Recently finished listening to Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, You are Only as Good As Your Next One by Mike Medevoy, and American Gangster and Other Tales of New York by Mark Jacobson. Currently listening to Agent Zig Zag by Ben McIntyre.

Finished reading The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke and am now reading Sea of Thunder by Evan Thomas.

this thread

Halting State, by Charles Stross (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/)

After many trips to the can, i finally finshed the Valentino Rossi bio. Phew!

Now i'm on to a more serious read. And a damn good one at that.

God Is Not Great - How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens.

As it happens. nothing at all. I need to find a book!

The Knowing-Doing Gap

Water for Elephants - Audiobook - good stuff!

Finished listening to Agent Zig Zag by Ben McIntyre and The Poet by Michael Connelly. Am now listening to Concrete Blond, also by Michael Connelly.

Still reading Sea of Thunder by Evan Thomas. Expect to finish it tonight.

Les Liaisons Dangereux. Quite good considering that it's essentially a romance novel.

Finished reading Sea of Thunder by Evan Thomas and Mr. Majestyk by Elmore Leonard. Am now reading The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.

The last of the Harry Potter books. Figured it was worthwhile both to see if there is any meat, either for the critics or the worshipers.

My tentative conclusions:

Critics (other than pure literary) are bankrupt. This is about the safest book I can think of in the childrens adventure class when it comes to lack of possible immitation dangers. Example first book learning to fly on broomsticks. They start by having the stick on the ground and commanding it to rise to their hand, as opposed to let us say jumping off a cliff (even a small one). Don't think any kids will get hurt by trying to command a broom to rise. As to leading into magic or witchcraft: Almost everything requires fictional items. Wands are not just wood, they need something from a magical creature as a core, potions all require fictional ingredents. The only thing one could try is divination, tea leaves and crystal ball do exist. And that is portrayed as boring, unreliable and disliked by the heros.

Worshipers have a bit better case. I do not consider it great. But it is readable, it moves. It is a heck of a lot better than many things kids read in the past. I think it passes just fine as recreational reading for kids at the age of Harry and friends in each book. As class material it may work as a starting point, but falls short as pure literature.

Water for Elephants - Audiobook - good stuff!

I was thinking of picking this up tonight, it's a toss up between
Water For Elephants, The Raw Shark Texts, or Middlesex

I just finished The Virgin Suicides and loved it.

Just finished [I]The Looming Tower[I] by Lawrence Wright.

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

Finally, a post-9-11 history of al-Qaeda and the WTC attacks that points out the beaurocratic blunders of the CIA and FBI, as opposed to blaming the political administrations of Clinton and Bush 43.

Thomas Moore, "Dark Night of the Soul" on my i-pod, oh...and Pema Chodron, and Freakanomics.

JB says "how can you listen to that **** and ride?" It drowns him out.

Just finished [i]The Looming Tower[i] by Lawrence Wright.

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

Finally, a post-9-11 history of al-Qaeda and the WTC attacks that points out the beaurocratic blunders of the CIA and FBI, as opposed to blaming the political administrations of Clinton and Bush 43.

I enjoyed that book too. For an interesting and informative take on the WTC after 9-11 read American Ground, Unbuilding the World Trade Center by William Langewiesche.


Finished reading The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Started reading The Twilight of the U-Boats by Bernard Edwards.

Finished listening to Concrete Blond, by Michael Connelly. Started listening to Death of a Russian Priest by Stuart Kaminsky.

Brotherhood of Heroes-The Marines at Peleliu, 1944 by Bill Sloan. A very good book for fans of the genre.

Just started Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The war series; just sort of happened while perusing at the book store.

All Quiet on The Western Front
Catch-22
Tree of Smoke

Brotherhood of Heroes-The Marines at Peleliu, I want to read that, I dived there. Unimaginable.

Anyone read The Kite Runner?

Finished reading The Twilight of the U-Boats by Bernard Edwards. Started reading A Morning for Flamingos by James Lee Burke.

Finished listening to Death of a Russian Priest by Stuart Kaminsky and Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Started listening to Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephan King

Recently finished Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold.

Working through, East of Eden by Steinbeck, Sorcery by Terry Pratchett and Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

Finished Slaughter House Five. It was a quick and entertaining read, but can't say I'd recommend it. Sure, I got his messages against war and living life the way you'd always want to relive it, but I didn't really find it all that great. I understood and could follow the time jumps, but I think that detracted a bit from the story for me. So it goes.

On to Lonesome Dove. First few chapters have me interested and it seems like the sort of writing style I like.

-Mike

Can't believe this post is still going, I started it 20-10-03! My tastes in reading have changed for the better right now I am reading school/work stuff:

The Human Face of Mental Illness 2006 by the Government of Canada.

Research Decisions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives by Ted Palys

Researching Society and Culture by Clive Seale

Gordon p

Training and Racing with a Power Meter. Coggan & Hunter

No time for much else now that work is getting busy again and training is taking a lot of my free time.

I want to read that, I dived there. Unimaginable.

Anyone read The Kite Runner?

Yes. Though the book contains interesting elements, I didn't find it that satisfying.

Anyways, I'm reading Dark Tower 4 - Wizard and Glass.

Hi,

Newbie here - just discovered this post. Lots of great titles here - I have my work cut out for me.

I'm currently working on:

Peter Jennings: A Reporter's Life
The Landmark Herodotus (if you are at all interested in ancient history and/or the Greeks - read this!)

Since January:

Finished reading A Morning for Flamingos by James Lee Burke. Currently reading Dixie City Jam by the same author

Finished listening to
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephan King;
The Dorothy Parker Collection, by same;
Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler by J. Wertheim;
Bridge of Sighs by Olen Steinhauer;
Three books by Michael Connelly - Concrete Blond, Trunk Music and The Last Coyote ;
Legacy of Ashes, The History of the CIA by Tim Wiener;
Operatives and Spies - OSS by Patrick K. O'Donnell.

Currently listening to My Life as a 10 Year old Boy by Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson).

I find Audio Books and bike commuting a good way to catch up on my reading.

A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge.

Just started:

Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses". His book "The Road" blew me away. I read it in my tent at night during a mountain biking trip in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, so I'm sure the remote atmosphere helped put me in a receptive mood. That and the fact that I've got a young son.

Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods". I've only read the first chapter so far, but it's already hilarious.

"A new earth" & "the power of now" by Eckhart Tolle. I read "a new earth" first and it changed the way I look at and live life.(seriously!) Eckhart is amazing. I am reading "the power of now" currently and it is also great. They are the best books I have ever read.

Finished reading Dixie City Jam by James Lee Burke. Will start reading next Out on the Cutting Edge by Lawrence Block

Finished listening to My Life as a 10 Year Old Boy by Nancy Cartwright and Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda by Sean Naylor. Will start to listen on tomorrow morning's ride to Blood Work by Michael Connelly

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

and

The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama.

I have eccentric tastes.

Dark Fire-C.J. Sansom ,Historical novel set in 1540 london
The Painter of Battles -Arturo Perez-Reverte - will start tomorrow
Dr. Fegg's Encyclopeadia of ALL World Knowledge -Terry Jones & Michael Palin - essential reading for all

Just finished reading Simon Winchesters 'A Crack in the Edge of the World' about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Good read. History, geology, the Gold Rush, the chinese in SF etc. His book on Krakatoa was better though.

Just finished reading Simon Winchesters 'A Crack in the Edge of the World' about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Good read. History, geology, the Gold Rush, the chinese in SF etc. His book on Krakatoa was better though.

I agree. Both are very good, although Krakatoa transcends good and achieves the realm of the truly awesome.

I'm reading Sundiver by David Brin. I couldn't get into his books in the past, but I'm giving him another chance. Not sure how much I like it so far, but there are some good bits in it.

Einstein
by Walter Isaacson

Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla

just finished
The Heirs of Empire by David Weber. The third book in the Dahak series. A fun read. a nice turn backwards after the Super tech in the second book.

Since the end of March:

Finished reading Out on the Cutting Edge and Small Town by Lawrence Block, A Darkness More Than Night by Michael Connelly, and Burning Angel and Cadillac Jukebox by James Lee Burke.

Just started reading Jolie Blon's Bounce by James Lee Burke

Finished listening to Blood Work by Michael Connelly, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson, Arsenals of Folly by Richard Rhodes, Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson, Little Scarlett by Walter Mosley, Dying Crapshooters Blues by David Fulmer, The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam, and Assassination of Jesse James by Ron Hansen. All listening done while bicycling.

Currently listening to Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides a wonderful book about South West U.S. in the 1800's, Manifest Destiny, Kit Carson, American Indians, Mexicans, etc.

Who narrated Fear and Loathing?

I am so totally not reading right now, kids don't permit. I have the final Flashman book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_on_the_March)open on my nightstand, haven't touched it for probably 3 wks.

Who narrated Fear and Loathing?

Ron McLarty

Just started reading Jolie Blon's Bounce by James Lee Burke

Burke is great, the only author I will gladly pay full retail for his books instead of waiting to pick them up on discount or paperback.

Currently reading: Clandestine by James Ellroy (on my desk at work for reading at lunch and during boring conference calls) and Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely (sitting next to my chair at home).

Burke is great, the only author I will gladly pay full retail for his books instead of waiting to pick them up on discount or paperback.

Currently reading: Clandestine by James Ellroy (on my desk at work for reading at lunch and during boring conference calls) and Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely (sitting next to my chair at home).

Clandestine was the only Ellroy book I listened to; read all the rest. Loved 'em all except My Dark Places. I prefer books about perversions to be fictional rather than autobiographical. I thought the most entertaining were The Big Nowhere, American Tabloid, and The Cold Six Thousand, with LA Confidential running close.

By coincidence I'm now reading Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler.

Just finished listening to Blood and Thunder today; will start on tomorrow's commute with At War at Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century by Ronald H. Spector

Last two months, update, all are audio books:
At War at Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century by Ronald H. Spector
Loot by Aaron Elkins
Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Into the Rising Sun by Patrick O'Donnell
Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale
Drop City by T. C. Boyle
Good Rat by Jimmy Breslin
Ghost War by Alex Berenson

Current commuting selection is Oral History by Lee Smith

LEts see if I can remember

Anthony Bourdain - kitchen confidential
Jack Whyte - I forget the names 2 or 3 books. I am really enjoying these
Jeff Lindsay - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Feist - Just finished off the last series, now I need to go back and read the second trilogy.

Phantom- By Terry Goodkind

Soon to start: It's Not About the Bike- by L. Armstrong

Finished Oral History by Lee Smith; now listening to Escape from the Deep: A Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew by Alex Kershaw.

Just started:

Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses". His book "The Road" blew me away. I read it in my tent at night during a mountain biking trip in Canyonlands National Park, Utah, so I'm sure the remote atmosphere helped put me in a receptive mood. That and the fact that I've got a young son.

Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods". I've only read the first chapter so far, but it's already hilarious.

I really need to read more McCarthy. In high school, my teacher lent me All the Pretty Horses and Blood Meridian and I loved both. I've heard great things about The Road... mmm, I think I'll read it next.

Currently though, I've been trying to trudge through James Joyce's The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It's definitely more controlled than his other work (*cough*Finnegan'sWake*cough*), but I just can't seem to get into it...

currently reading "Lord of Chaos" by Robert Jordan... started reading the series when I was about 10... currently my 3rd go-round from start to finish... but this time it's a considered a memorial re-read, as I started back in september.

I've heard great things about The Road... mmm, I think I'll read it next.

THE ROAD was my first of his. I can't imagine how it could have been any better.

I finished Richard Price's LUSH LIFE recently (it deserves all the buzz and outstanding reviews), and saw somebody compare him to Balzac, so I went and got some Balzac. I just finished THE UNKNOWN MASTERPIECE, and I'm so amazed by him that I'll probably end up reading his massive Comédie Humaine.

Finished listening to Escape from the Deep: A Legendary Submarine and Her Courageous Crew by Alex Kershaw and Find a Victim by Ross MacDonald. Now listening to Full Throttle: The Life and Fast Times of Curtis Turner by Robert Edelstein.

Started reading Sunset Limited by James Le Burke.