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What Are You Reading

Ecuador Jim

A-List Customer
Messages
346
Location
Seattle
Curse of the techie...

I typically have my nose buried in some sort of technical manual, so when I read for pleasure, I seek brain candy. I'll read anything by Earl Emerson (great mystery writer IMHO... the Thomas Black series is probably his best). Clive Cussler is also a favorite, although formulaic.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
Will

Samsa said:
No, I'll put that on my "to do" list though. For now though I plan on officially abandoning the novel I am actively not finishing (Madeleine L'Engle's "A Severed Wasp") and getting back to my task of reading everything that Shakespeare has ever written.


aww, finish Meg's book first, then tackle Shakespeare...:)

"methinks the most capricious zephyr hath more direction than I..."
(I used that alot on myself when I was in law school) :eek:
 

carter

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,921
Location
Corsicana, TX
Soldiers of the Night by David Schoenbrun.
Published by E.P. Dutton, New York in 1980.

This is the story of the French Resistance during WWII. At 489 pages, it is near encyclopedic in content. David Schoenbrun was an American Intelligence Agent and War Correspondent in North Africa and France during WWII and holds the Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor. He knew many of the military and political figures mentioned in the book. He also served as Chief of the CBS Paris Bureau for seventeen years.

I decided to reread this book after mentioning it to zaika as a possible reference volume for a novel she wants to write.
 

K.D. Lightner

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,354
Location
Des Moines, IA
Just finished Grisham's new book, Playing for Pizza, about an NFL player, way down on his luck, who goes to Parma, Italy, to play in the "NFL" Italian football league there.

This is the second Grisham novel I have read that takes place mostly in Italy. I do believe the author is in love with the place.

It's a mellow read, not the fearful, breakneck pace of some of his "flight" novels, i.e. The Firm or The Pelican Brief.

Do not, I warn you, do not read this novel on an empty stomach. Grisham's description of some of the food served in Italian restaurants is enough to send you over the edge.

After finishing the novel last night, I went to a local restaurant called Baratta's for dinner.

karol
 

Barry

Practically Family
Messages
693
Location
somewhere
Ska'd for Life: A personal journey with the Specials by Horace Panter (aka Sir Horace Gentleman) the bassist for The Specials.

Barry
 
S

Samsa

Guest
Harp said:
aww, finish Meg's book first, then tackle Shakespeare...:)

I just couldn't finish it... I'd rather abandon a novel than actively not read one. I started Romeo and Juliet the other night (which is where I left off last summer), but am balancing it with Josef Pieper's book on love, and Donne's poetry.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
Samsa said:
I just couldn't finish it... I'd rather abandon a novel than actively not read one. I started Romeo and Juliet the other night (which is where I left off last summer), but am balancing it with Josef Pieper's book on love, and Donne's poetry.


...try Crashaw's poetry. :)
 

Kevin Noel Olso

New in Town
Messages
40
Location
Butte, MT
I'm reading #2 of TSR's Agent 13: The Midnight Avenger series entitled The Serpentine Assassin. Had it on my shelf for years, but decided to take it down. Some good ol' pulp-styled fun! I started it at the Dr.'s office yesterday and didn't get it finished, but it's a quick read. No hat on the Avenger on the cover, so a couple of dings for him-The Shadow wouldn't be caught that way! :)

agent13.jpg
 

DeeDub

One of the Regulars
Messages
223
Location
Eugene, OR
I just finished Walter Mosley's novel, Devil in a Blue Dress, a murder mystery set in 1948 Los Angeles. I had heard favorable reviews of the Easy Rawlins mysteries, so I had this one on my list.

The whodunnit element is good, but the colorful—no pun intended—cast of characters from the seamier side of post-war LA makes this book worth reading.

Book in Progress: Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, a surprisingly enjoyable treatment of a potentially dry topic.
 
S

Samsa

Guest
Harp said:
...try Crashaw's poetry. :)

I hadn't heard of Crashaw before (or perhaps I had, but forgot the name.) I'll have to look into his work at some point...

Anyhow, I have just finished Pieper's book Love, and have decided to re-prioritize my reading. Tonight I bought Lattimore's translation of the Iliad, and plan on finally making my why through that. Perhaps it will be the Odyssey after that. I also purchased Goethe's Selected Poems (David Luke's translation), which I plan on dipping into when not spending time with Homer.

I justified buying two more books (I work in a library, for crying out loud!) by purging my library this evening. Tomorrow morning dozens of volumes will be making their way to the library to be sold (hopefully).
 

carebear

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,220
Location
Anchorage, AK
"Honor: A History" by James Bowman

Discusses the West's active destruction of it's "honor culture" which, although it has had some good effects, makes it hard for us to relate to cultures still based on them.

Very topical and helps point out distinctions that should be made between between "Islam" in and of itself and the mores and cultures of the tribal societies it for the most part overlays.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
Messages
8,508
Location
Chicago, IL US
Samsa said:
I hadn't heard of Crashaw before (or perhaps I had, but forgot the name.) I'll have to look into his work at some point...
Tonight I bought Lattimore's translation of the Iliad, and plan on finally making my why through that. Perhaps it will be the Odyssey after that. I also purchased Goethe's Selected Poems (David Luke's translation), which I plan on dipping into when not spending time with Homer.


I posted Crashaw's The Flaming Heart in the poetry thread the other week.
English Literature's 17thC-18thC poetry sparkles. :)
The Homeric aphorism: 'Aphrodite robs the wits of the wise, so'er prudent,' is so apt to
mens' souls.... Goethe...wish I had spent more time with him. :(
 
carebear said:
"Honor: A History" by James Bowman

Discusses the West's active destruction of it's "honor culture" which, although it has had some good effects, makes it hard for us to relate to cultures still based on them.
Sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out--might help me figure out how to communicate with those who aren't of the same outlook on the world as I am...

How is it? Worth full hardcover price, or should I wait for a paperback?
 

imoldfashioned

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,979
Location
USA
I've interrupted finishing up Rebecca (can't believe I haven't finished that one yet--I've been so busy lately I haven't had much reading time) to zip through I Am America (And So Can You)! which arrived from Amazon yesterday--I've gotten a laugh on nearly every page.
 

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