What ya reading? Version 425108

[Sainters7]

Just finished The Triple Agent by Pulitzer winning Washington Post journalist Joby Warrick. It's about Humam al-Balawi; a perceived Al-Qaeda double agent secretly working with the CIA, who ended up blowing himself up (and taking several CIA members with him in the agency's largest loss of life in decades) inside the CIA's eastern Afghanistan Khost base in 2009. For those of you who saw the movie Zero Dark Thirty, you'll remember the scene.

Very gripping with a good look into CIA and White House discussions with the current Presidential administration, very interesting to get an inside look at current U.S. tactics against the Taliban. I wasn't really aware of those Predator drone mini-aircraft wreaking havoc on Al-Qaeda hideouts all through the tribal regions, that's some Terminator 2 stuff right there.

[Shawnski]

Originally Posted by troutman

You must be a speed reader - it would take me weeks or months to read the first link, and all the annotations.

I know little about economics, so I have little to offer in a debate. The information is there to consider for those who are interested. Seems to me praxeology is heavily criticized (not that I know much about it).

http://world.std.com/~mhuben/austrian.html

Free is when you don't have to
Pay for nothing
Or do nothing
We want to be free
Free as the wind

Read more: Frank Zappa - Teenage Wind Lyrics | MetroLyrics

So troutman, being a lawyer, you walk into a courtroom and profess:

"Your Honour, I understand many people think my client is innocent. I have a box of stuff here that may confirm it."

"Dig through it and you should agree"

If you pulled that shyte off in court you would be laughed out and perhaps disbarred. What makes you think you can throw a bunch of stuff up against the wall and think it will work?

You already said it in the bolded part. "I know little about economics"

Then why are you throwing shyte up against the wall here? Let alone calling something "debunked".

Again, I do not want to derail this thread. So if you want to debate, open a new thread.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Shawnski

So troutman, being a lawyer, you walk into a courtroom and profess:

"Your Honour, I understand many people think my client is innocent. I have a box of stuff here that may confirm it."

"Dig through it and you should agree"

If you pulled that shyte off in court you would be laughed out and perhaps disbarred. What makes you think you can throw a bunch of stuff up against the wall and think it will work?

You already said it in the bolded part. "I know little about economics"

Then why are you throwing shyte up against the wall here? Let alone calling something "debunked".

Again, I do not want to derail this thread. So if you want to debate, open a new thread.

Why so angrily defensive? This isn't court it's an internet message board. Open any thread and people will be throwing all sorts of stuff against the wall.

And the title of the article in the first link is "Debunking Austrian Econmics - not the poster's personal belief in it.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Ped

Why so angrily defensive? This isn't court it's an internet message board. Open any thread and people will be throwing all sorts of stuff against the wall.

And the title of the article in the first link is "Debunking Austrian Econmics - not the poster's personal belief in it.

Given Shawnski's personal expenditure of time into the subject, and his obvious reading of difficult writers, a silly response like Troutman's would have made me angry too.

I am reading "The Wilder Shores of Marx" by Anthony Daniels, "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat" by Oliver Sacks, and re-reading "Reflections on the Revolution in France," by Edmund Burke.

[troutman]

A little context - Shawnski and I know each other. He is a really good guy. If I annoyed him, I am sorry, but our conversation probably comes across more "aggressive" than it really is. I do commend him like peter12 says for taking on a challenging 900 page book. I never heard about praxeology, so I was curious to see what it was about. The subject seems to be at the very least "controversial". If someone wanted to start at thread about, I would be interested to read that. I might not have much to contribute, but I could certainly learn something. Nothing personal with Shawnski.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by troutman

A little context - Shawnski and I know each other. He is a really good guy. If I annoyed him, I am sorry, but our conversation probably comes across more "aggressive" than it really is. I do commend him like peter12 says for taking on a challenging 900 page book. I never heard about praxeology, so I was curious to see what it was about. The subject seems to be at the very least "controversial". If someone wanted to start at thread about, I would be interested to read that. I might not have much to contribute, but I could certainly learn something. Nothing personal with Shawnski.

In that case, apologies to you and Shawnski for butting in.

[Wastedyouth]

Some of you read some extremely boring books.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Wastedyouth

Some of you read some extremely boring books.

I agree, this thread and life if general would be way better if everyone had the exact same interests as you. You would never be bored with anything again... Ever.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

If you are guys are into light fantasy similar to ASOIAF, check out the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. The fantasy/magic factor is more prominent in these books but it's explained and fits in really well. The way it all comes together is rather amazing well thought out.

The one negative I can think of is that some of the dialogue is cliche at times but that didn't stop me from putting the book down haha. I'm about 3/4 done the last book.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...logy-boxed-set

Some of the reviews are pretty 'meh' on there and with good reason most times. It's only a trilogy (plus one standalone epilogue book) and a pretty quick read, so check it out if you're interested.

Actually, Alloy of Law isn't a standalone. It's the first novel of a second trilogy. I liked the Mistborn series, but was unsure about Alloy. And I was wrong - it was the best book of the four! Can't wait for the sequel.

Also in fantasy, I've been reading Chris Wooding's Tales of the Ketty Jay series lately. I would describe it as being almost Firefly-esque except set inside a world rather than in space.

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Actually, Alloy of Law isn't a standalone. It's the first novel of a second trilogy. I liked the Mistborn series, but was unsure about Alloy. And I was wrong - it was the best book of the four! Can't wait for the sequel.

That's good to hear, I'm just about to start Alloy of Law. I knew he was writing other Mistborn sequels but I didn't know it would be another trilogy. Can't wait!

[Mazrim]

I just finished reading No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs. It was an interesting read and motivational as well. You don't need to be a mountain climber to appreciate what he did. I feel like such a slacker now!

[Wastedyouth]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

I agree, this thread and life if general would be way better if everyone had the exact same interests as you. You would never be bored with anything again... Ever.

Make it so.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

That's good to hear, I'm just about to start Alloy of Law. I knew he was writing other Mistborn sequels but I didn't know it would be another trilogy. Can't wait!

I read (perhaps on his website) that Sanderson was considering three trilogies. One in the classic fantasy setting, then one in an early industrial setting (Where Alloy of Law begins) and one in a more technologically advanced setting (which worries me).

[St. Pats]

I'm reading Brandon Sanderson as well at the moment. Words of Radiance which is book two of the Stormlight Archive. The best writing Sanderson has done IMO.

[peter12]

Nothing personal, but I always feel that fantasy readers are just being taken for a ride by the writers. Three trilogies? Really? Does the world need that much fantasy literature?

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by peter12

Nothing personal, but I always feel that fantasy readers are just being taken for a ride by the writers. Three trilogies? Really? Does the world need that much fantasy literature?

Have you heard of the Malazan Book of Fallen series? That's next on my list of fantasy books and it's quite a giant 'ride' haha.

10 books, ranging from 700-1300 pages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen

[Finny61]

Not interested in fantasy, have had the bug to read classic novels though. Working on Three Musketeers, a beefy book but not as long as Monte Cristo.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Just finished reading the Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons. Very awesome sci-fi read. I wish he would re-visit the series as there's still a lot he could do with that universe

Now I have to decide if I want to invest the time required to get into the Dune series as someone who's never read a book or seen the movie

[photon]

Yup Hyperion Cantos was great.

Dune is far better, so yeah read it. Just the ones by Frank Herbert though (and some will say they don't like the latter ones and stop after Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune is my favourite of the series though and I liked them all).

[cral12]

Just starting Book 2 of Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance.

The first one, The Way of the Kings, was pretty great. Might have to seek out a summary of that one though as a refresher, as Sanderson's world are pretty complex. Plus, my memory ain't what it used to be.

Any suggestions for sites that might do fairly concise reviews of books like this. Did a quick search, but mostly just general book reviews.

Here's a link to author's website: http://brandonsanderson.com/books/th...light-archive/