The October thread refuses to go to sleep, so I thought I would start a November thread despite that I am reading a novel and have 200 pages to go in it.

Robert

I've just begun Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson.

Still reading The Edwardians by Roy Hattersley, but it's going slowly because the novel I'm reading is hard to put down. (touchstone's wrong!)

I'm almost done with Morgan Spurlock's Don't Eat This Book about the fast food industry.

I'm reading Deep Cultural Diversity: A governance challenge by Gilles Paquet

I just finished Tycoon's War, which was an interesting look at a little-known and rather shameful conflict in Nicaragua before the American Civil War. Without stretching a point too far, there may be some interesting parallels between Vanderbilt's war for commercial gain and certain American actions in the Middle East.

--> 4

Great book. Haven't been back to MacDonald's since I read it. Spurlock's movie, "Super Size Me", is equally as good.

Now continue to read more - this time about the regular food industry. Try The Onnivore's Dilemma -which I recently finished.

I'm now reading Thanking the Monkey - about animal rights.

Still working on The Fabric of the Cosmos which I think I started in, like, September. (Seriously.) I'm also reading Free-Range Knitter when I'm just not up to physics.

#7
Yes, I saw Super Size Me first and was properly horrified, and I read Fast Food Nation which goes very in-depth into the cattle industry. I've heard that Omnivore's Dilemma is very good and I'll probably pick it up and then turn into a vegetarian.

I'm about half way through Wesley the Owl. Animal stories aren't my usual fare, but this one is fun and educational at the same time.

Just finished The Worst Hard Time about the Dust Bowl. I enjoyed it, though the parts describing the settlement of the area, the tearing up of the grasslands, the farming practices that contributed to the land's degredation in advance of the great drought was more interesting than the part about the Dust Bowl time itself. Once the Depression and drought really took hold, the book lost its momentum, coming to resemble those years. Endless drought and blowing dirt becomes monotonous. A good, skillfully written history, just one that I felt ran out of fascinating information before it ran out of pages.

I am still working my way through Visions of Jazz, which is excellent but definitely not a quick read, also still reading The Souls of Black Folk, and have thrown The Closing of the Western Mind into the mix as well.

I am working on Mao's Last Revolution. This is a very interesting look at the Cultural Revolution. The names can be a bit daunting.

I put together a small stack of books all of which I wanted to read right away last night, and the third volume of The Gulag Archipelago came off. I got 125 pages into it. There apparently is a different translator, and it reads differently from the first two volumes.

Robert

Having finished The Gulag Archipelago on Sunday, on Monday I read most of Death From the Skies. I'll finish it tonight and probably start Oracle Bones.

Robert

I'm reading Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of American Empire by Alex Abella. Very interesting.

Robert, Oracle Bones is on my Christmas wish list -- along with dozens more books. Let me know what you think of it.

Thanx.

Currently reading The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky by Ken Dornstein.

I'm in the middle of The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. It's really interesting.

ETA: can't find the correct touchstone for the book title, but going to the author page should get you there

Message edited by its author, Nov 12, 2008, 11:31am.

Have just raced through London Writing by Merlin Coverley

The Flyboys (touchstone not working). Only just started it, but it's interesting.

Message edited by its author, Nov 12, 2008, 7:50pm.

I'm reading The Uses and Abuses of History by Margaret Macmillan for a book club.

18> LynnB, Oracle Bones turned out to be very readable. I'm going for a walk. If I write a review while I'm walking I'll post it and let you know, but I don't want to.

Robert

In the month of Nov in the Non-fiction area I've completed:

The Dark Side, by Jane Mayer-- A bit disturbing

Faith of My Fathers, by John McCain--  Touching and inspiring

I've started but not yet completed:

Promises to Keep, By Joe Biden -- Enjoying it much, a great reflection on a long political career

American Rifle: A Biography, by Alexander Rose -- This was an early review and I'm enjoying it.  A interesting take on how a technology's development affects history

Enjoy your page turning...

Message edited by its author, Nov 15, 2008, 10:54pm.

I've just started FDR by Jean Edward Smith.

Currently reading Safe Return Doubtful by John Maxtone-Graham.

I finished The Fabric of the Cosmos this past week and Free-Range Knitter a week ago. I'm now reading My Just Desire.

I'm reading In Search of Canadian Political Culture by Nelson Wiseman for a book club on Canadian public policy that I belong to.

I started reading Acedia and Me by Kathleen Norris last night.

Robert

I've read Unholy Business by Nina Burleigh , which was a little bit of a disappointment, and am now reading Descartes Bones by Russell Shorto -- his earlier book about Manhattan, The Island at the Center of the World was one of the best works of history or even nonfiction I've read in the last couple years; so far the Descartes book is holding up to his standards.

I'm reading Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon. He's a favorite of mine.

Vanilla Beans and Brodo by Isabella Dusi which is a lovely, in-depth study of a small italian hill town. It's a BooKcrossing book...hmm... I'm thinking of setting up a separate library where I can review books I'm not going to keep...

Anyway, it's a lovely book, there's none of that innocent abroad with the funny peasants feel to it but a real respect for tradition and community which I think is common to the very good "expatriate experience" book.

Re: 31, I came across Descartes' Bones at work and thought it looked somewhat intriguing. I've just started American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem, by Jane Fletcher Geniesse (touchstone won't work for some reason). I've only just begun but it is quite gripping thus far.

Ishmael Beah is coming to speak at our school soon, so I have just started his A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.

#36 How is that book? I always want to buy it, but for some reason... don't.

I'm reading How to Read Literature like a Professor: A lively and entertaining guide to reading between the lines by Thomas C. Foster. So far, it is proving to be exactly as described.

The Knife Man, a biography of the eccentric but highly skilled 18th century surgeon John Hunter.

Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. The title describes it perfectly. If you (or a friend) have no idea why such-and-such is so expensive or why communism failed, this is the book for them.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by same. It's very engrossing.

I'm also "reading" a cookbook.

I just started reading The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner. He's doing a great job using the Grants' work to illustrate principles of evolution, and show how scientists can actually test the theory of natural selection.

I've started How to Read Novels Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, after just finishing and enjoying his How to Read Literature Like a Professor

Recently finished The Dord, the Diglot, and an Avocado or Two and am about to pick up The Physics of Star Trek.

I continue with Stalin but have forsaken mastering any detail. I think I will come away from the book, which I am about half way through, with, "Stalin bad man. Soviet communists bad people."

Robert

I have started The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America by James Bamford. Intriguing.

-37 Sorry it took me so long to respond! Honestly I thought the book was just okay. Obviously the story is amazing, but the telling has some major flaws. The narration jumps around quite a bit, detail in some areas is very sparse, and I just didn't think it was well organized. For example, it opens with him in high school in America, but when the book ends without describing how he ended up there.

That said, it is a short and easy read, and the story alone makes it worth reading.

I have started a biography of Emily Dickinson entitled My Wars Are Laid Away in Books. So far, it is very good.

Finished Mao's Last Revolution.
Probably going to start The Latehomecomer

I've recently finished Angler:The Cheney Vice Presidency by Barton Gellman, a real inside look at the politics of the Bush administration, and I'm beginning Rick Perlstein's Nixonland which looks promising although a long read. In between, a novel by Toni Morrison Song of Solomon for a fictive refresher.

I just finished Lincoln and His Party in the Secession Crisis by David M. Potter. Potter is a favorite author of mine who wrote history very well. In this book he used about seventy percent primary sources with the footnotes all at the bottom of the page. The author emphasized Lincoln's hope that strong union feeling in the South would bring about a peaceful reunion. It sounds naive but then before Sumter the future was unknown. Potter's view is contrary to many historians who think that Lincoln maneuvered the South into starting the war. It was interesting but at times arduous reading.

Currently reading In the Devil's Snare by Mary Beth Norton about the Salem Witch Trials. Very interesting material.

I loved Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma so I just started his book called In Defense of Food. I agree with his thoughts so much. It's just that he expresses them better than I do! :)

#49, srubinstein: Rick Perlstein's Nixonland has been one of my favorite books this year, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm reading Congressional Government by Woodrow Wilson. It's a bit dense but still a good insight on the progressive era

I just finished reading Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon which is a horrifying account of recent American history. I was completely unfamiliar with the fact that slavery existed in this country until World War II. I think we need to know history like this to understand ourselves and how we got where we are.

I'm reading Pies and Prejudice which is a book about Northern England. It's HILARIOUS but also heartfelt, well researched and personal. I've read about half of out to my OH so far!!

I'm reading Camera lucida by Roland Barthes, which is a wonderful book about a personal quest for the universal essence of photography. I like the style Barthes uses here.
Further, I'm reading Ancient Greek religion: a companion, edited by Daniel Ogden. It's a book with essays about different aspects of ancient Greek religion. Interesting read. I'll have a oral examination about this book soon.

I started Gulag by Anne Applebaum last night. It may be more repetitive of the combination The Gulag Archipelago and Stalin than I want right now, but I'll continue at least a while in it.

Robert

I saw Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me and really enjoyed it. Am not visiting many fast food establishments as a result. I am currently reading Good to Great by Jim Collins. I have just started that one.

I finished Justin Catanoso's My Cousin the Saint: A Search for Faith, Family and Miracles and recommend it highly! It's part travelogue, part memoir, part history lesson as the author learns his grandfather's cousin is about to be canonized as a saint, reconnects with family members in Italy and ponders miracles just as his beloved older brother is diagnosed with brain cancer.