What are you reading?

[Sky]

I'm reading a book called The Double Bind. It's a good book. Not fantastic, but good. The main character is a college girl who likes to bike the back roads of Vermont. She was attacked while out riding so that part is scary.

I was wondering if anyone knows of other fiction books about cycling. Any good non-fiction books? I was looking at a book called Coblestone Dreams. Has anyone read it?

[CycleTherapy]

Sky,

Here's a link to an author's website (Dave Shields) where you can order his books. I have read two of his works; THE RACE and THE TOUR.....excellent cycling stories ! His current book is about Saul Raisin's come back after his horrific cycling accident (non-fiction).http://www.daveshields.com/purchase.html

I think you'll enjoy this author and his cycling story-lines.

[uforgot]

I just finished Dean Koontz's Life Expectancy. Loved it! Very suspenseful, but I found myself laughing out loud in parts. A lot of one-liners. My favorite book of his.

[surgtech1956]

Patricia Cornwell's At Risk. Love all her books. Also read Michael Crichton, Robin Cook,

[stacie]

After the loss of his family, a 40ish overweight, alcoholic couch potato sets off on a journey across America on his bike. The book is about the people he meets and the search to find his old self.

[KnottedYet]

I've been told I look like Patricia Cornwell. (but I'm not into her books)

I just finished "History of the world in six glasses" but can't remember the author. (looks at history based on beer, wine, liquor, tea, coffee, and Coca Cola)

Tried tried tried to read "Covering, the hidden assault on our civil rights" (I think that's the title) but it just got tedious.

I was reading a Suze Orman book, "Money Secrets" or something like that. It's in a pile of stuff somewhere. I need to finish it before the library comes a'calling...

Now, for gazing at author pictures I'll take Cornwell or Nevada Barr over Orman any day!

[AllezGirl]

My favorite cycling book is Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage.

Also enjoyed Pedaling to Hawaii by Stevie Smith

[limewave]

I've been reading manuscripts lately. I work at a publisher and am helping to come up with cover design ideas. But, none of them are about cycling. Sorry.

Upcoming books I just read:
Kill Me if You Can by Nicole Young
This is the second book in her series. The main character travels from town to town fixing up homes to sell them for a profit . . . murder and mystery follows her wherever she goes.

The Pawn by Steven James
Along the lines of Patricia Cornwell novels, a forensic pathologist is hot on the trail of a serial killer. This is the first in the series. I really liked it.

All the Tea in China by Jane Orcutt
Historical romance with pirates and sword fights. It was a fun read.

Reading now:
A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers (an old favorite)
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy

I want to read:
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich (It's just fun)
A Tale of Two Sisters by Anna Maxted
Christine Falls by Donna Freydkin

[smilingcat]

"A Man without a Country" by Kurt Vonnegut
"On Intellegence" by Jeff Hawkins

The latter deals with why AI (artificial intellegence) is just smoke and why neural networks is destined to fail. so I'm a geekett. The human brain, neo-cortex, is trully amazing.

my background: I was a research engineer back in the Star War days of Ronnie Reagan. Then I saw the light that it was wrong. So I resigned my position. Still I'm interested in how human brain really works and the computational aspects. This is why I'm interested in things like "On Intellegence"

once a nerd always a nerd. So what is a proper dress attaire for a girl nerd. Ugly Betty?

[Pax]

I just finished The Sardonyx Net by Elizabeth A. Lynn. She wrote wonderful Fantasy and SciFi back in the late 70's and early 80's, I LOVE her stuff.

[Trekhawk]

Sky,

Here's a link to an author's website (Dave Shields) where you can order his books. I have read two of his works; THE RACE and THE TOUR.....excellent cycling stories ! His current book is about Saul Raisin's come back after his horrific cycling accident (non-fiction).http://www.daveshields.com/purchase.html

I think you'll enjoy this author and his cycling story-lines.

I love Dave Shields, he signed my copies of The Race and The Tour at the LRRH century last year.

GLC1968 sent me a great biking read called It's not about the Tapas by Polly Evans. Its Polly account of touring by bike around Spain. Parts of it had me rolling around laughing.:)

[Kimmyt]

I'm currently reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. I've never read it, can you believe!

Next up is Slaughterhouse Five, because Vonnegut died and yet again I can't believe I've never read that book.

The amount of classic books I didn't read in high school and college amazes me!

[Bikingmomof3]

The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd



I realy enjoyed reading this book. I have enjoyed everything by Sue Monk Kidd. :)

[MomOnBike]

I index books, so I go through a lot of them. Right now, I have 3 on my desk. One is about developing teachers, one about teaching math and a really thick one I've been ignoring about Something.

Sadly, I don't read for pleasure any more, but I used to enjoy biographies. Now, reading is too similar to work. :(

I enjoy recorded books, though, for those times I'm doing something mindless with my hands. For those times, I prefer books with no redeeming social value. I'm several hours into "Across the Nightengale Floor" by, um, somebody. It's a great blood-and-guts fantasy romance. Just what I need.

[ace]

I read the Double Bind, Sky. The opening sequence almost made me scream....and the end was pretty shocking :)

I'm reading Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (by a woman who died in the Holocaust, fictional, about life in France under the occupation) and Death Comes for the Fat Man, by Reginald Hill (part of a great mystery series set in England).

[7rider]

I'm reading the TE discussion forums! :rolleyes: :D :cool:
Actually, on my nightstand is John Muir's "Travels in Alaska". I read it in small chunks when I get a chance - like all the books I read.

[run it, ride it]

Just finishing up an undergrad in English and filling in the gaps to figure out what I want to focus on in grad school.

I'm currently reading through the "Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory" as a reference to find books/plays about topics/genres that interest me.

Right now I've got James Joyce's Ulysses on the go, and then I've got to finish up reading Vonnegut's work. I'd like to read up on John Cage, too.

I am all about the anti-novel, expressionism, structuralism, comedie noire, stream of consciousness, the avant-garde etc. I also love semiotic/cultural theory, cyborg theory...

I really should buckle down and Marx & Engels' "The Communist Manifesto" and read up on Claude Levi-Strauss, Sassure, Chomsky, Foucault, Laquer...

I LOVE THEORY!

[fultzie]

I really should buckle down and Marx & Engels' "The Communist Manifesto" and read up on Claude Levi-Strauss, Sassure, Chomsky, Foucault, Laquer...
I LOVE THEORY!

oh man... i'm finishing up an anthro major and about to start 8 more years of that for grad school... starting to hyperventilate thinking about those authors!!! :eek:

just kidding, they really are pretty interesting ;)

A good book that has kind of an overview of (and includes) the major works by several of those authors (and many others... though I don't think it includes Chomsky, unfortunately) is "Readings for a History of Anthropological Theory"-- edited by Erikson and Murphy.

for fun i read bike and other "outdoor adventure" stories (ie: Miles from Nowhere, Heft on Wheels by Mike Magnuson, The Rider by Tim Krabbé, Joe Kurmaskie's books, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is one of my absolute favorites) and... more theory. Yep. I hear ya.

Currently in the stack o' books (getting ready for summer): Wilderness and the American Mind by Roderick Nash, No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs, Women in the Wild by "Travelers' Tales", Uncommon Ground ed. by William Cronon, and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

I've been trying to read Anna Karinina for about 6 years now... it's always in my stack of books for the summer :o :p

[Kimmyt]

I read Anna Karenina last year. It was surprisingly good! I thought I'd hate it, but I enjoyed it, even though the names were long and confusing.

K.

[SadieKate]

Maureen Dowd's Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4994492

It's making me laugh and grind my teeth in equal amounts.

[Sky]

Oh, Wow! So many great books! I'm glad I'm not the only one that has stacks waiting to be read. A Walk in the Woods in one of them so good to hear its a favorite. I also just picked up a book called The Wild Trees that I can't wait to read.

Ace, the Double Bind opening was way more frightening than I thought it would be. Amazing what saved her. Can't say or it will ruin the book. It sure makes you think what would you do in that situation. I ride the back roads some myself, so its scary. I hit kind of a slow spot in the book, but now its picking up again. I'm almost finished. You got me curious about the ending.

You guys are reading some of my most favorite authors. Cook, Barr, Koontz...you have to read Intensity and The Taking. Those are both good. There are other good ones, but I can't remember the titles.

Not long ago I finished up a book by Diana Gabaldon called Breath of Snow and Ashes. It was really good. She's a great writer. I didn't know I was starting in the middle of a series though. Still a good read.

I'm going have to check out David Shields and Memory of Running and lots of other books you all suggested. My stack is growing! I need more reading time, but that would mean gving up biking time.

[Jo-n-NY]

I've been reading manuscripts lately. I work at a publisher and am helping to come up with cover design ideas. But, none of them are about cycling. Sorry.

Upcoming books I just read:
Kill Me if You Can by Nicole Young
This is the second book in her series. The main character travels from town to town fixing up homes to sell them for a profit . . . murder and mystery follows her wherever she goes.

The Pawn by Steven James
Along the lines of Patricia Cornwell novels, a forensic pathologist is hot on the trail of a serial killer. This is the first in the series. I really liked it.

All the Tea in China by Jane Orcutt
Historical romance with pirates and sword fights. It was a fun read.

Reading now:
A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers (an old favorite)
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy

I want to read:
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich (It's just fun)
A Tale of Two Sisters by Anna Maxted
Christine Falls by Donna Freydkin


I just read the Memory Keepers Daughter and really liked it. What an interesting job you have. I work for a publishing company also, but it we publish law books. It is not my idea of interesting reading. :)

~ JoAnn

[jobob]

Ah, Kurt Vonnegut. I 'borrowed' my brother's copy of Welcome to the Monkey House when I was in junior high and became a fan. I need to dig up his books again, I have them somewhere. I was sorry to hear of his passing. So it goes...

[run it, ride it]

poo tee weet?

[lph]

I realy enjoyed reading this book [he Mermaid Chair]. I have enjoyed everything by Sue Monk Kidd. :)

I thought it stank, to be quite honest. :rolleyes:

A pity, because I loved The Secret Life of Bees, turned page after page just in awe of the atmosphere she created.

When I'm not reading internet forums on climbing or cycling ;) I'm reading either Virginia Woolfs "A room of her own" which I found among my grandmothers books, or a coffee table book by a Norwegian sociologist about our unparalleled desire for remodeling our homes. It's fascinating! Apparently there was a huge campaign by architects, designers and suchlike to "teach" people good taste in the 1940s and 50s, as regular people had appalling taste and no idea about "the right way" to decorate or arrange their furniture... I'm not kidding.