Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - What are you reading right now?

Yup. Interesting reads, though both written as an attempt at catharsis / excising some personal demons. An interesting rebuttal to "into thin air" was written by anatoli something-or-other (bourchev?), a guide on one of the teams that lost people who was criticized a bit by krakauer.

One of these days we'll pick up his latest, on the LDSers, which should be interesting...

I read everything Krakauer puts out, like you I enjoyed Into the Wild better than Thin Air, but they are so different. Yes you should read "Under the Banner of Heaven", it is so well written and researched. You will walk away with a thorough understanding of the LDS church, and you'll gain some profound insights of religious fundamentalism, enough food for thought to choke a painted pony!

I listened to Krakauer read "Into Thin Air" on book on tape last month when I went to visit my Dad. I'm interested in his, "Under the Banner of Heaven", because I recently read The "Mormon Murders" true crime book.

I just finished reading "A Man Without a Country" by Kurt Vonnegut, last night. Great stuff for people who are already fans of his work.

I am reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It is a great book.

Re-reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Reading Pope Joan by Lawrence Durrell at the same time.

Making my way through W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage. Fantastic read. I have been reading it everywhere I go; even when shopping with my girlfriend.

Also reading Infidelity for First-Time Fathers by Mark Barrowcliffe. He's not as funny or readable as Nick Hornby but I just can't get enough of British humour. Oh yeah, my girlfriend thinks it's a how-to manual and she gives me the evil eye every time she sees me reading it. It's fiction, pure fiction - even though she doesn't buy it. :D

Bleak House by Dickens.

Poems of Coleridge and Shelly.

The World is Flat

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

Steve
-those Germans...

Just finished Maugham's Of Human Bondage. Loved it! A great read. I must say that reading a good book while my girlfriend did her shopping was a grand idea. I read the bulk of it at the mall today and when we came home I couldn't put it down.

So of course I must read some more on this lazy weekend so I've started Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha. I couldn't help also starting on Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage.

A few minutes ago I finished reading Saturday, by Ian McEwan. Very good book! I'd highly recommend it.

Now, I need to go through my piles of books (yes, I'm a biblioholic) and choose what to read next. Maybe some non-fiction . . .

A few minutes ago I finished reading Saturday, by Ian McEwan. Very good book! I'd highly recommend it.

Now, I need to go through my piles of books (yes, I'm a biblioholic) and choose what to read next. Maybe some non-fiction . . .
That is a good book, his other book is also great. Somebody is giving you good recommendations.

I've been looking at those Krakauer books--with Shifty's recommendation above I'm definitely going to pick one up. :beer:

I've been looking at those Krakauer books--with Shifty's recommendation above I'm definitely going to pick one up. :beer:

All of Krakauer's books are well worth reading. I'll recommend them, too.

That is a good book, his other book is also great. Somebody is giving you good recommendations.

Who could that be? Powells.com?? ;)

Dessert Solitaire by Edward Abbey.

Very strange book, but very enjoyable.

This is one that I read every three or four years, and I end up with a trip to Moab every time I do. If you liked this non-fiction book, you might try his fun novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, terribly fun and characters that I want to hang out with.

You are on a roll with books about the American west there Brillig, good for you.


Here is one of the strangest books you'll ever read The Circus of Dr. Loa by Charles G. Finney circa 1935. You may have to search for this one, a good library should have a copy, or search online, they are out there. Finney was an English professor at the Univ. of Arizona when he wrote this book in 1935.
Ziggy, this is a must for you.

Speaking of Moab, Basin and Range, by John McPhee is a good non-fiction book about the geology of the West.

Speaking of Moab, Basin and Range, by John McPhee is a good non-fiction book about the geology of the West.

I'm a huge McPhee fan, it's hard to go wrong with any of his books.

I've lost track of how many of his I've read, but I'll haven't read Basin and Range. I'll definitely have to read that next.

Here is a recommendation for a holiday novel:

The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

Crazy funny tale of Christmas in a small town on the California coast. If you have read other books by Moore it has the same characters.

Happy Holidays ya'all!

Yoritomo And The Founding Of The First Bakufu - Jeffrey Mass

Interesting and slightly revisionist view of the Kamakura Period of medieval Japanese history. Its perspective is mainly upon the far reaching socio-political ramifications of the ascendancy of the military class (which was to last close to 800 years), but by necessity also covers the key military campaigns.

I am one of those annoying people that reads several books at once. There is a big stack next to my reading chair and I simply pick up whatever I am in the mood for and read a chapter or two.

Here is an inventory of the current stack:

An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afganistan by Jason Elliot
Word on the Street: debunking the myth of a "pure" standard english by John McWhorter
A Long Line of Dead Men by Lawrence Block (fiction)
Enough Rope by Lawrence Block
In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick
I love L.Block, his books are incredibly entertaining, not thought provoking or emotionaly draining, just fun.

Reading now: Join Me.

By Danny Something, some Brit. Tries to start a 'collective' (not a cult) by getting people to send him a passport photo, but doesn't tell them what they're joining. So far, its a Riot.

Weird 'philosophy' book: Wild Animus. They were passing it out free at the state fair last year. Its pretty damn weird. But I'll tell you why it was free: It Sucks.
they were giving that away outside of the Borders on State and Randolph in Chicago, my restaurant collected 5 that people left at table.
I cnat get more then 5 pages read in a sitting(about 40 total). I wouldn't have gotten that far except I really don't like watch TV when i'm bored.

Ron Chernow | Alexander Hamilton

Jeffrey Eugenides | Middlesex



Chernow previously wrote about JP Morgan, Rockefeller and the Warburgs. Eugenides wrote The Virgin Suicides. Haven't read any of their previous work, but Sofia Coppola :beer: adapted and directed The Virgin Suicides as a movie. Hamilton is my favorite 'historical figure' and the Chernow book is great. 730pgs and I'm ripping through it, good stuff.

Another Robert Landrum book, The Janson Directive.

The Sound Of Waves - Yukio Mishima

Out of Control by Kevin Kelly

A Leap in the Dark by John Ferling

After a spell of not reading much (dang, do 13 month olds have a lot of energy and want a lot of attention!), I kick-started my winter reading with something extremely light last weekend and read the first Artemis Fowl book. It's fun to root for both the good guys and the criminal genius! Also, I like reading far-off kind of fantasy stuff when it's freezing and snowy outside, so started reading George RR Martin's A Game of Thrones from this A Song of Ice and Fire series. Hopefully it lives up to the hyped reviews I have read. It's escapism for me...

Put down Bleak House. It's too ****ing big to be reading while I'm grading essays and reading a head into my teaching schedule.

Picked up Shalimar the Clown, the newest by Rushdie, a great one—quick read—thus far; and also The Bean Trees because I have to teach it, yet it's better than anticipated.

Just finished reading "Cold Beer and Crocodiles" author Roff Smith, great book, a guy rides all the way around Australia (10,000) miles. Just going to start "french revolutions" by Tim Moore, it is about cycling the tour de france. Hope its as good.

The Cold Six Thousand by James Elroy, I might actually put it down, I am fantasticly un impressed.

Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowell. It's very interesting (about three presidential assassinations and her fascination with historical sites), and she's a great, funny writer. I'd highly recommend it.

Koba the Dread - Martin Amis

There is nothing better than reading about Stalin killing 20,000,000 people to get you into the spirit of Christmas

I'm rereading the Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy series. I got the big book with all the books in it. It's been a few years since I've read it. I saw the movies and wasn't impressed by it though.

I'm rereading the Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy series. I got the big book with all the books in it. It's been a few years since I've read it. I saw the movies and wasn't impressed by it though.

Have you read the Dirk Gently series yet? In many ways it's even better.

Have you read the Dirk Gently series yet? In many ways it's even better.
"The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" is quite possibly his best book.

Ian Rankin - "A Question of Blood".

"The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" is quite possibly his best book.


It contains the single greatest slapstick scene ever described in written word, imho.

Right NOW , the computer screen :)

It contains the single greatest slapstick scene ever described in written word, imho.
i just finished this book. which scene are you refering to. when the kid brakes his nose. the broken speach kept me laughing for a while.

Biking Related - I just finished Mike Magnuson's Heft on Wheels. I found it to be a interesting and fast read that kept me in the pages. I liked it because I could relate to his story quite well. I just started 23 Days in July about Lance's sixth Tour win in 2004. So far so good.

I read a lot of non-fiction to learn a lot about nothin'. I am a serious participant in anything I do. I will get every book and magazine under the sun and read every word until I have a good damn knowledge of the activity. I have done years of shooting sports, then photogography and now I'm back to biking again. Who knows what will be next time. :eek:

Take Care
I kind of enjoyed Heft on wheels. thanks for the recomendation

i just finished this book. which scene are you refering to. when the kid brakes his nose. the broken speach kept me laughing for a while.

The part relatively early on in the book where Reg tells Richard, before he goes upstairs, to tackle him if anything seems strange when he comes back down.

Both times I read the book I cried laughing.

I thought the cold six thousand was good, have you read his previous stuff?

Just finished DC Confidential by Christopher Meyer.

Right now I am making my way through three books:

-The Pilgrim's Progress by Paul Bunyan

-Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

-Hard Times by Charles Dickens

I also just finished reading Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. An incredible read. I loved it so much that at the end I wept; and when my girlfriend asked me why I was crying it was couple of hours before I could tell her. I was a babbling idiot over that book. I have never read a novel that has touched me as much as Daniel Deronda did.

I thought the cold six thousand was good, have you read his previous stuff?

Just finished last week Black Dahlia; almost as good as LA Confidential and better than White Jazz by James Ellroy. Though Cpt. Dudley Smith's patter was great in White Jazz. I'll finish Elmore Leonard's Gizmo on a flight to San Antonio Monday and plan to get back to James Ellroy and finish Tabloid on the trip back Friday.

I thought the cold six thousand was good, have you read his previous stuff?

Just finished DC Confidential by Christopher Meyer.
no. I like the genre just couldn't stomach the style

I just finished Stiff, by Mary Roach. It's nonfiction, and all about cadavers. It sounds gruesome, but it's very interesting, and she's a great writer.

Currently reading Apocalypso by Robert Rankin - if you liked Douglas Adams then you'll love Robert Rankin. The Brentford Trilogy (seven books) is/are excellent!
Not long finished every book by Christopher Brookmyre too - read "The Sacred Art Of Stealing" before you die! It's amazingly structured and just a fantastic read!

Just started the Celestine Prophecies...

I'm currently reading Northern Telecon Meridian Mail Voice Messaging User Guide.

I'm currently reading Northern Telecon Meridian Mail Voice Messaging User Guide.

Don't tell me how it ends.

Just finished last week Black Dahlia; almost as good as LA Confidential and better than White Jazz by James Ellroy. Though Cpt. Dudley Smith's patter was great in White Jazz. I'll finish Elmore Leonard's Gizmo on a flight to San Antonio Monday and plan to get back to James Ellroy and finish Tabloid on the trip back Friday.
Just finished Tabloid today. Great book. J. Edgar Hoover reminded me of Dudley Smith.

Will start the Cold Six Thousand tonight.

Currently reading "All Fun & Games Until Someone Loses an Eye" by Christopher Brookmyre. As stated above this author is very good.
Also working my way through "Safe Area Gorazde" by Joe Sacco.

Anyone else read Sacco?

"How the Irish Saved Civilization." -Thomas Cahill. Good book.