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applegrove

(118,809 posts) Sun Jan 1, 2012, 11:54 PM Jan 2012

What are your reading tonight Lounge? I'm reading "Dewey's Nine Lives" the legacy of the

small town library cat who inspired millions. I can't wait to start it.

19 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

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What are your reading tonight Lounge? I'm reading "Dewey's Nine Lives" the legacy of the (Original Post) applegrove Jan 2012 OP

I just started reading ... Lionel Mandrake Jan 2012 #1

I just finished reading the that book. Yup. He is an asshole. I admired Jobs years ago applegrove Jan 2012 #5

Sue Halpern asks "Who Was Steve Jobs?" in The New York Review of Books Lionel Mandrake Jan 2012 #11

"The Battle Cry Of Freedom: Ther Civil War Era" by James McPherson. Odin2005 Jan 2012 #2

That is an excellent read for a good overview of the war. n/t Adsos Letter Jan 2012 #4

"God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan" by Jonathan Spence. Adsos Letter Jan 2012 #3

My kids gave me 2 books for Xmas HeiressofBickworth Jan 2012 #6

"Incognito: The Secret Lives Of The Brain" by David Engelman. Aristus Jan 2012 #7

Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great's Empire, Robin Waterfield n/t sarge43 Jan 2012 #8

Just finished Anthony Swofford's "Exit A". trof Jan 2012 #9

"Game of Thrones." Brickbat Jan 2012 #10

Girl With The Dragon Tatoo bif Jan 2012 #12

"Zone One" by Colson Whitehead. RiffRandell Jan 2012 #13

Waaayyy too many books! KatyaR Jan 2012 #14

I just started reading Charles Frazier's new book, "Nightwoods". femmocrat Jan 2012 #15

I'm in the middle of The Lacuna Curmudgeoness Jan 2012 #16

I have that one on my "to-read" stack. femmocrat Jan 2012 #17

I got it at a book sale at the library Curmudgeoness Jan 2012 #19

Everyone is reading "deep"... one_voice Jan 2012 #18

Lionel Mandrake

(4,076 posts)

1. I just started reading ...

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 01:52 AM

Jan 2012

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

A friend who reads a lot said this is the best book he read in 2011.

So far, Jobs has developed from a spoiled brat into a real S.O.B. I expect he'll get even worse as I get farther into the book.

applegrove

(118,809 posts)

5. I just finished reading the that book. Yup. He is an asshole. I admired Jobs years ago

Reply to Lionel Mandrake (Reply #1)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 02:31 AM

Jan 2012

but not anymore.

Lionel Mandrake

(4,076 posts)

11. Sue Halpern asks "Who Was Steve Jobs?" in The New York Review of Books

Reply to applegrove (Reply #5)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 03:55 PM

Jan 2012

JANUARY 12, 2012

Through his enchanting theatrics, exquisite marketing, and seductive packaging, Jobs was able to convince millions of people all over the world that the provenance of Apple devices was magical, too. Machina ex deus. How else to explain their popularity despite the fact that they actually come from places that do not make us better people for owning them, the factories in China where more than a dozen young workers have committed suicide, some by jumping; where workers must now sign a pledge stating that they will not try to kill themselves but if they do, their families will not seek damages; where three people died and fifteen were injured when dust exploded; where 137 people exposed to a toxic chemical suffered nerve damage; where Apple offers injured workers no recompense; where workers, some as young as thirteen, according to an article in The New York Times, typically put in seventy-two-hour weeks, sometimes more, with minimal compensation, few breaks, and little food, to satisfy the overwhelming demand generated by the theatrics, the marketing, the packaging, the consummate engineering, and the herd instinct; and where, it goes without saying, the people who make all this cannot afford to buy it?

While it may be convenient to suppose that Apple is no different than any other company doing business in China—which is as fine a textbook example of a logical fallacy as there is—in reality, it is worse. According to a study reported by Bloomberg News last January, Apple ranked at the very bottom of twenty-nine global tech firms “in terms of responsiveness and transparency to health and environmental concerns in China.” Yet walking into the Foxconn factory, where people routinely work six days a week, from early in the morning till late at night standing in enforced silence, Steve Jobs might have entered his biggest reality distortion field of all. “You go into this place and it’s a factory but, my gosh, they’ve got restaurants and movie theaters and hospitals and swimming pools,” he said after being queried by reporters about working conditions there shortly after a spate of suicides. “For a factory, it’s pretty nice.”

Read more:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jan/12/who-was-steve-jobs/?pagination=false

Oddly enough, the communist leaders of China have not created a workers' paradise, but quite the opposite. And Jobs didn't see any problem with that.

Odin2005

(53,521 posts)

2. "The Battle Cry Of Freedom: Ther Civil War Era" by James McPherson.

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 01:55 AM

Jan 2012

Adsos Letter

(19,459 posts)

4. That is an excellent read for a good overview of the war. n/t

Reply to Odin2005 (Reply #2)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 02:12 AM

Jan 2012

Adsos Letter

(19,459 posts)

3. "God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan" by Jonathan Spence.

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 02:11 AM

Jan 2012

DUer elisonz turned me on to it.

HeiressofBickworth

(2,682 posts)

6. My kids gave me 2 books for Xmas

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 03:32 AM

Jan 2012

I've started to read God, No! by Penn Jillette and next is Bill Maher's The New New Rules.

Aristus

(66,467 posts)

7. "Incognito: The Secret Lives Of The Brain" by David Engelman.

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 03:38 AM

Jan 2012

So far, pretty good. Galileo, St. Thomas Aquinas, Goethe, all in the first 15 pages.

sarge43

(28,945 posts)

8. Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great's Empire, Robin Waterfield n/t

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 06:24 AM

Jan 2012

trof

(54,256 posts)

9. Just finished Anthony Swofford's "Exit A".

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 09:53 AM

Jan 2012

meh
His memoir "Jarhead" was very good.
This is his first attempt at fiction.
Picked it up from a remnants bin for $1.50.

Brickbat

(19,339 posts)

10. "Game of Thrones."

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 10:19 AM

Jan 2012

bif

(22,759 posts)

12. Girl With The Dragon Tatoo

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 04:02 PM

Jan 2012

RiffRandell

(5,909 posts)

13. "Zone One" by Colson Whitehead.

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 04:11 PM

Jan 2012

Rebuilding after a zombie apocalypse:

http://www.amazon.com/Zone-One-Novel-Colson-Whitehead/dp/0385528078/?tag=gmgamzn-20

KatyaR

(3,445 posts)

14. Waaayyy too many books!

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 06:17 PM

Jan 2012

Since I bought my Nook Color back in October, I'm constantly reading several books at the same time. Here's what I'm in the middle of right now:

"Elisabeth Sladen: An Autobiography"--Doctor Who's Sarah Jane tells her story, published shortly after her death last year.
"World War Z"-- Max Brooks. I'm really not into zombies much at all, but this is a really good book.
"Christmas on Ladybug Farm"--Donna Ball. A fun, easy read about 3 middle-aged women who buy an old historical home and farm and renovate it.
"The Constant Princess"--Philippa Gregory. Interesting novel about the marriage of Catalina, Princess of Spain, to Prince Arthur of England.
"The Metropolis Case"--Matthew Gallaway. Four characters connected by music, opera, and life.

An at some point I need to finish "The Great Influenza," "The Leftovers," "Fannie's Last Supper: Recreating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook," "Kill Alex Cross," and "Russian Winter" by Daphne Kaotay.

And thanks for the reminder about the two "Dewey" books. They're now in my library, waiting to be read!

Have you heard of the book "Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love?" It's on my short list, about a disfigured dog rescued from a dog-fighting operation and adopted by a loving family.

Happy New Year! Any year with books is a GREAT year!

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)

15. I just started reading Charles Frazier's new book, "Nightwoods".

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 08:28 PM

Jan 2012

I got it for a Christmas present. I can't put it down!

I loved his other two books, Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)

16. I'm in the middle of The Lacuna

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 08:50 PM

Jan 2012

by Barbara Kingsolver.

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)

17. I have that one on my "to-read" stack.

Reply to Curmudgeoness (Reply #16)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 08:53 PM

Jan 2012

I got it on clearance when Borders closed. How do you like it?

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)

19. I got it at a book sale at the library

Reply to femmocrat (Reply #17)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 10:25 PM

Jan 2012

but bought it because I so many people here said it was great. So far, it is a nice read, but I don't see that this is Kingsolver's best book---unless it progresses. My favorite Kingsolver book was The Poisonwood Bible, and so far, this is not holding me like that book did. We shall see. I reserve judgment.

But it is an interesting book.

one_voice

(20,043 posts)

18. Everyone is reading "deep"...

Reply to applegrove (Original post)

Mon Jan 2, 2012, 09:31 PM

Jan 2012

meaningful books and I'm reading...nothing deep and meaningful. I wanted something that was easy and fun. My guilty pleasure....supernatural books...

New author: Claire Farrell

New series: Ava Delaney

the first one...Thirst.

I got it for like 99 cents on my Kindle.

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