Read any good books lately?

[fetchspot]

At the library I picked up "Around the World on Two Wheels" one woman, one bicycle, one unforgettable journey by Peter Zheutlin. I am rather enjoying it. I was enlightened by the chapter about the time period 1896 and how freeing for women the bicycle is. They are not dependent on spouses/etc for transportation. You think we have 'come a long way, baby' but the same old is still happening. Very interesting.

fetchspot

[margo49]

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.

It's The Red Tent on STEROIDS!
Tells the stories of 4 women and set in 70 CE in the Jewish fortress Massada right till The End.

[ehirsch83]

50 Shades of Grey.

not sure how to talk about it- but must read. addicting.

[missjean]

Two books that I enjoyed were...
"At Home" by Bill Bryson, (of Appalachian Trail book "A Walk in The Woods") It's a wide ranging look at the history & reason for the different rooms you can find in a house. It's chock-a-block full of interesting bits history, and, made me so happy to have been born in the second half of the 20th century.

"The Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes which is all about science at the end of the 18th century. Sounds dry, but it was a really interesting read. It sagged a bit in the middle when the author gets caught up in the poetry of one of the scientists, but the stories of Joseph Banks who sailed with Ctp. Cook; Caroline Herschel, who discovered lots of comets; the invention of the safety lantern for coal miners which saved the lives of 100s of miners; and Mungo Park (awesome name!) who explored, and died in, Africa, were so interesting!

[bluebug32]

One of the best cycling-related books I've read is The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty. We just picked up Bike Snob's new book. I'll report back when I'm done. His first book was great!

[shootingstar]

I'm pretty dull by comparison in reading content:

A non-fiction book about the ethnobotany of salal plant --a Northwest coast plant but it grows in other areas of the world. It's about the botany, ethnocultural aspects...as it relates to aboriginal northwest coast culture, poetry /literature around salal, etc.

Maybe I should be reading more about the flora and fauna where I live now...buffalo, prairie dogs, etc.

[lph]

Two books that I enjoyed were...
"At Home" by Bill Bryson, (of Appalachian Trail book "A Walk in The Woods") (...)
"The Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes which is all about science at the end of the 18th century.

I love Bill Bryson, and just re-read "A Walk in The Woods". He's pretty straightforwardly funny and you know what to expect, but still, I've done some long-distance hiking and his descriptions of his companion Katz going temporarily insane and throwing half the contents of his pack over a cliff had me laughing hysterically :D

And I love well written books about science and especially peoples relationship to science and the natural world. I'll look for the one you mentioned. None read recently so I'm having trouble remembering the names, but I have a couple by Dava Sobel ("Longitude", "Galileo's daughter"), one about how people have viewed mountains ("Mountains of the Mind", I think), "Guns, Germs and Steel" is brilliant, and one about Fermat's Theorem was also a great read. I like how the genre gives you a little insight into not only the hard science, but also into the psychology of how we view the world.

[buffybike]

I was just about to get A Walk In The Woods from my library!! Weird!

I'm reading In the Garden of Beasts--it's about the US Ambassador to Germany during Hitler's rise to power. I also started re-reading The Road Less Traveled just because it's so good.

[salsabike]

Anything by Denise Mina, who creates some beautifully developed, pretty original and imperfect characters set in what can only be called a pretty gritty Glasgow, with all its political and religious conflicts and poverty. Her books are fascinating.

[jobob]

I love Bill Bryson, and just re-read "A Walk in The Woods". He's pretty straightforwardly funny and you know what to expect, but still, I've done some long-distance hiking and his descriptions of his companion Katz going temporarily insane and throwing half the contents of his pack over a cliff had me laughing hysterically :D

Looks interesting, thanks for the rec.

I logged on to my public library's website to place a hold on that book to pick up later this week, and I saw it was available as an ebook download in Kindle & other formats. After many dead end links (geeze they don't make it easy :rolleyes:) I was able to download a copy of the ebook to my Kindle, so I now have it on my Kindle for three weeks. Neat-o! First time I've tried borrowing an ebook from my library, so thanks for the motivation, lph! :cool:

[PinkBike]

jobob,
isnt that library option great?! DH constantly "checks" books out from the Greater Phoenix Digital Library.

Not real recent, but I LOVED "Finding Jack" by Gareth crocker.

[BodhiTree]

We just picked up Bike Snob's new book. I'll report back when I'm done. His first book was great!

I was lucky enough to get to see him do a BRA, and have him sign the new book.

The new one is quite different from the first one. I really enjoyed both, but liked the new one better.

His description of witnessing the WTC on September 11 was chilling. I don't think it will ever leave me.