books: what are you currently reading?

[Ol Achey]

A Thousands Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner.

-- Ol Achey

[Caleb]

May as well keep this thread going.....


The Pilgrim's Progess by John Bunyan (Interesting note:  This book has been translated into more languages than any other book besides the Bible and for about 300 years was second only to the Bible in sales.  If you've never read it, check it out.  A classic)

All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes by Ken Myers

[dmw]

Pilgrims Progress is a great book!
I am reading Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges.

[tuffythepug]

Non-Fiction:    Just finished "City of Falling Angels"  By John Berendt (Midnight in the Garden of Good an Evil)

Fiction:   Just finished "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen (About a young Veterinary student on a Circus Train  during prohibition)  Great book. Best book I've read since The Kite Runner.

Fiction:  Just started "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini  (Kite Runner)

[GuitPL4evr]

I am trying to raise the awareness of reading tothe younger generation, and am noticing how many folks cannot actually read, even adults.  Any suggestions on easy readers or books that will keep interest and improve reading comprehension?

[tuffythepug]

I am trying to raise the awareness of reading tothe younger generation, and am noticing how many folks cannot actually read, even adults.  Any suggestions on easy readers or books that will keep interest and improve reading comprehension?

Interesting question:    I grew up as the son of a first-grade teacher so I was reading when I was about 5 years old.    Even though I knew how to read and comprehend the written word without any problem I was just not motivated to do it after High School.   I didn't start reading for pleasure until I was in my 40's when I began reading biographies of music personalities.   Once I started reading books again I couldn't get my fill. I now have a book going all the time and I read at least a couple a month.  I read both fiction and non-fiction depending on what sounds good at the time.  I think the key to getting young people to read is to get them to read about things they're interested in already.   The subject is not so important as the idea that reading can be fun and informative.  Once they realize that fact they can be guided into other literary genres and the world will begin to open up for them.
I know this isn't exactly what you were looking for but I thought I'd throw it out for what it's worth.

[Caleb]

Great observation.  I think one issue that keeps folks from reading is that many simply do not know how to engage their imaginations.  The younger generation is used to everything instant, and honestly, most movies today simply are not good stories in my view.  The best stories, in my opinion, have already been told for the most part and they are in books.  Once in a great while a really good story, like the Lord of the Rings, will make it to film and be done justice, but they are few are far between. 

For someone who wants to get into reading, I would recommend some of the old American short stories by guys like Poe, Twain, and especially Washington Irving (one of my favorites).

[Tycho]

I love reading.  And I've realized that what is stopping me from reading these days is all the time I waste online.  Web-surfing is somewhat more active and productive than zoning out in front of the tube, but not by too much.  Before I had a computer, I read far more than I do now.  I'm going to try to cut back on the hours in front of the PC and spend more time reading.

[jeremy3220]

Reading is great but there's is also a big difference between good literature and fluff that gets turned into movies on the Lifetime channel. I don't know why people don't like to read much, but my guess is that what you can get out of great literature doesn't coincide with people's values anymore. Most people I know seem more concerned with what kind of car they drive than the meaning of life or why they care what kind of car they drive.

In the book Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis there is a chapter where Babbitt and his best friend Paul ,both of who are business men burnt out by the rat race, go on vacation without there families for the first time. A passage from it reads...

Babbitt's moment of impassioned release came when they sat on a tiny wharf on Lake Sunasquam, awaiting the launch from the hotel. A raft had floated down the lake; between the logs and the shore, the water was transparent, thin-looking, flashing with minnows. A guide in black felt hat with trout-flies in the band, and flannel shirt of a peculiarly daring blue, sat on a log and whittled and was silent. A dog, a good country dog, black and woolly gray, a dog rich in leisure and in meditation, scratched and grunted and slept. The thick sunlight was lavish on the bright water, on the rim of gold-green balsam boughs, the silver birches and tropic ferns, and across the lake it burned on the sturdy shoulders of the mountains. Over everything was a holy peace.    
 Silent, they loafed on the edge of the wharf, swinging their legs above the water. The immense tenderness of the place sank into Babbitt, and he murmured, "I'd just like to sit here—the rest of my life—and whittle—and sit. And never hear a typewriter. Or Stan Graff fussing in the 'phone. Or Rone and Ted scrapping. Just sit. Gosh!"  
 He patted Paul's shoulder. "How does it strike you, old snoozer?"    
 "Oh, it's darn good, Georgie. There's something sort of eternal about it."  
 For once, Babbitt understood him.

You won't find that anywhere except in literature, but I wonder if people even care to find it.

[Tycho]

I loved Babbitt.  But I read it when I was a self-righteous 13-year-old, and I assumed that every old fart over 25 with short hair was the incarnation of poor old George.  (I said to my mother at one point: "You're just like Babbitt!"  And she assured me that she had said the same thing to her elders when she was a teenager.) 

I'd like to re-read it now from the perspective of middle age and the thousands of compromises I've made along the way in my own life.

[jeremy3220]

I loved Babbitt.  But I read it when I was a self-righteous 13-year-old, and I assumed that every old fart over 25 with short hair was the incarnation of poor old George.  (I said to my mother at one point: "You're just like Babbitt!"  And she assured me that she had said the same thing to her elders when she was a teenager.) 

I'd like to re-read it now from the perspective of middle age and the thousands of compromises I've made along the way in my own life.

It's great. He paints such a well framed picture of Babbitt. He seems so simple and from your omniscient view you feel you'd never end up like him, but at some point you realize in someway you're like him.

[poki]

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick.  the telling of the people of the plymouth colony and the wampanoag indians.

[Ol Achey]

poki, Mayflower sounds interesting. What do you think of it?

I'm reading The Assault on Reason by Al Gore. Nearly finished.


-- Ol Achey

[Caleb]

Just started Grace Abounding to the Cheif of Sinners by John Bunyan.  I've actually never had the experience with any other book that I'm having with this one.  Sometimes its as if he's read my mind and written about it, only back in the 17th century.  It's actually so strange that I really cannot put it into words.  It's like me and this guy have lived the same life at times.  Not that I'm to be considered to be on the same spiritual level as Bunyan, but some of his thoughts and struggles are the same as mine and his reactions were/are the same as mine to them.  Truly strange.  I wonder if anyone else has ever experienced this reading a book.

[jeremy3220]

  I wonder if anyone else has ever experienced this reading a book.

Yes.

[Queequeg]

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (Paperback) by Daniel J. Levitin
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Think of a song that resonates deep down in your being. Now imagine sitting down with someone who was there when the song was recorded and can tell you how that series of sounds was committed to tape, and who can also explain why that particular combination of rhythms, timbres and pitches has lodged in your memory, making your pulse race and your heart swell every time you hear it. Remarkably, Levitin does all this and more, interrogating the basic nature of hearing and of music making (this is likely the only book whose jacket sports blurbs from both Oliver Sacks and Stevie Wonder), without losing an affectionate appreciation for the songs he's reducing to neural impulses. Levitin is the ideal guide to this material: he enjoyed a successful career as a rock musician and studio producer before turning to cognitive neuroscience, earning a Ph.D. and becoming a top researcher into how our brains interpret music. Though the book starts off a little dryly (the first chapter is a crash course in music theory), Levitin's snappy prose and relaxed style quickly win one over and will leave readers thinking about the contents of their iPods in an entirely new way. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

[kwakatak]

I'm currently reading Kevin Trudeau's "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You To Know About" and feel a little like a kook.

[poki]

poki, Mayflower sounds interesting. What do you think of it?

I'm reading The Assault on Reason by Al Gore. Nearly finished.


-- Ol Achey

Hey Ol Achey
i just started reading this book i can can't say for sure but thus far it's very interesting.  i've been taking a book tour through world history on subjects i read about way, way back in my school days which were typically homogenized and or falsified versions

[Caleb]

I decided to undertake a fairly serious study of history again myself.  Having been out of school now for many years, and now genuinely interested in it, it was time for a thorough review.  But regarding the "homogenized and or falsified versions" comment made -- I agree; and I'd tread carefully and not expect much objectivity from folks like Gore (or any other modern politician on EITHER side). Guys like him aren't completely objective and tend to rewrite more history than they actually report on it, IMO.  I find that most historical or political commentaries from the past 50 years to be pretty shallow and slanted for the most part.  Somewhere along the way truth took a backseat to scoring one for the team.  As a matter of fact, when I want to read something about world history, or even older American history, I normally look for something written before the 20th century.  Not only were there more well-written books then, you don't get all the social engineering from the "experts" or our day and from recent history. 

[Tycho]

  As a matter of fact, when I want to read something about world history, or even older American history, I normally look for something written before the 20th century.  Not only were there more well-written books then, you don't get all the social engineering from the "experts" or our day and from recent history. 

The only problem is that I can't find any books from that time period that deal with 20th-century history.