Yeah, it’s dated. But it’s still funny as shit.
I just started **To Rule the Waves : How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World ** by Arthur Herman. The “truck-book” is Web Side Story by Richard Rankin. The “throne-book” is a one-volume collection of old Green Lantern comic books.
I’m reading a bio on Pol Pot. Don’t really like it, it’s not really well written(imho), and I have a hard time keeping the names straight, and since they’re Cambodian names it’s even harder. I like history, maybe I’ll pick up that Cap’n Cook one.
I’m currently reading “Stork Club: America’s Most Famous Nightspot and the Lost World of Cafe Society” by Ralph Blumenthal. This book was a birthday present from somebody, and quite honestly, I wouldn’t have picked it up for myself. But it’s actually pretty interesting.
I just got finished reading “Tourist Season” by Carl Hiaasen. That’s a detective thriller (written way back in 1985) decrying the commercialization & over-development of Florida. God only knows what Hiaasen must think of the state 20 years later, and after the recent hurricanes. (There’s a running theme of the book that mother nature will strike back at the corrupt, greedy real estate forces who are despoiling the natural paradise by turning it into a tacky tourist trap.)
I, too, recently read this one, and I give it thumbs up. By turns informative, profound, trivial, and laugh-out-loud funny (see, for example, the section on “manure”), and with a surprisingly coherent storyline for a book that’s arranged alphabetically. I’d say it has some of the same appeal as Bill Bryson’s books.
Other books I’ve recently read:
Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein. Inspired by recent threads, I read this, one of his juveniles that I hadn’t gotten to before. Not bad (classic Heinlein), but not his best.
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede (of her “Enchanted Forest Chronicles”), after seeing it recommended in more than one fantasy thread around here. A fun, entertaining, quick read. It plays on some of the old fairy tale cliches, which is hardly a new idea, but it is well done.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. Maybe the closest thing to a King juvenile. Not essential King, but a good read, especially for October, the month of both Halloween and baseball.
God’s Debris by Scott Adams. A “thought experiment” in which the Dilbert creator gets all philosophical ‘n’ shit. It’s short, a quick and easy read, and mildly thought-provoking, I suppose, but not nearly as mind-blowing as Adams seems to think it is. I’ve read better stuff here in Great Debates.
The Annotated Flatland by Edwin Abbott, with annotations by Ian Stewart. I’ve heard about Flatland long enough but, until now, hadn’t gotten around to actually reading it. It’s the kind of book I should like, and ought to have read, but, well, as it turns out I kind of had to force myself to finish it. I can see why people like it, and Stewart’s annotations were interesting, but, in hindsight, I probably got as much out of hearing about the book as I did out of actually reading it for myself.
and I’ve recently started The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions by Marcus J. Borg and N.T. Wright. Cover blurb: “The leading liberal and conservative Jesus scholars present the heart of the Historical Jesus debate.” Looks interesting.
Just finished reading Bing West’s “No True Glory” about Fallujah.
I started the new Michael Connelly The Lincoln Lawyer yesterday and bit off a big tasty appetiser.
Mark Rowlands Everything I Know I Learned from TV. A proper philosopher uses the worlds of Buffy, The Sopranos, Seinfeld. The Simpson’s etc to explain the major questions of modern philosophy. It is such fun reading about Tony Soprano - “the conflicted man” - on one hand he loves and cares for his family, on the other is all the “whacking” and “clipping”.
Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson. It’s the third Malazan book. I read half of it awhile back, in paperback, but it hurt my eyes so I put it aside until I could get the hardcover. It still hurts my eyes. 
May I rave about Owen Parry’s Civil War mystery/suspense series? I’m gonna. They’re excellent. Not too light, not too heavy, humor when it’s needed, and mercifully free of anachronisms in thought or setting. Definitely a 19th century sensibility.
The first one is Faded Coat of Blue.
I don’t remember who recommended these. Might have been a Doper. If so, thank you.
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman–really great read, I recommend it to everybody–and also rereading The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay and The Reduced Shakespeare Company (which is hilarious).
Man, I love those books.
One of my favorite modern crime novels. Still Hiaasen’s best, you ax me. HYlarryus.
Just finished Rocks of Ages by Stephen Gould and beginning The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene. Also reading a book on IC yield that I have to write a review for a magazine by the end of the month.
Re-reading LotR. I’ve got Ken Kesey, Neil Gaiman, R.A. Wilson and Erik Larsen on the docket. I’m set until Valentine’s Day.
Maurice, by E.M. Forster. Apparently he wrote it around 1913 but it wasn’t published until 1971. The title character loves other men.
We’re just like you, only Prettier, by Celia Rivenback. Humorous observations by a Southern belle. Absolutely hilarious!
Long Win Corporate Social Responsibility Report. It’s really boring.
Wow, Dung Beetle, you managed to squeeze Savage, Rimm and colon inoto the same OP. Some Savage plug too.
Finished the CSR Report now. Reading for pleasure at the moment includes the Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume II. Amazing how popular the old prig is, especially in the States. Very gratifying to a younger prig.
I forgot, I also picked up Don Quixote and will try to get through it this weekend.
Hey, what about Stiff? 
I have never been able to participate in one of these threads, so this is a monumental occasion. I am currently reading The Measure of All Things by Ken Alder. It is the story of Mechain and Delambre, the two Frenchmen who were charged with the task of measuring part of the meridian in France to determine the length of the meter. Incredible story!
Oh my goodness! I read some of those books in High School because I was a Latin student and loved them. I had completely forgotten the name of the author or main character in the ensuing years. Thank you for bringing them up.
Currently, I am plowing through Knife of Dreams, which is #11 in the dreaded / loved “Wheel of Time” series by Robert Jordan. I’m only reading on my lunch breaks right now, so unless I get some reading in over the weekends, it’s gonna take me a long, long time to finish.