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What are you reading?

I am re-reading Heller's 'Catch-22.' I forgot how applicable that book is to daily life, let alone how funny and sad that book is.
Before that I read all the short stories of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle. I highly recommend it.

Next will probably be 'Atlas Shrugged,' followed by the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers. Then maybe the rest of about 70 or so on my read list.
 
Scerio said:
Next will probably be 'Atlas Shrugged,'
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You have a higher pain tolerance than I do. I couldn't get a quarter of the way through.

Ayn Rand was the Karl Marx of the Right. Both created ideologies based more on contempt and resentment than the better angels of our natures. Neither understood how people actually tick. And both were abysmal writers.

And I say that as a libertarian conservative.
 
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Scerio said:
I am re-reading Heller's 'Catch-22.' I forgot how applicable that book is to daily life, let alone how funny and sad that book is.
Before that I read all the short stories of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle. I highly recommend it.

Next will probably be 'Atlas Shrugged,' followed by the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers. Then maybe the rest of about 70 or so on my read list.
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Are you trying to impress some moody librarian chick, or get nominated as a libertarian candidate for office... Or do you just hate free time? I mean, man, good on ya....but wowza...
 
Recovering LSO said:
Are you trying to impress some moody librarian chick, or get nominated as a libertarian candidate for office... Or do you just hate free time? I mean, man, good on ya....but wowza...
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She told me to feel the Bern and the Train was suddenly not interested - so I restored to exploring the actual concept of freedom, what it means to us, why we embody it (do we? How so?), explore if we are actually free, etc. It's an ideology and theory that evades most, I feel. Particularly its relation to capitalistic economic theory.

(yes that was Trump joke)

nittany03 said:
You have a higher pain tolerance than I do. I couldn't get a quarter of the way through.

Ayn Rand was the Karl Marx of the Right. Both created ideologies based more on contempt and resentment than the better angels of our natures. Neither understood how people actually tick. And both were abysmal writers.

And I say that as a libertarian conservative.
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Interesting - don't set a confirmation bias on me :). Reference my previous comment - the theory is a bit interesting to me. From what I know, your assessment has some valid foundation; such ideologies escape a human element that at times cannot be accounted for, like labor economics for instance. Drawing from the same strand as you, conservative libertarian[ism (are we running? can I be your campaign dirty trickster?)] we think we should be free within certain limits of a moral majority and hold social accountability to the individual. But that's largely easier for us to say when the ideology escapes others who have been cultured by a system that rewards what we might think is rather poor individual responsibility that contributes to the lack of social accountability, for example.

I hope I am not putting words into your mouth. Its a classic so I will escape to such reason. And you would think 'Airport Management: 6th Edition' would be more interesting.
 
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Since I apparently have no idea what thread I am posting on nowadays, I figured I would repost this where I originally intended:

I just got done reading Dreadnought by Robert K Massie, overall an excellent book about the 'dreadnaught race' before the war between the UK and Germany. It was a formidable book at a little over 900 pretty dense pages but once I got going it was an 'easy' read, though it took two weeks of TDY away from the family to finish it up. It paints Germany in a pretty bad light, laying almost the entire onus of the naval arms race before WWI and the resultant historic British alliance building with France, on them.

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I liked it enough that I am going to try and tackle the 'sequel', Castles of Steel about the 'Great War' at sea. I just have to wait for a nice long TDY to do it...
 
Presidents in Crisis: Tough Decisions inside the White House From Truman to Obama. Decent historical summaries, light on actual analysis. Skip it.

Damn Few More than your run of the mill billy-badass- SEAL book. A good look at the responsibility of command and the need for continual self-improvement and study (includes his own reading list at the end).

The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of Navy SEAL. ABSOLUTELY unlike any other NSW book out there. This is a book about pride, ego, failure, maturity, mentorship, and resiliency. I would have benefited from reading this book as a 23 year old... A lot to relate to in this book. If you're choosing between Damn Few and The Trident, choose the latter.

Playing to The Edge by Gen (ret) Michael Hayden. Probably not going to change many people's minds about him - either as a villain or a loyal public servant; regardless - some really interesting perspectives.

Ender's Game I'd never gotten around to reading this, but finished it last week. I can see why it shows up on USMC reading list. There's some goodness to pull out WRT maximizing the skills and talent of those around you - team building - etc. I'm not a big sci-fi fan, but the book was good enough....until the ending. WTF?

The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of The Six Days War. I'm a big fan of almost everything by Pressfield (to include Bagger Vance), this book is no exception. Slowly working through it and enjoying it.

Listened to a interview with the author of this book, Truth, Lies, and O-Rings - Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster. While it's no secret what happened, I think it will be interesting to read about it from the perspective of one of the few people who spoke up and refused to sign off on the launch.
 
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Flash said:
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I just got done reading Dreadnought by Robert K Massie, overall an excellent book about the 'dreadnaught race' before the war between the UK and Germany...I liked it enough that I am going to try and tackle the 'sequel', Castles of Steel about the 'Great War' at sea. I just have to wait for a nice long TDY to do it...
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I read and enjoyed both, but being as both are, as you say, dictionary-sized and not books to be eaten in one sitting, they were my original reason for switching over to a Kindle.

They're two of a few books I've read that reinforced the impression of the pre-WWI Royal Navy being obsessed with a war plan to the exclusion of everything else. You could make the argument that they never really unlearned that lesson...everything since, certainly up to the Falklands, reflects their doctrine that "the next war will certainly be fought according to this plan, so man, train, and equip accordingly". So they keep getting caught out with equipment and training that's tailor-made for a war other than the one they wind up fighting. They're also geniuses for improvisation and muddling along with what they've got, which is how they usually wind up pulling it off.

Vision and clarity of purpose are good, but you also have to have smart, disinterested professionals to evaluate and revise your planning.
 
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