NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm currently reading two books, one fiction and one non.

Fiction: Cell by Stephen King.

Non-fiction: America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire by Sean Kelly.

I'm currently reading two books, one fiction and one non.

Fiction: Cell by Stephen King.

Non-fiction: America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire by Sean Kelly.

Fiction: 1984 by G. Orwell
NF: I couldn't be easily arsed into reading a nonfiction book.

i was reading the count of monte cristo, but i left my copy at my dorm and they closed today. so i might start another book for winter break...

Fiction: 1984 by G. Orwell

I still need to get around to reading that someday. :(

Night Mare - Piers Anthony

Es good, I'm finally going to be able to finish it b/c of the semester being over.

I'm reading Jane Eyre for the umptenth time, as there isn't a library here. It's still good though. :)

small arms from 1860 to the present and a sex book

I don't read novels a lot.

However, I did read through my Arts & Ideas coursebook which was basically on Art Criticism, the Weimar Republic, the Bauhaus, Bertolt Brecht, Neue Sachlichkeit, post-Weimar Germany, basically anything to do with art and culture in Germany between the two world wars.

Just finished Stranger in a Strange Land, on the look out for something else to read now.

I reading a collection of essays by Jonathan Franzen, How To Be Alone. He deals with the question of how to be alone in a noisy and distracting mass culture. Somewhat outdated, but highly entertaining and informative social commentary.

small arms from 1860 to the present and a sex book

Ooh, which one? :D

World War Z by Max Brooks.

Ooh, which one? :D

the only one with some things look like no were on earth you can do

Advanced Mechanics of Materials, by Seely and Smith.

the only one with some things look like no were on earth you can do

Ah, the Kama Sutra. I've always meant to pick that one up. :)

Programing the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos (http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Universe-Quantum-Computer-Scientist/dp/1400040922/sr=8-1/qid=1166244220/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9663413-6432836?ie=UTF8&s=books)

Santa Cruise: A Holiday Mystery at Sea (http://www.amazon.com/Santa-Cruise-Holiday-Mystery-Sea/dp/1416535527/sr=1-1/qid=1166244298/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-9663413-6432836?ie=UTF8&s=books)

I cut back to two in December, usually I read 4-6 at a time.

Currently Reading about how to use Hooke's Law by integrating given work performed by a Spring.

Major Calculus final tomorrow.

I cut back to two in December, usually I read 4-6 at a time.

At a time!? :eek:

At a time!? :eek:

Apart from my calculus, i'm reading a book about the Vietnam conflict, a book about Columbine, Hunter S. Thompson's "Hell's Angels" and Che Gueverra's "Motorcycle Diaries"

At a time!? :eek:

yeah, usually a nonfiction, a cheesy fiction, a short self help, and a novel with each of my children (kind of a curl up on the couch for one on one time thing)

lately I have been adding a sixth for a book club.

Apart from my calculus, i'm reading a book about the Vietnam conflict, a book about Columbine, Hunter S. Thompson's "Hell's Angels" and Che Gueverra's "Motorcycle Diaries"

can i have the name of the nam book

Fire in the Lake Francis Fitzgerald

Its an excellent book, that places a heavy emphasis on the local religion. The title itself comes from a Daoist symbol.

Apart from my calculus, i'm reading a book about the Vietnam conflict, a book about Columbine, Hunter S. Thompson's "Hell's Angels" and Che Gueverra's "Motorcycle Diaries"

I'll be damned if I can ever pull something like that off. Hell, the calculus alone would overwhelm me. *sucks at math, readily admits it*

Fire in the Lake Francis Fitzgerald

Its an excellent book, that places a heavy emphasis on the local religion. The title itself comes from a Daoist symbol.

I've heard of that one. I'm a Vietnam War buff, myself. I once wrote a 60 page essay on it. :D

For school: Night, by Elie Wiesel. We just finished up Sophocles' Antigone. And for pleasure...screw that, I have a genetics test tomorrow! I must study!

Fire in the Lake Francis Fitzgerald

Its an excellent book, that places a heavy emphasis on the local religion. The title itself comes from a Daoist symbol.

thank you

*now time to read Kama Sutra with my lady*

I have just started Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

I'll be damned if I can ever pull something like that off. Hell, the calculus alone would overwhelm me. *sucks at math, readily admits it*

I got Ds in math throughout high school. Have one of the highest averages in my calculus class now. But, I have an excellent TA.

Ironically, I did pretty good in my theology and philosophy classes. Once you reach a certain point (when you talk about limits and indefinite L'Hopital's rule) math and philosophy become quite similar. Basically, advanced calulus is philosophy with numbers attatched.

In my discussion section, the TA was explaining how to calculate the area under a curve when it is rotated in a 3D space, ad someone asks "where will we see this in reality?" And the professor who snuck in unannounced says in his thick Russian accent, "Well, what is reality?"

You want real mind-boggling stuff, read this:
infinite potential well (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_potential_well)

Had to know it for my chem final.

I have just started Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Excellent book. I hope you enjoy it.

Currently Reading about how to use Hooke's Law by integrating given work performed by a Spring.

Major Calculus final tomorrow.

0.5kx^2

0.5kx^2

yeah.

Do you know how to define moments about the x and y axes?

I am reading the greatest book of all time, for the second time now.

War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

I just started reading "The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe"

It's good to be able to read for fun again now that uni is over. :)

yeah.

Do you know how to define moments about the x and y axes?

Yes.

I really have to start reading more....

The Illumanitus! Trilogy, by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.

After that, I'm going to read Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card.

Telzey Amberdon (anthology) by James Schmitz, and The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis.

Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man

Once I get my sleeping habits re-regulated, I'll get more ambitious.

Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man


I've read that.

Imagine my disappointment when I found out it wasn't science fiction.

A Modern Instance - William Dean Howells
I finish that tonight (hopefully), then move onto Uncle Toms Cabin. Then Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. The pride and prejudice.

all my monday night

Yes.

I'd ask for you to write it out, but I just found them in my notes.

Oh, let's see ...

Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
Lee's Lieutenants by Douglas Southall Freeman (Volume 2)
RE Lee, also by Freeman (also V. 2, I think, could be v. 3)
a biography of the Emperor Claudius
Charlotte's Web
Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister by Gregory Maguire (just got this)

Those are the active ones tonight.

A Distant Mirror by the incomparable Barbara Tuchman

Um . . . some threads on NSG?

Imperium, by Ryszard Kapuscinski.

Just finished Stranger in a Strange Land, on the look out for something else to read now.

Moon is a Harsh Mistress

I am reading the greatest book of all time, for the second time now.

War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy.


Good book, but damn, my favorite character always dies....disappointing. Oh and the ending sucked ass on that book. You ready how many pages and then get to the end and it's like Tolstoy was thinking, "yeah, I don't know what the hell to write anymore....blah blah blah...." ..... kind of my like my war!

My war is putting Tolstoy to shame. ;)

What am I reading?

Overdosed America!

I read the Qur'an daily.

I just finished Cry of the IceMark and 5 other long ass books and im reading In the Company of Orges

You won't understand, it's in French...
And it's the story of an American village.
Another one the story of a man with nothing very interesting in his life (no, he is not american).

Here are the novels (http://www.kraffe.name/)

And soon I will read again the Scriptures I had to re-write.

Crusader: The Eighth Army's Forgotten Victory, November 1941- January 1942.

"Solaris" S.Lem

No books right now, just the daily paper or papers. For christmas though I am going to be getting a Chess book for beginners and Thoughtlines by former NSW Premier Bob Carr.

I'm reading this thread. Duh

Noam Chomsky
Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Domination

I mostly read for research these days. But I enjoy it.

Currently reading The Journals of Captain Cook. And re-reading parts of De la conquête à l'exode: Histoire des Océaniens et de leurs migrations dans le Pacifique.

this thread.

that and chasm city

I just finished Dawn Of War Tempest, up next will either be Let The Galaxy Burn, Tales From The Dark Millenium, or Galaxy In Flames: The Heresy Revealed (if I can remember where I put it).

Fiction: Dark Assassin by Anne Perry
Non-fiction: Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.
Oh wait, that's fiction, too. <giggle>

After that, I'm going to read Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card.Good book.

this thread.

that and chasm city

An excellent book!

I'm reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Escape from Kathmandu

and for non fiction: Environmental Effects on Volcanic Eruptions - From Deep Oceans to Deep Space. Ed. J.R. Zimbelmen and Tracy Gregg.

Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink. I am reading it in German right now, but I have read it in Dutch too (in Dutch the title is "De Voorlezer")

I just started it so I am only in the eight chapter of the first part.

wikipedia description of the book:

The Reader (Der Vorleser) is an award-winning novel by German judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the USA (translated by Carol Brown Janeway) in 1997. It concerns itself with the difficulties of comprehending the Holocaust as experienced by the generations growing up afterward, and whether it can be understood through language alone, a question increasingly at the center of much literature about the Holocaust in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as it begins to fade from living memory.

Schlink's book was well received not just in his native country, where it was a surprising change from the detective novels he had been writing up till that point and won several awards, but in the United States as well (where it is also partly set). It became the first German novel to top the New York Times bestseller list and Oprah Winfrey made it a selection of her book club. It has been translated into 37 other languages, and been assigned in college-level courses on Holocaust literature.

The Complete Yes Prime Minister

fiction: the fifth elephant by terry pratchett

non-fiction: gender and archaeology: contesting the past by roberta gilchrist

'against the day' by thomas pynchon

'nightfall' by isaac asimov and robert silverberg

I just finished: The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry

Next, I'm reading: The Da Vinci Code

The Complete Yes Prime Minister

They made that into a book?

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre; The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton (inspired to read it by Deus Ex); American Gods by Neil Gaiman (started reading it in February but I lost it, then found it again a month ago).

And today's Guardian.

This week, I have been mostly reading...

"The Life of the Mind" Hannah Arendt (philosophy epistemology)

"Notes from the Underground" Dostoyevsky's incredibly depressing yet intriguing investigation into a conflicted psychology

And "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins because I like it when he makes fun of religious people.

I had to read "notes from underground" (note, that's the title, not notes from THE underground) for my russian lit class this semester.

The first part is a lot harder than the second part, though you need to understand the first to really get the second.

Yeah, I've had the book for years, and I keep picking it up and reading the first few chapters and putting it back down again, Not because it's a bad book, but because the ideas are so distracting that I spend so much time thinking about them, that I can't concentrate on the text properly.

I've gotten a lot farther this time because I have more time and less distractions (my TV is broken)

Fiction: Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan
Non-Fiction: A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr, The Iraq Study Group Report by James A. Baker III et al.

Yeah, I've had the book for years, and I keep picking it up and reading the first few chapters and putting it back down again, Not because it's a bad book, but because the ideas are so distracting that I spend so much time thinking about them, that I can't concentrate on the text properly.

I've gotten a lot farther this time because I have more time and less distractions (my TV is broken)

Yeah. I think I spent about 7 or 8 hours trying to read the first part, and would have been longer if I didn't have to stop to go to the class itself :D

"Reaper Man" - Terry Pratchett
"Day of the Triffids" - John Wyndham
"A Brief History of Time" - Stephen Hawking

fiction: the fifth elephant by terry pratchett

non-fiction: gender and archaeology: contesting the past by roberta gilchrist

Does Roberta touch on Elaine Morgan's theories regarding human evolution?

I had to read "notes from underground" (note, that's the title, not notes from THE underground) for my russian lit class this semester.

The first part is a lot harder than the second part, though you need to understand the first to really get the second.

It's funny, but when I'm feeling down, this is a real pick-me-up. The author's self-loathing is so intense, I can't help but laugh!

I'm currently reading Machiavelli's The Prince. It's actually very short, but extremely deep. You have to read it very carefully and in very small doses to truly understand it.

Fantastic book, all the same.

I read the Qur'an daily.

That's another book I've always been meaning to read.

De la conquête à l'exode: Histoire des Océaniens et de leurs migrations dans le Pacifique.

Pardon my ignorance, but what does that translate to? :confused:

High school french says:

Of the conquest of the exodus: History of the Oceanias and their migration in the pacific.

Or something like that

In the time between reading a pair of awful scripts (sample line: "It's going to blow - save yourself") I'm reading Joe Bennet's excellent account of hitch-hiking New Zealand 'A land of two halves' and rewarding myself for putting myself through the trauma of the aforementioned scripts by enjoying the oh-so-slightly finer body of work Ernest Lehman's NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

I just finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I haven't gotten another book yet.

I am rereading Its Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini.

High school french says:

Of the conquest of the exodus: History of the Oceanias and their migration in the pacific.

Or something like that

Thanks. :)

*gives you a donut*

mmm

*is saved from having to leave the dorm to find food*

Fiction: East of Ealing by Robert Rankin

Non-fiction: Musical composition in the 20th century by Arnold Whittall

F: I rarely read fiction.
NF: The Wealth of Nations

I'm currently reading two books, one fiction and one non.

Fiction: Cell by Stephen King.

Non-fiction: America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire by Sean Kelly.If you enjoy reading about Mobutu then I can recomend 'In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz' by Michela Wrong (ISBN: 1-84115-422-9)who was a reporter in Zaire around about the time of the fall of his regime. It's a great, and entertaining book on the history of the most kleptocratic man who has ever graced the continent of Africa.

If you read that book and like then Michaela Wrong's style then I'd recomend another of her books which is about Eritrea. It's called 'I didn't Do It For You' (ISBN: 0-00-715095-4).

The book I'm currently reading is 'Murder is Samarkand', an autobiographical account of Craig Murray's (the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan) time in Uzbekistan in the run up to the Iraq war. Murray claims the book has been censored in places. A very eye-openning read. (ISBN: 1-84596-194-3) If you ever read this book or have read this book - I have been to the new residence that he describes in chapter 8 - in fact, that was shortly after he was sacked and they hadn't had time to appoint a new ambassador yet. It felt so odd to be reading about place I'd been to.

The book I read before that was 'Fool's Fate' by Robin Hobb. I love Robin Hobb and hate Tolkien. Tolkien is great a describing stuff, but he doesn't, I feel, ever get into producing interesting characters. Besides, when it comes to the scenery I would like a chance to use my own imagination. (ISBN: 0-00-648603-7 - though I would recomend reading from the start of her first trilogy)

I only ever read one book at a time. I prefer being able to concentrate on one book at time. I'm also loathe to ever give a book away. The day I give a book away is the day my last will and testament is read out to my descendants.

I'm currently reading two books, one fiction and one non.

Fiction: Cell by Stephen King.

Non-fiction: America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire by Sean Kelly.

Nothing at the moment. But I am hoping to read Casino Royale by Ian Fleming.

Kim Stanley Robinson, The Years of Rice and Salt

It's an alternative history novel, starting on the premise that the plague killed everyone in Europe. History is shaped mainly by the empires of China and Islam. The book covers the time from about 1350 to 2002 (in our reckoning).

Maus: Vo. 1 by Art Spiegelman. Holy crap this is a good comic.
Strangers in Paradise: I Dream of You by Terry Moore. Katchoo is my new hero.

Kim Stanley Robinson, The Years of Rice and Salt

It's an alternative history novel, starting on the premise that the plague killed everyone in Europe. History is shaped mainly by the empires of China and Islam. The book covers the time from about 1350 to 2002 (in our reckoning).

Ahh, on of my favourites!

I've just started 'Heat: How to stop the planet burning' by George Monbiot
It's a explanation of how the UK can introduce a 90% cut in CO2 emissions by 2030.

right now i'am reading a little booklet on how to join the ADF

I've finished hours ago Operation Dragonstrike, by Humphrey Hawksley.
The deafening roar of Chinese Air Force SC 27 Flankers shreds the tranquility of the gathering dawn. Within minutes burning phosphorus, shrapnel, and delayed action mines have ripped apart the main naval base at Cam Ranh Bay. Operation Dragonstrike has begun.. "By the end of the twentieth century, China had grown from one of the most impoverished, technologically destitute nations of the world to a regional superpower with global ambitions - ambitions that some in the Chinese government will stop at nothing to achieve.. "When a desperate China, weakened by the economic turmoil in Asia, seizes the oil-rich South China Sea, it ignites a furious conflict with Vietnamese and Taiwanese forces. As U.S. and British task forces arrive to impose order, the Chinese strike first, sinking U.S. warships and killing hundreds. Suddenly, Americans find themselves fighting a desperate battle on, above, and beneath the ocean, naval officers frantically try to out-maneuver the Chinese Navy, and SEAL teams fight a brutal action against elite Chinese Marine commandos. Diplomacy proves useless as the conflagration in the South China Sea threatens to engulf the entire world.

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (it's his cheerful novel, sort of).

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin for fun.

Test of the Twins - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground - Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind

and

Edda - Snorri Sturluson

World War Z by Max Brooks.

fucking w00t!

fucking w00t!

a war with zombies

I just finished the books I was reading at the beginning of the thread......my new books are

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker (http://www.amazon.com/Blank-Slate-Modern-Denial-Nature/dp/0670031518)

and

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (http://www.amazon.com/Screwtape-Letters-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652934/sr=1-1/qid=1166396092/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3786375-8400936?ie=UTF8&s=books)

I just finished the books I was reading at the beginning of the thread......my new books are

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker (http://www.amazon.com/Blank-Slate-Modern-Denial-Nature/dp/0670031518)

and

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (http://www.amazon.com/Screwtape-Letters-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652934/sr=1-1/qid=1166396092/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3786375-8400936?ie=UTF8&s=books)

you are fast. i only finish the samll arms one and the booklet

A collection of the works of Marx in a handy little book.

I just started reading Dracula.

I just started reading Dracula.

thats a good book

I'm not reading anything right now. :(

I finished what I was reading nearly a week ago and I've ordered the next series from Amazon but I'm still waiting.

I just finished "The cat who turned on and off" (don't ask, srsly). I'm thinking maybe of re-reading The King of Dragons...

I'm rereading Neuromancer for the first time in years, and I just got an early Xmas gift in the form of Pasolini's Collected poems, so I'll be breaking into that soon.

Company by our very own Maxx Barry.

A collection of the works of Marx in a handy little book.Little? That must be some concise collection. I think the complete collection of Marx takes up an entire bookshelf to itself in my university library. It might have been Marx and Engels though.

i just started right now to read Chickenhawk

Little? That must be some concise collection. I think the complete collection of Marx takes up an entire bookshelf to itself in my university library. It might have been Marx and Engels though.

It consists of the Communist Manifesto, Wages, Price and Profit, selections from Das Kapital, and Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. The book itself is about 15.5x10x2.5 (cm).

Eragon by Christpher Paolini, and hopefully I'll have it finished before it leaves theaters.

Now, don't hit me, but I'm not much of a reader.
I am, though, planning on getting me ''Jennifer Government'', from Max Barry, our God.

Two books:

The Complete book of Farmyard tales - 2 stories nightly to my son

Excession - Iain M Banks - I love those culture novels :) I want to live in that world.

Fiction: The complete chronicles of Conan: Robert E. Howard
Non-Fiction: Microbial Ecology Journal

Conan is spectacular... I always loved the Arni movie (was the first movie I ever saw in teh cinemas without my parents) but basically assumed the books would be kinna standard Fantasy rip off... far from it. His imagination was just wild....

I'm now reading the Glass Bead Game.

Meh. It's not Keep the Aspidistra Flying.

Eragon by Christpher Paolini, and hopefully I'll have it finished before it leaves theaters.


*vomits*

When I am not working for uni, working on a short story, or wasting time, I'm trying to read Noli me Tangere by Jose Rizal. Haven't gotten far, but it's showing the promise that it will fulfil its high recommendations.

*snip*

Actually, I have read In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz. Three times, in fact. An excellent book.

I haven't read I Didn't Do it for You yet, though, but I plan to pick it up soon. :)

I currently re-read the Silmarillion.

I just started reading Dracula.

A damn good book, that one. Frankenstein's not bad, either.

A damn good book, that one. Frankenstein's not bad, either.

right got to ask my sister to loan them to me

right got to ask my sister to loan them to me

Aye, you should.

Aye, you should.

i will when i see her as she is the only i'am talking to right so i can't ask the others to ask her for me

I currently re-read the Silmarillion.

Turin Turumbar is the best story I would say, followed by the Fifth Battle.

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/808/hofmannstormsk7.jpg

A diary of a German Stormtroop officer on the Western front. Fascinating stuff. Jünger is probably one of the greatest German authors IMO. Pick it up if a bit of war glorification and nationalism don't bother you.

Ahh, on of my favourites!

I've just started 'Heat: How to stop the planet burning' by George Monbiot
It's a explanation of how the UK can introduce a 90% cut in CO2 emissions by 2030.

Cool. Did you read any of Robinson's other books?

I just started reading Dracula.
One of the few books I have failed to get through (got about 60%), but some parts of it are brilliant.

Now, don't hit me, but I'm not much of a reader.
I am, though, planning on getting me ''Jennifer Government'', from Max Barry, our God.
Don't bother; it's rubbish.

I currently re-read the Silmarillion.
That's probably my favourite book. I was quite obsessed with it in 2005, and read it four times that year. :eek:

Fiction: Iain Banks' The Bridge
Non-Fiction: Re-reading P. J. O'Rourke's Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism

Fiction: Iain Banks' The Bridge
Non-Fiction: Re-reading P. J. O'Rourke's Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism

I liked Eat the Rich better. Though Parliament of Whores is his best work IMO.

I liked Eat the Rich better. Though Parliament of Whores is his best work IMO.


I'd have to agree as to both. :D

The Places in Between by Rory Stewart. It's the story of his treck across Afghanistan in Jan. 2002, right after the Taliban fell. It's absolutely fascinating.

On the docket for Winter Break:
"Fast Food Nation"
"The Inheritance of Loss"
"Collected Stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez"
The first 60 pages of "A Medieval Banquet in the Alhambra Palace" (required reading for a school trip I'm taking to southern Spain in March.)

Currently, I am reading this thread: specifically, what I am typing in answer to your question. ;)

I'm reading Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm addicted to the Vorkosigan Saga.

"Collected Stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez"


Excellent. If you like Marquez you should check out Günter Grass.

Fiction: Iain Banks' The Bridge


I didn't like that one.

I'm reading, So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, by Douglas Adams. Before that, I finished Serenity.

I'm conflicted about Iain Banks. I read The Algebraist...or I started it. I liked the premise, but really couldn't get into it. I'm sitting on page 265 and can't convince myself to read any more of it.

Amazingly, I'm not reading any books at the moment. But I just picked up the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, so I'll be reading that over coffee tomorrow morning.

So let's see...I've finished (or read as much of) the books I listed. My conclusions:

Moby-Dick: great book. Hard to read, but lots of ways to go at the text
A Modern Instance: Pretty damn good.
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl as told by Herself: Shockingly, not too bad. Reads very much like a biography (well, considering it is a very mildly fictionalized biography, that makes sense), so not really my style, but interesting story.
Uncle Tom's Cabin: Overbearing sentimental crap. And that is being generous. It has its moments, but not many.

Now to take a break before moving on to Poe, Emerson, and a handful of British authors from the Victorian period.

The Wheel of Time series by Jordan is alright for avid fantasy readers, but you have to be committed to readind them as they are long.

Fiction: A Canticle for Leibowitz

Non-Fiction: The Lexington Goes Down

Fiction: A Canticle for Leibowitz

A fantastic book.

Fiction: A Canticle for Leibowitz

Non-Fiction: The Lexington Goes Down

A Canticle for Leibowitz is an outstanding book, and quite relevant.

I'm now reading the Glass Bead Game.

Meh. It's not Keep the Aspidistra Flying.

+100000 Hesse.

If you don't like Hesse, the problem is with you, not him.

Don't bother; it's rubbish.

No, it isn't. It's actually pretty decent light reading.

THrone of Jade when I am on da toilet. (Naomi Novik)
THe GReat CRusade (HP Willmott) and the Origin of Species (Darwin) when I have time to read for fun.

When I am in scholl I tend to drop the history and Fantasy novels for Mounds of Anthro.

Moby-Dick: great book. Hard to read, but lots of ways to go at the text


When I was a soldier I took this novel, split it into 4 parts and tucked them into my ruck. I read the first part, gave it to a pal. He read it gave it away. In the end my whole platoon had read it and we argued about it for hours :)

My favorite scene is when Pip goes insane--his soul dragged into the bottomless deeps. The image of him floating, lost, on top of all that nothingness, in the middle of tha vast empty sea, under the emty sky was profound for a lot of us. (This was desert storm)

+100000 Hesse.

If you don't like Hesse, the problem is with you, not him.

I find the Thomas Mann references to be a little belabored. And it's not that I dislike Hesse, I thoroughly enjoyed siddhartha, I just feel that Blair was a better writer and the nobel prize was misawarded.

When I was a soldier I took this novel, split it into 4 parts and tucked them into my ruck. I read the first part, gave it to a pal. He read it gave it away. In the end my whole platoon had read it and we argued about it for hours :)

My favorite scene is when Pip goes insane--his soul dragged into the bottomless deeps. The image of him floating, lost, on top of all that nothingness, in the middle of tha vast empty sea, under the emty sky was profound for a lot of us. (This was desert storm)

I was lucky enough to read it under the guidance of a great professor. She introduced us to it by saying "When the boat sets sail, so does the book. Don't read it looking for the whale. Moby-Dick is found where there is no action"

The scene you mentioned is definatly one of my favorites. Along with Ahab looking at the doubloon and seeing only himself. Loved it.

One thing still bothers me a little...I can't figure out why Ishmael lived. It clearly isn't because he is more moral. I considered it being he was the only one who could tell the story, and for that reason, he lived.

I'm currently reading Le Guide du voyageur galactique (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in French). I'm also reading Back in Action again. It's a book by a guy (David Rozelle) who was my commander when I got back from Iraq. He's a good guy, but I dislike how he's so egocentric in the book. It's always "I did this" or "I did that" rather than about his soldiers, which are what's really important.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. Its awsome.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Marquez. Probably no other book has made me think as much.

The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian. It's the 4th book in the series that had part of it made into the movie Master and Commander:The Far Side of the World

right got to ask my sister to loan them to me

Since they're both out of copyright, you can grab both of them (and a huge amount of other texts) from Project Gutenberg. Here you go:

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext95/dracu13.txt

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext93/frank15.txt

Not as good as a real book in hand, but they're the lazy or cheap person's alternative. :p

I have been reading a German Langauge book and also using the tape that go's with it, in an effort to learn German. As far as reading for entertainment,
I just finish Taking Wings which is the first book of Star Trek's new series called " Titan ".

Since they're both out of copyright, you can grab both of them (and a huge amount of other texts) from Project Gutenberg. Here you go:

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext95/dracu13.txt

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext93/frank15.txt

Not as good as a real book in hand, but they're the lazy or cheap person's alternative. :p

thank you ,at lest i can get to read them ,as i'am not talking to her now

Finishing up with Nancy Drew: The New Series No# 1: Without A Trace, and aiming to read all 10 of A Series OF Unfortunate Events.

The Stinky Cheese Man.

The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian. It's the 4th book in the series that had part of it made into the movie Master and Commander:The Far Side of the World

The Aubrey-Maturin books are excellent!

Though the writing style is rather different, you might find CS Forester's Hornblower books equally enjoyable (if you haven't already).

I've run out of books, and can't be bothered to go to the library.

My Christmas list is just one long list of books, though, so I should have something before too long.

The Sabres Edge by Allan Mallinson

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. Its awsome.

:cool:

All Ursula Leguin's stuff is excellent.

True facts: her father was the anthropologist Alfred L Kroeber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_L._Kroeber), the mother the writer Theodora Kroeber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_Kroeber). The Kroebers were instrumental in bringing to the public the story of Ishi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi), the last member of the Yana tribe of Native Americans in northern California.

The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian. It's the 4th book in the series that had part of it made into the movie Master and Commander:The Far Side of the World
Those books are great! Far better than the movie.

I didn't like that one.

Just started it yesterday. It's .... interesting.

Amazingly, I'm not reading any books at the moment. But I just picked up the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, so I'll be reading that over coffee tomorrow morning.

That the "Immigration Nation" issue?

That the "Immigration Nation" issue?
That's the one. I subscribed to Foreign Affairs a while ago, and I was hoping I would start receiving them soon but I figured if I hadn't received the November/December one by the middle of December it probably wasn't coming. :p

That's the one. I subscribed to Foreign Affairs a while ago, and I was hoping I would start receiving them soon but I figured if I hadn't received the November/December one by the middle of December it probably wasn't coming. :p

I really need to resubscribe - I pick it up occassionally at the import bookstore (at an outrageous markup).

Let me know what you think of Kahl's "How We Fight".

none because i'm a lazy, dumb git

Cool. Did you read any of Robinson's other books?
Yep, read most of them apart from a few short stories and two of the Three Californias Trilogy. I picked up the Gold Coast in Oxfam, still looking for the other two. I'd say the Martian Trilogy is my favourite, but Escape from Katmandu is great fun to read. If I had to pick a favourite author, it'd be him. So yeah, a bit of a fan. :cool:
Fiction: Iain Banks' The Bridge
I didn't like that one.
It was weird, but interesting. One I'd read again, mainly to try and figure out what was going on.
I'm conflicted about Iain Banks. I read The Algebraist...or I started it. I liked the premise, but really couldn't get into it. I'm sitting on page 265 and can't convince myself to read any more of it.
If you're familiar with his style, its ok actually. The twist is pretty obvious, but the later double act is quite fun (i'm trying not to give anything away here, as I can't remember what stage you're at).

I really need to resubscribe - I pick it up occassionally at the import bookstore (at an outrageous markup).

Let me know what you think of Kahl's "How We Fight".
Yeah, I used to subscribe but stopped when I got to university and realized I could just read it in the library. When I got out of school and started working, I started buying almost every issue at the bookstore, so I figured I might as well subscribe.

The First Man in Rome by Coleen McCullough and The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P Huntington.

Fiction: Chapterhouse Dune.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchet