Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[boxcorner]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

... For those interested in the history of the areas in question, I simply cannot praise these works sufficiently.

Thanks for the tip. Sounds right up my street.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Finished "Citizen of the Galaxy" by Robert Heinlein this morning. Part of the Heinlein Bundle from Baen, mentioned earlier here on MR.

I've read a lot of Heinlein's later stuff, but this was the first time I tried any of his juveniles. While it's not one of his finest novels, it was a fun read and an interesting look at an earlier RAH and his take on slavery, wealth, learning and the growth of a young boy.

I like "Citizen of the Galaxy" a lot.

And there are some interesting bits in the background. Dr Renshaw is the most obvious. He was a real person, and did some interesting work on how to improve learning and perception. http://www.enter.net/~torve/critics/Renshaw/renshaw.htm

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by Belfaborac

I recently finished reading John Julius Norwich's wonderful work on Byzantium ("Byzantium: The Early Years", "Byzantium: The Apogee" and "Byzantium: The Decline and Fall"). Unlike so many scholarly works which are brimful of knowledge, but close to unreadable, "Byzantium" is an absolute joy to read and one of my 3 favourite works of its kind. The two others, by the way, are Shelby Foote's "The Civil War: A Narrative" and "Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire" by Lord Kinross (Patrick Balfour, 3rd Baron Kinross).

For those interested in the history of the areas in question, I simply cannot praise these works sufficiently.

I'm taking a course on Byzantine literature. I'll be sure to check these books out, thanks for mentioning them.

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by boxcorner

Thanks for the tip. Sounds right up my street.

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I'm taking a course on Byzantine literature. I'll be sure to check these books out, thanks for mentioning them.

Glad I could be of service and best of luck with the course!

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by kennyc

JUst finished Bill Bryson's - A Short History of Nearly Everything. I can't recommend this highly enough. Excellent book to give virtually anyone an understanding of science/history/personalities that brought us to where we are.

Couldn't agree more. In fact, all Bryson's books are very interesting. I especially liked his history of the English language. And I just got At Home by him in which he turns his attention from science to society in an "authoritative history of domesticity, At Home: A Short History of Private Life. While walking through his own home, a former Church of England rectory built in the 19th century, Bryson reconstructs the fascinating history of the household, room by room. "

Haven 't read it yet but hope to get to it soon. Just finished Takedown by Brad Thor, an excellent thriller, and have started Night Sins by Tami Hoag

[BenG]

I read Bryson's Short History of Everything in hardback when it first came out. I wouldn't mind doing a re-read but I'm fully immersed in Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver right now.

[Jcas]

Just finished and really enjoyed The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

About to start The Ulimate Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, which is something totally different for me.

[Iridal]

I've been so caught up in work lately so I barely had time to read. It took me a couple of weeks to finish Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

Overall, I really liked the story. I thought it was really original, and also very exciting at times. But there are also parts in the book that I found very confusing. When I first came across such a section, I reread it but still couldn't make much sense of it. So later on in the story I just read them and didn't bother to try to understand. Although in the end these sections didn't stop me from understanding the storyline, they took away some of the pleasure of reading this book. It could be this was a problem for me because I'm not a native English-speaker, and I found his writing style overall a little complicated.

Originally Posted by jgaiser

I've been rereading a number of Stephenson books lately. Finished Cryptonomicon, Zodiac and Snow Crash. I love his story telling, but sometimes his endings are a bit huh?

Yup, I agree. When I had 10 more pages to go, I had the feeling the story was pretty much at an end. I really felt those next 10 pages weren't necessary and just a little bit confusing.

I don't really know what to read next. I've got the Hunger Games Trilogy lined up because of all the good commentaries they've been getting. But I also purchased some Agatha Christie books that I might read first, just to get away from the Fantasy and Sci-Fi genre for a while.

[Stitchawl]

I've begun re-reading the 'Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus' series by Faye Kellerman. I've just started on the second in the series and am enjoying them as much as I did the first time I read them. I wanted something light but entertaining, with some serious bits of culture thrown in along the way. Great character development along with a good detective mystery! Nice to read a Kellerman without it getting all dark!

Stitchawl

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by Jcas

About to start The Ulimate Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, which is something totally different for me.

Forty Two!

[GeoffC]

Life!













?

[BenG]

The Universe!

[kennyc]

and Everything!






.

[MickeyC]

And don't forget your towel!

[GeoffC]

and toothbrush