What book(s) are you reading right now?

[mikeymikec]

I tend to include classics in my reading as well...haven't read any Dumas though.

I love 'The Count of Monte Cristo', I've read it three times I think. One thing I saw in it as what I believe to be the origin/inspiration of a lot of other story themes. I don't think any of the rest of my family appreciated it though, and they all like to read 'good stuff'.

I think what got me to read it in the first place was the 2002 movie, and it's miles better than that.

 

[TeeJay1952]

Book 3 of The Strain. Getting ready for Sunday night.
I am also powering through Guardians of the Galaxy. Just finished the "old version" and am starting on the Peter Quill odyssey.

 

[KidNiki1]

I loved Wool, enjoy it. In fact I'm reading Hugh Howey's Sand right now and so far it's very good. It's also a post-apocalyptic novel but it's unrelated to Wool.

wow, Wool was amazing! i will have to check out Sand. have you read any of the other Wool related books? if so, what do you think?

next on my list to read is The Emperor's Daughter by a fellow ATOTer!

 

[Pheran]

wow, Wool was amazing! i will have to check out Sand. have you read any of the other Wool related books? if so, what do you think?

next on my list to read is The Emperor's Daughter by a fellow ATOTer!

I read the entire Wool series and liked them all. If you just finished the Wool Omnibus, then definitely read the Shift Trilogy and then finish up with Dust, the conclusion to Wool.

 

[Mayne]

A Jack Reacher novel.

 

[KidNiki1]

I read the entire Wool series and liked them all. If you just finished the Wool Omnibus, then definitely read the Shift Trilogy and then finish up with Dust, the conclusion to Wool.

i will do so, thanks!

 

[JamesV]

Apparently the Count of Monte Cristo is a popular book. Out of 8 copies, none were available when I went to my library.

So to prepare a bit for an upcoming camping trip (interested in bushcraft, living off the land), I got the Peterson Field Guide to Trees and Bushes, and the US Army book on edible plants.

 

[Shadowknight]

The hero of ages-Brandon Sanderson

 

[DainBramaged]

Maybe I'll give Walden another shot in the future.

I tend to include classics in my reading as well...haven't read any Dumas though.

I try to but I get so distracted by so much new stuff. I feel so much more "cultured" when I read classics, but screw that, I want EXCITEMENT.

<ahem>

 

[DainBramaged]

Currently Limited War by Robert Osgood. Really heavy, but really worth it. I'm really interested in all aspects of war and the surrounding policy.

One Foot in Eden is my other. Southern Gothic, blah blah. Same story told from five different points. Not really into it but have to finish it. Almost done.

 

[pyonir]

I try to but I get so distracted by so much new stuff. I feel so much more "cultured" when I read classics, but screw that, I want EXCITEMENT.

<ahem>

I know what you are saying, but some classics are pretty good. I thought "Picture of Dorian Gray" was great along with "I, Robot". But then I thought "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was terrible and "Great Expectations" was extremely dull.

Kinda depends on what you consider "classic" as well, I think. Is a book like "Slaughterhouse 5" a "classic"? What about "Lolita"?

I'm more of a nonfiction reader though. I'd rather read a good memoir than read a fast paced mystery of fiction.

 

[alkemyst]

Cisco Press' CCNP TSHOOT Study and Exam Guides, pretty much just the first two chapters for the vocab/multiple choice stuff on this test.

 

[Pheran]

Cisco Press' CCNP TSHOOT Study and Exam Guides, pretty much just the first two chapters for the vocab/multiple choice stuff on this test.

Ugh have fun, I hated that exam.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

David Drakes RCN series. I'm on number seven "In the stormy red skies." They're kind of like Horneblower in space.

 

[alkemyst]

Ugh have fun, I hated that exam.

I loved the exam when I took it a couple years ago and it was the only Cisco test I ever scored 100% on .

 

[ringtail]

1491 ,by Mann. link

(I have the original, but hear there's a better 2nd edition with updates and refinements, so go for that).

Excellent mind food, excellent writer. Extremely easy to read. Really opens doors in imagination.

So yellow corn is a human artifact derived from Maize.

But Maze also is a human artifact of selective breeding thousands of years ago in South America...as are tomatoes, and peppers (bell peppers, various chili peppers).

Ancient Central America merely in the small region now called "Mexico" had over 25.5 million people. Not counting many millions more in South and North America. The Americas had many MILLIONS more people than Europe, but got wiped out to the tune of about 98% by Hepatitis, then Measles, then Smallpox, all gift of Eurpeans and Africans. By the time the authors you read in your high school history class got here, the gigantic teeming population of this Western Hemisphere was ALREADY wiped out by disease so they said it was sparse wilderness. They saw lots of uninhabited wilderness (because the inhabitants mostly all died) and had no clue.

But actually near present Mexico City was a city bigger, more sophisticated, populous, architecturally advanced, stuffed full of art, literature, science, than Paris (the biggest city in Europe then).

As everybody pretty much understands now, the old Louis Leaky "out of Africa" model everybody was taught from elementary school through university has been pretty much been conceded by present scholars for around the last 20 years to have been wrongheaded. Modern scholarship shows humans almost certainly did NOT arise in, and migrate out of Africa. No one really knows, but maybe America? (mitochondrial DNA people claim China)

 

[DainBramaged]

I know what you are saying, but some classics are pretty good. I thought "Picture of Dorian Gray" was great along with "I, Robot". But then I thought "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was terrible and "Great Expectations" was extremely dull.

Kinda depends on what you consider "classic" as well, I think. Is a book like "Slaughterhouse 5" a "classic"? What about "Lolita"?

I'm more of a nonfiction reader though. I'd rather read a good memoir than read a fast paced mystery of fiction.

While I'm sure that there'd be a million reasons to disagree with my definition, I think that I view them as pre-1900. There are exceptions here and there, but generally, that's it. I feel like if I were transported to the world of "Slaughterhouse 5," I would have a good understanding of what's going on and how to act. Whereas in "Last of the Mohicans" I'd be more out of place and life would be drastically different. I guess all of this to say that if I can't relate to a book very well, and it's from an older time period, I'd be more likely to consider it a classic.

I have found that I tend to enjoy well-written literature and fiction the most. However, I find there to be less to gain from it so I usually read one memoir/biography/non-fiction for every two fiction. Plus, non-fiction's take me longer whereas I fly through my fiction books.

 

[IronWing]

The Lemurian Stone - Stephen Hickman

1980s trash fantasy. It's alright.

 

[pyonir]

While I'm sure that there'd be a million reasons to disagree with my definition, I think that I view them as pre-1900. There are exceptions here and there, but generally, that's it. I feel like if I were transported to the world of "Slaughterhouse 5," I would have a good understanding of what's going on and how to act. Whereas in "Last of the Mohicans" I'd be more out of place and life would be drastically different. I guess all of this to say that if I can't relate to a book very well, and it's from an older time period, I'd be more likely to consider it a classic.

Your definition is as valid as any other, IMO. Maybe I shouldn't use the term "classic" and use "literature" instead; or maybe just "popular". They are usually all one in the same, though.

When I think "classic" I just think in general terms as a book that, in general, everyone has read, everyone should read, and it's widely regarded as a top (insert number here) book. If that makes any sense. lol.

 

[Pheran]

I'm in the middle of Republic, Lost by Lawrence Lessig. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the principal reason why the US government is so screwed up. It's non-partisan, so anyone can appreciate it.

 

[highland145]

Mike Shevdon. Finished 61 nails and the Road to Bedlam. Waiting on Amazon for the 3rd. Decent.

 

[clamum]

A few days ago I finished Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq on my phone and ordered Inside Delta Force as my next book.

I thought "Fiasco" was ok, although the ending was kinda weak IMO. "Inside Delta Force" is great so far, as expected. I loved the CBS show "The Unit" which as far as I know is inspired by the book.

 

[WT]

'Unbroken:A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption'

Amazing true story of Louie Zamperini, a WWII bombardier shot down in the Pacific, survived 47 days adrift on a raft, then captured by the Japanese who sent him to POW camps and tortured him for the remainder on the war.

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/1400064163

Currently being made into a movie directed by Angelina Jolie. One of the best books I have ever read.

 

[BurnItDwn]

So just finished the Quiet War by Paul McAuley, it was a slow cooker but ohh so heavy and dense, fan-farking-tastic.

I have a lot on my list to read, and have started on Crete by Antony Beevor , I love his other works, and havent yet read Crete, so figured now was tas good a time as any.

 

[Babbles]

Anybody have recommendations for non-thinking fiction to read? Wife and I just had a baby and don't have the willpower to think when I read, but would like something trashy to flip through for the next few weeks. Over the years - back a few years - I've read the expanded Star Wars universe stuff as non-thinking fluff. I dig spy thrillers a la Tom Clancy and read Lee Child's stuff. I tried some dude named Brad Thor, but he personal politics came out too much in the books and it annoyed me.

For the record, "The Count of Mote Cristo" is one of my all-time favorite books, but don't think I can push through Dumas between baby feedings right now.