On Your Bookshelf - What Are You Reading?

[hochspeyer]

Ready to start "Python Programming for Raspberry Pi" once I get a monitor and can actually use my Pi.

[baker]

Reading The Stand. Been about 20 years thought id re-read.

[Icethetic]

Can someone plz write me a conclusion to a best seller book. I have to send a book review to my teacher today. A little bit more than half a page but not more than a page. Why you read it, how was it, which part you liked the most, etc.

[RustyPipes]

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
Not for the faint of stomach.

[steffo99]

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
(just a few pages in)

[rodsmith3]

The Double

- George Pelecanos

Main character's a veteran and PI, biker, and kayaker, and has his way with women. All his books are good. If you're male and check this out, let me know what you think.

[mikieson]

dont have a bookshelf and dont read.Never have..WELL..I am reading my CDL manual. While here in Vegas still at the dumb crappy DMV studying the TN CDL book to get my bus driving license.Moving back home.Hate it here..after I get done with this I wont be reading anymore..

[GuyJin]

dont have a bookshelf and dont read.Never have..WELL..I am reading my CDL manual. While here in Vegas still at the dumb crappy DMV studying the TN CDL book to get my bus driving license.Moving back home.Hate it here..after I get done with this I wont be reading anymore..

---

Another ray of sunshine. 'Grats...or something.

Go whine somewhere else, willya?

On a happier note, read through Ender's Game. Not a bad read at all.

[steffo99]

[mikieson]

---

Another ray of sunshine. 'Grats...or something.

Go whine somewhere else, willya?

On a happier note, read through Ender's Game. Not a bad read at all.

lol..i luv U

[badclams]

Training methods of 72 arts of Shaolin By Jin Jing Zhong (1934), and Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong workout for longevity by Shifu Yan Lei (2009).

[trickyB]

Black Hawk Down - been good since page 1, can't put it down

That was a good one. I don't think I put it down for more than a couple hours to sleep got up and finished it.


Reading "things that matter" by Charles Krauthammer. So far I'm enjoying it.

[steffo99]

[ticklemeelbow]

Mr. President and then onto Not Cool.

[Whiskeyjack]

The Polished Hoe, by Austin Clark.

[Paradosis]

Currently reading (I switch between them depending on my mood)...

The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, by Epictetus
Letters From a Stoic, by Seneca
Fifth Spiritual Homilies, St. Macarius the Egyptian
What is This Thing Called Science?, by A.F. Chalmers
A Reader's Manifesto, by B.R. Myers

[JRT6]

Just finished Dan Brown - Inferno
Definitely trashy reading material but it had a couple of good twists I didn't see coming and some interesting history parts.

It's a shame Bown's work flows about as well as a kidney stone because I love that genre.

[whatevergirl]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

At the urging of a good friend, I decided to read this book. While I'm no longer religious, I found some of the book to be a bit too ...confrontational. I agree with a lot of what Dawkins has to say, but I'm of the belief that a person can still be somewhat spiritual and not necessarily attached to any one "religion." He doesn't seem to make that distinction but it's an interesting read. He's an awesome writer. Overall, glad I read it. If you've read it, would be interested in hearing your take on it.

[mcbourque]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

At the urging of a good friend, I decided to read this book. While I'm no longer religious, I found some of the book to be a bit too ...confrontational. I agree with a lot of what Dawkins has to say, but I'm of the belief that a person can still be somewhat spiritual and not necessarily attached to any one "religion." He doesn't seem to make that distinction but it's an interesting read. He's an awesome writer. Overall, glad I read it. If you've read it, would be interested in hearing your take on it.

Sounds like a really interesting book, WEG. Not sure I'm in a good place to read it though. These days, I find that when I read people with strong agendas, it gets me too upset - I get too much into it

I'm on a Robert B. Parker marathon right now. Reading all his books in order.

[Paradosis]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

At the urging of a good friend, I decided to read this book. While I'm no longer religious, I found some of the book to be a bit too ...confrontational. I agree with a lot of what Dawkins has to say, but I'm of the belief that a person can still be somewhat spiritual and not necessarily attached to any one "religion." He doesn't seem to make that distinction but it's an interesting read. He's an awesome writer. Overall, glad I read it. If you've read it, would be interested in hearing your take on it.

I only read it once, when it first came out, and it's been maybe 7-8 years since then. Because of this the things that he specifically wrote in The God Delusion, and the things that I've heard in many talks/lectures/interviews since then (and read in his other books), have sort of ran together somewhat in my mind. But fwiw, here's what my general impressions of the book are. First, I think it sets the record straight somewhat on some of the things that are often misunderstood about his position (and that of many atheists), for example that he doesn't claim to be 100% absolutely positively dogmatically sure that there is no God, but nonetheless believes the evidence so overwhelming that you can be as sure of it as you are as sure that fairies, Russell's teapot, etc. don't exist.

I've also felt that the actual content of Dawkins sometimes gets misunderstood by people because his rhetoric can be quite inflammatory. Many people would probably be surprised, for example, that he is fine with reading the Bible, not simply as a way of being shocked into atheism, but also because he acknowledges that much of western culture, language, moral perspectives, etc. have their roots in it, not to mention making sense of European history and why people did and said what they did for the last 2000 years. This is not to say that he thinks that the Bible is a good book for morals, for culture, etc., but he does say that everyone should read it and understand it. This vid with Harris, Dawkins, Hitchens, and Dennett all sitting around just talking about various things is generally how I try to think of these guys, whatever exaggerations I might find every once in a while.

Having said that, I think the book has a particular audience, and particular limitations. The people he is trying to reach are mostly popular level folks, and I think he admits in the intro that he doesn't expect to convince many Christians. I took that as a sign that the book was meant to be more of a rallying point for atheists to gather at, rather than a rigorously argued defense and detailed examination. He gathered up a lot of the arguments that had been used by atheists, skeptics, etc. before him, from ancient Greece right up to his time (and using a few of his own ideas), and eloquently summarized them. Which I think is fine.

One issue I did have was that Dawkins, like almost all modern atheists, have done little reading in the early Christians or Christian history, and everything sort of gets distorted. So when it comes to the first 1500 or so years of the common era, they are often content to given a few pages of token references from books by other people about Tertullian, Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm, and perhaps one or two others, and that's it. Now, as someone sort of buried in Eastern Orthodox theology, this frustrates me, because various arguments related to inerrancy, substitutionary atonement, original guilt, etc. simply would not have been relevant (or for that matter even recognized) by many Christian theologians through the centuries. Having said that, I also think there is a gold mine of stuff that Dawkins could sink his teeth into, if only he knew what treasures were buried at which spots.

Anyway, so I guess I never really much disliked or much cheered on Dawkins, whether I was an atheist, agnostic, or Christian (and I've identified as all three over the last 8 years). I like that his book got people talking about the subject, and got this all out into the public awareness, even if I often dislike the particular debates (especially on the internet) that result. I hope some day he takes a few years, really digs in, and writes something more detailed.

[MetFan]

Tom Clancy's Dead Or Alive.

Always appreciated military/espionage type novels.

[whatevergirl]

One issue I did have was that Dawkins, like almost all modern atheists, have done little reading in the early Christians or Christian history, and everything sort of gets distorted. So when it comes to the first 1500 or so years of the common era, they are often content to given a few pages of token references from books by other people about Tertullian, Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm, and perhaps one or two others, and that's it. Now, as someone sort of buried in Eastern Orthodox theology, this frustrates me, because various arguments related to inerrancy, substitutionary atonement, original guilt, etc. simply would not have been relevant (or for that matter even recognized) by many Christian theologians through the centuries. Having said that, I also think there is a gold mine of stuff that Dawkins could sink his teeth into, if only he knew what treasures were buried at which spots.

Appreciate your feedback here! I want to answer you on your entire post, but this jumped out at me. What do you mean by 'treasures?' (your last sentence)

@ marie...I understand, good points. If one is religious, he/she could see Dawkins as having an agenda. I might have at one point. But, I now agree with a lot of his points throughout his book, but wouldn't recommend it to a passionate Christian/theist, unless they plan to read it with an objective view. There's a lot of beauty and simplicity in atheism, that many people don't realize. That's what I like about it.

I will have to check out what you're reading.

edit to add...aw crap, i'm on spread :/

[mcbourque]

Appreciate your feedback here! I want to answer you on your entire post, but this jumped out at me. What do you mean by 'treasures?' (your last sentence)

@ marie...I understand, good points. If one is religious, he/she could see Dawkins as having an agenda. I might have at one point. But, I now agree with a lot of his points throughout his book, but wouldn't recommend it to a passionate Christian/theist, unless they plan to read it with an objective view. There's a lot of beauty and simplicity in atheism, that many people don't realize. That's what I like about it.

I will have to check out what you're reading.

edit to add...aw crap, i'm on spread :/

I shouldn't have use the word "agenda" I meant people who argue their point too strong. Either side of the fence, it gets me too rattled. I'm pretty much moderate on all things must be age LOL I like to see both sides on most things. Still sound like an interesting read.

Parker is just old fashioned hard-boil detective novel. I find that during the school year I can't read anything too deep.

I may give Tom Clancy a shot

[Paradosis]

Appreciate your feedback here! I want to answer you on your entire post, but this jumped out at me. What do you mean by 'treasures?' (your last sentence)

By treasures/gold I was thinking of sort of like richness of history, thought and practice, that hasn't really been discussed much, for one example the extent of the scriptural canon. Many know that Catholics and Protestants disagree about certain books of the Old Testament, but it actually goes far beyond that, with Christians in India, Ethiopia, Greece, Armenia, etc. having had different books stretching back pretty much as long as this has been discussed and notes on such things compared. Sometimes there are even differences in the books of the New Testament that are accepted. This may or may not be something Christians consider a problem, depending on their views of authority in general, how God works with people, etc., but I would think most atheists would consider it mind-boggling for a religion to say that it has the revelation of God Himself, the Holy Spirit guiding it, the guide to right morality, the solution to sin and death and the way to redemption, and so forth... but that they never found a way to agree on (or in modern times, among the traditional groups, even found it necessary to worry about) what texts that were in the sacred scripture. To me that seems like a much more interesting area to explore, not only because of that topic specifically, but also because of what it means for issues of authority, guidance, inspiration, epistemology, etc.

[Nikonguy]

LOL, from 2010...

Most recient book read....

Seabiscuit (Laura Hillenbrand)

Self inflicted nonfiction academic reading for the next few months (literally on my bookshelf)

Guns, Germs and Steel (Diamond)
Genghis Khan and the Making of The Modern World (Weatherford)
Sailing from Byzantium (Wells)
The Sword of the Prophet. (Trifkovic)
Islam: Religion, History and Civilization (Nasr)
The New Concise History of the Crusades (Madden)
Crusades: The Illistraited History (Madden)

Does anyone detect a pattern here?

I never got to the Genghis Kahn book but it is my bag to take to the beach in a couple of weeks.

Re-reading Fahrenheit 451 for the first time since high school. There is some stuff going on is education
that made me want to read this again.

[GuyJin]

The Genghis Khan book was a solid read, I found.

Between writing novels, I've been sifting through various books about the Crusades. I find most of the history fascinating. Biggest landgrab in history. All in the guise of religion (my take on it). Thomas Asbridge's The Crusades is a must. Maalouf has also written a very solidly researched book looking at the conflict through an Arab POV. (The Crusades through Arab Eyes) Both are worth buying, they're that good.

[whatevergirl]

The truth though about Christianity's "history" is that it isn't all that flattering. Constantine killed many Gnostics in order to promote more of the "version" that's commonly followed today. If anything, Gnosticism was the first "form" of Christianity but because it's not about being a blind sheep, it wasn't going to be easy to control those who followed it. That's the history no one, especially Christians (and I say that cuz I was once one) don't like to discuss. lol

So, to an atheist, discussing the history of religion (any of them) is kind of meaningless considering they shouldn't exist to begin with. So, their "history" shouldn't either. I wish I hadn't wasted so much time following it but ...

Do you ever go into the R/P section here? Some interesting topics on all of this. But, bring your boxing mitts cuz it can get a little ugly at times. lol

I really appreciate your feedback ... On to finding my next great book about the topic.

By treasures/gold I was thinking of sort of like richness of history, thought and practice, that hasn't really been discussed much, for one example the extent of the scriptural canon. Many know that Catholics and Protestants disagree about certain books of the Old Testament, but it actually goes far beyond that, with Christians in India, Ethiopia, Greece, Armenia, etc. having had different books stretching back pretty much as long as this has been discussed and notes on such things compared. Sometimes there are even differences in the books of the New Testament that are accepted. This may or may not be something Christians consider a problem, depending on their views of authority in general, how God works with people, etc., but I would think most atheists would consider it mind-boggling for a religion to say that it has the revelation of God Himself, the Holy Spirit guiding it, the guide to right morality, the solution to sin and death and the way to redemption, and so forth... but that they never found a way to agree on (or in modern times, among the traditional groups, even found it necessary to worry about) what texts that were in the sacred scripture. To me that seems like a much more interesting area to explore, not only because of that topic specifically, but also because of what it means for issues of authority, guidance, inspiration, epistemology, etc.

[rodsmith3]

JFK, George, and Me. There are a few older books on the guy as well that I've read that are also from his buddies point of view. Interesting to know what made him tick. And also how someone like him lived day to day. Banging Madonna and all....!

[Whiskeyjack]

I'm going through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin 21-volume series again. Just finished Desolation Island and am now on The Fortune of War. As always, a real joy to read.

I got the whole series in H/C years ago at Christmas from my wife. At the time I first read them all, I was completing my BA in English and considering the MA program. I became so thoroughly immersed in O'Brian's books that I began to notice thematic and stylistic trends and thought to do a thesis on this series. That didn't happen for a variety of reasons but I still love reading them.

For those unfamiliar with the series, the first, Master and Commander, was adopted into the Hollywood film of the same name.

[rodsmith3]

JFK, George, and Me. There are a few older books on the guy as well that I've read that are also from his buddies point of view. Interesting to know what made him tick. And also how someone like him lived day to day. Banging Madonna and all....!

Title should be JFK Jr., George and Me.