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Whatcha Reading?; War and Peace? Best of Jugs? I'm curious
Topic Started: Apr 26 2006, 05:09 PM (3,432 Views)
Ruby
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Hippie
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Just finished The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea. It tells the story of fourteen illegals who died in the desert trying to get into the states--the largest group to die together. The coyote was eventually tried and convicted in US courts for negligent homicide and is serving life.

Along the way, Urrea examines the nature of border politics, the operations of the Border Patrol, and the hodge-podge of agencies that tend to work at cross-purposes along the Mexican-US border.
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Gruenberg
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aka Kleinschnauzer
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Why is Sex Fun? by Jared Diamond, which provides a wonderful evolutionary argument for human sexual peculiarities. However, I eagerly await the day when my favourite pop science author won't include extended discussions on Papua New Guinea penis sheaths in one of his books.
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Gruenberg
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aka Kleinschnauzer
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Currently reading The Oxford Book of American Short Stories. Some very good stuff, including Mark Twain's story about how Congress would survive trapped in a snowdrift (by electing committees to decide who to get eaten first). The Tell-Tale Heart was also in there, and I now realize that's what the Simpsons episode about the diarama is based on.

The Affluent Society by J.K. Galbraith - bit disappointing.

Animal Liberation by Peter Singer.
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Cronaria
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I've been reading alot of Stephan King. About a week ago finished The Dark Half, have been reading the anthology Everything's Eventual for about 4 months now. And just started reading one of King's other anthologies: Skeleton Crew.
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Gruenberg
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aka Kleinschnauzer
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I joined a reading group, and our first one was A Confederacy of Dunces, which is hilarious. Southern farce about medieval philosophy.

Bowling Alone - interesting sociology book on the decline of 'social capital' (such as bowling clubs) in American civic life.
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Gruenberg
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aka Kleinschnauzer
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Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell is very, very good.

The Rebel Sell by Potter and Heath contains some interesting arguments, though it doesn't say anything particularly new. Still, some nice debunking of some of the more self-absorbed claims of the counterculture.
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The Palentine
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The thinking man's pervert
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I'm curently on a Kinky kick :P

'scuse me while I whip this out; by Kinky Friedman

Kinky Friedman's Guide to Texas Etiquette: Or How to Get to Heaven or Hell Without Going Through Dallas-Fort Worth: Kinky Friedman


The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover:Kinky Friedman
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Gruenberg
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aka Kleinschnauzer
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Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and its Discontents - excellent, if slightly outdated, account of the IMF's failings.
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Allech-Atreus
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Gruenberg,Aug 3 2008
07:10 PM
Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and its Discontents - excellent, if slightly outdated, account of the IMF's failings.

I just read a very interesting article on the front page of the NY Times suggesting that the rise in fuel prices is going to increase "neighborhood" syndrome in global economis conditions; as it gets harder to ship goods and materials around the world the "globalization movement" may falter.

Rather interesting.
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Jenster
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Well, now that my summer class is over (I got a B, I rule. Yay.) I've decided to conquer Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. We'll see how long that lasts though. ;)

Also, I've got On the Street Where You Live by Mary Higgins Clark on CD in my car.
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Cobdenia
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1953 is the new 1932 for 2008
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I'm currently reading:
The Official History British operations against the rebel Faquir of Ipi in Waziristan, with the Order of Battle of the ‘Waziriforce’ and a full and detailed account of the background to the conflict, and conditions of air and ground operations. by the Government of the Empire of India

I'm probably the only person who'd find it interesting
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Jenster
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Wow. That took me like 10 minutes to read the title of that book there, Cob. ;) :lol:
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Gruenberg
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aka Kleinschnauzer
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Victoria de Grazia, Irresistible Empire: interesting account of how advertising helped American business achieve global dominance.

A collection of Voltaire stories. Now, I'd heard of him, but I don't think I'd read anything by him, and it turns out that, more than two centuries and a language apart, he's hilarious. Micromegas and Zadig are particularly funny.
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eco
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Candide is gleefully vicious.

I'm about to start Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Attwood, having finally finished Caroline Woodhead's Human Cargo, which is a collection of interviews with asylum seekers and migrants, at all stages of the process. Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but this book has made me even more sickened by the prevailing anti-immigrant feeling across the western world (and now, it seems, South Africa, too - and no doubt many others).
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The Palentine
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The thinking man's pervert
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Don't Cry for Me, Sergent Major- A unique portrait of the Falklands War, from the sharp end, by Robert McGowan and Jeremy Hands.

Its a book about the Falklands War, from the perspective of the Royal Marines, SBS, and Paras who actually did the fighting. The SAS only gets mentioned in passing(most of their missions were classified).
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