View Full Version : What are you reading
royalfan5
3/4/2007, 07:11 PM
I've been working on Progress, Poverty and Exclusion:An Economic History of Latin America in the 20th Century right now, and next I am going to read The Worst Hard Time:The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. I have some more interesting books coming in the mail right now, such as Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order.
Frozen Sooner
3/4/2007, 07:20 PM
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.
It makes me giggle how he tried to make the technology all one-step-aheady and it's all rather dated now. Great read though, especially if you're into math.
Big Red Ron
3/4/2007, 07:22 PM
Bad Boy - Lee Atwater's Biography.
The godfather of spin!
TUSooner
3/4/2007, 07:23 PM
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas. All these years and I had never read it. Good stuff!
Other than that, I've been on a Len Deighton spy novel kick. I've read the last 6 books of the 3 Bernard Samson trilogies - Spy Hook, Spy Line, Spy Sinker, and Faith, Hope, and Charity. Not all are great, but none are bad. Also read Winter, about a Berlin family 1900-1945; it's sort of a "prequel" to the 3 trilogies. Waiting on deck: the first trilogy, Berlin Game, Mexico Set, London Match.
If you ever get a chance to read his Mamista - I suggest you don't bother.
TopDawg
3/4/2007, 07:24 PM
I recently finished A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren.
Now I'm working on one of this other books, A Generous Orthodoxy and I mix in some light reading from The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs and The World of Karl Pilkington by Ricky Gervais.
After I finish a Generous Orthodoxy, I'm moving on to God's Politics, Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It by Jim Wallis.
Is this a question... or a statement?
I love this book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Things_They_Carried). Reading it for the second time.
he Things They Carried is a collection of related vignettes by Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War...
In the short story, "Good Form," the narrator makes a distinction between "story truth" and "happening truth." O'Brien feels that the idea of creating a story that is technically false yet truthfully portrays war, as opposed to just stating the facts and creating no emotion in the reader, is the correct way to clear his conscience and tell the story of thousands of soldiers who were forever silenced by society. Critics often cite this distinction when commenting on O'Brien's artistic aims in The Things They Carried and, in general, all of his fiction about Vietnam, claiming that O'Brien feels that the realities of the Vietnam War are best explored in fictional form rather than the presentation of precise facts. O'Brien's fluid and elliptical negotiation of truth in this context finds echoes in works labelled as 'non-fiction novels.'
soonerboomer93
3/4/2007, 07:55 PM
Just Americans it's about the segregated Japanese-American military units during WWII. It also talks about the relocation of Japanese Americans. It's pretty rough on FDR.
crawfish
3/4/2007, 07:58 PM
"Pretties", by Scott Westerfield. On Mike Rich's suggestion. Highly recommended trilogy (Uglies, Pretties, Specials).
Also, "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth". An excellent study in exegesis/hermenuitics.
Frozen Sooner
3/4/2007, 08:07 PM
Is this a question... or a statement?
I love this book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Things_They_Carried). Reading it for the second time.
That's a great frickin' book, Melo. Nice pickup.
JohnnyMack
3/4/2007, 08:08 PM
Red Gold by Alan Furst. Historical fiction about the French Resistance in WWII.
OKC-SLC
3/4/2007, 08:21 PM
The wife's a fan of The Things They Carried; I had heard so much good about it that I was a bit disappointed when I read it. Maybe I need to give it another go round.
Currently reading Taking Heat by Ari Fleisher. I just read The Cell by S. King just to take it off the list. Next up is When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan by P. Noonan.
Frozen Sooner
3/4/2007, 08:21 PM
You know, I thought Cell was King's strongest effort in years.
That's a great frickin' book, Melo. Nice pickup.
Yea, its not bad. I first read it for my AP English class, where we only had to read certain parts of it.
Frozen Sooner
3/4/2007, 08:33 PM
If you like O'Brien, try Kozol. You may not agree with his politics, but his writing can really wrench your guts around.
OKC-SLC
3/4/2007, 08:37 PM
You know, I thought Cell was King's strongest effort in years.
This is true. My only complaint of it was that once you saw what was going on, it became more predictable than I expect of King. But it was the first time in a few years that I couldn't put one of his down for the first 2/3.
Panzer - Philip Warner
About German armored units in WWII.
Frozen Sooner
3/4/2007, 08:46 PM
This is true. My only complaint of it was that once you saw what was going on, it became more predictable than I expect of King. But it was the first time in a few years that I couldn't put one of his down for the first 2/3.
Yep. However, it was the first time in a decade (at least) that I was reading a Stephen King book and didn't think "Man, his editor must be terrified of him or something."
MamaMia
3/4/2007, 08:47 PM
The 'What are you reading thread' on the soonerfans.coms South Oval. :P
TopDawg
3/4/2007, 09:10 PM
If you like O'Brien, try Kozol. You may not agree with his politics, but his writing can really wrench your guts around.
We had to read Savage Inequalities in my freshman comp class. I think he was speaking on campus just a few weeks ago. I was bummed I couldn't make it.
Frozen Sooner
3/4/2007, 09:13 PM
Yeah, I missed him at UAA a few months ago. I was pretty irritated about that.
Viking Kitten
3/4/2007, 09:23 PM
"Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider" by Peter Gay, about the cultural influences that led to the emergence of the modern art, literature, cinema and music scene in Germany after WWI.
JohnnyMack
3/4/2007, 09:25 PM
Pansy - SicEm
About his sexual conquests.
sounds......incredibly boring.
1stTimeCaller
3/4/2007, 09:29 PM
I just finished 'Oil and Honor: The Pennzoil - Texaco War'.
Awesome book about Pennzoil having an oral agreement to buy Getty Oil and then Texaco coming in and buying Getty from under them and the ensuing legal battles. This case is where Joe Jamail made his billions. T. Boone Pickens makes an appearance as do Willie Nelson and Daryl Royal.
The Complete Book Of Discipleship by Hull
Good To Great by Collins
Reformation In Foreign Missions by Finley
It Came From Within by Stanley
Give Me A Break by Stossel
Living Together by VanGoethem is next on my list
IronSooner
3/4/2007, 10:54 PM
Just finished Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. Pretty good stuff, though I'll have to read it over once or twice to feel like I got everything out of it I could. Reminds me of my philosophy class in college...having to slow down and articulate things to really get it all.
After all that I'm taking it easy with Amazonia by James Rollins. Then probably Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Jimminy Crimson
3/5/2007, 03:58 AM
Grand Avenues: The Story of the French Visionary Who Designed Washington, D.C.
About Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who under the watch of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, etc put together the worlds greatest capitol city. Great insight as to how things are layed out and why. If you like history and politics/government, I'd highly recommend it.
SoonerTerry
3/5/2007, 06:45 AM
one fish two fish..
red fish blue fish
whatsername
3/5/2007, 07:02 AM
You know, I thought Cell was King's strongest effort in years.
I liked it pretty well. It seemed like it had been so long since we had something new from King, it was nice to dive in to a good 'ol spooky book again.
Right now I'm reading A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J Gaines. So far so good, just started it.
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