What is being read?

so what is the last book that made you think?
Made you Laugh?
Made you cry?

I've been so busy with the Red cross that i barely got through Candid by Voltaire. Its my twentieth read of the book. So much of what was in the Satire is being seen in the political folly of the day that i am almost amazed. But reading hasn't been completely on the socio-philosophical level. I also thumbed through Flowers in the Attic. pretty interesting read but enough about my choices what's got yall crouched over by your lamps or in complete enthrall.

 

I can't remember the last book that made me cry. But the ones that drew me in and made me think were "Princess" and "Lifting the Veil" - both about life for Muslim women in the Middle East.

An interesting coffee table type book is "Sex". It's a book about the history and culture of sex and changing attitudes etc. Very good.

"Sickened" really disappointed me. I thought that with it being about Munchhausen by Proxy it'd be interesting, but it bore me.

Interesting biographies/auto biographies are "Paul Merson" and "Rodney Marsh" - the latter being my favourite as it covered a great football era and included stories about many of the stars from it.

 

stephen king's "Insomnia"......I have not been sleeping well lately; and a book called "The Great Controversy"

 

There are two books that I am in a constant state of rereading (several times over). They get picked up and don't get put down for hours but then are on the shelf for a month or two before I fall in love with them again:
1.) Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Pirsig
2.) The People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

Other recommendations:
Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen (yes, recommended by a teacher)
Servant Leadership by Greenleaf (classic)
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (probably appreciated most by women)

 

A MUST READ BOOK FOR ALL BROTHERS IS HE-MOTIONS BY T.D. JAKES. AND LADIES IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND YOUR MAN ON A MORE DEEPER AND EMOTIONAL LEVEL. READ IT AS WELL, YOU'LL THANK ME LATER.

 

Addicted by Zane

 

I just picked up Fly Boy in the Buttermilk by Greg Tate.

 

The Wilding of America: Greed, Violence, and the New American Dream by Charles Derber

The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout

Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert Hare.

What I got from all 3 of the above books is how Americans are loosing their souls chasing some media hyped high life and that there are those among us who have no moral compass who lead us down this road. Psychopaths/sociopaths blend in very well with our society and are actually influencing our culture more than we know.

 

The Kindred by Octavia Butlers a good read. Also Trainspotting is very good once you get use to the accent in which the writer writes.

 

1. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept - Paulo Cohelo
2. Adam's Curse - Brian Sykes
3. My Life: Giacomo Cassanova

Happy Reading

T2

 

I read magazines, newspapers, novels, almost anything. Here are four books I've really been getting into.

1) "The Way of the Wiseguy" by Joseph D. Pistone. If you've seen the movie Donnie Brasco, then you know who Joe Pistone is. He spent years in the Mafia as an undercover agent and is now in the government's witness protection program. You will learn more about the Mafia by reading this book than you will watching the Sopranos or the Godfather, etc.

2) "Confessions of a Video Vixen" by Karrine Steffans. A scorned video buttclapper gets her revenge on the music industry and athletes with this tell-all book. Who knows how much of it is true or not. It does make for interesting reading, though. If what she wrote about how she was treated by her babydaddy and her moms is accurate, you also have to feel sadness for some of the things she went through.

3) "The Other Hollywood, the Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry" by Legs McNeil & Jennifer Osborne. I happened to run into this book by chance, started reading it and couldn't put it down. It covers everything from old-school porn, John Holmes, IR porn, porn star wannabees who couldn't quite measure up, drug abuse, murders and AIDS scares in the industry. The book is written in interview format.

4) "Top Ten of Everything 2005" by Russell Ash. More of a coffee table read with surprising information like the richest country in the world is Luxembourg and the country with the 3rd highest divorce rate is Russia. It also has the top 10 Nicole Kidman films listed!!! Needless to say, I will be purchasing a few DVD's this weekend.

I like to read about history, especially when it involves violence, determination and sacrifice. That's why I will soon start reading this book I purchased about a month ago named "1776" by David McCullough. It won a Pulitzer Prize, so it must be the shit.

Peace.

 

I know most people have no interest in philosophy, but, Since I am a philosophy NUT! I am currently rereading.........

"The Apology" by Plato. His account of Socrates on Trial (which follows Introduction to the Wave Structure of Matter below) provides an eloquent and tragic description of the Last Days of Socrates that is still very relevant to our postmodern democratic society. Most significantly, it demonstrates the stubborn resistance that society displays towards those who choose to question the customs and beliefs of their time (as the philosopher must). This attitude is still very alive today, where physics is dominated by mathematical theories founded on particles, and philosophy is in decay due to an absurd postmodern view (contradiction) that the 'Only Absolute Truth is that there are No Absolute Truths'.

"When the mind's eye rests on objects illuminated by truth and reality, it understands and comprehends them, and functions intelligently; but when it turns to the twilight world of change and decay, it can only form opinions, its vision is confused and its beliefs shifting, and it seems to lack intelligence." (Plato, Republic)

"Metaphysics" Aristotle. As Aristotle explains, Metaphysics is the study of the One Substance (and its Properties) which exists and causes all things, and is therefore the necessary foundation for all human knowledge. Aristotle (and Leibniz) were correct to realize that One Substance must have Properties that cause matter's interconnected activity and Motion. Though Aristotle did not know what existed, he explained the scientific method such that we could determine this ourselves. Thus Aristotle's ideas are very important, for within them are the clues to the solution of this most profound of all problems, 'what exists', and thus what it means to be 'human'.

Ancient Greek Philosophy, of which Aristotle was the high point, marked a fundamental turning point in the evolution of humanity and our ideas about our existence in the universe. Over the past 2,500 years Aristotle's philosophy has directly contributed to the evolution of our current science / reason based society.

"It is clear, then, that wisdom is knowledge having to do with certain principles and causes. But now, since it is this knowledge that we are seeking, we must consider the following point: of what kind of principles and of what kind of causes is wisdom the knowledge?" (Aristotle, Metaphysics, 340BC)

The the great political philosopher, Niccolò Machiavelli, "The Prince." Among the most original thinkers of the Renaissance is a brilliant and slightly tragic figure, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527). Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, his name would be synonymous with deviousness, cruelty, and willfully destructive rationality; no thinker was every so demonized or misunderstood than Machiavelli. The source of this misunderstanding is his most influential and widely read treatise on government, The Prince, a remarkably short book that attempts to lay out methods to secure and maintain political power.

"There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. The innovator has the enmity of all who profit by the preservation of the old system and only lukewarm defenders by those who would gain by the new system." (Machiavelli, 1513)

 

I'm reading "Farewell to Arms".

 

There is something I'm reading, it's making me think, it's articles by Ashgar Ali Engineer on this site http://ecumene.org/IIS/csss.htm I'm interested in his view of Islam.

 

LOL. Oh no, Charlie Sykes. He's a local uber-conservative radio host. His kids went to a school I worked at - we dumbed them down. Funny, though, that their mother was seen at the school much more than Dad. Maybe he was too busy writing about educating kids instead of getting involved in his kids' education.

 

Thank you. It was interesting. It has been long discussed in education that American schools educate to the highest end of the bell curve - the lower-achieving students and the highest-achieving students are left behind. One of the reasons for this is the poor training of teachers. Teachers themselves are not as academically prepared as they should be. College education courses are a joke!!! I would assume that it is easier to get a degree in education than any other major. In my state, teachers are required to take an additional 6 credits every 5 years to renew their license. However, most take the easy way out and take "fake" credits that are targeted towards these less ambitious teachers. I've seen some advertised that are simply breathing techniques and stretching for a weekend graduate credit. I am ashamed that my "profession" can be so unprofessional. But we are only educating the future, no big deal.

 

Somebody told me before about the 2nd one Mosiah recommended. I'm still curious to read it...

and, might I recommend this?

www.whydoblacks.com

 

Reading right now, David Brook's "On Paradise Road"

it is fabulous, a very good sociological study of America and American behavior. This is my second book to read by David Brook's, an amazing intellectual of our time

I hope to read the new book by Jessie Helms also, its suppose to be real good.

I read the book by Strom Thurmonds daughter, and Trent Lotts book too

 

I read "On Paradise Road" - great book -

Right now I am reading "Simple Justice" by Richard Kluger - it is a history of Brown v. Board of Ed and Black America's struggle for equality.

 

There is a book i checked of the local library that deals with classism and its influence on American society. The author mainly stresses the overt classim in America in the face of the so called classless society that American principles are supposed to put forth.

I think the name of the book is called SNOB or something to that effect. i have to make a return trip to library and pick it up.

I've noticed that a number of posters here are into nonfiction titles. I have question if you don't me asking, do you find you go tend to go for more non-fiction now that you are older or is it because you just was interest in the subject matter?

Me personally, i began reading a mix of things from national geographic to the justice league comics. In college i got more into older stuff especially the french satirist and the various English movements in literature, theater and art. i also found Anais Nin, Henry miller, Tolkien and others.
Now I'm tending to read a lot less fiction, except anthology mags like Zeotrope, Asimov, mars field journal etc.
Mainly I'm reading or am interested in none fiction, socio-scientific stuff.
Gotta get back into my Victorian and Harlem Renaissance authors. current fictional stuff in novel form just is not grabbing me.