What have you read lately.

[Berkut]

Couldn't see a thread, so I thought I would just start a new one because I wanted to talk about a particular book I jsut got done reading.

The wife got this from a friend:

http://www.amazon.com/Pact-Love-Story-P-S/dp/006085880X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241536107&sr=8-1

and I picked it up and started reading it when I was bored and had a couple minutes to spare.

It grabbed me rather quickly, and I ended up reading the entire thing over the past few days.

Not really my standard fare, by any means. And while I thought the story was excellent, I think I want to keep it stuff like this in the "not my standard fare" category. Frankly, the book put me in a rather melancholy mood, and while the story was engrossing and ultimately satisfying, it was rather emotionally hard to take. I think I suck at sad stories.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Got the Exiles trade paperbacks at Free Comic Book day.  They are pretty good. I read a GI Joe TP that was actually cool.  Been reading the Starfish and teh Spider about centralized and decentralized networks like Al-Queada or Craigslist.  Also Tom Clancy's book on the Special Forces.

[Josephus]

I'm reading Pillars of the Earth by...um.....oh yeah, Ken Follet. Known for his WW2 spy novels, this is a lot different. It takes place in 12th Century England, and is about a builder seeking to build the greatest cathedral. It's pretty good.

http://www.ken-follett.com/bibliography/the_pillars_of_the_earth.html

[alfred russel]

I'm reading Pillars of the Earth by...um.....oh yeah, Ken Follet. Known for his WW2 spy novels, this is a lot different. It takes place in 12th Century England, and is about a builder seeking to build the greatest cathedral. It's pretty good.

http://www.ken-follett.com/bibliography/the_pillars_of_the_earth.html

You are reading that because of Oprah?

I'm reading a book on ancient Iraq, but I've been reading it for a while--I don't get much time.

[Syt]

Reading World War Z and enjoying it.

[Savonarola]

I read "Neuromancer" by William Gibson in preparation for a D20 Cyberpunk campaign.  Why aren't there cellular phones in the future?   





I thought it was pretty good.  The drugs and eyes in the gutter science fiction reminded me of "The Naked Lunch."

[Grey Fox]

Reading World War Z and enjoying it.

That plus a couple of series from French-Canuck authors.

[Norgy]

Project Management - A Managerial Approach.

I suspect I should rather go for the funny approach instead, because that book is dreary.

[PDH]

Project Management - A Managerial Approach.

I suspect I should rather go for the funny approach instead, because that book is dreary.

The clown nose rarely works to get the team motivated...

[crazy canuck]

I have recently read,

Jesus, Interupted - the latest book by Bar Ehrman

http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Interrupted-Revealing-Hidden-Contradictions/dp/0061173932

If you have read his other books, there is not a lot new here.  It is more a defence to the attacks on him since he wrote "Misquoting Jesus" and "God's Problem".

Collapse by Jared Diamond

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_8?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=collapse+how+societies+choose+to+fail+or+succeed&sprefix=Collapse

A rehashed Malthusian view.  It gets pretty dry pretty fast.  After the first couple case studies you dont really need to read further since he just keeps repeating the same points.  Maybe an interesting read if you are really really interested in his case studies which include modern Montana...

Prehistory - the making of the modern mind.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_1_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=prehistory+the+making+of+the+human+mind&sprefix=Prehistory

A pretty technical read at times.  Suprised this was actually published in this form as a book for a laymen.  But I think worth working your way through it.  Some interesting incites about how mental development can be traced through archeology.

The Man Who Would be King.  Loved the movie downloaded the book for free.  Kipling would be drawn and quartered for his racism if he wrote it today but still a good read.  And also, a book which traces the history of a man that it appears Kipling drew on for the inspiration in his book.  The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan

While many know Sean Connery as "The Man Who Would Be King," few know 19th-century maverick Josiah Harlan, whose adventures probably inspired John Huston's version of Kipling's tale. But the research of British journalist Macintyre (The Englishman's Daughter) gives readers both Harlan's story and a thought-provoking perspective on the history of superpower intervention in Afghanistan. Born to a Pennsylvania Quaker family in 1799, the self-educated Harlan studied Greek and Roman history before becoming a Freemason and shipping out to Calcutta at age 21. Jilted by his fiancée, Harlan decided to seek his fortune on the Asian subcontinent. Calling himself a doctor, he briefly served as a military surgeon with the British army in the Burma War, before tales of Afghanistan fired his imagination. Disguised as a Muslim holy man, Harlan wheeled and dealed his way to Kabul, buying up mercenaries and bribing tribal leaders like a seasoned Afghan warlord. In 1838, Harlan was crowned king of the fierce Hazara people, although the British overthrow of the sitting Afghan ruler soon forced his departure.

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Would-King-Afghanistan/dp/0374529574/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241542929&sr=1-2

I am currently taking some time to read the Lord of the Rings - 50th anniversary addition.  One interesting fact I learned in the preface is that Tolkien himself and then later his estate had great problems getting accurate copies of the book to the public.  There were numerous errors in previous additions which were caused by simple copying errors but also by publishers purposefully changing the text because they thought Tolkien had mispelled things or had not meant to say things the way he did.

This latest addition claims to be the truest version to the origional text.  When I was reading through all the attempts to get the text right I was reminded of Ehrman's point of how much passages in the Bible have changed over time through the same processes.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

reading "ÆGYPT" by John Crawley... just started, it's intriguing and highly recommended by my friend who bought it for me.

[Iormlund]

I read "Neuromancer" by William Gibson in preparation for a D20 Cyberpunk campaign.  Why aren't their cellular phones in the future?   

I didn't enjoy Neuromancer that much. I'm reading Altered Carbon now, with a similar theme.

[garbon]

I need to try reading Neuromancer again.  When I was first reading it, I stopped because I thought it was awful. I was 15.

[katmai]

Just finished reading this lame thread where people talk about what they have read lately.

[crazy canuck]

Just finished reading this lame thread where people talk about what they have read lately.

No link....