I’m reading Cupid and the King by Princess Michael of Kent. It’s an examination of the lives of five royal mistresses and the political/social powers that they wielded. It’s quite entertaining. Princess Michael has a chatty, clear prose style and chose five very interesting women. Great “beach read.”
I’m reading Freakonomics right now. A little over halfway through, and I like it much.
Right now I’m reading Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb (in hardcover, no less–someone left their copy of it on the Book Swap Table at work! Whee!) and re-reading Alien Taste by Wen Spencer.
And my sister has left her copy of The Da Vinci Code out to tempt me with. And yes, done on purpose. Her life will not be complete until I read it, I guess.
If this posts twice, it’s not my fault. I got a “Cannot find page” error first time I tried to post, and it’s not showing up in the thread.
Two books at the moment:
The Universe Next Door by Dr. James Sire. An introduction to major worldviews like Theism, Deism, Naturalism, Nihilism, etc. I love Sire.
History of the Pelponnesian War by Thucydides. About the 27 year Greek war that started in 431 BC.
All of 20/20 was about it and the various theories it offers. Now I want to read it. I will add it to my list.
The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, two rather well-known Jesus scholars. This particular book, if you haven’t heard of it, details the last week in Jesus’ life as laid out in the Gospel of Mark, with a somewhat scholarly perspective. Pretty fascinating stuff, and excellent for most progressive Christians.
Recent Reads:
The Good Terrorist by Doris Lessing
I thought this was awful. I knew a lot of deluded would-be revolutionaries in 1980s London, just like the ones she tried to portray. She fails miserably. Lessing is a fantastic writer, but was obviously too far-removed from youth culture (she would have been in her 60s when this was written) to pull this one off.
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
Sometimes when you come late to a book everyone has raved about, there’s a fear it may be anticlimactic. However, I definitely enjoyed this. I even recognised some aspects of myself in the narrator, an autistic 15 year old boy.
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart
Beautifully written. Even if the subject isn’t something that grabs you, you’ll enjoy this book.
Saturday by Ian McEwan
On the whole I liked it, but I agree with many critics that there were one or two plot elements which simply do not convince.
On the wish list:
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Still haven’t managed to get my mitts on a copy.
The Stone that the Builder Refused by Madison Smartt Bell
The third and final part of his blood-and-guts-in-18th-and-19th-century-Haiti trilogy.
Let it Rain Coffee by Angie Cruz
Angie Cruz is one of the best Dominican-American writers, along with Nelly Rosario and Julia Alvarez.
Right now I’m reading The Search for the Panchen Lama. It has a lot of information on the history of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. The other one I’m reading is Devil in the White City, which is about the events surrounding the Chicago World’s fair. I’ve had this one for a few months now, and should finally have the time to read it during this break.
just finished “reading lolita in tehran”. on to “stiff”.
I just finished Shadowmancer . It wasn’t too bad, but ended all of a sudden. As if he said “right, I’m done, let’s just wrap it up.”
Also just finished a book I started based on a discussion here on the boards about NDEs. Closer To the Light I liked the stories that the kids shared. The science was poor. I liked some of what the author says he was trying to accomplish - which is to get the medical proffession to do a better job of addressing death iissues. In the end, it didn’t convince me but I didn’t hate it anyway.
I am now reading a light book Moon Called I’m only about two chapters into it, so I can’t say yet whether I will or won’t like it. It is OK so far, but it is early.
I am listening to The Historian while I work out. I have said several times in other threads that listening is not as good of an experience as reading and so I think I might like this book better if I read it. It has seemed to start slow.
I have several in the queue, but I think I might start Glen Cook’s The Tyranny of the Night : Book One of the Instrumentalities of the Night next. Link I am a big fan of Cook and am hoping that this is going to be fun.
BirdMonster, I have wanted to read Blink for a long time, but keep putting it off. I may have to give it a try.
I’m rereading Mary Pipher’s Reviving Ophelia. I read it around five years ago, then recommended it to my girlfriend recently. Now the silly woman wants someone to discuss it with. Oh well, it’s an interesting read. 
I heard Crossen speak once (freshman year in college). He is a funny little man (at least that is how I remember him). Dr. William Lane Craig (an actual scholar, not bestowed with that title by the media) debated him on the Jesus Seminar once. Crossen left not knowing exactly what had hit him.
Enjoy the book. I am sure it is interesting. I haven’t gotten around to that one yet though so I am going to hold my tongue on making a comment about it. I will stick it next on the list right beside Freakonomics.
If I ever get out from under combined work responsibilities and scholarship essays, I’m going to --finally!!-- crack open Guns, Germs and Steel. I know, I’m so behind the times.
I should probably go write an essay so I can have some reading time.
Just Finished
Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham…3 novellas set in past, present and future New York City with common underlying threads and parallel characters. It got mixed editorial reviews but it worked for me.
The Sex Wars by Marge Piercy…old New York setting and I especially liked the stuff about Victoria Woodhull, enjoyed it even though my taste generally runs towards more contempory settings.
Just started
Saving the World by Julia Alvarez…haven’t gotten too far into it, but it seems very promising so far.
Best recent read
Acts of Faith by Phillip Caputo…Complex relationships and interactions of aid workers in the Sudan, the residents of a war torn village and the rebels defending them and other locals…totally awesome and memorable read.
All are fiction, as is most of my reading material.
And for those find the themes in the incredibly overrated and overhyped Da Vinci Code interesting but would like something with more weight, pick up Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco.
Barbara
I’m reading “A History of the English Language” by Albert C. Baugh and Thomas Cable. It’s a fascinating, concise, informative history of English; exactly what I’ve been looking for. I would recommend it to anyone who knows little about linguistics but wants to learn about English.
I just finished “Rogue Male” by Geoffrey Household, an excellent thriller that I couldn’t put down.
I just read a new book on the Black Dahlia—this author’s theory is that Bugsy Siegel killed her, but he does not make a very good case (personally, I think she was accidentally cut in half while opening a can of cat food).
Next time I go to the library I’ll pick up the new Peter Lorre bio. I ordered online the unfortunately titled Shepperton Babylon, a tell-all about British film. It’s probably garbage, but any book that mentions Meggie Albanesi and Lillian Hall-Davies is too tempting for me to pass up!
the best one so far. ab. fab.!!!
The Michael Cunningham and Marge Piercy books are also on my wish list, and I’d be interested in hearing your verdict on Julia Alvarez’s when you’re finished. She’s one of my favourite authors and I noticed it had got a poor review on Amazon.
Acts of Faith I’d never heard of but it sounds a lot like my sort of thing (I work in international development, though not in Africa).
I have read A History of the English Language. It is good.
Well, I take it you don’t have the highest opinion of Crossan, but he is most definitely an actual scholar, even though I myself don’t agree with many (even most) of his conclusions. But anyway, I think The Last Week has some interesting interpretations of the events of the first Holy Week, and is actually far more conservative or traditionalist than you might expect from Crossan. He and Borg still make what I feel is a mistake of seeing Jesus as only being a 1st century Palestinian radical revolutionary; while I believe there were certainly some elements of this in Jesus’ message, as a Christian who is fairly traditional in his theology, I certainly see Jesus as far more than what Crossan and Borg would allow.
You may enjoy it though, and I do hope you decide to read it. The authors’ treatment of Palm Sunday was especially interesting, and I eagerly await their take on Easter, although I expect I’d disagree with all of it!