what is the last book you read?

[Spaced]

Last book I read:

[MangusKhan]

I wondered if this thread existed.

Notable reads of recent include:
Young Hitler: the Making of the Fuhrer, by Paul Ham


Very interesting depiction of young Adolf. He's a real character, and some of his exploits are just outrageous. Keep in mind that this book deals with Hitler at a time when he was innocent of his greater crimes, and can at times be quite charming as the reader is led through the eccentric Adolf's various struggles and adventures as a young man. The latter part of the book, dealing with Hitler's budding political career, really makes one wonder just what he was channeling during his speeches and how he was doing it. A fun read and an enlightening glimpse into the mind of the man who's confused dream of heroic world liberation/brutal world domination has shaped all of our lives.

Into the Gray Zone: A Neuroscientist Explores the Border Between Life and Death, by Adrian Owen


This book is simply fascinating. Materialist through and through, it still holds a lot of food for thought even for the spiritualist, especially since the conclusion of the book basically states that even with all this amazing brain-imaging technology, science is still very much baffled by what makes a person conscious. Includes a multitude of case studies which follow a timeline of technological progress as scientists try to find ingenious ways to make contact with the living beings trapped within defunct bodies. The results are pretty incredible.

Serpentine, by Thomas Thompson


A highly entertaining, true account of the life of one Mr. Charles Sobraj, later known as the Bikini Killer. A great look into the life of a very intelligent and manipulative negative entity, beginning from his birth in Saigon, Vietnam and spanning what seems like the entire world as he changes identities and escapes from one self-created mess after another. Sometimes I want to scream at the pages for someone to just shoot the guy already, and other times I am laughing, in awe of the brilliant methods and the dumbfounded victims of this man. What perhaps makes this book, and this man, most interesting though, is the way Charles seems to still have a heart, and how he suffers and misses out on opportunities because of it. I don't usually read crime novels but this one reached out to me from the shelves of the book exchange, and like a victim of the man himself, I was sucked in from the start and left bamboozled.

[Bring4th_Austin]

My recent reads:

Gaiman is a good writer and the myths are interesting and charming. The most interesting part to me was getting a glimpse into ancient storytelling and trying to imagine how these stories came to be, why they existed, and what sort of effect they had on the culture. The biggest drawback for me is that I'd really like to know what sort of liberties Gaiman took in making them more interesting. I know it's going to be impossible to get accurate accounts of the actual myths, but I'd like to know what in the myths is Gaiman's creation, what is the distortion of his own sources, and then what was actually shared among the Norse peoples.

Wilber is one of my favorite thinkers. This is an interesting take on our current cultural and political climate.

Rest in peace Ursula. I love her sci fi. This one's about a guy who realizes his dreams are having an effect on his waking reality, changing the universe around him. His therapist catches on to this and begins to use this to his advantage. Loved it.

[AnthroHeart]

^^ They made 2 movies of the Lathe of Heaven. I've seen both. From what I recall the older one was better.

[MangusKhan]

Rest in peace Ursula. I love her sci fi. This one's about a guy who realizes his dreams are having an effect on his waking reality, changing the universe around him. His therapist catches on to this and begins to use this to his advantage. Loved it.

Seems like especially weird and thought provoking fiction (the best kind). Adding it to my mental catalogue of books to hunt down. I'd been meaning to read some more Ursula, she was really an enlightened thinker, a good storyteller too.

[flofrog]

ohh  awesome thread,  thank you for all your posts,

am  re-reading for the third time (!) Murakami's  IQ84, it's a big book I just love for its incredible poetry, and a thriller too, and definitely some density planes switch somehow..  and re-reading some talks from Yogananda, but this thread gives me new books so I get out of my rut of re-reading

[AnthroHeart]

Is this only for books we've finished?

I'm still reading The Ascension Papers Book 1 by Zingdad. About 300+ pages into it.
Very informative. I like it. But I've taken a couple of days off.

[MangusKhan]

Is this only for books we've finished?

OP made the rules:

you didn't need to finish it

(I'm sort of hunting around for some new titles, and don't mind some random things being thrown at me).

[MangusKhan]

Karma Cola by Gita Mehta



Such a witty account from an Indian woman of the clashes and confusions caused by the mixing of eastern and western cultures. The total irreverence for all which proclaims itself holy in India, and all who believe the claim, is just outrageous and hilarious.

Inside the tent the Englishman discovered, through the signs and gestures of the Sage, that he was to be privileged to carry the guru's effulgence to the devotees waiting outside, As the warm vessel was placed in his hands, he sniffed the contents.

"It smelled," he later remarked, "like ordinary urine."

Nonetheless, he carried his precious cargo to the crowds outside. The devotees gave him a polite round of applause. Then the cheering got louder. He turned around to see what was going on. The congratulatory din was becoming deafening. When he finally managed to decipher the urgent signals being made by the guru's assistants, the aristocrat grasped that the guru was allowing him, an Englishman - in a gesture of unprecedented magnanimity - to drink the entire contents of the vessel.

"It tasted," observed the aristocrat later, ''remarkably like ordinary urine."

-from the book, in the context of a Englishman's visit to a remote holy man who was purported to have urine which changed daily into rose-water

[RitaJC]

Two days ago, I finished Fledgling by Natasha Brown and bought the second book of the series right away

[AnthroHeart]

Running from Safety by Richard Bach.

[Bring4th_Austin]

Since my last post:


The Disposessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. Loved it a lot. About a man from a small planet with a system of Anarcho-Communism visiting a world of pretty extreme capitalism. It sheds light on the dynamic of the two, exploring benefits and drawbacks of both. Seems like Le Guin favored the anarchy side of things. Highly recommend.

Pit Bull: The Battle over an American Icon by Bronwen Dickey. Great book about the history and social dynamics surrounding "pit bulls." It was highly enlightening to see how socioeconomic and class factors influenced the perception and treatment of pit bulls. Well-researched and a balanced perspective. Recommended for anyone interested in dogs and pets, especially the cultural and systemic facets.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Easy fantasy, a bit shallow, geared towards young adults maybe. I enjoyed it, but grew very tired of the main character and it didn't engage me in any deep way. It has a really interesting aspect of inter-dimensional realities.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. I never read Harry Potter, but have seen the movies a lot. I really like the whimsy and depth of the Harry Potter world, but since I'd seen the movie so much I found the book a bit boring. I'd probably get more out of the later entries in the series but didn't keep going.

What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism by Dan Rather. Sort of like a memoir for Rather, I really enjoyed his reflections on the nature of American patriotism and how it has shaped his life and worldview. It was a fresh perspective for someone like me who is a bit cynical when it comes to the idea of patriotism. It's also really neat to read the reflections of an elder who has lived through a lot recent American history, including WW2, the civil rights movement, Viet Nam, etc., especially from the perspective of a journalist. I found his perspective balanced and compassionate. Recommended for anyone who's interested in the idea of patriotism and America in general.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I never read this or anything else from Bradbury. I had to keep in mind that it was first published in 1953 in a much different cultural climate. Prescient in a lot of ways, but I didn't find it as engaging as I was expecting given the high praise. Still enjoyable and gives food for thought.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Filled with fun and interesting information, easy to read, but also a little too much packed into one book. The topics moved so rapidly that it was hard to retain anything really, but it was definitely entertaining and informative. Some of the modern science is outdated since it was published in 2003.

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. I love Brandon Sanderson. This was my least favorite of his books that I've read, but I still liked it. It was geared more towards young adults, but it didn't stray from solid themes like the brutality and callousness of war, the manipulation of social classes, and what it means to be brave or cowardly. About a girl on a planet besieged by a mysterious alien force who wants more than anything to be a pilot to fight in the war. Sanderson just has a knack for great engaging action sequences and interesting, winding plots.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. She wrote Eat, Pray, Love. After finishing this I read up on her and found out that a lot of people hate her. I liked the book. It's basically her personal philosophy on creativity and how to manifest it. It addressed a lot of my own insecurities around pursuing creative outlets and was really inspirational. A bit fluffy but I got a lot out of it. Recommended if you're struggling with putting yourself out there creatively, but maybe not for everyone.

[RitaJC]

Two days ago, I finished Fledgling by Natasha Brown and bought the second book of the series right away

Just finished that second book Prodigy



and purchased and started reading the next part of the series

[Spaced]

The Disposessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. Loved it a lot. About a man from a small planet with a system of Anarcho-Communism visiting a world of pretty extreme capitalism. It sheds light on the dynamic of the two, exploring benefits and drawbacks of both. Seems like Le Guin favored the anarchy side of things. Highly recommend.

Read this one last year. Great book, I keep trying to get people to read it.

[Bring4th_Austin]

The Disposessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. Loved it a lot. About a man from a small planet with a system of Anarcho-Communism visiting a world of pretty extreme capitalism. It sheds light on the dynamic of the two, exploring benefits and drawbacks of both. Seems like Le Guin favored the anarchy side of things. Highly recommend.

Read this one last year. Great book, I keep trying to get people to read it.

It really is. Not only are Ursula K. Le Guin's ideas and storytelling top-notch, her prose is also amazing. Have you read The Left Hand of Darkness? Also amazing.

[Spaced]

The Disposessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. Loved it a lot. About a man from a small planet with a system of Anarcho-Communism visiting a world of pretty extreme capitalism. It sheds light on the dynamic of the two, exploring benefits and drawbacks of both. Seems like Le Guin favored the anarchy side of things. Highly recommend.

Read this one last year. Great book, I keep trying to get people to read it.

It really is. Not only are Ursula K. Le Guin's ideas and storytelling top-notch, her prose is also amazing. Have you read The Left Hand of Darkness? Also amazing.

I was actually talking about that book with a co-worker this morning. I haven't read it and he said he'd lend it to me.

[flofrog]

This thread is so cool, quantity of books I have never read or didn’t even know about. Thank you for Ms. Le Guin, guys !!!

Just finished The Tattooist of Auschwitz, awfully difficult, not for the weak of heart but about hope too but still. Needing a good brain clearing so to Ms. Le Guin !!!