What book(s) are you reading currently?

[73north]

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea ? :
And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House
by Alyssa Mastromonaco -

bought this on Holiday 2 weeks ago ,in St Andrews Fife
and its actually a nice book to read - and has a good insight into the
behind the scenes hard work involved in Politics ( in the USA )

" Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama long before he began his campaign for president. As director of campaign operations, she made Hope and Change happen through blood, sweat, tears, and lots of briefing binders. But for every historic occasion-meeting the Queen of England, tussling with President Karzai's guards, or eating chicken tenders at Houlihan's as Obama was elected President-there were many less than perfect moments when it was up to Alyssa to save the day. Here Alyssa shares the strategies that made her successful in politics and the White House-including the importance of confidence, the value of not being a jerk, and why ultimately everything comes down to hard work "

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by MrLinc

Just started Michael Crichton's 'Next'.

Isn't it odd that two science fiction writers, Crichton and Phillip Dick, end up so utterly dominant in pop culture?

I'm reading Asimov's "I, Robot" -- again, I read it as a kid. It was made into a movie, a crappy one with Will Smith that basically just had the title . . . how is it that Crichton's "Westworld" gets the star treatment not just once, but twice-- and none of the Robot stories are ever done, even once, decently?

Originally Posted by I,Robot

“All right. Here’s what I’ve been thinking. The whole trouble with Gloria is that she thinks of
Robbie as a person and not as a machine. Naturally, she can’t forget him. Now if we managed to convince her that Robbie was nothing more than a mess of steel and copper
in the form of sheets and wires with electricity its juice of life, how long would her longings last? It’s the psychological attack, if you see my point.”
“How do you plan to do it?”
“Simple. Where do you suppose I went last night? I persuaded Robertson of U. S. Robots and
Mechanical Men, Inc. to arrange for a complete tour of his premises tomorrow. The three of us will go, and by the time we’re through, Gloria will have it drilled into her that a robot is not alive.”

That's Asimov writing in 1950, (about New York of 1998 !), and I suppose you could say that there's a lot of that plotline in Westworld, but it'd be nice to give Asimov the pride of place he deserves . . .

And how odd is it that Arthur C. Clarke's stories give rise to the most important SF film ever, 2001 -- and that's the only thing of his to filmed?

[stralis440]

Just finished MAMista by Len deighton, about Marxist Guerillas in a fictional South American country.
Excellent, thoroughly enjoyed it.

*Warning* I`d advise not to read reviews of this, only the forwrd as the reviews give away an ending that you won`t see coming even when it hits you in the face

[Navvet]

The End of the Beginning, by Tim Clayton and Phil Craig



A brilliantly written book, on the experiences of the British military in north Africa in WWII.

[rlg118]

The Vietnam War by Geoffrey C. Ward & Ken Burns

[Wendigo]

Dario Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic




Dario wrote and directed many of my favourite films and this book covers his early period as a screen writer with Sergio Leone up to Dracula 3D (2012), it's packed with loads of great photos and written by Alan Jones who has long been a fan of Argento.
I'm dipping in and out of it right now as it is a heavy book, will be looking at the sections on composer Claudio Simonetti and Goblin who did the memorable soundtracks for Suspiria and Tenebrae.

[ultimatewarlord]

I Robot got the bbc radio treatment. A five x 15 min series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyqmepHBgbo

I'm reading Scientology: Abuse at the Top by former sci' Amy Scobee. An interesting start from someone who was at Int Base for a long time.

[charliels531]

"The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz.

I've read it twice now, and I find this Pulitzer Prize winner deeply troubling.

The story of three generations of a Dominican family under Trujillo and his successors is told well if awkwardly. Skipping around in time is too sci-fi for useful narrative.

Diaz tries to use magical realism, but when you start a novel with a preface that in effect says you are using magical realism, it falls flat.

Stylistically Diaz is both innovative, using footnotes to explain references to the Trujillo regime, and pretentious, dropping into Spanish or Dominican patois.

It is a so-so book, but entertaining. There must have been some hangovers when the Pulitzer vote was taken.

[Brecht]

James Ellroy - The Black Dahlia (1987)



Having read the rest of James Ellroy's L.A. Quartet, I was hesitating to pick up the first in the series which is based on the actual murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947. Like so many young women, Elizabeth came to Los Angeles from Massachussetts to become an actress. Her murder was never solved but it is in the book and I'll have yet to find out how. Fortunately I've never seen Brian De Palma's film adaptation from 2006 which I hear is awful. Well, I don't know what to expect here but it's hard to imagine this being better than its follow-up The Big Nowhere which will remain my favorite of the entire series.

[rlg118]

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870-1914

by David McCullough