For those who are new ... we discuss books. I list what I'm reading, and people comment with what they're reading. Sometimes, on Sundays, I post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.
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Just finished
Washington: A life which I am reading on my new Kindle 2 (my old Kindle broke). I gave up on this one. I think I just don't like Chernow's style of writing - but I'm in a small minority on this, so don't let it stop you. He seemed a bit hyperbolic and a bit repetitive. At least to me.
The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst and the rush to empire, 1898 by Evan Thomas.
Very well written history covering the end of the 19th century in America and the Spanish-American war, which has parallels with the Iraq invasion (based on lies, led to torture, jingoistic .....). This is biography-history. It portrays three proponents of war: Theodore Roosevelt, William Randolph Hearst and Henry Cabot Lodge, and two opponents of the war: House Speaker Tom Reed and philosopher/psychologist William James. I love this way of writing history through biography, and Thomas has five excellent subject for biography. I knew next to nothing about Reed.
Now reading
Charming Proofs. A book of beautiful (or charming) proofs in mathematics, nearly all of which require no advanced math.
(restarted) The Best Writing on Mathematics: 2010 by Mircea Pitici. This is a collection of articles about mathematics: Mathematics education, philosophy of mathematics, the practice of mathematics, and so on. The articles are all good, your interest may vary.
A re-read of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. This huge novel (over 1000 pages) is really three novels in one, in two time periods. Two strands occur during WW II, one in the present day (1999). I think this is my favorite of Stephenson's novels. It reads faster than The Baroque Cycle, and it has lot of the digressions that I like in Stephenson's works. Plus, it's so geeky that it feels like science fiction, even though it is hard to say that it really IS science fiction. It's not alternate history (the parts that take place in WWII are either accurate or at least possible). There's computer stuff (both old and (relatively) new), cryptography, spying, romance, heroism, war.... and sidelines including a very funny cameo by a very young Ronald Reagan and a not-at-all-funny cameo with Herman Goerring. And a short essay on the right way to eat Captain Crunch.
Just started
Mr Speaker! The life and times of Thomas B. Reed, the man who broke the fillibuster by James Grant.
Reed was a Republican in the Gilded Age (back when Republicans were the good guys) from Maine, and rose to be speaker of the House. He was way ahead of his time, being a proponent of women's suffrage and equal rights for Blacks, among other things. As speaker, he broke the ability of the minority party to fillibuster in the House. House members used to be able to prevent a quorum by sitting in the House but not giving their names in roll calls. Reed started recognizing people himself. He also resigned from the House on a matter of principle - he opposed the USA starting and fighting in the Spanish American war.