What Are You Reading

[martinsantos]

The Bride wore Black, by Cornell Woolrich.

(readed whole book in just one take and half pack of cigarrettes. Too much coffee to work, and got this wanting to sleep. But then I just could sleep after the "the end").

Woolrich is somewhat strange. I don't think he is a "great" writer. He hasn't a "great" writing style. His stories often have several faults. But certainly has a very strong "noir" mood that you can see almost all scenes in black and white.

 

[Harp]

Fog of War; The Battle of An Najaf 28-29 January, 2007;
"The Drop", Special Forces Association Journal, Fall 2008

 

[Derek Cavin]

Just finished Double the Bounty by Robert J Randisi - horrendous. Glad I was able to read it in one day.

 

[martinsantos]

Just finished "il fait toujour nuit" by Leo Malet.

From 1948, a trully "tough guy" story. But i really still don't know if it is a really good book or just another thriller. Anybody here have read Malet books? Any thoughts about?

 

[angeljenny]

I am currently reading Last Curtsey by Fiona MacCarthy which is really interesting. Plus, as I always have more than one book on the go at once, I am also reading The Bombshell Manual of Style by Laren Stover which is the cutest book ever!

 

[Black Dahlia]

I just started 'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins.
X
BD

 

[John Boyer]

Foucalt's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Letters and Papers from Prison, Edited by Eberhard Bethge

 

[Pompidou]

Foucalt's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Letters and Papers from Prison, Edited by Eberhard Bethge

Foucalt's Pendulum is great. Everything by Umberto Eco is great. I'm sure you've heard of Name of the Rose, but also make sure you've read Baudolino - it just might be my favorite story ever, and certainly my favorite work of Eco.

 

[martinsantos]

My leisure time in WC... James Bond.

But everything in these stories is terrible. The vilain trying to get Bond by train. The way Bond solves the situation is just a copy of a Conan Doyle short story. Sad to say, but - the movies are better. At least they take from your time only 2 hours.

A bit suprised because Bond is showed not as a smart guy, but as a "action only" guy.

 

[Berlin]

This: *click*

 

[dhermann1]

I just finished "Theodore Rex", by Edmund Morris, and jumped ahead a few decades to "The Secret Diaries of Harold L. Ickes". Ickes was FDR's Secretary of the Interior for his whole presidency, from 1933 straight through 1945.
The Dept. of the Interior was in charge of oil and coal production at that time, and Ickes was immediately hit with the burden of trying to fix both oil and coal prices when those industries were on the verge of collapse during the Depression. He also authorized most of the public works projects that FDR initiated during this time. So he had a huge chunk of the New Deal to manage.
He kept a secret diary of his activites during the whole time, which amounts to something like 20 volumes. This was winnowed down to 3 volumes. Ickes was a real curmudgeon, but a good man. He is considered out greatest Secretary of the Interior. Anyway, Volume 1 has been loads of gossipy fun, with lots and lots of good history as well.

 

[Harp]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Letters and Papers from Prison, Edited by Eberhard Bethge

doesn't he rank with Boethius and More....:eusa_clap

(still waltzing with Weil)

 

[Deacon]

I just finished reading Pirate Coast, by Richard Zacks. The book tells the story of the 1803 military expedition, lead by The rather ferocious and indomitable William Eaton, to rescue American sailors held by the Pasha of Tripoli, on the Barbary Coast - an exciting tale.

 

[Harp]

Coffee with another glance at Brooke Allen's commentary,
The Tell-Tale Artist, Edgar Allan Poe turns 200; The Standard,
September 28, 2009.
A direct stare at Poe-artist and man with an obligatory bow to
Henry James and Aldous Huxley; deuce corbies who cackled and
crowed at dark thematic purpose. A superb analysis of EAP:rip:
:coffee:

 

[Philip Adams]

"The Mask of Dimitrios" by Eric Ambler.

It's my third Eric Ambler novel. I enjoy the way he writes. His character development is great and the plot is always clear.

1930s espionage; very cool.

 

[JennyLou]

Saw the book Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective on a shelf in the library. I thought I would give it a try.

 

[martinsantos]

"The Trial of Socrates" by I. F. Stone.

The most interesting book about Socrates' ideas I have read. Certainly is impossible to desagree with the author. Now I'm trying to find anything else by him...

 

[Harp]

"The Trial of Socrates" by I. F. Stone.

The most interesting book about Socrates' ideas I have read. Certainly is impossible to desagree with the author.

Does Stone agree with Aeschines that Socrates was sentenced
to death because he had educated Critias?:rip:

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Phonograph Notes
various authors
(Bradley, IL: Lindsay Publications, 2010)

A collection of articles from various publications written between 1878 and 1912 on the technical details and amateur construction plans of Edison's cylinder machine and Emile Berliner's disc machine. The best part is a series of articles that originally appeared in American Machinist Magazine that details the production methods of the Edison machines in 1912.

Building Ship Models
by James Tate & J. Earle Miller
(Bradley, IL: Lindsay Publications, 2010)

A series of articles on how to build a model of Hendrick Hudson's Half Moon written and illustrated in the eye-catching style typical of Golden Era periodicals. They originally appeared in Popular Mechanics Magazine and were subsequently compiled in 1927 in a book entitled Make It Yourself

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I just finished reading Pirate Coast, by Richard Zacks. The book tells the story of the 1803 military expedition, lead by The rather ferocious and indomitable William Eaton, to rescue American sailors held by the Pasha of Tripoli, on the Barbary Coast - an exciting tale.

That's where the "shores of Tripoli" reference in the Marine Hymn comes from.