what book are you reading these days?

1. 73

   HubChiefposted 15 years ago

   book name and author, subject.
   describe what you liked about it. would you recommend to others, yes or no why?

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      wsp2469posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I just finished a really thick, current book on the Beatles called The Beatles".  I forget the author but it is fairly new.  Anyway, I am now reading Was Superman A Spy? by Brian Cronin.  it is basically a book that concerns urban myths related to comic books. 
      I just strted it but already I don't like the fact that the graphics are all in b&w and some don't appear too sharp.  I am also reading 3 other books. . .sorta. . .you know how it is. . .a book of erotica in the bedroom, a book in my briefcase for when I substitute teach. . .a book i started only because my parents sent it to me. . .

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2. 61

   Colebabieposted 15 years ago

   I just finished reading Taking Woodstock by Elliot Tiber & Tom Monte. Its the story of the guy who basically helped relocate Woodstock so the festival wouldn't get shut down. His family owned the motel in the town where the festival was held. A lot of the book is about his personal life and self discovery. Good book. I recommend it.
   
   Now I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Cute story. But she uses a lot of swear words which takes away from it. I'll let everyone know after I finish whether or not I recommend it

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      Ladybird33posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I am reading Time Traveler's Wife too..I agree with your comment.

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3. 61

   Colebabieposted 15 years ago

   Right LB? Why does she have to do that? I mean I can definitely be a potty mouth, but not those words.. those words are reserved for gross- out- humor movies.

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   1. 0

      Sidney Rayneposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Heh...I have been a Howard Stern fan for more than half of my life and have quite a foul mouth as well...it is funny that as much as I love his radio show being on satellite with no censorship...at times the foul language seems beyond ignorant.
      
      This rational really applies to books though...a few drops here and there can create emphasis but too much foul language comes across as forced and the effect is lost....couldn't agree more.

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4. 67

   Trekkiemelissaposted 15 years ago

   I am getting close to finishing up star trek: stargazer book 1.  Its actually pretty good if you like star trek.

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5. 73

   HubChiefposted 15 years ago

   I am reading "First Break all the rules..." by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman. It is about techniques world's greatest managers use in their profession. The book narrates examples that prtray a nice live picture and one can relate to work situation. I am halfway through but woudl recommend it.
   
   I have just finished reading a book from a present day author Dean Graziosi on "Profit from real estate right now"... Shows some good literature but he repeats his advice paragraphs on theme "do not give up" so much that I was fed up after 3 chapters itself and I skimmed and scanned whenever i reached those texts.
   
   The ideas he presented seem common ones however I do not recommend reading that book. He just is a big mouth on trying to wake up your soul which kind of looks good in early chpaters and then becomes a distraction in the book.

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6. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   I have an advanced reader copy of Audrey Niffenegger's new book Her Fearful Symmetry. It is one of the best love stories I have ever read. The first two pages had me in tears.
   
   It's a ghost story. This woman Elspeth dies and she is haunting her apartment. Which she is trapped in - can't haunt anywhere else. Robert - the love of her life - lives in the apartment above, but she can't figure out how to get there.
   
   Living in it are her two twin neices, to whom she willed it.
   
   Running parallel to this plot is a love story of the neighbor below who is an agoraphobic with OCD who is married to a woman who has to leave because she doesn't want to enable him. But they still love each other and want to find a way.
   
   I also have an advanced reader copy of Pat Conroy's new novel(first in 14 years) South of Broad, which is also pulling at my heartstrings, and also is wonderful.

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7. 66

   Lisa HWposted 15 years ago

   David McCullough's "John Adams".  I saw the DVD's, so now I'm finally getting around to reading the book.
   
   I like it because it gives a good picture of how things were at that time in history and gives insight into Adams life and thinking.  I would recommend it because, besides it's being a good story, I think a lot of people who haven't paid much attention to how this country got started could use a little awareness of it.

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8. 69

   Beth100posted 15 years ago

   Melanie Beattie
   National Fire Code (Canada)
   National Building Code (Canada)
   NRC (various)
   and for fun,
   hubs
   The Five Languages of Love
   Bonesetters Daughter
   Blackhawk Down
   Three Cups of Tea

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9. 73

   HubChiefposted 15 years ago

   such a diverse reader's base within 9 posts. Amazing

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10. 60

    elainevcposted 15 years ago

    Still didn't start but I'm hoping to read The Host of Stephenie Meyer any day now

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11. 53

    wrenfrost56posted 15 years ago

    Mitch Alboms the five people you meet in heaven. A morality tale told through a dip in biography after death. A good read so far, keeps you geussing and he has a great style. Recomend.

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12. 61

    blue dogposted 15 years ago

    usually two or three books going at a time.  currently:  dog man by martha sherrill, about a japanese man's love for dogs.  so far, quite good, but i'm sure sadness is around the bend.
    
    also, for the third time, crossing the rubicon by michael ruppert.  this one should actually be required reading for anyone with an interest in the direction we're headed and why we're headed in that direction.

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13. 68

    euro-penposted 15 years ago

    Neal Stevenson: Quicksilver. The first part of his trilogy about the scientific progress in the Baroque era. I like novels with an historic background with some "true" facts within the story.
    
    Besides I have a bunch of economics books about the current recession laying around which I am reading at a snail's pace.

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14. 79

    TamCorposted 15 years ago

    I just finished "Life Expectancy" by Dean Koontz...a re-read, but I really loved this book.
    
    Trying to decide which Dean Koontz to re-read next, now, since I have almost everyone of his!

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15. 83

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 15 years ago

    Just finishing Dean Koontz's Dragon Tears. It is very odd but keeps you on your toes.
    
    
    And just started on Audio books Brisinger by Christopher Paolini. Its book three of the Eragon series
    I loved both Eragon and the Eldest. HIGHLY recommend them both especially if you're dragon fans. The best part is that there is a fourth one soon to be available too...yeah

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16. 80

    DoodleLynposted 15 years ago

    Just finished My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult last week. Best book I read this summer. It's MUCH better than the movie, and even has different ending. It is about a girl who takes her parents to court for medical emancipation from her parents who have been using her asa medical blood and organ donor to keep her older sister alive. I highly recommend it - there is a double twist at the end. Jodi Picoult is an excellent writer. Can't wait to read more of her books.
    
    I read The Shack (William P. Young) a couple of months ago. It was probably THE most powerful book I have ever read. It's about a man who meets God in person, in the Trinity, after his four year old daughter is abducted. His journey through his grief and pain, and his attempt at healing have significantly touched my heart.

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    1. 61

       Jane@CMposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Love both those books.  You'll enjoy more of Picoult's books! I've read almost all of her books. 
       
       I have nothing to read at the moment.  Need to go to B&N

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17. 80

    DoodleLynposted 15 years ago

    Oh, forgot. I'm currently reading Any Minute by Joyce Meyer. I'll keep you posted, as I am only on the first chapter.

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18. 69

    Beth100posted 15 years ago

    Cheryl Richardson - Extreme Self Care

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19. 85

    jiberishposted 15 years ago

    Almost finished with Glenn Becks' 'Common Sense'.

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    1. 72

       Ralph Deedsposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Glenn Beck is a pathetic loser.

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       1. 61

          Ron Montgomeryposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          But very entertaining in a W sort of way.  Many comedians would be put out of work if they didn't have these guys as source material

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20. 0

    ralwusposted 15 years ago

    Stop the World, I need to pee! (The life and Crimes of Fenella Fisher) by Cindy Vine
    This is a great read.

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21. 76

    Earthscribeposted 15 years ago

    Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson by Camille Paglia
    
    "Portraying Western culture as a struggle between masculine, phallic, sky-religion on the one hand, and feminine, chthonic, earth-religion on the other, Paglia seeks to show that Christianity did not destroy paganism, but rather drove it into the underground of Western culture, to later emerge in Renaissance art, Romanticism, and contemporary popular culture, especially Hollywood.
    
    Drawing on the Greco-Roman polarity between the Apollonian and Dionysian, Paglia associates Apollo with order, structure, and symmetry, while identifying Dionysus with chaos, disorder, and nature. She then proceeds to analyze literature and art from the premise that the primary conflict in Western culture has always been between these binary forces.
    
    According to Paglia, the major patterns of continuity in western culture find their origin in paganism, which, undefeated by Judeo-Christianity, continues to flourish in art, eroticism, astrology and pop culture. Other sources of continuity include androgyny, sadism, and the aggressive "western eye," which has created our art and cinema. Paglia discusses sex and nature as brutal daemonic forces, and she criticizes feminists for sentimentality or wishful thinking about the cause of rape, violence, and poor relations between the sexes. She also stresses the biologic basis of sexual difference and sees the mother as an overwhelming force who condemns men to lifelong sexual anxiety, from which they fleetingly escape through rationalism and physical achievement.
    
    In keeping with the theme of unity between classical art and pop culture, the "sexual personae" of her title include the female vampire (Medusa, Lauren Bacall); the pythoness (the Delphic Oracle, Gracie Allen); the beautiful boy (Hadrian's Antinous, Dorian Gray); the epicene man of beauty (Lord Byron, Elvis Presley); and the male heroine (Baudelaire).
    
    Other works to which Paglia applies her analysis of Western art and literature include: Pre-historic art, Egyptian art, Ancient Greek sculpture, Donatello, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Shakespeare's As You Like It and Antony and Cleopatra, Rousseau, Marquis de Sade, Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Byron's Don Juan, Shelley, Keats, Balzac, Gautier, Baudelaire, Huysmans, Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson, Whitman, Henry James, The Pre-Raphaelites, Ingres, Swinburne, Pater, Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Grey, and Emily Dickinson"
    (wikipedia quote)
    
    Highly recommended for those who enjoy Media Studies, Art History, Western Tradition, Feminism, and analyzing the political ramifications of Christianity.

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22. 58

    stranded07posted 15 years ago

    I just started reading Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan. So far, it has an amazing plot and it tackles about the lives of asian women living in america and their relationship with their family and to other people. Its too early for me to recommend but i think most asian americans would love it.

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23. 67

    Trekkiemelissaposted 15 years ago

    I just finished the other day, star trek: stargazer series - Gauntlet (book one).  It will be turned into a hub when I finish reading all 6 in the series.  I found there is a book that comes before that series so I will be reading that before I continue reading the series.  Right now, I am reading the perfect stranger by danielle steel.  I will be going back and forth between her, star trek, nora roberts and other books.

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24. 73

    Hauntyposted 15 years ago

    

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25. 60

    wsp2469posted 15 years ago

    Actually I still have more than one book going at a time BUT the main book I am reading now is "Enemies & Allies" by NY Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson.  Ever since the 1989 blockbuster hit "Batman" folks at DC Comics have been encouraging authors (who have never written stories about specific characters or even not written comic books at all) to write actual short stories or even entire novels using the DC icons.  They are always interesting to say the least.

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26. 61

    GrantEdposted 15 years ago

    Im reading Robert Beck aka Iceberg Slim's Trick Baby

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