Book thread

[Rudyard K]

Originally Posted by Mr.Oneeye

The most prominent of her acolytes who has recently proved his inability to deal with the real world is without a doubt Alan Greenspan; arguably one of the major architects of the mess in which many of us currently find ourselves.

How appropriate!? The ability of being able to point out failures...and attributing it to a single ingredient of a smogasboard of a meal...without the required wisdom of foresight that real players must engage.

You can find similar wisdom every Sunday afternoon, in major metropoliton areas, at the end of most every play.

[Laurentius]

I think it should be pointed out that Mr. Greenspan, in his tenure at the Federal Reserve, went against every Objectivist principle he enunciated in the Randian tome "Capitalism: The Unknown Idea."

Originally Posted by Rudyard K

How appropriate!? The ability of being able to point out failures...and attributing it to a single ingredient of a smogasboard of a meal...without the required wisdom of foresight that real players must engage.

You can find similar wisdom every Sunday afternoon, in major metropoliton areas, at the end of most every play.

[pjorourke]

Originally Posted by Mr.Oneeye

One is an unrealistic fantasy that leaves its followers unable to deal with the real world.

Strange how it so resembles the real world.

[Camille]

Some very interesting sounding literary works in there.
Thank you for sharing everyone..looks like a trip to borders is in order.
Books are one of things I don't like buying online...love a good browse in a bookstore.
If anyone has any recommendations of other biographies by modern day explorers (of any kind..not just limited to Artic and Antartic) I would be very grateful for suggestions. I'm particularly interested to read about archaelogical digs or something of that nature. Or any interesting WWI reads..fiction or otherwise. I've read "Intimate letters.." and also the war diaries of Douglas Haig...but I'm open to others and from any perspective/nationality.

Thanks and hugs

Camille xx

[Willen]

My vote goes to "Green Eggs and Ham." Never were so few words used to such good effect.

[atlcomedy]

Originally Posted by Camille

Books are one of things I don't like buying online...love a good browse in a bookstore.

I disagree...Heart my Amazon.com

Other than I can't read it that day...can't beat it....on my door step in 2 days...

The only time a seem to actually shop in a store for books is in an airport...

Though for bestsellers/current titles can I suggest Costco...the pricing is incredible.

Two names I suggest: Jeffrey Archer & Stuart Woods

[Sisyphus]

I'm currently bouncing back-and-forth between a couple of Michael Lewis books, The Blind Side & The Big Short. Not very far along in either but, so far, very pleased with both.

Recently finished with "big ups"

Isaac Newton by James Gleick
Football Against The Enemy by Simon Kuper

Recently finished with steam coming out of my ears as in "Who do I see to get those hours of my life back?!?!"

The Fix:Football & Organized Crime by Declan Hill. Pro Athletes arrange results...even at the World Cup, seriously?!?! Does EVERYBODY know about this?? Should have been a magazine article, at best.
Anathem by Neil Stephenson. I like all of his previous work & love the Baroque Cycles books. I've read them a couple of times. Have NO IDEA what he is on about with this one....
The Family by Jeff Sharlet. I didn't even finish this POS. It may be an interesting/important story but nobody will ever know it with this donk telling it.

That's about it for now. Enjoy!

[Clerkenwell]

Originally Posted by Rudyard K

How appropriate!? The ability of being able to point out failures...and attributing it to a single ingredient of a smogasboard of a meal...without the required wisdom of foresight that real players must engage.

You can find similar wisdom every Sunday afternoon, in major metropoliton areas, at the end of most every play.

Deliberate tautology, the (capital) crime of the pedant.

[Camille]

Originally Posted by Sisyphus

The Fix:Football & Organized Crime by Declan Hill. Pro Athletes arrange results...even at the World Cup, seriously?!?! Does EVERYBODY know about this?? Should have been a magazine article, at best.

Oh man! I feel for you..just a bit
If you really want to read about football and organized crime you need to be reading the horrible stuff (ever seen the films, "Rise of the Footsoldier" and "essex boys?" - both interconnected and um..very grittytrue stories from the 80's and 90's). Google Carlton Leach.

C xx

[Camille]

Originally Posted by atlcomedy

I disagree...Heart my Amazon.com

Other than I can't read it that day...can't beat it....on my door step in 2 days...

The only time a seem to actually shop in a store for books is in an airport...

Though for bestsellers/current titles can I suggest Costco...the pricing is incredible.

Two names I suggest: Jeffrey Archer & Stuart Woods

Ahhhh but ATL...the BEST part of book shopping for me is going in for one and coming out with a stack that you stumble across. It's just not the same doing that on Amazon lol. Sit with a coffee, browse a few pages...buy or don't buy. Love it. I can see the appeal of Amazon though if you know what you want...definitely convenient as you said

Willen..best book ever!

C xx

[pjorourke]

Originally Posted by Sisyphus

I'm currently bouncing back-and-forth between a couple of Michael Lewis books, The Big Short.

Good book!

[bibliophile]

Nouriel Rabini's Crisis Economics is the best, most concise, apolitical and clearly written account of how we got into this mess, whose to blame, what we can expect, and what we can do about it that I have found. Super fascinating.

Bonk! by Mary Roach is an hilarious history on the science of sex. Not only will you learn a lot about our attitudes toward sexual issues, but be sure to read the footnotes - some amazing factoids that will curl your toes.

Click, the book of instant connections, was awful. Lot's of second hand interpretations of badly executed pop psychology experiments that amount to little more than a chance for the author's to pad their own cv's.

However Bloom's "How pleasure works" was a fascinating exploration of how and why we tend to seek out certain experiences even when many might consider some of them dangerous or taboo.

[Camille]

"Out of Captivity" by Gonsalves, Stansell and Howes
(surviving 1967 days in the Columbian jungle)

"Little Bee" by Chris Cleave

Both have been NYT best sellers. Would recommend both.
Next up is:

"The Average American Male" by Chad Kultgen. It was gifted. I'll report back

C

[WTF]

Originally Posted by pjorourke

Good book!

Agreed, Lewis is top notch. He sure does not care for Alan though.



http://www.avclub.com/articles/michael-lewis-the-big-short,40121/
It happened during the Internet bubble, and again during the housing bubble, when people like Alan Greenspan (for whom Lewis has nothing but contempt) remained willfully blind to the mass delusion, negligence, and arguably outright fraud that justified taking investors’ money for this junk

[Texas Contrarian]

The Big Short is an excellent read. I also highly recommend Liar's Poker, written by Lewis back in the late 1980s.

I very much enjoyed This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, by Harvard's Ken Rogoff and Cuban-born economist Carmen Reinhart. The authors do a wonderful job of describing the difficulties involved in recovering from financial crises. They demonstrate that such difficulties are compounded when public debt/GDP ratios approach or exceed 90%, so their work is obviously relevant to the times.

An old favorite of mine is Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds, by Charles Mackay. And when I say old, I mean really, really old. The book was first published in 1841! Someone told me back in the 1970s that almost all serious students of markets read the book somewhere along the way.