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From olmosfamily/Enrique (42,781)  
on January 29, 2010 1:51:22 AM CST
Revisiting Barbara Tuchman's, The Guns of August, which I found a thoroughly engrossing account of the events that led to WWI. Will also re-read her The Distant Mirror.
What do you have by your bedside table or on your Kindle?
Read 474 times
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From cedarbough/Cedar Bough (15,625)
on January 29, 2010 2:42:21 AM CST
ha ha ha. list too long. would waste reading time writing... then again, about to do my comp exams for my Ph.D.
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From wdeon/Wayne (8,931)
on January 29, 2010 2:43:22 AM CST
I haven't read a novel recently. I usually read Photoshop related books on the train. I have 50 minutes each way so I try to drill something into my head before the next version comes out. That or house related magazines (since we are building soon) ... but they are in Japanese so it is more like looking at the photos and reading the bits I can;)
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From olmosfamily/Enrique (42,781)
on January 29, 2010 4:06:37 AM CST
These I read during the day. Now that I'm "retired" have plenty of time to do that. Serious reading is for just before turning off the lights and going to sleep.
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From thedavidwright/David (13,496)
on January 29, 2010 9:58:36 AM CST
I've recently returned to reading a bit right at bedtime, and I agree - that's the best time.
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From sanfrangirlie/Heather (1,632)
on January 29, 2010 4:36:19 AM CST
Right now, a book I picked up for £1 at the market (its not very good) - I'm trying to find something to get into. I read a lot. I probably read 2-3 books a week. I would welcome any suggestions!
As for whats beside my bed, no joke a stack of 8 books, think I've read 6 of the 8.
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From thedavidwright/David (13,496)
on January 29, 2010 9:56:49 AM CST
If you say what genre you like, you'll probably get a lot of suggestions. Just throwing out a random idea, how about 'Catch-22' by Joseph Heller? Or in historical fiction, 'The Sunbird' by Wilbur Smith?
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From sanfrangirlie/Heather (1,632)
on January 29, 2010 10:05:27 AM CST
I like everything.
I have read the Twilight series (don't groan), I have read 'Three Cups of Tea', I have read 'A Million Litte Pieces', 'Memoirs of a Geisha', 'Lovely Bones', 'Thousand Spledid Suns'.... And when I need something quick and easy I pick up a Jeffrey Deaver or James Patterson. You name it I read it.
If I find an author I like I usually go online and buy all their books from a used book store. Thank you for your suggestions I will go check them out!
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From thedavidwright/David (13,496)
on January 29, 2010 4:46:05 PM CST
I read the first one to my kids. Thought it was fun and interesting. Read some of the later ones, but each came with more and more new details - clearly the author was inventing new rules of her universe on an ad hoc basis. By the (maybe) 4th one I'd lost interest.
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From thedavidwright/David (13,496)
on January 29, 2010 4:52:37 PM CST
Let me also suggest the best 'sword and sorcery' novel ever (IMHO) - "The Birthgrave" by Tanith Lee. I know it's bad form to stereotype, but while this was written by a woman, it has a very masculine style. It's also the first in a trilogy, with the final book - "The Quest for the White Witch" the best of the three.
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From cremmins/Ian (6,707)
on January 29, 2010 5:25:07 PM CST
Try Anne Mccaffrey her dragon series was fun reading,
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From jaypi/Jay (40,782)
on January 29, 2010 5:33:56 AM CST
This forum thread... ;-)
Ernest Hemingway 'The Moveable Feast' (the restored edition). Interesting pace of early 20th in Paris.
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From olmosfamily/Enrique (42,781)
on January 29, 2010 5:50:22 AM CST
This was one of my favourite Hemingway stories but much preferred For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Snows of Kilimanjaro.
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From tomas/Tomas (1,433)
on January 29, 2010 5:54:56 AM CST
Just began to read "The Faithful Spy" by Alex Berenson after spending the last few weeks proofreading my own manuscript for this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. It feels good to read someone else's words for a while before it's time to sink my teeth into other manuscripts in need of writing or proofreading.
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From log/Louise (27,206)
on January 29, 2010 6:11:11 AM CST
Do you find you get irritated by editing mistakes in published work, after doing such work? I have to make sure there are no red pens within reach when I read. The worst case was when I found I was making editing marks on a letter from my sister....
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From tomas/Tomas (1,433)
on January 29, 2010 10:55:35 AM CST
I don't get irritated as such...I may occasionally marvel at their inability to catch some major flaws. But then again, I have done the same thing, discovering flaws _after_ I've sent in stuff to contests and such. That's a major *forehead slap* when it's discovered. :-D
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From soflasteve/Steve (17,740)
on January 29, 2010 6:33:17 AM CST
Most of what I read is business, design or marketing related. No fiction. Currently, I'm reading Twitter Power by Joel Comm and When GOD winks at YOU by Squire Rushnell. If you ever read The Celestine Prophecy, Rushnell's book is similar and will give you goose-bumps at times.
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From deleted185/deleted (31,640)
on January 29, 2010 6:43:56 AM CST
As one who suffers from life-long dysthymia (chronic depression), I find that I have trouble reading anything 'heavy', so I read light, escapist kind of books from John Sandford, Clive Cussler, and the like, books that wrap me up in adventure rather than thinking about the world's woes. I don't watch TV news, don't read front sections of newspapers, and am selective in my internet reading to keep from "suffering for humanity", one of my issues. :-) Currently reading Cussler's Atlantis Found.
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From markj913/Mark (8,415)
on January 29, 2010 7:28:09 AM CST
I'm reading a Clive Cussler novel right now, where ol' Clive himself is a minor character. Not the best written books but they are generally fun reads.
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From minis/Mindaugas (6,427)
on January 29, 2010 7:03:15 AM CST
currently i am rereading one of my teenage books. It's sci-fi novel by Sergei Pavlov "Moon's Rainbow". I find it boring now, though somewhat bizzare because i find interest in the language. The book that i read is translated from Russian (not to English) and in the language there are many "novel" words, that are explaned in the appendix, i find it funny that most of the words have English origin, which i could not see in my earlier days. It's interesting how languages progress by adopting other languages' words.
Besides that next to my bed is Terry Pratchett's "Going Postal" which i think is one of his best books. I read it probably five times already and still find something compelling or unnoticed. Cheers!
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From thedavidwright/David (13,496)
on January 29, 2010 9:53:50 AM CST
Have you read Cordwainer Smith? He invented a lot of character's names from Russian words: the main character in 'The Crime and Glory of Commander Suzdal', Lord Jestocost in 'The Underpeople'.
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From ollie0626/Jonathan (3,494)
on January 29, 2010 7:04:50 AM CST
In the Midst of 'Blowback' by Chalmers Johnson. Just finished 'The Shock Doctrine' by Naomi Klein for the second time. Obviously political type books, but it is what I enjoy (kinda got a hankering for this type of stuff after doing my PhD in poli sci).
Have a great weekend everyone!!!!
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From rich4444/Richard (2,630)
on January 29, 2010 3:21:14 PM CST
I'm so pleased someone has mentioned Annie Proulx - she's the best thing I've read since forever. I really enjoyed all of her Wyoming stories. Just finished "That old ace in the hole" - also a wonderful book.
She really does bear comparison to the "greats" of American literature.
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From grannyjoan/Joan (7,172)
on January 29, 2010 8:23:15 AM CST
"Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates" by Cathcart & Klein. My work as a Hospice nurse can get to be a downer. This book is a humerous look at the philosophy of life, death, & the afterlife. It is funny & enlightening. Other than that, I'm reading whatever magazine catches my interest.
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From neverbeprofi/Toni (6,049)
on January 29, 2010 8:31:49 AM CST
I just finished reading the first part of the Millenium series from Stieg Larsson... a really good one, cannot wait to start the second one, but in between I read another historical novel from Philippa Gregory.Happy reading!
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From thedavidwright/David (13,496)
on January 29, 2010 9:42:06 AM CST
I've been working my way thru the Pulitzer Prize winning fiction. About halfway done. Currently working on 'The Reivers' which I find tedious. Also on the nightstand is 'Lonesome Dove', which I pick up and re-read a bit when I just can't face those horse-racing, car-stealing scondrels in 'The Reivers'. Some surprising gems from the early years: Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis. I thought the portions of the novel concerning research into bacteriophages was very realistic, then found that Lewis had commisioned a consultant for that. The Grapes of Wrath by John Hershey. Don't know how I missed this in High School. (I remember we had to read 'The Mayor of Castorbridge' which I thought was awful.) All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I didn't realize beforehand that Warren was also a poet, but his prose showed that. I wonder how the movie handled the two chapter flashback to the main character's romance as a teen-ager? BTW, my all-time favourite author is Nevil Shute, his best IMO being 'Trustee from the Toolroom' and 'A Town Like Alice'.
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From rgordley/Rich (6,983)
on January 29, 2010 10:19:50 AM CST
I could be wrong, but The Grapes of Wrath I'm familiar with is by John Steinbeck.
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From ebn50/Evan (10,991)
on January 29, 2010 9:47:33 AM CST
Let The Right One In...Amazing book so far, Movie was excellent as well...tired of how watered down the Vampire mythos has become and this has by far been an excellent read so far!
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From farradhim/Jacline (43,542)
on January 29, 2010 11:11:08 AM CST
Traitor's Gate by Kate Elliott (3rd boof of the Crossroads serie)
I read each night before sleep , I could not relax otherwise........
Jacline
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From gkendrick/Gerald (159)
on January 29, 2010 11:22:04 AM CST
Battle of Wits, by Stephen Budiansky, a story of British and American codebreakers in the Second World War. Engrossing.
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From cryptoref/David (4,231)
on January 29, 2010 12:16:00 PM CST
I'm downloading free books through stanza on my iPhone. I'm too cheap to pay for things so i'm reading older classics that are free. Read Alice in Wonderland and i'm currently reading Ben Hur.
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From tvernuccio/Sheila (37,104)
on January 29, 2010 12:32:29 PM CST
"I'm Not the New Me: a memoir" by Wendy McClure. The author is struggling with trying to lose weight and starts a blog about her weight-loss journey. She writes both online and off-line, giving us glimpses into her day-to-day life. It's light, easy reading, and I'm enjoying the book. :)
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From mattsh/Matt (22,175)
on January 29, 2010 12:32:32 PM CST
The latest novel by John Irving, "Last Night in Twisted River." He is one of my favorite authors, ever since a Jr. High School Librarian gave me a copy of "The World According to Garp."
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From jd510/Colin (21,196)
on January 29, 2010 1:45:48 PM CST
Three on the go: Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco for the 3rd time, Sophie's World Jostein Gaarder, A Glastonbury Romance - John Cowper Powys. The first two are excellent; the last - good :)
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From robertwallis/Robert (12,866)
on January 29, 2010 3:19:38 PM CST
Just finished Dan Brown's latest, the Missing Symbol. It's his usual formula, but it's starting to get tired and I figured out the villain way early. It's fast paced pot boiler, and just not as good as it could have been. I got bored and stated rereading some Louis LaMour stuff. I still enjoy the Walking Drum, and have read it about three times. Another fave to go back and reread is Jack Vance's Dying Earth series. I read the first one in 1964 and have reread it numerous times. Another I'll go back to in a few months is H. Warner Munn's "Merlin's Ring". The first he wrote was in the 1930's, the second was in 1967, and the last in the sequence was in 1974. He died before completing a fourth, and I have to wonder where that one would have gone as the last one pretty well came to a solid conclusion.
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From thedavidwright/David (13,496)
on January 29, 2010 4:58:13 PM CST
If you're familar with Jack Vance, you should recognize that my logon name come from 'To Live Forever'. There, once a person attains a certain level of professional achievemenet, he/she can change his/her name from, e.g. 'David Wright' to 'The David Wright'. I think 'To Live Forever' was Vance's best work.
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From robertwallis/Robert (12,866)
on January 30, 2010 12:24:53 PM CST
I've got about 15-18 or so of Vance's books, and "To Live Forever" is one of them. Vance's forte is the unusual society that develps in isolation from the mainstream, and that describes TLF pretty well ;-). Vance's dry humor is one that I've always appreciated, and there are so many little pearls of dialog in his writing that it is easy to miss some of them.
The Demon Princes series were some of his heaviest reading in terms of what the drive for revenge can do to a person, somewhat along the lines of Eastwood's work in "Outlaw Josie Wales", "Unforgiven", "High Plains Drifter", and "Pale Rider".
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From cremmins/Ian (6,707)
on January 29, 2010 5:36:20 PM CST
for someone who collects books i have a hard time getting into reading these days, at one time i used to have 3 going at once but lately i just cant get into it, the last book i started reading i found had a web site so i went to the website and that was a mistake, it gave the ending away on the very page i opened. one i did find interesting is "The Crystal Sun" by Robert Temple
The Crystal Sun Its basically about optics and how far back man began to make lens, i know gthat sounds boring but it really was a good read considering modern thought has the idea that lens were only thought of from the 17th century and in the past archaeologist thought lens type jewellery was just that, jewellery but in fact were lens, but i wont go on about it
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From flyonthewall/Bob (2,614)
on January 29, 2010 7:46:02 PM CST
Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go. Read anything by him or Cormac McCarthy.
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From amacha/Brett (849)
on January 30, 2010 1:40:45 AM CST
A book on controlling my weight. The weight will kill me if I don't slough it off so this is an important book to me.
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