Is this good? Report back? Do you know enough about medieval history to judge if it's good?

I don't mean that as a dig, but I'm generally suspicious of anybody who self-identifies with a "home-school movement" because that carries with it a lot of hidden ideology. Otherwise Susan Wise Bauer otherwise doesn't trip any alarms, so maybe her history of the world is a particularly good one whose caveats are only those that plague any large-scale historical survey.

But yeah, report back?

megapants

United States1314 Posts

September 05 2011 22:12 GMT

#864

I suggest that anyone living near Border's stops by today or tomorrow. They are having a going-out-of-business sale, 60%-80% off everything inside.

Just picked up 3 books for 15$, looking forward to starting them.

1) last book finished was The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

2) Getting into Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

3) Gonna read The Hidden Oasis by Paul Sussman next.

~Lowkey~

United States12 Posts

September 05 2011 22:29 GMT

#865

1) Recently finished, Secret History: The CIA's Classified Account of it's Operations in Guatemala 1952-1954, by Nick Cullather.
2) Currently reading, The False Assumptions of "Democracy," by Anthony Ludovici
3) So many on my list, but I believe the next book shall be, Cultural Insurrections, by Kevin MacDonald.

unsmart

United States322 Posts

September 05 2011 22:37 GMT

#866

On September 02 2011 21:08 UltimateHurl wrote:
BookTwo and BeaTeR, how is Dune as a book? I've only seen the very impressive Lynch movie and the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries, but I loved both, Think I'll be painting a sandworm-filled landscape at some stage

I'm in the same boat as you. Just requested my local library to bring the book in. Now the waiting game begins.

Just finished The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. I loved it but it makes me angry that I have to wait for the third book now

MrShaneTV

United States11 Posts

September 05 2011 23:51 GMT

#867

Great eye opener

{CC}StealthBlue

United States41117 Posts

September 06 2011 00:23 GMT

#868

On September 04 2011 04:16 jon arbuckle wrote:

Show nested quote +

I'll report back just picked it up as I just finished recently the first book which covered the Ancient Era, basically one chapter covers say Roman Empire, then switches to China, then India and so forth repeat the pattern while progressing through history so far it's the same. No expert at anything Historical just a neat read.

In other reading news I picked up three more books since my last post:

[image loading]

Due to recent TL discussion -.-

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5 Books to read. Awesome.

Probulous

Australia3894 Posts

September 06 2011 07:02 GMT

#869

On September 06 2011 09:23 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

On September 04 2011 04:16 jon arbuckle wrote:

Show nested quote +

Due to recent TL discussion -.-

[image loading]

5 Books to read. Awesome.

Pillars in a an interesting read. Particularly given Follet is normally a thriller writer. If you're interested in medieval-18th century history I really enjoyed A Splendid Exchange - How Trade Shaped the World.

[image loading]

I am reading Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak right now. In a word "beautiful".

Pacman234

United States88 Posts

September 06 2011 07:19 GMT

#870

Well, this post won't exactly fill out the guideline in the OP, nor have much too much content. And this book isn't exactly a "book", and the subject can be a little controversial, but I'm reading it, and it's a long, enjoyable read.

While browsing the MLP thread (yes, I am a "brony") I found a post saying that the fanfic called the "Past Sins" was a good entryway to all of the fanfic made for MLP. Wanting to be able to not just like the show, but the whole community, I decided to give it a try. When I discovered that it was made of 21 Google Documents, all of them (Or at the very least, 1-8, as that's all I've gotten up to) more than 4 pages long full of 12 point font text, I was like "no way in NETHER I was reading all this!"

Now, I'm on chapter 8 of what seems to be one of the best reads I've ever had the pleasure to see, and what's astonishing is how this all became possible from a little girl's toy! It's amazing how cute the story is, and how scary it feels when it seems like someone innocent may turn into a truly evil character.

Here's a link to the prelude:Prelude to "Past Sins". As some warnings, DEFNITELY don't read this without watching episode 1 and 2 of MLP:FiM. Personally, they really aren't some of the best episodes, but they are the only ones really related to the story of what's going on in the fanfic. If you can sit through episode 1 and 2, definitely try the other episodes, like episode 7. That one is a great sum of what the rest of the season is like.

Hope this post doesn't become flamebait.

gruff

Sweden2276 Posts

September 06 2011 07:31 GMT

#871

1) Recently finished:
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Keeper of the swords serie by Nick Perumov.

Not sure if it's available in english but read it if it is.

2) Currently reading:
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3) Planning on reading
[image loading]

xAPOCALYPSEx

1418 Posts

September 06 2011 09:24 GMT

#872

On September 06 2011 07:12 megapants wrote:
I suggest that anyone living near Border's stops by today or tomorrow. They are having a going-out-of-business sale, 60%-80% off everything inside.

2) Getting into Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

I'm a huge Chris Wooding fan (sci-fi/fantasy stage), and I was looking a few weeks ago for Retribution Falls+it's sequel at borders

Couldn't find it -.-

Anyways, currently reading Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.
Such an awesome book. Different from the also-awesome movie, but this book is basically Gold. Can't wait to get into it's spinoffs

instantnoodles

United States190 Posts

September 06 2011 09:37 GMT

#873

just finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

its about the future where a virtual world mmo is used for everything like school, shopping, work, etc. and when the creator of the mmo died, he left a quest in the game where you have to find 3 keys and 3 gates. the winner gets the creator's fortune. he grew up in the 80's so the riddles and games involve stuff from the 80's

im bad at summaries but it was a good read and i recommend it to any old school gamer or fan of the 80's.

Vlare

748 Posts

September 06 2011 12:20 GMT

#874

Refreshing before the semester starts

Also reading

Kreig

Germany79 Posts

September 06 2011 12:42 GMT

#875

Currently re-reading one of my WH40K novels

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Next one will probably be:

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OutlaW-

Czech Republic5053 Posts

September 06 2011 13:08 GMT

#876

Just finished:
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Currently reading:
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Busy days ;D

virpi

Germany3598 Posts

September 06 2011 13:23 GMT

#877

recently finished: Michel Houllebecq - La carte et le territoire
currently reading: Frank Schätzing - Limit
next book: Wolfgang Hilbig - Das Provisorium

german power.

NewbieOne

Poland560 Posts

September 06 2011 22:46 GMT

#878

I am currently reading Truth, Error, and Criminal Law. An Essay in Legal Epistemology by Larry Laudan. I've recently read John Grisham's The Innocent Man (although not finished) and the next one is Tolkien's LotR in English (so far I've only read it in Polish) unless I have to read something else for academic purposes in the meantime. I'll definitely need to wade through like a thousand rulings from Poland's Supreme Court for my SJD.

xAPOCALYPSEx

1418 Posts

September 08 2011 08:21 GMT

#879

Just finished:
[image loading]

Such an awesome book. The movie was great also, but man, this book blows it away imo. Very different, but an insanely good/fun read. Perfect blend of humor/fantasy/romance/adventure.

Re-reading:
[image loading]

One of my favorite authors. I liked Poison and Storm Thief more than this one, but everything Chris Wooding puts out past his regular fiction phase is pretty awesome. Definitely recommend to people into fantasy/gothic horror, etc.

Reading:
[image loading]

Pretty good book. Very funny an a good adventure/romance, though I feel it would be much, much better if Lenahan didn't try to force the humor too much through a few stupid (imo) lines and scenes.

Up next:
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Super excited for it. If Diana Wynne Jones write this anything like she wrote Howl's Moving Castle, then I feel she is quickly gonna become one of favorite authors.

and also:
[image loading]

Looking forward to it. I'm hoping for a dark + dreary sci-fi/fantasy book, and the back cover looked pretty appealing :D

neohero9

United States595 Posts

September 15 2011 02:47 GMT

#880

Simultaneously reading these two:

The Rawls is really easy to read-- he's extremely good at explaining things... and I would hope so, after the many iterations those lectures went through.

The Korsgaard is dense as all get-out, but so far she's doing an incredible job of illuminating the different points of view about moral obligation and its sources.

Of both, I'm reading about a lecture every other day.