ATM im in the process of reading - Hallucinogens, a Reader
LSD, Spirituality and the creative process and The great shark hunt By Hunter thompson

About 10 different magazines, Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age, a book called Join Me, and a bunch of books on baby names.

Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn

I'm reading Towing Jehovah by James Morrow. I read Only Begotten Daughter by Morrow and LOVED it... I can't wait to really get into this one.

i'm re-reading the whole Vampire Chronicals by Anne Rice...

currently on book 4 entitled: Tale of the Body Theif

Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan.

Excellent story, not for kids. I bought the second in the set as well.

Quicksilver by Neal Stepheson. Whew. I never thought I'd get so caught up in a non-sci-fi book.

Super System- Doyle Brunson
Secrets of the Tomb-Alexandra Robbins

Re-reading The BFG by Roald Dahl. One of my absolute favorite books of all time.

I loved that book.

hitch-hikers guide to the universe....i've heard so many good things about it that i had to check it out.

"Second war in Chechenya" by Anna Politkovskaja. I have no idea if that is the correct english title for the book, though. :-/. Very thought provoking, makes me really worried about Russia (especially because it's right next door to my country).

Snow Leopard by Peter Mathiessen. It's about a trek into the Himalayas. Pretty cool so far. Some trippy descriptions.

"The Drowning Pool", by Ross Macdonald.
I think I've found a new favorite author for the next few months.

"To Have or To Be?" by Erich Fromm

"Fury" by Salman Rushdie

Running With The Bulls, by Valerie Hemingway.

Valerie Hemingway was Ernest's personal secretary for the last couple years of his life. This is a recount of those years and the aftermath of his suicide. After his death, she married his estranged son, which is where she got the last name Hemingway. A most fascinating book.

Just finished Speaker For The Dead by Orson Scott Card. Not as good as Ender's Game, everyone cried way too much and it was very depressing, actually.

Going to start on Bill Bryson's Down Under - Loved his Notes from the Big Country, so I have high hopes for this book as well.

I just ordered Carry Me Like Water: A Novel by Benjamin Alire Saenz.

My English professor recommended it, and I've been looking for some choice reading now that the semester is winding down.

"Find A Victim" -Ross Macdonald
50's detective story.

Song of Troy by Colleen McCullough. One of my favourite books! :)

How are you liking that book? I thought it was brilliant.

It's been a while since I posted here.

Just finished Stargazing by Peter Hill; a memoir of a year spent as a lighthouse keeper in Scotland when the author was a student during the sixties. It's much more engaging than it sounds!

Just started Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland. So far, so good. Nice modern interpretation of the fall of the Roman Republic in the first century.

I have so man on my list (my bookshelves are always overflowing and I buy quicker than I read), but I'm way overdue to start Stalin: Court of the Red Czar by Simon Montefiore and This Is Modern Art by Matthew Collings (the delightfully irreverent British author, artist and art critic).

Actually, now that I look up over my laptop screen towards my bookshelves, there are probably about another 20 on my "must read" list.

SIGH

So many books, so little time.


Does anyone else here, like me, prefer non-fiction? I struggle to find any fiction books I really enjoy (with some notable exceptions).


Mr Mephisto

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice. How's that for range?

The Stupidest Angel - by Christopher Moore.

Every year I read exactly one christmas themed book, otherwise I might feel the need to fa la la all over the place... So far it's entertainly funny.

Gotta love a book who's tagline is "A heartwarming take of Christmas terror"

(Last years christmas book -- if you want a great one - -was the Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn)

Crying of Lot 49- Thomas Pynchon

This has to be THE most bizarre, absurd book I've ever read. I kept getting a look of disbelief that causes me to crack up and have to re read the page again.

Currently I am reading this:
http://www.cosmographica.com/gallery...219-IRobot.jpg
I, Robot.

Rereading The Catcher In The Rye. I've read it a couple of times before, but I felt the itch again. Despite having a depressing air about it, it's so funny, I die laughing every time I read it. I've never read any of Salinger's other books...I should try them and see if they are just as good.

Just finished Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, going to start Post Captain as soon as I get my grubby paws on it. Great stuff. Also reading In the South Seas by R L Stevenson and The Aenid by Virgil. I'm probably reading something that has nothing whatsoever to do with sailing too, but I can't remember now.

Oh! Rosencranz and Guildenstern are dead by Tom Stoppard has virtually no sailing in it! Huzzah!

Just finished Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

In the middle of From the Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness by various. It's a collection of short stories that aren't your standard *rawr-I-am-generic-monster* type of writing.

The Proud Highway by Hunter S. Thompson.

i just finished "the tale of the body thief" by Anne Rice and have started the next in the series... "memnoch (i think spelling is wrong) the devil"...
i'm also reading a few non-fiction like "lauguage most foul" and something about the ancient gods n goddesses... (i can't think of the name)

Re-reading The Regulators until I have time to go out and get Fulbright's The Arrogance of Power.

Just started the third Eye of the World book - The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan. I am also trying to read Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card, but the EotW series has most of my attention right now.

A glass of wine with you Sir?

The Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien has got to be one of the best historical collections ever written. You have a glorious 19 books ahead of you. Enjoy them all, and beware a leeward shore!


Mr Mephisto

I have read 3 books by Robert Crais in the last 2 weeks. I've read a lot of mysteries over the years, but this guy has turned into a favorite of mine. His characters are not smart-asses 100% of the time like a lot of other detective novels these days. The first one I read was "Voodoo River". I would recommend it to anyone.

at the moment, my stupid econ book. I have a final in 1 1/2 weeks, i have not read anything, never go to class, and when i do i draw. i just might be screwed

"Sleeping Beauty", Ross Macdonald.
Nope, a detective story.

Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

I just finished Dune erlier tongiht.

Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose. The HBO series closely follows the book and gives you a visual for the battle scenes.

The Ring - Koji Suzuki
Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advise to all Creation - Olivia Judson

I just picked up Empire Falls by Richard Russo.

The book I ordered from Amazon hasn't arrived yet, so I figured I would buy a book at the store to read first.

Just finished reading the entire Harry Potter series to date.

Will decide my next book to read when I get to the airport on my next trip (maybe tomorrow, maybe next Monday)

Chance - Joseph Conrad.

Holy crap this is brilliant.

cool, one of my favorite book series of all time. you have got to read the rest of them, well maybe not all six, but at least the first three

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. Been liking it a lot so far.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I really like the whole series so far.

I started Odd Thomas today. Great beginning. I'm glad my S.O. didn't spoil it for me. If you know what's going on before you start, it would've taken something away from it.

i was recently watching a documentary on jim jones/jamestown and it got me interested in cults. currently, i'm reading "cults in our midst: the hidden menace in our everyday lives"

Just finished America: The Book from the Daily Show. I want to start in on the Richard Clarke book next.

Odd Thomas - Dean Koontz

As I Lay Dying, by Faulkner.

For once, I want to finish a Faulker book. Ive started so many only to not finish them for one reason or another. This time, Im gonna do it.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown.

Stephenson's Snow Crash. I am getting somewhat bored with the discussion of religion, but the setting is excellent.

So long... and thanks for all the Fish by Douglas Adams

Hitchhikers Guide part 4 :)

I just ordered five books from Amazon, they should be here by Friday. They are:
"The Ten Thousand: A Novel of Ancient Greece" Michael Curtis Ford

"Gates of Fire : An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae" Steven Pressfield

"The Zombie Survival Guide : Complete Protection from the Living Dead" Max Brooks

"The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece" Victor Davis Hanson

"Spartan Reflections" Paul Cartledge

As you can see, I'm on an Ancient Greece kick right now, with a little zombie mayhem thrown into the mix. I'll update as I read them.

Oh, I was also given "Crossing the Rubicon : The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil" by Michael C. Ruppert by my uncle, but I'm a bit loathe to read a 600 page conspiracy theory.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
If you dont know who that is then go check out The Da Vinci Code at your local library. Just read the first 50 pages. If it doesnt appeal to you read the next 50. If it still doesnt then return it because its not your type of book,

"U2 At The End of the World" by Bill Flanagan. Flanagan traveled/hung around U2 from the end of the sessions for Achtung Baby in 1991 to the end of the Zoomerang tour in 1993, and the book catalogs all of the ZooTv tour. Really entertaining inside look at one of the biggest bands in the world.

Just got "The Rat Pack: Confidential." So far so good, if you found the Pack interesting at all. Pretty funny stories about backstage and so on...

Philip Pullman's The Subtle Knife. Just finished Northern Lights. One of the most captivating stories I've read for a long time. :)

I just started reading "Drinking, a love story" by Caroline Knapp.

I'll report back my thoughts when I am done.

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner.

Ian Watson: Jonah Kit
Sci-Fi about mindimprinting on whales and the true nature of the universe and God

America
By John Stewart and the rest of the show w/e it's called.

Yesterday I just finished "Cold Moutain" and tonight I rented the movie. The book was fantastic and the movie was pretty good... I mean it is hard to put 2 seperate storylines in a 2 hour movie but it was not bad. But the book is highly recommended by me.

The Doomsters, by Ross Macdonald.

Martin the Warrior, By Brian Jacques. The 7th book in the Redwall series. I plan on reading all 17 of them.

I finished The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Ancient Greece a few days ago, and it was a highly enjoyable read. Lots of detail about the armor and weapons, how they fought, the carnage, etc. I was able to vivdly picture in my mind how it must have been. My only gripe is that he used a few quotes multiple times throughout the book.

I'm now about half way through the Zombie Survival Guide, and it is very funny, in a subversive way.

I'm reading "A Wizard of Earthsea" because one of my best friends gave me his copy to read over winter break as part of my Christmas present.

Also reading a book on angels. Can't recall the title, however.

I just finished "Fight Club" and "Survivor" by Chuck Palahniuk.

I need a break from Palahniuk and might come back to "Diary" after reading a few other books.

Next up is "Going Solo" by Roald Dahl.

Then, "Fast Food Nation" because I have been meaning to read it for the longest time now.

Nikolai Berdyaev

The Destiny of Man

The holiday book-dump is upon me. Between certificates to stores, books given to me, and three weeks of uninterrupted free time, I've got a lot of reading done and to do.

I'm now on Mario Puzo's "The Godfather". Got the movie trilogy collection last year and the novel this year. It's very good, and a very different experience than the movie. It's a much more zoomed-out picture of his fictional 1940s crime family where the movie was more exclusively driven by Brando and Pacino's characters. I was amused to read a good chunk of pages on the criminal struggle for control of Hollywood and showbusiness that was left out of the film version.

Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" will follow. I need to read a book that I don't already know the story of. Both Eco and the book itself have been praised by literary consumers that I trust, so he's next.

Stephen King's "The Drawing of the Three" is next after that. The Gunslinger didn't particularly appeal to me, but it wasn't bad. The Dark Tower gets so much acclaim that I'm going to have to read another one of its installments before I decide whether or not to read them all or drop it.

Xenomorph: Drawing of the Three was solid. If you like it enough to read Wastelands, you are in for a treat. But then comes Wizard and Glass, and you fall asleep.

I ripped through the rest of Snow Crash and then knocked out Black House(without reading The Talisman, dammit!) and Hubbard's To The Stars, which was like a book for children. Now I have Under the Banner of Heaven, by Krakauer, about crazy Mormons.

King Leopold's Ghost

it's a history of the colonization of the congo, and the mind blowingly horrendous stuff that went down there... pleasant bed time reading.

Vittorio(sp) the Vampire

another Anne Rice novel...

audio culture, christoph cox and daniel warner, eds.

a most interesting collection of texts about sound--i found it late last term, and am going to use it for a class this semester.
so its work-reading.
well worth checking out--only problem is the editing of the texts is sometimes quite brutal.

Neal Stephenson's System of the World... this is the third in the Baroque Cycle... I just can't put this series down.

The only drag is that I will be finished before too long...

Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev.

My morning busride fodder of late has been Hunter S. Thompson's newest "Hey Rube" Nice 2-5 page articles that makes reading in 15 minute intervals easy.

Anything by Greg Iles is fantastic but you have to be okay with uncomfortable topics like a guy haveing to tell his wife he cheated on her because his mistress is dead. If not he has written two very good historical novels titled Spandau Phoenix and Black Cross

Just finished "Diary" by Chuck Pahluniak (sp?)

A weird story, but I love his writing style.

I'm re-reading "Nine Princes in Amber" series, by Roger Zelazny. Awesome fantasy series. The only books I've re-read.

I just finished Seleb Carr - The Alienist. Amazing book, very good read.

Moby Dick. Seems like I should have read it before, but I never have, so I thought I would give it a go.

real life problems and their solutions by r edynbry Itsfrom 1940 and gives Q & A on kids marriage, courtship etc. Very interesting to read the "place" of the woman in her husbands life and also social rules and the disaster or the childless marriage. All very proper

Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons

Devils Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three

America (the book)
Anna Karenin- Tolstoy
One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
A Handmaids Tale- Atwood

I cant seem to finish one but they are all very good

Barcelona by Robert Hughes - it's supposed to be mainly about architecture (and I know jack about architecture), but it gives a very broad foundation of Catalan history and culture. Just a fascinating read about a fascinating region.

Lionel Casson's Travel in the Ancient World - oddly engaging writeup on a somewhat niche subject (happened to see it in a bookstore, figured what the hell).

I am also half way through How the Bible Became a Book by William Schniedewind, and there's just no escaping the fact that the topic is far more interesting than this particular book.

If anyone can recommend substitutions on the subject (ie early Semitic literature, and textualization of oral tradition in general) I'd greately appreciate it. Oh, but not Friedman, Finkelstein, or the other DocHyp flunkies, that's not exactly the direction I had in mind.

Which would most likely indicate that your type of book is good. Dan Brown is a mediocre writer and there is very little reason to read anything he has written.

If you want to see whom he is trying to immitate, get The Name of the Rose at that same library (I promise it's not as scary as people make it out to be); if you want to see where his ideas came from get Holy Blood, Holy Grail, not that that one's a particularly good book, but at least you won't have that same subject matter digested through Brown's stilted writing.

Quite in keeping with your reading material, your avatar seems to be a screenshot from Rome: Total War (a Greek phalanx, in fact), I just gotta say that I absolutely love that game (off topic as that is), and starting a new campaign during finals was probably one of the worst decisions I've ever made. :)

How is that? I keep seeing it in the "staff picks" at the local book stores, can't seem to decide whether I should get it.

Just finished a 15 year old journey in finshing the DarkTower series by Stephen King. Phenomal stuff, can't recommend the series highly enough.

I'm about 75 pages into this beast called Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell which my family got me for my birthday. It is tough going, set in England in the early 1800s and written in that style. I'm mostly reading it to try and figure out what made them get it for me.

Just finished reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, which was a bit 'pulpy'.

Just started Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose, which is probably one of the most interesting and fascinating books i've ever read. And thinking about it, its the first non-fiction book i've ever read by choice (i.e out of school)

I just finshed 'Martin the Warrior' and now I'm starting 'Outcast of Redwall'

Brian Jacques rocks, When I get done with his Redwall series. I'm going to start with his newer series 'Castaway of the Flying Dutchman'

Just finish "Going Solo" by Roald Dahl, man, I love his books, and the autobiographies are awesome.

Up next, I'm finally getting around to "Fast Food Nation".

I'll read that while I suffer myself through "memoria de mis putas tristes", trying to stay on top of my Spanish.

Almost finished with "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov.

I have long wanted to read it - and now indeed realize why it is regarded a true classic.

Chronicles by Bob Dylan. Boy, he sure does jump around alot in his "narative". Enjoyable enough, though.