What are you currently reading - non food related

You mean, like, fiction?

Haven't done that in a few years, since the kids got too old for nightly chapter installments on the  "Harry Potter" books.

Used to sneak in a novel on a day off, usually one of LeCarre's spy ones, but haven't done that in a while.

The youngest is 12 now, last summer he picked up the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes and ploughed through it in three days.  Now he ploughs through Dan Brown's stuff in a day or so. 

Huh, lounging around on a deck chair under the hot sun with a cool beverage and a fat juicy novel is a dream to keep me going until Vancouver's famous "rainy season" dries up......... 

Recently finished Pirate Latitudes by Michael Chriton- sadly his last work. It was good but clearly unfinished, as posthumously published books are. Currently reading through Side Jobs  by Jim Butcher, which is a collection of short stories from the Dresden Files. Trying to fight off withdrawal symptoms from the main story line. (next book has been postponed until July). The Dresden files are written in the first person, which I always find fascinating, and are a weird mix of classic noir meets Buffy the vampire slayer with a sarcastic sense of humor.  They made a short lived TV series that was in all honesty- terrible. But the books are awesome. In fact His other series Codex Alera was also fantastic. If you're a fan of the fantasy genre check it out. Butcher has supplanted Chriton, Grisham, Brooks, and Herbert as my favorite author. Is that crazy?

On the non-fiction side been going through Thomas Moser's How to Build Shaker Furniture. The technique and instruction found in the pages are great but it also reads like a manifesto on creativity and design.

I'm reading The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson... I was given the first book in the trilogy for Christmas, and loved it so I went out and bought the second one.  I'm rather stingy but I will buy the third one in hardcover if I must.

Pete, The Name of the Rose was an amazing read and I'm sure you will enjoy it.

I'm unsure of the author's name but I highly recommend  "Children of the Arbat" if it is still in print.  I read that back in the 80's and I really enjoyed it. 

I like Eco; I'm particularly impressed with his translator too. 

I've been enjoying Side Jobs by Jim Butcher. And reading a bunch of technical stuff about Linux (Debian) for a new server I'm building for home use.

Sorry, I don't know how to clear this html up:)   I love this service for books/recommendations.

DD

 

Donna's bookshelf: read


 

More of Donna's books »
 

 Pete, have you read any other books by Umberto Eco?  I've read Foucault's Pendulum... and I remember it took a bit to start off but then the story was quite good.  I think I read The Name of The Rose about twenty years ago... It's definitely time for a re-read. 

All of Eco's books are difficult starts. It's on purpose. He's trying to create in you the right reader for the rest of the book. Or so he's said anyway. Whether it works is up for debate. I liked Focault's Pendulum the best of his books.

The richest man in babylon. Not a bad read for a self help book but a lot of it is a little obvious. After I finsih that I'll start on American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

i loooove anything bill bryson -- he is a hilarious writer.  highly recommend this work, esp "a walk in the woods," about his attempt to walk the appalachian trail with an equally out of shape middle aged friend...

Quote:

Originally Posted by lolamb10 

i loooove anything bill bryson -- he is a hilarious writer.  highly recommend this work, esp "a walk in the woods," about his attempt to walk the appalachian trail with an equally out of shape middle aged friend...

Yes, he's excellent. Has a great writing style. I loved " A short history of almost everything".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete 

I have read "Foucault's Pendulum", though it was quite some time ago.  I also started "The Island of the Day Before" although I never finished it.

I bounced off of "The Island of the Day Before" a few times before I finished it too.

I read the "Chicago Sun-Times" and the "Chicago Tribune" cover to cover (mostly) every day if I can. Does that count for this thread? 

bedside book of bad girls>>>keep your minds outta the gutter boys...its about outlaw women in the american west....gotta tell ya, they were some tough broads that i certainly wouldn't want to meet, even on a well lit street...yeah, booze and guns. that's always such an interesting mix!

joey

Loved The Name of the Rose.  The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana is in my To-Read pile.  

I'm trying to get through Norman Mailer's Ancient Evenings.  He's supposed to be such a good writer, I thought I should read at least one of his books.  This is my third attempt.  Finally, on page 39, I realize that the narrator is dead when he sees a scorpion chewing on the foot of a mummy and feels a pain in his foot.  He's actually one of his body's 7 spirits, called the Ka, not to be confused with the Ba or Ra.  Now we're into all the ancient Egyptian gods, each of whose name has >25 letters and only 2 vowels.  I don't see myself making it through this hefty book.

I need something with booze, guns, and hot men.  More my kind of book. 

I just started reading Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley. It is not a huge book, but so far enjoyable.

Reading "Secret of the Ages"-Robert Collier.  Fasinating read into the ones concious / subconcious mind. Cannot put it down!!

Right now? The last months issue of Soldier of Fortune magazine. Does that count?

Using Samba and another on administering linux. Still working on that stupid server.

I'm not into reading heavy stuff in my spare time.  I love reading books that have been made into movies (before I go and see the movie as I like to get my own version of the imagery and characters in my head) so I have just finished "the Kings Speech".  Haven't got around to seeing the movie yet but I am glad that I read the book first.  Looking for another good book to get stuck into, I am glad that you reminded me of "The Name of the Rose" - it is on my bookshelf too (it is one of my husbands favourites) so might get that out for a reread.  I love anything by Jeffery Deaver ("The Bone Collector" was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington and Angeline Jolie ), Kathy Reichs (author of books that the "Bones" series is based on - the books are FAR better than the TV series) and the James Patterson Alex Cross novels ("Kiss the Girls", "Along came a Spider" are two that spring to mind that have been made into movies). Oh, I nearly forgot "The Time Travellers wife" (starring Eric Bana yum!) and the "Twilight" Saga series (sorry to admit that one but the books are pretty hard to put down once you start).  Would also recommend Vikas Swarups "Q & A" which was released as "Slumdog Millionaire" (both are actually completely different to each other so it doesnt matter which order you read/see movie in) and Gregory Roberts "Shantaram" - which I don't think has at this stage been made into a movie.  It is pretty heavy going in parts and is based on the authors actual true life experiences.  Enjoy your leisure time!!

Charles de Lint's  Muse and Reverie it's a collection of short stories involving his Newford Characters.

For fun, I have been reading my way through Louise Penny's  Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries, though they are a bit uneven. Each book can stand alone, but since many characters reappear and develop, it is better to read them in the order they were published. For literature, I recently started reading books by the Irish writer, Colm Toibin. HIs writing style is so luminous that I feel regretful when the book ends. Ditto for Kazuo Ishiguro and, to a slightly lesser extent, A. B. Yehoshua. Robertson Davies was also a wonderful writer of books, often trilogies, with interesting plots. I have given The Deptford Trilogy to several people who were recuperating from illnesses and they all liked it -- and him -- too. 

dorky student here. Nowheres to goes after work most times so I read dual language book Don Quijote de la Mancha to bone up on spanish golden age literature and espanol por la cucina.

I am reading "A simple idea" by Stephen Key. I read very little fiction. I've always been that way. :)

"i loooove anything bill bryson -- he is a hilarious writer.  highly recommend this work, esp "a walk in the woods," about his attempt to walk the appalachian trail with an equally out of shape middle aged friend..."

I loved that book...I in the middle of Bryson's "History of the Home" (Not sure if that is the correct title...I don't have the book handy)

I didn't realize how much went into the development of the modern house...and his side "walk-abouts" into obscure histories and not quite so famous people is fascinating.

(but then...I am a complete Geek).

I also have "A conversation with Woody Allen, Director's Notes" and the latest Anne Tyler novel, a book about dogs, and several magazines...and not much time left for anything else.