What book, if any, are you reading right now?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

I'm embroiled in a geologically paced slow read of David Brock's excellent "Blinded by the Right".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400047285/sr=8-1/qid=1145422971/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9316151-6706427?%5Fencoding=UTF8

It's actually not long or a difficult read, and it's well written.. the kind of book I'd typically devour in one or two sittings.

I'm just not in a reading mode these days, I guess...

[Broken_Hero]

1. hmm...:)

I got done with the harry potter series, this past friday, and I am like 2 pages into Tommyknockers, by S. King....

[HEyHEY]

2. The voyages of Captain Cook

I started it a long time ago, then stopped, now I'm back into it.

[SeattleGirl]

3. Stupid White Men by Michael Moore

:hi:

[Brigid]

63. This is a good one.

But "Downsize This!" is still my favorite of his. Do you like James Carville?

[leftofthedial]

4. Steve Earle: Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet by David McGee

loaned to me by a student

[clyrc]

5. "Cloudsplitter" by Russel Banks

It is very good.

[Sequoia]

59. I read that. It's great. John Brown.

He knew the Civl War was going to happen.

[RandomKoolzip]

6. "Staring at Sound," Jim DeRogatis's Flaming Lips biography.

A bit terse, which given the prolific sprawl of the Lips' output seems inappropriate, but otherwise a decent rockbio.

[Robeson]

7. Currently, I'm reading....

-"The Alexiad of Anna Comnena" - for about the third time.

-"Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII"

-"The Light of Other Days"

-"History of Danish Dreams"

-"The Wind-Up Bird Chonicle"

[devilgrrl]

8. "The Lottery and Other Stories" by Shirley Jackson

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374529531/sr=1-8/qid=1145424350/ref=sr_1_8/102-6287890-8934566?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. Ooh makes me want to read that short story again!!

[SeattleGirl]

21. "The Lottery" is one of my favorite psychologically freaky stories!

Good choice!

[alphafemale]

34. The Mists of Avalon + Never Have Your Dog Stuffed/Alan Alda

I love Alda's humor.

edit:
ugh-posted wrong-sorry :blush:

[tishaLA]

10. I'm reading a couple right now

for my dissertation. One is "Modern Chivalry," a late-18th century satire about American life by Hugh Henry Brackenridge. Sort of an American Don Quixote. The other is "Liberalism and Republicanism in the Historical Imagination," which is a really great book by historian Joyce Appleby about historiography's move toward the "republican synthesis" in the early 70s.

[catbert836]

11. Too many!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- Mark Twain
The Plague- Albert Camus
In Cold Blood- Truman Capote
Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe
After Dachau- Daniel Quinn
Misqouting Jesus- Bart D. Ehrman
The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I'm about to be arrested by the book police for trying to finish these at the same time...

[BrotherBuzz]

12. Gus Openshaw's Whale Killing Journal

by Keith Thomson

On June 11, 2004, an Oakland, California, cat food cannery worker began keeping an online diary (known as a "web log" - or "blog" for short) to enlist the public's aid in finding the whale he alleged had eaten his wife, infant son and arm. On the following pages, his blog is printed in its entirety.

It's very funny from page one....

I Got A Fish To Kill
June 11
Don't make me relive the details just now. The short of it: a whale ate my wife, kid and right arm. And he got away. For the time being.

Now, there are these Indians in the state of Washington. They have one of those licenses you can get--because of a special religious dispensation or whatever--to kill one whale a year. For probation agreement reasons that I can't get into, I had to get myself one of these licenses before I could go back out on the water--let alone set a toe on a dock--without getting shot at by the damn Coast Guard. So I went up to Washington to pow-wow with those Indians.

Prior to the incident, I worked on the line at a cat food cannery. Literally the worst stinking job you can get. Point is, I was earning just north of squat. But I'd married way better than I deserved. And when she died, I was worth--including everything from the house to my boxer shorts--$515,200. Oddly, the Indian Chief priced the license at $515,000, take it or leave it. I took it, gladly. I later learned that my lawyer had "coincidentally" done some "legal work" for the same Indians that same day, getting him a check $51,500. But I was too busy readying my boat to care about the lawyer. My thoughts were on getting to the neck of the Caribbean where a particularly fat sperm whale had been sighted.

I bought an old wooden cabin cruiser from a geezer in Port Helslop, Washington for $20. Wood boats are a bitch is why. Takes a good couple hundred hours to scrape and paint the hulls every year. Invention of fiberglass made wood boats' asses obsolete. So folks with wood boats they don't use no more are left with this dilemma: "Do I keep paying two grand a year to keep this sucker in dry dock, or do I pay some guy twice that much to come over, chain saw my family heirloom apart and haul it to the dump?" So the price for these craft is zip. The twenty bucks was for the gas in her. And it was a good fifty bucks worth of gas.

A few days later, a few leagues north of the Equator, I upgraded to a 180-foot superyacht that came with this computer I'm blogging on now. I'll get to that next time I blog. Now I got to hit the head.

http://blubberybastard.tripod.com/blog/

[gkdmaths]

13. Oh, boy...

At this very moment its not a book, but a paper from the Brazilian Journal of Morphology Science titled Anatomical Study of the Anterior Interventricular Septal Branches and their Relationship with the Blood Supply of the Septomarginal Trabecula".

Earlier today I was reading Fluvial Forms and Processes by David Knighton.

You asked.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

14. Interesting. Do you study anatomy, or is your interest in the structure of

the heart related to mathematics, aesthetics, or just random?

[XemaSab]

15. The first one sounds like printed death

The second one sounds pretty cool though... :)

[gkdmaths]

17. Im in medical research

I study the microvasculature of the left anterior descending coronary artery and structures. I do microtomography of heart sections (I just finished one about ten minutes ago, been cleaning the tome) and I write computer programs to rebuild the vascular volume map (the vasculature is marked with an in-house synthesized proprietary vascular fill). the surfacewater hydrology book (knighton) is book of mathematical axioms used to describe fractal-based self-similar stream networks, which behave identically (however, reciprocally) to newtonian/laminar flow in the small vessels of the organs. I've been building a new program to incorporate some of the more recent breakthroughs in hydrology/geomorphology to map areas of varying circulatory efficiency in organs, specifically the heart model.

again, you asked }(

[XemaSab]

25. That's pretty fuckin' cool

I have often reflected on how ubiquitous dendritic patterns are in both organic and inorganic systems.

Laminar flow too, eh?

[Random_Australian]

16. Lots of textbooks! ;) And Aussie ballads and such.

[mykpart]

18. The DaVinci Code.

I put off reading it as long as I could. Just started it tonight.

[Writer]

19. The Red Tent by Anita Diamante.

Wonderful retelling of a portion of the bible from a woman's perspective. :)

[MaggieSwanson]

56. I love that book! n/t

[Brigid]

64. I loved it too!

It's a fascinating take on Dinah's story. It wasn't easy to be a woman back then. But then, it isn't easy to be a woman now either.

[LSK]

20. Fooled Again - Mark Crispin Miller

In fact, I should be reading it right now. Bad lounge!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. I am currently reading "Will in the World."

And I forget who the author is! But the book is excellent!

The author tells the complex and fascinating story of how Will became the Shakespeare that we know and love today....

Highly recommended!

:hi:

[donheld]

23. Rising Tide

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0684840022.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684840022/qid=1145427493/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0324430-2148752?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

[IChing]

24. The Tibetan Book of the Dead

After finishing the Egyptian Book of the Dead

Seriously both books were dead on.

[gkdmaths]

26. I read that in high school

from what I remember it was an amazing book.

[IChing]

28. Both books should be read together for

narcoleptic consummation. LOL
But seriously comparative religions can be as interesting as science fiction.

[laheina]

30. We read those in college.

Every time that I think about the TBotD, I seriously regret being an organ donor and wanting to be cremated.

Maybe I should move to the Himalayas. :shrug:

[IChing]

31. Energy can neither be created or destroyed

it can be transformed
just as matter can create energy.


now where are my uranium thoughts
to back that up.

so i would not worry about that,
unless you worry about surviving after your death
the dimension you live in now.

[Oeditpus Rex]

27. 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'

The autobiography of Col. Greg "Pappy" Boyington, commander of WWII fighter squadron VMF-214 — the Black Sheep Squadron.

[laheina]

29. Diet for a Small Planet.

It's not *a* diet, but about how our allocation of food resources is a major factor in causing world hunger.

[BikeWriter]

32. I'm writing my own. :-)

[MissHoneychurch]

33. A Michelangelo biography by Antonio Forcellino

and Cesar by Alexandre Dumas.

I stopped reading Cesar to read Michelangelo

[TheBaldyMan]

35. The Enochian Gospels Books I-III

I was researching all that fundie rapture nonsense and found an online copy.

[RebelOne]

36. "Forever Odd," by Dean Koontz.

It's the sequel to "Odd Thomas." I love anything written by him and Stephen King.

[Sisaruus]

37. Still Life with Oysters and Lemons

Just finished an absolute gem of a book:
Still Life with Oysters and Lemons: On Objects and Intimacy by Mark Doty

Am now reading:

Truth or Consequences by Alison Lurie

Illiterate America by Jonathan Kozol

Students Against Sweatshops: The Making of a Movement by Liza Featherstone

Class Matters: Cross-class alliance building for middle-class activists by Betsy Leonder-Wright

[terrya]

38. "A Rage to Live" by John O'Hara

It's one of those sweeping, generational type novels that reflect a certain time (in this case the early 20th Century) of America.

It's quite readable.

[Squeech]

39. The Big Nowhere

by James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential, Black Dahlia, and a dozen other stories of crime and corruption in the big city. Everybody's bent and/or blindly ambitious, there's more honor among the crooks than the cops. And on top of that, there's a red-baiting grand jury being empanelled, where these rogue cops (many of whom just think this is their ticket to higher office) are just tromping over people to find suspects. Not only wasn't it very good escape literature for the Abu Gonzales unitary executive era (ha ha), but after a dozen pages or so I feel like I need to take a shower and wash off the stench of these horrible characters.

But it is well written, I'll give it that. I'm on pins and needles to see how it all turns out.

[raccoon]

40. "The Thief of Time" by Tony Hillerman. nt

[kwassa]

41. Just finished "King Leopold's Ghost"

about a monster of a human being who personally owned the colony of the Congo, where ten million died through forced labor harvesting wild rubber vines.

well-written and appalling.

[Bridget Burke]

42. "Locked Rooms" by Laurie R King.

It's the latest Mary Russell mystery. As you may know, Mary Russell met & married Sherlock Holmes after his retirement. The last book was "The Game"--adventures in India involving a British intelligence agent, born in India of Irish parents, who had become a master of disguise. Only the latest in a series of ripping yarns.

"Locked Rooms" just came out in paperback. Other more serious works have been put ON HOLD!

[anarch]

43. Re-reading Kent Anderson,

Sympathy for the Devil, the best Vietnam book ever written by anybody.

Also half-assedly re-reading Gurdjieff's Life is Real Only Then, When "I Am". I need some new books.

[miss_american_pie]

44. Andrew Lycett's biography of Dylan Thomas

[bluethruandthru]

45. Honeymoon with my Brother by Franz Wisner

Started it yesterday for my book club gathering today! Oops... I'm nearly finished though. Better than I thought it would be.

[fight4my3sons]

46. People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

It is utterly amazing that I hold a Master's Degree in Education and I did not learn most of this stuff in school.

[MissMillie]

47. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

and yes, I'm reading it for the first time.

[wildhorses]

48. testimony of two men~taylor caldwell

and will start
the bookseller of kabul~asne seierstad



but, like you I find it slow going.....too damn antsy these days....

[Shell Beau]

49. I am reading "The Lion's Game" by Nelson DeMille

[SteppingRazor]

50. Just finished The Modern Drunkard by Frank Kelly Rich

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594481423/103-1701712-2436641?v=glance&n=283155

Culled from the pages of his magazine (Modern Drunkard Magazine, natch). Very funny stuff.

[taterguy]

51. The Cheese Chronicles

Best rock and roll book ever

[ThomWV]

52. Plato ... "The Republic"

Finally, at the age of 59, I picked up a copy and started it. I'm now on book 2, so I've got a way to go.

I can say this about it. I can not believe someone did not make me read this when I was a kid. Everyone should read it. I knew that within the first two pages.

[swag]

53. Finished "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins this morning

It was okay, I suppose, but the prose was as flaccid as that in the one dreadful John Grisham book (The Testament) I read (at the behest of my father). Come to think of it, the plot was quite similar to that of The Testament. I have some questions about the author's veracity on certain episodes in the book (blasphemy, I know) so need to do a little more research. Still, it was a compelling read.

Will probably finish up Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik now, which is a collection of his articles written mostly for The New Yorker during his years in Paris, so lack of continuity in reading is not a problem.

[Shine]

54. I just finished "A Dirty Job" by Christopher Moore yesterday.

:thumbsup:

[MaggieSwanson]

55. Escapist fiction. "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova

I like the descriptions of places I'd like to visit in Eastern Europe.

I'm also reading all the vegan cookbooks from the library, as my daughter has decided to be vegan. I'm a vegetarian, but I consume dairy products and free-range eggs. I need all the good vegan recipes I can find!

So far I've been successful with homemade baked tofu, but a lot of the recipes are too time intensive for our dine-and-dash lifestyle. Any good vegan cookbook recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

In the mean time, I'll read my vampire novel. ;)

[Brigid]

60. Read it.

I thought it was pretty good. :)

[deadparrot]

57. I'm in the middle of about 5 or 6 texts for various classes.

Finals are coming up, final projects and papers are going to be due soon. Not much time for pleasure reading this next month, unfortunately. :(

[azmouse]

58. The Right Stuff

I'm a sucker for any books about the space program and astronauts.

[Brigid]

61. Cold Mountain

Wonderful descriptions of people and places, but so far I don't get a sense of immediacy -- of things actually happening. But then, I haven't gotten very far into it yet. The movie was pretty good.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

62. "The Comedy Writer" by Peter Farrelly (of the Farrelly bros.)

Although I literally only started it last night.

[bikebloke]

65. "Lost" by Michael Robotham

Popcorn mystery.

"Field Notes from a Catastroph" by Elizabeth Kolbert is waiting to be next.

[Flaxbee]

66. "The Kingdom by the Sea" by Paul Theroux

interesting book, about his walking tour around the coast of the U.K. in 1982 right as the British were involved in the Falklands. His descriptions of and interactions with the people he observes and meets are often hilarious.

[mvd]

67. Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin

Half-way through. This is a book you really want to soak up.

[noonwitch]

68. "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

A little light reading.

[billyskank]

69. Jaiva Dharma

by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

Best not to ask. :)

[scordem]

70. "Witch" by Glenn Puit

It's about a horrific murderess in Las Vegas who entombed her mom. Yes, she was into witchcraft (Satan worship--not Wicca.)