Sounds like a great suggestion, Jeff. It'll go on my long list of books to read. Iv'e read 'Free will' by Sam Harris lately and he mentioned 'Meditations on Violence' by sgt. Rory Miller in there. That book is about the differences between martial arts and the subject martial arts were designed to deal with: Violence. Miller is a corrections officer and martial artist and instructor in both fields. I have very limited experience in these areas, but the case Miller makes seems solid. I enjoyed reading it.

I just downloaded Miller's book and added it to my list, it sounds interesting. Back when I studied at one school in particular, if the master found out you had gotten into a fight (which I didn't) you would have to explain it to him, the situation, details, and why you weren't able to just walk away. And I've seen him throw more than one person out of the school when he felt that person was using what he'd learned to start fights. I can't think of a single master/instructor I studied with who was not similar in how they viewed things.

I finally got around to finishing the Pancho Barnes book, quite a woman/character, but her death was sad and somewhat questionable. A woman who lived life on her terms not anyone else's.

Hope you like the book, Jeff. Not much reading over here, I'm afraid. I've been busy DIY'ing and just started a new. Both things have taken up a lot of time and energy.

Last book I read was Matti Rönkä's debut 'Tappajan näköinen mies', which would translate in English to 'a man looking like a killer' or something of that ilk. It's a novel that gives a good insight into the Russian/Finnish crime syndicates. The plot is rather simple, but with two twists at the end. It's an OK read, but definitely not one of Scandinavian's top crime novels.

Last weekend I finished 'The identity man' by Andrew Klavan. It's about a petty thief, Shannon, who is framed for murders he didn't commit. While he's on the run he comes in contact with a mysterious character who gives him a complete new identity, only to find out the police are still after him.

It's a relatively short book, only 280 pages. Characters are well described and the plot is never really that surprising, but solid. I only knew Klavan as a political commentator, which I won't discuss here for obvious reasons, but I will say that his ideas on society and government are a significant part of the book. It was published in 2010. In this book there is a situation of rioting, not unlike the ones we've seen lately, this book could easily have been written today. There's some strong language in there and Klavan isn't afraid to be quite explicit, but that never bothered me. Overall an enjoying read.

beocool wrote:

Hope you like the book, Jeff. Not much reading over here, I'm afraid. I've been busy DIY'ing and just started a new. Both things have taken up a lot of time and energy.

Last book I read was Matti Rönkä's debut 'Tappajan näköinen mies', which would translate in English to 'a man looking like a killer' or something of that ilk. It's a novel that gives a good insight into the Russian/Finnish crime syndicates. The plot is rather simple, but with two twists at the end. It's an OK read, but definitely not one of Scandinavian's top crime novels.

I got distracted before I could start it by a tome called "Unrestricted Warfare" written by a pair of colonels in the Chinese People's Liberation Army. They are very astute, and the book is quite unsettling as you can see it being played out in today's world. Was originally written in I think 1998.

Earlier this week I finished 'Strovuur' ('straw fire' In English) by Dutch writer Gerwin van der Werf. I found this book at the library and the thing that intrigued me was the car on the frontcover: a yellow Mitsubishi Sapporo. These cars weren't sold in great quantities where I live and it must be at least two decades since I've last seen one. I decided on the spot to give this book a go.

Main character is the 17 year old Fay, who ran away from school to join Elvin, her 20 year old cousin, who has just been sacked from his job as a pizza delivery boy, on a trip to Paris. Means of transport is Elvin's car, a yellow 1980 Mitsubishi Sapporo, as you've guessed by now. He loves his car very much but during the six day road trip the car gets in worse shape little by little until it fails altogether. Needless to say they never reach Paris, but they'll end up in Metz.

Both Elvin and Fay have a bad relationship with their parents. Fay loved her father but he took his own life in Metz when she was 14. That's also the main theme of the book: Fay looking for answers about why her dad this and coming to terms with it

It's a weird book, in the sense that I ddn't particularly liked it at first, but it has grown on me page by page. 

I seldom find a book that gets better the more I read it, unfortunately most get worse it seems! Interesting sounding book. I have to admit I've not been reading enough lately, there's been a lot to do around the house and a lot of paperwork and by the time evening rolls around I usually just watch some telly for an hour or two and nod off. I've got quite a backlog in my queue on my Kindle. The book on Unrestricted Warfare is hard to read more than a bit at a time, for two reasons. One is it's translated from Chinese and the style mirrors a lot of such things, many short sentences saying similar things in a very declarative manner. The other is that it's depressing as you can see what they propose going on all around us today. This book has been out for 20 years plus and people have not even remotely grasped its import and have stumbled right into traps set.

I really should read something else. I had the same problem trying to watch the Atlas Shrugged movies, I could see the same stuff happening before my eyes and it was just too "real" I guess.

Still working my way through "Unrestricted Warfare" and I'm finding it incredibly informative and completely unpleasant, as I can see the things it talks about happening not only now but being applied over the past couple of decades. In a way it's like reading "Mein Kampf," just like with that tome we were told in explicit terms what was being planned and no one paid any attention to it.

I recently read a story by Herman Melville, fortunately a bit easier to wade through than "Moby ***," "Bartleby, The Scribener." I found it because I happened to view a movie that I found on Amazon Prime Video, "Bartleby." The book is set in a lawyers office in the late 19th cethntury, the movie has moved it to a public records office for a city government, a drone civil servant job. Bartleby is hired, either for a scribener (copier) or file clerk as the case may be. He starts refusing to do work, always replying to a request with "I would prefer not to." He withdraws more and more and does less and less and his employer is at his wits end trying to even get him to leave when he's fired. It's an interesting philosophical story, looking at people who withdraw from society, people who try to help the unhelpable, and such. I recommend both the story and movie.

I found this thread and wanted to share some of the books I am reading write now or I read in the past and found useful and entertaining.

1. Right now I am reading "Thinking fast and slow" from Daniel Kahneman. I am already riding it the second time. Kahneman tries to explain in a really easy way how we are thinking. It really makes you think about the way you are thinking. At first I thought its to complicated for a "normal" person but its written really easy
2. I am also reading "Brief answers to the big questions" from Stephen Hawking. In this book the answers from Stephen Hawking to the really big questions are collected. For some of the questions he wrote the answers exclusively for this book, others are taken from old essays oh him. At some points it is hard to read but really worth it! 
3. "The dairy of Anne Frank" is another book everyone should have read. Shocking and informative at the same time!

I hope some of you will enjoy those books. And I am looking forward to try some of the books and stories you shared :)