I have to admit that he’s not my favourite fiction writer, but the ideas carry things along pretty well. His non-fiction is great, though. There are very few writers who can explain as well as Asimov. Try the robot novels - your husband will know.
Back on track, I just got a couple of National Geographic’s Adventure Classics, The Last Voyage of Captain Cook by John Ledyard ( an American who travelled with him), and Tomb of Tutankhamen by Carter himself. Those are next!
a lot of my fav. s are hitting the bookstore now.
i just got back from stephanie plum daze in trenton. i read “eleven on top” on tues.
i’ve got preston-child’s and linda howard’s newest lined up. i will be starting harry potter 1-5 to get ready for 6 in a few weeks. kathy reichs will be out on tues.
i just finished “good in bed” that was a sdmb recommend.
non fiction i’m plowing through " at dawn we slept" and “titan”.
there have been a few m&m books here and there. ones that are quick, happy, treats. no thinking ness.
Now that I’ve finished my exams for this semester, I’ve been curled up with the heater on reading my Ancient Greek Harry Potter:
ΆΡΕΙΟΣ ΠΟΤΗΡ και ή του φιλοσοφου λιθος
re-reading the first 5 Harry Potter books, like so many others…
also my semi-annual re-reading of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (I know she was a pretentious cow, but there’s a lot in the novel that’s compelling, for me.)
of course, now I’m taking a look at some of the books y’all are reading, to see if they might be my kinda thang ya know what I’m sayin 
Patrick O’Brian. Can’t get enough of that series. I’m taking them (slowly) in order, and I’m just finishing The Thirteen Gun Salute.
I just re-read HP-OotP in preparation for No. 6, which I hope will find Harry a little less pouty and unreasonable.
Mammoth by John Varley – half-way through. I’m a big Varley fan, but this one is leaving me a little, er, cold.
Booking Passage by Thomas Lynch. I’ve read almost everything he’s written. Wonderful poet/essayist.
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. I dunno, it looked interesting.
That’s all that is currently in the reading line-up. A visit to the friendly local library may unearth some new reading material.
I’ve slowed down a bit lately, but the last few books I read are:
Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant (historical isn’t usually my thing, but this one is really good)
Bubbles Betrothed, by Sarah Strohmeyer (always amusing)
The Goodbye Body, by Joan Hess (easy, quick read)
All I Did Was Ask, by Terry Gross (didn’t quite finish it, but I’ll borrow it again and finish it up; mostly caught me up on interesting interviews I’ve never heard)
I’m looking forward to a couple that have been mentioned here: the newest Margaret Maron, Elizabeth Peters, and Kathy Reichs. And I want to at least re-read HP 5. I re-read 4 just before 5 came out and that really made it feel like a continuous story.
And there are several in this thread that sound interesting…I’ll be adding them to my list.
GT
• The Immortal Count, by Arthur Lennig, a biography of actor Bela Lugosi.
• Re-reading The Iliad and The Odyssey.
• Finishing The Story of Civilization, vol. 7, The Age of Reason Begins, by Will and Ariel Durant.
• Law School Confidential, by Robert H. Miller, a beginner’s manual.
• Modern Library’s Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural.
Sweeter the Juice by Shirlee Tayloar Haizlip. About her family’s colorful (literally) geneology.
Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami, sequel to The Wild Sheep Chase, and much better, IMHO.
Great book! I read it in 6th grade and was finally able to figure out the movie.
My list:
Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader : North Korea and the Kim Dynasty
by Bradley Martin
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
Pretty much everything by Lovecraft I own
Titan by Steve Baxter
I tend to just pick up books randomly from work or the library, but I seriously intend to read
The Years of Rice and Salt- Kim Stanley Robinson
Song for the Basilisk- Patricia McKillip
Firebird- anthology of YA fantasy/sf
I’m going to re-read LOTR and the Silmarillion, and maybe Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy. It’s hard to make any kind of intended book reading list if I know that I’m likely to pick up and read 2 to 5 random books a week. My reading has no real sense of order about it at all.
Last week I read Angelica, by Sharon Shinn, The Magic Engineer, by L. E. Modesitt, Eaters of the Dead, by Crichton, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, by Laurie King, and Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit, by Carole Nelson Douglas. The only pretty good ones were Magic Engineer and Monstrous Regiment.
Two good ones. I can only read a McKillip book every once in a while because her lush language tends to tire me out, but she’s fantastic.
And King is one of my new favorites.
Locked Rooms is coming out this year sometime. And A Breath of Snow and Ice, by Diana Gabaldon, comes out in October. Can’t wait.
Currently reading Touch by Elmore Leonard
Elmore be da man!Kurt Vonnegut’s Bluebeard. If I get around to it, I’ll pick up some of my texts on religion I’ve been meaning to read.
Adam
I’m reading Boys will put you on a pedestal (so they can look up your skirt) : a dad’s advice for daughters by Philip Van Munching. My grandma saw the author on Dr. Phil and asked me to get the book because she wants my daughter to read it. Naturally, I’m checking it out first. My grandma wants to make sure my daughter knows boys are e-e-evil, yet she’s the same woman who tells my mother she should return to her abusive husband because at least he pays the bills. :rolleyes: But I digress… The book seems innocuous enough so far, though I keep getting it mixed up in my mind with the other book I’m reading right now: Breaking the code : two teens reveal the secrets of better parent-child communication by Lara Fox. I’m not learning anything I didn’t already know from either of these books.
I’m reading Lucifer’s Hammer - by Niven & Pournelle
Recently finished:
Night Watch - by Terry Pratchett
Deception Point & Digital Fortress - both by Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code)
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
I’ve just finished reading all of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books. They were excellent, especially the older ones.
Lately I’ve seen a lot of vampire movies, so I picked up Stoker’s Dracula, which I’ve always meant to read. So far it’s not bad.
rjk, jsgoddess, have you read Asimov’s autobiographies? I really enjoyed those.
I just finished the EXCELLENT book The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House by John F. Harris of the Washington Post. It leans in Clinton’s favor, but is more of a favorable history than a partisan slant.
It gives a great insider’s view of the machinations and development of the Clinton White House. Though it has its racy moments with the Lewinsky scandal, the book is more for the diehard political fan than the general public.
My favorite parts were little details about the inner workings of the White House.
Now I am starting “The Man Who Was Whizzer White”, an autobiography about one of the most impressive people of the 20th Century, Supreme Court Justice Byron White. The book worries me because it was written BEFORE his death (when writers are often a little more reserved) and because he was notoriously averse to helping journalists and historians chronicle the events of his life.
Hmm. I went from a book about the operations of the Clinton White House to a biography of a reclusive Supreme Court justice.
Woo-Hoo! Good Times. Party at the Watson house!
[sub]I guess I am a nerd.[/sub]