What Are You Currently Reading?

Devildoc said:
Theodore Roosevelt--A Life by Nathan Miller.

Like all politicians, TR was a complicated man, and although a Republican, was certainly not a small-government conservative Republican. Some things he did I like, some things, no so much, but he definitely lived life on his own terms.
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For further reading about TR try The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard. The former President goes on an insane journey up an uncharted tributary of the Amazon. They're attacked by Indians, lose supplies and canoes in the rapids, there's a drowning, a murder in the ranks, three men die, they face starvation, disease, and TR is brought back from the brink of suicide.

Fl_Ag said:
I've always been fascinated by that war. I'm adding this to my reading list. Edit: Grammar.
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Two books I'd recommend: The War of Atonement, The Inside Story of the Yom Kippur War, by Chaim Herzog...and Michael B. Oren's Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East.

Both wars are worthy of study and many of the same principle characters had major roles in both conflicts.
 
I finished the following in the past 2 weeks:
Rogue Heroes - Ben Macintyre
Left of Boom - Douglas Laux and Ralph Pezzullo
Currently Reading:
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Aiming for 1/week this year.
 
Viper1 said:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It was a Christmas gift. Any feedback?
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From speaking with friends it's either you love it and consider it one of the greatest works in American Literature in the 20th century. Or, you despise it because it's nonsensical and vapid.

Personally I enjoyed it, the story involving the father and his son is very good and by far my favorite part of the book. However I feel like that part can be drowned out by the author hamfisting his philosophical beliefs into the book, but then again that's sort of the point for the whole book.

I'd recommend it but go in with an open mind about it.
 
Viper1 said:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It was a Christmas gift. Any feedback?
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I read "Zen and the Art of Archery" by Herrigel many years ago and found it enlightening in many respects and would recommend it. I never read the "Motorcycle" one...it was a popular philosophical road-trip book among the counter-culture of the 70's.

Herrigel's book was based on his study of Japanese archery in the 1920s and is largely responsible for introducing Zen Buddhism to the Western World. The lessons from the book can be incorporated into other facets of life. For me, marksmanship and other things.
 
Viper1 said:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It was a Christmas gift. Any feedback?
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I like to read it every few years, seems like every time, I pick up on something new. Which I don't really, it's the reader's perspective which changes over time and makes this personally enriching. I always found a lot in it to relate to.
Years ago, Robert Redford bought the rights to it, but like most works of literature, it's extremely difficult to adapt. So thankfully, they haven't yet tried to "reduce" it.
Every time I read this book, I'm on the best roads I ever traveled or dreamed about, is the best way I can put it.
 
Just started to re-read "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer

From Amazon

"Forgotten Soldier recounts the horror of World War II on the eastern front, as seen through the eyes of a teenaged German soldier. At first an exciting adventure, young Guy Sajer’s war becomes, as the German invasion falters in the icy vastness of the Ukraine, a simple, desperate struggle for survival against cold, hunger, and above all the terrifying Soviet artillery. As a member of the elite Gross Deutschland Division, he fought in all the great battles from Kursk to Kharkov."

It's a good read.
 
I just started The Dark Side of Camelot by Seymour Hersh. Great read about the Kennedy's, and JFK in particular. If anything, politicians seem to have been worse before. The lack of technology and social media meant a lack of accountability that doesn't exist anymore.
 
Really great, I loved it & it's intense but valuable. I used it as a reference for a paper I had to write regarding remote access. Similarly if you have an inclination to that particular vein of security try Security in Computing by Pfleeger as is well worth it. He's up to a 4th edition now and I had that as mandatory text the second ed. some years ago now.
 
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CQB said:
Really great, I loved it & it's intense but valuable. I used it as a reference for a paper I had to write regarding remote access. Similarly if you have an inclination to that particular vein of security try Security in Computing by Pfleeger as is well worth it. He's up to a 4th edition now and I had that as mandatory text the second ed. some years ago now.
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I'll have to see about picking it up then, I've been looking for an intro into cryptography since it's piqued my interest lately. Do you have any other recommendations for the field as a whole?
 
There’s an old text called Handbook of Applied Cryptography by Menezes, van Oorshot & Vanstone & Ch. 1 can give you an overview of the goals of crypto, some basic concepts, encryption, digital signatures & public keys and more.
 

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