What are we reading?

Started by Martok, March 05, 2012, 01:13:59 PM

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spelk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Hell_Let_Loose

I'm ploughing through this tome at the moment, and it's an enjoyable top down, bottom up look at WW2, in chronological order. I find it's quite entertaining to frame what went on, and when, then pour anecdotal/human interest evidence from the troops and civvies on the ground.

Staggerwing

Quote from: spelk on February 26, 2013, 05:27:15 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Hell_Let_Loose

I'm ploughing through this tome at the moment, and it's an enjoyable top down, bottom up look at WW2, in chronological order. I find it's quite entertaining to frame what went on, and when, then pour anecdotal/human interest evidence from the troops and civvies on the ground.

Yeah, it's quite an eye opener to see a WW2 grand timeline after absorbing everything in small, dense, chunks. To think that Germany was already balls-deep into Russia for almost half a year and had already fought the First Battle of Karkov before any Japanese shallow-running torp had splashed into Pearl Harbor and that the Second Battle of Karkov took place a month before the Wavetop Death Ride of Torpedo Eight opened the skies over the Japanese Fleet can be quite the 'Wow... ' moment.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Arctic Blast

Finished Day by Day Armageddon : Shattered Hourglass. It was worth reading, even though the last few chapters could charitably be described as a hurried mess. Good grief.

Shelldrake

Quote from: Arctic Blast on February 28, 2013, 01:17:21 AM
Finished Day by Day Armageddon : Shattered Hourglass. It was worth reading, even though the last few chapters could charitably be described as a hurried mess. Good grief.

Next book on my to-read list.
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

Arctic Blast

Quote from: Shelldrake on February 28, 2013, 08:02:28 AM
Quote from: Arctic Blast on February 28, 2013, 01:17:21 AM
Finished Day by Day Armageddon : Shattered Hourglass. It was worth reading, even though the last few chapters could charitably be described as a hurried mess. Good grief.

Next book on my to-read list.

Curious to hear what you think of it. I liked it well enough, even with a major change to the way it's told, but...yeah. The ending's a bit weird.

Keunert

The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood
David Simon, Ed Burns

Damn is this intense and depressing. it's basically the ying to the yang of  Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.
Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.
Oscar Wilde

Special K has too much class.
Windigo

Silent Disapproval Robot

A few days ago, I bought a sci-fi book that was Amazon's daily deal.  I don't usually read much sci-fi but the premise sounded interesting and for $1.95 it wasn't really much of a risk.  Anyway, the book is called Alarm of War and it's a very enjoyable read.  It's basically a book about naval combat and tactics, but in space.  It's regularly only $3.89 so if you're into books about admirals being sneaky and giant space ships shooting other giant space ships until they go boom, check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00908EOBE/ref=oh_d__o00_details_o00__i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Hiimori

Started reading Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth", just because I wanted to know what the fuss is all about. This book is one of the most popular books of all time in Germany and the UK, so I was curious.

So far (page 70), the story is interesting and even somewhat intriguing, but I didn't join the mass hysteria yet.
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Staggerwing

Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on March 11, 2013, 06:18:47 PM
A few days ago, I bought a sci-fi book that was Amazon's daily deal.  I don't usually read much sci-fi but the premise sounded interesting and for $1.95 it wasn't really much of a risk.  Anyway, the book is called Alarm of War and it's a very enjoyable read.  It's basically a book about naval combat and tactics, but in space.  It's regularly only $3.89 so if you're into books about admirals being sneaky and giant space ships shooting other giant space ships until they go boom, check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00908EOBE/ref=oh_d__o00_details_o00__i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just read the blurb for the book. Are the various political entities supposed to be analogs to 19th or 20th century historical ones? The 'Victorian Empire' sounds suspiciously like the British Empire.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Martok

Betwixt reading the various short stories of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I've also begun Elantris, Brandon Sanderson's first well-known novel.  An intriguing start so far. 




Quote from: Hiimori on March 12, 2013, 03:00:39 AM
Started reading Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth", just because I wanted to know what the fuss is all about. This book is one of the most popular books of all time in Germany and the UK, so I was curious.

So far (page 70), the story is interesting and even somewhat intriguing, but I didn't join the mass hysteria yet.
My reaction while reading it was pretty much the same.  I enjoyed the book well enough, but didn't understand why it was considered such a phenomenon. 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

Silent Disapproval Robot

Quote from: Staggerwing on March 12, 2013, 05:35:00 AM
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on March 11, 2013, 06:18:47 PM
A few days ago, I bought a sci-fi book that was Amazon's daily deal.  I don't usually read much sci-fi but the premise sounded interesting and for $1.95 it wasn't really much of a risk.  Anyway, the book is called Alarm of War and it's a very enjoyable read.  It's basically a book about naval combat and tactics, but in space.  It's regularly only $3.89 so if you're into books about admirals being sneaky and giant space ships shooting other giant space ships until they go boom, check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00908EOBE/ref=oh_d__o00_details_o00__i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just read the blurb for the book. Are the various political entities supposed to be analogs to 19th or 20th century historical ones? The 'Victorian Empire' sounds suspiciously like the British Empire.

They don't really spend a lot of time going into the background of the various factions.  The Victorians took their name from the colony's founder.  The system he discovered had seven natural wormholes close by, making it an invaluable trading hub.  He named it Victoria Station after a train station in London because of all the transport connections.  It got shortened to Victoria. 

The colony members all do share very English sounding family names though and they did become a monarchy. 

Other factions are the Dominion of Unified Citizenry.  They were the centre of trade until the discovery of Victoria Station.  They're pissed at the loss of trade and loss of several of their colonies who realigned themselves with Victoria.  They don't have much back story or analogue.

The Tilleke Empire are caste based and all have Muslim sounding family names.  Theyre xenophobic, tyrannical, and the real baddies of the book.

Other minor powers are also present.  Cape Breton used to be the major trade centre with its one wormhole until Victoria was discovered.  They're a free port aligned with the DUC.

The Arcadians control access to mining colonies where most fuel comes from so everyone wants them.

The Light is a religious group who are isolationist but do a lot of spying on everyone else.  They all seem to have Chinese names.

Refuge is the only colony that explicitly mentions its origins.  Their colonists came from Israel and Morocco.  The two groups were forced to join together to survive their initial colonization attempt.


Windigo

Quote from: Hiimori on March 12, 2013, 03:00:39 AM
Started reading Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth", just because I wanted to know what the fuss is all about. This book is one of the most popular books of all time in Germany and the UK, so I was curious.

So far (page 70), the story is interesting and even somewhat intriguing, but I didn't join the mass hysteria yet.

its the characters that get you hooked
My doctor wrote me a prescription for daily sex.

My wife insists that it says dyslexia but what does she know.

undercovergeek


Gusington

Just finished "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy" and its one of the best books I have read in years.

If you are interested in Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese or Pacific history, you will enjoy this book.

Although its academic, its accessible and Paine's writing reminded me of Paul Kennedy's. Kennedy's Rise and Fall of the Great Powers is one of my favorite books of all time.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Martok

^  Cool.  Adding it to The List... 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces