What Are You Reading Now?

[Northwestcoug]

have always avoided zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance and am about halfway through. not sure why people like it...?

Just finished "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It was enthusiastically reviewed on a podcast, so I decided to see what the fuss was about. Fittingly, I bought it in a bookstore in Bozeman.

That was a long slog. It took a couple of plane trips to force myself to finish it.

There are some beautiful parts in the book. I loved the way it started and loved the ending. I thought the way it dealt with his mental illness was poignant. But I wasn't prepared for the dissertation in philosophy. At times I didn't understand where he was going with his theory of 'quality', and I certainly don't have the background to understand why he was railing against certain theories of philosophy. But if I look at it as an allegory to life, the book becomes very satisfying to me. A long slog, sometimes brutally honest and painful, interspersed with moments of wonder and beauty. "It's the sides of the mountains which sustain life, not the top."

If you have an edition with the author's afterward, it is the best part of the book IMO. There is a wonderful part of how he dealt with his son's death and an unplanned pregnancy in his 50's. It melted my stridently pro-choice heart.

[Applejack]

Just finished "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It was enthusiastically reviewed on a podcast, so I decided to see what the fuss was about. Fittingly, I bought it in a bookstore in Bozeman.

That was a long slog. It took a couple of plane trips to force myself to finish it.

There are some beautiful parts in the book. I loved the way it started and loved the ending. I thought the way it dealt with his mental illness was poignant. But I wasn't prepared for the dissertation in philosophy. At times I didn't understand where he was going with his theory of 'quality', and I certainly don't have the background to understand why he was railing against certain theories of philosophy. But if I look at it as an allegory to life, the book becomes very satisfying to me. A long slog, sometimes brutally honest and painful, interspersed with moments of wonder and beauty. "It's the sides of the mountains which sustain life, not the top."

If you have an edition with the author's afterward, it is the best part of the book IMO. There is a wonderful part of how he dealt with his son's death and an unplanned pregnancy in his 50's. It melted my stridently pro-choice heart.

That book is totally overrated.

[Northwestcoug]

That book is totally overrated.

I wouldn't put it in my top 10 list. But I loved parts of it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I wouldn't put it in my top 10 list. But I loved parts of it.

I liked it.

[Sleeping in EQ]

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Excellent.

That's my dad's favorite book.

My grandfather was a civilian employee out at Edwards when the sound barrier jocks were there. My grandfather new some of those guys.

[Jeff Lebowski]

A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts is a great follow up read.

Yeah, I read that several years ago and loved it.

[beefytee]

Just finished "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It was enthusiastically reviewed on a podcast, so I decided to see what the fuss was about. Fittingly, I bought it in a bookstore in Bozeman.

That was a long slog. It took a couple of plane trips to force myself to finish it.

There are some beautiful parts in the book. I loved the way it started and loved the ending. I thought the way it dealt with his mental illness was poignant. But I wasn't prepared for the dissertation in philosophy. At times I didn't understand where he was going with his theory of 'quality', and I certainly don't have the background to understand why he was railing against certain theories of philosophy. But if I look at it as an allegory to life, the book becomes very satisfying to me. A long slog, sometimes brutally honest and painful, interspersed with moments of wonder and beauty. "It's the sides of the mountains which sustain life, not the top."

If you have an edition with the author's afterward, it is the best part of the book IMO. There is a wonderful part of how he dealt with his son's death and an unplanned pregnancy in his 50's. It melted my stridently pro-choice heart.

I had to read it for the Ethics in Computer Science class I took long ago.

[SteelBlue]

the sequel to The Handmaids Tale, The Testaments. Most of it was pretty good, but the end felt very rushed and lame. I think it is a joke that this book is a finalist for the Booker Prize.

I suppose you've heard the news? Prize committee refused to pick one winner and finally brow beat the board into accepting their decision and awarding the prize to two authors. Atwood was one. I can't remember the other.

[BigPiney]

I suppose you've heard the news? Prize committee refused to pick one winner and finally brow beat the board into accepting their decision and awarding the prize to two authors. Atwood was one. I can't remember the other.

I saw that. What a cop out, and for a book that wasn't that great. The other book looked lame and I will not read it. Can't stand short stories.

[BigFatMeanie]

I had to read it for the Ethics in Computer Science class I took long ago.

Same. I hated it.

[creekster]

Just finished "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". It was enthusiastically reviewed on a podcast, so I decided to see what the fuss was about. Fittingly, I bought it in a bookstore in Bozeman.

That was a long slog. It took a couple of plane trips to force myself to finish it.

There are some beautiful parts in the book. I loved the way it started and loved the ending. I thought the way it dealt with his mental illness was poignant. But I wasn't prepared for the dissertation in philosophy. At times I didn't understand where he was going with his theory of 'quality', and I certainly don't have the background to understand why he was railing against certain theories of philosophy. But if I look at it as an allegory to life, the book becomes very satisfying to me. A long slog, sometimes brutally honest and painful, interspersed with moments of wonder and beauty. "It's the sides of the mountains which sustain life, not the top."

If you have an edition with the author's afterward, it is the best part of the book IMO. There is a wonderful part of how he dealt with his son's death and an unplanned pregnancy in his 50's. It melted my stridently pro-choice heart.

I read this when I was about 15 and loved it. But to be honest I don’t remember it that well now. It was a long time ago.

[Scott R Nelson]

I stopped by the local library to pick up a book that I had ordered and was browsing through the New Books shelf. Apparently when the Meridian Library buys new books they make them available for a month or two with a sticker saying "Lucky Day - No Holds - No Waiting 0 Sorry, No Renewals - 14 day check out". You just have to luck into it by visiting the local branch.

One of the authors I've read a lot is David Baldacci and his latest book is One Good Deed. I'm half-way through it right now and enjoying it. It's a murder mystery set somewhere around 1950 with a new character, Aloysius Archer. The main character is a little bit like Jack Reacher and a little bit like Easy Rawlins (but white).

If you like murder mysteries, or David Baldacci, I would recommend this book.

[SteelBlue]

Re-reading Jose Saramago's All the Names. Highly recommended. Also recently finished Blindness by the same author and also recommend.

[Northwestcoug]

Recently finished Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson. #1 NYT bestseller published in 2015. My daughter, son-in-law, and wife all read it and insisted that I read it. I have to say that this book impacted me more than any book I can remember in recent years. The author is an attorney that has made a career advocating for the poor and oppressed in our judicial system. The main story in the book is his effort to free a man on death row who was wrongly convicted. Absolutely gripping story. Ironically, it occurs in the hometown of Harper Lee. Atticus Finch has nothing on this guy. Discusses a number of other cases. Eventually he argues a series of cases before the Supreme Court.

After reading this book:

1. I am against the death penalty. Too many wrongly convicted people on death row, disproportionately discriminates against black and poor people. Life in prison is an adequate penalty.

2. I am against kids being tried as adults. I have always hated this practice, now I hate it more after learning that we have often thrown 13-14 year old kids in adult prisons, sometimes with life or death sentences. That is barbaric.

3. I believe mandatory minimum sentencing is one of the greatest mistakes we have made as a country.

4. No judge should ever be elected. That leads to a system skewed for long sentences, more death sentences, etc to satisfy our collective lust for revenge.

God bless Brian Stevenson and his organization.

This has been your best suggestion since I've been on CS. What a powerful book. My emotions ranged from gratitude for people like Stevenson to rage at the incompetence and immorality of many aspects of our judicial system. I feel like evangelizing this book to my family and friends. And supporting the EJI. Along with other defendant advocacy groups, they are doing God's work.

I completely agree with your list. I would also add:

Significant investment into and overhaul of the public defender system. It seems like many of those cases Stevenson litigated could have not become cases in the first place, had they adequate legal representation.

Reform the entire appeals process. Even when there is clear innocence, unnecessary rules about evidence and time deadlines can cut off an appeal even before it starts, no matter how worthy it is.

Remove forensics labs entirely out of the oversight of prosecution. Just way too many chances for police or prosecutors to bias forensic investigators and their conclusions.

Force Alabama out of the US. Maybe throw Mississippi and Louisiana out for good measure also. Seriously, how messed up is their judiciary?

For you lawyers out there, don't @ me with my above generalizations. I have now read TWO books that deal with prosecutorial misconduct!

[Jeff Lebowski]

This has been your best suggestion since I've been on CS. What a powerful book. My emotions ranged from gratitude for people like Stevenson to rage at the incompetence and immorality of many aspects of our judicial system. I feel like evangelizing this book to my family and friends. And supporting the EJI. Along with other defendant advocacy groups, they are doing God's work.

I completely agree with your list. I would also add:

Significant investment into and overhaul of the public defender system. It seems like many of those cases Stevenson litigated could have not become cases in the first place, had they adequate legal representation.

Reform the entire appeals process. Even when there is clear innocence, unnecessary rules about evidence and time deadlines can cut off an appeal even before it starts, no matter how worthy it is.

Remove forensics labs entirely out of the oversight of prosecution. Just way too many chances for police or prosecutors to bias forensic investigators and their conclusions.

Force Alabama out of the US. Maybe throw Mississippi and Louisiana out for good measure also. Seriously, how messed up is their judiciary?

For you lawyers out there, don't @ me with my above generalizations. I have now read TWO books that deal with prosecutorial misconduct!

I am happy you liked it.