What are you reading?

Originally Posted by dv3

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How did you like LoF binge?

I read the intro but stopped to read From Poverty to Prosperity, which you might enjoy given LoF.

Thanks for the rec. I picked up LoF at the airport on the way home from spending Christmas in Seattle. It was an interesting read for someone (like me) without any finance background. The title is a bit misleading IMO because it's not an account of how the central bankers "wrecked" the worldwide economy; rather I found it a neutral account of the events, institutions and people involved. It seemed to me that the way the author presented things, the central bankers more or less did was what right according to the state of the practice at the time. The two things the author suggests that really hurt things were the reparations saddled on Germany and Britain returning to the gold standard at the same pre-war rate. America refusing to forgive war debts to England and France was criticized but was secondary to the first two.

The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos

Originally Posted by limester816

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bunch of stuff at the moment:

Montaigne's Essays (for class)

I really liked this one in school.

Originally Posted by Simon Templar

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Thanks, will try and find.

Let me know what you think.

Originally Posted by StephenHero

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One of my favorite areas of interest is the art auction market and this book has some interesting anecdotes and quotes. But it's only a half step above He's Just Not That Into You in the hierarchy of tasteful nonfiction.

I also read this one a while back and was entertained.

I'm also interested in this and will probably look into the first one you mentioned. Thanks for the suggestion! (Just read some stuff by Leo Steinberg (& Rosalind Krauss) from the early 70s about Rauschenbergs art which was interesting, too, although a bit philosophical-theoretical, also Louis Marin who has some crazy and good theories about the depiction of the undepictable (religious and mystical stuff etc.) via perspective and paradox..)

An interesting read so far.

Originally Posted by why

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If you're talking about Invisible Man, no. No it's not. The style is pretty much awful and the book doesn't belong in any curriculum past middle school.
I was referring to American Tabloid but I'm not sure I agree with you re: Invisible Man. It probably is best appreciated during middle and high school though.

Is Sorkin's Too Big to Fail pretty good?

Originally Posted by Jerome

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I'm also interested in this and will probably look into the first one you mentioned. Thanks for the suggestion! (Just read some stuff by Leo Steinberg (& Rosalind Krauss) from the early 70s about Rauschenbergs art which was interesting, too, although a bit philosophical-theoretical, also Louis Marin who has some crazy and good theories about the depiction of the undepictable (religious and mystical stuff etc.) via perspective and paradox..)

I would recommend the Polsky book before the Thornton book. Polsky is an actual face in the crowd and an entertaining writer. Thornton talks to insiders. The anecdotes are far more interesting in his book. Thornton's is a collection of witty snippets from prominent people, but she tries to pass off her opinions of something more profound, but it really just feels forced at times.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16417087@N02/3125936268/

What Would Google Do - Jeff Jarvis has a boner, a big big boner for Google. I am almost finished this book and a lot of it has been really interesting. Jarvis talks about the state and future of blogging, why places like 'styleforum' are successful, and of course, how Google is changing everything. Seth Godin gives his recommendation on the back of the book and that was enough for me.

Why are places like styleforum so successful? My theory has always been that people came here to ask questions that might otherwise be considered gay, thus the anonymity is important.

Styleforum is successful because it doesn't get in the way, it's a platform for us to talk about whatever we want. We have power here, we decide what is relevant and what is popular every time we contribute an opinion, support a thread by viewing it, or build relationships with fellow members.

Just finished Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh. Really a great book, and I learned a lot about how gangs work in the projects. It basically follows Sudhir as he becomes acquaintances with "J.T.", who is the leader of the Black Kings, one of the largest gangs in Chicago from around 1989 to 1994. It's quite interesting reading how the gang he follows does so much good for the community (mainly because conflict lowers crack sales), while still doing so much harm at the same time. I definitely suggest it to anyone who wants to know more about gangs, and how they operate. It's definitely eye opening. (The video on Amazon is worth watching for a better description) On an aside, I was flying back from NY, and the person on the plane next to me said she had Sudhir Venkatesh as a teacher at Columbia. We spoke briefly about him, and she had some interesting things to say about him. Small world.