What are you reading?

The Red Tent for a bookclub, should have Mary Roach's new book " Packing for Mars" from the library in a couple of days.  

Not your Red Tent, but a different one is the name of a movie starring
Sean Connery-----very interesting movie about an airship that tried to find the North Pole and crashed. 
 
Every time I see the title of this thread "What Are You Reading? I am tempted to write ---"A Post on Roadfood", but I wouldn't do that. 
No Way.

Just finished "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition" by Daniel Okrent. It is an excellent history of Prohibition, readable and full of information. recommended to all.

Currently, I'm reading the companion volume to Ken Burns' "Jazz" series. Which is causing me to add to my jazz CD collection.

Santa Fe Edge, Stuart Woods, one of the most entertaining writers today, IMHO!

I just finished the Robert B. Parker novel "Promised Land." It was great. The first appearance of Hawk in the series. 
 
Now I'm reading "And A Bottle of Rum" by Wayne Curtis. It's a look at how the history and popularity of rum parallels with the growth of the United States. I'm really enjoying it.

For anyone interested in science, I recommend "Evolution" by Stephen Baxter. It's not a new book; it's a few years old. It tells the story of human evolution from 65 million years ago (we meet our ancestors who lived when the dinosaurs got wiped out) all the way to 500 million years into the future, so we can see what our last living relatives might be like. The book is written as fiction, and chapters take place in different eras, from earliest ancestors to our ultimate descendents. It sounds a bit nuts, but it works, because Baxter is extremely imaginitive and because he's got the science right (as far as I can tell, being not a professional scientist but someone who's been interested in evolution for 30 years and has read many books on the subject).
 
 

I just finished the last of the Millenium Trilogy written by Stieg Larsson. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I read them all on the iPad. They are best if read in order since they are progressive. In fact the fire an Hornet's nest book are essentially one long book in two editions.

Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars

I'm reading Twain's Feast by Andrew Beahrs, Penguin 2010.
It's a fascinating story of a Twain fan and foodlover who goes in search of the foods listed by Twain in a letter home from Europe in 1879. A few recipes are included but they are not very useful because of the incomplete way 19th century recipes were written - the writers expected the reader to know what a "gill" is and what expressions like, "enough" and "plenty" mean, and what temperature is a "hot oven".
The author is a bit like John McPhee in that he is interested in everything and digresses frequently into ecology, geology, sociology, history, paleontology etc. 
 
Cheers, John 

I rarely read books but I'm reading "W's" book, "Decision Points". I'm one of those staunch Republicans who lost faith in George in the declining years of his Administration, but after reading the book (I'm at page 205 of 477), I'm developing a whole new respect for the man. One area that I disagreed with him on was his position on Stem Cell Research. After reading all the research & thought he put into the decision and the actual reality of the facts of the issue, I found myself reversing my perception of what is involved in the whole issue. He just did a lousy job of communicating the reasons and facts of the issue to the American people.
 As Paul Harvey says, "And now you know the rest of the story".

Just got Anthony Bourdaine's 'Medium Raw' for Christmas. Its a fun page turner.

I got the latest Clancy novel " Dead or Alive" in time to do a cover to cover  day and a half before Christmas...Kept me out of the way during all the prep work around here !  Not bad...a definite improvement over the first book of this series. I find it hard to accept that the Jack Ryan character is going to come out of retirement and run for President again...I figured him for a background information source from now on in the books. 

I just finished Greg Isle's The Devil's Punchbowl. Excellent story and lots of action, although I had to skip a few pages of graphic descriptions of the dog fights.
His books are probably more fun if you know Natchez, which I do.

Hollywood Hills...Joseph Wambaugh, great fun read, Sgt. Wambaugh can flat write, even the Washington Post loved the book!

mbrookes


I just finished Greg Isle's The Devil's Punchbowl. Excellent story and lots of action, although I had to skip a few pages of graphic descriptions of the dog fights.
His books are probably more fun if you know Natchez, which I do.

Love his work.

Reading Terry Teachout's Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, which my wife gave me for Christmas. What a great book.

I'm really trolling the bottom of the cutout bin:
"Tommy Chong, The Unauthorized Autobiography"

Wicked River, When the Mississippi Last Ran Wild by Lee Sandlin, and one of Bernard Clayton's bread baking books, which I need to get back to, since I haven't had a chance most of Christmas week.
 

mbrookes


I just finished Greg Isle's The Devil's Punchbowl. Excellent story and lots of action, although I had to skip a few pages of graphic descriptions of the dog fights.
His books are probably more fun if you know Natchez, which I do.

The Devil's Punchbowl is next for me - we were discussing Greg Isle's novels at work a couple of weeks ago and several of us wound up swapping books - I just finished 24 Hours - which for some unknown reason I'd never read. 

I have re-read 3 baseball biographies by Charles Alexander, a professor at Ohio University who has written interesting bios of Ty Cobb, John McGraw and Rogers Hornsby. it helps me get thru the off-season.

I just finished Michael Criton's State of Fear. I highly reccommend this to anyone who is interested in climate change. It is well documented, even though it is fiction.

Cosmos


Just got Anthony Bourdaine's 'Medium Raw' for Christmas. Its a fun page turner.

 
Didn't get it for Christmas, but from the library.  Extremely interesting, and I always forget what a delightful writer he is.  You can totally hear him saying this stuff.

I read State of Fear a few years ago----very interesting book---Crichton was a very interesting man---saw some videos with him teaching------he died much too soon.

mr chips


I have re-read 3 baseball biographies by Charles Alexander, a professor at Ohio University who has written interesting bios of Ty Cobb, John McGraw and Rogers Hornsby. it helps me get thru the off-season.

These are great books. I met the guy years ago. Personable and very, very fascinating speaker.

Last night I finished "The Deep Blue Good-By" by John D. MacDonald. The first of his Travis McGee series. I really enjoyed it. The only problem is, the next in the series is at a branch of my local library that's closed till Tuesday! Wah!
 
I'm also reading "Nature Girl" by Carl Hiaasen. Been far too long since I read one of his books. It's really good so far. Hiaasen has said that John D. MacDonald was a huge influence on his work and you can really tell. They have similar viewpoints on the fragility of Florida's present and future.
 
 

"Willie Nelson, An Epic Life" ... readable, as a fan ... if not, not so much,, I'm guessing.
 

improviser


Last night I finished "The Deep Blue Good-By" by John D. MacDonald. The first of his Travis McGee series. I really enjoyed it. The only problem is, the next in the series is at a branch of my local library that's closed till Tuesday! Wah!

I'm also reading "Nature Girl" by Carl Hiaasen. Been far too long since I read one of his books. It's really good so far. Hiaasen has said that John D. MacDonald was a huge influence on his work and you can really tell. They have similar viewpoints on the fragility of Florida's present and future.

Oh God,I red every one in the 70's..."The Busted Flush"!! Great reads...each and every color!!!

More Civil War stuff, a book called "Through The Howling Wilderness" about the Red River Campaign in Louisiana in 1864. Good stuff if you're a Civil War buff.

I am now reading" The Shack". Incredible stuff, very thought provoking.

The Autobiography of Mark Twain!!

I just finished  Black Ops by W.E.B. Griffin. I got it in paperback and the next in the series is already out. I've always enjoyed this author, who for those who may not know is one of our most prolific living authors. He has written under lots of pen names, and as a ghost writer, most notably the MASH series. A bookseller once confided in me, "....you have no idea,,,,the hundreds of books that we know about are just a small fraction of what he has quietly ghost written. He has told us about a few, but he knows how to keep a secret"
 
Black Ops is not his best work. It moves the series forward, but it reads more like a direct to paperback thriller than a hardcover classic that is now in paperback.  It does not rise to the standards that he set in his Army series.  If he would write a conclusion for The Corps series, though,  I'd happily accept potboiler quality.

jmckee

mr chips


I have re-read 3 baseball biographies by Charles Alexander, a professor at Ohio University who has written interesting bios of Ty Cobb, John McGraw and Rogers Hornsby. it helps me get thru the off-season.

These are great books. I met the guy years ago. Personable and very, very fascinating speaker.

I must admit I googled him and discovered he taught a class on the history of baseball at Ohio U. He and Bill James remain my favorite baseball writers.

To Try Men's Souls by Gingrich, Forstchen and Hanser. "A Novel of George Washington and the fight for American Freedom"
"DEDICATION *** It is humbling to write this dedication. For George Washington and the "gallent few" ------the 2500 men---- who crossed the Delaware River with him on the night of 25----26 December, 1776, facing impossible odds, and by doing so, saved a nation."
 
We all know the story. I didn't know that we only lost 2 men and one wounded in the actual battle. The wounded man was a future president (I forget if it was Monroe or Madison). I also didn't know that we lost another several hundred within days of the battle due to exhaustion and exposure.
 
A few mostly barefoot patriots, starving and cold, attacked in an ice storm and gave us a nation, while most of America tended to comfortable middle class lives.

The Pickwick Papers (1837) by Charles Dickens.
 

I grew up a few hours northwest of Philly and was always a Phillies fan.  Currently reading "Harry the K--The remarkable life of Harry Kalas."  Kalas was the voice of NFL Films for many years, as well as Westwood One broadcasting of NFL games, but was best known in my area as the voice of the Philadelphia Phillies for over 35 years.  Harry passed away right before a Phillies ballgame in Wash. DC in April of 2009.  He was in the booth preparing for a game when he had a massive heart attack.  Harry was far from a saint but he was revered by the fans and players.  Good reading if you like the Phillies.

In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash (the source of the Christmas Story movie)

The latest Clive Cussler, with his son Dirk, co author...unusually boring for him.

Been catching up with Michael Connelly, one of my favorite mystery writers. Finished "The Overlook","The Brass Verdict" and "The Scarecrow, featuring all 3 of his series' characters.

Still trolling the bottom of the cutout rack ... Some book on the history of Casablanca records.
 
Readable.
 
Just finished it actually ... I got nothing on deck.  Uh. Oh.

   I have been reading some stuff by Ben Bova, Patrick Robinson and Gary Jennings. Kind of an eclectic mix I know but my interests are varied. syfy, historical fiction and submarine warfare. Whats not to love?  LOL

Just started Tim Dorsey's Electric Barracuda...another Serge travelog thru the weird sites in Florida.

I've been reading a bunch of old classics in the public domain lately.  I just finished Tom Sawyer, Picture of Dorian Gray, and Tale of Two Cities.  I love these books!  I also recently read the Hunger Games Trilogy and I loved it!  I think it was mainly directed at young adult...I'm 24 and I still thought it was amazing!  Right now, I'm reading Jane Eyre.  I think it might be sort of a "chick flick/book" but it looked really interesting so I thought, what the heck.  It's pretty good so far.

I also recently read the Hunger Games Trilogy and couldn't read it fast enough! Was sorry to see it come to an end! Just finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It's her first novel, was very good.

isaacgish


I've been reading a bunch of old classics in the public domain lately.  I just finished Tom Sawyer, Picture of Dorian Gray, and Tale of Two Cities.  I love these books!  I also recently read the Hunger Games Trilogy and I loved it!  I think it was mainly directed at young adult...I'm 24 and I still thought it was amazing!  Right now, I'm reading Jane Eyre.  I think it might be sort of a "chick flick/book" but it looked really interesting so I thought, what the heck.  It's pretty good so far.

I have to agree.  I just received a DVD with 10,000+ classics and public domain books, and the first one I read was Robinson Caruso, now I am reading Treasure Island, books I ~should have~ read in my youth, but finally have at my fingertips to read during slow times at work.
 
Photto

The Prisoner in Cell 25, can't remember the author, fun read so far, about 2 teens with unusual powers.

"A Dog's Purpose" by W. Bruce Cameron...what a read.....It deserves all the praise it got...If you're a dog owner or just a dog lover...this book will really move you...a must read....his latest book is "Emory"s Gift", which I read first, about a boy,befriended by a Grizzily...as strange as it sounds, it too is a beautiful life lesson...Check them out on the web...Best sellers worth reading. Highly recommended!!!!

I've been reading (and rereading) the works of Jonathan kellerman. kellerman is a forensic psychologist who writes quite excellent mysteries and has been doing so since 1985. It has been good reading and an excellent trip to the recent past where finding a payphone is an important skill and attitudes toward some groups of people are significantly different than current attitudes. I recommend Dr. kellerman very highly.

My wife loves to read Authors like Grisham, Sandford, Patterson etc. Can anyone suggest any other Authors she might enjoy? I'm looking for some gift idea's
Thanks.
 

Both Kellermans are good reads....and yes.some of the older books bring back memeories of technology gone by

Brad Meltzer's - The Inner Circle
 
I just finished his "Book of Lies" and "Book of Fate"
 
Book of lies makes and interesting point. 
What was the murder weapon used by Cain to kill Abel?

I give up?.an  overdone Salami?

It has never been revealed - One of the best murder mystery of all times.

I just received today from Amazon, F.Paul Wilson's 15th and final Repairman Jack Novel, The Dark At The End....so far so perfect...all we've come to expect from my favorite contemporary author. What a series this has been!!!

Oh, I always love to share what I'm reading.  I just finished "The King's Speech", by Mark Lougue. He's Lionel Logue's grandson, who was the speech therapist portrayed by Gregory rush (that's not his first name but I can't remember it right now!)

Have finished small biographies of Millard Fillmore and Frankline Pierce and Nevada Barr mystery Burn.

Diary of a Common Soldier in the American Revolution, by Jeremiah Greenman

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson...I've read up to the time where the Macintosh was released. At this point in his career, I could not have worked for Jobs for more than a week before I would have taken a poke at him & quit.

In the last two weeks, finished Steven King's # 1 best seller...and it deserves to be (11/23/63) is the type you read, you can't put down. Highly recommended. Finished Rin Tin Tin : The life and the legend.....the story of how that movie and TV legend came to be. Very interesting. As I am a Shakespeare nut, started reading a 1976 book(slightley dated facts, but interesting)London Theatre: From the Globe to the National.

Not sure the title of what I'm reading something like the Kindness of Strangers about a guy who travels across the US without any money or transportation in search of the meaning of life. Best part...... I'm reading it on my new Kindle!!! A freebie.