What are you reading?

Dalit

Dalit

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Hey, y'all,

I checked to make sure this wasn't already a thread and was surprised to see that it wasn't.

I used to be more of a great reader and I take pleasure in many things (my paraphrase of a line by Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice). :)

I tend to try to read several things at once and then one or two books actually win out and actually get finished in a timely manner. When I was in undergrad and grad, I read things completely, some books several times since there was a big test on a massive reading list at the end.

Here's what I've read this week: the Bible (that's a given) and Broken Trust: A Practical Guide to Identify and Recover from Toxic Faith, Toxic Church and Spiritual Abuse by F. Remy Diederich. I need to read it again soon since I'm quite angry at a toxic church/congregation situation that I left two months ago and wonder why the heck some people are refusing to see it's toxic. But then I didn't want to see it at first. It kept coming up like heartburn until I had to deal with it. Two toxic congregations in 3 years. Not a good record. Highly recommend the book though. Very graceful author and it sounds like he has some more graceful books he's written as well.

Okay, what I'm reading now:

Twisted Scriptures: Breaking Free from Churches that Abuse by Mary Alice Chrnalogar
Distorted Truth: What Every Christian Needs to Know about the Battle for the Mind by Richard J. Mouw
X vs. Y: A Culture War. A Love Story by Eve and Leonora Epstein

Soon to read:

A Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis since I'm seeing a play of it next week.

Feel free to also list favorite books if you've not read a book in awhile.

I had a fondness for The Gangster We Are All Looking For by Le Thi Diem Thuy even though I can't remember much about it.

My favorites and books I've liked include:
Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility
The Great Gatsby--"They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch of them put together" Nick to Gatsby
Portrait of a Lady
Jane Eyre
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
King Lear
Much Ado About Nothing
What's So Amazing About Grace?
The Sun Also Rises
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks (her nonfiction is the best)
Why Do I Love These People? by Po Bronson
 
polymoog

polymoog

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good thread. there IS a thread on recommended books (with a truther/conspiracy aspect), but i think your idea warrants its own thread.

last book read (finished it a few days ago): shogun by james clavell. recommended.
 
Thunderian

Thunderian

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I've been waiting for someone to start this thread.

I listen to things constantly while I'm working, and lately it's been audiobooks. I went through The Stand not long ago, and I am still impressed by what a great teller of stories Steven King is.

Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, is another one that I read ages ago and then listened to recently. He's another great storyteller.

More recent, non-blockbuster and non-fiction, is Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde. The true story has a lot more depth than the version we have today, and this book is well done and got great reviews. Another good crime bio is Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson, by the same author.
 
DevaWolf

DevaWolf

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I am an avid reader, and I have quite a list of favorites. My favorite subjects are non-fiction books like biographies and travel accounts about places I have never seen before and am unlikely to visit in my life. I also read a lot about religion, politics and history.
I think reading is of course on of the major things that make people think and question the status quo, so I expect more conspiracy minded people will read than the general populace.

Currently I am reading a book called 'Through the narrow gate' by Karen Armstrong. It is the story of how she became a nun, and eventually left the church. I find it very interesting. She is one of my favorite authors.
 
polymoog

polymoog

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Thunderian said:
I've been waiting for someone to start this thread.

I listen to things constantly while I'm working, and lately it's been audiobooks. I went through The Stand not long ago, and I am still impressed by what a great teller of stories Steven King is.

Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, is another one that I read ages ago and then listened to recently. He's another great storyteller.

More recent, non-blockbuster and non-fiction, is Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde. The true story has a lot more depth than the version we have today, and this book is well done and got great reviews. Another good crime bio is Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson, by the same author.
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kings problem is that he can never seem to end a story properly. always a great start with a great concept, but too often they fizz out. i think hes overrated.
ken follett is junk-food reading. entertaining, but not very deep. hes a good author for night time reading to take your mind off of things. same goes for wilbur smiths south africa books. both authors, though, seem to follow the same writing pattern which i suppose is their winning sales formula.
 
Red Sky at Morning

Red Sky at Morning

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Thunderian said:
I've been waiting for someone to start this thread.

I listen to things constantly while I'm working, and lately it's been audiobooks. I went through The Stand not long ago, and I am still impressed by what a great teller of stories Steven King is.

Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett, is another one that I read ages ago and then listened to recently. He's another great storyteller.

More recent, non-blockbuster and non-fiction, is Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde. The true story has a lot more depth than the version we have today, and this book is well done and got great reviews. Another good crime bio is Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson, by the same author.
Click to expand...
I’m an audiobook guy myself! I prefer to listen than read so I can get a job done while my mind is on something more interesting!

Currently listening to “Black” byTed Dekker...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006IE800O/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

@Thunderian - if you like audio books I found a YouTube version of Black...

 
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Dalit

Dalit

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polymoog said:
kings problem is that he can never seem to end a story properly. always a great start with a great concept, but too often they fizz out. i think hes overrated.
ken follett is junk-food reading. entertaining, but not very deep. hes a good author for night time reading to take your mind off of things. same goes for wilbur smiths south africa books. both authors, though, seem to follow the same writing pattern which i suppose is their winning sales formula.
Click to expand...
Yet I really like King's 11/22/63 even though the ending was a bit anti-climatic. As corny as this may be, I like time travel narratives. I think that's why I suffered through 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami even though it was the most twisted thing I've ever read in my life. It apparently was a letdown in 2011 and I should've picked something else, anything else, by Murakami to read. I was doing a book challenge at the time and decided to keep it, well, challenging. :)

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/12/how-murakamis-1q84-became-2011s-biggest-literary-letdown/250119/

Here's the challenge I did.

https://booksnacksblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/2015-popsugar-reading-challenge/

The "a book your mom likes" was painful. She and i have vastly different taste in books. I prefer something that makes me think rather than escapist fiction.
 
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Colonel Valerio

Colonel Valerio

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Thunderian said:
I've been waiting for someone to start this thread.

I went through The Stand not long ago, and I am still impressed by what a great teller of stories Steven King is.
Click to expand...
I read The Stand at least every two years, my favorite purely fictional book. I'm disappointed the new series will be done on CBS streaming, it'd be perfect for a limited run HBO series or something similar.

70's and 80's King was a legend from The Shining up until IT is just remarkable. I kind of like his angry more realistic novels from the early 90s though.

polymoog said:
kings problem is that he can never seem to end a story properly. always a great start with a great concept, but too often they fizz out. i think hes overrated.
.
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I don't disagree with you, that is a weakness in a lot of his work. He hasn't written anything noteworthy since Dreamcatcher, that was the first one after his accident and he was high on painkillers, after he healed up he lost his edge.

I am reading my favorite little Kerouac book "The Subteranneans" I'm back to working on the road so I figured who better to read than the ultimate American road writer?

I was thinking about reading Ubik next or finally continuing with Dune. I have a bit of a backlog of books so we'll see.

Great thread @Dalit
 
Thunderian

Thunderian

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I am a sucker for a good story, and along with King and Follett, I read Jack Reacher novels, I love Michael Connelly and Wilbur Smith, and even though every one of his characters is basically the same guy, I've read almost everything Nelson DeMille has written at least twice. I draw the line at Dean R. Koontz.

I'm also a fan of Somerset Maugham, William Faulkner, George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut. When I was younger, I read The Chronicles of Narnia, the Hardy Boys, and Enid Blyton, and then I found Dune, and read that about ten times. I will read almost any biography of anyone.
 
polymoog

polymoog

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Thunderian said:
I'm also a fan of Somerset Maugham, William Faulkner, George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut. When I was younger, I read The Chronicles of Narnia, the Hardy Boys, and Enid Blyton, and then I found Dune, and read that about ten times. I will read almost any biography of anyone.
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how do you know how accurate the biographies are? i can imagine 2 michael jackson bios telling two vastly different stories.
id rather read blatant fiction than a history/biography thats inaccurate. the whole truth or bust for me.
 
Thunderian

Thunderian

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polymoog said:
how do you know how accurate the biographies are? i can imagine 2 michael jackson bios telling two vastly different stories.
id rather read blatant fiction than a history/biography thats inaccurate. the whole truth or bust for me.
Click to expand...
You kind of have to judge for yourself whether the biography is credible or not, and even if it's not, sometimes it's just entertaining.
 
H

Hooligan69

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I'm not currently in possession of or reading this book but it has certainly piqued my curiosity.


The Management of Savagery: How America's National Security State Fueled the Rise of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Donald Trump

23.jpg
 
Colonel Valerio

Colonel Valerio

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Thunderian said:
I am a sucker for a good story, and along with King and Follett, I read Jack Reacher novels, I love Michael Connelly and Wilbur Smith, and even though every one of his characters is basically the same guy, I've read almost everything Nelson DeMille has written at least twice. I draw the line at Dean R. Koontz.

I'm also a fan of Somerset Maugham, William Faulkner, George Orwell and Kurt Vonnegut. When I was younger, I read The Chronicles of Narnia, the Hardy Boys, and Enid Blyton, and then I found Dune, and read that about ten times. I will read almost any biography of anyone.
Click to expand...
You might like Peter Straub he wrote a few books with King and my favorite of his is

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_Dragon

20A3419A-77C8-4632-8667-A874A13E7953.jpeg

I read most of Vonnegut’s work in high school, definitely one of my favorites.

So many things to read so few hours in the day
 
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