What Books Are You Reading Right Now?

Ivan Campos said:
Has anyone read "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari?
I have read the first fifty pages and found it very interesting so far.
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I really liked this book. Highly educational. If you are interested in how humans developed into tribes, then societies, etc., this is for you.
 
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Just finished “After Death” by Dean Koontz, and am about a third of the way through “Dead Fall” by Brad Thor.
 
JTB_5 said:
I’m reading Spenser’s Faerie Queene mainly.
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If you need a break and have time for something extra-curricular, I think you would enjoy L. Sprague de Camp's and Fletcher Pratt's fantasy novella "The Mathematics of Magic." It was the second story in their Harold Shea series, in which Professor Shea used a system of symbolic logic to visit parallel universes in which magic "works," or properly speaking is part of the local physics. Some of these universes are based on human mythology, some on works of literature. In "The Mathematics of Magic," Shea and his pal Reed Chalmers visit a universe in which Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene is reality, and they aid Britomart and Belphebe in their struggle with the forces of evil.

"The Mathematics of Magic" was originally published in John W. Campbell's pulp fantasy magazine Unknown in August 1940. The Harold Shea stories are considered fantasy classics, and they have been republished over and over in mass market paperbacks variously titled The Compleat Enchanter, The Incompleat Enchanter, and The Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. You can probably borrow a copy from any large public library system, or failing that you could buy a used copy online for $4 or $5.
 
Piso Mojado said:
If you need a break and have time for something extra-curricular, I think you would enjoy L. Sprague de Camp's and Fletcher Pratt's fantasy novella "The Mathematics of Magic." It was the second story in their Harold Shea series, in which Professor Shea used a system of symbolic logic to visit parallel universes in which magic "works," or properly speaking is part of the local physics. Some of these universes are based on human mythology, some on works of literature. In "The Mathematics of Magic," Shea and his pal Reed Chalmers visit a universe in which Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene is reality, and they aid Britomart and Belphebe in their struggle with the forces of evil.

"The Mathematics of Magic" was originally published in John W. Campbell's pulp fantasy magazine Unknown in August 1940. The Harold Shea stories are considered fantasy classics, and they have been republished over and over in mass market paperbacks variously titled The Compleat Enchanter, The Incompleat Enchanter, and The Mathematics of Magic: The Enchanter Stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. You can probably borrow a copy from any large public library system, or failing that you could buy a used copy online for $4 or $5.
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Thanks for the tip!
 
I read a lot. Currently reading Pierce Brown's "Light Bringer." I loved the original "Red Rising" trilogy, but this latest series, a continuation, has overall been depressing. The latest book finally (thus far) shows some hope for the protagonist.

I've been enjoying Jack Carr "The Terminal List" series, can't wait for the next book.

I mostly read Fantasy novels. The last nonfiction book I read was "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" by Max Weber. Great book.

One of my favorite series is Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth." Heavily influenced by Ayn Rand and her philosophy of "objectivism."
 
I've been filling my reading with books by David Baldacci, some of the series are very good, some not so much. This week read the last installment in the Longmire series, "The Longmire Defense". I liked it, was back to basics, no far out story like his last book. It's got all the things that make Longmire books fun - Cady, Henry and of course, Vic.
 
When I was on vacation last month there was a pile of books in the unit where we stayed. I grabbed the top one and headed out to the beach. It was "peril at end house" by Agatha Christie. Great book!

Anyways I enjoyed Poirot quite a bit and found that he stared in a whole series. (apparently I live under a rock)

Thrift books has many of them so I grabbed the beginning of the series called "The Mysterious Affair at styles" and look forward to digging into it this weekend.
 
Just finished the latest in the Nora Kelly series from Preston and Child. "Dead Mountain" really features more of FBI Agent Corrie Swanson and overall was an easy, enjoyable read. If you don't already know, the Kelly books are off shoots of the Prendergast series.
 
Just finished "Pulse Hand" part of the "Silent Order" series by Jonathan Moeller. Very interesting series if you like sci-fi, action, and mystery. It has some very interesting parts about AI and cybernetics.


Also recently finished "Light Bringer" by Pierce Brown. Just like the rest of his second part of the series, I was left angry and disappointed. The original trilogy was great. This second part is depressing hot garbage. I may not finish the series when the next book comes out.

I've only read 24 books so far this year. Last year I read 28, in both 2021 and 2020 I read 44 books each. 2019 I read 66 books. Healing up and being back to work for 2.5 years has put a damper on it.

Next I'll be reading Brandon Sanderson's "Tress of the Emerald Sea" which appears to be a one off somewhat shorter book but is still part of his "Cosmere" world. It looks to have some interesting and beautiful illustrations in it. He is one of my favorite authors.

Also upcoming are (not out yet):

"The Secret" by Lee and Andrew Child, a Jack Reacher novel


"Sister of the Starlit Seas" by Terry Brooks

"Defiant" by Brandon Sanderson, part of the"Skyward " series. It's more of a YA sci Fi series, and I turned my cousin's daughter (now 16) on to it a few years back, so we always read and discuss. She is like a niece to me.

There are probably 15 fantasy or sci fi series I'm just waiting for the next book to come out. Also waiting for the next Terminal list book, which will be next year.
 
Reading a string of O'Reilly "Killing" series; Killing the Killers, Killing the Legends, and currently Killing Crazy Horse.
Queued up is Killing the Witches.
Then I have a couple Mark Dice books and some economic theory.
I am also reading the Federalist Papers.
 
Has anyone read "The 33 Strategies of War"? I have just picked it up.
 
The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, ed. James Morton Smith, W.W. Norton & Company, 1995, ISBN 978-0393036916

Republic of Letters.jpg

Three volumes, 2073 pages, 5 pounds. Before you run out to buy one, you can read all of this online for free, well organized and with a useable search function. I've been reading it online for 12 years, and at age 76 I've finally admitted to myself that I'll never finish it without a hard copy. You can buy a used one online for $50 shipped. It will be a library copy, and you can see how long it's been since someone checked it out.

In case you've never read this correspondence, here is part of what Jefferson wrote to Madison while ambassador to France.

To James Madison Fontainebleau, Oct. 28, 1785​


DEAR SIR,

-- Seven o'clock, and retired to my fireside, I have determined to enter into conversation with you. This is a village of about 15,000 inhabitants when the court is not here, and 20,000 when they are, occupying a valley through which runs a brook and on each side of it a ridge of small mountains, most of which are naked rock. The King comes here, in the fall always, to hunt. His court attend him, as do also the foreign diplomatic corps; but as this is not indispensably required and my finances do not admit the expense of a continued residence here, I propose to come occasionally to attend the King's levees, returning again to Paris, distant forty miles. This being the first trip, I set out yesterday morning to take a view of the place. For this purpose I shaped my course towards the highest of the mountains in sight, to the top of which was about a league.

As soon as I had got clear of the town I fell in with a poor woman walking at the same rate with myself and going the same course. Wishing to know the condition of the laboring poor I entered into conversation with her, which I began by enquiries for the path which would lead me into the mountain: and thence proceeded to enquiries into her vocation, condition and circumstances. She told me she was a day laborer at 8 sous or 4d. sterling the day: that she had two children to maintain, and to pay a rent of 30 livres for her house (which would consume the hire of 75 days), that often she could no employment and of course was without bread. As we had walked together near a mile and she had so far served me as a guide, I gave her, on parting, 24 sous. She burst into tears of a gratitude which I could perceive was unfeigned because she was unable to utter a word. She had probably never before received so great an aid. This little attendrissement, with the solitude of my walk, led me into a train of reflections on that unequal division of property which occasions the numberless instances of wretchedness which I had observed in this country and is to be observed all over Europe.
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The pocket change Jefferson gave to the French farm worker was in our money about $15. Even in Fontainebleau, expensive for a country town, this would buy a good meal with a pullet or half chicken and a bottle of wine — no doubt Jefferson's intention. Lacunae in the text are where Jefferson's pantograph skipped a word and he didn't pencil in a correction.

UPDATE 10/27/23

Some notes on this edition which I have received. These 6" x 9" textbooks weigh 2½ pounds each and most of us will read them on a book stand, sitting at a desk or table. They are bound in buckram and printed on acid-free archival paper: the binding and covers are good for 50–100 years, the paper for 100–200 years we guess (since this paper hasn't been in use for 200 years).. For modern mass produced books they are top of the line. The text is set in Galliard and well footnoted. Volume One has coated paper reproductions of portraits of Jefferson and Madison at different life stages, their wives, and some of their houses. Volume Three has a three-volume index, an annotated bibliography, and lots of supplemental material. A good used book and I'm the first to turn its pages.
 
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One of my regrets is never having run the Grand Canyon on a raft or a dory. A good friend pointed me to a book she thought I'd like, "The Emerald Mile". This was a terrific read, living in Utah and knowing a bit about the river might have helped me. Not only does the book feature the fastest run ever but it delves into Glen Canyon, the dam and the Colorado River.

This year we had an epic snow melt, the news was constantly referencing 1983. They never brought up what was going on at the Glan Canyon Dam back then. They almost lost the dam and while this was going on three men got in a dory and decided to set the record for the 277 mile long canyon. A wild ride, very well written. If you like outdoor adventures, you'll like this.
 
Right now reading "Quicksilver" by Dean Knootz on my kindle
G2
 
I’m reading Preface to Paradise lost by C. S. Lewis in preparation for reading Milton’s Paradise Lost (again).
 
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