What book are you reading?

[Csargo]

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

[Fragony]

Nice fellow huh, great book though.

[Hosakawa Tito]

I am just now reading "Patriot Pirates" by Robert H. Patton. It's about the privateer war during the American Revolution. I never realized how effective this naval, mostly private enterprise, guerilla war on British shipping was. Whereas the Continental land army was all about not losing and avoiding pitched battles, these privateers really kicked the Brits where it hurt. A good read for those interested in the history of this time period.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

move over Hornblower

[Lemur]

King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild

Maybe the most depressing book ever. And that's a big title with stiff competition.

[CountArach]

For All Mankind by Leon Blum.

[Tratorix]

Stephen King's IT. Clowns don't scare me... yet.

[Martok]

Stephen King's IT. Clowns don't scare me... yet.

That's because you haven't seen the mini-series. (Couldn't sleep for two nights straight after that....)

[Fragony]

Maybe the most depressing book ever. And that's a big title with stiff competition.

Try this it's much more complete;

http://www.amazon.com/Scramble-Afric.../dp/0380719991

The bible of that sick history and it reads like a novel.

[edyzmedieval]

Thank you for Smoking by Christopher Buckley.

Hilarious.

[shlin28]

I went through a reading spree this month:

Dune by Frank Herbert - Poor beginning, great middle to end.
Northern Light by Philip Pullman - Pretty good, can't believe I never read this before.
The new Artemis Fowl book - Yay for fairies!
Superior Saturday by Garth Nix - Yay for weird people in a strange house!
Fatherland by Robert Harris - Great book, will probably read Engima or Imperium next.

and now "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins - Too simple for my taste, I've read about most of the arguments before so its not really interesting for me. (I have read the Bible so half of the arguements he used I already used on my friends anyway )

[Koga No Goshi]

Right now I'm reading World War Z. I never thought I'd buy a book like this, as I do not tend to read things in the vein of "fanfics, spinoffs, etc." But this is a very uniquely written book. It basically takes the concept of a "zombie apocalypse outbreak" having already happened and being dealt with, and then puts together an oral history of interviews with survivors years later. It covers the globe and people from all kinds of jobs, positions and cultures. It's really interesting mostly in that regard, and how well he seems to have researched global politics and world cultures.

[Kralizec]

Just finished Leon de Winter's Recht op terugkeer, not a monumental piece of literature but good enough.

[Martok]

Am currently re-reading Patrick: Son of Ireland by Stephen R. Lawhead.

[Ronin]

Currently reading In Lust We Trust: Adventures in adult cinema - by Gerrie Lim

[Banquo's Ghost]

I'm currently half-way through "A Daughter's Love" by John Guy, which is a biography of Margaret More, the daughter of Sir Thomas More and his chronicler and moral support. Sir Thomas is a great hero of mine, and the book is a fascinating new perspective on his frailties and ultimate strength.

Highly recommended to students of the period.

[Ramses II CP]

Right now I'm reading World War Z. I never thought I'd buy a book like this, as I do not tend to read things in the vein of "fanfics, spinoffs, etc." But this is a very uniquely written book. It basically takes the concept of a "zombie apocalypse outbreak" having already happened and being dealt with, and then puts together an oral history of interviews with survivors years later. It covers the globe and people from all kinds of jobs, positions and cultures. It's really interesting mostly in that regard, and how well he seems to have researched global politics and world cultures.

Personally I was very unhappy with World War Z. It was highly recommended to me by a friend right after it came out last year so I bought it in hardback. I read it in two days during a vacation, and frankly the story struck me as even more outrageous than most zombie tales. The pace of it and the universality of it are just not credible.

Plus it's easier to write an interview novel than an actual story. Yeah, neat gimmick, but ultimately disappointing. I would've accepted that from a short story, but drawn out to novel length it got old and tasteless fast.

YMMV.

[Koga No Goshi]

Personally I was very unhappy with World War Z. It was highly recommended to me by a friend right after it came out last year so I bought it in hardback. I read it in two days during a vacation, and frankly the story struck me as even more outrageous than most zombie tales. The pace of it and the universality of it are just not credible.

Plus it's easier to write an interview novel than an actual story. Yeah, neat gimmick, but ultimately disappointing. I would've accepted that from a short story, but drawn out to novel length it got old and tasteless fast.

YMMV.

Well, as I said, this was the kind of book I'd ordinarily not buy. If it had been a straightforward plot based fiction novel on the same topic I probably never would have given it a chance. I was more interested in the style it was written in after friends told me about it, becuase I read a lot of compilations of oral histories and accounts in the non-fiction world. It might have been a "gimmick" on the author's part, I really don't know him and couldn't say, but I don't think it's gimmicky at all that this style is a very bottoms-up way to tell history, and record history.

[Hosakawa Tito]

I am reading "The Strongest Tribe" by Bing West.

[TevashSzat]

Had to read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce for school. I must say.....it is one of the worst books I have ever read (worst would go to Billy Budd) It starts out okay I guess for early 20th century Irish literature, but as you got into 3rd chapter onwards.....it starts to drag very heavily. Just for reference, there is essentially a 13 page rant on how awful hell is and by the end, even my English teacher admitted that it was a bit tedious to read (and thats saying something).

[Craterus]

Reading The Social Contract by Rousseau.

[Hosakawa Tito]

I'm almost finished with "April 1865: The Month That Saved America" by Jay Winik.

[seireikhaan]

College Textbooks...

[Thermal]

of mice and men- john steinbeck

for english exam

[shlin28]

of mice and men- john steinbeck

for english exam

You are reading "Of Mice and Men" in Year 10? Last year we just did all our coursework, we only gonna start "Of Mice and Men" after Christmas (I take it that the book is bad?)

Currently reading "Vietnam: A War Lost and Won" for my coursework.

[edyzmedieval]

Yeah everyone is doing Of Mice and Men in year 10 in high school.

I'm reading:

Christopher Buckley - Thank You For Smoking
Clive Cussler - Plague Ship

[CountArach]

Reading The Social Contract by Rousseau.

[Craterus]

Wait till you see what I'm planning to read next...

[King Henry V]

An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England by Peter Hunter Blair (applying to read Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge, so I have to brush up on the period)

A Question of Upbrining by Anthony Powell.

[seireikhaan]

Principles of Macro-Economics- 3rd ed.

By Robert Frank and BEN BERNANKE. Midterm tomorrow.

[Lord Winter]

Brave New World,
Just finished Acellerendo which I recomenned though it is pretty weird.