Political & Elections

ImSoAnarchist · Senior Member

RE: What are you reading now?

Abyss · Senior Member

ImSoAnarchist wrote:

The Black Swan is awesome... Or so I'd probably think if I didn't have to waste my time reading for school instead.

I thought Fooled by Randomness was about 500% better than Black Swan...

ImSoAnarchist · Senior Member

The Black Swan is awesome... Or so I'd probably think if I didn't have to waste my time reading for school instead.

BigG · Guru

I am going to get "Physics of the Impossible".

Thanks.

Abyss · Senior Member

Recently done with:

Twilight in the Desert - Matthew Simmons
It's an analysis of Saudi Oil production. I give it a 3/5, but I am in the industry so my rating might not be the same as a layperson. Good reading if you want a non-technical book that will teach you about oil production in the Middle East.

Moneyball - Michael Lewis
Great book chronicling the success of the Oakland Athletics baseball team by the use of data driven analysis by the general manager Billy Beane. 5/5.

The Big Short - Michael Lewis
Great book chronicling some of the different players in the CDS market (the guys who made the money, primarily). 4.5/5.

Physics of the Impossible - Michio Kaku
The author, a physicist, looks at the possibility of certain science fiction technologies and analyzes their feasibility (he also assigns a timeline of to the possibilities, ranging from 100 years to 1000+ years). He looks at force fields, teleportation, faster than light travel, etc. 4/5.

Nearly done with:

Too Big to Fail - Andrew Sorkin
Excellent book that analyzes the ridiculous financial implosion in 2008. Puts you in the room of many meetings between Bernake/Paulson/Geithner and all the major Wall Street CEOs. Easily a 5/5.

Next:
We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism - John Derbyshire
Panic - Michael Lewis
George Soros On Globalization - George Soros
Freefall - Joseph Stiglitz
The Diversity of Life - Edward Wilson

-- Edited by Abyss on Sunday 12th of December 2010 06:50:30 PM

-- Edited by Abyss on Sunday 12th of December 2010 08:48:45 PM

BigG · Guru

I am reading a treatise on the history and practical application of the modbus serial communication protocol.

I don't think anyone else would want to do that.

It required the lure of a modest sum of money to get me to do it and I will charge more the next time I have to do something like this.

pmrlcomm · Senior Member

I finished 1776. It was pretty good. I would recommend it. Working on A Stillness at Appomatox (sp?). Meh so far.

SamuraiLandshark · Guru

Would you recommend it to others?

I just read a book called "Escape". It's the non-fiction account of Carolyn Jessup, the FDLS woman who escaped with her 8 children from a compound, before the big Warren Jeffs scandal.

I found it a bit repetitive at times. It's not normally the kind of book I would pick up, but a friend loaned it to me. For a woman who married the guy of her own choosing and who has a pretty good life, it was hard to believe that this story was set in the last 20 years.