What Are You Reading Now?

[SteelBlue]

I'm very surprised that Between the World and Me didn't win for non-fiction. I guess I'll have to check out Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. Also surprising to see two wins for the Tampa Bay Times for two different stories. Good for them.

I was surprised as well. I thought it was a foregone conclusion.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer.

I have to read this to get it off my bucket list. Since it is 1600 pages and an old classic (pub. 1961) I kind of figured it would be rather dry. Thankfully, I was wrong. Really enjoying it so far.

Wow. What a great book. That ranks up there among my all-time favorite non-fiction books.

A few things that struck me:

1) The notion that the rise of Nazism resulted from an overly harsh Versailles treaty is far too simplistic. You have to also factor in the manner in which the Germans surrendered in WW1, the manner in which the Weimar Republic was formed, nationalistic tendencies in Germany, counterbalance to Bolshevism, etc.

2) Interesting how certain small things seems to change the course of history. Hitler gets pissed about a riot in Yugoslavia so he delays the invasion of Russia for 6 weeks or so while his army wipes Yugoslavia off the map. That delay was crucial because months later his army stalls in early winter snows within sight of Moscow.

3) Those poor Italians. They didn't want to get mixed up with the Germans.

4) We focus a lot on the holocaust of the Jews, but the breadth and scope of peoples murdered by the Nazis defies description. When they invaded Russia, the plan was to steal all the food and resources from Western Russia and deliberately starve/kill tens of millions of Russians.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I have read through all 35 issues of Saga. I highly recommend it. I think it tops Fables as my favorite comic. I still haven't read through Sandman, but I think I will read that soon. For some reason, while I liked the first 2 compilations, it just hasn't grabbed me the way Fables and Saga did.

[SeattleUte]

Wow. What a great book. That ranks up there among my all-time favorite non-fiction books.

A few things that struck me:

1) The notion that the rise of Nazism resulted from an overly harsh Versailles treaty is far too simplistic. You have to also factor in the manner in which the Germans surrendered in WW1, the manner in which the Weimar Republic was formed, nationalistic tendencies in Germany, counterbalance to Bolshevism, etc.

2) Interesting how certain small things seems to change the course of history. Hitler gets pissed about a riot in Yugoslavia so he delays the invasion of Russia for 6 weeks or so while his army wipes Yugoslavia off the map. That delay was crucial because months later his army stalls in early winter snows within sight of Moscow.

3) Those poor Italians. They didn't want to get mixed up with the Germans.

4) We focus a lot on the holocaust of the Jews, but the breadth and scope of peoples murdered by the Nazis defies description. When they invaded Russia, the plan was to steal all the food and resources from Western Russia and deliberately starve/kill tens of millions of Russians.

As you probably know, I LOVE this book. It's arguably somewhat out of date, but it's amazing how current it really is, which attests to the thoroughness of Nazi record-keeping and the fortuity that those records were recovered shortly after the fall of the Third Reich--and Shirer's immense and deep understanding of the Nazi phenomenon on a grand scale. The book is therefore timeless.

Arguably, Martin Luther gets too much blame for the holocaust. But those who criticized the book for that may want to reconsider in light of religion's current bad acts which reveal much about its soul.

Ultimately, Rise and Fall is as much a book to read as partially an eyewitness account (Shirer's) and for the literary merit as for the history. The prose is beautiful. It is itself a historical artifact--much like Gibbon's Decline and Fall. Ultimately, it's the most entertaining of all the behemoth WWII histories, and my favorite. One of those very formative books for me. I love it!

[Jeff Lebowski]

As you probably know, I LOVE this book. It's arguably somewhat out of date, but it's amazing how current it really is, which attest to the thoroughness of Nazi record-keeping and the fortuity that those records were recovered shortly after the fall of the Third Reich--and Shirer's immense and deep understanding of the Nazi phenomenon on a grand scale. The book is therefore timeless.

Arguably, Martin Luther gets too much blame for the holocaust. But those who criticized the book for that may want to reconsider in light of religion's current bad acts which reveal much about its soul.

Ultimately, Rise and Fall is as much a book to read as partially an eyewitness account (Shirer's) and for the literary merit as for the history. The prose is beautiful. It is itself a historical artifact--much like Gibbon's Decline and Fall. Ultimately, it's the most entertaining of all the behemoth WWII histories, and my favorite. One of those very formative books for me. I love it!

Yes, the fact that he personally witnessed so many events in the rise of National Socialism (and the aftermath at Nuremberg) was amazing. And I too enjoyed his writing style.

On the "dated" point, I got a chuckle of how he described all of the "homosexual perverts" in the Nazi party.

[SeattleUte]

On the "dated" point, I got a chuckle of how he described all of the "homosexual perverts" in the Nazi party.

The publisher should sanitize that, eliminate pervert. Like the LDSC did with the BOM--white and delightsome to bright and delightsome.

[eldiente]

The publisher should sanitize that, eliminate pervert. Like the LDSC did with the BOM--white and delightsome to bright and delightsome.

Source?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just finished The Girl on the Train. Decent thriller. Shades of Gone Girl.

[Omaha 680]

Finally finished Chernow's Alexander Hamilton. What a great book and what an amazing man. The last chapters on the duel were riveting. Also, I knew things were not cozy between Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton, but I hadn't seen so many excerpts from their personal communication about each other until this read. In spite of his imperfections, I came away admiring Hamilton more and Jefferson less.

[Northwestcoug]

On the advice of an owner of a small bookstore in Oregon, I started reading Sanderson's 'Mistborn'. I really do like fantasy, but I don't like gambling my time on bad authors. Because of this, I've only read a few authors; Zelazny, LeGuin, Rowling, and Mull. But I figured there's some more good stuff out there and I asked for a recommendation.

I'm over halfway through and I am enjoying the world Sanderson created. I think it's very creative; I haven't seen anything like it before. It's not only fantasy, but there's some good social/political commentary. I think I'll stick with him until I finish the series.

And hey, he teaches at the Y! Didn't know that until I looked him up on the web. That's the second Mormon author I unknowingly started reading.

I'm kind of embarrassed that less than two months later I finished the trilogy, about 2000 pages in total

I would highly recommend the series to fantasy fans. I thought it was similar to 'The Stand', where lots of different stories were going on simultaneously, then coalesce near the end. There is a fairly complex plot with multiple interesting characters. A lot of the book is outside the normal fantasy realm; quite a bit of discussion on political philosophy and religion. And the religion talk is quite good. In some parts it sounds pretty much like what we hash out here. But don't worry, faith wins out in the end (sort of).

If you're like my wife who can't stand magic saving the day each time hope is lost, don't bother. But it's very good fantasy.

[BigPiney]

I'm kind of embarrassed that less than two months later I finished the trilogy, about 2000 pages in total

I would highly recommend the series to fantasy fans. I thought it was similar to 'The Stand', where lots of different stories were going on simultaneously, then coalesce near the end. There is a fairly complex plot with multiple interesting characters. A lot of the book is outside the normal fantasy realm; quite a bit of discussion on political philosophy and religion. And the religion talk is quite good. In some parts it sounds pretty much like what we hash out here. But don't worry, faith wins out in the end (sort of).

If you're like my wife who can't stand magic saving the day each time hope is lost, don't bother. But it's very good fantasy.

I read the first two in quick succession a year ago. Can't get motivated to read the third. I really liked the first book.

[Northwestcoug]

I read the first two in quick succession a year ago. Can't get motivated to read the third. I really liked the first book.

I think I liked the first book the best, just because it was so different than anything I had read before. But the last one is a decent ending. It resolves a lot and ties most loose ends. The end kind of moved too fast for a big trilogy, but I was still satisfied.

The book gives quick synopses of books one and two, so you could probably pick it up where you left off.

[BigPiney]

I think I liked the first book the best, just because it was so different than anything I had read before. But the last one is a decent ending. It resolves a lot and ties most loose ends. The end kind of moved too fast for a big trilogy, but I was still satisfied.

The book gives quick synopses of books one and two, so you could probably pick it up where you left off.

I am sure I could, I just need to move it to the top of my books to read. Problem is that Steelblue recommends too many books and I can't keep up. My kindle is full of books that I have checked out of the library right now.

[SteelBlue]

I am sure I could, I just need to move it to the top of my books to read. Problem is that Steelblue recommends too many books and I can't keep up. My kindle is full of books that I have checked out of the library right now.

Ha ha, it's nice to know someone sees them! I just read Lions by Bonnie Nadzam and rank it among the best I've read this year. Comes out in early July.

[BigPiney]

Ha ha, it's nice to know someone sees them! I just read Lions by Bonnie Nadzam and rank it among the best I've read this year. Comes out in early July.

STOP!!!