What are you reading this summer? I just finished reading Moloka'i by Allan Brennert. It is a fictional accounting of life in the leper colony on Moloka'i, Hawaii. It was a very poignant story based on the real life leper colony. While people with Hansen's Disease are no longer exiled to the island, a small group of people with Hansen's still live there. The disease has been treatable with sulfa-based antibiotics for some time now, but previously often led to life as an outcast, horrible difigurement, and eventually, death.
I just started reading Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, which Larry recommended. I'm also half way through the biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.
And of course, I'm going to pick up my reserved copy of the new Harry Potter book today.
Roberta
15 comments:
roberta
i have read the following in 2005
biographies of: roosevelt, truman, eisenhower, kennedy, johnson, franklin and john brown.
fiction: kafka on the shore and wind up bird chronicles by murakami and burmese days by orwell.
politics etc: dont think of an elephant, a long short war, on bullshit, freakonomics, a state of exception, finding george orwell in burma, and dragons of exception.
im currently into timmermans book about the iran nuclear threat titled countdown to crisis.
larry
I'm currently reading The First Man in Rome. It's about the Marcus Gaius consulship around 100 B.C. I've really enjoyed it thus far. It's fascinating to see how much Americans and Romans are alike, especially with regard to our political systems.
I have the list of books I've read at home, so I'll have to update this comment later.
Oh, and of course I am reading HARRY POTTER!!!! :-)
Larry,
As usual, quite an eclectic reading list you have there! Have you reached your goal of reading a biography of each president?
Roberta
Fern,
How did you come to be reading The First Man in Rome? With so many books to choose from it's intersting to see which ones make the cut! Of course, I know why you're reading Harry Potter! Don't tell me anything about that one, as I will soon be reading it myself.
Mom
Mom (Roberta)--
I am reading The First Man in Rome because it was suggested to me that to really understand our Nation's founding principles and our form of government, I needed to understand the governments that our Founders admired and copied. Which means understanding ancient Greece and Rome among others. It's utterly amazing to think that over 2000 years ago there were functioning, highly sophisticated societies not all that different from our own, facing the same problems and coming up with similar solutions.
roberta
it has been an eclectic year.
i have read a bio of every president thru lbj. next up would be nixon, and i havent found one i liked. so i moved on to other things.
you will note ive added some fiction to my list...big improvement over last year.
im very much interested in your review of freakonomics, which i regarded as truly revealing.
after i am done with timmermans book on iran...i am reading a book called 'eurabia' which looks at the arabization of europe.
i have alexander hamilton on my shelf to read too.
the first man in rome was reccomended to me awhile back and i never got around to reading it. fern, i understand it was highly regarded. i have a friend at work who is a history nut that told me about it.....
one book i read was particularly interesting..."dont think of an elephant," it is a short strategy book given to democratic operatives teaching them how to handle republican 'spin'...fern you would love this....
the most important book i read this year was the bio of john brown the abolitionist.....i think a must read....
when you guys recover from harry pottermania let me know....
larry
Larry--I've really liked The First Man in Rome. I've looked some things up on the internet and the author obviously did her homework; even though the book is historical fiction, there is a lot of solid history in the story. The book is definately a fascinating way to learn about ancient Rome.
just to contribute, getting back to reading fiction, from which i have taken an over-long hiatus. this summer i have read thus far: dostoyevsky's "brother's karamazov," henry james' "portrait of a lady," and thomas wolfe's "you can't go home again," of which i recommend only the first. for work, of course i've also been reading histories of berlin. if that's interesting to you, i recommend "faust's metropolis" by alexandra richie, which is quite good, even if she's a thatcherite. i am, of course, staging my annual harry potter protest, which will no doubt open me to allegations of snobbery, and to all sorts of other unnecessary abuse. much love all...
Ryan--I can't come up with one reason why you (of all people!) would protest a book.
ryan
will join your "protest" of harry potter. i never could understand the fascination. didnt one of your hs teachers try to get you to read potter.
im wondering of all this pottermania is really a secret cult attempting to take over the world.
dad
Larry & Ryan...you're both fascists! Just because you don't like the book doesn't mean the rest of us can't enjoy it. I'm not a big fan of Dostoyvsky, but do you see me protesting him? Nooooooo! :-P
FR
p.s. I was joking about the fascist part.
Take it easy on ol Harry Potter! It's harmless fun and fantasy. It's not like we have no other interests. Don't give away any more of the story. I'm going to start as soon as I finish reading The Other Boleyn Girl, which I'm reading with my Book Club.
Roberta/Mom
Larry,
I finished reading Freakonomics. I was surprized by the ending. I had to read it several times, I did't see that coming. I like the idea of applying economic principles to the analysis of different things. I thought some of the topics he chose to annalize were uninteresting. I didn't care for the chapter on baby naming at all. However, the chapter on cheating was quite informative. I thought it could have been longer, but maybe a Freakonomics II would be better. All in all, I enjoyed the book.
Roberta
roberta
im glad you liked the book. the most interesting chapters to me was, "why do drug dealers still live with their moms/" and "where have all the criminals gone?"
he really challenges the way one thinks about the issues of the day. frankly most people are emotionally overinvested in issues with little or no substance behind their viewpoints. levitt cuts through that and forces us to think very creatively.
the chapter on names was tedious to read. on the other hand what one names ones children is more important than one may think. names are important. choices of names often have economic consequences. maybe it shouldnt be that way but it does....
larry
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