Does anybody read books here?

[Dogmama]

Just wondering - if you read - what do you read? I'll start.

Currently I'm into lighter stuff - no heavy plot or deep message.

Anna Quindlan's Rise & Shine - good book, good story. Difficult to follow because she bounces between present & past tense without warning.

Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret? Cute story about an English girl who gets drunk & scared on an airline flight & spills the beans about her personal life (all kinds of details) to the man next to her - who ends up being the owner of the company where she works.

Most books by Anna Maxted & Mary Kay Andrews are cute too.

Anybody else?

[Lise]

We're a veritable passel of readers around here! If you do a search for "books", you'll find several lengthy threads about favorite books. I'm currently reading I Know You're Out There, by Michael Beaumier, who was the personals editor at the Chicago Reader for 7 years. It helps me feel better about my own comi-tragic attempts at dating.

At the other end of the spectrum, I'm also reading The Great Transformation, by Karen Armstrong, about the Axial Age when the world's major religions were forming.

[Trekhawk]

Just finished reading French Revolutions By Tim Moore. It made me burst out laughing so much that I had to keep reading parts to my husband so he could see what I was laughing at.

Im now reading Points Unknown - A Century of Great Exploration edited by David Roberts. Inside Cover quote "From Robert Falcon Scott's final journal entry to Jon Krakauer's daring solo climb of the Devils thumb to Tom Wolfe's brilliant portrayal of Chuck Yeager shattering the sound barrier, David Roberts and the editors of Outside magazine have gathered the most enduring adventure literature of the century into one heart-stopping volume".

As Lise said plenty of great threads on books here at TE and I have used them as a great source of info when looking for a new book to read.

[Sheesh]

Dogmama - Have you read any Jodi Picoult? Based on your other books, I think you might like her. Her books are quick reads, like the lighter fare, but they hit on some pretty good/controverial topics. So far, my favorites by her are My Sister's Keeper and Plain Truth.

[margo49]

Oh yeah, we sure read here on TE
This is the smartest bunch of women *ever*

I went back to Karen A's TGT btw Lise and am more into it now. Well p.96.
Muhammad is about to go south (to Medina) in her other one. They were being so nasty to him in Mecca that I chucked it and went back to TGT. Muhammad was a re-read so I know how it turns out in the end of course. (Well we all do - 600 years, 2 billion converts, the most popular boy's name on the planet... but I meant the book/biog)

Sweet Jewish New Year and Ramadan karim to us all

[Lise]

I went back to Karen A's TGT btw Lise and am more into it now. Well p.96.
Muhammad is about to go south (to Medina) in her other one. They were being so nasty to him in Mecca that I chucked it and went back to TGT.

I know, isn't it an incredible story? I left that book with a definite fondness for the prophet Muhammad. For the rest of you, we're referring to Karen Armstrong's biography: Muhammad. http://www.amazon.com/Muhammad-Biogr...e=UTF8&s=books

Well worth reading. Doesn't explain the long, complex history of Islam, of course, but gives an excellent understand of the beginnings of the religion.

[Trek420]

margo49 "Oh yeah, we sure read here on TE
This is the smartest bunch of women *ever*"

here here! well said

"Sweet Jewish New Year and Ramadan karim to us all"

While my reading list grows I'm a afraid that for the next month or so I'll be reading technical journals and electronic s*^% instead of novels on BART. I'm studying for one of the tests at work. Since I have all the instruction material at my desk I believe I can plow through it rather than take time off from riding to do the class.

After that, back to this list.

So many books, so little time

[CyclChyk]

I myself am a HUGE Stephen King fan however I have not been too pleased with his later works. The Cell, his last release, wasn't bad, but the last time he wrote a book I thoroughly enjoyed was with Desperation/The Regulators.
Christopher Moore is also one of my favorites. His newest book is entitled "A Dirty Job" about a store owner becoming an assistant to Death. His writing takes a comic twist to bizarre and its rather entertaining.

My favorite book (other than The Little Prince), is called "The Charm School" by Nelson Demille. Its an esponiage book that ties Moscow and Viet Nam to modern day US government (well, the 80's modern day government). Its really an awesome read but by no means "light".

Needless to say, I tend to prefer Fiction literature.

[run it, ride it]

Boo, books! I hate books! Never want to see a book again! Did I mention I'm taking an English degree, and I'm already about two novels and three theorists behind starting the third week of classes?

Hiss, boo! No more books!

[Bad JuJu]

Hey run it, ride it, my degree's in English also. This semester I'm teach a cultural studies approach to Joyce's Dubliners--having a pretty good time so far and just got some pretty good first critical papers.

In spare time, when I'm not cycling (or cleaning the house or walking the dog or grading papers), I'm reading the new biography of Darwin, by David Quammen. Quammen often writes for Outside magazine, and he's just a wonderful writer, and this new bio offers some fresh insights into Darwin's development of his theories. Enormously interesting.

[mlove]

Right now I am mostly reading stuff I am assigning in my history of education class as well as Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys" and Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl.

I read mysteries when I get a chance although I am just as likely to go back to the classics--Austen, Bronte, ****ens, etc. One of my favorite authors, for those of you who like historical fiction (or very funny spy stories) is Dorothy Dunnett. I have used her House of Niccolo series several times when teaching about the 15th century. Colleen McCollough is very good on the late Roman Republic. Both authors did a huge amount of research to write their books.

I do have a small collection of books on cycling too.

[tattiefritter]

Will have to have a proper look through this thread later for some ideas for new books..

I don't get the time to read much these days but recent favourites are the Harry Potter Series (of course) and His Dark Materials, anything by Michael Connolly (the Poet) which is unusual as I don't usually like murder stories.

I went through a phase of reading mountaineering books ( I do a bit of climbing and hill walking but nothing extreme) as I find the characters fascinating. I can recommend "Touching the Void" and "The Beckoning Silence" by Joe Simpson and "The White Spider" by Heinrich Harrer, the story of the first ascents of the North Face of the Eiger, really powerful and involving.

[Python]

Read all of Patricia Cornwall's Scarpeta novels (Post Mortem etc). Also like a good historical romance to curl up with.

[Hub]

Love Harry Potter- everytime a new one comes out I have to go back to the
beginning and read all of them in sequence. # 6 was a bit of a bummer, But I trust the kids will be all right. I also love Dadid Eddings and the Belgariad and the Mallorean- great Sci Fantasy stuff- Strong women- Eddings wrote a couple follow ups and this time listed his wife as co-author.
I read the Outlander stuff- very good, love Patricia Cornwell, John Sanford and Kathy Reichs- does anyone watch Bones on TV?
Oh- one of my all time favorites in the worlkd- Rita Mae Brown- High Hearts, Six of One & Bingo are my favs.

But I really just like Books

[mtkitchn]

FBG,
Funny you mentioned The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand; I just finished that book a couple weeks ago.
Another good book I've read lately is "You're not You" by Michelle Wildgen.
I'm going to have to check out some of the books you ladies mention since I need some new reading material.