The Books/Reading Thread

[viewerfromnihil]

Just ordered a few books off of Amazon, I got Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange World and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, along with Murray Rothbard's America's Great Depression. I read my first sci-fi book a couple of months ago, Heinlein's Starship Troopers, and it was not disappointing. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress should be an entertaining read, but it's Stranger in a Strange World that I'm really looking forward to. America's Great Depression should be a good read, and it's always nice to have more ammunition against the Keynesian and monetarists. Alan Greenspan's article, Gold and Economic Freedom, was a nice overview of the causes of the Great Depression, but it lacked detail. With Rothbard, you never have to worry about that.

 

[Ov Wulf]

Yes, I know it's pretty pretentious in the 'I'm atheist, deal with it111!1!' sort of way, but some of the essays and articles are from authors and intellectuals I really respect.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Reading Another Country by James Baldwin. Started in the winter but never had time to finish it. Definitely one of my favorite American writers.

 

[monoxide_child]

anyone here reading fiction???
anyone care to psycho-analyse fictional characters
or psycho-analyse the authors of bizare fiction???

 

[Master_Yoda77]

When I'm not skipping through pages of Game of Thrones I'm reading this. Nerd level = Too Extreme

 

[Dak]

Sounds like an interesting read.

 

[monoxide_child]

wow
this looks awesome

 

[The Ozzman]

I finally finished Nixon & Kissinger and picked up this while on vacation at Mt Rushmore:

I'm still reading The Day of Battle though. Once that is finished, I'll either start on Seven Habits of Highly Effective People or re-read Atlas Shrugged.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

My father was so kind to purchase this for me. Any advice on taking the GRE? I'm going to read this and take the test (hopefully) sometime in early August before class starts.

 

[The Ozzman]

If it's anything like the GMAT, memorize the geometry shit.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yeah, the math portion is the part the scares me the most, but I'm sure if I figure out the types of questions they ask I'll be able to solve them.

 

[Zephyrus]

Aren't you like, a sophomore in college?

 

[Einherjar86]

If you're planning on applying to English grad programs, don't worry as much about the math sections. I mean, don't bomb them or leave them blank, but don't concern yourself with scoring a 700 on them. Focus on the analytic and verbal sections.

For vocabulary, make flash cards. There will be words you don't know, but don't make cards for every single one. You should be able to find a list of the hundred words (or 150, something like that) that show up most often. Make cards for the ones off that list that you don't know (just to make sure, look up definitions for all of them). Also, the verbal section will ask you content-related questions about textual passages, some of which can be very long. Learn how to read them quickly and efficiently, since you'll waste time re-reading. Try and pick up on key moments of the passage, such as when the author makes or refutes a point.

Analytic is more difficult to study for, but if you don't have trouble with critical thinking you should do well. You'll need to flesh out a logical argument of your own making, as well as pick apart another argument (i.e. determine if it's strong or weak and point out its errors; most arguments in this section usually have glaring errors).

Finally, take a practice exam. Then take another. Then take another. Take as many as you can. The GRE isn't about learning the material as much as it is about learning how to take the GRE. Once you learn how they ask questions, and the kinds of questions they ask, you'll perform better.

 

[Zephyrus]

I will add to Pat's astute advice that long-term study in Latin, Greek and Logic will be the best keys to success on the Verbal sections of the GRE. I didn't even study for those sections and still got in the 600's.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

I'm going to be a senior Jeremy you twat.

But thanks for the advice. This book comes with a CD-ROM that contains a practice test, and I know there are free ones online. I took a speed reading class a few years ago, so I have some experience reading quickly. I love the flashcard idea, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Not sure about my analytical skills, but I'm sure this book will help me out somewhat.

 

[Zephyrus]

My bad. I can't keep track of you kids and your growing-up business.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yeah, unless I plan on taking a year off I should start applying to grad programs this fall.

 

[Zephyrus]

Year off is not a bad idea if you can you can log some relevant professional experience during it.

 

[Master_Yoda77]

Yeah, not sure if I'll be ready to teach any classes though.

 

[Zephyrus]

Well you better figure out what you want to do specifically, something beyond "I like Mark Twain."