What Are You Reading

[Starius]

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. The film version is absolutely wonderful, havn't seen the new miniseries yet.

The original movie is one of the scariest things I've ever seen.
That new miniseries.... not so much.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Yes, that's a scary movie.
Ya know I always forget about that bottle of Everclear on the bookshelf, and I have o.j. in the fridge, and a clean crystal goblet, and ice.... They have that Casablanca book in the public library, Harp, since I'm butting in. I read it, it's worth it.
Since I got back from Dallas I've been reading Umbrella Man, a funny mystery by Doug Swanson.

 

[WH1]

Howzebout a brass commie hammer and scythe belt buckle?
(shipping charges extra )

What about the can of Spam?

Oh and a lifetime pass to the team room.

 

[DickWhitmanMM]

Gatsby..Kerouac

I found Gatsby well worth the time spent. One of my favorite Fitzgeralds.

I thank this forum for reminding me about the book--I'm going to read it, and will report my observations here once I'm finished.

BTW...speaking of iconic authors.

Anyone else here a fan of Kerouac? last summer I went on a Kerouac binge and read Dharma Bums, Subterraneans, Lonesome Traveler*, Tristessa and (re-read) On The Road.
*Lonesome Traveler is really good, no one cites LT as one of his best works but I thought so, and not sure if you are aware but he eloquently mentions time spent in Seattle, beginning on page 105 (Alaskan Way, the Pier, "old Hwy 99" etc.,) This was circa 1950 or so, a different world...

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I found Gatsby well worth the time spent. One of my favorite Fitzgeralds.

I concur that it is a great novel that should be read and reread every couple of years. What makes it a true literary piece is that no matter how many times they have tried, the movies based on it have all sucked. Fitzgerald wrote in such a structure that it only works on the page. A glorious read. The scary part is that high school students who read it today say they want to be Gatsby and don't seem to comprehend the tragedy of his life. Re-creation of yourself, though, still is an American ideal. You can become whoever you want to be - but hopefully - you become someone who is deeper than Jay Gatsby. He would be an ideal guy for "The Hills." Lauren would LOVE his shirts.

 

[Harp]

What about the can of Spam?

Oh and a lifetime pass to the team room.

Ok, deal. But the team room rules are enforced:
1)Everybody chips in for beer; no exceptions
2)Volleyball: jungle rules---we take no prisoners

 

[WH1]

Okay, I'm in. Bottles, cans or kegs? Full contact, huh? COOL I'll bring my Sig, a good knife, and a light coat of CLP? lol

 

[carter]

Endgame, 1945 - The Missing Final Chapter of World War II by David Stafford.
[Little, Brown, and Company - 2007]

A compelling narrative covering three months at the end of WWII in Europe told through the stories of civilian, imprisoned, and military personnel. Well worth reading.

 

[Laura Chase]

i like margaret atwood too, but for some reason didn't get into blind assassin.

have you read joyce carol oates? she's wonderful as well!

You simply must read The Blind Assassin, it's Atwood's best and one of my favorite books.

Am currently reading Alias Grace, by the same author. On the side, I'm reading Alan Moore's Watchmen.

 

[Harp]

Okay, I'm in. Bottles, cans or kegs? Full contact, huh? COOL I'll bring my Sig, a good knife, and a light coat of CLP? lol

Hardware we got, but a case of Knob Creek-9 years-for Top will do.
Top's from Tennessee, though he was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland.
__________

Another look at the Irish Volunteers' Easter Rising, The Insurrection In Dublin
by James Stephens; originally published in October 1916.
Stephens may lead me back to Joyce's Portrait.

Read this week's Marine Times at my desk today since the Corps now
desires an 1800 m rifle-despite present optics- and I'd like to take a
Winchester .300/adapted M24 elk hunting.

 

[pin_up_pixie]

Queen of Fashion; what Marie Antoinette wore to the revolution. By Caroline Weber.

I've been meaning to read it for a wile, and am finally getting around to it. I know it's quite a bit before the golden era, but has anyone read it?

 

[Diamondback]

Another from Osprey: US Tank and Tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO.

 

[dhermann1]

"1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World", by Frank McLynn. Fun book, pulls together events in North America, India, and Europe.
One of the fun things about reading books on this era, particularly the French explorers, is that names such as Cadillac, Frontenac, Bougainville, etc., that always meant a car or a hotel or a tropical vine or a South Pacific Island, suddenly become the names of astounding brilliant men who went all over the planet changing the world.

 

[John Boyer]

Poets Thinking: Pope, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats

by Helen Vendler

 

[Harp]

Poets Thinking: Pope, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats

by Helen Vendler

Excellent choice, John.
I wonder what Emily would have thought of Billy Butler....

Have you ever read Simone Weil, Formative Writings 1929-41;
edited Dorothy Tuck McFarland and Wilhelmina Van Ness?
Weil is something of a riddle.

 

[John Boyer]

Excellent choice, John.
I wonder what Emily would have thought of Billy Butler....

Have you ever read Simone Weil, Formative Writings 1929-41;
edited Dorothy Tuck McFarland and Wilhelmina Van Ness?
Weil is something of a riddle.

Harp,
I think Emily and Billie Bulter would have got along just fine. That would have been an interesting dialogue.

I have not read the Simone Weil book mentioned above. Although I will add it to my list. I have just read Simone Weil and the Intellect of Grace and I am reading, off-and-on, from her Notebooks, Vol I and II. While she holds many positions that I find disagreeable, the depth and breadth of her intellect and her ability to effectively and efficiently structure an arguement is, to me, very impressive and enviable. I will spend much of this life trying to figure out Simone; she is certainly a riddle! I also find that reading from her Notebooks is somewhat addicting, in a good sort of way.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

I just finished rereading Watchmen after I got all excited by the teaser trailer, and now I have to pick a library book from the pile.

 

[Charlie Noodles]

I picked up a hardcover copy of Terry Prachett's 'Going Postal' for sale on Monday, $13, I'm over halfway done.

 

[Selentino]

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku. To quote my son "You are such a geek sometimes". But I caught him checking out the jacket and looking interested.

 

[Craig Robertson]

"The Lonely Werewolf Girl" by Martin Millar. It's totally viral. Impossible to put down. When I gave it to my girlfriend, she took a day off work to finish reading it....