Haven’t had one of these for awhile.
I’m reading Guns, Germs, and Stee and enjoying it immensely – way more intellectual than what I usually read. Next up: The Poisonwood Bible for book club.
I’m sure FormerAgent/PresentNutJob is reading Surveillance For Dummies.
What are you reading?
The book, of course, is Guns, Germs, and Steelllllllll
<banging head>
Jodi
Fiat Justitia
Currently reading: Dreaming Souls: Sleep, Dreams, and the Evolution of the Conscious Mind by Owen Flanagan.
Also rereading: The Millennium Bug: How to Survive the Coming Chaos, by Michael S. Hyatt (to review and show how much of a chicken little he was).
Listening to a Star Trek: Voyager book in the car, but I can’t remember the name.
Just finished: Virus: The Co-Discoverer of HIV Tracks Its Rampage and Charts the Future, by Luc Montagnier.
I just finished Wicked by Gregory Maguire for book club and am now reading Cider House Rules by John Irving in preparation for the movie coming out.
I’ve actually been reading this Irving book for several months. The first 100 pages just d r a g g e d.
Now it’s getting interesting. 
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.
Music, an Appreciation by Roger Kamien.
And,
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks.
Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. I need an attitude adjustment; I’m relating just a little to well to Holden Caulfield.
Next up: My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass.
My local independent bookshop just got my order in (see the Barnes & Noble thread over in the Pit for my politically-correct approach to book-purchasing), so later this evening I’ll be reading…
GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Robert Graves…his premature autobiography, originally published in 1928, in which the poet and author of I, CLAUDIUS tears into the British class system, the British educational system, and Britain in general. Graves revised the book in 1957, cutting out some of the more harsh and harrowing scenes of trench warfare during his service as an infantryman in WWI. This edition is the restored 1928 version, re-issued last year by Anchor Books.
CHARLES DICKENS A TO Z: A big fat reference book and concordance to the works of Dickens, which includes thumbnail sketches of all the characters, detailed synopses of all the novels, excerpts from reviews and literary criticism, etc., etc. (I’ve only got five more novels to read before finishing everything Chuckie wrote, and I’m feeling kind of depressed about seeing the end of the party, so I thought this would be a good time to look back and re-group.)
Last night I re-read a great food book, FRENCH COOKING IN TEN MINUTES: OR, ADAPTING TO THE RHYTHM OF MODERN LIFE, written by Edouard de Pomiane in 1930. A sweet little illustrated book about how to eat and live well in this awful modern world, without busting your ass too much. “As soon as you get home, without even taking off your coat, set a quart of water on the stove to boil. What will you use it for? Who knows, but you’ll use it for SOMETHING…coffee, at least.” And in almost every recipe he then says “Take the [food item] and drop it into a pot of boiling water. It’s waiting for you, there, on the stove.”
Uke
I’m reading three books:
Virus X
Lush Life (biography of Billy Strayhorn)
West Coast Jazz (borrowed from Uke - I’ll finish it one of these days, I promise)
I don’t think I’ve read any fiction for several months now.
Formerly unknown as “Melanie”
I’ve just started the Discworld series (recommended to me by a friend), so I’m giggling and snickering and generally enjoying myself. I also have a few other books that I’ve been reading forever. Who knows when I’ll get around to them. Right now, they don’t stand much of a chance.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge…others just gargle.
Cider House Rules is a book I really enjoyed. I hear the story got totally eviscerated in the film version, I was gonna see it last weekend, but, I think I will pass now.
I am reading:
Freedom At Midnight. by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. A very cool book the birth of an independent Pakistan and India. Its written by the same guys who did Is Paris Burning, which I just read recently on the reccomendation of some SDMB person.
Marshall McLuhan: The Medium and The Messenger. A biography of Marshal McLuhan. An interesting read.
Edward Hopper:An Intimate Biography. A very cool book, about a super cool author. I can’t believe the New Yorker did another hack job of Nighthawks this month. What dolts.
I picked up Pinsky’s translation of The Inferno this weekend, I think I am gonna attempt to read that after I am done these three.
The discworld novel I read. (Jingo) was quite good, Terry Pratchett is funny. Oh, that reminds me, I have Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy sitting in my bathroom to be read in short spurts. (ewwww. No pun intended)
pat
I just picked up a copy of “120 Days of Sodom”, by the Marquis de Sade. It’s supposed to be quite raunchy. That is only a part of the reason for reading it.
“120 Days of Sodom”…
Be sure to get an unabridged translation.
if you like that, I also highly recommend Juliette and Justine
A Clash Of Kings by George Martin (not the commedian). A high fantasy book where most of the magic is dark (a sorceress who kills her targets by literally giving birth to shadows), six seperate kings are getting ready to rumble, there is insest, intrigue, and knights that aren’t so knightly. It drug a little at first, but it’s getting pretty damn interesting now.
next up is Ringworld, followed by Betrayal At Krondor, by Ramond E. Fiest.
After that, I’ll probably re-read The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon.
You say “cheesy” like that’s a BAD thing.
The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage - the telegraph was revolutionary. The parallels between the early telegraph age and the internet are amazing.
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out - a collection of Richard Feynman stuff.
Photoshop 5.0 & 5.5 manuals
Don’t Jump to Solutions
Next up: Innovator’s Dilemma
Looks pretty serious, guess I’d better get a good mystery going, too.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
I love the Outlander series, BurnMeUp. It’s on my top 10 list of books to read.
Currently I’m in the middle of “Ya-Ya Sisterhood.”
now, im reading the exorcist. after i finish it up, i plan to read dispatches.
Question Authority
Yeah Pundit, a lot of people here had good things to say about it, and so i though i’d give it a shot.
She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
Oooh, Pundit! I loved The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Great book, great insight into women.
Just finished Unca Cecil’s last book; wonderful sis-in-law got it for me for watching her cats while they were on vacation. Is that a great relative or what?!