I haven't bought books to read for fun in 2 years. That's sad and it had to stop, so I went to B&N today and got some books. --- 1. Grimm's Fairy Tales 2. The Hobbit 3. A Dream of Armageddon - The Complete Supernatural Tales --- .I actually haven't read any of these, but it's about time I read real fairy tales (not Disney's romanticized versions), some LORT (I've only seen some of 1 movie), and some good 'ol H.G. Wells. Let's see if I finish. Oh, so we have something to talk about: read any good books lately? (Strange formatting because the board is screwing up my post )
^I bought that yesterday, along with Bonfire of the Vanities and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (3 for 2 at Waterstones).
I have really opened the floodgates this summer. Binge is the appropriate word. Let's see, in the last couple of months I've read a group(4) of work related books none of you would be interested in, Ayn Rand's Anthem, Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Farnham's Freehold, ala Heinlein. I'm finishing A Cook's Tour (shootER you need to read this one), and I have on my shelf In Defense Of Food, and Deeply Rooted.
In the last several months, I've read or reread the following: Castles of Steel About Face First Man Bringing the Thunder I'm currently reading a two-volume history of Michael Wittman and the Tiger commanders of the Leibstandarte in WWII. I thought it would be a pretty dry read, but it's actually very interesting with lots of first-person accounts.
I am working through Lone Survivor right now. Tough to read, especially knowing what happens in the end. Of course, I also happen to think Michael P Murphy is someone everyone should think of each day, and remember always what it costs for us to be able to freely bitch about what we don't like each day. I also have Atlas Shrugged sitting there....and reading through that book a second time scares me. I was an arrogant SOB after finishing it last time, which was in Grade 11, IIRC.
Over my week in Colorado I read Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Blood Rites, and Death Masks by Jim Butcher; Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams; Dracula; The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three by Steven King. Throw in about three other books I read since then between housework and driving people around.
Recently finished: Snow Crash - Neil Stephenson's classic cyberpunk novel, recommended to me by a friend who's more into sci-fi than I am. Set in a post government world where everything is privatized, this tale of a hacker/intelligence gatherer/pizza delivery man and a teen-aged female skateboard courier trying to unlock the mystery that involves a Ted Turner-like communication magnate, a gigantic floating raft whose central element is the aircraft carrier Enterprise, ancient Sumarian tablets, and a computer virus that attacks hackers simply by appearing on their screens. Wonderful and very fast moving. Lots of laugh out loud parts. And how bad is the bad guy henchmen, a giant Aleut called "Raven" who kills with glass knives and spears, and carries a nuclear weapon in the sidecar of his motorcycle? As the narrative says, no one has to worry about being the world's baddest motherfucker; the position is taken. Augustus - Anthony Everitt's biography of Octavian, the nephew (and, ultimately, adopted son) of Julius Caesar who survived the tremendous power struggles at the end of the Roman Republic and became the first emperor, Augustus Caesar. Augustus could be cold, ruthless, conniving, but also a wise and capable governor. He appears not to have been very courageous physically, but he had his friend Marcus Agrippa around to wage most of his earlier campaigns. When he found the woman he wanted to marry, Livia, she was already married and pregnant; he forced her husband to divorce her and married her himself...their marriage lasted until he died (50 some-odd years). Although he had two grandsons lined up as heirs, they both died young and he was forced to make Livia's child, Tiberius, his successor. Fascinating tale of a truly great man. I'm working on now: How Rome Fell - Adrian Goldsworthy's account of the end of the Roman Empire, tracing the factors that influenced its fall from its height (the reign of Marcus Aurelius) to the abdication of the final Roman emperor in the West. So far, so good. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language - David Anthony's reconstruction--from archaeological evidence--the origins of the Indo-European family of languages. A challenging read (lots of technical minutiae) but fascinating nonetheless... And I'm about to start on Ender's Game, which I've somehow overlooked in my reading all these years...
I'm this close to finally plowing through to the end of Against the Day. There's a Pynchon thread in Media Central I'll revive once I finish.
I'm halfway through the Complete Sherlock Holmes. The half that I've read consists of Study in Scarlet, Sign of Four, Hound of the Baskervilles and about 24 short stories. I read Nicholas Meyer's The Seven Percent Solution about a month ago which inspired me to pick the Conan Doyle volumes up. Prior to June I don't recall what I was reading.
I like books. I read throughout the year, but since the start of June I've read: -A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens); -A History of Irish Thought (Thomas Duddy); -An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (John Locke); -Biography of Edmund Burke (John Morley); -Common Sense (Thomas Paine); -Rights of Man (Thomas Paine) and; -The Social Contract (Jean-Jacques Rousseau);
Dickens? You're a better man than I Gunga Din. I had to read a couple of those in school and I can't imagine reading them for pleasure.
the language is very rich I find, and that's perhaps the most pleasing aspect. Some of the passages in A Tale of Two Cities are just phenomenal and blew me away. Poetry in prose. I can understand how one could have difficulties with the dialogue at times, but once you get used to it, it is no problem.
I just finished The Plague by Albert Camus, and are diving into The Destruction of Convoy PQ-17 by David Irving. I've also started Of The Nature Of Things by Lucretius. Oh, and I'll cop to just finishing Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy(probably the 10th time reading it!)
I've read several H.P. Lovecraft anthologies, which is kind of a pain because a lot of the anthologies have overlapping shorts and to really get everything you end up buying the same short stories 2 and 3 times. Other than that, not a whole lot. My mother dropped off another pile of books with me recently, a couple of alternative history books were in there and as soon as I read that they were written from the perspective of a Confederate separatist nation at odds with the Union States and how that situation changed events during the course of the World War, I quietly put them back in her bag.
1. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of the best books ever written, period. 2. The big thing I remember about Farnham's Freehold (aside from the sign at the end about the free kittens and books accepted as cash) was a little tidbit where Hugh (or someone) described the poor people of the future society as 'Po Black Trash.' I was in gradeschool or jr high when I read this for the first time and I didn't understand the reference at all, having NEVER heard the term 'Po White Trash.' Years later, after I'd moved to Pensacola and heard the term bandied about in it's normal context a couple of times, it was like a lightbulb went off and I was like: "That's what he meant by that!" Strange sometimes, the stuff that sticks with you. And although not heralded as his best work, one of my top, all time favorite Heinlein novels remains The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.
Indeed. I wonder what ever happened to Tim Minar's treatment of it? wish it would at least rate a SyFy movie if not the big screen. The other book i really liked was "Glory Road" - especially the "adventure" part - he tends to wax overly wordy at the end. also, I assume you have read Starship Troopers but if you haven't, it's required reading for any fan of RAH right along with "Stranger"
I actually found Glory Road to be ridiculous and the worst of all his work. Starship Troopers might be my all time favorite book.
Stop after that one. The rest of the series is terrible, awful, just bad... Anyway, I've just finishes MZB's The Mists of Avalon; a feminist take on the Arthurian legends (told from the point of view of Morgaine, aka Morgan le Fey). Very well written, if a little slow in parts. Principle theme seems to be; the old must make way for the new. She (the author) paints neither christianity nor old world paganism in a very good light. The book reads more like an alternative history than a series of myths/legends like "Morte de Arthur", but most of the old tales are woven in there.
Maybe I was just an easy sucker for the idea of putting the classic "fantasy" type motif into a more regular SF box. Plus, I rather liked the "court" scenes concerning the proper way to run the universe... ...that I thought was fun.
Started Brave New World by Aldous Huxley a few days ago. Not sure how I feel about it yet, but it hasn't been too bad so far. Next I'm hoping to get In Cold Blood by Capote but that'll depend on if they have it at the library or not.
Working on the book version of "The Power of Myth". After that will probably come the O'Reilley Access book something on websites, and "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." I suspect "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" will be a bit simplistic and beneath me, but I may get something out of it.
I've read just about every word Heinlein ever published, I'm pretty sure. I might have missed a couple of his books for youths, maybe. Most of his stuff I've read multiple times. And if you love RAH, make sure you read Variable Star by Spider Robinson. It is based on RAH's notes for a novel and the way Spider wrote it, it just oozes Heinlein's style.
