What Are You Reading Right Now?

[the_recruit]

Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore.

Never would have pegged you as a Christopher Moore fan.

 

[Tucker Case]

Never would have pegged you as a Christopher Moore fan.

After more than four years with this username, you are the first person to catch the reference without being told.

 

[mak2]

Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
and
Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie

 

[Fiddytree]

Beginning stages. Finished Finley, beginning on a number of these other texts. More will also be put up on this list, others in the bottom section here will be skimmed through or looked for specifics.

Ernst Breisach Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern (3rd ed)
M.I. Finley, ed.: The Portable Greek Historians.
St. Augustine: The City of God.
Bede: A History of the English Church and People,
R.G. Collingwood: The Idea of History.
Fritz Stern- The Varieties of History: From Voltaire to the Present.
Peter Novick- That Noble Dream: The Objectivity Question and the American Historical Profession
Braudel-Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism.
Harvey Kaye-The British Marxist Historians.
Callum Brown- Postmodernism for Historians
Joan Wallach Scott- Gender and the Politics of History.
Lynn Hunt (ed.)-The New Cultural History.
Edward Said-Orientalism (25th Anniversary ed.)
Edward Said-Culture and Imperialism.
Carlo Ginzburg-The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a 16th Century Miller.
Benedict Anderson-Imagined Communities


Nuclear Heuristics: Selected Writings of Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter
Bernard Brodie-Strategy in the Missile Age
Samuel R. Williamson Jr. and Steven L. Rearden-The Origins of U.S. Nuclear Strategy, 1945-1953
Gregg Herken-The Winning Weapon: The Atomic Bomb in the Cold War 1945-1950
Roberta Wohlstetter-Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision
Lawrence Freedman-The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy
Paul Dickson-Think Tanks
Bernard Brodie, Intriligator, Kolkwicz-National Security and International Stability
Bernard Brodie-War and Politics
Bernard Brodie-Absolute Weapons
Edited by Philip Bobbit, Lawrence Freedman, Gregory Treverton: U.S. Nuclear Strategy: A Reader

 

[justabubba]

Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth
Juliet B. Schor

... about the economics and sociology of ecological decline, suggesting a radical change in how we think about consumer goods, value, and ways to live

The Book | Juliet Schor

i am absolutely certain Catawba would enjoy this book
the economist/author supports her positions with substantial data ... from a variety of sources - some of them surprising

 

[MaggieD]

I'm reading my third Dexter book. Love the series. Each one better than the last. I can't remember the title. Blame Kindle.

(Know how you'd always see the book lying around? No more. BooooHissssss.)

 

[Helix]

finally getting around to reading this one :



just what this OCD germophobe needs to put into his brain. i might not leave the house for a while after reading it. however, it's supposed to be awesome, and i like awesome.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

Lucky Bastard, by Charles McCurry

 

[zgoldsmith23]

finally getting around to reading this one :

View attachment 67141383

just what this OCD germophobe needs to put into his brain. i might not leave the house for a while after reading it. however, it's supposed to be awesome, and i like awesome.

Mysophobic? There's roughly 50,000 - 55,000 "germs" per square inch of your body at all time. There is a 10:1 ratio of bacterial cells versus human cells inside of you. How does that even exist?

 

[Helix]

Mysophobic? There's roughly 50,000 - 55,000 "germs" per square inch of your body at all time. There is a 10:1 ratio of bacterial cells versus human cells inside of you. How does that even exist?

most of those are friendlies. not only that, but essential.

that being said, i'm probably the only germophobic microbiologist you'll ever meet.

bacteria in the BSL2 lab? no problem. individual with rhinovirus behind me in line at subway? problem. i can work with a strain of E. coli 0126 which has a theoretical infectious does of one organism and then go to lunch. on the other hand, i've also turned around and walked out of restaurants when the person making the food started coughing into her sleeve.

ah, obsessive compulsive disorder : the scenarios you've allowed me to envision.

anyway, i'm well into the book, and it's decent so far.

 

[Risky Thicket]

The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor
~ Jake Tapper

 

[zgoldsmith23]

most of those are friendlies. not only that, but essential.

that being said, i'm probably the only germophobic microbiologist you'll ever meet.

bacteria in the BSL2 lab? no problem. individual with rhinovirus behind me in line at subway? problem. i can work with a strain of E. coli 0126 which has a theoretical infectious does of one organism and then go to lunch. on the other hand, i've also turned around and walked out of restaurants when the person making the food started coughing into her sleeve.

ah, obsessive compulsive disorder : the scenarios you've allowed me to envision.

anyway, i'm well into the book, and it's decent so far.

I wouldn't say they're friendly, they're just controlled and opportunistic. For instance, C. difficile resides in a small percentage of the population. When other active flora are present, it is well controlled. However, when BSA are administered and those microbes are not present, difficile rears its ugly, little head. I just can't understand. The logic isn't there for me.

 

[Helix]

I wouldn't say they're friendly, they're just controlled and opportunistic. For instance, C. difficile resides in a small percentage of the population. When other active flora are present, it is well controlled. However, when BSA are administered and those microbes are not present, difficile rears its ugly, little head. I just can't understand. The logic isn't there for me.

it's competitive exclusion. unfortunately, some antibiotics tend to wipe out the beneficial bacteria. the more parasitic varieties fill the gap. however, we can restore the balance; it can just be a bit of a challenge.

either way, rest assured that this relationship between host and bacteria has been evolving for countless millennia; for much longer than upper primates have even existed.

 

[zgoldsmith23]

it's competitive exclusion. unfortunately, some antibiotics tend to wipe out the beneficial bacteria. the more parasitic varieties fill the gap. however, we can restore the balance; it can just be a bit of a challenge.

Yeah. Lest we forget that fecal bacteriotherapy / stool transplants prevent colitis from C. difficile.

either way, rest assured that this relationship between host and bacteria has been evolving for countless millennia; for much longer than upper primates have even existed.

:cheers: And here's to them continuing long after the upper primates are gone!

 

[Tucker Case]

just what this OCD germophobe needs to put into his brain. i might not leave the house for a while after reading it. however, it's supposed to be awesome, and i like awesome.

If you really want to scare yourself ****less, read The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Ebola is one nasty mother ****er.

 

[Helix]

If you really want to scare yourself ****less, read The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. Ebola is one nasty mother ****er.

agreed; i read that one in grad school. more scary than most horror movies, IMO.

 

[Tucker Case]

agreed; i read that one in grad school. more scary than most horror movies, IMO.

I want to read Micro which is the Crichton book Preston finished.

 

[Helix]

I want to read Micro which is the Crichton book Preston finished.

same here; i'm reading that one next.

i really have to stop doing this to my brain, though, lol. my social life is reduced exponentially whenever i start thinking about this ****. life should come with a BSL3 safety hood and PPE.

 

[zgoldsmith23]

I want to read Micro which is the Crichton book Preston finished.

I'm actually looking at it currently on my shelf. I also did a pseudo-case study for HS Biology on The Hot Zone. Marburg virus is also in there, too, not just Ebola virus! :mrgreen:

 

[Tucker Case]

I'm actually looking at it currently on my shelf. I also did a pseudo-case study for HS Biology on The Hot Zone. Marburg virus is also in there, too, not just Ebola virus! :mrgreen:

True. I forgot about Marburg. I haven't read that book since shortly after it came out, though. :lol:

 

[Arbo]

American Emperor - Aaron Burr's challenge to Jeffersons America

 

[specklebang]

I read this book a few years ago and am now listening to the audio version together with a friend.

In America after the Second Civil War, the Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies came to an agreement: The Bill of Life states that human life may not be touched from the moment of conception until a child reaches the age of thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, a parent may choose to retroactively get rid of a child through a process called "unwinding." Unwinding ensures that the child's life doesn’t “technically” end by transplanting all the organs in the child's body to various recipients. Now a common and accepted practice in society, troublesome or unwanted teens are able to easily be unwound.

 

[Mr. E]

Just finished A Quiet Life by Kenzaburo Oe. Now reading Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson (for the second time).

 

[MoSurveyor]

It's a monster but good reading so far...

Just finished A Quiet Life by Kenzaburo Oe. Now reading Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson (for the second time).

I think that book is responsible for my political cynicism.

I read this book a few years ago and am now listening to the audio version together with a friend.
View attachment 67141965

I like sci-fi but that's really out there. LOL!

 

[specklebang]

I'm very drawn to Dystopian YA (and non-YA) and I don't mind the challenge of unlikely premise. A good writer can make it happen. Look at the success of The Hunger Games.