I just finished Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy a good read although I’m still thinking about the ending.
I am about two hundred pages into The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood I am enjoying it sooooo much. It is by far the best tale I’ve read in a long time.
It’s been kinda a feminist summer, reading wise.
I’ve been on a Sci-Fi kick recently
I just finished Deadman Switch by Timothy Zahn.
Before that I read to surprisingly complementary stories.
Earth: Set in the near future, global warming and population explosion is destroying the planet.
Seeds of Time, by Kay Kenyon: Nearly identical premise.
How both authors treat the premise are totally different and fascinating.
Yeah me too. Also, if I read a good story by an author I’ve never read before, I tend to read the other works of that author exclusively until I’ve read everything printed or it becomes apparent that the story I liked was the only good one they wrote.
I’m currently on a mystery kick. I love the Ellery Queen & Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines. In the past month or so I’ve read several Dashielle Hammet stories, I purchased two books that are compilations of his novels. (I don’t have them in front of me and I can’t remember the titles of all of the novels in the books.) I’m currently on The Dain Curse. I must say that I find his writing style wonderfully exciting. The stories move along at a good pace and the descriptions are good without getting too bogged down in the details.
Sadly the only time I have to read is on the subway for about 1 hour each day. Not being able to completely immerse myself in a story from beginning to end is very frustrating.
I thought The Langoliers was the best out of those stories, and Secret Window, Secret Garden was good, too. But I’m just that way. I read all of his stuff.
My own personal reading? Right now, I’m re-reading a couple of classics (for me, anyway. I feel outgunned by the stuff you all are reading): Brain Droppings by George Carlin, and How to Be a Superhero by Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine. For the bathroom, either an Uncle John’s Bathroom rader, or Dave Barry.
Just finished A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind.
I had to read that for school (Dartmouth - I’m gonna be a frosh there), and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.
Next up: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez.
And at the same time I’m reading:
Learning Perl - 3rd edition by Schwartz & Phoenix
I may have read her, but not enough to recognize the name. I’ll be sure to grab some of hers on my next book run.
And I used to do the multiple books thing as a child when I spent a lot of time at my great-grandmother’s house. Thus a Grandma Reed book and a home book. Now, like you, I prefer to stick to one book at a time (although I’ll read the Smithsonian concurrently with a book)
Just finished that one and loved it. Currently working on The General in His Labrynth also by Garcia Marquez.
Then I’ve got the 2nd Techno-mage book from the Babylon 5 universe to get through (god, I feel like such a geek typing that). And somewhere in the mail are Pyramids and Guards, Guards.
If anyone wants to take a chance, I would recommend **Catapult : Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon ** by Jim Paul. The true story of a guy and his buddy who want to build a trebuchet to launch rocks off a cliff by the Golden Gate bridge.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Enderw24 *
**
What can I say, it was late . . . .
If by “heavy” you mean “difficult going”, I don’t think you have to worry about that with Diamond. While he’s very solid scientifically and marshals the evidence carefully for his arguments, he also writes extremely well and is IMO quite easy to read. If “heavy” means “another N ounces of weight in my backpack,” then I’d definitely recommend The Third Chimpanzee first; it’s about 20% shorter than GG&S.
I’ll second that recommendation; have you read Paul’s other book, Medieval in L.A.? I haven’t yet, though I keep seeing it in remainder bins.
Tried that once, acquired an immediate dislike for the main character, and put it down after twenty pages. Let me know if it’s worth revisiting.
My current project: W.H. Murray’s Rob Roy MacGregor: His Life and Times. I’m preparing to write a novel set in 1716, and am doing background research. It’s a very good book for learning what Scottish life was like in the 1671-1734 period, but Murray has contracted a serious case of hero-worship which I think distorts his view of Rob Roy.
I also loved Guns/Germs/Steel. It should be required reading for all anthropology students and aspiring science writers, as a shining example of how to present a complicated argument in a lucid, methodical, and eminently readable manner.
I’ve been lugging around Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels (Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Awakes) in an omnibus edition for a couple weeks. I’m only 125 pages in, sadly, because I only get to read it on the subway. It seems like fun, albeit claustrophobic. Whether I make it through all 1,164 pages of the three novels without stopping to read other things along the way remains to be seen.
Sitting on the floor waiting patiently are Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire (which looks fabulous) and Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin and Sea of Silver Light by Tad Williams and also Ubik by Phillip K. Dick. Wow. Lots of SF there. Hadn’t really realized. Anyway, if the Peake continues to be as dense as it is now–and I suspect it will–I may skip all of the above when it’s time to come up for air and do a couple of Pratchett’s Discworld novels to cleanse the palate.
Danimal, I’ve discussed A Confederacy of Dunces with a lot of people who say they are just as repulsed by Ignatius as you are, and just can’t get past it.
Yes, he’s hideous and to me that’s one of the many many things to appreciate about this book – his loathesome deliciousness. Well, not delicious in the literal sense. You never really like him. But I think one acquires as much an appreciation of his physical repulsiveness as his intellectual extremities. And, it’s a hoot.
at least the first volume of The Lord of the Rings in time for The Movie. How could I forget?
I’m reading the first Harry Potter book to my Girlfriend right now. I’ve read all four and really enjoyed them and so far, so is she (we’ll read all of them as well as LOTRs by December, I hope).
I tend to keep several books going at once, depending on my mood and the book’s availability, usually reading the nearest book within reach.
Right now, I’m reading
[list]
[li]The Metaphysical Club by Louis Menand, a fascinating group biography of leading 19th century intellectuals, including William James and Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose informal discussions as members of the eponymous club formed American pragmatist philosophy[/li][li]Atom by Lawrence Krauss, an account of the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the ultimate end, seen from the perspective of a single atom of oxygen.[/li][li]A Woman’s View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960 by Jeanine Basinger. Pretty much what the title says, it’s an excellent bit of film scholarship. I’ve also read her book on silent film stars. Eve, you got competition.[/li][li]Hating Whitey by David Horowitz. Right-wing ravings from a former Marxist radical turned neocon provocateur.[/li]The Stainless Steel Rat Sings The Blues by Harry Harrison. The obligatory science fiction book.
Do not give me any ideas! I need to start my school year off with the extra time I have given myself to read my textbooks and make notes. If I start one extra. book then there is no stopping me. I will not do well in my courses. Although, being here (and on other boards) is not going to help me either, but I need a little fun. 
[sub]Hi, Tyklfe![/sub]
I just started Madeleine L’Engle’s The Irrational Season. It’s Book 3 of the Crosswick Journals. Her journal writing/non-fiction is incredible stuff. The book itself is focused on a Catholic church year, starting with Advent. She’s just wonderfully realistic and honest.
The Hand Behind the Mouse a (to my mind) long-overdue biography of Ub Iwerks by his grand-daughter Leslie Iwerks and John Kenworthy.
Just finished *The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon *. It was the strangest book I’ve read in a long time. I’m not sure if I enjoyed it or not, although at points it was breathtakingly wonderful.
(I’ve had that Queen Caroline bio for a year now, started it twice, haven’t been able to get into it).
I used to read multiple books at once, back before children…
This was the best nonfiction book I’ve read in years. He pulled off a difficult subject remarkably. Eminently readable and moving(and should be required reading for all us insular Americans). I highly recommend it to everyone, whether you know anything about Rwanda or not. I plan on re-reading it soon.