What Are You Reading Now? - My Quarterly Thread

7/07/11 | MplsSteve

[MplsSteve]

Hi everyone! I hope your 4th of July was a good one.

it's time again for my quarterly "What Are You Reading Now?" thread. As you know, I consider Freepers to be among the most well-read of those of us on the Internet and I like to see what other Freepers are reading these days.

It can be anything - a classic novel, a trashy pulp romance, a technical journal, etc. Please do not deile this thread by posting "I'm reading this thread". it became very unfunny a long time ago.

I'll start. I'm just finishing "Chancellorsville 1863: The Souls of the Brave" by Ernest Furgurson. It's OK. Nothing to rave about though.

Well, what are you reading now? Let's hear about it!

[Betis70]

I read “Gates of Fire” when it first came out, loved it. Also read “Tides of War” about Alcibiades and Athens. Pressfield is a great historical fiction author.

Currently reading “The Joiner and the Cabinet Maker”, a mid-1800s book on basic projects for a Joiner, likely a term most people aren’t familiar with. Joiners made basic furniture and interior trim in houses (crown moldings, window sashes, chair rails, that sort of thing).

Also reading a book on indoor rowing.

Not exactly political reading material, more like preparedness material. Getting in shape, learning some useful skills, that sort of thing.

[Stonewall Jackson]

I'm reading The Raiders of 1862 by James Brewer (Lt. Col. US Army Retired), who was one of my college professors back in the late 1990's when this book was being published.

The book provides detailed (but not to the point of being dry) information about the deep cavalry raids conducted by Confederate Brigadier Generals Frank Armstrong, Nathan Forrest, and John Morgan in the fall and winter of 1862-63. These raids are considered some of the finest employments of Confederate cavalry in the Western Theater.

Civil War Books and Authors lists this in their top five favorite cavalry books.

When I'm finished, I think I'll try some Sci-Fi; either In Fury Born by David Weber or Freehold by Michael Williamson.

[submarinerswife]

next tuesday (on it’s release date) i’ll be starting dance with dragons - the latest in martin’s a song of fire and ice.

I'm on book 2 - Clash of Kings. (listening to the audio book)

How many books are there and am I ever gonna find out WHO John the Bastard's Mother is?(please don't spoil it for me;) I do have a theory, though.

[submarinerswife]

Recommend Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchette. It is VERY funny, excellent narration and cleaver story. Check it out on Audible.com. You can listen to an excerpt.

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B0036KV7Y4&qid=1310098494&sr=1-1

Here is a description:

The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.

[spyone]

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, on audiobook. Starting to love this format for my ipod and my car.

Oil 101 by Morgan Downey. Fantastic reference book on the energy industry. Science, economics, everything. Fantastic.

[ChocChipCookie]

Currently reading Bonhoeffer. Finished Unbroken a couple of weeks ago. It had a tremendous impact on me — can’t recommend it highly enough.

Reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan to my kids.

Lined up on my Kindle: War by Sebastian Junger, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, and a few more I probably won’t get to anytime soon.

[spyone]

Charles, I have leap frogged you on the O’Bryan series since we last spoke. That is because I am doing the audiobook versions now. Unfortunately, we are getting near the end my friend. What a shame. What great literature!

[The Shrew]

If you have a ping list for this thread please add me.

I received a Nook-Color for Father's Day and I've read more than I've been able to in a while since I can now read in bed again.

I've just finished:

Unbroken - Laura Hillibrand
With the Old Breed on Peleliu and Okinawa- Eugene Sledge
Helmet for my Pillow - Robert Leckie

All amazing stuff which hurt and depressed me. Sledge's book is almost haunting. My time in the Marine Corps was such a cakewalk compared to what those guys went through. I would love to read Freeper reviews of all of these books.

Regards,

TS

[BIGLOOK]

Thanks, I’ll look into it.

[goodnesswins]

Thanks for doing THIS....I’ve bookmarked it, and already added more books to my increasing long reading list!

[drew]

“Sharpe’s Company” by Bernard Cornwell. I heard Hugh Hewitt and David Mamet mention Cornwell as one of their favorite authors on Hugh’s show, so I thought I’d give him a whirl. Good stuff, so far, a Historical novel set during the War of 1812. I recently finished “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, and I highly recommend it.

[drew]

I recently started reading Cornwell (”Sharpe’s Company”). I’ll have to check that one out too.

[Kevmo]

I’m reading up on Low Energy Nuclear Reactions.

Tunneling Beneath the 4He Fragmentation Energy
J. Condensed Matter Nucl. Sci. 4 (2011) pages 241–255 ^ | February 2011 | K P Sinha
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2743039/posts#comment
Posted on Friday, July 01, 2011 10:45:05 PM by Kevmo

Peer reviewed journal article updating K P Sinha’s theory that explains LENR.

http://www.iscmns.org/CMNS/JCMNS-Vol4.pdf

Interactions of charged particles on surfaces
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2743353/posts
Saturday, July 02, 2011 10:27:03 PM · by Kevmo · 6 replies
LENR-CANR.org ^ | 7 December 2009 | Nabil M. Lawandya

A model for enhanced fusion reaction in a solid matrix of metal deuterides
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2732072/posts
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 10:14:09 PM · by Kevmo · 35 replies
International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science. 2008 ^ | July 2008 | K P Sinha

[Shadowstrike]

Demonic How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America by Ann Coulter.

The Original Argumwnt by Glenn Beck

The Miracle of Freedom 7 Tipping Points that SAVED the World by Chris and Ted Stewart

AND...

Beastly by Alex Flinn, just so I know what in the world my God Daughter is talking about :/

[Shadowstrike]

Demonic How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America by Ann Coulter.

The Original Argument by Glenn Beck

The Miracle of Freedom 7 Tipping Points that SAVED the World by Chris and Ted Stewart

AND...

Beastly by Alex Flinn, just so I know what in the world my God Daughter is talking about :/

[Atlantan]

“My Reading Life” by Pat Conroy.

For Pat Conroy fans or anyone who loves books.

[SkiKnee]

Just finished Jeff Shaara’s “The Final Storm”, the Marine Corps fight in the Pacific and the end of WWII.

Moving on to Ben Shapiro’s “Primetime Propaganda”, about the liberal control of television content.

[The Raven]

What Would They Say?: The Founding Fathers on the Current Issues, Glen Gorton
I'm on page one

Night of the Grizzlies, Jack Olsen
I was scaring myself before a vacation at Glacier Park this summer.

Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State ,William Voegeli
Interesting - the Dems have no checks on their spending and no one cares

The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806, Meriwether Lewis , William Clark
--For fun

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers, Brion McClanahan
Don't like it so far

Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto, Dick Armey, Matt Kibbe
I can't get enough of Dick Armey and his clear communications

Also a couple of Cusslers and a Clancy

[ml/nj]

“The deliberate Dumbing Down Of America” by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt.

Wow! Pretty pricey if you want a real copy of the book.

I was interested in this title because it reminded me of John Taylor Gatto's Underground History of American Education which is also a hefty 8.5 x 11 tome, and also available on line for free. (But a book is so much better!)

ML/NJ

[DManA]

Interesting that no one is reading Kissinger’s new book about China. On my want list but too cheep to pay full price for a new hardback.