Author Topic: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?  (Read 189695 times)

Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1095 on: December 1, 2013, 08:27 PM »
On the fourth and final volume of Professor Donald Kagan's Peloponnesian War series. Might try to squeeze in one more book before classes start.

Offline Phrubruh

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1096 on: December 20, 2013, 10:12 PM »
Reading "Xenocide" by Orson Scott Card



The war for survival of the planet Lusitania will be fought in the heart of a child named Gloriously Bright.

On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequininos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought.

Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the pequininos require in order to become adults. The Startways Congress so fears the effects of the descolada, should it escape from Lusitania, that they have ordered the destruction of the entire planet, and all who live there. The Fleet is on its way, a second xenocide seems inevitable.
 
Xenocide is the third novel in Orson Scott Card's Ender Quintet.
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Offline Chris M

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1097 on: December 21, 2013, 09:08 AM »
I'm finally able to get into reading what I want again.  So I decided to celebrate with "Duel of Eagles" which is a pretty good story on the US involvement in the Texas Revolution, the people, and the events leading to Texas independence.  Really good story if you are into the history of Texas.  What's really cool is it takes into account the Mexican perspective and accounts of the war.  A lot of historians tend to neglect that particular aspect of history.

« Last Edit: December 21, 2013, 09:10 AM by Chris M »
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."  Ben franklin


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Offline name

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1098 on: January 4, 2014, 11:50 PM »
I've been doing audiobooks lately since I have such a long commute to work.

Finished Ender's Game last month, and am halfway through NOS4A2 this month.  It's pretty damned good.
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Offline Chris M

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1099 on: January 6, 2014, 06:36 AM »


Started this last night and I'm about 50 pages in.  So far it's typical of Clancy and its just a bunch of story lines to get started.  I imagine after about 100-150 pages it will really take off.
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."  Ben franklin


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Offline Morgbug

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1100 on: January 12, 2014, 11:07 PM »
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Offline evenflow

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1101 on: January 13, 2014, 09:33 PM »
Just started A Feast for Crows. Hoping I don't think it is as boring as most people have suggested.
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Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1102 on: January 13, 2014, 11:47 PM »
So... reading "selections" from the following, for class...

Virgil Aenid
Suetonius The Twelve Caesars
Tacitus Agricola
Stambaugh The Ancient Roman City
Statius Silvae
Syme The Roman Revolution
Morgan 69 AD

...at least most of it is in English.

Offline Phrubruh

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1103 on: February 4, 2014, 03:11 PM »
Finishing up the Ender books with "Children of the Mind" by Orson Scott Card.



The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos; a large colony of humans; and the Hive Queen, brought there by Ender. But once against the human race has grown fearful; the Starways Congress has gathered a fleet to destroy Lusitania.

Jane, the evolved computer intelligence, can save the three sentient races of Lusitania. She has learned how to move ships outside the universe, and then instantly back to a different world, abolishing the light-speed limit. But it takes all the processing power available to her, and the Starways Congress is shutting down the Net, world by world.

Soon Jane will not be able to move the ships. Ender's children must save her if they are to save themselves.
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Offline Chris M

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1104 on: February 4, 2014, 09:57 PM »
Interesting and easy read.  However, as a historian I have a problem that Kilmeade doesn't actually leave citations in the text or any real endnotes.  He simply has a selected sources at the end.  In the history world, that doesn't fly too well.  He also mentions in his foreward that some of the conversations are made up based upon notes and letters.  So while the "historical" aspect is good and I have no doubt of the action taking place, the conversations leave something to be desired and only build drama.  With that in mind, I would count this book a very good piece of historical fiction.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."  Ben franklin


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Offline Phrubruh

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1105 on: February 13, 2014, 12:00 AM »
Just looking for a quick burn here. Now reading, Omen (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi book 2) by Christie Golden. 



The Jedi Order is in crisis. The late Jacen Solo’s shocking transformation into murderous Sith Lord Darth Caedus has cast a damning pall over those who wield the Force for good: Two Jedi Knights have succumbed to an inexplicable and dangerous psychosis, criminal charges have driven Luke Skywalker into self-imposed exile, and power-hungry Chief of State Natasi Daala is exploiting anti-Jedi sentiment to undermine the Order’s influence within the Galactic Alliance.

Forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is on a desperate mission to uncover the truth behind Jacen’s fall to the dark side–and to learn what’s turning peaceful Jedi into raving lunatics. But finding answers will mean venturing into the mind-bending space of the Kathol Rift and bargaining with an alien species as likely to destroy outsiders as deal with them. Still, there is no other choice and no time to lose, as the catastrophic events on Coruscant continue to escalate. Stricken by the same violent dementia that infected her brother, Valin, Jedi Knight Jysella Horn faces an equally grim fate after her capture by Natasi Daala’s police. And when Han and Leia Solo narrowly foil another deranged Jedi bent on deadly destruction, even acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner appears willing to bow to Daala’s iron will–at the expense of the Jedi Order.

But an even greater threat is looming. Millennia in the past, a Sith starship crashed on an unknown low-tech planet, leaving the survivors stranded. Over the generations, their numbers have grown, the ways of the dark side have been nurtured, and the time is fast approaching when this lost tribe of Sith will once more take to the stars to reclaim their legendary destiny as rulers of the galaxy. Only one thing stands in their way, a name whispered to them through the Force: Skywalker.
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Offline Chris M

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1106 on: February 13, 2014, 06:18 AM »
I'm on my fourth book in about a month and a half. Woohoo for free time now.

I've been wanting to read "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose for a very long time and got it as a gift a few years ago. So far, it is somewhat interesting, but unlike a lot of Ambrose's work, it is a little tedious and overly wordy. Very, very unlike most of Ambrose's work that I normally like. However, I've always heard its a good read, so I'll keep plugging onward.


"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."  Ben franklin


Embrace the suck.

Offline Phrubruh

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1107 on: February 19, 2014, 11:59 PM »
The Broker by John Grisham/



In his final hours in the Oval Office, the outgoing President grants a controversial last-minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems Backman, in his power broker heyday, may have obtained secrets that compromise the world’s most sophisticated satellite surveillance system.

Backman is quietly smuggled out of the country in a military cargo plane, given a new name, a new identity, and a new home in Italy. Eventually, after he has settled into his new life, the CIA will leak his whereabouts to the Israelis, the Russians, the Chinese, and the Saudis. Then the CIA will do what it does best: sit back and watch. The question is not whether Backman will survive—there is no chance of that. The question the CIA needs answered is, who will kill him?
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Offline Phrubruh

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1108 on: March 14, 2014, 04:20 PM »
Changes: A Novel of the Dresden Files - by Jim Butcher.



Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden's lover-until she was attacked and left struggling with the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Now, she needs Harry's help. Harry's enemies have found the secret she has hidden for so long, and he will have to unleash the full fury of his untapped power.

Because this time, he's fighting to save his child.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2014, 04:21 PM by Master_Phruby »
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Offline Rob

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Re: JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?
« Reply #1109 on: March 14, 2014, 06:26 PM »
Almost done...