What book is everyone reading at the moment?

[patcall]

Reading:
The Gathering of Infidels, A Hundred Years of the Rationalist Press Association , Bill Cooke.

and

Separation of Church and State, Philip Hamburger.

 

[LW]

Since my last posting:

George Millar, Bruneval Raid: Stealing Hitler's Radar: a rather standard piece of WWII history, not bad but nothing special.

Terence Reese, Bridge at the Top: about the card game. Contains some interesting bits but it was duller than what I expected.

And today I finally received from post my copy of:

David Edge and John Miles Paddock, Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight. Oooooh.

 

[patcall]

There was a volume called "The Atheist Debater's Handbook" or somesuch available from Prometheus Press
http://www.prometheusbooks.com/

Not bad, but I thought it's weakness was that it primarily dealt with the "Judeo-Christian" model of God.

OK book but probably would not help in debating a fundy.

 

[Chris Haynes]

I just finished On Call by Emily Transue, MD

I am starting Odd Girl Speaks Out by Rachel Simmons

 

[Neutiquam Erro]

As good a way to introduce myself as any...

Currently reading Citizens: a chronicle of the French Revolution, by Simon Schama.

Most Recently:

The First Circle, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
The Bolsheviks, by Adam Ulam
The Gulag Archipelago, vols. 1, 2, and 3, also Solzhenitsyn (been on a bit of a USSR kick lately),
Fashionable Nonsense, by Sokal and Bricmont,
Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials, by Wendy Kaminer

Sad to say, I'm a very slow reader. This list probably covers the last 8-9 months.

 

[joesixpack]

Horton Hatches the Egg

Kipper

Dumpy the Dump Truck

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?

(I have a three year old)

This weekend I re-read "the Cannon's Yeoman's Tale" from "The Canterbury Tales" again. I love that one and I read it every few months.

I just finished "The Secret Agent", by Joe Conrad,a few weeks back. Excellent book, Highly recomended.

I am currently reading Poe's "Murder of Marie Roget" to put me to sleep at night. I Highly recomend it for it's sedative effect.

 

[Jorghnassen]

I just finished Da Vinci Code. I guess I should eventually catch up to my 2003 birthday presents such as Alice in Wonderland and Disgrace...

 

[Kimpatsu]

I just finished Da Vinci Code.

Was it any good?

 

[Jorghnassen]

Was it any good?

It was OK. Which reminds me I should go read the threads about it on this forums...

 

[Kimpatsu]

Do graphic novels count?

I'm re-reading 'V For Vendetta', by Alan Moore & David Lloyd. I want to reaquaint myself with the story, before the movie effs it up.

"V for Vendetta" is a classic.
And never forget what happens to the creepy padre, Tony Lilliman...

 

[athon]

Was it any good?

Da Vinci Code would happen to be one of the worst pieces of drivel I have ever read. I can't rant enough about how bad it is!!

It is formulaic in a bad way, self-indulgent garbage that is poorly written and overly clever. It contains more info-dumping than you can poke a stick at, and is packed to the gills with intellectual masturbation.

I am just glad Tom Hanks is playing the lead in the movie version of it. Because that will be two reasons to not go see it!

Athon
(if you want a good conspiracy theory novel, read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco)

 

[tim]

Da Vinci Code would happen to be one of the worst pieces of drivel I have ever read. I can't rant enough about how bad it is!!

It is formulaic in a bad way, self-indulgent garbage that is poorly written and overly clever. It contains more info-dumping than you can poke a stick at, and is packed to the gills with intellectual masturbation.

I am just glad Tom Hanks is playing the lead in the movie version of it. Because that will be two reasons to not go see it!

Athon
(if you want a good conspiracy theory novel, read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco)

Yeah, but did you like it?

 

[Chris Haynes]

I just finished Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi.

I am starting When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka. It is about the Japanese Internment during WWII, and is the book chosen this year for the Seattle Library's "Seattle's Read": http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_leaders_washingtoncenter_seattlereads

editted to add: The DaVinci Code is a silly book. It had plot holes that you could drive a truck through.

 

[IllegalArgument]

Last two books:
Case for Democracy
Blink

Now reading:
The Tipping Point

 

[Palimpsest]

Currently reading When The Sleeper Awakes by H.G. Wells, a future history novel set a couple centuries from now. The main character--a radical and idealistic socialist--falls into an unexplained trance and wakes up in a seriously changed England. Yet for all the technological advances--flying machines, television, automated manufacturing--the country is tightly controlled by a plutocracy, and harsh class distinctions still exist.

 

[headscratcher4]

A biography of Lucricia Borgia -- quite the little vixen, that one. Her Dad, Pope Alexander VI, seemed to have a jolly good time as Pope -- far more playful about the whole thing than the current dude. Brother, Ceaser, however, seemed to have an anger management problem.

 

[LW]

David Edge and John Miles Paddock, Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight. Oooooh.

That one was very good but not perfect. Has anyone ever seen a book on armor that contains really detailed analysis of several complete suits, stuff like measuring plate thicknesses and weights?

Other reads:

Harpo Marx, Harpo Speaks: ghostwritten autobiography of Harpo Marx one of my favorite comedians of all times.

Jimmy Lerner, You Got Nothing Coming: a description of prison life by an inmate. Partly good read, partly repetitive. It would be interesting to know how close this book is to the real reality.

Urho Brusi, Taivaalta leijui valhe ("A lie floated down from the sky"). Recently written war memoirs of a former infantry MG gunner / MG squad leader / MG platoon leader / naval minesweeper commander (he changed the branch of service during war). Quite standard memoirs except that the author does some explicit analysis of workings and reliability of his memory. The title refers to an occasion where Brusi lost his backpack during a Soviet attack and the Soviets used a letter they found in the bag as a material in one of their propaganda leaflets and ended it with the claim "Private first class Brusi was killed on 6 April 1942 while fighting for fascist war-mongers".

Next on line:

Veikko Karhunen, Raatteen tieltä Kostamukseen: Rajajääkäripataljoona 8 sodassa ("From Raate road to Kostamus, Border Jäger Batallion 8 in War"). Military history, written by the former commander of the batallion. Very detailed, may be mightly boring, I fear.

 

[Hutch]

Picked up a copy of "The Bridge" by David McCullough, about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. I've also opened Dawkin's "The Blind Watchmaker", but haven't progressed to far yet.

 

[SezMe]

A bit of the way into The 9/11 Commission Report. Now you think one would need a saline drip to read something so dry, but it is not so. I'm already caught up in it. It almost reads like a novel. It's quite a wade but I'll come back when I'm done for an assessment.

 

[Temporal Renegade]

"V for Vendetta" is a classic.
And never forget what happens to the creepy padre, Tony Lilliman...

I sometimes wonder if maybe Alan is expressing some deep desire he wishes he could act upon....