What's Everyone Reading

[Steve Williams]

Curious as to what everyone' s reading right now

What I am really thinking about is a WBF Book Of The Month

I wish I had more time for reading so when I do I want it to be a great read from front to back. So what would you all recommend?

Let's see if many of you have the same recommendation which would give credence to it being a good read

 

[Bruce B]

LOL... medical journals and tech manuals....

 

[cjfrbw]

Got a Sony e-book reader, love it.

Most recently: "Audition: A Memoir" by Barbara Walters, OKish, not much of a BW fan, she pretty much suffers from a self centered moral vacuum where sucking up to fame and money is concerned, but she did have a interesting life with her impresario father. I liked her better after reading the book than before.

"Scar Tissue" by Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, 70's and 80's drugs, alcohol, and sex with a chaser of personal redemption and Hepatitis C.

"Symptoms of Withdrawal" by Christopher Lawford, also 70's and 80's drugs, alcohol and sex without the rock and roll by the "Kennedy cousin" cum actor, son of Peter Lawford, also with a chaser of personal redemption and Hepatitis C. He doesn't rock the Kennedy boat too much, seems to owe a lot to his privileged heritage, but an interesting read nontheless.

"What I saw in California" by Edwin Bryant, which is a personal account of a trip from the East to the West in the olden days of 1846-47. Just started, kind of a follow up for me of another fascinating historical account:
"Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard
Five Years as a Mountain Man in the Rockies"

Also have Carol Burnett's follow up auto biography, haven't started it yet.

A friend told me that Motley Crue book is even more sordid than "Scar Tissue", he is going to lend it to me.

 

[The Smokester]

Currently reading "The Furture of Life" by EO Wilson.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I am a huge Science Fiction fan. Just re-read the fabulous Excession by Iain M. Banks and started his last (by most accounts, superlative) novel "Matter". Banks is not well known in the USA but is one of the best living Science-Fiction writer. IMHO the best I have read so far and I have been reading Sci-Fi for the past 4 decades ... Among other books .. and technical manuals
Right now hesitating between the relatively inexpensive, dedicated Amazon Kindle, The Barnes and Noble Nook and the Apple iPad . the iPad can of course do more but ... the Kindle is much cheaper and very , very easy on the eye more so than the iPad and no data plan is required to download a book .. you just pay for the book and there it is ... a few minutes that's all it takes ...

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I'm reading "Infinite Jest," by David Foster Wallace right now. A great read? A great writer, but it's a tough read. Absurd. Surreal. Risky. Stimulating. But pretty opaque at times.

P

 

[RUR]

Sitting on my nightstand and receiving equal attention:

Collection of Raymond Chandler

Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan by John Lloyd Stephens (1841)
Often considered the father of meso-american archaeology, Stephens was an amazing character. You might think a book like this would be dry and of interest only to students, but Stephens applies a wonderfully wry sense of humor to colorful stories of travel through mid 19th C. central america, making this a ripping good read. Frederic Catherwood's engravings of the ruins are superb.

A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt
Grand sci-fi by a frequent Hugo and Nebula nominee. Re-reading this short series as a new installment is due in November.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Dividing my time among four books at present:

Movement by Gray Cook
Assessment and Treatment of Muscle Imbalance: the Janda Approach by Page et al
Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
The House that 'Trane Built by Ashley Kahn

 

[jazdoc]

"The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the Histroy of the World From The Periodic Table of the Elements" by Sam Kean. Awesome, non-technical science book.

"Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius


Just finished

"Never Enough" by William Voegeli

"Stoned" by Andrew Loog Oldham
Fun bio by the Stones' first manager and current disc jockey on Little Steven's Underground Garage (XM59)

 

[MylesBAstor]

Hi

I am a huge Science Fiction fan. Just re-read the fabulous Excession by Iain M. Banks and started his last (by most accounts, superlative) novel "Matter". Banks is not well known in the USA but is one of the best living Science-Fiction writer. IMHO the best I have read so far and I have been reading Sci-Fi for the past 4 decades ... Among other books .. and technical manuals
Right now hesitating between the relatively inexpensive, dedicated Amazon Kindle, The Barnes and Noble Nook and the Apple iPad . the iPad can of course do more but ... the Kindle is much cheaper and very , very easy on the eye more so than the iPad and no data plan is required to download a book .. you just pay for the book and there it is ... a few minutes that's all it takes ...

Hey Frantz,

Used to be a huge SF fan.....read everything the bookstore on B'dway and 114th st. ever got in. I tended to like more "hardcore" sci-fi though three of my favorite were Asimov (of course-The Foundation Trilogy), Jerry Pournelle/Larry Niven (such as the Mote in Gods Eye) and Philip Jose Farmer (Riverworld series). Then also enjoyed some of the very early writers such as EE "Doc" Smith (Lensmen Series), Bradbury, Pohl, etc.

 

[rblnr]

Young kids and work have rendered me semi-illiterate of late. Make it through about five pages at night before passing out. Having said that:

Two funniest books I've read relatively recently: 'Straight Man' by Richard Russo, 'Money' by Martin Amis

I'm a big SF fan, and two short stories I've read this year by David Marusek blew my mind: 'The Wedding Party', and particularly 'We Were Out of Our Minds With Joy' I HIGHLY recommend these to any Sci Fi fans -- they are challenging and scary.

 

[FrantzM]

Myles


I have read more Sci-Fi than I should admit in a public forum . I must however say that Banks is the upper echelon. If at all possible do read any of his "Culture " novel. Great writing, great characters and a rather surprising universe even for jaded sci-fi readers.

 

[Waboman]

Just starting The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

 

[MylesBAstor]

Myles


I have read more Sci-Fi than I should admit in a public forum . I must however say that Banks is the upper echelon. If at all possible do read any of his "Culture " novel. Great writing, great characters and a rather surprising universe even for jaded sci-fi readers.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[FrantzM]

Thanks for the suggestion!

There ia another Banks in Science-Fiction the First name escapes me. The "Banks" I am referring to is Iain M. Banks. He does write regular (non Science) fiction under the name of Iain Banks , without the "M". Do try to get his first Sci-Fi novel .. "Consider Phlebas". The "culture" series are the rare novels which can stand multiple re-reads.. Which I just did with the excellent "Excessions" .. right now reading with delectation his "Matter"...

 

[mauidan]

Just finished "The Spy" which is the third book in Clive Cussler's Isaac Bell Detective Series.

 

[RUR]

Just finished "The Spy" which the third book in Clive Cussler's Isaac Bell Detective Series.

Dan, I just read The Chase a few weeks back and it was a blast. Didn't know there were more, so it's off to Amazon.

 

[mauidan]

Dan, I just read The Chase a few weeks back and it was a blast. Didn't know there were more, so it's off to Amazon.

Ken, Be sure and read them in order. The Wrecker and then The Spy.

 

[rsbeck]

Splitting time between three at the moment. I find it hard to be reading only one book at any given time, don't know why.

1) Adventures on The Wine Route by Kermit Lynch

Very interesting and provocative book about wine. Takes on many sacred cows and tells great stories about how he discovers and picks the wines he imports. I have discovered some great new and inexpensive French wines through this book and have discovered a different way of enjoying wine. Kermit stands against blind tasting because he says it is always the biggest wine that wins and he values interest, finesse, terroir, and ultimately a wine that compliments the food he is eating. Great way to learn about wine, how to choose and enjoy it, and the characters who make it.

2) Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feinman by Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feinman

This book is hilarious!

I'll save myself some trouble by quoting a review....

It's possible to enjoy Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman simply as a bunch of hilarious yarns. At some point, however, attentive readers realize that underneath all the merriment simmers a running commentary on what constitutes authentic knowledge: learning by understanding, not by rote; refusal to give up on seemingly insoluble problems; and total disrespect for fancy ideas that have no grounding in the real world. Feynman himself had all these qualities in spades, and they come through with vigor and verve in his no-bull prose. No wonder his students -- and readers around the world -- adored him. --Wendy Smith

3) Who Wrote The New Testament? by Burton Mack

Sheds light on the Jesus myth, the conditions and times in which it was created, the sources from which it borrowed that were around long before and how it evolved layer by layer over the first four hundred years after the myth claims Jesus lived. Not for the easily offended. Fascinating.

 

[Satch]

Nuclear Jellyfish by Tim Dorsey. I'm a big fan of Florida writers and Tim Dorsey novels are laugh out loud funny.

Anything from Carl Hiaasen, James Hall and of course all of the Travis McGee adventures by John D. MacDonald.

Bartram In Florida. Non fiction. William Bartram was a great American naturalist, explorer and artist who documented his travels on the St. Johns River in 1774.

Also anything I can find that has to do with the "Ais" Native Americans that flourished around Cocoa Beach thousands of years ago.