What book are you reading?

[Gbone]

Centennial
James Mitchner

[ajaxfetish]

Finally finished Don Quixote (a project that ended up taking several years), so now I'm on to Canterbury Tales.

Also rereading the Wheel of Time series in the hopes that the 12th installment will be finished by the time I get there.

Ajax

[Ramses II CP]

The Celestine Prophecy (On the recommendation of a pretty girl).

[Martok]

Just started Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It's a rather dense/heavy read, but that's pretty much par for the course with his books.

[Andres]

Had to dig this thread up.

Currently reading Albert Camus' "The Plague" Fascinating (and in a way pretty hilarious) stuff.

Still have Kafka's "The Castle" and Camus' "The Fall" on my shelf. Catching up on my existentialism, so it seems. Woud this be the prelude to my midlife crisis

[Ramses II CP]

The Celestine Prophecy, by the way, carries a pretty good story for new age claptrap and if you can boil away all the nonsense the points behind them are actually solid. I was surprised to enjoy reading it and clearing away the weird bits to get to the meat of it.

The pretty girl was a bit of a nut (I fault myself for liking 'em that way) but she has good taste in books.

[Craterus]

Had to dig this thread up.

Currently reading Albert Camus' "The Plague" Fascinating (and in a way pretty hilarious) stuff.

Still have Kafka's "The Castle" and Camus' "The Fall" on my shelf. Catching up on my existentialism, so it seems. Woud this be the prelude to my midlife crisis

I intend to read The Myth of Sisyphus in the near future.

For now, I am reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas and some Thomas Hobbes on the side (but I can't say I'm enjoying it).

Lots (almost too many) books on my shortlist though, I don't know where I'll find the time.

[Hooahguy]

lets dig this thread up, shall we?

right now im reading Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.
ok, im playing the game, now why not read the book?
after 200 pages, i have officially determined it is one of the best books ive ever read. when Chavez and his team sneaks up on the castle with the terrorists inside, i can almost feel as if im sneaking in with them.

[miotas]

Am I the only one who thinks that its a bit pretentious the way his name is in all those titles? Tom Clancy's Rainbow six by Tom Clancy. You know, the one by Tom Clancy?

Anywho, I'm reading The Light Fantastic. I'm becoming more and more convinced that Terry Pratchett is in fact the best author alive. I've read a few of his novels in a bit of a random fashion, but now I've decided to go through and read them in order.

It is impossible to read a Discworld novel and not laugh. If you find someone who doesn't laugh at one, then you have found yourself an evil sadistic maniac and you should call the authorities to lock them up before they hurt anyone.

[Scurvy]

Just started Anathem by Neal Stephenson. It's a rather dense/heavy read, but that's pretty much par for the course with his books.

I really enjoyed Snow Crash, but despite that never got round to reading anything else by him, I might look it up.

Currently reading Albert Camus' "The Plague" Fascinating (and in a way pretty hilarious) stuff.

Still have Kafka's "The Castle" and Camus' "The Fall" on my shelf. Catching up on my existentialism, so it seems. Woud this be the prelude to my midlife crisis

I really rate 'The Castle' (and The Trial), both well worth reading.

I didn't enjoy 'The Plague' (although the English translation I think did it no favours). I thought 'The Stranger' was better. For existentialism I much preffered Sartre's 'Nausea'.

--> Currently reading 'Stand on Zanzibar' by John Brunner, solid but unspectacular so far, although i'm only about a 1/5 through.

[Hooahguy]

Am I the only one who thinks that its a bit pretentious the way his name is in all those titles? Tom Clancy's Rainbow six by Tom Clancy. You know, the one by Tom Clancy?

its not much different than the other authors who have their names in huge letters in the front and the titles are smaller.
and tom clancy has become a staple of military books, so i guess the Tom Clancy name makes the book identify with the awesomeness.

anyhow, the name isnt important.

[Monk]

The Fall of Carthage by Adrian Goldsworthy.

Got it for pretty cheap off Amazon for something to read in between classes after I finished the Hitchiker's Guide series. The book is a historical look at the Punic Wars, their causes, their impact and the personal motivations for many who were involved. It's pretty cool, but it could really use some quality illustrations where it attempts to explain what the soldiers of each side looked like or were equipped with. The maps provided are decent enough though which is a huge plus.

Other than that, it's a dense read and you can easily find yourself overwhelmed with just how much information Goldsworthy throws at you. There are times when you just wanna say "I get it, please move on!" and in that vain I'll admit I've skipped over a few parts.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Am I the only one who thinks that its a bit pretentious the way his name is in all those titles? Tom Clancy's Rainbow six by Tom Clancy. You know, the one by Tom Clancy?

There are some books were, apparently, Clancy helped create the idea for the book, but somebody else did the writing. So it'd be Tom Clancy's Infowars by Some Jerk You've Never Heard Of. So it does have some use.

CR

[Hooahguy]

There are some books were, apparently, Clancy helped create the idea for the book, but somebody else did the writing. So it'd be Tom Clancy's Infowars by Some Jerk You've Never Heard Of. So it does have some use.

CR

QFT

an example of this would be Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (the book).

also, he wrote a lot of books under pen names.

[Martok]

I began re-reading the Honor Harrington series a couple months ago -- including several books in the larger "Honorverse" that I *hadn't* read til now -- and am finally getting towards the end now.

Am currently reading one of the "new" novels: Shadow of Saganami, which is (surprise!) the first book in the spin-off "Saganami Island" series. Only two more books left after this one: At All Costs (which is the most recent book in the main series) and Storm of Shadows, which is the second book in the Saganami series (just released earlier this year).

I'm not sure what I think about Shadow of Saganami yet, but it's been good enough that I haven't had to "force" myself to read it, so I suppose it can't be too bad.

I really enjoyed Snow Crash, but despite that never got round to reading anything else by him, I might look it up.

I'd certainly recommend it. It's a *very* dense, read, however -- one that you pretty much have to read slowly, just so your brain has time to wrap itself around the concepts the book discusses.

As a "primer", you might want to read Stephenson's Cryptanomicon (sp?) first. In terms of complexity, I found it to be a nice intermediate step between Snow Crash and Anathem, myself.

[HopAlongBunny]

Went on a book buying binge.

Discipline and Punish: Michel Foucault
The Gilded Age: Mark Twain & Charles Dudley Warner
Anna Karenina: Leo Tolstoy
The Lost Massey Lectures: CBC Massey Lectures Series

Should set me up for the Summer.

Foucault is the shortest, but will probably take the longest; so I'm starting with that.

[Maion Maroneios]

Just finished reading Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. It was a good book. I guess I'll have to go to the library soon to get some more.

Maion

[Craterus]

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Back to reading, sort of, after a long while.

Presently reading the "Bizans" (Byzantium) issue of the periodical "Cogito", from 1999. Recently finished "Târih Lenk", a harsh yet well deserved critical on fake, careless, plagiarised and otherwise faulty history books and a fair translation of Gotthelf Bergsträßer's History of Semitic Languages: "Elsine-i Sâmiye Târîhi" (published and annotated as "Sâmî Dilleri Târihi").
.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Currently I am reading:


'Six Easy Steps to Picking up Trashy Women'

[Tratorix]

Reading Stephen King's The Stand. About halfway through and it's quite good. Doesn't seem to meander about like lots of King's other books, lots of stuff going on.

[CountArach]

Teach Yourself Ancient Greek... because I want to teach myself Ancient Greek.

I'm also reading through the official guide to the 2009 Tour de France... only a few more days.

[Veho Nex]

The Celestine Prophecy (On the recommendation of a pretty girl).

Last time I read a book on recomendation of a pretty girl, it was Vanity Fair...

[drone]

I'd certainly recommend it. It's a *very* dense, read, however -- one that you pretty much have to read slowly, just so your brain has time to wrap itself around the concepts the book discusses.

As a "primer", you might want to read Stephenson's Cryptanomicon (sp?) first. In terms of complexity, I found it to be a nice intermediate step between Snow Crash and Anathem, myself.

I just finished Snow Crash, having already read Cryptonomicon and the entire Baroque Cycle. It moved along much faster (probably due to heavy editing, I imagine he didn't have the leeway he gets now), but you can see where his tangential tendencies come from. A good read overall.

Now I'm reading Imperium by Robert Harris. About halfway through it, I'm pleasantly surprised so far.

[Beirut]

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Going to have to finish that one day.

Reading The Trial and Death of Socrates, and Baptism of Fire about the Canadian Army at the Second Battle of Ypres (WWI).

Ordering some Aristotle from Amazon tonight.

Few things are as much fun as ordering books from Amazon.

[Prussian to the Iron]

right now i'm reading 'The Man in the Iron Mask'. Alexandre Dumas is one of my favorite writers; The Three Musketeers was great, and The Count of Monte Cristo was very, very interesting, yet hard to read.

I would recommend both, along with the D'Artagnan Series

[Owen Glyndwr]

For school, I'm reading and annotating Jean Paul Sartre's "Existentialism" which should be fun!

For fun, I'm thinking of picking up Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, I always love a good satire!

If anyone's interested, I recently finished reading Norman Davies's 1400 page Europe: A History, which was an absolutely fascinating read!

[Beirut]

If anyone's interested, I recently finished reading Norman Davies's 1400 page Europe: A History, which was an absolutely fascinating read!

Yes, I am interested. Was just looking at it on Amazon. I'd be happy to read any other thoughts you have on the book.

Looking to get Barbara Tuchman's The Distant Mirror as well, about the 14th century. Plague, war, religious strife. What's not to love?

[GeneralHankerchief]

Reading Stephen King's The Stand. About halfway through and it's quite good. Doesn't seem to meander about like lots of King's other books, lots of stuff going on.

Standard or uncut edition?

And afterwards, you should try his Dark Tower series if you haven't already. The first book is subpar, but if you can get through that it's really excellent stuff.

[Beirut]

Pardon me if I go ever so slightly OT, but does anyone else buy Dover Thrift Editions?

I adore these books. They might not look as sexy on the shelf as more expensive editions, but buying a classic book, brand new, for as little as $1.75 - with most in the $2.50 to $4.00 range - is great. And they have a fantastic selection.


http://www.doverthrift.com/