What's Everyone Reading

[jazdoc]

Really enjoyed Michael Sandel's last book "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets"

“Poring through Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel's new book. . . I found myself over and over again turning pages and saying, 'I had no idea.' I had no idea that in the year 2000. . . 'a Russian rocket emblazoned with a giant Pizza Hut logo carried advertising into outer space,' or that in 2001, the British novelist Fay Weldon wrote a book commissioned by the jewelry company Bulgari. . . I knew that stadiums are now named for corporations, but had no idea that now 'even sliding into home is a corporate-sponsored event'. . . I had no idea that in 2001 an elementary school in New Jersey became America's first public school 'to sell naming rights to a corporate sponsor.'”—Thomas Friedman, New York Times

 

[Bill Hart]

I just started reading The Amateur. I know it is inflammatory, but it starts with an argument between the Clintons over why she should run in 2012- you can't make this stuff up- and even though the author was accused of it, i gather it is more than just a well-timed pre-election attempt to poison the well for Obama. At any rate, it is amusing. I've read similar books about Bush when he was in, and of course, about Nixon too. Not recommending it as such. Sort of a guilty pleasure.

 

[Bill Hart]

There were also a couple books that came out in the last year or so, relating to Thomas Edison- one involved his 'invention' of the electric chair- he didn't really invent it, but in his PR battle with George Westinghouse over the safety of DC (Edison) and AC (Westinghouse) current systems, Edison promoted Westinghouse's as the more deadly. Although the book was a little macabre it also had an interesting history of the deployment of electrical systems in the US. Think about this for a minute. Everything back in the earliest days was 'hardwired', lamps, appliances, whatever. It was only when Hubbell invented the electrical plug was there a standardizing of a plug (literally) and play approach for electrical devices. I met one of Hubbell's grandkids years ago in a sports car event. I asked him if he was related to the company that made the high grade electrical sockets- he said 'yep, granddad invented the electrical plug.' (Grandpa also invented the pull chain electrical switch.) I love these kinds of 'so obvious and now ubiquitous' inventions- like, yep, 'my uncle invented the ballpoint pen, or 'clip on neckties' or 'TV dinners' or whatever.
My family wasn't quite so inventive, otherwise i'd be living in a small Richard Neutra house overlooking the Lakes in Italy

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

There is a large and powerful contingent in the US now that believes that markets have no moral limits, and that they have no moral obligations. The supreme court has declared that American corporations have the rights of individual citizens. The American conservative movement has declared that monetary markets have the inevitable validity of natural selection. Nevermind that even if the followers merely follow, the leaders of that movement know very well that there is nothing natural about the markets, that they do not necessarily reward the fittest, that they are grossly and unnaturally manipulated.

They are manipulated in their favor, so the distorted notion that they are a natural process out of their control is the perfect deceit.

This book will be declared liberal, if not socialist, propaganda. Mostly by people who won't get past the subtitle.

Tim

 

[Gregadd]

Appetite for self-desrtruction

THE SPECTACULAR CRASH OF THE RECORD INDUSTRY IN THE DIGITAL AGE by STEVE KNOPPER

I just started reading. No it's not due to the horrible sound of CD. It documents miscalculations of the recordr industry.
Publishe:r Free press

 

[carolkoh]

M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series. Set in the Cotswalds in England. Another casual, amusing "whodunnit" series.

 

[jazdoc]

Just started "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman

Daniel Kahneman, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his seminal work in psychology that challenged the rational model of judgment and decision making, is one of our most important thinkers. His ideas have had a profound and widely regarded impact on many fields—including economics, medicine, and politics—but until now, he has never brought together his many years of research and thinking in one book.


In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.


Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.

And no, it's not about audiophiles

 

[DaveyF]

I downloaded these books after your recommendation Davey. I finished The Breach in a day. This would make one hell of a movie. It's extremely visual. Thanks!

Jack, I'm in the middle of the third in the trilogy called " Deep Sky", have you read it?

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Went Grarage Sale hunting last weekend, something I haven't done in decades, but I couldn't refuse the lovely lady who asked me to join her. It was a lot of fun actually!

Anyway, I came across one place what had mint copies of Bill Clinton's My Life (hardcover), and Truman (large format paperback). Spent $4!

 

[Gregadd]

THE SPECTACULAR CRASH OF THE RECORD INDUSTRY IN THE DIGITAL AGE by STEVE KNOPPER

I just started reading. No it's not due to the horrible sound of CD. It documents miscalculations of the recordr industry.
Publishe:r Free press

This is a must read for audiophiles.

 

[jazdoc]

Just finished "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman.

The author is a behavioral scientist who won the Nobel Prize in economics. Even though the book is extremely well written, it took a while to get through because it's like drinking from a fire hydrant. There is a lot of information coming at you and it takes a while to absorb it. As a radiologist who must make decisions every day based on limited information, I found it absolutely fascinating. Highly recommended. Made NY Times' Book Review and the Wall Street Journal's "Best Books of 2011" lists.

 

[Bill Hart]

Just finished "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman.

The author is a behavioral scientist who won the Nobel Prize in economics. Even though the book is extremely well written, it took a while to get through because it's like drinking from a fire hydrant. There is a lot of information coming at you and it takes a while to absorb it. As a radiologist who must make decisions every day based on limited information, I found it absolutely fascinating. Highly recommended. Made NY Times' Book Review and the Wall Street Journal's "Best Books of 2011" lists.

I'll get to it Doc, thanks for the recommendation. Books like that can be work, and right now, I'm in my early Greco-Roman period.

 

[jazdoc]

This one came out yesterday and it's highly recommended:

It's a compendium of his writings as he succumbs to esophageal cancer. Witty and acerbic to the end...he was my one favorite writers; even when I found him infuriating. Hitchens was an avowed Atheist and a couple of the funniest quotes from the book concern his lack of faith and those who prayed for him:

"I sympathize afresh with the mighty Voltaire, who, when badgered on his deathbed and urged to renounce the devil, murmured that this was no time to be making enemies."

"A different secular problem also occurs to me: What if I pulled through and the pious faction contentedly claimed that their prayers had been answered? That would somehow be irritating."

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Picked these up at Charity auction/sale for $2 each. I finished TRUMAN and just started Clinton's MY LIFE, so I needed more. Also just finished The Bronfman Dynasty.

 

[jazdoc]

I'm currently reading and thouroughly enjoying "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy, translated by Richard Peavear and Larissa Volokhonksy. I was inspired to read this by the soon to be released movie. Not at all what I expected and not too difficult to keep up with the Russian names. Faulker considered this as "the greatest novel ever written"

 

[jap]

Just finished "The Lizard King," by Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn.

 

[carolkoh]

Just finished Shades of Milk and Honey (nominated for a Nebula award) by Hugo award winner, Mary Robinette Kowal. It is a Regency Romance and actually reads like a novel from the era. I'm sure she uses Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters as touchstones. But the writing isn't as annoying as Austen's Emma for example where the conversation gets inane and you wonder when it will end. She starts out with a few sentences then continues with "They continued to converse about the weather and ..."

Where the SciFi comes in is that glamour weavings are one of the highly regarded arts for a gentle woman - like water colors, needlework and playing a musical instrument - it's forming illusions both visual and auditory - out of the ether.

 

[Bill Hart]

View attachment 6071

Just finished Shades of Milk and Honey (nominated for a Nebula award) by Hugo award winner, Mary Robinette Kowal. It is a Regency Romance and actually reads like a novel from the era. I'm sure she uses Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters as touchstones. But the writing isn't as annoying as Austen's Emma for example where the conversation gets inane and you wonder when it will end. She starts out with a few sentences then continues with "They continued to converse about the weather and ..."

Where the SciFi comes in is that glamour weavings are one of the highly regarded arts for a gentle woman - like water colors, needlework and playing a musical instrument - it's forming illusions both visual and auditory - out of the ether.

But no zombies, right?

 

[Steve williams]

I'm a Lee Childs, Jack Reacher fan and just finished one of his earlier ones called "One Shot" which will be released as a major motion picture with of all people little Tom Cruise playing 6'6" Jack Reacher. An excellent read

 

[Bill Hart]

Armageddon: Battle for Germany- Max Hastings

I have little patience for thoroughly researched history that reads like a textbook. This is NOT one of those books. I'm still in the midst of it, but it deserves a glowing review. Hastings is a well-regarded WWII historian who already wrote about the Normandy Beach invasion. This book addresses the aftermath- what was believed to be a simple 'mop-up' operation by the Allies turned into a hard-fought series of battles to reach Berlin. The contrast among the various strategies of the British, the Americans and the Russians is examined, not only from the perspective of the generals, but from the infantry, the tank commandos and the civilian populations caught in the midst. The Russians were absolutely ruthless to begin with, and had little regard for human life, including their own, with political operatives ready to execute anyone who betrayed the slightest lack of zeal. Add to that an overweaning hatred for the Germans, whose Russian invasion cost millions of Russian lives. (Leaving aside Stalin's own purges of his population). The Germans were clearly pressed to the last, but fought strategically. (Conventional history tells us about Hitler's delusions and the 'yes' men close to him but this focuses as much on men leading men in battle, coping with shortcomings in equipment, supplies and hope, but fighting with what they had, for their lives). Interestingly, the Russian army deployed women who saw action, not just as camp 'followers'.
Hastings examines the weaponry, mines newly available (at the time of writing) archival material for a wealth of information about the realities of the war as seen by the leaders and those reporting to them and brings a vividness to the the proceedings that pulls you into the events in a way that few authors can. I am hardly a scholar of this era, or of military history more generally, but can highly recommend this book even for the more casual reader who wants to know what happened, without any obvious cheerleading or heavy-handed slant.
PS: this is not a newly published book.