What are you reading now?

[IanS_Liv]

After the Ice, a history of the human race between 20,000BC and 5,000BC by Steven Mithen. It's a big hefty book, but if you're interested in prehistory, the beginnings of agriculture, etc, it's well worth a read. It draws together information from archaeological digs around the world about the development of the human race over those 15,000 years up until civilisation, writing and history begins.

[Cooter Brown]

ANY book by Bryson should be mandatory reading.

Just finished his new one, At Home. Like his other books, it's difficult to put down. the first chapter is about the Crystal Palace. As an amurkin, I had no idea it was a actual structure and not just a place for track meets.

Now I'm on to Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter which is my first book on my new Kindle.

[mike renfro]

Just before the Xmas break, I read "Just Kids" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo". Both were pretty good. I was a Patti Smith fan back in the day, and the sad story of her and Maplethorpe was interesting. The Girl was well written for the genre and I will read the other two. The town of Stragnas, where some of the action takes place (suburb of Stockholm) is where my brother lives in the summer. Next up will be the current "Wheel of Time" volume. Hernia time

[gh]

I just read The Mother Tongue (English & How It Got That Way) by Bryson. For at least the third time. I picked it up to reference an obscure word and got hooked and ended up reading the whole thing. Bryson really is addictive.

Have now moved on to The Knife Man (Blood, Body Snatching, And The Birth Of Modern Surgery). It's a biography of renowned 18th-century pioneer John Hunter, by Wendy Moore. Only a couple of chapters in, but I'm hooked. Fascinating character, and Moore is really bringing him to life.

[gh]

I may terminate that book early! A few more sections like the one I just endured on the era's procedure for lithotomies (removal of bladder stones)....

I thought I was reading A Dummy's Guide To The Inquisition, by Torquemada.

(and if you're thinking Al Swearengin's stone in Deadwood, you ain't even close!)

[Cooter Brown]

Tough Trip Through Paradise by Andrew Garcia.

It's a memoir that probably was never meant to be published. It was supposedly found in a trunk after Garcia had died. Garcia was a settler of Montana in the late 1800s. It's an unbelievably detailed first person account of pioneer life and a quickly disintegrating Indian culture. There's more adventure and tragedy in this book than pretty much any dozen westerns you could name. It may be up there with Blood Meridian as one of the greatest westerns ever written.

[mump boy]

i only really read history books this year so far i've read

A biography of Julius Ceasar by Adrian Goldsworthy (really interesting one of those people you've always known but realise you don't really know anything about)

Biogrophy of Jean Harlow called Tarnished Angel by David Brett (one again really interesting but one of the worst written books i've ever read)

A novel called Heartstone by CJ Sandson it's a kind of detective story set in Tudor times

and She Wolves the stories of 4 women who rules england (somewhat tenuously) before the first official Queen Mary I and her better known sister Elizabeth I



next i've got biographies of Stalin to finish and then We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

[lonewolf]

Just finished a non-stop reading of the the Stieg Larsson trilogy..Girl With Dragoon Tattoo, Girl Who Played With Fire and Girl Who KIcked Hornets Nest.. riveting and ultimately satisfying stuff..
Question for the Swedish posters: Are the geographical and place references accurate or fictional?

[jeremyp]

Just finished a non-stop reading of the the Stieg Larsson trilogy..Girl With Dragoon Tattoo, Girl Who Played With Fire and Girl Who KIcked Hornets Nest.. riveting and ultimately satisfying stuff..

Next try the movies, way more satisfying.

[Friar]

Did the new bio's on Jim Thorpe, Karen Carpenter, Bobby Fischer. Big talents with a few problems.

[kuha]

Right now? This minute?

"Ornithology" by Robert Ridgway, published in 1877 as part of the official Report of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel.

It's research for something else...but surprisingly (to me) interesting...

[dukehjsteve]

Ken Follett's new 1st volume of a projected trilogy, " Fall of Giants. " Period covered is 1911-1920.

Not exactly War and Peace, but entertaining light reading.

Last week I finished up Ron Chernow's biography of George Washington. First rate.

[mump boy]

Just finished Johnathon Franzen's Freedom which i enjoyed but found unconvincing, in the middle of Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, it's semi autobiographical, about a australian convicted bank robber who escaped and went to india to live in the slums of Bombay. Also reading biography of Lillian Gish

[gh]

52 Pickup. Every once in a while there's no better tonic than a vintage bit of Elmore Leonard. Speaking of Leonard, is there any author who can remotely compare with him in terms of number of books turned into movies?

(this one became a Roy Scheider/Ann-Margaret vehicle in '86)

[Vielleicht]

«Standard Korean Language, Book I»...y'all know what it's for...

[26mi235]

I finally read "Making of the Atomic Bomb" It was much more comprehensive than I had anticipated. It starts in the 1800s and weaves through a number of the scientists, in particular the sections with Bohr were interesting. (almost 900 large pages)

Now, on to another prize winner - the Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - and How to Pick a Peach.

[Flumpy]

I'm reading Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt about the outrageous miscarriage of justice known as the case of the West Memphis Three.

The whole thing beggars belief.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Memphis_Three

[gh]

Was so enamoured at the no-brainer-enjoyment of the last Elmore Leonard that I banged off two more, Swag and The Switch.

Still debating how cerebral to get for the long flight to Daegu and back next week (and some sleepless nights on the ground).

ps--this on Leonard from Wiki <<...Commended by critics for his gritty realism and strong dialogue, Leonard sometimes takes liberties with grammar in the interest of speeding along the story. In his essay "Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing" he says: "My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it." He also hints: "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."[5]...>>

[Avante]

Always have two books going on at the same time. One at work....breaks/lunch...and one beside the bed.

At work...A Flame of Pure Fire...by Roger Kahn.

It's about the trials, tribilations and times of boxer Jack Dempsey. The heavyweight Dempsey, there was another one. Great read!

Beside the bed...Christophe King of Haiti...by Herbert Cole.

Amazing story.

[AS]

As I'm in NYC, I've been reading novels set here:

Currently: Siri Hustvedt's "What I Loved" (wow, her and hubby Paul Auster are a power couple of novel-writing!).
Just finished: Sam Lipsyte's "The Ask" and Jospeh O'Neill's "Netherland" (both impressive, but Hustvedt has upped the ante)

In non-fiction land, I finally got around to Matthew B. Crawford's "Shop Class as Soulcraft" (front half is captivating and convincing... but he gets a bit too repetitive after a while)

[Flumpy]

I also read Tab Hunter's autobiography.

I'm in love!!!

[DrJay]

Law, no ones here done said nothin' 'bout "The Help" wrote by Kathryn Stockett? Da Help, it be good book! Hear tell gone be movie soon. If'in you be's from da South, o' even you's not, you gots to read Da Help. Make yo' eyes see things differnt ways, affer you done readin'.

[mump boy]

I'm on Game Of Thrones which is amazing and just bought the next 2 more to come. This could take a while

[jeremyp]

Morbidly enough I'm reading 2 books on the Rape of Nanking. I've just seen a movie called: John Rabe, about a Nazi living in Nanking who helped save 1,2 hundred thousand Chinese from the Japanese. Knowing how movies expand the truth I like to read up on historical issues. In his case the story is largely true. The irony of a Nazi saving people from genocide intrigues me.

[Friar]

I read Sammy Hagar's autobio. Eddie Van Halen isn't presented well in the narrative. Another genius musical talent on the brink...

[KDFINE]

I just finished reading "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson, which is primarily about the U.S. ambassador to Germany beginning in 1933 and his daughter. He'd been a history professor at the University of Chicago and didn't have diplomatic experience. I think that it is probably better than his previous best seller "Devil in the White City" because it is more compact, and given the time frames, is about an era most readers would be more familiar with. They are both great and readable books.

Now, in need of lighter fare, I'm reading "Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure - The True Story of a Great American Road Trip," by Matthew Algeo. I'd never heard of it, but spotted it during the last days of Borders Book Store.

[gh]

For some reason I slipped into re-read mode; sometimes the goldie-oldies on the shelf just look too enticing. Banged out Krakauer's Into Thin Air (shudder); now on Dr. Dean Edell's Eat, Drink & Be Merry.

[mike renfro]

Been awhile. I did finish the "Girl with...." series, and watched the movies. Pretty good stuff, for the genre. In the last week I ran through the latest Tanenbaum and Paterson books. One night reads (actually 1.5 for Tanenbaum). Right now, I am halfway through "Rebecca". Saw the Hitchcock movie, the novel (novella?) is pretty good. When we were up for our Ashland duty, I picked up a mystery book at a used book store in Jacksonville. The lead was "The Big Sleep". The Bogart movie was pretty true to the story (as was The Maltese Falcon"). They didn't futz around with the masters in the old days. There are storys by Sayers, Marsh usw. I haven't looked ahead, but it has given me more than $1.50 worth of pleasure. Hell, I even found Ulysses, so maybe I get some culture amidst the trash

[lonewolf]

I have been browsing vintage NGs..love the ads.

I have a complete (minus Oct 1928) collection of National Geographics, courtesy of my late mother-in-law, whose husband gave her a lifetime subscription as a wedding present in 1916.
I have been a subscriber since 1955 and she gave me her 1916-55 collection.

[26mi235]

I have been browsing vintage NGs..love the ads.

I have a complete (minus Oct 1928) collection of National Geographics, courtesy of my late mother-in-law, whose husband gave her a lifetime subscription as a wedding present in 1916.
I have been a subscriber since 1955 and she gave me her 1916-55 collection.

Doesn't that large a collection have enough concentrated mass to form a black hole?

[gh]

given the weight of the average issue of NG, we're talking blackholes squared.

[lonewolf]

They are in six issue pre-labeled file boxes, designated Xmas gift from my sister-in-law, and only occupy four 48", six shelf book cases. Haven't weighed them but they are in a 2nd floor guest room and the floor hasn't collapsed. Yet.

[lapsus]

The C Programming Language, ANSI C Edition by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie.

Ritchie and the C language seemed like equally eternal elder statesmen of the technology world to the young student. Now only one of them remains.

The book is one of the rare breed that you can read at any level of experience and competence in the subject and still benefit from it.

[bambam]

Steve Jobs bio by Walter Issacson - book is great. Explains well what a genius Jobs really was, but does not pull any punches and pictures him as a complete jerk with almost no people skills.

Also Mickey Mantle bio by Jane Leavy - one of the great lines ever in there - "Mickey Mantle's aura had an aura."

Also Knocking on Heaven's Door by Lisa Randall

[gh]

Rereading Kon-Tiki, which I haven't read since junior high (or maybe even elementary school; it's a hardback dated 1951). Some of the science/anthropology is a bit laughable now, but it's nonetheless a compelling read. (The K-T is gone, of course, but did get to see Heyerdahl's subsequent Ra in the museum in Oslo a couple of years back)