View Full Version : What book are you currently reading?
Byzantine Prince
02-09-2005, 00:56
Hi, I was trying to think of some good books to read in the future so I decided "what the eff?" let's start a thread.
Well currently Im reading Voltaire's Candide. It's kind of a funny book. It's a lot like those morning cartoons with hillarious characters. The chapters are like 2 pages, lol.
Well how about you guys?
Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein"
Goofball
02-09-2005, 01:12
"Retreat, Hell!" by W.E.B. Griffin, the latest book in his The Corps series. His books are total bubblegum, but I like them.
Big_John
02-09-2005, 01:19
"homicidal psycho jungle cat" by bill watterson. i should be finished in a few minutes.
Mouzafphaerre
02-09-2005, 01:46
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Vol. 16 of Britannica, localized edition (1989). :inquisitive:
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Byzantine Prince
02-09-2005, 01:56
Watsup Mouzafphaerre? Are you going on a game show?
lol, I read the encyclopedia often too. Unfortunately I only have it on the computer. Or maybe that's a good thing. I don't have that much room for all those volumes. It's fun to read though. Especially when you come across something you haven't heard before.
Big King Sanctaphrax
02-09-2005, 02:00
Michael Burleigh's A New History of The Third Reich. I have just finished Star of the Sea by Joseph O' Connor-Highly reccomended.
pyhhricvictory
02-09-2005, 02:12
Viking Age Iceland and Medieval Iceland by Jesse Byock. Both are pretty good books if you like the time period. Iceland has a more interesting history than most of Europe at the time.
discovery1
02-09-2005, 02:14
All Quiet on the Western Front
Mouzafphaerre
02-09-2005, 02:30
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Watsup Mouzafphaerre? Are you going on a game show?
Nope. I'm done with the first 15 volumes, that's why...
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Just finished a bio of Lawrence of Arabia by Liddell Hart.
Still perusing "Righteous Victims: a History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1998". I've been reading it on and off.
Next up is either Liddell Hart's bio of General Sherman or Livy's The War with Hannibal. Not sure. I got them both as gifts. Just love getting books as gifts. :sweetheart:
Will probably read the bio of Sherman and save The war with Hannibal for the front porch when I can fall asleep outside in spring. Also planning on getting Sherman's memoirs to read this summer. $120 at Amazon for the hardcover! But I'm getting it. Also getting the original 1922 text of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence. That one is about $75 hardcover. Really looking forward to that. :book:
Damn those books are expensive.
Tribesman
02-09-2005, 03:22
Michael Burleigh's A New History of The Third Reich
Heavy going ~;) Just started his "Germany Turns Eastwards" book .
For lighter reading , I just finished "Monstrous Regiment" by Pratchett and started "Dance of the Voodoo Handbag" by Robert Rankin ~D
Im reading Shogun by James Clavell's. Basically its about an English man that is sailing a Deutch ship and the ship runs into a strom and sinks. Blackthorne (the englishman) and his men are on the Japans, anf its basically about him and how he lives and learns the japanese ways, its awesome, Im loving it. Here is what the book says about it
"A bold English adventurer. An invincible Japanese warlord. A beautiful women torn between two ways of life, two ways of love. All brought together in a might saga of a time and place aflame with conflict, passion, ambition, lust and the struggle for power....."
Its a really good book so far, I can get you guys a link for it if you want.
Goofball what does "total bubblegum" mean? Ive read a few of W.E.B Griffin's books, they are pretty good.
Medieval Assassin
02-09-2005, 03:57
^^^^ Read that book when I was 11, read it again at 13, reading it again now.
I LOVE SHOGUN!1!11!111
^^^^ Read that book when I was 11, read it again at 13, reading it again now.
I LOVE SHOGUN!1!11!111
I agree totally with you!! It is a very well written book and its just awesome all over. Also, James Clavell has a good number of Asian Culture related novels.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/3VP29XOPENZQF/qid=1107918208/sr=5-2/ref=sr_5_2/103-9046181-0387858
These would be the books. :bow:
Spetulhu
02-09-2005, 04:49
Ian Watson's Inquisitor trilogy (Warhammer 40K fiction).
Nausea by John Paul Sartre. A strange yet compelling and awesome book. It is a classic. Has all his philosophy in it, deep rooted.
Somebody Else
02-09-2005, 08:53
Just looking at the books scattered around my bed... several Pratchetts, The Sea Wolf - Ian Grimble, Heroes - Lucy Hughes-Hallet, The Enemies of Rome - Philip Matyszak.
I'm actually floating at the moment - can't quite build up the impetus to pick a book off my shelf.
Ser Clegane
02-09-2005, 09:19
Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami.
Almost finished though... so I need something new :book:
Byzantine Prince
02-09-2005, 09:27
Clegane, may I recommend I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. It's a great new book about frat students who get drunk and have sex all the time. It's kewl. Taht's what Im going to read next. Hopefully I'll get my copy tommorow. I'll tell you more once I read it.
Sahara by Clive Cussler. Non historical, non intellectual, just a generally good read.
Quid
Ser Clegane
02-09-2005, 09:42
Clegane, may I recommend I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. It's a great new book about frat students who get drunk and have sex all the time. It's kewl. Taht's what Im going to read next. Hopefully I'll get my copy tommorow. I'll tell you more once I read it.
Funny - just yesterday I read an article that mentioned this book (interestingly it mentioned that GWB likes that book).
I might have a look at it. ~:)
TonkaToys
02-09-2005, 10:19
Tales of Mystery and Imagination, Edgar Allan Poe.
First time reading any of his stories... most of the way through the Golden Bug story.
King Edward
02-09-2005, 11:13
Executive orders by Tom Clancy
frogbeastegg
02-09-2005, 11:48
Just finished: a large pile of assorted medieval murder mysteries borrowed from my library at the same time as the book below. Fluff reading and really not as good as the Cadfael series, which is itself akin to popcorn in a frog's literary diet. So simple I was reading one every few hours.
Dark Tower book 4: Wizard and Glass. A library book and the first one in the series available; my other option in this series was the last book :inquisitive: I don't really like it much so I shall finish it quickly and not bother with the rest of the series; I'm glad this one time my local library actually had what I was looking for (sort of) so I didn't have to buy.
Doomesday to Magna Carta, from the Oxford History of England series. Good, history, medieval ... I'm sure you can guess the rest. Mine and therefore a much more satisfying read than the literally stinking library books.
SwordsMaster
02-09-2005, 13:18
Reading for the first time: "A short story of nearly everything" Bill Bryson.
It is really good, gives you a good idea of ALL sciences and what are the main figures, discoveries and aims in every branch. Highly recommend.
Also "Greek legends and myths" by A.N. Kun. Pretty good, although it doesn't get into much detail.
Re-reading: "The Prince" MAquiavelli, "El Lazarillo de Tormes", anonimous,
"The art of war" good old Sun Tzu.
Ser Clegane
02-09-2005, 13:22
Reading for the first time: "A short story of nearly everything" Bill Bryson.
It is really good, gives you a good idea of ALL sciences and what are the main figures, discoveries and aims in every branch. Highly recommend.
Indeed - read it a couple of months ago. Very interesting and also quite entertaining - a rare combination.
Adrian II
02-09-2005, 14:05
I agree totally with you!! It is a very well written book and its just awesome all over. Also, James Clavell has a good number of Asian Culture related novels.He's been on some weird downward spiral if you ask me. King Rat is his best, Shogun is also a fine book (as a novel, not just a historical panorama) but after that he started writing scripts for Hollywood and his style suffered from it. The two HOng Kong novels are OK, but they're airplane reads. Whirlwind is bad, it's a series of movie scenes written down. Same happened to Gore Vidal, his novels got worse when he discovered tv and Hollywood. Interesting how movies can destroy literature that way. I'm not saying that script-writing is per se bad, or that movies are. Dangerous Liaisons for instance is a good example of a great book that was turned into a magnificent movie. No criticism there.
Armageddon by Max Hastings. Its a detailed history of the invasion of Germany in 1944/45. Integrates the views of the soldiers involved with the big picture very well.
Pausanias828
02-09-2005, 15:14
At the moment at work, only during breaks of course (looks round sheepishly), I am reading The Histories by Tacitus, translated by Kenneth Wellesley. At home I have just started (please don't laugh) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, as I thought I better see what all the fuss is about.
English assassin
02-09-2005, 15:38
Viking Age Iceland and Medieval Iceland by Jesse Byock
I read his Feud in the Icelandic Saga a while back, not bad.
Before that "Our posthuman future" by Francis Fu-whatshisname, the guy who wrote the End of History. Its his ideas for the regulation of biotech, some quite interesting arguments.
The_Doctor
02-09-2005, 15:42
Sharpe's Sword and Ancient Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities by Hans van Wees.
Tricky Lady
02-09-2005, 18:46
The Unburied by Charles Palliser.
Mein Kampf - purely educational :book:
Mount Suribachi
02-09-2005, 19:55
A History of the English Speaking Peoples by Winston S Churchill. Nearly finished it - is a magnificent book - Churchills written word is as good as his spoken word and its easy to see why he was such a popular author during his life. I will try and find a copy of his biography of Marlborough based on this. His history is an excellent companion to Simon Schamas History of Britain, as they are very different both in style and content - Schama concentrating on personalities and ideas, Churchill more on events - and as such they are very complementary.
Before that I read Tail End Charlies by John Nichol (he of Gulf War shootdown fame). Its the story of the bomber war in Europe in 44-45 and is (along with Miracle on the River Kwai ) the most heart-aching book I have ever read. I was in tears at one point and was deeply, deeply moved on virtually every page. It really brings home the scale of the losses of Allied Bomber crews in a very personal way. The style of writing is very similar to Stephen Ambrose ie very readable and lets the veterans do the talking. Highly recommended to all fans of WW2 stuff.
Demon of Light
02-09-2005, 20:40
Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein"
Really? So am I!! I don't suppose it is assigned reading for one of your classes?
MoROmeTe
02-10-2005, 00:26
Pascal Bruckner - Beauty Thieves
Martin Heidegger - Being and Time
William Faulkner - Absalom, Absalom
Mircea Cartarescu - Orbitor (Blinding)
The last one is a Romanian author that writes very good novels, I'm curently reading the second of a three book series. And don't know if it is trans;ated into English but it's really good...
Sharpe's Sword and Ancient Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities by Hans van Wees.
I love the Sharpe's series. They are fantastic books.
I have a question though, I dont mean to change the topic but what is a good book about Medieval Battle tactics, and just a general history/book about Medieval Battle strategies. I dont know if this makes sense. Sorry.
Mount Suribachi
02-10-2005, 10:53
Really? So am I!! I don't suppose it is assigned reading for one of your classes?
Thats a great book, one of my favourites. I love the big long pieces of dialogue by the monster, wonderful :book:
Shottie, I suggest you PM Frogbeastegg, she's a bit of a buff on all things medieval.
Evil_Maniac From Mars
02-11-2005, 23:50
"Gathering of Heroes" by Paul Edwin Zimmer
Reading for the first time: "A short story of nearly everything" Bill Bryson.
It is really good, gives you a good idea of ALL sciences and what are the main figures, discoveries and aims in every branch. Highly recommend.
About 2/3rds through it now. Good stuff. Next in the queue is Chernow's "Alexander Hamilton". After that, I should probably read "Beer Games 2: The Exploitative Sequel" ~:cheers:
Kaiser of Arabia
02-12-2005, 01:11
im inbetween books i kinda *just* started War and Peace
Next: Mein Kampft
Evil_Maniac From Mars
02-12-2005, 02:00
"Mein Kampf" German translation for everyone: My fight/my struggle
I believe it was written by former Riech leader and dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler.
Kaiser of Arabia
02-12-2005, 02:10
You would be correct Evil Maniac from Mars.
I just literally started it an hour ago.
http://www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/
Evil_Maniac From Mars
02-12-2005, 02:23
Well, not exactly hard when your fluent in German(in all modesty of course).
The Stranger
02-12-2005, 15:16
"Mein Kampf" German translation for everyone: My fight/my struggle
I believe it was written by former Riech leader and dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler.
he Maniac why aren't you rating sigs with me anymore
Big_John
02-13-2005, 18:23
"commander coriander salamander and 'er singlehander bellylander" by mabel syrup
Currently I'm ready Herodotus.. again. I've recently begun reading all the follow up books to Ender's Game which is a nice change for me because I normally don't read novels.
Currently reading "Fatefull Triangle" by Noam Chomsky.
Currently reading:
1. The Iliad, Homer
2. The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius
3. The Shrine, James Herbert :book:
And the riot act to a 6-year old version of Attila the Hun :furious3:
Evil_Maniac From Mars
02-14-2005, 22:43
"he Maniac why aren't you rating sigs with me anymore"
K, I'll come back.
Big_John
02-16-2005, 08:06
nine stories by salinger
i think i read it before a long time ago. in the middle of de daumier's blue period right now, which is hilarious so far (but will probably end tragically or excessively oddly or something considering the other stories i've read so far..). so far de daumier's is one of my favs, along with just before the war with the eskimos, the laughing man and for esmé, with love and squalor of course. i like those better than the others anyway. we'll see about teddy.
ShadesPanther
02-16-2005, 16:49
The Punic wars by Nigel Bagnall (ex British Field Marshall)
I've just finishedHannobal Enemy of Rome by Leonard Cottrell. Very good book about the jounery of Hannibal through Iberia, Gaul, Italy and back to Carthage
Hosakawa Tito
02-20-2005, 01:09
I'm currently in the middle of reading a new book by Bernard Cornwell, "The Last Kingdom". It's about Alfred the Great and the Saxson vs Vikings wars in England during the 9th century. I'm enjoying it and recommend the book.
http://www.harpercollins.com/features/cornwellkingdom/
Sasaki Kojiro
02-20-2005, 01:15
nine stories by salinger
i think i read it before a long time ago. in the middle of de daumier's blue period right now, which is hilarious so far (but will probably end tragically or excessively oddly or something considering the other stories i've read so far..). so far de daumier's is one of my favs, along with just before the war with the eskimos, the laughing man and for esmé, with love and squalor of course. i like those better than the others anyway. we'll see about teddy.
Love that book, one of my favorites. Teddy was really good.
Byzantine Prince
02-20-2005, 01:23
WOW, you guys love your history books.
Well as I stated a week ago I am now readin I am Charlotte Simmons. Well so far so good. The story starts off by giving us an introduction to the university and it's decadent ways. Hoyt and his friend just witnessed the principle or something getting sucked by a young student they once knew. Hmm, it's getting interesting.
Big King Sanctaphrax
02-20-2005, 01:29
im inbetween books i kinda *just* started War and Peace
Next: Mein Kampft
If you can get through Mein Kampf, you're a better man than I am.
I found it complete drivel. Utterly unreadable.
Byzantine Prince
02-20-2005, 01:48
Why would you read Mein Kampf? It's filled with racism and ignorance. Your IQ will drop 5 points after reading it.
Big King Sanctaphrax
02-20-2005, 01:53
Why would you read Mein Kampf? It's filled with racism and ignorance. Your IQ will drop 5 points after reading it.
To get an insight into Hitler's mind.
However, the main problem is not the ideas it contains, but how badly it is written.
Byzantine Prince
02-20-2005, 02:06
Hehe what do you expect? Hitler didn't even have highschool education. He quit school in grade 9. Of course it's gonna be badly written.
Big King Sanctaphrax
02-20-2005, 02:21
Not neccesarily true. I know several people who did dreadfully in school, but write beautifully, and several who did very well, who can't write creatively to save their lives.
Byzantine Prince
02-20-2005, 02:31
Well yeah but there's a difference between creativity(which Hitler obviously had) and knowing how to write a proper paragraph. Also the vocabulary is very important.
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