What is everyone reading now and/or read lately

[Kodiak]

I just got caught up on Adrians Undead Diary, very good reading.

[mitunnelrat]

"Vengeance", "AUD" for fun.

I've been paging through "Back To Basics" and have my other half talked into building slip form rock walls and a steel roof when we build a home. I just pulled "When Technology Fails" out of storage again. Its got nuggets of good info, has some "meh" pieces, but really shines as a compilation of titles on specific subjects, so I thought I'd use it to expand my library.

I also have another volume I'm reading, which I'd like to discuss on the merit of its historical pieces, but I need to get an ok from admin before I do so here.

[mitunnelrat]

Alright, I've been given the go ahead, and can discuss the final book I'm reading (in honor of the time of year), which...

...intersects the teachings of XXXX with the history of the United States while applying it to today's culture.

This is definitely not light reading for me. As I grow older I find myself standing more and more upon principle, and the consequences be damned, so I've spent hours contemplating various bits and passages of this book. The first piece I want to share, and one of the coolest things I found within its pages, is an excellent discourse on patriotism.

Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828
patriotism, n. Love of one's country; the passion which aims to serve one's country, either in defending it from invasion, or protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions in vigor and purity. Patriotism is the characteristic of a good citizen, the noblest passion that animates a man in the character of a citizen.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, copyright 2004
patriotism, n. Love for or devotion to one's country.

Note how the definitions have changed. Noah Webster's patriot defends his country with objective actions, versus the vague, subjective patriotism of one who only feels and expresses love for his country. True patriotism is not just an emotional feeling; it is action.
Webster's original definition includes a love for country, service to country, defense of country, protection of rights of country, maintenance of the laws and institutions of country, preservation of religion and morality in public and private life, and puts the need of the country above personal or partisan desires as well as above the favor of foreign nations.

Its my belief that words matter, and hold power. In this case, the absence of so many words speaks volumes, but, I believe Samuel Adams said it best:

The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.

That quote strikes me as being as valid today as it was over 200 years ago. It reaffirms that our struggle with the entitlement mentality is nothing new, that through the "artifices of false and designing men" our nation has experienced a paradigm shift from (what Dr. Stephen Covey calls) the Character Ethic to the Personality Ethic. I use that term now because I remembered a quote, which I just looked up on quotes

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

If we abandon character for personality, what is our destiny as a nation? An everlasting mark of infamy, as stated above.

These are the things I've been musing on as I page through this book. Luckily though, I've found it also contains and articulates what I view as the best possible solution to this problem, through its "Characteristics of the American Patriot". There are margin notes, stories, articles, and examples of different characteristics abound. Courage is represented by women's suffrage, Dr. MLK Jr., and Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox". "Inspiring" was exemplified by George Washington Carver, for being called as an expert in favor of a peanut tariff when it was unusual for blacks to be called at all. Honor. Integrity. Service. Civil Duty. Freedom. They, and many more, had stories of our ancestors and national history attached to them. And I find that to be, quite simply, awesome.

I'd speak on it more, but much of the content is given from a religious/ spiritual perspective. Suffice to say that I think anyone, of any background, could stand to open the cover of this book and come out of it with something useful and/ or interesting. I highly recommend it.

[beginner]

What am I reading right now? Isn't it obvious? I'm reading a thread on SHTFReady at the moment......

[Fatty]

We had a slow 12hr night shift and i borrowed "one second after" to a co-worker. I had probed him with a few questions and since he was complaining about it being a slow night, i told him to wrap his mind around that. By the end of the shift he was shitting bricks. Had a few questions I was able to answer but atleast I made someones life a little less repetitive lol.

[bacpacker]

We just got a kindle today. I've already downloaded several books I'm looking forward to reading over the next few weeks/months. Some of the title's
Surviving off grid, by Micheal Bunker
The World set free, by HG Wells
The Odyssey, by Homer
Gardening when it Counts, by Steve Soloman
The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci, That one has gotta have some great stuff in it.

I'm excited to see what all is available. Plus I have quite a few different survival, medical, and other topics saved on PDF, which can be loaded on here as well. I'll do a review after a few weeks on how it's working and how useful it turns out to be.

[RedJohn]

If you can give us a review on the kindle. I am thinking about one.

[Stg1swret]

I'm re-reading One Second After.

[Twitchy]

If you can give us a review on the kindle. I am thinking about one.

I noticed you are using skimlinks

on topic, Kindle's are nice pieces of hardware... Have you also looked at the Android Tablets? they have similar capabilities...

[bacpacker]

Haven't had it long enough to tell much about it. Here is some stuff I have found out.

Looks like it will hold around 30Gb. The way the screen is made it is pretty easy to read in the sun light. They have a model that will connect via wireless and 3G. Another that is wireless only. The battery charges in about 30-45 min from a dead start. It's suppose to hold a charge for a month. I'll be surprised if it holds out that long, but even if it's 75% of that, it won't be bad.

From the reviews I read. the Nook is not able to be read in sunlight, cost about twice as much. $114 for the base kindle, $164 for the 3g kindle, $250 for Nook. The nook does come in color and has a different selection on titles to choose from. I don't know how much storage the nook has.

I have just recently started seeing the Android tablet, don't know anything about them. My BIL has a Ipad and likes it pretty well, does a lot more than the kindle. Actually much closer to a Laptop, but around $500 and much bigger. The Kindle is about 5x8 give or take and 3/8" thick. It will fit in the leg pocket in my BDU's if needed.

Bottom line they are all somewhat different, it really just depends on what you want them to do and how much you want to spend.