What Are You Reading

[magneto]

I've also a Jeeves & Wooster comependium I need to get back to.

Hurray, P.G. Wodehouse! :eusa_clap
(Quote du jour: "The kind of person who thinks [Thomas Mann] a great writer and Wodehouse not a great writer is precisely the kind of person who would believe that professional credentials are necessary to make such
judgments." --Roger Ebert)

I just picked up Buster Keaton's autobiography, "My Wonderful World of Slapstick"

 

[SGB]

Just finished "Mustang Ace, Memoirs of a P-51 Fighter Pilot" by Robert J. Goebel, first person story of his time as a pilot in WWII.
Now reading "Waiting for Snow in Havana, Confessions of a Cuban Boy", by Carlos Eire. Fascinating true story of Cuba as Castro takes over, as seen from the view of an 8 year old son of a Judge.

SGB

 

["Doc" Devereux]

Hurray, P.G. Wodehouse! :eusa_clap
(Quote du jour: "The kind of person who thinks [Thomas Mann] a great writer and Wodehouse not a great writer is precisely the kind of person who would believe that professional credentials are necessary to make such
judgments." --Roger Ebert)

Thumbs up for that quote!

Wodehouse is tremendous. I'm now on to Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys, with a side order of Kipling's short stories (because Kipling never ceases to fill me with joy thanks to the beauty of his writing).

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Wodehouse great ... so be Mann.

I'm reading "Any Old Iron" by Anthony Burgess. Not far enough in to make a judgement, but i've never been disappointed with AB before and i don't expect to be this time.

Dead Man in Deptford, anyone?

bk

 

["Doc" Devereux]

Dead Man in Deptford, anyone?

No thanks, Baron. I just had breakfast.

 

[RadioHead]

Let's see... where am I now?

In the middle of reading "Notes from a small island" by Bill Bryson, and "A year in the merde" by Stephen Clarke. I have several of Bryson's books, each one as good and funny as the last.

"RadioHead"

 

[Twitch]

SGB- I've met and talked with Bob Goebel many times. He's a cool guy!

Right now I'm finishing Friedrich Georg's Hitler's Miracle Weapons Vol. 2

 

[SGB]

SGB- I've met and talked with Bob Goebel many times. He's a cool guy!

Right now I'm finishing Friedrich Georg's Hitler's Miracle Weapons Vol. 2

That's really great, glad to hear he's a cool guy. All the WWII vets I've met at various reunions, air shows, militaria shows etc have been great guys....the women too.

Have you read "Doorknob Five Two" by Fredric Arnold? Same theater of war, only in P-38's, good writer and artist, amazing DVD he made of a reunion of his old flight school mates too.

SGB

 

[DronesDodz]

I am currently working my way through "The Life of Pi".
Very nice book unfortunately I don't have much time to read at the moment.

Christoph

 

[carebear]

Just finished the book I mentioned a few days ago

"New World Coming: The 1920's and the Making of Modern America" by Nathan Miller.

Excellent history. It's amazing the parallels and the problems that bedevil us today that came about in the '20s. I can't recommend it more as an overview.

 

[Steve]

Currently, I'm reading through The Greek Way, by Edith Hamilton. Very interesting book on the thought patterns and literature of the original West.

 

[Twitch]

SGB- yes I have an autographed copy from Fred Arnold.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Since finishing James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia, and The Real Nick and Nora (a biography of Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, the couple who wrote the first three or four Thin Man movies, among other great films), I'm reading Ellroy's The Big Nowhere, plus I've almost finished one book on the William Desmond Taylor unsolved murder in Hollywood of the 20's and have a second one waiting. All great reads. Then there's the business reading and manuals I'm plowing through as well...

 

[SGB]

SGB- yes I have an autographed copy from Fred Arnold.

Me too, plus the 2 autographed photos and his DVD. Guy is a talented writer and artist.

SGB

 

[Jack Scorpion]

On Ellroy's White Jazz right now.

 

[carebear]

Just finished White Jazz myself.

Ellroy's really evolving his technique isn't he?

 

[Mojave Jack]

I own way to many books... I have two large rubbermaid containers full and an entire shelf and a half filled with books. I think I am addicted to buying books... because when I shop at the thrift stores I always end up in the book isle! My Mom tells me if I keep on buying books - one day I will just end up being trapped in my house and not be able to get out.LOL!! Can't help it just love em....

Brooksie

Kid, you're just getting started! Just wait until the addiction really kicks in! lol

I just finished The Light That Failed by Kipling, one of my favorite authors. I can read anything by Kipling, and just be enthralled from cover to cover.

Currently I'm re-reading The Roald Dahl Omnibus, a collection of Dahl's short stories, just for fun. If you liked his kid's books, e.g. James and the Giant Peach, you'll like his adult fiction, too. You've probably actually seen some of his stuff made into film or shorts and not even known it.

I'm with you, Magneto; two books is a minimum, in case I'm in the mood for one or the other. So I'm also reading The Desert Generals by Correlli Barnett, on the North African Campaign in WWII. Great book and a real insight into all the generals that preceeded Monty in the desert.

One book that I finished a while ago that sticks with me is The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester. It is probably one of the most fascinating books I've read in a long time, on a most unlikely subject: the compiling of the Oxford English Dictionary. I know it sounds horribly boring, but it is really an excellent read. I really can't recommend this book highly enough, especially for those English majors in the crowd.

 

[Girl Friday]

Audio Books

Somewhere along the line I became too lazy or A.D.D. to read, so now I listen...I'm a good listener and my commute is about an hour so it works out pretty well. Just finished listening to David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day and before that The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Just finished White Jazz myself.

Ellroy's really evolving his technique isn't he?

Carebear, this is actually the only book of his I've read. (I'll pick up Black Dahlia immediately afterwards to read before the movie) -- His "technique" definitely is something. Took me about 30 pages to grasp it completely.

 

[magneto]

...
plus I've almost finished one book on the William Desmond Taylor unsolved murder in Hollywood of the 20's ...

Ah yes! (I am fascinated with this murder, being a big Mabel Normand fan) Have you seen Bruce Long's Taylorology newsletter...~80 issues devoted to all angles of this story? If not, must-read: almost all the issues are available on his website:
http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/
-magneto (who is half browsing/half admiring the 1946 edition of The Joy of Cooking I bought today for $3)