I'm about to finish "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis.
Definitely a great book for anyone interested in Christianity. This is my first Lewis book, and so far I'm really liking his writing style. I find most books on this subject and similar areas are dry, but this has been a really easy read.
I need some suggestions for what to pick up next.
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"So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable."
- Christopher Reeve
Just finished
The Testimony (John Grisham)
America, the Book. A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction (Jon Stewart)
Short History of Everything (Bill Bryson)
Currently reading
Bush World (Maureen Dowd)
Quicksilver, vol 1 (Neal Stephenson)
Winning Modern Wars (Gen Wesley Clark)
"Raising the Bar - The Story of Clif Bar, Inc." by Gary Erickson (company owner)
Very inspirational account of growing a privately owned business that is successful without selling it's soul for corporate profits. I'll be passing it on to JP when I'm done. His business is very much like Gary's.
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Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
Originally posted by Jean-Paul: Recent books in the last two weeks:
Currently reading
Bush World (Maureen Dowd)
Quicksilver, vol 1 (Neal Stephenson)
Winning Modern Wars (Gen Wesley Clark)
JP,
What do you think of Quicksilver so far? I've read the first 2 and I'm now on the third book. Over the years I've become a big Stephenson fan. He can swith genres and still keep his fans happy.
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Past performance is not indicative of future success.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Originally posted by FishrCutB8: In honor of Phaedrus....Zen, and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
WOO! You'll have to let me know how it goes. After you finish, wait awhile, then pick up "Lila," the fifteen-years-later sequel.
FWIW, I just finished "Stargirl" (in about two hours). It's hard to classify its intended age range, but the copy I have is a Scholastic version (meaning it's packaged to be sold at grade school book fairs). Regardless, quick yet powerful read. And to think I've known one or two of those people in my life and was too young/immature/stupid (redundant?) to take notice. Oh well.
__________________ No Magic Pill (the log)
My Movember page (yes, I'm slacking on pictures)
Originally posted by UpNorth: I'm interested to hear about Quicksilver as well. I loved Crytonomicon and Snow Crash.
Right now I'm reading "Fluke" by Christopher Moore -- absolutely hilarious!
If you like Cyprtomonicon then you will love Quicksilver. It is the same type of historical fiction although he doesn't take Quicksilver into the modern day.
Young Ladies Illustrated Primer is similiar to Snow Crash. All good books. YLI is definetly in the cyber punk genre.
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Past performance is not indicative of future success.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
I just finished reading 1984 for the second time and Personal Injuries by Scott Turow. Now I'm reading The Street Lawyer by John Grisham and Death of a Salesman. As you probably guessed, 1984 and Death are both for english class. The other two I chose on my own, and really like.
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
1984 is a good read. It may have been a few years short of accurate but an interesting topic if you extrapolate out the Patriot act, Walmart's database, or even Onstar. You have to be real paranoid but Big Brother had to start somewhere.
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Past performance is not indicative of future success.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
What? We related the novel to religion and dictators and media, but never the Patriot act or Walmarts database or Onstar. I can see Onstar maybe, but can you explain the others? What is the Walmart database?
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
Originally posted by mAtThEw: What? We related the novel to religion and dictators and media, but never the Patriot act or Walmarts database or Onstar. I can see Onstar maybe, but can you explain the others? What is the Walmart database?
Wal-Mart predicts customers' needs through database
November 16, 2004
Did you know that Wal-Mart has more information stored in its databases than the World Wide Web? In fact, it's more than twice as large. It's the second most powerful computer system on the planet now.
And it allows the company to track the habits of 100 million Americans every week. The database is starting to give people the creeps because it contains so much information.
If you pay by credit card, personal check or fake debit card, all of the information about you goes into the computer. But could there be a good side to Big Brother watching us? Yes, there is.
When Hurricane Frances was approaching, Wal-Mart used its predictive analysis system to figure out what people's needs. You might think it was batteries or flashlights that people wanted. But the hottest item, according to Wal-Mart's system, was strawberry flavored pop-tarts.
The stores knew what people would want because of past behavior during storms. So they made sure the pop-tarts were delivered on time and customers' needs were met.
The other hot item, not surprisingly, was beer.
Purchasing decisions are no longer based on the hunch of a manager. They're based on buying habits. After all, past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.
Doesn't sound like such a good idea from where I'm sitting.
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Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
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And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
I really enjoy CS Lewis. Read the Narnia Chronicles as a child about 3 times.
Just bought Snowcrash a couple of weeks ago, but I have to make some progress with the books I'm reading before I pick it up.
I read Cryptonomicon about two years ago and loved it. I love how he mixes history and fiction without losing the integrity of the history that we all remember. He blends it so successfully that you can't really tell where the truth ends and the fiction begins. I was actually quite pleased to learn that Quicksilver was a story of all the ancestors of his first book.
My wife is re-reading the Hitch Hiker's Guide series again, which I have read probably about 5 times. Every time I read those books it is as if it was the first time. Douglas Adams was a genius. Incidentally, one of my favorite books by him was his last book which was non-fiction... Last Chance to See. A book about endangered species around the world. Bill Bryson's writing style reminds me a lot of Adams. For those who have not ever read Bryson, start with his expository, A Walk in the Woods, about his misadventures on the Appalachian Trail. A fantastic book! A Short History of Everything is no different. A very talented writer.
The secert to flying is falling and missing the ground. Douglas Adams was amazing. I had and opportunity to hear him speak many years ago and he has just as funny in person as his characters in the books.
I'll add Bryson to my list. I'm always looking for something new.
__________________
Past performance is not indicative of future success.
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
You'll have to let me know how it goes. After you finish, wait awhile, then pick up "Lila," the fifteen-years-later sequel.
Linear Mode
