books: what are you currently reading?

Started by Caleb, June 21, 2006, 11:58:08 PM

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Quote from: omozom on August 20, 2008, 08:19:50 PM
Well I finally made my way through all 25 pages of this thread. A book in itself.
There are some great suggestions and I have added considerably to my own list.
I am particularly surprised yet excited to see so many references to Steinbeck. I read many of his while in high school and always enjoyed him. Might have to go back and see what the years, experiences, insights might add to my enjoyment of his work.
This is a great thread and I think it should stay around and run it's course.
my own tastes run a bit esoteric and lean heavily to non fiction.
Anywayere is what I have been reading:

The Kite Runner................................... Khaled Hosseini  absolutely loved this and couldn't put it down
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Robert M. Persig got it for my son and decided to reread it myself

Islam and the West................................Bernard Lewis essays by Professor of Near East Studies Princeton   University
Longitudes & Latitudes............................Thomas L. Friedman essays by Foreign Affairs columnist N.Y.Times
Madame Secretary.................................Madeleine Albright A Memoir by Secretary of State
and I have just started
This Wheels on Fire The story of the Band  by Levon Helm with Stephen Davis
omozom you deserve an honory gold star or something for reading this whole thread   
Tell us how "Wheels on fire" is, I may want to find that one, but I'd like to hear your review first.  Danny   

Quote from: dependan on August 22, 2008, 09:55:32 PM
omozom you deserve an honory gold star or something for reading this whole thread   
Tell us how "Wheels on fire" is, I may want to find that one, but I'd like to hear your review first.  Danny   

Or I should have my head examined!

The Band has always been one of my top favorites. Ever since I discovered Dylan at the impressionable age of 15, right through their solo years and The Last Waltz.
I always had mixed feelings about their reunited efforts minus Robbie, but could always find good tunes even on those.

I am just in the very beginning of the book. I like what I have read so far. But this is likely to be slow going. Since picking up the guitar, I do not put as much time into enjoyable reading as I should. Unless you consider Carcassi's Classical Method enjoyable reading.  :roll
I'll be sure to give some feedback if and when I get through it.

As I mentioned  above I read mostly non fiction. I love bio's and auto bio's and memoir's.
I also love jazz. I have read about many lives. Including Miles, Ellington, Art Pepper (fantastic), Baez, Mel Torme, John Lennon, Walesa, Malcome X and Loise L'Amour to name a few.
But this was when I was really into reading. Now I am really into  :guitar  :nana_guitar  :guitar


oz
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Just started Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  I'm in classic mode. 

Caught in the Web of Words: James A.H. Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary by K.M. Elisabeth Murray. I'm in a linguistic mode right now.

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I guess no one's reading these days?? I still slowing reading through 'The Brothers Karamazov'. I'm not really connecting with it. I'm going to reread 'Of Human Bondage' once I get done with Karamazov. 'OHB' has been my favorite book to date and I finally acquired a copy (1915 edition).

I'm still working my way through the 960 pages of "Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945"  by Tony Judt with "Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam" by Mark Bowden on deck.
Gregg
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I haven't had much time to read the last few weeks, but I am still working on Treasure Island.   I don't understand half the pirate speak, but it's a great book (obviously). 

I'm reading my fifth or sixth Ann Rule book, this one being called "Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder".  All true crime stories.  I think her writing is excellent.  Just finished a Stephen King book called"The Colorado Kid" which was so so---not one of his best.

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I just loved The Brothers Karamazov, far and away better than Crime and Punishment, I thought.  I did very recently try and quit on An American Tragedy by Dreiser.  The distance between each subject and verb was too great, circumnavigating the point too often.  I hate quitting on a book, though.  Sticks in my mind like a personal failure.  Oh well.  Now I'm in the middle of The Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo.  Really liking it.  A relaxing read, by comparison.

On deck?  Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.  I've had a copy of it for over a year, and his recent suicide had me reading about him which leads me to actually read him.  He's been likened to Pynchon and many can't abide that style.  Others are enormous fans.  I'll find out where I fit soon.  Speaking of Pynchon, anybody ever read Gravity's Rainbow?  No, no I haven't, but as ardently as people feel about him, I'm eager to try.

Quote from: ryler on September 22, 2008, 05:06:32 PM
I just loved The Brothers Karamazov, far and away better than Crime and Punishment, I thought. 

I really like Crime and Punishment, maybe I'll like Karamazov after I finish it. The characters seem so overly dramatic in their actions and speech, I don't understand them.

My wife's sister just passed away with a lingering illness and I just finished "A Three Dog Life" by Abigail Thomas. It is a quick read and really gives you a sense of perspective. I am starting "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin because I though it would be insightful to read between now and election day.

"1776" and "Truman" by David McCullough should be required reading for everyone and I also finished and sent "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life" by Steve Martin and "The Tao of Willie" by Willie Nelson to my son.


Life: The Science of Biology, Chemistry as a Second Language, and Head First Statistics. I'm going back to school, and am needing to brush up on my science classes (my degree was in 1984). Not much time for reading for pleasure right now. I'll probably reward myself with a novel when I get through these.

Deb
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Quote from: teh on September 22, 2008, 06:31:21 PM


"1776" and "Truman" by David McCullough should be required reading for everyone and I also finished and sent "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life" by Steve Martin and "The Tao of Willie" by Willie Nelson to my son.


I read Willie's Tao earlier this year as well.  I just noticed that he's written a Western-style novel recently as well.  I'll probably read it later on; everything Wille does seems to interest me on some level. 

I've been meaning to check out some of McCullough's book.  Is he a pretty solid historian? 

Creature:

If you get a chance to watch any of Ken Burns' Series (The Civil War, Baseball and WWII) they are all narrated by David McCullough and he makes history come alive. Whenever I see him speak on PBS or C-Span, I drop what I am doing. I usually have a short attention span but David McCullough's research keeps me drawn to his writing.

Not to steal a thread and go in a different direction but if you want to see two fascinating documentaries, rent the Werner Herzog film "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" and "The Fog of War" an interview with Robert McNamara directed by Errol Morris.

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

http://www.sonyclassics.com/fogofwar/

Little Dieter Needs to Fly is the most interesting story I think I have ever seen on film and the final five minutes when he walks to an old airfield is simply an amazing piece of film. You also have to watch the credits and stick around for the postscript.

The Fog of War is an interview with Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and it covers his entire life including his degree from Stanford University and his service in World War II through his time at Ford Motor Company, 7 years as Secretary of Defense and his leadership at the World Bank.

My wife even dropped what she was doing and was drawn into both films.




Quote from: teh on September 23, 2008, 08:12:40 PM
Creature:

If you get a chance to watch any of Ken Burns' Series (The Civil War, Baseball and WWII) they are all narrated by David McCullough and he makes history come alive. Whenever I see him speak on PBS or C-Span, I drop what I am doing. I usually have a short attention span but David McCullough's research keeps me drawn to his writing.

Not to steal a thread and go in a different direction but if you want to see two fascinating documentaries, rent the Werner Herzog film "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" and "The Fog of War" an interview with Robert McNamara directed by Errol Morris.

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

http://www.sonyclassics.com/fogofwar/

Little Dieter Needs to Fly is the most interesting story I think I have ever seen on film and the final five minutes when he walks to an old airfield is simply an amazing piece of film. You also have to watch the credits and stick around for the postscript.

The Fog of War is an interview with Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and it covers his entire life including his degree from Stanford University and his service in World War II through his time at Ford Motor Company, 7 years as Secretary of Defense and his leadership at the World Bank.

My wife even dropped what she was doing and was drawn into both films.




Thanks, I'll look for these on my Blockbuster online account.  As far as David McCullough goes, I keep hearing a lot about him but have never gotten around to checking out any of his work.  So many books, so little time...

Quote from: teh on September 23, 2008, 08:12:40 PM
Creature:

If you get a chance to watch any of Ken Burns' Series (The Civil War, Baseball and WWII) they are all narrated by David McCullough and he makes history come alive. Whenever I see him speak on PBS or C-Span, I drop what I am doing. I usually have a short attention span but David McCullough's research keeps me drawn to his writing.

Not to steal a thread and go in a different direction but if you want to see two fascinating documentaries, rent the Werner Herzog film "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" and "The Fog of War" an interview with Robert McNamara directed by Errol Morris.

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

http://www.sonyclassics.com/fogofwar/

Little Dieter Needs to Fly is the most interesting story I think I have ever seen on film and the final five minutes when he walks to an old airfield is simply an amazing piece of film. You also have to watch the credits and stick around for the postscript.

The Fog of War is an interview with Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and it covers his entire life including his degree from Stanford University and his service in World War II through his time at Ford Motor Company, 7 years as Secretary of Defense and his leadership at the World Bank.

My wife even dropped what she was doing and was drawn into both films.





I have been very impressed with Ken Burns work and David McCullough does a fine job on his series. I bought the  book "Civil War" after watching the series.           
I picked up a nice Harbound copy of "White Fang" today for my teenage grandson and I a got history book for me as well as a woodworking book.
    I'm hoping Jack London might inspire my grandson to read more, he is failing in 4 subjects at school.

"The Theology of John Calvin" - Karl Barth.  One behemoth of a theologian critiquing the Titan of Protestantism.

I am currently obsessed with the British political philosopher John Gray (not to be confused with the men-are-from-Mars guy of the same name).  He has had a very interesting path.  He started out as a fairly conventional liberal in the John Stuart Mill mode.  Then he became a devotee of free-market thinking (which is called conservatism in the US but in Europe is more properly known as neo-liberalism).  Then he got disillusioned with that and set out on quite a unique path that is hard to describe, but is characterized by a deep skepticism toward the main currents of Western political thought.  I'm just finishing up his book Enlightenment's Wake.  After that, I'm moving on to Straw Dogs.
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Check this out:

http://www.readfaster.com/education_stats.asp

The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.
~ Mark Twain ~

Quote from: dependan on September 24, 2008, 08:38:43 PM

    I'm hoping Jack London might inspire my grandson to read more, he is failing in 4 subjects at school.
I applaud this effort.  I failed lots (most) of my classes in school and just couldn't get it together for some reason.  The only thing that interested me was music, but I cannot help but think that a connection with the right book/books back then might have made all the difference.  Anything that pulls kids away from the emptiness of pop culture is a good thing.  Hat's off to you. 

teh,
That Twain quote is great!

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