What are we reading?

[Magic Wand]

A friend recommended SuperFreakonomics, so I picked that up on Audio the other day.  I also got Daniel Pink's, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. 

The book I'm most excited about is Ed Dwight's (signed) memoir, Soaring on the Wings of a Dream.  The diminutive Ed Dwight was NASA's first Black astronaut candidate during the Kennedy administration.   The intriguing thing is that I've admired his incredible artwork for years and only recently discovered his significant connections to NASA and other programs and an eclectic array of friends we have in common. 

I look forward to finally meeting this fascinating man this summer!

Viral Player

did mr. dwight get to know Guion Buford?

YES!
Brutha Ed knows ALL of the FIRST African American astronauts as well as several others.
They revere him.
Unfortunately, he's officially persona-non grata in the NASA books, however, Charlie Bolden (current NASA Administrator) and Leland Melvin (Associate Administrator of NASA Education) acknowledge him whenever they can.

An official unprecedented Memo from Charlie, written during Black History Month, brought Brutha Ed to tears.  He sent me me a personal note of thanks for the hand I had in getting that Memo written.

Shortly after, I spent a day and half with Ed Dwight at his amazing studio and gallery in Denver.  He's such an outstanding story-teller, we started chatting at brunch, then completely missed dinner!  It was after dark when we left the studio!

A European filmmaker is planning a documentary of this unsung hero.

Meanwhile, he's got three major memorial projects underway in the United States, as well as two others in Africa.

And....just yesterday, at a pool party, I learned that we have yet another friend in common. 

[Magic Wand]

Aside from Bradt's and Lonely Planet Travel Guides, I just picked up Mike Mullane's, Riding Rockets:  The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut .
It's a pretty entertaining memoir about NASA's astronaut program.  Mullane writes with candor about many of the personalities of NASA and spells out the emotional impact of being an ASCAN.  It's not the usual nuts-and-bolts, militaristic, boring ass approach to the program.  Mullane is quite engaging.  Check out a bit of him in this funny video

In the queue,

A Confederacy of the Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
and
The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan (because it was recommended by an astronaut)

[stanleyballard]

1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created is a nonfiction book by Charles C. Mann ...
Just picked this one up....

[JLI Jesse]

I'm about to start this



I'm glad that they have kept up the Spencer and Jesse Stone books since Robert Parker's death, but I haven't read anything from the new hand picked writers. Robert Knott adapted the movie version of first book in this series (Appaloosa) so I have high hopes for the first Everett Hitch book not written by Parker. If you liked (or saw) Appaloosa, I'd definitely recommend picking up the first four book in this series.

[Tanksleyd]

Howard Zinn
"A People's History of the United States"
First I saw a locally respected Liberal endorse it
Then on a slow day I see on C-Span a respected Conservative curse it
That's when I brought it about five weeks ago
I'm still reading it and enjoying it
I was kinda proud when
On the PBS production
Of Ms. Alice Walker
Mr. Zinn made
History
Either way
It is a different perspective
Of American History from Columbus
To, I presume, President Barack Obama
 

[The Griot]

The Forever Man by Xavier Moore.

[JLI Jesse]

As I said recently on Facebook: If you hear a wailing cry that could only be the sound of a dying animal, please don't be alarmed. It's just the sound of me reading the new Mitch Albom book. 

[Hypestyle]

As I said recently on Facebook: If you hear a wailing cry that could only be the sound of a dying animal, please don't be alarmed. It's just the sound of me reading the new Mitch Albom book. 

locally, I have to put up with his weekly column  .  Albom's hit or miss with me.  Haven't read any of his books/novels yet.  He got in trouble some years back for faking a story of being at a basketball game, but, well, clearly it didn't ruin his career.

[JLI Jesse]

As I said recently on Facebook: If you hear a wailing cry that could only be the sound of a dying animal, please don't be alarmed. It's just the sound of me reading the new Mitch Albom book. 

locally, I have to put up with his weekly column  .  Albom's hit or miss with me.  Haven't read any of his books/novels yet.  He got in trouble some years back for faking a story of being at a basketball game, but, well, clearly it didn't ruin his career.

Ha

I've actually never read any of his sports articles or weekly columns. But man, his books (Tuesdays with morrie, the five people you meet in heaven, for one more day, etc) make me cry like a little girl.

[Hypestyle]

Anybody else read Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow?  I just recently finished it.  I'm expected to lead a couple of discussions at work about this.  Any suggestions on chapters/themes to focus on? (audience: mostly social workers)

[BmoreAkuma]

The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitive Edge



I have a small Real Estate company where I am the sole guy and I am holding back (low funds in business accounts) to focus on building and brainstorming my plans towards my goals. It discuesses chinese princles and how many companies of today use it knowingly or unknowingly. The book is concise and breaks down each strat throughly. Once done I'll be focusing on the brain storming section. The book is meant to be used for education purposes in grad school. However Im not interested in going to grad school. I rather go either buy books for me to learn at my own pace and go to the library for free.


Prior to those I did read Powernomics

After that I've read Autobiography of Malcolm X

I may consider getting a book about economics from Thomas Sowell.

[Battle]

Thanks for the recommendation.  Looks like a good read!

[Battle]

Humans controlling robots to fight battles for them isn't entirely a new thing. Ever since the days of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, this has been the case. This is the magnum opus of mech stories that Hollywood has been teasing fans with movies such as Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Robocop, Transformers, Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, Aliens and Avatar for decades.

Battletech: Legend Of The Jade Phoenix Volume 3: Falcon Guard written by Robert Thurston, considered a sci-fi classic continues this trend. A third part in the story that takes place in the 31st Century in a galaxy far, far away...
...is actually a eugenics war set in the future between test tube babies called True Borns and babies of natural childbirth called Freeborns.

This volume is focused on a high ranking mechwarrior named Aiden Pryde who is demoted to a command whose orders are to whip into shape a group of aging mechwarrior pilots on the verge of retirement known as Falcon Guard.

Mechwarriors are so badass that when they retire or have a dispute, they go out in a blaze of glory called a Trial of Grievance which involves combat to the death seen here between Star Commander Summer Mandaka and Mechwarrior Rollan.

This book is an easy going read and it is fairly enjoyable.  I've been re-reading a few chapters, and putting it away for months but for you readers out there who like to do it all in one sitting, the option is there. This series was so hot, it eventually made the transition to a computer game. It's been 20 years already, when can we get to see an official MechWarrior movie???

MechWarrior 2 Intro

Cinematics by Digital Domain in Mechwarrior 2 published by Activision