What book're ya readin'?

.....last week I read The DaVinci Code in less than two days...couldn't put it down...'twas an extraordinary read....yesterday I started 'Robots and Murder' by Isaac Asimov...which is a 3-1 collection of 'The Caves of Steel'...'The Naked Sun' and 'Robots of Dawn'. :)

So...what're you readin'??? :shrug:

Paul Waldman

Every D should keep this handy and re-read it.

Tax cuts and all.Great facts here.

I read books 1-6 of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and I am currently reading "Stupid White Men" because it just came out in paperback.

It's the third or forth time I've read it but it's been about 10 years since the last time.

And I'll tell you what, comrade.....it's freakin' me out!!

.....and I KNOW it's gonna freak me out again too so I decided to read it at a later time m'self. :scared:

War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.

God is Power.
2 + 2 = 5.

"Some animals are more equal than others" has never been more true than in BushCo's America.

....read it in high school too...and it IS relevant to our current times indeed! :(

Just started it today. I've kept making it half way through then becoming too busy and starting over again..but I've just started it again today and I'll make it all the way through this time. :)

I'm also reading John Kerry's book "A Call to Service" and started James Carville's newest book.

"The Republican Noise Machine". Looking forward to starting it today.

but I'll be trying to find something lighter-hearted for next week's travelling...

not quite sure what though

....and what route will ya be takin' if I may inquire?! :evilgrin:

starting Monday :evilfrown:

trying to get together with some DUers while I'm there but so far nothing has materialized...

:hi:

....I recommend it HIGHLY....would be an interestin' subject to approach the family fundies with while yer there too! ;-)

Are ya flyin' or drivin to ol'Virginny? :evilgrin:

so to speak :evilgrin:

.....like gimme a 'LUDE man!! :D I've never been on a plane before and would need to be drugged to the gills to even get on one I'm afraid. :scared:

I get a little scared sometimes too.. right now I'm just paranoid that they will flag me as a yellow threat and not even let me on the plane! :silly:

.....you pinko commie...get over here and lemme give ya a friskin' and cavity search! :evilgrin:

is that a threat or a promise? :silly:

....and as far as well! :P

I haven't read it all. It's a translation from the Spanish translation from the Mayan, isn't it?

The book they mention does have a missionary's Spanish translation next to the copy of what the Quiche put down, but I think it was based on a rendering of the heiroglyph version into the Roman alphabet.

I've read about 3 books by Woodward and he's still boring.

also creepy. Huge T.V.s, uninformed public, 48 hour wars...sound familiar?

My brother is turning me on to Dostoevsky. Not hard to do considering how brilliant this guy was.

Dostoevsky doesnt fuck around. Besides his expert, intricate storytelling, I think he's funny as hell. He has a dry wit that's common to many Russian writers. Check out Gogol (Dead Souls and his short stories are really good), and also Bulgakov (Master and Margarita).

Well I enjoyed it anyway.

Quite an amazing book. It certainly deserved the National Book Award that it won. :-)

British sailors Tom Kydd and his particular friend Nicholas Renzi are transferred to the Frigate Artemis during the French Revolution. Historical action-adventure.

Also -- Beyond Profit and Self-Interest, by Robert Scott Gassler. I have promised to write a book review of that one.

The Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire

about losing our way in the new American century...

All about b*sh and the gop's mistakes. :hi:

:hi:

.....I've had my fill o'those mistakes and it's sure unravelin' isn't it?! I like to read fiction...so as to take m'mind away from the present darkness of the illusions that're our reality these days *SIGHS*

Fiction is once in a blue moon for me...
I'll be reading some tech manuals (job-related) after I'm done.... :D

Hopefully, these days if darkness will end soon.

...I DO hope so...but... :evilfrown:

....the fiction helps me to escape into another world...my collection is primarily horror and sci/fi...mostly King...Heinlein...A.C.Clarke...Asimov...Greg Bear...Michael Crichton...Frank Herbert. :)

in which he essentially predicted exactly what happened as a result of supply side economic policies and junk economics.

it was scary how accurate his analysis of many situations turned out to be. My only complaint was that it got a little redundant at times ... he could have edited some of the columns to avoid that, but I see why he didn't.

which was kind of light-weight, though I enjoyed her last section on her vision for America.

I'm also reading "The Golden Age" by John C. Wright and "A Region Not Home" by James Allen McPherson.

:-)

....so far so good!! :D

I love a good potboiler.

Waitangi Nights by Alice Gaines
Taming Angelica by Alice Chambers
Always a Princess by Alice Chambers
Moon of the Jaguar by Alice Gaines

Also, various erotic novellas as Alice Gaines. Don't be putting down potboilers, now.

First of all, I wouldn't put down your books. :-)

But I use the word "potboilers" to describe books that are so formuliac, so utterly lacking in any kind of content. That's what Jackie Collins' books are all about. Just something that seems to come off an assembly line.

I don't mind escapist books at all. But, lord there are books and authors out there that can cause you to lose IQ points...

Actually, I write romances. They're highly structured plots that are love stories and have a happy ending. If people want to call them potboilers, I'm not going to get all huffy. Other pot boilers are Galaxy Quest, Space Jam, and The Taming of the Shrew.

Thing is there are good potboilers and bad ones, just as there are good TV shows and bad ones. The Collins sisters write bad ones, or so I understand. I've never read them. Same with Danielle Steele.

If you want to read something glorious in the genre, read Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale.

And I'm amused at the idea of Shakespeare writing a potboiler. But you're right.

I've read, ugh, the Collins sisters. Just plain drivel. Failed actresses who decided to turn to writing, because, well, why not? That certainly doesn't mean they have talent.

I hope you didn't take offense at my term. It's just that I have a jaded view of writing these days. The publishing world seems, sadly, like the film business. Books that sell, get published. The publishing companies don't seem to want to take risks anymore. John Grisham can write a book that you can read on an airplane, but you forget about it immediately afterwards. That's why one of my favorite authors is Margaret Atwood. A truly memorable writer.

One of the nice things about romance is, although the industry as a whole makes mega-$$$, no one book or author accounts for most of it. (Although Nora Roberts does pretty well :)) The publishers really can't package us like toothpaste, as much as they'd like to. So, you end up with a lot of underpaid authors and underpaid editors who do what they do because they love good stories. Believe it or not, within the framework of love-story/happy-ending, we have a great deal of freedom.

There are lot of truly bad romance novels, and I won't try to excuse those.

Neal Pollack's Forrest Gump-ish trot thru rock history. Funny as hell. He was describing the protag waking up, looking at the dessicated face of horror, etc, etc, then "...but wait, he was just looking at an Iggy Pop poster."

That new movie looks like a steaming pile of shit.

....haven't seen enough about it yet...but I hope they'll do it justice?! :shrug:

looks like they even changed the laws of robotics.

....sure wish they'd not do that....that's gonna f'k it all up for sure. :(

Perfectly Legal about how our tax laws favor the super-rich.

I'm prepping for my trip to Italy in September. :-)

I've always wanted to know German, I'm finally doing something about it.

I'd call it comparative religion, but he's so far away from traditional Christianity that he's dabbling in agnosticism or mysticism. His concept of the Christian scriptures being derived from Jewish holy days is rife with logical fallacy.

Incredible.

has a little brother) this was a gutwrenching read. But an interesting plot, if you can get past the horridness of the first chapter. I wasn't going to read it, but it was a pretty good book.

Laura

Really beautifully written. Sad but hopeful at the same time.

:cry:

About the Armenian genocide of 1915.

It was great. I learned and was entertained. I was surprised his writing abilities were so good.

It's pretty good, too. It's about globalization, and travel and immigration, and the effects of these things on culture and individuals. :thumbsup:

I read "Abandon" -- as far as I know his only work of fiction -- this winter, and I enjoyed that, so I am starting to read his other books. I am so lucky to have an English instructor and book junkie for a neighbor, John always has good stuff for me to read! :-)

Also rereading Interview with the Vampire, and I haven't yet finished Woodward's book.

And waiting for me are Douglas R. Hofstadter: "Gödel, Escher, Bach, an Eternal Golden Braid" and Dan Brown: "the DaVinci Code".

Best book I've EVER read - have you read anything more powerful than the Rebellion chapter ? - don't read this book if you are a Christian!!!

Just gave up on The Magic Mountain - made it to page 358 before deciding life was too short to spend it reading a book I'm not enjoying. I'm told it's a masterpiece, but apart from some fairly clever observations on the nature of time, I'm not convinced.

Read Reefer Madness over the weekend - very good on the insanity of current US drug policy, now reading Since Yesterday, a contemporary history of the 1930's by Frederick Lewis Allen, possibly the most elegantly written journalism I've read - this gives you a flavour :

"Early in June 1932, the Republican held a dull convention with their Old Guard in full control, wrote a dull and verbose platform, and nominated Herbert Hoover for re-election because they had to. Considering what was going on in the world, the general aspect of the Republican deliberations was ichthyosaurian"

Great stuff - sound familiar ?

but he had a huge amount of trouble with God - read Rebellion and you'll see he gave the Devil all the good tunes. Alyosha can't possibly compete with Ivan, and it's obvious who D thinks has the stronger argument. Biographers reckon this is why D was such a disturbed soul - he was an ardent Christian who's best, most insightful writing refuted much of Christianity. This is why I suggest Christians will have an uncomfortable time reading it.

by David Maraniss.

just picked it up yesterday. quite entertaining

by Rod Phiilips.

yes, I'm a geek like that.

I am inching my way through because I've been so busy. As I read each page, I want to buy it and give it to everyone I know! It is a great history lesson revolving around resources! I think every high schooler ought to have to read this. I grew up during Nixon, Carter, Reagan up to high school. I remember many of the things that happened and this book has allowed me to see a big picture of what has happened since I've grown up. It puts it all into perspective.

Between this book and Noam Chomsky, I've learned quite a bit so far!:)

Citizen Perot...then want to start on Politics of Truth

actually I'm about to start it. It's the next pick for the book club I'm in.

I read that one last summer, and it's one of the top 10 I read for 2003. Enjoy.

:hi:

:headbang:

is it placed in the 1840's, by any chance?

If so, it sounds like the book my dad wanted to write. But never did, of course.

Starting from when the earliest indigenous people reached the state, up to the present time.

I'm currently just past the civil war & reconstruction period.

The family story is that folks in Alabama in the 1840's would post a sign "GTT" and it was understood to mean "gone to Texas." I reckon that might be the source of the title. My family never quite got there, though.

Intersting history of the age of sail and the discovery of scurvy and the cures.

by Margaret Atwood

By HH The Dalai Lama

Just finished "Brave New World".

by Alfred Russell Wallace. Also rereading Return to Neveryon(sp!) by Samuel Delaney

by Maureen Orth.
Just cracked it open. Not sure I fancy it, so I'll give another hour this evening. Otherwise, back to the library it shall go.

Vinci Code and I will start the Joe Wilson book "the politics of truth" soon as I always have two books going at once. Also, from the library waiting to be read, is "the politics of disposession" by Edward Said.

He also wrote Tuesdays with Morrie.

I'll probably start it tonite.

Will crack open "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco once I finish reading the script to "Adaptation".

1. "Mother Night" by Kurt Vonnegut (because that damn quiz told me that if I were a book I would be Mother Night)

2. "Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation" by Merril Peterson

3. "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson.

it's an account of the "relationship" between John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson

and am now working on "The Clinton Wars" because I never got to it when it first came out. After becoming even more enraged than usual, I decided I had to put it aside for a while. Last night in bed I read Gore Vidal's "Lincoln." I don't much care for fiction, but historical fiction is a different story (no pun intended).

I'm afraid this too shall have to be set aside for a while, as today I picked up half of the writing competition submissions and will get the other half tomorrow. I have until August 1st to read approximately 150 papers on the Ten Commandments and the Establishment Clause and with my co-topics editor make decisions about to whom we want to offer membership on our journal. FUN!!! I can't complain; I asked for it! I'm just afraid I'll be sickened by how much better these people write than I do!

Best fantasy series ever.

Amy and David Goodman- exposing the oily politicians and the media who love them. (Amy Goodman of Democracy Now)

in the past two weeks i have read
The Mists of Avalon-exceptionally written, enchanting- recommended
First three books of the Alvin Maker series, Orson Scott Card
Hart's Hope also by Orson Scott Card

I found new respect for Tom Clancy when Hannity got confused in an interview on national TV because he didn't read ANY book by the RW author.

"Read my lips" or "Read my book"; it's all the same to the Regan faithful if they care to think.

:)

by willa Cather.
I just finished rereading a childhood favborite "...And Now Miguel"
and am planning to find the Da Vinci Code next! :)

309

nt

In english.

There are not too many (he died young), so....

by Liane de Pougy, the diary of the great French whore of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fascinating.

by Howard Zinn.

I love it, I'm only 30 pages in, and its great.

.

If you haven't read it I would suggest that you go to the Library and check a copy of it out.

great book.