What are we reading ?

[Sarah in SC]

Mostly magazine articles, and internet stuff.

Recently read 'Freakonomics' (some eye-openers in that one), just finished 'Omnivore's Dilemma' (might start a thread on that later - four separate but related interesting points are made regarding our food supply).
-ERD50

These were both incredibly influential books for me, I especially loved the names section of Freakonomics--go Brittany (or Britney or Brittney)! And the Omnivore's Dilemma literally changed the way I eat. Powerful stuff--and presented in such rich language and evocative descriptions, without the desk-banging political agenda of so many of the "fast food-bad, vegetarian eating-good" type of books.

 

[ChrisC]

Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season, by Jonathan Eig.

It's a fascinating account of Robinson's first season -- it covers the usual main characters but it's also a really inciteful version of how others (not necessarily those involved in the drama) reacted to that first season. And for former Brooklyn Dodger fans, you can never get tired of this story.

 

[cantlogin]

It looks like there are quite a few of us who aren’t reading the bible.

​

 

[donheff]

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, I'm really enjoying the book.

My daughter gave it to me for Christmas. I just started cracked it yesterday and realized I read it 15 years ago. It is quite good but why has interest been raised now?

It looks like there are quite a few of us who aren’t reading the bible.

I read a couple of Dawkins' books recently -- does that count?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

It looks like there are quite a few of us who aren’t reading the bible.

​

I already know the ending.

 

[HFWR]

"Claytie". Hey, don't laugh. If this guy hadn't screwed up in his race against Ann Richards for TX governor, Dubya might have never run for political office. Then we'd all be bitching about some other president...

And we'd have to just lay there and enjoy it...

 

[Gail]

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, I'm really enjoying the book.

Read that many years ago. For Christmas, I got "World Without End" and I am currently about half way through. It is quite entertaining, and can be enjoyed without having read "Pillars".

 

[two4theroad]

My daughter gave it to me for Christmas. I just started cracked it yesterday and realized I read it 15 years ago. It is quite good but why has interest been raised now?

donheff,
Oprah picked PIllars of the Earth by Ken Follett for her Book Club recently, that has put it back on top of the paperback fiction charts. I too, read it 15 years ago but actually re-read it about a year ago and enjoyed it again!

2fer

 

[Twinkle Toes]

In general, I like mysteries, but I've read all of the Stephanie Plumb books by Janet Evanovich...only books that ever made me laugh out loud...can't wait for #14. I usually have more than one book going at a time. Up next:

Blind Alley by Iris Johansen

Dark Paradise by Tami Hoag

The Broker by by John Grisham

 

[happy2bretired]

I first heard about Pillars via Oprah and wondered why I was able to buy the book for half the price that I normally have to pay for an Oprah cited book. Now I know...it's old. But, I really am enjoying it. It's one of those books that you don't want to end. I'm only 3/4 of the way thru it so I have a few more days left.

 

[StJohnsWood]

You Staying Young by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz

Have to be young with I FIRE

 

[bookworm]

I like all types of mysteries. I am presently reading The Navigator by Clive Cussler. Just finished Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell. I don't usually stick to one author.

I also like the humorous mysteries like the Plum series by Evanovich.

 

[podey]

War & Remembrance, Herman Wouk

This is a great book, as is Winds of War.

As for me, I'm rereading War & Peace. As I approach the end I get sad that it will soon be over as it's such a masterpiece.

 

[CuppaJoe]

This is a great book, as is Winds of War.

As for me, I'm rereading War & Peace. As I approach the end I get sad that it will soon be over as it's such a masterpiece.

"War and Peace," Wow! I never got through that one but did finish "Anna K."

I put Greenspan’s "The Age of Turbulence" and Obama’s "Dreams of My Father" on my Kindle. Curiously, Greenspan uses simple, straightforward English; it’s a walk down memory lane, both entertaining and fascinating. Mamet’s play, "Speed the Plow" along with a booklet put out by the theater, a sort of expanded program; I’ll see the play this weekend so might be inspired to read it in advance. Silko’s "Ceremony" is waiting by my elbow and I sent a sample of a book of criticism on it to the Kindle; that along with the impetus of a book club might get me into it; I tried to read it once before but didn’t get very far.

 

[Moemg]

I also like the humorous mysteries like the Plum series by Evanovich.

I did not know they were humoroous mysteries . I'll have to read one .Thanks !

 

[BigBob]

How To Retire Early and Live Well on Less Than a Million Dollars. I know........I'm probably the last one on this board to read it!

Nope. I'm next after you...

I just finished A Walk In the Woods (Bill Bryson). What a hoot!

But, I am sure that I am the last one on this forum to begin reading Work Less, Live More (Bob Clyatt).

 

[Kronk]

Robin Hobb, Ship of Destiny.

3rd book in a trilogy. This trilogy is the middle trilogy in a trio of trilogies. The genre is fantasy, and the first book is Assassin's Apprentice. Fabulous books if you are into epic fantasy.

 

[bookworm]

Moemg,

The Plum series will make you laugh out loud. They are numbered. Start with #1 if you can. That way you can get a background on the characters and see how they progress. I'm waiting for #14 to come out.

 

[tightasadrum]

I'm totally backed up with 14 books currently stacked on the table next to my bed. There are biographies, history, humor, etc. Mostly non-fiction. I'm not even sure where I got them all. Right now I'm about to finish "A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market" by John Allen Paulos, one I bought that was recommended to me by a close friend with a PhD in Finance. It's a self-deprecating, technically light explanation of a lot of the ways to invest in the market and how they work, or don't work. It was not very expensive even as a hardback. I've learned some things from it that may be useful.

 

[kaudrey]

tightasadrum - I'm like you! I've hit a few library book sales in the last two months, and I have more books than I know what to do with! My stack has fiction, non-fiction, some classics that I never read etc.

I am reading the Harry Potter series - finished book 3, don't have 4 yet, so have to hit the library.

In the meantime, I am reading Charles Dickens' Hard Times, and, at the same time, the "S" book in Patricia Cornwell's series.

 

[boutros]

I recent read half way through Bob Dylans "chronicles" and I just could not take it anymore. I love his music hate the book. Usually if I don't like a book I will trudge through and finish eventually. In fact I can only remember giving up on a book once in recent memory, "Kite Runner" It was actually very well written but I identified too closely with the main character and at some point became too sickened with guilt to go on.

Finished the last Harry Potter last night. I am a little old to be reading it but I had to see what the uproar was about and then was hooked on the series. This one was the best of the bunch.

Half way through Le Cordon Bleu's Kitchen Essentials. Good book about how to cook as opposed to a cookbook. The Cook's Illustrated: Best Recipe is a good in between cookbook and how to cook book.

Just starting Water for Elephants.

There are a dozen more waiting to be read but I can't seem to keep up. I read about 1.5 books/2 weeks. I have a little too much of my uncle in me who is said to have read every single book in the local library back in the 70's. Certainly there was something else interesting going on... strange man. He retired in his mid 40's but died soon after.

 

[ladelfina]

wow.. boutros.. the Kite Runner made a big impression on me --a white, privileged Anglo lady whose closest brush with the Middle East is the oriental architecture of Puglia. (A complicated story there.)

But it's a small world.. I LOVE Cook's Illustrated. It's so exquisitely (I was going to say 'deliciously') anal! I know -coincidentally- 2 people from the Boston area who have worked on the magazine and the "Test Kitchen" TV show, met through 2 different channels. My last trip to the US one of them promised me an overseas off-load of some superfluous "Cooks'" books/mags she has accumulated.

I read at a similar pace. When English books are infinitely avail. even greater.. sometimes a book/night. My retention is not of the highest level, but I must consume, like popcorn!

 

[windsurf]

Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote is a tremendous book about a guy and his dog. He's an outdoor writer and the book is interspersed with tales of hunts and hikes and with lore of training and speculation on the domestication of canids. He devotes substantial space to vignettes inclusive of friends and just enough about his love life to spice it up.

 

[ladelfina]

thanks windsurf.. I will check that out (I have a dog, but am not a hiker).

As far as dog literature is concerned, I can (kinda) recommend "Bones Would Rain from the Sky" and "Animal Happiness". Both have flaws but also precious insights that outweigh those flaws. They are more 'behavioral stories' than adventure stories.. and "Animal Happiness" in particular is not limited to dogs.

Brings to mind a story with an autistic kid as the narrator: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". I thought that was good. Another fairly recent dog-related mystery with a bit more sentimentality: "The Dogs of Babel".. maybe not perfect as a pure mystery, but poignant. You could do worse.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Anyone else enjoy the Dresden Files? The sci fi show was horrible but the books are pretty good read