What Are You Reading?

About to finish "The Bluegrass Conspiracy" and following it with "Cowboys Caravan"
 
Just starting "The Science of Interstellar" by Kip Thorne.
 
Low Level Hell (A Scout Pilot in The Big Red One). Just boggles my mind that someone can get shot down 16 times and still live through the campaign.
 
D-Day, Stephen Ambrose
Johnny's Cash and Charlie's Pride, Peter Cooper
Liberal Fascism, Jonah Goldberg
and A Crazy, Holy Grace, Frederich Buechner

D-Day has been a good read so far. Liberal Fascism is top notch. The other two are ok.
 
Matthew said:
http://www.amazon.com/In-Pursuit-Unknown-Equations-Changed/dp/0465029736/ref=tmm_hrd_title_popover

Yeah, I'm a geek. But it's a pretty good read for anyone that's ever had high school or college physics and calculus (and forgotten most of it).
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I'm not a math guy, so it may be less interesting or more common knowledge to you. But, I liked Fermats Enigma:
https://www.amazon.com/Fermats-Enigma-Greatest-Mathematical-Problem/dp/0385493622
It is one of those I will probably read again.
 
Everybody Lies - Big Data, New Data and What the Internet can Tell Us about Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. The authors premise is that Google searches are the most accurate and reliable indicator of what we all really think of things and we are the most honest when doing such searches. Backs it up with a lot of research of current events and the resultant Google search data. Didn't know that Google will allow for researchers to query the type and number of Google searches, but apparently they do maintain that type of data base. Surprisingly, PornHub also maintains such a database, those results are indeed interesting! Gotta admit, it has kept my interest, about 1/2 through it.
 
Gary said:
Everybody Lies - Big Data, New Data and What the Internet can Tell Us about Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. Surprisingly, PornHub also maintains such a database, those results are indeed interesting! Gotta admit, it has kept my interest, about 1/2 through it.
Click to expand...

Which, the book or PornHub? :fingerwag:
 
Stalingrad, the betrayal by Hitler of the German 6th army in Russia. Absolutely horrific conditions. Less than 1% of the soldiers were able to return to Germany after the war.
 
Reading the novel, 12 O’clock High. Pretty good so far, but this is one case where I think the movie is better. The movie tightens up the story, eliminates some extraneous characters and a needless subplot, and does a better treatment of General Savage.
 
The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Álvaro Mutis. Love it... very engrossing.
 
A Deadly Wandering by Matt Richtel, which was a Christmas gift from mother-in-law. It shows the investigation of an auto accident that led law-enforcement to the conclusion that texting while driving is incredibly dangerous.
 
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Highly recommend.

Also reading:
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I guess I’d recommend it but it’s not easy reading. Informative though.

Currently about halfway through the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It kind of has to be something you’re interested in but if you like the movies the books are much much better.
 
Also reading Island of the World by Michael D. O’Brien. can’t give a full report yet but I like it so far. I don’t read many novels but that’s one of my goals this year. To try and find some decent modern fiction.

Considering the recent Billy Graham thread, here’s another I just finished. It deals with that sort of thing, I gave it 3 stars on Amazon. It’s ok, but he misses the larger point. I do appreciate his attempt though, more needs to be written on the topic. It’s a decent start.

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The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk.
A story about ownership/conquest/war in Central Asia in the mid 1800s.

Much more cerebral than my usual fare, but really interesting. I have Wikipedia open the entire time, to learn of places/events/people of the time.
It's about a part of the world and a time that I have zero previous knowledge of.

I think if anyone were to have read this before attempting to invade Afghanistan, they would have surely said, "Nahh. Forget it". Many have had their asses handed to them over there.
 
If an audiobook counts... Empire of the Summer Moon.

I now realize I've lived my entire life in the middle of Texas Comancheria. I even worked with a bona fide Comanche Indian about 25-30 years ago. I never gave all this stuff much thought - until now. It's even affected how I look at the terrain when I fly.
 
ETres said:
If an audiobook counts... Empire of the Summer Moon.

I now realize I've lived my entire life in the middle of Texas Comancheria. I even worked with a bona fide Comanche Indian about 25-30 years ago. I never gave all this stuff much thought - until now. It's even affected how I look at the terrain when I fly.
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I read that a few years ago. A good follow up, if you’re interested, is to study the Mongols. They had a similar lifestyle and warfare to the Comanches. But, of course, there range and impact was much greater. There is a podcast called Hard Core history by Dan Carlin that does a terrific job of teaching it in an easy to listen to 4-5 podcast series. I highly recommend it.
 
Stick and Rudder again. Ringworld up next. Also my collection of vintage Flying magazines from the mid 1940's - 1960's. They had radios back then that weighed "ONLY 24 Lbs!" Amazing...
 
Just finished Flight of Passage. Very enjoyable read. Realized I was in HS at the same time as these two boys, also in NJ. I don't recall hearing about it at the time though.
 
Hope audio books, count. That's pretty much the only way I have time for indulging in a book. I read constantly as an engineer.

Just finished Charlemagne - From Hammer to the Cross) Audible – Unabridged
Richard Winston (Author), Charlton Griffin (Narrator)

It sounds like an older history research paper. A bit too much conjecture on what long dead people thought and felt, for me anyway. Interesting how rulers trying to consolidate tribes into an empire used religion as a tool to eliminate cultural differences.

Now listening Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Aug 25, 2009 by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J Dubner
So far interesting to hear how micro economic research comes up with different explanations for how and why things have gone. Not really sure what the objective reality is, but nice to see somebody working on data supported policy analysis.
 
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ASA Private Pilot Test Prep 2017... Just about finished the first go round. Going to take a sample test and then go through it again with emphasis on the sections that need work...
 
Right now: A Brief History of Time. I feel really dumb.

Last few: The Rooster Bar (Grisham), The Key to Rebecca (Follett), and Points of Impact (Kloos).
 
Life long accomplished Alaskan bush pilot Bill Quirk III's two books on "The Bush Pilot Way" have a huge amount of excellent material, if you can get past him calling bush pilots the elite, which although true, it seems on every page of the second book. He sure loves it!
 
ETres said:
If an audiobook counts... Empire of the Summer Moon.

I now realize I've lived my entire life in the middle of Texas Comancheria. I even worked with a bona fide Comanche Indian about 25-30 years ago. I never gave all this stuff much thought - until now. It's even affected how I look at the terrain when I fly.
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How does it affect the way you look at terrain while flying?
 
Bringing Columbia Home. Michael Leinbach and Jonothan Ward.

The story of the aftermath of Columbia's breakup on re-entry. Incredible story of dedication and the American spirit. A bit long and repetitive in the details of the search for debris. About a third of the way through.
 
Dave Krall CFII said:
How does it affect the way you look at terrain while flying?
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For example, it's believed by some that Quanah Parker was born in a Comanche camp near Cedar Lake east of Seminole, TX. Cedar Lake is a shallow, salty lake that I've flown over lots of times without paying much attention. After the book, I flew around it with more scrutiny, looking at every feature of the terrain, trying to imagine life on such an arid landscape. I've also paid more attention to the area along the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado, between Lamesa and Snyder. That area was where the last wild band of Comanches camped before Quanah led them to Ft. Sill in 1875.
 
Airwar (Four Volumes in One) (Jablonski) as suggested by someone here. It's been sitting next to the bed for a long time waiting for a sleepless night, but have not had any of those. Power and internet of every kind went out this afternoon, so I started it, knowing I have a beach vacation I have to drive to coming up so it can travel with me (it is a big honkin' hardcover that is not very carry-on compatible, which is one reason I had not started it before).
 
Been reading Couples Stretch as an APP on the iPhone with the wife. Has helped a lot with our various pains and better sleep.
 
Every year around Memorial Day I re-read Up Front by Bill Mauldin. If you want an infantryman’s view of WWII, you’ll get it from Willie and Joe.
 
The Perfectionists: How precision engineers created the modern world. Simon Winchester

A historical overview about how precise and accurate (they aren't the same things!) measurement and fabrication evolved into the manufacturing processes we have today. Written in an amusing style, with many informative and entertaining anecdotes about the unsung engineering giants of the industrial age. A good read.
 
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