books: what are you currently reading?

[Sandro]

I am about 1/4 through Moby Dick and I love it.  I never would have picked it up again if it was not for you, Queequeg.  It is very good.  I tried to read it years ago and I guess I wasn't ready for it.  So far so good...
Justin

A question for you Justin and Queequeg.
I read Moby Dick in Italian translation and I liked it a lot, but I think it should be even better in English. 
How is Melville's English? Is it difficult compared to normal English you read on newspapers? I use to read book in English, but never tried an '800 classic before.

[Queequeg]

A question for you Justin and Queequeg.
I read Moby Dick in Italian translation and I liked it a lot, but I think it should be even better in English. 
How is Melville's English? Is it difficult compared to normal English you read on newspapers? I use to read book in English, but never tried an '800 classic before.

Here's a link to some Moby excerptsMoby excerpts...

[ducktrapper]

If you like history at all, try Jonah Goldberg - Liberal Fascism - The History of the American Left From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning. HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION! This probably won't change anyone's minds about anything but should ... er ... might clear up a lot of confusion about what's what. Reading about Woodrow Wilson and the Progressives right now. A lot of things, I didn't know and I'm finding it fascinating.
So far, I'll say, if you don't read this book or something like it, please never use the word "fascist" again. Chances are you don't what it means or what one really looks like. I plead guilty to that charge, btw. I'm glad to have a working definition of fascism that means more than "anything a communist doesn't like".

[Sandro]

Here's a link to some Moby excerptsMoby excerpts...

Thanks man, I'll give a look 

[Caleb]

I'm working my way through Francis Schaeffer's classic How Should We Then Live.  I recommend it if you're interested at all in how we (the Western World) got our way of thinking and how we ended with our culture. 

[ciscokid]

Just finished Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen and recommend it.  Don't know what's next - new L03r is coming in, may put down the books for awhile.

[robv]

Just got back from Cuba, interesting place, while travelling and sunning etc. read Wordsworth a Life by Juliet Barker very good very detailed, have on deck The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco.
Rob

[Caleb]

I got done with Schaeffer a few days ago.  How Should We Then Live really is a great book.  I'll have to read it again though.  Way too much info to ingest in one round.

I'm now in the middle of Donald Miller's Through Painted Deserts, which is sort of his coming-of-age story of how he and a friend cashed everything in and took off on the open road.  I really like it so far. 

Also, I decided to read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation in the next 3 months.  I'm giving myself about 90 days to cover it all.  I've read through it many times over the years, but never from book to book like this.  I think it will be fun.  I'm not sure if I'll make it in 90 days, but I like goals.

[little fingers]

I just finished "The Giant's House" which I would describe as a romance novel! It was pretty good and it held a lot of hidden messages about life for me.

oh wow. i loved The Giant's House. it's wonderful how those "off the beaten path" novels find their way into people's souls.

i finished, A Thousand Splendid Suns over the weekend and i'm now enmeshed in The Gathering; by Anne Enright(Man Booker Prize winner in 2007) she sits high on the list of contemporary Irish writers whose work has moved me greatly over the years.

Manil Suri's; The Age of Shiva, is next.

(oh and then there is the dog-eared collection of e.e. cummings...)

[didymus21]

Does anyone except me feel this thread should be closed?  Every time I hit "show replies or unread posts" this pops up.  I won't be upset if I am the only one that feels this way.  It's just an annoyance to me.  I mean...19 pages....and first post on June 26, 2006!

[Caleb]

Does anyone except me feel this thread should be closed?  Every time I hit "show replies or unread posts" this pops up.  I won't be upset if I am the only one that feels this way.  It's just an annoyance to me.  I mean...19 pages....and first post on June 26, 2006!

This is the best thread in the history of this forum.  We have not only talked about books, but we've talked a lot about life and other matters with a great deal of respect and candor.  If you don't like it, simply skip it. 
 

[Novalis]

Does anyone except me feel this thread should be closed?

I personally enjoy seeing what folks here are reading. Then again, I'm a bibiophile.

[kevbo]

I say leave the thread open - it's not hurting anybody.  Well, I suppose it might be hurting the trees that give us the paper for the books that are purchased as a direct result of recommendations made here...

I'm slooooowly working my way through Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of Western Civilization.  While I think it's remarkably well-written, Gibbon writes as if he's paid per word.  The abridged version I have (no footnotes, 2/3 of the main text cut) is still over 1,200 pages.  I'm on page 200.  My realistic goal is to get to at least to page 500 before I put it down in favor of some mindless detective novel.

[poki]

we all make the choice about what threads to read or ignore so leaving this thread won't cause any harm but deleting it just might push me over the edge to jump into a vat of molten lava in the nude.

i credit this thread in part for renewing my love of reading and i find it interesting seeing what other forum members are reading.

The Complete World of Human Evolution  by Chris Stringer and Peter Andrews. 
The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes, Flood, Fire, Famine in the History of Civilization by Richard Firestone, Allen West and Simon Warwick-Smith.

[ducktrapper]

Does anyone except me feel this thread should be closed?  Every time I hit "show replies or unread posts" this pops up.  I won't be upset if I am the only one that feels this way.  It's just an annoyance to me.  I mean...19 pages....and first post on June 26, 2006!

My goodness 19 PAGES!!! Do you often have these "concerns" when others seem to be having fun without you? Lie down on the couch and let's talk. It's not like they're real pages, after all.     

[SteveO]

Lie down on the couch and let's talk. It's not like they're real pages, after all.     

Yea, after reading the Book Rational Madness. I had to ask myself, Gee, what's it really all about? 
But the Couch looks Comfortable

Speaking of Doctors............I'm off to go have a chat with mine....Question of the day. Why is going back to the University at my age so stressful? Why do I even Care?
See what happens when you read psychology books.

[tuffythepug]

I say keep the thread open only until we run out of books.............

I just finished "Atonement"   

I wanted to read the book before the wife dragged me to a theater to see the movie.  I hate to see a movie before I've read the book it was based on.   A great read.     I hear it's a great movie also.

I seem to be a sucker for the "betrayal / redemption" themes I guess.

Just started "The Echomaker".   Too soon to tell if it's going to be worthwhile.

Onward to page 20 !

[LawDogStrgsAttach]

I do not see the rationale in ever closing any thread.  If someone has something to say...why not let them? 

[ducktrapper]

I suppose we could archive it after 25 pages or so and start What Are You Reading II. 

[Bug]

Don't delete this thread - i haven't read it all yet. 

This is my first post on this thread.  I read quite a bit, it kind of goes in spurts.  I just finished reading "The Book of Joby".  It was pretty good - easy reading, but it draws you in.  I liked the story of creation - its a little different.