BOOK CLUB: Nominations for March book.

[CrispyQ]

Taking nominations for the March book club title.

I've fallen behind schedule due to polling members about where to take the book club, but we can easily get back on track. We'll keep this open for about 2 weeks, then poll & have our March title by February 1. Please note changes in the Book Club Guidelines, particularly this section:

NOMINATION OF BOOKS
Each person has one nomination. Please remember, if you nominate a book, you are committing to driving the discussion of that book if it becomes the selected title.

You can second as many books as you like. The "seconding" of the books is important because there are only 10 spots on the poll, so the "seconds" will often determine which books actually get on the poll.



Also, it is very helpful if you include a link to your nominated title at Amazon.

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2006 BOOK CLUB GUIDELINES:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=209x3044

DON'T FORGET TO HELP OUT DU!
Part of your Amazon.com purchase will go to DU if you buy through this link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/home.html/104-3444144-6171150

[Jim__]

1. I nominate: A Language Older than Words.

This book was nominated back in September - here - and it's based on reading the reviews of it back then that I think its a book worth reading.

[CrispyQ]

2. "The Republican War on Science" by Chris Mooney

Amazon link (via DU):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465046754/ref=pd_kar/104-3444144-6171150?n=283155




Buzzflash review here: http://www.buzzflash.com/reviews/05/08/rev05080.html

snip...

In this fascinating dissection of the "The Republican War on Science," author Chris Mooney skillfully explores what is behind the GOP attempt to turn a country on the cusp of innovation backwards into the Middle Ages of skepticism about science and evolution. Mooney guides the reader through this unfathomable undertaking that is an organized Republican effort to undo our national heritage of innovation and scientific advancements.

[catbert836]

3. New on this forum, but

I nominate "King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hochschild. It's about the rape of Congo by King Leopold II of Belgium, who used it as his personal feifdom. It really reveals the darkest side of European colonialism in africa, and offers a great insight into why that part of the world is so screwed up today. Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" plays a huge role in this book, which itself offered a large insight into the results of Leopold's mission to "spread civilization". Leopold was a man of limited power, king of a small country who saw Congo as his way to fufill his role as king. His rule of it was so brutal that the other great colonial powers were all forced to condemn it.
Not an American politics oriented book, but a great book which we should all read at some point.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618001905/002-3315346-3040856?v=glance&n=283155

[CrispyQ]

4. Welcome to the Book Club!

Good opportunity to kick this thread for more noms. We'll let this run through next week sometime & then poll.

CQG

[catbert836]

6. Thanks!

I haven't participated in one for way too long.

[nofoil]

5. I Nominate Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

Book Description (from Amazon.com)
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. And Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructure projects and to see to it that most of this money ended up at Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. This book, which many people warned Perkins not to write, is a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences on both the victimized countries and the U.S.

[CrispyQ]

7. Nofoil,

This title has already been a Book Club title, & one of our best discussions! If you are interested, read the comments on it (below) & add any comments you would like. These threads are not archived & if you post, it will kick it to the top of the non-fiction forum.

"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"
by John Perkins – April 05
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=209&topic_id=1504


Also, please consider joining us for discussions on other books.


CQG

[nofoil]

8. Thanks

I'm new to DU. Just met Perkins this week at Politics and Prose in DC. It was a standing room only, overflow crowd. I think everyone was surprised. He's wonderful. I'll get a post going this week!

[CrispyQ]

9. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

Cool you got to meet Perkins. I gave this book to my right-wing mother for Christmas. Since she listens to faux news only, she still believes "they hate us for our freedoms." :eyes: I doubt she'll ever see the light, but I thought this was a good non-partisan book to give her. She's probably sold it on Ebay. ;)

[MountainLaurel]

13. Hi Nofoil!

Out of curiosity, are you a DCer? Politics and Prose is one of our favorite haunts: My husband and I go about once a month to an author event. We've been there for Robert Byrd, Barbara Ehrenreich, Mark Crispin Miller, and several others.

[OrwellwasRight]

10. Are we going bi-monthly?

I nominate (unless we have already read it) Assassin's Gate: America in Iraq.

Amoazon link here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374299633/qid=1137447217/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-4413147-8662260?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

[CrispyQ]

11. Seconded.

People voted for continuing Book Club once a month. See here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=209x3013


My thoughts are we will continue through March with once a month & then see. If participation doesn't pick up, I will go to once every 2 months or perhaps even once every 3 months, unless someone else wants to take over the administration on a monthly basis.

Assassin's Gate has not been a selection & I thank you for nominating!

[Coexist]

12. I'd like to nominate "Crashing the Gate" by

Jerome Armstrong and Markos Zuniga

https://www.workingforchange.com/Order/index.cfm?OrderFormID=4&mktcode=crashingthegate

Money goes to good causes and we are all familiar (I think) with Kos and MyDD.
I would love to begin participating again, if people promise to actually read and comment on the books <<<<<<grin>>>>>>>

http://www.dailykos.com/
<snip>
Two of the hottest Democratic bloggers, Markos and Jerome, prove with this book that they are also two of the sharpest and most insightful voices in the progressive movement. Crashing the Gate is an urgent and powerfully-written look both at what ails our democracy and what can heal it. Ultimately, they show that the fuel to reform our politics will not come from Party insiders but from "the netroots, grassroots, and the rise of people powered politics." -- Arianna Huffington, Editor, The Huffington Post

Next week will be the last one the limited special edition of Crashing the Gate will be available for pre-order.

[MountainLaurel]

14. Two nominations

"Fooled Again" by Mark Crispin Miller

"A Century of War" bt William Engdahl

[CrispyQ]

15. MountainLaurel,

Per our guidelines, each person is allowed one nomination per month. Please, select one of your two titles for March.

Thanks,
CQG

[MountainLaurel]

16. Oh poop. How about Century of War, then?

Thanks.

[CrispyQ]

17. Oh good!

I looked at both reviews & thought that one sounded good! ;)

[CrispyQ]

18. NOMINATIONS NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED

Please go here to vote for the March title:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=209x3241

Thanks!
CQG

[Ediacara]

19. Locking

Nominations are no longer being accepted at this time.