What Are You Reading Now?

[SteelBlue]

Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France. Discovered this book while I was down a Proust rabbit hole. Kind of a trip. A guardian angel gets bored with his assignment (a wealthy nobleman whose home contains the finest private library in Europe) and starts stealing and reading his books. He loses his faith, becomes an atheist, and takes human form to live like a mortal in Paris with the goal of fomenting and leading an uprising of guardian angels against God. An interesting bit of satire, but I'd love to see a modern take on this plot.

Edit: Finished the book. For having one of the better plot ideas I've ever run across, this one, while good satire, was a real slog at times. I would be surprised if this novel wasn't an influence on Good Omens by Gaiman. Some really interesting ideas about rebellious angels etc... but ultimately wasn't what I'd hoped it would be.

[CardiacCoug]

I'm reading Is There Anything Good About Men? by Roy Baumeister.


I highly recommend it.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just finished this one.

Definitely a highly entertaining read, especially with the opportunity to share passages with my feminist wife.

I think it’s certainly true that in the freest societies with maximum opportunity for women that there will be professions that will be 90+% male or 90+% female based on interest/motivation. There’s nothing wrong with that.

[Bo Diddley]

I sincerely hope you find it as good as I did. I agree, it is a bit of a door stop

I'm just getting started on it. I'm going through the units listed under Operations Overlord Orders of Battle. I was a little surprised to find the 203rd Engineer Combat Battalion listed under Omaha Beach, 5th Engineer Special Brigade. They were across the street from us in Baghdad, and came from the Missouri National Guard. So I do a few cursory searches, and I couldn't find any of the three ECB's listed in his book as being a part of that Brigade.

Full disclosure, I was checking the wikipedia links that came up in my search, so maybe they're the ones that are off. I might check Army Heraldry when I'm back on my work computer and not just using my phone.

[Bo Diddley]

And should I keep track of edits he needs to make? Sometimes he spelled out the whole unit designations, and sometimes he abbreviated. I would just spell them all out in this format.

[Jeff Lebowski]

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.

[Uncle Ted]

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.

Yeah, you can thank Kamala Harris...

In February, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered new DNA testing in the 1983 murder case of Kevin Cooper. Cooper came within hours of execution in 2004 after being charged with the murders of an adult couple and two children. Harris opposed the testing when she was the state’s attorney general.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/ar...f-12927143.php

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, you can thank Kamala Harris...


https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/ar...f-12927143.php

Exactly. Why in the hell do prosecutors oppose tests like that? Makes me ill.

[Uncle Ted]

I just finished Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms by Hannah Fry. It's a good, quick and fascinating read which explains things like how self-driving cars work (think Bayesian inference) and why they are a bad idea (using Air France flight 447 as a compelling example). It will confirm that we live in an interesting world today.

[Uncle Ted]

Exactly. Why in the hell do prosecutors oppose tests like that? Makes me ill.

Because they like to win (at all costs)?

[chrisrenrut]

Just finished Skunk Works, about Lockheed Martin’s famous high tech, top secret aerospace R&D division.

It was mostly written by Ben Rich, the head of Skunk Works from the mid-70’s to 1990. Very fascinating. He starts by discussing the development of the F-117 stealth fighter which started in the late 70’s, but wasn’t really utilized until the Gulf War. Then he discusses in depth the development and history of U2 and SR-71 spy planes. Lots of “other voices” contribute, such as pilots, military, and government officials.

He goes into how the culture and small, agile processes used allowed them to develop technologies that were generations ahead of their time.

It was published in 2000, 5 years after Ben Rich died. At the end, he pontificates on what is wrong with all the bureaucracy and the oversight put into place, and how it will hamper needed research and development of new technology in the future. It was written pre-9/11, and a lot of his predictions about drone use has come to pass (he also discusses a Mach 3 reconnaissance drone they developed in the 60’s that didn’t quite pan out).

Highly recommend for a aviation buffs, and those who grew up in the 60’s-80’s, as there are a lot of historical references and backstory included.

[SoCalCoug]

I am reading Brandon Sanderson's latest volume of the Stormlight Archive, Oathbringer, and listening in my car to Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.

Oathbringer has been a little difficult to get through - it seems a bit slow in the middle, but it seems to be getting better - I'm about 55% through it.

I'm really enjoying Sapiens. Some very thoughtful stuff in it.

[Scott R Nelson]

Just finished Skunk Works, about Lockheed Martin’s famous high tech, top secret aerospace R&D division.

I've just requested that book from the library for my next nonfiction read. That covers an area that I've always been interested in.

The library information says 1994 publication date...

[chrisrenrut]

Audiobook release date was in 2000, which is where my confusion came from. The Amazon version says published in 1996.

[happyone]

I'm just starting the first volume of Rick Atkinson's proposed Revolutionary War Trilogy - The British Are Coming

I loved everything I've read of his including his fantastic trilogy of the US Army in Europe during WW II - Liberation Trilogy

The first book I read of his was about the West Point class of 1966 - The Long Grey Line. My first Bn Cdr was a member of that class. However, he was not mentioned in the book.

[The_Tick]

I'm 3/4 of the way through Columbus Day: Expeditionary Force Book 1. It is written by Craig Alanson. Quit a few books in the series. Futuristic sci-fi setting. I stumbled upon it through some really high ratings and reviews on Audible. Everyone was talking about the well written plot and story, but also how low-key funny the book is...and how well the humor is timed.

Really good read so far for folks that like Star Wars/Star Trek type of stuff.