809 replies to this topic

[Phalanxman]

Just finished The School Revolution by Ron Paul today. 8.5/10 Pretty great stuff. I doubt any of you would like it because you all seem to be hardcore collectivists and I would assume would be opposed to autodidactism.

[Vicious Parker]

no, I don't think anybody here is opposed to that at all.

[Kamau]

I teach myself how to do things all the time. (Yeah, I had to look up what that meant first.) 

 

I'm reading a book called Beauty Sleep. It's a different take on Sleeping Beauty and I'm enjoying myself. In case I finish that on the train today (I probably won't because Pokemon but still) I have Homecoming to reread...but I'm not sure if I want to. 

 

I mean, I do want to, especially because it's a 7-book series and I just bought a few more of the series yesterday. But at the same time I'm going to hate myself if I do because I own 1-4, then 6-7. I don't own book 5. And I'll be so mad once I make it there and have to screech to a halt. HMmmmm dilemma.

[Stars]

Been forgetting to post here, but I have finished The Titan's Curse.
And The Battle of the Labyrinth.
And The Last Olympian.

Haven't decided what to read next now that I'm out of Percy Jackson books.

[Monkeydog]

I doubt any of you would like it because you all seem to be hardcore collectivists and I would assume would be opposed to autodidactism.

You're absolutely wrong in that regard. 

 

The only reason I even have a job is because of stuff I taught myself. Hell, most of my actual school days were just coasting on knowledge I had already accumulated. 

[Phalanxman]

It seems as though my assumptions were wrong. Read the book then.

[BottomGuy]

I built up a bit of a backlog like Stars. I finished reading Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, really enjoyed it. Great look at not only the direct history of what Genghis Khan did but also about how attitudes toward him have changed through history for good and bad.  

 

This was followed by You are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself. Yes, the title is that long. It does a great job of explaining the psychology and evolution of the brain, how it fits into modern life, what we should be aware, what we cannot change, what we can manipulate to our advantage, etc.  and doing all of this with casual language instead of overwhelming you with scientific terms that whoosh over your head.  Probably the best part is all of the surveys it cites.  If I want to talk about something from the book, I can call upon a federally funded research project from 1992 that backs up the point.

 

Recently finished Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It.  Simply fantastic in my eyes.  Compositionally it could get weird as he would jump between the history of the game and his own involvement with the game.  In the end this all comes together as the history catches up to the modern and it slips into present development of the game, with stories from the author about how he is involved with that development.  Right up my alley as a history book that goes far beyond just Dungeons & Dragons.  Heck, before you can talk about the history of D&D, the author had to start with the history of chess which I loved.  It is all about the history of a culture and of people and that's what I love.  Not dates and information but an ongoing narrative that shows the development of something in history.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who is involved or interested in D&D or any roleplaying games.

 

Now I have just started What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained.  I kept seeing this book come up as recommended for me, but I continued to avoid it because it only showed me the first part of the title.  I assumed it was a book about Einstein with anecdotes by his cook. When I finally looked into it I found the second half of the title and discovered it is about explaining food and how we prepare food at its most basic level of chemistry and other sciences.  What is the difference between sea salt and table salt? Why does meat brown when cooked? Is fructose bad for me? It's composed in this manner, too.  Each chapter is an overarching topic (I've read through the Salt and Sugar chapters) and each chapter answers several common questions asked (What's the difference between cane and beet sugar? [Chemically next to nothing] Is brown sugar really healthier? [No]). I am really enjoying it but I believe I will stop reading it.  It's not really suited for a read from cover to cover approach. Rather it's a book you keep on hand in the kitchen and that you pick up whenever you have a curious or nerdy question about cooking.

 

I plan on starting Naked Statistics next. It covers what statistics are but more importantly how they can properly be applied.  Not totally sold on it, but I got it free when I purchased the previous book. 

[Stars]

Yeah...I've got about 35-40 books in my backlog. Not counting comic books. Plus a list of other things I'd like to read at some point. Which reminds me, I've been curious about that Of Dice and Men book. *adds to list*

[Vicious Parker]

I'm done...

 

I finally finished A Dance With Dragons...

 

Which has granted me +1 immunity to spoilers, and +10 resistance to giving up on friggin' long books.

[Kamau]

I'm done...

 

I finally finished A Dance With Dragons...

 

Which has granted me +1 immunity to spoilers, and +10 resistance to giving up on friggin' long books.

 

I'M STILL WAITING ON THE PAPERBACK

 

IT COMES OUT TOMORROW

[Phalanxman]

The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. It's pretty amazing.

[Stars]

I've started reading The Shadow Rising, but I'm not very far in yet since I've just been reading it during lunch breaks so far.

[Kamau]

I'm reading Wizard's Holiday by Diane Duane. It's part of her "Young Wizards" series...but I'm not totally sure where it fits into things because I already owned books 1-7 before getting this one (as in, the books have the series numbers imprinted on the spines), yet this one came out 7th in the order and has no number attached to it. So I'm wondering if it's like a side-arc or something.

[Stars]

This:

 

It was glorious.

[Kamau]

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS IS MINE!

 

...Now I just need to decide whether I want to continue reading the book I had already started before getting to it. 

 

Ughh I bought so many good books today I want to read them all at the same time.

[Stars]

Calm down, Twilight. :p

[Kamau]

But they all look so good! And I've been waiting to own them for a while. I got the new GoT book, the next two books in the Gone series, and a new Cathy Lamb book (one of my favorite authors). 

 

I decided to go for the GoT book. I've waited long enough for this one.

 

Now if I could just stop being distracted by Pokemon...

[Stars]

Just started reading the MLP Annual for 2013. One of the ponies is reading a bunch of books with Fringe-themed titles like The Observers and The First Ponies.

[Stars]

This just arrived in the mail~

 

[Kamau]

Put down GoT to read the Hyperbole and a Half book. :) Puffin was right; it was a fast read, so I'll be back to Dance With Dragons tomorrow.