I had a close friend recommend "Pale Horse Coming" by Stephen Hunter. So I am about halfway through it. Not a bad book.

David Friedman - The Machinery of Freedom

Same author as the last book I posted on here. Much more political. It's basically the only coherent idea of how an anarchist world could function.

There are theories of private protection companies (aka private police) using arbitration companies (aka private courts) to determine the terms on which a client of one protection company can be punished for stealing a television set from the client of another protection company, and so forth. He then talks about how such a system would produce efficient laws. Contracts (systems of law) will be made between companies to prevent a mafia-esque war between companies when one client murders a client of another company.

A speculative example: After returning from work, I find my computer mysteriously missing. I call up my company and they send a representative. He finds fingerprints that belong to a client of another company. He calls the culprit's company, and they set a date with the arbitrator. The arbitrator finds that, based on the evidence of the case and according to the pre-existing agreement between the two companies, my company has the right to collect a maximum $2000 fine or impose a maximum punishment of 2 weeks in jail, but cannot kill him, and can only use physical force if the thief is uncooperative. A few days later, I receive a check for $1500.

Patricia Churchland - Neurophilosophy.
I'm intimidated by this book for some reason. It has been on my shelf for over a year, and every time I pick it up I get the feeling I'm not ready for it and put it back. I'm determined to get through it this time though.

I'm also still reading The Making of a Philosopher, which I would recommend to anyone who is thinking of pursuing a life in academia. It is very light reading, but is reasuring, for me at least, as I am heading into grad school.

After browsing a couple of threads, I decided to revisit "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It probably doesn't count because it is a short story, I have have to stop by the library sometime soon.

I ordered a couple books on Ebay, all of which were recommended to me here.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Got it for $2.50)
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (I am high bidder at $5.01)
"On Bullshit" (Got for a little of $6 brand new)

Now all I have to do is wait for them to come in, and enjoy.

Well, ive been looking at my book shelf and found some old Roald Dahl books. I know they are young for me but I loved him when I was younger so in the past 2 weeks or so, I read The Wonderful Stories of Henry Sugar, About a Boy, and Im reading Charlie and The Chocoalte factory.

My books haven't come yet, so in an act of desperation I got "Angels and Demons" by Dan
Brown. I guess that I will have to wait to read the others.

The Northern Lights of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.

The booklet that comes with the deluxe re-issue of Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain album. Class!

...making my way through Objectivism with Ayn Rand. I've finished We The Living and Anthem. I'm about 3/4 of the way through The Fountainhead and I've got Atlas Shrugged waiting on the shelf.

Good choice Jack, Ayn Rand is a terrific author.


I just finished "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and before that "Angels and Demons." The other two of my books have yet to come in (I should have gotten express shipping). So right now I have three books from the library:

"Dirk Gentiy's Holistic Detective Agency" By Douglas Adams
"WeaveWorld" by Clive Barker
"Plato Unmasked" this includes many of Plato's books and is by Keith Quincy.

I think that list ought to entertain me.

Well I guess that I will update this, I finished "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and think that it would make for a much better movie than "Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" but I am anxious for either of them. I am about halfway through of the entire collection of Plato's work but still have much more to go. Oh, and I finished "On Bullshit" not too long ago as well.

I can't seem to stop myself from reading right now.

I have started in on Robert Ludlum's books since I fell in love with the Bourne film series. I started reading Bourne Identity, but since I have ADD and can't finish one friggin' book before starting another, I have started his Jansen Directive. So far, a very interesting book. He's a great writer. If you are into crime/thriller/spy/espionage I would highly recommend any of his books.

quote:

I started reading Bourne Identity, but since I have ADD and can't finish one friggin' book before starting another,

Don't get discouraged about not finishing that book. My Dad's an English teacher and he said the Bourne Identity had the most convoluted plot he'd ever read.

Steven D Levitt (with Stephen J Dubner) - Freakonomics

A layman-oriented look at some things not normally associated with economics. Not particularly focused (which he admits in the beginning of the book), but with some interesting facts and inquiries.

It talks about how the crack dealing industry is less of an get-rich-quick scheme than its employees would like. The sellers on the street corners make half of minimum wage, the upper-mid-level managers make just above minimum wage. The top manager makes 100k a year, which is certainly a lot, but not quite the I'd expected. The perceived "glamour" of the industry allows ghetto youths to believe that drugs are their best opportunity, resulting in a large number of them working crap jobs in order to be able to afford to be drug dealers.

Pro-choicers please note: The book also makes an argument for abortion as a way of reducing the crime rate. The aborted children, who would have most likely grown up disadvantaged and more likely to be criminals, he says, would have come of age in the mid-90s, coinciding with a sharp decrease in the crime rate.

He makes a case for his own nature-over-nurture beliefs, claiming that doing things that supposedly motivate a child to learn have little effect, but the fact that parents make these efforts is instead an indicator that their children are genetically more likely to succeed academically. He claims, via statistical regressions, that the factors that affect academic performance are those that indicate the type of people that the parents are, and that factors regarding what the parents do have little effect.

Something inside me balks at this claim that a person's fate is sealed before he is born. OK, that's not what he's saying exactly, but my mind wants to process it that way. Perhaps he is saying that a prospective parent should become a "good person", so to speak, before becoming a parent. It also leads back to his defense of abortion, since those who tend to get abortions are not the "good people" who will raise superior children.

While not a "great" book, it was worth the several hours I spent today at Borders reading it from beginning to end. I'm a bastard.

That book seems very interesting Sweetie. I just got the following from the library:

"NeverWhere" Neil Gaiman. This book seemed interesting, but I am not sure that I will acutally read it.

"Digital Fortress" Dan Brown. I like Brown so I thought I would give it a try.

I also printed out a couple of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

Just read John Grisham's A Painted House. I wasn't a huge fan of it but it kept me interested enough to read it through to the end. I think I like his legal thrillers better...

I am reading a novel by a promising new writer named JT LeRoy. The novel is called Sarah, and so far, it's wonderful!

I'm also re-reading some short stories:
Alice Walker's "Everyday Use"
Toni Morrison's "Recitatif" (very good!)

As you might guess, I am interested in coming-of-age stories by contemporary writers.

So yeah, I'm reading the second His Dark Materials book (The Subtle Knife).

It's quite good, but hasn't hooked me yet in the same way the first book did. I'm only a few chapters in, mind.

I'm working on Lady Chatterly's Lover right now... looking for something for a 6-hour plane flight next week. Any suggestions?