I mentioned Gates of Fire in a different thread.....highly recommend it. Anyways, what are you reading right now?
Re-reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Textbooks (ugh). Not much time for anything else. I've been meaning to give Dracula a try. I recently finished The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears (history class). Good read, especially if you like a bit of European history. I noticed 3 typos in the book and that bothered me, but the plots were pretty good.
I'm always reading 100 books at a time. That's probably why I seldom finish one! Let's see: I just finished Robert Service's 'Comrades: A History of World Communism' and I'm currently working through Tony Judt's 'Postwar: A History of Europe from World War II.' Speaking of 'Gates of Fire,' I've also got to finish Tom Holland's 'Persian Fire,' about Xerxes and the invasion of Greece. All three books have been very informative. I read Isaacson's bio of Einstein a while back, and I'd recommend it. I also read Aeschylus' play 'Seven Against Thebes' recently--probably a good choice only for someone interested in Ancient Greece, really. I just got the second volume of a four volume set of Greek tragedy--this one features Sophocles--so I'll probably read 'Oedipus Rex' and 'Antigone' again in the near future. Once I get a breather from school and can do some more 'fun'-reading, I've got Ian Fleming's 'Live and Let Die' on tap. I've also got the first three of Martin Cruz Smith's Renko series (Gorky Park, Polar Star, Red Square) to take on (I've already read the most recent three: Havana Bay, Wolves Eat Dogs, and Stalin's Ghost); they're very good reads. I also have a new edition/translation of 'War and Peace,' that, God help me, I might actually take on. And then there's Goldworthy's bio of (Julius) Caesar that I've got to get to...and the new translation of the Aeneid...and the third volume of Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' series... ...I think I already own all the books I'll need for the rest of my life.
Got interested in Kathy Reichs' "Bones" books by watching the TV series. It's compLETEly different! I'm on the third book in the series right now, alternating them with other stuff.
Just finished a bio of Thomas Jefferson and haven't yet plunged into the next one on the list, that of James Madison.
I'm still on the final chapter of "Good to Great". It's a book about how mediocre businesses were able to become market leaders--and sustain that dominant position. The book is the product of five years of research and is very enlightening. After that, I'll likely tackle "Built to Last", by the same author. It skipped the transformation part and just covered firms that have been successful irregardless of whether they had humble beginnings or not. Oh, and I also recently read "Words You Can Use That Will Annoy English Majors."
If you liked 'Gates of Fire'....Pressfield wrote a similar type of novel about Alexander's campaign in Afghanistan. Called 'The Afghani Campaign'....awesome book and VERY informative. His newest one is about a SAS mission to kill Rommal. I just ordered it today.
Sure, the Big Picture. But, what about the little guy? Have you read Who Moved My Cheese and The One Minute Manager? I'm cozying up with a good romance novel tonight, that I bought at the grocery store yesterday. I'll also be gobbling up a bag of chips with a bowl of ranch dip.
Playboy. I read it for the articles. I don't read books. TV, girls (on occasion only), sports, and video games + this place get in the way of that. My sister does read a lot of book though, and recently, all her friends have recommended everyone read: It's about Afghanistan, and the struggles of the people there in a region torn by war and extremism.
Right now I'm re-reading Rex Stout's The Second Confession, it's number two in the Triple Zeck omnibus. While hunting for proof of a man's membership in the Communist party, Nero and Archie become embroiled in solving his murder, all while under the clandestine gaze of New York's criminal mastermind, Arnold Zeck. It's a good read.
Foucault's L'ordre du discours is sitting on my desk and waiting for a re-reading right now. Then next will be lots of sentimentalism, starting with Rousseau, Sterne, and Gellert.
I'm rereading through Discworld ATM. Already covered the Rincewind and Witches books, getting through the Watch books just now.
Reading "What If? Two", which is a series of essays by renowned historians about how history could've been changed if certain outcomes of events had gone a different way. Examples are: What if Pilate had not had Christ crucified? What if Antony and Cleopatra had not lost to Octavian at Actium? What if Martin Luther had burned at the stake for heresy? This is the second edition. The original "What If?" was entirely military battles. #2 is a mix of military battles AND other events. And it's all done from reasoned, evidentiary-laden arguments. Pretty decent so far for non-fiction.
Berserker Man by Fred Saberhagen. I'm going to read through the whole Berserker series, about 12 books or so.
I've just discovered the Irish writer Ken Bruen and his Jack Taylor mysteries. Good stuff - hard-boiled Irish noir.
YES, Ken Bruen is amazing. Discovered him about 2 years ago and I read all the Jack Taylor books and The White Trilogy, damn good author. And I am currently reading V by Thomas Pynchon, Ubik by Philip K Dick and Economics in One Lesson-Henry Hazlitt.
I am reading eye witness accounts of the Battle of Shiloh. Picked it up on the way back from MS at the battlefield.
