What are you currently reading now?

[terrya]

It seems like we haven't had one of these threads for a little while. I'm always curious to find out what others are reading.

I'm re-reading "Nicholas Nickleby" by Charles Dickens.

[datadiva]

1. Nothing as literary as that but

Dean Koontz, Cold Fire.

[Loge23]

2. Bill of Wrongs - Molly Ivins

(and Lou Dubose).
Just in case you're not thoroughly disgusted yet, try this one!
Absolutely frightening horror stories from the regime.

[Loge23]

9. as for fiction...

Pete Hamill's North River was the last one, this past summer.

[silverweb]

3. Also re-reading.

"The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" by Stephen R. Donaldson.

I haven't read them in a number of years, and our immediate global ecological peril gives a whole new perspective to the imperiled Land in the books.

[Astrad]

6. I remember reading that as a teenager (many years ago)

I liked it alot then but found it disturbing that the 'hero' of the story is essentially a rapist.

[silverweb]

23. Perspective.

I hadn't read the books in about 10 years or so, and had actually forgotten about Covenant being a leper and the rape. All I remembered was that the story was about the Land, and those trying to destroy or save it, and that the whole series seemed very "dark" to me.

Re-reading the books now, Covenant's leprosy and Lena's rape are so central to who he is and how he evolves, I don't know how I'd forgotten about them, and my perspective is very different. I'm also finding a lot more beauty, joy, and hope throughout Covenant's travails, as well.

If you enjoyed the series when you were a teenager, you'll enjoy it again now, and I think you'll probably be able to understand/forgive Covenant better.

[gateley]

4. Fifty Degrees Below by Kim Stanley Robinson -- recommended by a DUer.

It's the second of three books (novels) about climate change and chronicles how it affects "real people" in a few U.S. cities.

The first is 40 Signs of Rain, the third is 60 Days and Counting.

[TexasProgresive]

5. Dante's Inferno-

Mandelbaum translation.

[flamingyouth]

7. I've been on a historical fiction kick.

After reading "World Without End," by Ken Follett, I read "Katherine," by Anya Seton. Loved both of them. Now I'm finishing "The Other Boleyn Girl," by Philippa Gregory but I feel it's a step down from the first two. It took me a while to get into it. I guess I had to get past the Henry VIII love scenes.:scared:

[jonnyblitz]

8. the last fiction book I read was an old one, "the ghost writer"

by Philip Roth, which came out in 1979. I am currently reading "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein but this isn't the proper forum to discuss that. I read much more non-fiction lately.

[pinto]

10. 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini - a good, sweeping story.

Recently read 'The Lost World' by Michael Chricton - (Jurassic Park II, but a good read and interesting in its scientific detail that got lost in the special effects movie.)

And, OT, in non-fiction, 'The Wild Trees' by Richard Preston - an ode of sorts to the Redwoods of No Cal.

[pinto]

16. On follow up, a favorite re-read is one of the Shakespeare plays.

I like reading them out loud, just for the word play. (Kind of an odd habit & I wonder if my neighbors hear me 'doing' Macbeth, at times. :silly: )

[JitterbugPerfume]

38. I loved Kite Runner

now I want to read A Thousand Splendid Suns, by the same author

[no_hypocrisy]

11. "The Disastrous Mrs. Weldon", a very un-Victorian woman during the Victorian Age.

http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/86722-ebook.htm

Born to fanatically snobbish Victorian parents, Georgina Weldon grew up to wreak havoc on almost everyone she met. She was supposed to marry well and restore the family fortune, but soon proved to have other ideas. Her scandalous affair with a married man and her defiant marriage to the less-than-prosperous young hussar officer Harry Weldon were just the first signs that she was no ordinary girl. In a plot that could have been constructed by Dickens himself, Georgina acquired a string of lovers, was stung by con artists, betrayed by her parents, and narrowly escaped being committed to a mental institution. She rose to the challenge and became one of the first Victorian women to represent herself in court and later helped to overturn England's infamous Lunacy Laws.

[YankeyMCC]

12. Just finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns"

And picked up "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons.

I'm also reading a collection of Wabenaki Myths and Lengends by Charles Godfrey Leland

[Captain Hilts]

13. Kite Runner and Khrushchev, by Taubman. nt

[seriousstan]

14. "Le Morte D'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Malory

[Snarkoleptic]

15. Worse than Watergate. by John Dean

[Richardo]

17. "The Path Between the Seas" by David McCullough

The 44-year history of the building of the Panama Canal. Excellent so far -- it's 1890 and the French are just coming around to the realization that it won't be a sea-level canal after all, despite the face that they've been digging one for 10 years. :eyes:

[RC]

18. Mastering HTML 4.0

Quite the read. I figure since I've been maintaining someones web site for them for the last few months, I should read up on how. :evilgrin:

It's not in the book, but Netscape 7.2 is great for checking out web sites and playing with their code. File > Edit Page

[BOSSHOG]

19. "The Man from the Broken Hills" by Louis Lamour

I'm alternating between Cowboy fiction and World War II stories. I like the Cowboy books because there is lots of action and no DNA testing, no cell phones, no cosmic crime fighting scenarios. Mostly just humans getting along (or not) in life's trials and tribulations. Lamour is a really nice read.

[Igel]

20. Tad Williams' "Shadowmarch".

And Lukyanenko's "Last Watch".

Serious Russian fiction--Tolstaya's "River", I think--after the Lukyanenko.

Roncagliolo's "Red April" after "Shadowmarch".

[Redneck Socialist]

21. Re-reading Moby Dick

For a while after college I read it every year, but haven't for a long time. A thread here at DU inspired me to pick it up again. Well worth the effort.

[Journeyman]

29. When I was in college, I told my professor I didn't want to read "Moby Dick". . .

he thought I was just some moron freshman adverse to literature, but I surprised him when I explained I didn't believe anyone under 40 could adequately understand it.

I still believe that.

I read it in college -- three times, twice for literature, once for a history of American thought class -- and have returned to it many times over the years. At 40, I read it with fresh eyes and an open mind, and gained more from it than any previous read. Now I'm 53 and feel drawn to it again. Few other books grow so well with the reader -- Walden, Gatsby, some Faulkner, much of Dostoyevsky, and poetry of all sorts.

But there's something about Moby Dick that draws the reader in like few other works.I believe it's the universality of theme and the all-encompassing morality that draws us in and continues to beckon us again and again, long after we think we understand it. And you are so right: It is well worth the effort.

[Jim__]

33. I haven't read Moby Dick in years.

It sounds like it's worth a re-read.

[valerief]

22. I've gotta finish up The Gay Detective so I can start Chemical Gardens

by Gina Ranalli.

[ThoughtCriminal]

24. Supporting Users and Troubleshooting Microsoft Windows XP

Operating System. I think I need to chew my arm off.

[PDJane]

25. I'm reading non-fiction, mostly.........

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Don't Die Before You're Dead
Mandelstam's Hope Against Hope
Fisk's Battle for Civilization.

Have read Shock Doctrine, The End of America and Holding the Bully's Coat.

Am re-reading TS Elliot and Spoon River Anthology by Masters just because I love the words!

[fadedrose]

26. The Ragman's Memory

Hard to explain why I'm reading this. It's not that good, it's a bit unusual. The main character, Joe Gunther, Detective, Brattlesboro, VT, fought in the Korean War, and served 30 years with the police dept, yet is only in his early 50's. I kept paging backwards to see why I was so confused about his age, then went to the author's website, Archer Mayor, where he has a bio about Joe Gunther.

He admits that Joe would have been 3 years old during the Korean War, but is sticking to his story. My poor analogy compares Joe to Bugs Bunny, who was popular during WWII, yet is young today. Joe will apparently always remain in his 50's.

The book I just finished was written in 96. I requested holds on 2 ther Mayer books written in 97 and 98. He has them going up to 2007, CHAT, where I bet Gunther is still 50 or so years old. I've already picked up the books, BELLOWS FALLS and THE DISPOSABLE MAN, but don't know if I'll read them or not.

Also started a series by C. J. Box, about a forest ranger in Wyoming.

[fadedrose]

36. The Disposable Man (ginkgo)

I wasn't going to read this till I looked inside and saw that the printing was much better and easier to read than "The Ragman's Memory," same author. I think the paper is a better quality too. Maybe all in my mind....

Anyway,I'm on about page 70 and am enjoying the book. It's written as an "I" book, 1st person, and I like the way Gunther figures things out.

Clues are of special interest to any of you who may have a ginkgo tree.

[fadedrose]

41. Finished "The Disposable Man"

I really liked it. Am going to go ahead and read the whole series. Am fond of the main character, Joe Gunther. No matter if he doesn't grow old; he's like LuLu, Nancy, Snoopy, Dagwood, etc., as far as aging goes. We should all be so lucky.

[sueh]

27. Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey".

[sailor65]

28. In the Heart of the Sea

by Nathaniel Philbrick

a re-read, actually.

[hippywife]

30. I just finished Prodigal Summer

by Barbara Kingsolver. Loved it...didn't want it to end.

[JitterbugPerfume]

39. I loved that book!

:hi:

[MaineDem]

31. "The Chase" by Clive Cussler

Next on my list, David Baldacci's latest.

[Jim__]

32. "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon.

I'm reading it mostly because it was recomended by the instructor in a literature course I just took. I'm about half-way through and the book is fairly depressing, although my interest is starting to pick up.

The book is based on the premise that the Jews got thrown out of Israel in 1948 - if I'm understanding it correctly. The US awards a small strip of Alaska for some Jewish refugees to settle in - the award is for 60 years. There are 2 months left before this strip reverts to US control and no one is sure what will happen. Many of the residents are leaving, most are trying to get green cards so they can stay.

The protaganist is a policeman, a detective, name Landesman. He's recently divorced and bordering on alcoholism. He hasn't applied for a green card and hasn't made any plans to leave. He lives in a run-down hotel. Another resident of the hotel gets murdered. Landesman investigates the murder.

[spindrifter]

34. Today I finished Sarah MacDonald's

Holy Cow!, a much better book than I thought it would be from the owner's description. It is about an Australian woman's stay in India during which she "investigated" numerous Indian religions and religious groups. And I am returning to An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (author of The Remains of the Day and When we were Orphans. Before Artist I read The Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart (non-fiction--though I wish it had been fiction!)

[Mz Pip]

35. Water for Elephants

by Sara Gruen. I rejoined my old bookclub since all I had been reading was crime novels.

Time for some literature, again.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[JitterbugPerfume]

37. Fiction--

Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood

nonfiction- Science and Religion, are they compatible, edited by Paul Kurtz

both are damn good books!

[TheCentepedeShoes]

40. Three new from the library today

Two by Charles Pellegrino -
Unearthing Atlantis (non-fiction)
Dust (fiction)
and fiction mystery by John Saul -
The Devil's Labyrinth