What are you currently reading?

[Taro T]

Ok, since so many of you are readers, I'll pose this question - "what should I read next?"

 

First, some background. Other than a few books I had to read for school, I have only read one work of fiction cover to cover ("Confederacy of Dunces") and that was over 10 years ago. For whatever reason, I can't "get into" fiction. I'd love to, but whenever I've started one, I lose interest and never go back. Non-fiction books, for whatever reason, are different. I've read plenty, from sports books (Moneyball, The Game) to Bios (Frank Lloyd Wright, Theo Fleury), and everything by Anthony Bourdain. I've also read everything by David Sedaris, but his is sort of a fiction/non-fiction mash-up.

 

In two weeks I have to fly to Japan for a week long business trip. What should I read? I'd like to see if anyone has a suggestion for a novel that may actually be able to keep my attention.

If you liked The Game and like non-fiction and hockey in general, read Home Game. 6 chapters looking at how hockey fits into Canadian culture. Very interesting read, IMHO.

[I am Defecting]

Anthem ... Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged ... Ayn Rand

The Road to Surfdom ... Friedrich Hayak

The Federalist Papers ... Hamilton and Madison

Das Kapital ... Karl Marx

1984 ... George Orwell

 

 

 

When you've read those, you can join me in bed.

 

Oof, that's some heavy lit.

 

On a lighter note, wouldn't it bother you if someone called you a communist, just because you listed Marx, with the innuendo that you were a Stalinist, or worse, a hippie? That would be so typical, despite the other books you listed.

 

If you ran for office, I bet the press would cream you for listing Marx, despite the fact it's required reading in most lib. art colleges. I mean, what did Marx ever do that was so bad? To me, he's maybe the Martin Luther of politics.

[nfreeman]

Almost finished with the first Game Of Thrones book...I don't read a lot of fantasy, but this is excellent stuff. Been waiting to read the book before diving into the TV show. If the show is half as good as the book I'll be very pleased.

 

The show is excellent.

 

If you liked The Game and like non-fiction and hockey in general, read Home Game. 6 chapters looking at how hockey fits into Canadian culture. Very interesting read, IMHO.

 

There's a new NHL book out now that sounds really interesting -- it's billed as a behind-the-scenes look at GM'ing an NHL team, based on interviews with most of the active GMs. However, it costs a cool $100, so I'm not jumping in. But if anyone's feeling flush or can find a discount, I'd bet that it's pretty interesting.

 

http://nhlgms.com/

[cdexchange]

The show is excellent.

 

I've got the blu-ray arriving tomorrow on the release day (thank you Amazon Prime)...but I want to finish the first book before I watch the show. Anybody know if the first season of the show ends at the same point in the story that the first book ends?

[5th line wingnutt]

If we're going to talk about reading for entertainment I can't recommend Steven Hunter's Bob Lee Swagger series enough. It is the character that the Mark Wahlberg movie "Shooter" was based on. Hint, the Point of Impact novel was wayyyy better than "Shooter". Great reading if you are into action.

 

Thanks for this "heads up". I am now about 5/6 of the way thru Point of Impact and I like it enough that I have ordered the next two Swagger novels.

[biodork]

Proof that you can exploit March Madness for literally (har har) anything:

 

http://www.themorningnews.org/article/here-comes-the-rooster

[spndnchz]

Kendall Coffey: Spinning the Law

[LGR4GM]

Who reads in bed?

single ppl! :cry:

 

anyways,

 

"Those Who Hunt the Night" and "Travelling with the Dead" by Barbara Hambly

Both are set at the turn of the last century and are about a retired british agent (not like james bond) turned professor who finds himself employed by a Vampire... its actually a bit of mystery novel and no there is no sparkling vamps or teenage angst.

[chileanseabass]

Grabbed a copy of "Devil in the White City" per a number of suggestions, and am currently half way through. Very good! Originally being from Chicago, I find it especially interesting. I'm sure I'll finish it during my flight home on Friday.

[X. Benedict]

Grabbed a copy of "Devil in the White City" per a number of suggestions, and am currently half way through. Very good! Originally being from Chicago, I find it especially interesting. I'm sure I'll finish it during my flight home on Friday.

 

Glad to hear you are enjoying it. :thumbsup:

[FogBat]

If you ran for office, I bet the press would cream you for listing Marx, despite the fact it's required reading in most lib. art colleges. I mean, what did Marx ever do that was so bad? To me, he's maybe the Martin Luther of politics.

 

IDK how much you know about the Protestant Reformation, but I strongly beg to differ on the comparison. Given how much I've studied church history (and there is just sooooo much more to learn out there), this is comparing apples and oranges to an extreme. If both Luther and Marx were alive today, I think both of them would have a visceral hatred toward one another.

 

In all seriousness, Luther wanted to reform the Roman Catholic church from within. IIRC, he was excommunicated for refusing to recant his views and his writings. Even with the papal bull pronounced against him, he still continued to preach according to the dictates of his conscience as he had learned from Scripture. I can't say the same about Karl Marx.

[darksabre]

Finished "A First-Rate Madness" the other day. What a great read.

 

Started "The Plots Against the President: FDR, a Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right" today. I can't put it down. I'm only just beginning it but the striking similarities between the political and economic environment of the 30s and current times is a real mind f*ck.

[FogBat]

While I've been making my way through The Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens, he brought up a book in the footnotes that I haven't heard about in a long time. Maybe my wife will get me The Black Book of Communism for my birthday. :)

[Claude_Verret]

Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer. I've been of the mind that all politicians whether D or R are more the same than they are different for a long time now. This books just confirms it. It's sickening the crap they get away with, and we just keep sending them to Washington while we bicker along partisan lines and the country continues down the road to oblivion.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Throw-Them-All-Peter-Schweizer/dp/0547573146/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331231811&sr=8-1

[FogBat]

Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer. I've been of the mind that all politicians whether D or R are more the same than they are different for a long time now. This books just confirms it. It's sickening the crap they get away with, and we just keep sending them to Washington while we bicker along partisan lines and the country continues down the road to oblivion.

 

http://www.amazon.co...31231811&sr=8-1

 

Never mind Shakespeare. Sounds like these guys got the goods on political theatre.

[I am Defecting]

IDK how much you know about the Protestant Reformation, but I strongly beg to differ on the comparison.

 

I was just propping up Marx's achievements, upon Luther's to counterbalance my perceived slight against Marx in popular American culture.

 

It belonged in the complaint Thursdays thread, and I should just accept my punishment.

 

Mods?

[FogBat]

I was just propping up Marx's achievements, upon Luther's to counterbalance my perceived slight against Marx in popular American culture.

 

It belonged in the complaint Thursdays thread, and I should just accept my punishment.

 

Mods?

 

To be honest with you, I think a more appropriate comparison with Martin Luther with regard to politics would have been the American Founding Fathers. They at least had a level of compassion. Marx was just flat out ruthless.

[I am Defecting]

To be honest with you, I think a more appropriate comparison with Martin Luther with regard to politics would have been the American Founding Fathers. They at least had a level of compassion. Marx was just flat out ruthless.

 

I think I see where you are coming from. It's a power to the people movement, without the cold ruthless calculation.

 

Charting a different course, I just re-read Nobody Knows my Name by James Baldwin. As a whitey, I've had trouble discussing the book with whites and blacks alike, but I really like it. I feel that I have to pretend that it translates to me, rather than saying I understand it. In truth, it challenges me to understand, and is well written.

[Ross Rhea]

ummm... sabrespace, what are you currently reading thread. :P

[I am Defecting]

I'm reading the message board too. Team Storm Cloud is the anti-hero. They are the heroes of my times, though, actually.

[Eleven]

The show is excellent.

 

There's a new NHL book out now that sounds really interesting -- it's billed as a behind-the-scenes look at GM'ing an NHL team, based on interviews with most of the active GMs. However, it costs a cool $100, so I'm not jumping in. But if anyone's feeling flush or can find a discount, I'd bet that it's pretty interesting.

 

http://nhlgms.com/

 

As soon as it's available on amazon...

 

Kendall Coffey: Spinning the Law

 

I work with a couple of people who do this for a living. It's amazing, the effort that goes into a press release regarding a lawsuit.

 

Grabbed a copy of "Devil in the White City" per a number of suggestions, and am currently half way through. Very good! Originally being from Chicago, I find it especially interesting. I'm sure I'll finish it during my flight home on Friday.

 

That's a fantastic book. Larson is a master at weaving together two contemporaneous tales. Thunderstruck, his second book, juxtaposes Marconi's invention of the radio with an effort to capture a murderer fleeing London (eventually caught with the aid of radio technology) and puts you right in turn-of-the-century Europe (just like Devil in the White City puts you right in turn-of-the-century Chicago). I couldn't put it down. His third book, In the Garden of Beasts, is on my "waiting to be read" shelf right now.

 

Since I finished Q&A so quickly, I was left without a novel on my vacation and so I borrowed a copy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from the cottage we rented. I was skeptical, but damn, this is a page-turner.

[5th line wingnutt]

Throw Them All Out by Peter Schweizer. I've been of the mind that all politicians whether D or R are more the same than they are different for a long time now. This books just confirms it. It's sickening the crap they get away with, and we just keep sending them to Washington while we bicker along partisan lines and the country continues down the road to oblivion.

 

http://www.amazon.co...31231811&sr=8-1

 

I agree.

[FogBat]

I agree.

 

And that's coming from someone who ran for public office (which speaks volumes right there).

[Eleven]

Just got The Lifespan of a Fact http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=23104 delivered by amazon and I'm looking forward to this one!

[Eleven]

Finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Fantastic literary thriller. I know there's a movie due out, but I cannot imagine Hollywood putting every bit of these 600 pages into a movie.