Weekly “what are you reading” thread #25

Number go up!

by zeke daux, it's about the crypto coin bust and the phenominal corruption involved, no really you guys need to see this shit

I tried to read the Spanish Holocaust about atrocities in the spanish civil war, but I know too little about the Spanish civil war. The author just kept going paragraphs of "Date, atrocity, kill count, slight context." Leading to me being lost and not enjoying it. Going to revisit after I read a narrative history of the war

Moving into In The Shadow Of The Sword by Tom Holland (not spiderman.) It's his massive book about Islam. I previously read and enjoyed Dominion his book about Christianity that I likee, but found dry at times.

I'm reading the "what are you reading" thread on rdrama

My comments

I finished the elephant vanishes by murakami, my favorite short stories from the collection were "The Second Bakery Attack""Barn Burning""The Last Lawn of the Afternoon"

Last lawn of the afternoon is pure unadulterated kino

The second bakery attack was actually published in a playboy with really cool artwork so i may post that.

Any recommendations

same fricking thing ive been trying to read for three months

I'm reading Ingredients by George Zaidan. It's a pop science book that's a pretty quick read, but interesting. So far it's mostly about the background chemistry of foods and how statistics work (or don't) when trying to measure something as vague a whether a thing is ‘healthy.'

He can try a little too hard to be funny at times, but I'd rather that than a dry read so whatever. Recommended so far.

I've read 4 of the 5 Sherlock Holmes short story collections and I'm hesitating to read the final one because I don't want them to be over.

I'm reading the schizo book in my mind. It looks like doctors handwriting and it's talking about there being only 100k souls in existence and the rest are reincarnated bugs and soulless husks.

This week I am reading mostly documentation for a regulatory exam, which I guess technically qualifies as literature. It's about import-export controls, citing statutes to completion, and creating viable paths forward for traded goods. The exam is something I plan to take next year, and has a low passage rate. I think I've got this though, as it has no prequalifications. I'm getting it to further my career aspirations towards business development.

For books more germane, I've been both reading the Bible, which my grandfather takes time to educate me on topics he finds interesting, and I've been struggling through The Old World and Its Ways by William Jennings Bryan. For my time with the Bible, I struggle with contextualizing and reconciling what the Bible says with my beliefs, as well as others interpretation of it. I'm not a biblical literalist, as I think anything that's been in the hands of man for 2000ish years is corruptible. But I at least try and read it cover to cover, as not only does it give me insight into others, but it makes my grandfather happy.

For the Bryan book, I'll tell you that it's fascinating that a presidential contender went to Europe and relays his ideas to a reader in the 21st century. It's like having a one-way conversation with someone, which I know sounds asinine but that's just how it's written. You can imagine him sitting in a train coach speaking of his travels as you look out at the country side of an unknown land. Very little of the book is bitter, which surprised me given what I know of his history as someone who lost multiple presidential races and a movement known as Free Silver. He does however decry the conditions he sees in the rural areas as being miserable, and cites Europe as a powder keg of conflict. He also goes on to speak on the weakness of Austria-Hungary, bringing to the forefront conventional wisdom that would foreshadow the abject disaster of the First World War.

Overall, fascinating stuff.

I finished the Expanse series and the last couple books were lame af.

No wonder the show stopped at book six.

Continue on with Glenn Cook Black Company series, now on book III, The White Rose

T hought provoking so far!

Reading Every Tool is a Hammer by Adam Savage. It's breddy gud

My friend suggested a book and I've been hating the frick out of it so far, I hope it gets better.

I been on a reading rampage since discovering Libby, I just finished up Debt and Dawn of Everything by David Graeber, currently reading VALIS by Philip K. Peepee and Talking Zen by Alan Watts. Once that's done ai have Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman