What books are you reading for pleasure these days?

Just finished a primer on Von Clausewitz:
20210711_185914.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)


Currently on a Napoleon biography by a Swedish fellow, and after that I think I will give the proper Von Clausewitz a crack again.

Just got the first complete Norwegian translation of it in the mail last week. The primer was a proper nice one, adding context to the Napoleonic era on the "North-western" bits of it, an area I hadn't much knowledge about, still don't, but got a bit more going on the Holy Roman Empire and filling some of the blanks between that and the forming of "federal" Germany as a singular state.

Interesting stuff, indeed.
 
Just finished a primer on Von Clausewitz:
View attachment 264344

Currently on a Napoleon biography by a Swedish fellow, and after that I think I will give the proper Von Clausewitz a crack again.

Just got the first complete Norwegian translation of it in the mail last week. The primer was a proper nice one, adding context to the Napoleonic era on the "North-western" bits of it, an area I hadn't much knowledge about, still don't, but got a bit more going on the Holy Roman Empire and filling some of the blanks between that and the forming of "federal" Germany as a singular state.

Interesting stuff, indeed.
I've got von Clausewitz' "On War" somewhere in my library.

Like Machiavelli, he had deep insight into the dark side of the human condition.

"War, the continuation of politics by other means" ... says it all, really.

Oh, and I'm reading "The Lord of the Rings" for the 50th+ time, and Richard Dawkins and Yan Wong "The Ancestor's Tale".
 
I'd like to read some Von Clausewitz as well. I've got so many older/classical books I want to read, they require more time and attention to really absorb. When I finish Cultural Amnesia, by Clive James, I want to finish reading Plutarch. I got about a third of the way through Lives last year and am itching to read some more.
 
Just a few minutes ago I finished reading The Last Druid, the 4th volume in "The Fall of Shannara" series, and the 32nd and final volume in a series of fantasy novels by Terry Brooks stretching back to 1977. Starting with Running with the Demon, which took place in the late 20th Century and painted a bleak picture of the impending collapse of human civilization, I originally began my quest to read all 32 Shannara and pre-Shannara novels within 12 months shortly before Halloween 2020; it took me only 9 months, finishing the final tetralogy in 32 days. The Last Druid takes place almost 4,000 years from now, amid the near-collapse of the human civilizations that re-emerged after The Great Wars. Definitely dystopian stuff.
 
Last edited:
Just finished up Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. It's been a few years since I read it last and I saw it was available as a free Kindle read with Amazon Prime so it was time. I had nearly forgotten that for such a big novel that the ending is not the huge crescendo moment one would expect after such a long build-up. 🤣 Still a good read though.

Right before that it was The Last Monument by Michael Grumley. For the most part I liked this one as it mixed some modern-day adventuring with some WWII action culminating in some sci-fi'ish moments. But then about 90% of the way through it kind of veers off to a more spiritual tone, so much so that after reading the 'preview' for the next title in the series that I was wondering "Hey, did I just get snookered into reading the buildup of a religious series?!🤔". When the next title does get released I'll give it a go but I'm hoping I'm wrong about what direction it seems to be going in.

Just started reading The Hobbit again, it's been a while since I last read it. definitely a modern classic.
I think that is what I'll be downloading next to the Kindle app' on my tablet. It's been years since I've read Tolkien and at the moment I don't know where my paperbacks are.
 
Does the physics of consciousness have you scratching your head? Want to know how being intentional can improve your life? Ever wonder where science and spirituality intersect? Then this is probably food for your grey cells.
 
Does the physics of consciousness have you scratching your head? Want to know how being intentional can improve your life? Ever wonder where science and spirituality intersect? Then this is probably food for your grey cells.

Sounds fascinating.
 
And continued the Jerome K Jerome readathon with "Three men in a boat". May round it off with "Idle thoughts" for a triplet reading. Could also end up going with the latest acqusistion, Sean Tuckers "The Meaning in the making" that was in the mail box today.
 
"For centuries, humankind has tried to navigate between scientific and spiritual conceptions of reality often without much success. In the resultant confusion scientists, philosophers and theologians have pondered and argued; yet the separation remains. Norman Friedman correlates the quantum physics of David Bohm with the Perennial Philosophy described by Aldous Huxley and the spiritual insights of the channeled entity known as Seth to show how a single reality emerges from seemingly contradictory perspectives; a brilliant synthesis".

Good challenge for the grey cells.;)
 
Back
Top