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What book(s) are you reading now?

Rakhel

Rakhel

Well-Known Member
I found a wonderfully old book...well my husband found it, was intrigued my the title and asked if I wanted him to download it for reading. Of course based on the title, I just could not say no.

How to cook husbands

By Elizabeth Strong Worthington
 
MissAlice

MissAlice

Well-Known Member
I am now reading an old book, might not be worth it but I've always been a history junkie especially when it pertains to Europe in the making.

It's called The Pelican History of Medieval Europe by Maurice Keen.
 
Kathryn

Kathryn

It was on fire when I laid down on it.
MissAlice said:
I am now reading an old book, might not be worth it but I've always been a history junkie especially when it pertains to Europe in the making.

It's called The Pelican History of Medieval Europe by Maurice Keen.
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I love medieval European history so I am going to check this one out! Have you read "Year of Wonders" by the way?
 
MissAlice

MissAlice

Well-Known Member
Kathryn said:
I love medieval European history so I am going to check this one out! Have you read "Year of Wonders" by the way?
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Great book! I'm also a medieval fanatic. :D

I don't think I've read Year of Wonders. Any good?

Right now I'm reading Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander. So far so good.
 
lunamoth

lunamoth

Will to love
I finished The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris. I found it a bit underwhelming. It seems like his main thesis is that there is an objective standard for moral choices and that science can be used to find out what that objective standard is. It kind of struck me as sexed up utilitarianism.

Having said that, I think that science does play a role in helping us to make moral choices. The more we can learn about the downstream outcome of our choices, the better we should be able to make good choices.

Harris' standard of 'improving well-being for all sentient creatures' seems like a common sense good goal and I'm not sure I could formulate a single basis for ethics that is any better. However, as in his book End of Faith, his thinking leads too easily to an attitude of using people as means, and the ends justifying the means. The whole goal of objectification of morality seems to be flawed because of this tendency.
 
The Sum of Awe

The Sum of Awe

Brought to you by the moment that spacetime began.
Staff member
Premium Member
I just got done reading The Messenger, and that was because I read The Giver (one of my favorite books) a while ago and decided I might like this one. Next I am reading Gathering Blue.

Lois Lowry is a good author, you should check her out.
 
rockstarwife628

rockstarwife628

Member
I just finished a history of Christianity, and I'm starting Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media, though it seems (by judging the cover and the page or two I've read) to be written from a Christian bias, and I'm going to probably need to read it with a grain of salt. But I don't limit my reading to people who think just like me, so even if I disagree with him, I'll try to see my way through. Who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised, but I'm not really expecting it.

I don't only read on Christianity - it's just easier to find books on it than almost anything else, living in a small Christian town in the Bible Belt.... ;)
 
Darkness

Darkness

Psychoanalyst/Marxist
The Age of Diminished Expectations by Paul Krugman. It is his first book written for the general audience. Since I read a lot about economics, much of it academic, sometimes he dumbs concepts down too much and sometimes I am yelling at him for not mentioning an obvious point. For instance, he merely didn't mention that one of the biggest dangerous from inflation is that it erodes the real value of the monetary base (e.g. the interest you receive on interest in your savings account does not usually keep pace with the rate of inflation). Other than those issues it is an intelligent read. Oh, and he is less left-wing in his earlier writings, which is bad for me, but good for more moderate or right-wing readers.

I am also reading Michel Foucault's The History of Sexuality part i.. It is basically a rebuttal against the Repression Theory of Analytical Marxist, which states that the onset of Victorian morals led to a repression and censorship of sexuality. Foucault argued that dialogue on sex actually expanded through areas such as psychiatry and medicine. An example he gives is that once upon a time homosexuality was just seen as a crime or abnormal action. With the onset of psychiatry, homosexuality became seen as a imbued part of our very nature, and hence the dialogue on sex expanded. People were now looking for signs if someone was a homosexual, and actively fighting against being a homosexual. Parents would now worry about their sons playing with dolls. Not so sure I agree with Foucault's argument, but it is interesting. I am torn between the two. Yet, Foucault did **** me off when said it as petty to arrest a farm worker for paying for sex with young girls. If I lived back then, I probably would have shot him.
 
Mr Spinkles

Mr Spinkles

Mr
lunamoth said:
I finished The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris. I found it a bit underwhelming. It seems like his main thesis is that there is an objective standard for moral choices and that science can be used to find out what that objective standard is. It kind of struck me as sexed up utilitarianism.

Having said that, I think that science does play a role in helping us to make moral choices. The more we can learn about the downstream outcome of our choices, the better we should be able to make good choices.

Harris' standard of 'improving well-being for all sentient creatures' seems like a common sense good goal and I'm not sure I could formulate a single basis for ethics that is any better. However, as in his book End of Faith, his thinking leads too easily to an attitude of using people as means, and the ends justifying the means. The whole goal of objectification of morality seems to be flawed because of this tendency.
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Yes I also found it a bit "underwhelming" ... I think part of it was the impression that he wrote a doctoral thesis, and decided to spin off part of it as a book.

Jaiket said:
I'm almost finished the first one. Pretty decent.
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"Pretty decent" was also how I felt about Asimov's book Foundation.

I read Ender's Game recently. I picked it up along with Foundation, just to try reading some sci-fi. Part of me loved it, part of me didn't know what to make of it.... I felt a little let down by both sci-fi books, like they didn't quite live up to the amazing potential of the first half of the book. I dunno.

I've been reading Defend the Realm, so far I've read the chapters on the last few decades, the pre and post- 9/11 era, and so on. It's interesting.

Also Asian Mind Games. A pretty candid book about the cultural background of Asian business strategy .... recommended by a business acquaintance of mine.
 
Felidae

Felidae

Member
Gjallarhorn said:
I enjoy it a lot, but I've gotten distracted from finishing it.
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Dune isn't that bad.. it's a bit dry, but the concept behind it is worth it.

Just started Dune Messiah myself. Part 2. ;)

And finally reading Slaughterhouse Fivem by Kurt Vonnegut, I do love these type of books, though I haven't gotten very far yet, only just started it.

I usually have two books or more to read at the same time.
 
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