One of my favourites.
I notice you are in Thailand. When I was there many years ago, I picked up one of my all-time favourite local histories, entitled Siamese White by Maurice Collis:
Long out of print here in the west, it was re-printed by some local Thai publisher. Very well researched and written, I thought. It is about the bizzare history of the first European adventurers to make their fortunes in Thailand and Burma - in White’s case, essentially by state-sanctioned piracy.
This weekend I read:
Alexander and the Wonderful Marvelous Excellent Terrific Ninety Days: an almost completely honest account of what happened to our family when our youngest son, his wife, their baby, their toddler, and their five-year-old came to live with us for three months, by Judith Viorst. I haven’t read many of her books, but I always remember fondly that My Mama Says There Aren’t Any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins, or Things scared the pants off me as a kid. I should have remembered that most of the credit belonged to the illustrator. Ninety Days was weak.
Flipping Confidential: Secrets of Renovating Property for Profit in Any Market, by Kirsten Kemp. I watch her show on TLC, along with all the other house-flipping shows. My mom is a realtor and my brother’s a construction worker, so I was getting all excited about a possible new career, but when I got into the financial and legal stuff, it scared me off again. Still, it had a lot of good information and I’d definitely buy the book if I were going to flip a house.
The Railway Children, by E. Nesbit. Vintage Nesbit; I somehow missed this one growing up.
Currently reading The Five-Second Rule: and other myths about germs : what everyone should know about bacteria, viruses, mold, and mildew by Anne E. Maczulak. This seemed like it would be a lot lighter, but it reads more like a microbiology textbook so far.
Just finished “The big over easy” by Jasper Fforde. It’s the fifth book he’s written and a departure from his Thursday Next books. I was open minded about this but didn’t like the start of the book - it just seemed unnecessarily weird and created a world with no real consistency. I decided to read to page 100 and see if it improved and it did marginally, and slowly picked up as the book progressed. It wasn’t that bad overall but it’s definitely the weakest of his books that I’ve read so far, and I won’t be rushing out to get his next one (unlike with his previous books which I lapped up one after the other).
Currently reading “Essays in Satanism” by James D Sass, one of the upper hierarchy of the Church of Satan. It’s good stuff so far, but definitely not light reading or for the feeble minded. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who didn’t have more than a passing interest in Satanism (which is everyone I know).
I finished all four of my books. I started Book One of The Complete Calvin & Hobbes, which I got for Christmas in 2006 but hadn’t opened yet.
I just finished “The Name of the Wind”. A great fantasy read.
And because I like to torture myself I have begun to read the “The Wheel of Time” series again. I stopped after book 6 and haven’t picked it up in years. But for some reason, since his death, I have wanted to try and get through them all. Hopefully by the time i’m done the last book will be out!
I always have to chime in and agree. I really really hate that I now have to wait until 2009 for the next one! :mad:
Strangely, my mind wants to establish this as a magic charm. So read, Dob! Read quickly! If you feel like starting A Song of Ice and Fire, too, be my guest…any magic charm that’ll get Martin to polish off the fifth book before the inauguration sounds good to me…
The Signed Page has autographed copies of “The Name of the Wind” for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.
I’ve heard WAY too much positive feedback on that book and will now have to add it to my wishlist. 
Already read that series, many times! If he pulls a Robert Jordan on us I will be very, very sad. And angry…
I KNOW! Makes me wonder why I start a series on the first published book. I really should just wait until they are all done.
That’s pretty cool. I have thought much about starting a signed collection and may have to buy one of these. I saw one other that I would like too… Thanks for posting.
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi and The Gun Seller By Hugh Laurie.
I recently read “Old Man’s War” by Scalzi because my son kept telling me it was a good fun mindless read and he was absolutely right. The Ghost Brigades is a follow on. Got the Gun Seller based on recommendations here, seems pretty funny so far, but I’m still on the first chapter.
Duma Key, Stephen King’s latest. I’m about 200 pages in and am very pleased with it. The main characters are likable, and I’ve already teared up and been creeped out a couple of times. And the shit hasn’t even hit the fan yet.
I don’t know how artists will feel about it. The main character is a man who lost an arm in an accident. He’s moved from Minnesota to Florida, he’s begun to paint and he thinks/talks about art, and the process. It sounds right to me, not phony or borrowed, or like King’s been eavesdropping in galleries.
I like this a lot. Best of all, no annoying crap like the smucking in Lisey’s Story, and so far, it doesn’t feel bloated. It’s a straightforward supernatural story. 
Oh, good! I’ll get mine today or tomorrow and probably stay up all night reading it. I’m like Annie Wilkes: I want to gobble it all at once.
I already read Making Money by Pratchett and now I’m working on Schulz & Peanuts, the bio of Charles Schulz.
Ordered my copy. I probably will get at least one copy of Butcher’s next as well.
I got a book signed by Butcher at Dragoncon the year before last. He seemed really nice and was thrilled to pieces about the TV show. It looks like his new book is about the Sidhe. I’m sure I’ll read it anyway, but I don’t really like faeries very much. I think Laurell Hamilton turned me against them.
I want to read through a bit more Heinlein and Spider Robinson, myself (this seems like a good year to catch up), as well as find a few newer authors to explore in the sci-fi and fantasy genres.
Oh, and I’d like to read at least one book that makes me happy, one that makes me laugh out loud, one that gives me nightmares, one that teaches me how to do something (and go on to do it well), and one that inspires me to some sort of positive action. i’m working on the fourth one, at the moment.
If Laurell Hamilton turned you away from them, Grant Morrison will make you outright hate them. Check out his take on Seven Soldiers of Victory
Well, I understand your issue with Hamilton, but Butcher brings the Sidhe in occasionally and I don’t mind.
Gobble gobble!
I’m finished. It was awesome. I’m alone in the house, with my back to the room, and I can’t stop turning around to see what’s behind me.
The book deserves a second read. It registered that King made some very insightful comments about the artistic process, and love and pain, but I was too caught up in the story to appreciate all of it.
This book should bring King’s readers back. I hope he liked writing it as much as I enjoyed reading it. Kudos!