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yaxomoxay

macrumors 604
Mar 3, 2010
7,439
34,276
Texas
"Finished" the previous book on the Sicilian opening, it's time for some tactics:
51vPiyXGkHL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Work is already paying off, went to chess club yesterday and I won 3 out of 3 two of which with fairly strong club players.
 
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Scepticalscribe

macrumors Haswell
Jul 29, 2008
65,199
47,584
In a coffee shop.
forgive me. not reading any books. both of our heating units are down* so i'm burning books to keep warm!


JK !


finally reading this:


jonathan_strange.jpg



*this is true. and it is 11*'s F/ -12*'s C

I have the hardback of this book sitting on my shelves, but - unusually for me - as yet unread.

You must let me know what you think of it and how you find it - and, above all, whether you recommend it.
 
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fitshaced

macrumors 68000
Jul 2, 2011
1,742
3,646
Re-reading The Brothers K and remembering just how big it is. Really fantastic book though.
 

belvdr

macrumors 603
Aug 15, 2005
5,945
1,372
Lots of serious reading here. I'm currently reading "How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain" by Gregory Berns. Being a dog lover, it's a fun and interesting read for the commute.
 

yaxomoxay

macrumors 604
Mar 3, 2010
7,439
34,276
Texas
Time to get back to some serious reading: "Why Nations Fail" and "Understanding Terror Networks" are on my sofa.

Why Nations Fail is a good one. If I remember well it goes a bit on the soap-box towards the end, but that doesn't detract anything from its many qualities.
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Haswell
Jul 29, 2008
65,199
47,584
In a coffee shop.
Why Nations Fail is a good one. If I remember well it goes a bit on the soap-box towards the end, but that doesn't detract anything from its many qualities.

I remembered that I had it, and have yet to read it - it arrived in November sometime, and so I fetched it from the pile on the sofa.

Anyway, I was prompted to do so when I saw it referenced a few times in an article I read in The Economist yesterday.

This article discussed why nations and states failed, and used two examples to explore its argument that much of this comes down to institutional integrity and strength, citing the case of a completely failed state (South Sudan), and contrasting it with a struggling dysfunctional but not quite failed state, which has shown some improvements in the face of horrendous challenges - Afghanistan.

Also cited was the book written - (well, co-written, with Clare Lockhart) - by the current president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, who - some years ago - wrote a book with the wonderful title "Fixing Failed States".
 
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JamesMike

macrumors 603
Nov 3, 2014
6,473
6,102
Oregon
Reading a book by HelenTursten, it is her Detective Inspector Irene Huss series. This is titled 'Detective Inspector Huss'.
 

yaxomoxay

macrumors 604
Mar 3, 2010
7,439
34,276
Texas
Just started this:

51nQLhX4waL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


I read "Bobby Fischer goes to war" a long time ago, and it did a decent job. Let's see if Frank Brady is up to the task of what is arguably one of the most difficult bios that can be written. Brady also profiled Fischer in an older book, Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy, a book I read in my teenage years which contains most, if not all of Fischer's games.

51kDE5wbyJL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 

0388631

Cancelled
Sep 10, 2009
9,669
10,823
Picked up a copy of Holding by Norton. I enjoy his talk show and decided to try his debut novel.
 
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