What are you reading now?

This thread really has inspired me to read more this year (so thanks a BUNCH for that). I had a goal of 6 books this year, with a stretch of 12 (one a month). I'm currently on my 22nd...., which doesn't include re-reading "The Martian" before seeing the movie or "11/22/63" because I needed a mental break.

So, my current is Cryptonomicon. There's a cool website that gives you suggestions of books based on your reading habits and have seen lots of people talk about it, so I wanted to give it a go. I'm struggling with it. I can normally devour a book in a week or less and I've been on this one for over 2 weeks now. Although heavy detail books are something I usually enjoy, I'm afraid the detail in this one is getting in the way of the story. It's a little better now that I'm 1/3 of the way into it and I hope it continues to pick up a bit.

Forgot the reading recommendation site: Read Geek
There's an email signup, but the spam has been zilch so far.

-Rob

In reply to rob_lewis:

Cryptonomicon is a long slog but worth reading.

In reply to Marjorie Suddard:

If you haven't moved on to Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," you should. Beautifully written. I also enjoyed his recent collection of shorts, "Trigger Warning"

There's also a really nice, two volume, graphic version of "The Graveyard Book" available, and if you're going to read "Stardust", the graphic novel version is the way to go.

Alot of this stuff is heavier then i enjoy reading. recently started reading some of william johnstones westerns again. Was never a fan of anything set pre vietnam era but his writing makes me enjoy it.

Really wish the ashes series was still going.

dropstep wrote: Alot of this stuff is heavier then i enjoy reading. recently started reading some of william johnstones westerns again. Was never a fan of anything set pre vietnam era but his writing makes me enjoy it. Really wish the ashes series was still going.

I hammered through most of Clive Cussler's novels back when I traveled a bunch I could knock one out on the flights to wherever I was going and on the flights back. Really easy mind candy reads that always have a motorized vehicle component. Recommended it if you haven't read them before.

-Rob

I just started re-reading Tim Powers' "On Stranger Tides." Yes, it's the one the last POTC movie was based on. I read it as a kid in the late 80s and thought it was fabulous. I lost track of it for years and just recently found it through the power of the internet after seeing the movie come out.

It's just as great as I remember. Pirates, islands, sea battles, Blackbeard, and lots of dangerous voodoo and magic weirdness. It's like Clive Cussler with mystical happenings and better writing. Not great literature, but a hell of a lot of fun.

In reply to rob_lewis:

I am so glad you said that about Cryptonomicon!! I am an omnivore, and a voracious one at that, when it comes to books, but I confess: I gave up. Put it down. Moved on. Still bugs me, because so many people love it. Maybe I'll dive back in....

But first, Karacticus has given me strong Neil Gaiman recommendations, and I want to spend more time with him. He is really, really good at that writing thing.

Margie

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Read Neil Gaiman's “The Graveyard Book” this weekend. This is the second book of his I've read recently (thanks to all who have recommended him here), and he is becoming a new favorite. Margie

I would read Neil Gainman's grocery list. Honestly, anything with his name on it is worth reading.

If you have not yet read or are not preparing to read Neil Gaiman / Terry Pratchett's Good Omens, I heartily recommend you rectify that situation post haste. Ditto American Gods, Neverwhere, and, well, anything else Neil has written on his own or with others.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: In reply to rob_lewis: I am so glad you said that about Cryptonomicon!! I am an omnivore, and a voracious one at that, when it comes to books, but I confess: I gave up. Put it down. Moved on. Still bugs me, because so many people love it. Maybe I'll dive back in....

Part of my continued slog is that it's gotten such good reviews the other part is, I payed for the darn book and I'm going to finish it before getting another. (I've never been able to read more than one at a time).

WHEN I get it finished, though, I'll come back and update my thoughts and if it's worth grabbing again.

BTW, tough and detailed books that ramble aren't my downfall. This year I got through King's "Dark Tower" series and the first 5 books of Edgar Rice Burroghs Mars series. And, I've read 11/22/63 (a huge book) at least three times. Just something about Cryptonomicon that I'm struggling with.

Couple of other fun ones I knocked through this year:

1) "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" - Richard P. Feynman (not what I expected, but in a good way)
2) "Armada" - Earnest Cline (not quite as good as "Ready Player One", but just as entertaining)
3) "So, That Happened" - John Cryer's autobiography. TOTAL cotton candy Hollywood sillyness, but if you start it with the idea it's like that, it's fun.
4) "Anger is an Energy" - John Lydon. He's the quintessential annoying punk and rambles a bunch, but I enjoyed it.

-Rob

Plunder and Deceit, by Mark Levine. It's interesting.

I'm halfway through "The Great Hunt", second book in the Wheel of Time series. So far so good

I just bought '1776' by David McCullough - haven't started it yet. Looks like a straight up history book.

I am most of the way through "Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America" by Linda Tirado. This is one I don't recommend unless you want to read about someone writing a lot of justifications for their poor decisions while blaming everybody else but themselves.

In reply to T.J.:

Thich Nhat Hanh--Anger: Wisdom For Cooling the Flames

I'm finally seeing a therapist to help straighten out my anger/anxiety/fear issues and she was savvy enough to clue in on my propensity toward Bhuddism. I always wanted to start learning about it (I never told her this) and she's given me a couple of books for homework.

This one makes some pretty good sense. I also read Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach. A bit more "victim-centric", but still useful.

I'm becoming more mindful and that's pretty huge.

james pattersons 3rd degree. enjoyed the alex cross series but im not big on female lead characters. mother in law got me it for christmas so im checking it out.

Always been a big reader, probably average 40 books a year. These days for relaxation I read mostly mysteries and some westerns and SF (other than about 20 magazines ranging from Analog to Racecar Engineering to American Cowboy). A few recent ones I recommend:

Westerns: Anything by Johnny D. Boggs. Not your typical western, characters are well drawn, and it's obvious Johnny visits and researches the locations. Give Mike Blakely a try, too.

Recently read Mycroft Holmes, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and it was excellent. I knew Kareem is a very intelligent man, but never knew he's been a Sherlockian since he was a kid. This isn't really a mystery in the Sherlockian sense, think more of a Clive Cussler-type adventure book set in London and Jamaica in the 1870s, only better written.

Anything by Craig Johnson. Modern mysteries set in Wyoming, you probably have seen the TV series Longmire that uses his characters. The books are way better. Although they stand alone, best to read the books in order.

Thanks to you fine folks I latched on to the Destroyermen series with a vengeance and burned through all the series in short order. I enjoyed them but struggled with some of the capabilities Mr. Anderson bestowed upon his human characters. I was able to suspend my disbelief however.

Anything by Corey Doctorow. Starting with "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom".

Doctorow is a futurologist, and what he writes is like having a view of the future 15 years ahead of wherever we currently are.

Just finished "Crazy Heart" by Thomas Cobb. The book that the movie with Jeff Bridges was based off of. Good story, ok writing. A quick and easy read that was perfect for the train.

Rather a thought-provoking read:

http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Control-Third-Reich-Disarming/dp/1598131621

currently racing through "Bucking the tide" by David Buckman. hard to find book, not exactly well written, but a good story that keeps you going.

Duke wrote: In reply to paranoid_android74: I think I read that book. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it was way too much about how cool the author was and way too little about the actual science.

This is true. The author spends a bit too much time setting his "scale of evil" up, and then it turned into sort of a collection of case studies. I enjoyed that part, but also was expecting more analysis on the author's part.

"Outliers" by Malcom Gladwell

I'm back on my cyberpunk kick after finishing a book five of Ian Douglas's Warstrider series.

"Runtime" by S.B. Divya

I'm about 2/3 of the way through The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer, a bio of a WWII German soldier in Russia. So it's pretty depressing.