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Book club 📖 What are we reading right now? (Planning related or not)

SoutheastMCRP

Cyburbian
Messages
53
Points
4
Summer read: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'd seen the movie a long time ago, bought the book, and left it on my shelf. Picked it up the other day out of boredom and now I can't put it down. Good mystery thriller that's easy to pick up and put back down. It'll keep you busy too - 650 pages.
 

fringe

Cyburbian
Messages
635
Points
18
Ubik

Philip K. Dick's 1969 novel about 1992. One character lives in an apartment where the entrance door, the refrigerator, the bathroom fixtures all have coin slots that must be fed coins in order for them to work.
 

Whose Yur Planner

Cyburbian
Messages
12,172
Points
48
Summer read: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'd seen the movie a long time ago, bought the book, and left it on my shelf. Picked it up the other day out of boredom and now I can't put it down. Good mystery thriller that's easy to pick up and put back down. It'll keep you busy too - 650 pages.

The first two in the series are pretty good. I lost interest midway through the third book.
 

Richmond Jake

You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!
Messages
18,300
Points
45
Oh, Florida! How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country by Craig Pittman. Pick this up. Hilarious.

I love the state that adopted me.
 

Datepalm

Member
Messages
7
Points
0
I seem to be on a Geography/Planning bender, despite intentions to read fiction over the summer. Just finished Janice Perlman's Favela and Arlie Hochschild's Strangers in their Own Land. Got back to Susan Feinstein's The Just City and started The Road Taken, by Henry Petroski (history/future of US road infrastructure.) Also finished two of Ann Cleeves' Shetland mystery novels, which were a nice break.

Next: either finally read The Rise of the Creative Class (Richard Florida) cover to cover, or finally read The Condition of the Working Class in England (Friedrich Engels) cover to cover. :-@
 

Masswich

Cyburbian
Messages
1,303
Points
23
Just finished "The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore, a semi-fictional historical novel about the AC/DC wars. I thought it was a solid B+ book, not great but interesting and made me read some of the historical background.

Now starting "Eyes on the Street: The Life of Jane Jacobs" by Robert Kanigel. Generally like reading about the Moses/Jacobs wars and find myself on the Jacobs side but not unequivocally. Will be interesting to see what is new in this book.
 

DVD

Cyburbian
Messages
15,619
Points
53
Seeing as i'm looking for jobs I decided to pick up Monster Careers: Interviewing by Monster guy Jeff Taylor. Looks like it might have some good tips and questions to ask.
 

Pegguy11

Cyburbian
Messages
59
Points
4
Just finished Rouge Lawyer by John Grisham. Amazing how I can just fly through those 200 pages but cant spend more than 20min on my 5 page readings for class...
 

fringe

Cyburbian
Messages
635
Points
18
The First Bad Man

Miranda July novel is very surprising, very funny, and not as smarty-pants as Nell Zink.
 

Maister

Chairman of the bored
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
30,619
Points
74
Just started last night - Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History. Only a few pages into it but it already looks very promising
 

JNA

Cyburbian Plus
Messages
26,958
Points
71
Just started last night - Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History. Only a few pages into it but it already looks very promising

Related to that, I am reading -
The Shores of Tripoli by James L. Haley
and also very promising.
 

JNA

Cyburbian Plus
Messages
26,958
Points
71
61YrzwiIrSL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


An American Patrick O&#8217;Brian
http://www.wsj.com/articles/an-american-patrick-obrian-1481924374

the intended series to follow promises to do for the American Navy and the Marines what C.S. Forester and Patrick O&#8217;Brian did for the Royal Navy. It is that good.
 

fringe

Cyburbian
Messages
635
Points
18
Man in the High Castle

After throwing up my hands at the amazon TV series on the story of the same name, I resorted to the novel.

Novel is far and away better, even after only three chapters. PKD is so far ahead of whoever wrote the TV script. I know it is hard to tell a story like this with film, but the tv falls way short in this case. The tv show cannot come close to the hilarious irony that PKD injects.
 

Jen

Cyburbian
Messages
1,702
Points
26
Since Netflix cut me off from Elizabeth I with Cate Blanchett I needed to get my elizabethan fix by reading The LIfe of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir - Her entire rule she was always in the process of being married off, but managed to delay indefinitely. Lots of details of her private life.

Now reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens for the first time. Saw the Polanski directed movie with Ben Kingsley as Fagan, which I mightily recommend.
 

Maister

Chairman of the bored
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
30,619
Points
74
Re-reading Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point." I really enjoy reading Gladwell. He is positively gifted as an essayist, and find him to be an astute cultural observer. In the Tipping Point he argues there is a certain point where 'practice makes perfect' or if you prefer 'use makes master'. He argues that once one has spent 10,000 hours doing something they're able to achieve world class performance, but not before that time. Hard work is undoubtedly a virtue but I suspect one's genetic destiny probably plays every bit as much of a role. He completely lost me, though, when he tried to argue that the Beatles achieved greatness thanks to racking up 10,000 hours of performance time in Hamburg before hitting the Big Time. I'm sorry, he completely missed what made the Beatles great. The genius of the Beatles did not lie in being virtuoso performers (although each were thoroughly competent with their respective instruments, and few could argue Harrison didn't qualify as a guitar virtuoso in his own right) but rather creative geniuses. When they stopped touring in 1966 they went into the studio and invented new forms of music. That was what set them apart from everyone else. Gladwell whiffed on this argument IMO
 

kylemharris

Member
Messages
3
Points
0
I can answer this with the same answer I've had for the past two years: The Power Broker by Robert Caro. It's really a phenomenal book, but I wish they'd release a Kindle version because it's not easy to haul around...
 

DVD

Cyburbian
Messages
15,619
Points
53
I'm reading some Dick Van Dyke biography on aging. Not sure why, but it's entertaining.
 

Maister

Chairman of the bored
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
30,619
Points
74
Re-reading 'Lord of the Rings' for about the 15th time.

I sure hope the Fellowship is able to chuck that ring in Mount Doom before the Dark Lord catches them.
 

JNA

Cyburbian Plus
Messages
26,958
Points
71
9780345549228


historical fiction about The Marines in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

You should never complain about being cold again.
 

DVD

Cyburbian
Messages
15,619
Points
53
Nothing that exciting. I'm reading The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*uck.
 

Masswich

Cyburbian
Messages
1,303
Points
23
Just finished Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. Not a perfect book but a great insight into that demographic.
 

Hawkeye66

Cyburbian
Messages
804
Points
30
I just read David McCollough's book on the Johnstown PA flood of 1889. Truly a horrible event. Some good things for planners too. Like how the stripping of trees made run-off worse.
 

Maister

Chairman of the bored
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
30,619
Points
74
Just finished Brian Herbert's "The Butlerian Jihad" (one of the Frank Herbert post-mortem 'Dune' series)

Next up: Joseph Ellis "The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution 1783-1789"
 

JNA

Cyburbian Plus
Messages
26,958
Points
71
Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates
by Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger

Next up is -

A Darker Sea
Master Commandant Putman & the War of 1812

by James L. Haley

2nd in series
 

JNA

Cyburbian Plus
Messages
26,958
Points
71
Worth the read - my Mother, a retired English Teacher, recommended it

American History, oil money, greed, Indians, murder, corruption, FBI, Oklahoma

9780385534246
 

Richmond Jake

You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!
Messages
18,300
Points
45
Endurance - A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery by Scott Kelly. I'm over half through and it's great.

Best line so far: "If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough."
 

fringe

Cyburbian
Messages
635
Points
18
Conrad's The Secret Agent

Better than Lord Jim. A psychological study about terrorists and authority.
 

Maister

Chairman of the bored
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
30,619
Points
74
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

Takes a look at how we became the dominant species on the planet. Book is written largely from the perspective of evolutionary biology.
 

AG74683

Cyburbian
Messages
7,171
Points
40
I've actually started reading some again. Right now it's The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero. It's about his time filming The Room and his long and somewhat complicated relationship with the director, Tommy Wiseau. If you haven't seen the movie, check it out. It is without a doubt one of the worst movies ever made, and it's spawned a huge cult following similar to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Next will either be Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer or The Life and Death of American Cities by Jane Jacobs (yes I haven't read it, yes I'm ashamed).
 

Wannaplan?

Ready to Learn
Messages
3,252
Points
31
I started the "Fifth Risk" by Michael Lewis as an audiobook (I travel a lot), but couldn't stand it anymore because it was so boring. I like how Michael Lewis seeks out oddballs and other savants, but the overall thrust of this story is so uninteresting to me. So, I downloaded "David Lynch: The Man from Another Place" by Dennis Lim, which is another story about a different kind of oddball and savant, and it was so much more enjoyable!
 

mendelman

Unfrozen Caveman Planner
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
15,889
Points
60
I've been reading all the Harry Potter series. Currently about half way through The Deathly Hallows (7th and final book).

It's a pretty good series. I'm not sure about the point of all the Quidditch throughout the series other than for world building and Potter importance development.

Next on my list is either a A Man Without a Country by Vonnegut or Valis by PK Dick
 

Richmond Jake

You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!
Messages
18,300
Points
45
I finished Killing Patton by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. Hint: homicide.

Endurance by Scott Kelly. I don't want to be an astronaut after this one.

Boom Town by Sam Anderson. Good read about Oklahoma City. Highly recommended.

In the middle of Killing the SS by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard.
 

Richmond Jake

You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!
Messages
18,300
Points
45
The Library Book by Susan Orlean. Mostly about the fire at the Los Angeles Central Library in 1986. Also includes other examples of library and book burnings. I recommend.

In the middle of Douglas MacArthur - American Warrior by Arthur Herman.
 

Hawkeye66

Cyburbian
Messages
804
Points
30
I just finished Isaac's Storm about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane. Horrifying in many ways, but captivating.

That storm came all the way up to the Midwest, dumped like 6 inches of rain in Iowa and Minnesota then caught another Low Pressure system, turned east and became a hurricane again over the Great Lakes and slammed Buffalo it then headed out over the Atlantic and sank several ships off the coast and finally died near Iceland. Wow.
 

kms

Cyburbian
Messages
6,929
Points
47
I just picked up Home is Everywhere by Charles Novak. It’s a memoir about his boyhood in Kansas and his job as a surveyor for the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. So far, I feel as though I’m sitting with him on his porch, listening to his stories.
 

mendelman

Unfrozen Caveman Planner
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
15,889
Points
60
Currently reading Clans of the Alphane Moon by Philip K. Dick.

PKD is one of my favorite American authors.
 

el Guapo

Capitalist
Messages
5,986
Points
31
I'm not really reading them so much as I am studying them, trying to master them, and attempting to bend them to my will.

I would recommend the first book, Brown's Boundary Controls to any current planner seeking a better understanding of property boundary issues. After reading Brown's you'll find you can detect surveyor, engineer, and lawyer bullshit from a much greater distance. Keeping a copy visible on your desk may also act as a BS repellent.

I wish I knew Brown's BC existed back when I worked in the planning mines.

Brown's Boundary Controls and Legal Principals

Brown's Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location

And, The U.S. Public Land Survey System for Missouri: A Manual on the GLO System, Resurveys, Example Problems and GLO Plats.
 
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Wannaplan?

Ready to Learn
Messages
3,252
Points
31
I am reading "Keywords: The New Language of Capitalism" by Leary. For an insane world where we follow thought leaders and constantly have to innovate, it's a great antidote.
 

Richmond Jake

You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!
Messages
18,300
Points
45
In the middle of Douglas MacArthur - American Warrior by Arthur Herman.

I just finished this this afternoon. It's a long book. I think it's balanced. It describes his faults and virtues. Read it and come to your own conclusion.
 
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