What are you reading? Not necessarily coin or ancient related.

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by alde, Mar 26, 2017.

  1. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    "The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World", by Andrea Wulf. It's a biography of Humboldt, who was a scientist, explorer, and writer in the early 19th century whose name is not well known today, but the author shows how he influenced the modern perception of the world. Humboldt was the first major scientist to take a broad view of how whole ecosystems work, and is the father of ecology. He gave early support and encouragement to a young Charles Darwin, and was a close friend of the South American liberator Simon Bolivar. I'd come across scattered mentions of Humboldt before, but this is the first full study of him I've read, and I highly recommend it.
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Orfew

    Orfew Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus

    Thanks to all who have presented your reading choices. There are a number on this thread I will now pick up.
     
    gregarious, alde, RTScott1978 and 2 others like this.
  4. FitzNigel

    FitzNigel Medievalist

    Loads of articles on East African Coinage... and this:
    IMG_1740.JPG

    I haven't been reading anything too heavy with school in session, so several comic books have also been on the docket.
     
  5. alde

    alde Always Learning

    Absolutely, I hope they keep coming.
     
  6. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    ?
     
  7. alde

    alde Always Learning

    I was wondering myself but didn't want to infer anything.:nailbiting:
     
    Smojo and gregarious like this.
  8. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Hmmmm... Battle of Agincourt: English well-trained Longbowmen famous for killing French Armor... French would capture English Longbowmen and cut off their first two fingers so that they could never draw a bow again.

    Today, as an insult, English use two finger in a salute like Americans using middle-finger. Basically, the two-fingers represent that "I still have them" (fingers). :D
     
    Multatuli, dlhill132, Puckles and 8 others like this.
  9. alde

    alde Always Learning

    Ah yes, plucking the yew.
     
    Puckles, RAGNAROK, gregarious and 3 others like this.
  10. FitzNigel

    FitzNigel Medievalist

    I guess I'm also picking out bits from Ibn Battuta:
    IMG_1742.JPG

    And I'm reading through Marco Polo for about the fourth or fifth time...
    IMG_1741.JPG

    Guess there's more on my docket than I thought...
     
  11. doug444

    doug444 STAMPS and POSTCARDS too!

    "Lawrence of Arabia"
     
  12. derkerlegand

    derkerlegand Well-Known Member

    "The Executioner's Song" - Norman Mailer. Terrible book, but somehow I skipped it 40 years ago. Thinking of bailing out, but only have a bit more. Last one was "Our Mutual Friend" - Chas. Dickens. One that I re-read every couple of years is "Confederacy of Dunces". Maybe because my earliest memories were in the New Orleans area (that picture on the left was in 1951 Metairie), and I can relate to the dialect! Hilarious, if dated book!
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2017
  13. Carausius

    Carausius Brother, can you spare a sestertius?

    Dexter Hoyos, Mastering the West, a readable history of the Punic Wars.

    Hoyos.jpg
     
  14. alde

    alde Always Learning

    I'm sure glad I don't mind buying used books. Since I started this thread 3.5 hours ago I have purchased 4 books. I think coin collectors in general and especially ancient coin collectors have a thirst for knowledge. The posts here show that to be true.
     
    dlhill132, Smojo, Pishpash and 2 others like this.
  15. MontCollector

    MontCollector Well-Known Member

    Takes me a while to read a book, but here is the one I am currently working on. Book1.jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 27, 2017
  16. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    We have been taking the Godson and/or Goddaughter on Sundays, so this has been the most recent crowd favourite ...

    [​IMG]

    :rolleyes:
     
  17. Mad Stax

    Mad Stax Well-Known Member

    I'm currently reading The Finest Hours by Michael Tougias, which is about a daring rescue by the US Coast Guard off the shore of Cape Cod back in the '50s. I'm only about 65 pages in but it's been a good read so far.

    @alde have you read any of Nathaniel Philbricks other work? A couple years back I read a book he wrote about the Battle of Bunker Hill... that was a good one.

    My favorite author has got to be Erik Larson though, he is an excellent writer of non fiction historical work. I highly recommend his books.
     
    dlhill132, Puckles and Alegandron like this.
  18. chrisild

    chrisild Coin Collector

    Here he is, by the way - Alexander von Humboldt along with his brother Wilhelm. This commemorative coin was issued for Wilhelm's 200th birthday but honors both. This way the government did not "have" to issue another commem two years later. ;)

    [​IMG]

    Currently I am reading a book about the artist René Magritte. Just saw a great exhibition of his works in Frankfurt; here is the "Digitorial" in English. (May take a while to fully load; then keep scrolling down.)

    The other book is about Erika Fuchs who, for forty years (roughly 1950-1990), translated the Donald Duck stories into German. Trivial? Yeah. But it is interesting to see how her work was not just translation but finding new words and context. The book, by Ernst Horst, is also nicely illustrated - about one Ducks panel on every page ...

    Christian
     
  19. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    It often feels like the only books I've read in the past four years have been children's books. And I haven't even gotten to Yertle the Turtle yet :arghh:.
     
  20. sakata

    sakata Devil's Advocate

    I always have a stack of books on the bedside table which is about 12 inches high. Sometimes I forget what is in the stack because Numismatics News, World Coin News and Numismatist always go on the top when the arrive. My current book is one of three I bought on the history of money. The other two are still in the stack.
     
    Puckles and RAGNAROK like this.
  21. JBGood

    JBGood Collector of coinage Supporter

    See the movie (Executioner's Song). It is 'killer' (sorry)!
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page