What book(s) are you currently reading?

[TheBigUglies]

Can Palin write? If he can, that book would be something special.

Palin has actually written 2 books that when I started reading them I could no put them down until I finished them.

Hemingway's Chair which was published in 1999 and The Truth which was published in 2012

Maybe I have some unconscious bias since I am a Python fan and read all their biographies as well but I thought Palin's books were very good.

 

[seminnylion]

Moby Dick
Eminent Hipsters

 

[Woodpecker]

There's no way I could get away with posting this during football season so here goes, by WB Yeats, written in the winter of 1916-7, when he was in his early fifties.

The Wild Swans at Coole
BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?

View embedded media

Pfft, doesn't even mention the most important aspect of autumn: football!
(So this guy is probably not Billy Yeats)

 

[86Engineer]

Thank you everyone who recommends books to read on here. I have enjoyed reading them and this thread comes in handy when looking for a new book to read.

My recent reads:

Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi
Truth by Michael Palin
Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear

I agree completely!

My most recent read was another AKB Recommendation: "A Course Called Ireland". A very good read, especially if you have been to Ireland (twice, including the UCF game) and played golf there (first visit).

I played 3 of the author's courses in the Ring of Kerry, including Ballybunion. I found the Ballybunion course guide/yardage book that I still have, which has a forward by Tom Watson, that includes some notables that have played the course, including....as listed in the book....Michael Jordan, Dan Merino and Neil Armstrong.

What are the chances that that is the guy that invented merino wool? As the Irish say, Shitte on Pitte!

 

[ericstratton-rushchairman]

Let me throw another great book out there. Just finished...

"The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World" by A.J. Baime

Outstanding, really outstanding.

 

[LemonEars]

Currently reading The Good War by Studs Terkel and Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz. Both are good reads.

Recently finished Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins, First Man by James Hansen, and Mind and Matter by John Urschel. I liked Urschel's book. It was all about football and math. He didn't get very close to his personal life and the book ended rather abruptly. I got the feeling that there was a lot left unsaid.

 

[LemonEars]

Let me throw another great book out there. Just finished...

"The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World" by A.J. Baime

Outstanding, really outstanding.

I saw the Truman book on Kindle Unlimited. I can read it for free. I will give it a try.

 

[83wuzme]

Churchill and Orwell.
Things really haven’t changed so much in about 100 years.

 

[doofis]

Always non-fiction... (fiction - zero f's)

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology

Homesteading manuals (gardening, fruit trees... hunting the javelina... and aoudad sheep... etc.)

 

[Woodpecker]

(fiction - zero f's)

iction?

 

[ericstratton-rushchairman]

Currently reading The Good War by Studs Terkel and Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz. Both are good reads.

Recently finished Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins, First Man by James Hansen, and Mind and Matter by John Urschel. I liked Urschel's book. It was all about football and math. He didn't get very close to his personal life and the book ended rather abruptly. I got the feeling that there was a lot left unsaid.

The Good War is going on my list

 

[Aardvark86]

Some recent favorite entries:
The First Tycoon (Vanderbilt biography) - fantastic, perhaps one of my favorite biographies ever due to the huge swath of american economic history that it covered
Becoming Dr. Seuss - also fantastic; a genius whose craft is most certainly underappreciated
Born Standing Up (Steve Martin memoir of his comedy years, with wonderful insight into how hard the process of creating comedy is)
The Professor and the Madman - great story about the development of the OED and a significant if surprising contributor

And while not recent, my all-time favorite book, bar none: The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov) -- brutal soviet political satire (hilarious if you have any sensitivity to soviet life), profound Faustian reflection on the nature of good and evil, art and the artist, a love story

On my list:
Say Nothing

 

[Aardvark86]

The Good War is going on my list

The Good War is fantastic. Read it years ago. A very timely reminder of what can be, given our lack of collective commitment to anything these days.

 

[Aardvark86]

The 6 volume "Second World War" by Winston Churchill....almost done with the second volume.....

have you already finished the history of the english speaking peoples?

 

[SUPERTODD]

Metamorpheses by Ovid.

Taking a class.

 

[BoilerBulldog]

American Creation by Joseph Ellis. Last weekend, a niece got married and the wedding dinner and party was held at the Museum of the American Revolution at 3rd & Chestnut. So my interest in that period was renewed. Going through the gift shop provided my Christmas gift ideas also, so I hope to read Chernow’s bio of Washington and Atkinson’s Revolutionary war trilogy, Vol 1.

3/4 of the way through the Atkinson. Exceptionally good. Right on par with his Liberation trilogy but probably an even more impressive research accomplishment. His detail for an event nearly 250 years ago is simply amazing.

 

[McCloudersportLion]

Clean Meat - about raising protein rich food without factory farming

100 best business books of all time
Generic asian philosophy book
A book about pot limit omaha
Starting to creep into "The Vault"... pure fiction is a rare comfort food

 

[PSUQBKeeper]

working on the fourth book in the Malazan series by Steven Erickson

great fantasy series in the vein of The Black Company books by Glen Cook...excellent world building and lore and great characters also

 

[lions15psu]

13-9: The story of a game, a season, and a team that never quit

It is a inspirational story that encourages us to look deep within ourselves and embrace our mediocrity.

 

[okinburg1]

Just finished An Eye for Glory by Karl Bacon. Historical fiction about a Union soldier, his time in the Civil War and reconciliation after. A little overly religious for 2019 (for most, I'd bet), but probably an accurate portrayal of how soldiers of the period thought and acted. Good historical account with an unexpected ending.

 

[LionJim]

A little overly religious for 2019 (for most, I'd bet), but probably an accurate portrayal of how soldiers of the period thought and acted. Good historical account with an unexpected ending.

Yeah, if you read Michael Sharra’s introduction to The Killer Angels, you’ll get that same sense.

 

[LionJim]

I recently revisited an old favorite, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley. Yes, "bloody, but unbowed" was first written here. (I checked, thinking that it had to be Shakespeare.) "Shade" is an archaic word for ghost or spirit.

Invictus
William Ernest Henley - 1849-1903

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

 

[john4psu]

Little Chicago

 

[john4psu]

Let me throw another great book out there. Just finished...

"The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World" by A.J. Baime

Outstanding, really outstanding.

I concur.

 

[JoeParulz]

Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe

Biocentrism takes the reader on a seemingly improbable but ultimately inescapable journey through a foreign universe—our own—from the viewpoints of an acclaimed biologist and a leading astronomer. Switching perspective from physics to biology unlocks the cages in which Western science has unwittingly managed to confine itself. Biocentrism will shatter the reader’s ideas of life—time and space, and even death. At the same time it will release us from the dull worldview of life being merely the activity of an admixture of carbon and a few other elements; it suggests the exhilarating possibility that life is fundamentally immortal.

The 21st century is predicted to be the Century of Biology, a shift from the previous century dominated by physics. It seems fitting, then, to begin the century by turning the universe outside-in and unifying the foundations of science with a simple idea discovered by one of the leading life-scientists of our age. Biocentrism awakens in readers a new sense of possibility, and is full of so many shocking new perspectives that the reader will never see reality the same way again.

 

[Virginia Joe]

Talking To Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell

 

[MacNit07]

I’m reading When the Lions Roared by Bill Contz. The story of the ’82 Nittany Lions which happened to be my junior year and first year at main campus. I’ve read some stories that I haven’t heard before. I’m up to Sugar Bowl week and can’t wait to find out how we do against Herschel Walker and #1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl! Who doesn't love a happy ending?

Trump vs China (deceiving title as it is really more like “USA vs China). Sobering and clearly shows we had better wake up and regain our competitive edge.

 

[MacNit07]

I’m reading When the Lions Roared by Bill Contz. The story of the ’82 Nittany Lions which happened to be my junior year and first year at main campus. I’ve read some stories that I haven’t heard before. I’m up to Sugar Bowl week and can’t wait to find out how we do against Herschel Walker and #1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl! Who doesn't love a happy ending?

Just finished v1 of Atkinson trilogy on American Revolution...superb!

 

[MacNit07]

I’m reading When the Lions Roared by Bill Contz. The story of the ’82 Nittany Lions which happened to be my junior year and first year at main campus. I’ve read some stories that I haven’t heard before. I’m up to Sugar Bowl week and can’t wait to find out how we do against Herschel Walker and #1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl! Who doesn't love a happy ending?

Next up is the new Erik Larson book on Churchill and the Blitz (1940-41).

 

[PSUQBKeeper]

1Q84is a dystopian novel written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, first published in three volumes in Japan in 2009–10. It covers a fictionalized year of 1984 in parallel with a "real" one. The novel is a story of how a woman named Aomame begins to notice strange changes occurring in the world. She is quickly enraptured in a plot involving Sakigake, a religious cult, her childhood love, Tengo, and embarks on a journey to discover what is "real".

 

[Nitwit]

Some recent favorite entries:
The First Tycoon (Vanderbilt biography) - fantastic, perhaps one of my favorite biographies ever due to the huge swath of american economic history that it covered
Becoming Dr. Seuss - also fantastic; a genius whose craft is most certainly underappreciated
Born Standing Up (Steve Martin memoir of his comedy years, with wonderful insight into how hard the process of creating comedy is)
The Professor and the Madman - great story about the development of the OED and a significant if surprising contributor

And while not recent, my all-time favorite book, bar none: The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov) -- brutal soviet political satire (hilarious if you have any sensitivity to soviet life), profound Faustian reflection on the nature of good and evil, art and the artist, a love story

On my list:
Say Nothing

I read Say Nothing. There’s a lot of research in the book into various aspects of the Irish-British conflict over many years. I can’t say it was enjoyable because of the brutal nature of the subject, but it’s very worthwhile reading.

I’m currently reading my third book by William M Fowler who is a retired history professor from Boston. Most of his books are about events and people during the early years following our Independence. The current read is about historically brave women pioneers. He is a terrific writer and you savor every word as you read. The others I read were a biography of John Hancock and one about the creation of the Navy during revolutionary war times. I highly recommend him to history buffs.

 

[BoilerBulldog]

Next up is the new Erik Larson book on Churchill and the Blitz (1940-41).

Didn’t realize Larson had a new book out. One of my favorites. I’m finishing up “Bellevue: 3 Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America’s Most Storied Hospital” by David Oshinsky. If you enjoy medical history, you’d like it.

 

[GSPMax]

"Through the Wheat" and "Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day".

 

[Lion Lineage]

"Through the Wheat" and "Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day".

How the allies won on D-Day sounds really interesting. Threads like this turn me onto books I’d otherwise never hear about.

 

[Lion Lineage]

A World Undone (comprehensive history of the First World War).

All Quiet on the Western Front

Das Boot

I seem to be in a world war phase at the moment.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

Book of basketball by Bill Simmons.

 

[LionJim]

Book of basketball by Bill Simmons.

Good book.

 

[GSPMax]

How the allies won on D-Day sounds really interesting. Threads like this turn me onto books I’d otherwise never hear about.

"Through the Wheat" is about the Marines in WWI.

The D-Day book was written by a Brit. A somewhat different perspective, very well researched and detail oriented. Several of the scenes from the movie "The Longest Day" are detailed. Covers the French resistance, airborne operations, and details about each of beach landings.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

Good book.

I love Bill. Son1 gave me the book.

 

[JoeLion]

Golden Prey by Sandford