What are you currently reading?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I finished a good and funny book called 'Them'.  It's about a journalist's adventures with extremists.

 

Now I am reading a heart wrenching account of a Serbian family in Goražde.  It is written by a man who was a young boy (13 at the start of the war) during the siege.  The book is called ... Not My Turn To Die (spoiler alert ... he, at least, survives).

 

It is a predominately Muslim town in Eastern Bosnia, that area is predominantly Serb.  So, the town was held by Muslims and the surrounding area was held by the Serbs.  Most Serbs in the town fled and became refugees, but not all.  So, this is a story of one of the few Serb families to stay.  They experienced the shelling and sniping of the Serbs in the hills, who did not care and fired at anything that moved in the town.  The family also had to endure the torture and threats of the Muslims in the town.  These people were all friends and neighbours before the war.  Absolutely horrific.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Gora%C5%BEde

 

My experience and feelings on the war in Bosnia are well known and very strong.

 

As the years have gone by and I have learned more and more about other things that happened during the war I am realising that there were not many 'good guys' and that atrocities were committed on all sides.

Edited March 4, 2018 by N S

[Samson's Flow]

Finally finished 'It' a few weeks back. It was definitely worth the effort despite the page count. Really enjoyed it even if it was my first Steven King novel

 

Now I'm moving on to the Miracle at Dunkirk. Novel about the early WW2 events around the German insurgence into France and the corresponding British retreat.

[Randall Flagg]

Finally finished 'It' a few weeks back. It was definitely worth the effort despite the page count. Really enjoyed it even if it was my first Steven King novel

 

Now I'm moving on to the Miracle at Dunkirk. Novel about the early WW2 events around the German insurgence into France and the corresponding British retreat.

Oh man. If you really liked It, there are about 2 dozen other King books that are gonna change your life. Jump into the wormhole. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I’m reading Ian Fleming for the first time. Actually listening to the audiobooks on the way to work.

[sabills]

I’m reading Ian Fleming for the first time. Actually listening to the audiobooks on the way to work.

 

I'm all about audio books right now, too. For the last year or so actually. Right now I'm on book 7 of 14 of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Let me tell you, I wouldn't have made it this far trying to read it from the books.

 

20-30 minute commute every day, plus a lot of times I'll put my headphones in walking the dog, and might have it running while I'm at work or up in my shop at home; that  means I'm listening to sometimes 2+ hours a day. If I try to read at night I often get distracted or fall asleep in about 15 minutes unless I'm really wrapped up in the story.

[jsb]

I actually started reading by going back to audio books. Construction on the hwy going to and from work, I started listening after getting sick of talk radio.

I borrowed my wife's Nook, started reading Jack Reacher 61 Hours by Lee Child. Not finished yet but a pretty good read so far. Never used her Nook before, this is way easier to buy books as opposed to fighting traffic and going to Barnes and Noble. Prices cheaper too.

[Drunkard]

I'm all about audio books right now, too. For the last year or so actually. Right now I'm on book 7 of 14 of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Let me tell you, I wouldn't have made it this far trying to read it from the books.

 

20-30 minute commute every day, plus a lot of times I'll put my headphones in walking the dog, and might have it running while I'm at work or up in my shop at home; that  means I'm listening to sometimes 2+ hours a day. If I try to read at night I often get distracted or fall asleep in about 15 minutes unless I'm really wrapped up in the story.

 

Audiobooks are great. There are a bunch of them for free on the YouTube app that I play through the Roku when I go to sleep. Astrophysics for people in a hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins are two of my go to's. I just shut the tv screen off while still having the audio portion of it play through the speakers.

[GASabresIUFAN]

I actually started reading by going back to audio books. Construction on the hwy going to and from work, I started listening after getting sick of talk radio.

I borrowed my wife's Nook, started reading Jack Reacher 61 Hours by Lee Child. Not finished yet but a pretty good read so far. Never used her Nook before, this is way easier to buy books as opposed to fighting traffic and going to Barnes and Noble. Prices cheaper too.

Most libraries have great digitial downloads. Usually Overdrive, which has a decent app for phones. Also, I usually get the cd’s from the library and upload them to Itunes for use on my phone and ipad.

[MattPie]

I forgot who wrote that, but it is a very, very good read. Forgot all about it until you mentioned it

The guy was an upstate/WNY guy, and later taught at SUNY Binghamton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gardner_(American_writer)

 

BTW, I ended up giving up on Tolkein's translation of Beowulf, instead finding an older prose version. Still fairly tough and disjointed, though. I just finished reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, so apparently I'm on an Old/Middle English kick. I found this person who apparently loves translating stuff from a bunch of languages into modern English, which is good for me. His Gawain was pretty good (at least I think), I wish I had found his Beowulf first.

https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/English/GawainAndTheGreenKnight.php

Edited March 5, 2018 by MattiPaj

[jsb]

Most libraries have great digitial downloads. Usually Overdrive, which has a decent app for phones. Also, I usually get the cd’s from the library and upload them to Itunes for use on my phone and ipad.

Thanks, never dawned on me that the library would have audio or e-books. I'll have to check on that. 

[MattPie]

Thanks, never dawned on me that the library would have audio or e-books. I'll have to check on that. 

 

It's pretty good; Overdrive or the newer (but sometimes slower) Libby apps work pretty well. Generally, you can download the books in epub or Kindle format to use in those readers (like an old-school nook or other phone app), but the books do expire after your loan is done.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

It's pretty good; Overdrive or the newer (but sometimes slower) Libby apps work pretty well. Generally, you can download the books in epub or Kindle format to use in those readers (like an old-school nook or other phone app), but the books do expire after your loan is done.

 

How do you return it, so this guy doesn't come after you ...

 

 

:flirt:

[MattPie]

How do you return it, so this guy doesn't come after you ...

 

 

:flirt:

 

LOL. It auto-returns at the end of the loan, or you can (usually) return it early via the app. It's all just bits.

[Samson's Flow]

Oh man. If you really liked It, there are about 2 dozen other King books that are gonna change your life. Jump into the wormhole. 

I never thought I would like King given the genre, as I don't generally like horror movies, but I'm willing to give another one a go. Is there a recommendation for the next one to try or does it not matter?

[Eleven]

I never thought I would like King given the genre, as I don't generally like horror movies, but I'm willing to give another one a go. Is there a recommendation for the next one to try or does it not matter?

 

11/22/63.  It's not a horror novel, but it is very suspenseful.

Edited March 5, 2018 by Eleven

[sabills]

I never thought I would like King given the genre, as I don't generally like horror movies, but I'm willing to give another one a go. Is there a recommendation for the next one to try or does it not matter?

 

 

11/22/63.  It's not a horror novel, but it is very suspenseful.

 

 

After reading the Dark Tower books and a couple others of his since then, I think King gets glossed with Horror too easily, or at least was by me. He's much more, like, sci-fi suspense. Or if he's horror its more Lovecraftian horror than the slasher/ghost stuff that I never had time for. He's good .

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I never thought I would like King given the genre, as I don't generally like horror movies, but I'm willing to give another one a go. Is there a recommendation for the next one to try or does it not matter?

 

The Shining, or The Dead Zone.

 

No other book of his compares to It, though.  IMO, that is the best scare the poop put of you books ever.  I mean, I never liked clowns, but after reading It, oh man.

[Sabel79]

The guy was an upstate/WNY guy, and later taught at SUNY Binghamton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gardner_(American_writer)

BTW, I ended up giving up on Tolkein's translation of Beowulf, instead finding an older prose version. Still fairly tough and disjointed, though. I just finished reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, so apparently I'm on an Old/Middle English kick. I found this person who apparently loves translating stuff from a bunch of languages into modern English, which is good for me. His Gawain was pretty good (at least I think), I wish I had found his Beowulf first.

https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/English/GawainAndTheGreenKnight.php

John Steinbeck's King Arthur is fairly decent, if you're still on that kick.

 

I never thought I would like King given the genre, as I don't generally like horror movies, but I'm willing to give another one a go. Is there a recommendation for the next one to try or does it not matter?

The Shining is his best novel. The short story collections are pretty much all interesting as well. King can't write a grocery list in less than a thousand pages for the most part, the short works are a change of pace.

[MattPie]

John Steinbeck's King Arthur is fairly decent, if you're still on that kick.

 

 

Very cool, thanks. I read Ivanhoe a number of years ago, so this would be an interesting contrast.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Just stopped by to say that I am currently reading ...

 

The African Dream.

 

It is a first hand account of the revolutionary war in The Congo by Che Guevara.  Taken from his own private diary of his time in The Congo and the struggles he faced in getting the revolution going.

 

He is a fascinating man.  Certainly in the top 5 in my lifetime.  His story is fascinating, as well.

 

Che and about 150 of his fellow Cuban volunteers spent about 9 months in The Congo in 1965, before it all fell apart.  I would think that if the revolution there had worked it certainly would not have been worse for the country and the people than it ended up being after the Cubans left.

 

Che than went to Bolivia to help in a revolution there before he was tracked down and murdered, most likely by the CIA.

 

The book had a very long and drawn out history of The Congo at the time Che was there, written by some guy with at least one PhD. and verbal poops.

Edited April 16, 2018 by N S

[MattPie]

I'm splitting time on a few things:

- Mastering Git (it's a source code/document revision control system; it's mostly used for coding, but you could use it for documents (Word, etc.) if you wanted - you could go back to any version of a file you check in and get it back)

- The Man in the High Castle (I've watched some of the series on Amazon and decided to (very slowly) read the book)

- Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (a modern translation from the guy listed above)

Edited April 16, 2018 by MattiPaj

[sabills]

Now on book 8 of 14 of Wheel of Time. Its getting to be a grind. But every time when I finish a book I want to go into the next one right away, so I haven't taken a real break.

[jsb]

Deadwood by Pete Dexter, it's a western with Wild Bill Hicock but not necessarily his story. If you liked Lonesome Dove, you'll like this one.

[pi2000]

Neuromancer

[WildCard]

Alright, need some book recommendations here. Looking for something in the fantasy realm. Not necessarily against sci-fi, but I was really unimpressed with Dune to be honest.