What Book Are You Reading? Volume 9

[Ulyaoth]

Well I wanted to get a good bit of reading done over my vacation last week but only got around to reading The Dunwich Horror and starting at the Mountains of madness, which reminds me I should get back to as it's so far as I'm through it the best of his stories. After that I've got slaughterhouse 5 to read and then maybe onto some education reads rather than fiction junk.

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

Reading Paradise Lost. I'm considering reading the Quran on the side because the NY mosque controversy has piqued my curiosity. However, I remember getting bored with it last time because of all the rules, and more rules, and more rules. And hey, did I mention all the rules? Legalism FTW! Ach,I've been bad, I know. Feel free to cut off my head now. Just take care not to splatter the blood on the Quran, or my Persian rug, or the ottoman.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Just finished The Tears of Autumn by Charles McCarry. It is one of his Paul Christopher spy novels. In this one, the protagonist investigates whether JFK was assassinated as a reprisal for the Diem and Ngo assassinations in Vietnam, which happened 21 days prior to his assassination.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Just finished The Birth of the United States by Isaac Asimov...now I am reading the second book in Star Trek's "Destiny" trilogy, Mere Mortals.

 

[Dachs]

Celia Chazelle and Catherine Cubitt (eds.) - The Crisis of the Oikoumene: The Three Chapters and the Failed Quest for Unity in the Sixth Century Mediterranean

Useful collection of essays, though I can't read one of them, which is in untranslated French. (Sigh.) First skimmed them as part of research for my ATL, then went back and read them more fully in Germany.

Anyone seen a similiar book from Davis's perspective?

The old standby is Strode's three-volume biography. But that's midcentury vintage and I'm almost sure it's been surpassed recently. Dunno any starting points, though. Sorry.

Good choice on McPherson, btw.

Also, Massie is kind of meh. Books are big, loads of fairly good research, but I loathe his approach to international politics and, in some cases, state policy.

 

[Godwynn]

Foundation - Isaac Asimov

 

[Perfection]

I Am a Strange Loop - Douglas Hofstadter

 

[Camikaze]

Read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Good entertainment value, but I don't appreciate surrealism, and was left with the impression that the author is a twisted freak.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Foundation - Isaac Asimov

Oh, the fun you'll have.

I just started Will Durant's Our Oriental Heritage, the first volume in his Story of Civilization series. The first book is over a thousand pages, so I've got a lot to look forward to.

 

[Gangor]

Diplomacy - Kissinger

 

[Azale]

I just started Will Durant's Our Oriental Heritage, the first volume in his Story of Civilization series. The first book is over a thousand pages, so I've got a lot to look forward to.

Yea, and I'm not sure how much of an authority on non-European he is so I skipped straight to the Life of Greece.

 

[fdgsgds]

Nothing extremely thought-provoking. I'm reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. It's hysterical!

 

[Murky]

I've been considering getting a Kindle.

 

[Danielion]

"The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov.
(De Meester en Margarita/ Translation from Russian to Dutch)

 

[Cutlass]

Excellent book, excellent author. I used this one for a paper on German Naval Policy. I'm thinking of reading his biography of Peter the Great next.

I haven't had time to get too far into it. In thew early parts the Germans don't come off looking too good. Is the author objective there?

 

[ParkCungHee]

I found I have a copy of Fischer's Germany's Aims in the First World War, figured it's time I got around to reading it.

 

[sophie]

I finished Dawkins now I took a page out of Godwynn's book (hehe)

All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

 

[Masada]

The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie: Not as good as his other popular outing: Midnights Children. But still readable.

Cambodia: A History - David P. Chandler: A nice short (200 page) history of Cambodia from before the rise of Angkor to the present day. Under normal circumstances I could give two figs about the Khmer but I figured I might as well be practised in my contempt.

Gus Dur: The Authorized Biography of Abdurrahman Wahid - Greg Barton: Well, I've always liked Gus Dur and this book has reinforced that perception. A good read.

 

[Azale]

Diplomacy - Kissinger

It's a comedy I'm guessing?

 

[IronMan2055]

The Once and Future King - T.H. White