Wednesday, November 10, 2010

This Week's Reading

Now that my grading is getting caught up, I'm launching back into my comprehensive exam preparation.  That means reading books, articles, and book reviews.  I should have my European and Military & Naval reading lists nailed down in the next week, but U.S. is under control.  Since I don't have time to wait, and owe one of my dissertation co-chairs some work, I'm launching right into the Military & Naval, which has some overlap with the European list.

This week's light reading:

  1. Jan Glete, War and the State in Early Modern Europe: Spain, the Dutch Republic and Sweden as Fiscal-Military States, 1500-1660.
  2. Brian M. Dowling, The Military Revolution and Political Change: Origins of Democracy and Autocracy in Early Modern Europe.
  3. William H. McNeill, The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000.
  4. Judith Butler, Gender Trouble.
  5. Philip Caputo, A Rumor of War.
  6. Le Ly Hayslip, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace.
  7. Ronald J. Glasser, 365 Days.
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2 comments:

  1. TV ADdictNovember 14, 2010 at 12:23 AM

    How do you keep up with reading so many books? When you read, do you take notes or just let the information absorb by osmosis? Also, do you read for a specific purpose, so you can skim through the irrelevant parts, or are all parts of these books equally important to you?

    I am wondering because I want to go to graduate school. I have about 2 years left to complete by Bachelors degree. Reading has always been my weak point. Can you give me some advice?

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  2. ChrisNovember 16, 2010 at 12:38 PM

    I take notes while I read, but some week's I don't get all the way through the reading and have to carry some over - last week I didn't finish Glete, so I'm finishing it tonight. Hints: do your reading in areas without distractions - no TV, loud conversations, etc... Read the introductory material and conclusion first so you know what the book is about. Then work through the rest. I also read the acknowledgments and bibliographies before diving in so I know where the author is coming from. The biggest thing is that I do very little else - most weeks I watch only about 6 hours of scheduled TV. Anything beyond that is after 9:30 or 10:00 pm, and I get up early enough to be productive by 8:00 am. I usually take one night or day off per week unless I'm sick or injured.

    One thing I suggest to my undergrads is to try out the SQ3R study method, which you can find using Google.

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