perkins

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Perkins_(Royal_Navy_officer)

[Baruch]

This is the most admirable character of that period IMHO ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/books/review/the-black-count-by-tom-reiss.html?_r=0

One's library of history and biography is so narrow, if it is limited to White folk.  Though my special area of fascination is E Asian culture/history.

[trdsf]

Having a lovely saunter through Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot.

[Mike Cl]

Mundane stuff for me.  Just finished The Martian.  I really thought I get bored in the middle of it.  But not so.  The guy is a good writer.  It was a fast read for me, and a good read.  Anybody into Sci Fi would like it.  Did not see the movie and I don't see how they could have made a good one out of it--too much in the guy's head dialogue to show his feelings on film.  Could be wrong, I guess.

[Mr.Obvious]

I just finished "The hound of Baskervilles", the Sherlock Holmes story.
I have the Sherlock Holmes omnibus and hope to read all of the stories in due time. The hound is only the third! I'm at page 305 of 1408 of the complete works... Long ways ahead I guess.
I'll be reading some different books in between. That's no blemish on the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Reading them you understand why the books are so iconic and popular. But any one fiction for an elongated time tends to bore me.
Anyways,  The Hound of Baskervilles I've heard is one of the best stories. I liked it. But I'll admit I liked A study in scarlet and the sign of the four even better. Perhaps it was the 'dawww'-ish romance in the sign of the four or how Watson and Holmes grow on eachother in a study in scarlet, combined by the frequently used expression of 'ejaculate' which is absolutely hilarious... I don't know.
It was a great read and I'm glad I got through it. The mystery and suspense is good in this one. And the absence of Holmes throughout most of if does work wonders in this.

[Shiranu]

Reading Ana Karenina and Dostoevsky's "Letters from Underground" atm. Hoping I can keep the two separate in my head.