What are we reading? (The TMF Book Group)

[Biggles of 266]

I've been wondering about this for a while, and I was thinking that maybe it'd be kinda nice if we all posted about which books we're reading at the moment. Give a little description, plot info, that kinda thing. That way, if something that another member is reading sounds interesting to you, ya can go pick it up from the library or second-hand bookshop.

I'll go first



Number 1 book: This Other Eden, by Ben Elton. Set in the not-too-distant future (I love cliches) where the world is close to eco-armageddon and people are planning for the future. One massive company, Claustrosphere, is selling these giant self contained geo-domes which will be your refuge for when the world collapses and everything goes to hell. You'll lock you and your family in the Claustrosphere for a few years, or a few generations until the world is safe again. Against Claustrosphere are Natura, the militant wing of Mother Earth, which used to be GreenPeace. They're protesting the fact that everyone is investing in saving their own ass in the future, and doing nothing to save the world now.

It's a very interesting book, always clever and funny in some parts.



Number 2 book: Stephen King On Writing, by Stephen King (funnily enough). The first half of the book is a sort of autobiography, describing his childhood up until his first serious publishing deal. The second half is more into the technical side of writing, but it's not academic rubbish or dreamy 'try and taste your ideas' kinda crap either. He's serious, but not boring.

Very useful for anyone else who's interested in writing.



Number 3 book: Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy. I've only just started it, so I can't give much detail. A hijacked jumbo jet crashes into the Capitol Building, wiping out the President, Vice President and almost all of the government. Jack Ryan is suddenly put in charge (remember Jack Ryan from all the other Clancy novels? Hunt for Red October, etc). Terrorists are waiting to take advantage of the weakened US etc etc... Looks kinda interesting so far, but it's big and thick enough to be placed behind my car on a slope and stop it rolling away.



OK, now it's your turn. Enlighten us all with what you're reading, and see what other members read.

Biggles

 

[Traveler]

Nice topic it's always nice to show that we all know more than how to tie and tickle.I have met alot of rather intelligent people here and will gladly share what types of reading I do.I read lot's of theology and christian literature.But,also am a fan of horror novels I like one extreme to another.

Right now I am reading:

How Democracy Will Elect the Antichrist

Arno Froese


Are We Living In The End Times
Current Events Foretold in Scripture...And What They Mean

End Times?

Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins




Everything's Eventual

14 Dark Tales

Stephen King



Ignorance Is A Man That Isn't Willing To Learn

 

[ForgottenTcklr]

I am currently reading... The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Yeah I know it's a childrens book, but C.S. Lewis is likely the most famous Christian Author of the last 200 years. And there is a lot of stuff you can get out of his books, even in The Chronicles of Narnia!

 

[TMF Jeff]

I just finished The Making of a Blockbuster, the story of Wayne Huizenga who co-founded Blockbuster among other things. It's a very good story about how a guy went from being a blue collar working man to one of the most powerful billionaire dealmakers in America.

Also just finished the new biography of Jerry Seinfeld.


Right now I'm in the middle of re-reading the Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson, then after that the next one on my list is Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, by Charles P Kindleberger. I expect it to be a little dry, but relevent and getting more so

 

[Strelnikov]

1. Tom Clancy's "Red Rabbit". The assasination attempt on the Pope in 1982 was a KGB operation, says Clancy. Story involves a KGB defector who knows of the plot, his extraction from the USSR, and the attempt by CIA and MI6 to derail the plot.

2. Lindsey Davis's "One Virgin Too Many". A murder mystery set in Imperial Rome, AD 74. The virgin in question is a Vestal. The hero is one Marcus Didius Falco, private informer and sometime spy and fixer for the Emperor Vespasian. One of about a dozen books in this series.

3. Harry Turtledove's "American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold". Part of an alternate history series of novels in which the UK and France entered the US Civil War on the side of the Confederacy, ensuring its independence. This volume covers the years between the Great War (1914-17) and the start of the Depression. I can quibble with a few details, but overall it's very well done.

4. John Keegan's "The First World War". A better-than-average popular history.

Strelnikov

 

[Neutron]

Lets See

Analysis Of The Fighting At Jutland: A time motion study of the battle of Jutland.

Rules Of The Game: An analysis of how the Brits trained their sailors and the general rules under which they fought at the Battle Of Jutland.

Flawed Victory: Another book about Jutland\

Jutland : The German Persepctive. The way the Germans viewed the Battle Of Jutland

British Carrier Aviation: A great book and analysis on how the Brits came up with the idea for the Air Craft carrier then totally fucked up the concept.

 

[Biggles of 266]

Hey Neutron,
have you read Tom Clancy's non-fiction book 'Carrier'? Pretty interesting, but in true Tom 'describe every tiny detail until you go insane and the book is 7000 pages long' Clancy style.

Biggles

 

[guitman69]

I am in a fantasy mood right now.

I'm reading "The Two Towers", and a book called "Grunts" by Mary Gentle.

"Grunts" is about a group of orcs who find modern day weapons, M16's, AK 47's, rocket launchers, even a couple of helicopters. They find them in a dragon's cave, so they have this curse on them. The 'curse' is that they all start acting like U.S. Marines. They get all organized and fight in the final battle of Good vs. Evil, which of course they lose. I'm waiting to see if the author will explain just how these weapons came to be here in the first place.

 

[ShiningIce]

Grunts is a sweet ass book, ull love the ending

 

[Uni]

Nice topic.

At the moment I just finished two books, both of them being very entertaining. One of which happened to be one of Biggles choices; On Writing by Stephen King. I have to agree that it was a good read and it taught me a few things that I never thought about, like not using adverbs so much. My roommate abhors the man, and points to Russian novelists like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Damned fine authors, the equivalent of a fine steak dinner. But sometimes I have a taste for meatloaf as well, and King makes a pretty good read. I tend to like his nonfiction more than his fiction, which is very strange.

The other book I finished was Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett. I am a HUGE fan of crime novels and noir films, and this book kept me up all night (I almsot missed work!). I can't suggest him enough. If you like that hard-boiled pulp novel where everybody is doomed and people ask for "A pack of nails" instead of cigarettes, then read Hammett. Or better yet read Jim Thompson's work. That man's prose is a steamroller of meanness.

 

[Admiral Trouser]

Last night I couldn't sleep at all, which was unusual, so on whent the light and I looked for something to take my mind off stuff.

Fittingly, I found the Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.

For those of you who are only familuar with Lord of the Rings, heres a breif synopsis: It literaly chronicles the ages before the events that take place in TLOTR, explaining the nature of Middle Earths creation, the nature of the gods behind it, and the tale of the first, and the greatest race, the Elves. Its a tragic one to say the least: Having created three gems that capture the living light of Middle Earth from the Two Trees of Valinor, the trees are destroyed by Morgoth, the first Great Enemy, and the Silmarils themselves are stolen by him. What then ensues is the story of how the Elves waged a hopeless war against Morgoth to retreive them. Lots of heroics, tragedy and historical detail (if it can be called that).

To be brutaly honest though, this is for the die-hard fans only: It's not a conventional story with a standard narrative, it is written like it's a historical recollection of events passed, and is such is far from reader-freindly. It does shed enourmous amounts of light on the Middle Earths rich history, and reading this before moving onto TLOTR allows for a greater appreciation of the latter. But its not a 'fun' read: It's a rewarding slog.

 

[JoBelle]

This is a VERY good threa idea, Biggles! Thanks for starting it!

I'm one of those people who treats books like people in a crowd. I pick several at once and slowly work my way through each. Getting to know them one by one. It makes the reading more enjoyable for me and allows me to pick up something that correlates with my mood.

Right now I've got:

STORMING HEAVEN by Dale Brown. It's one I've picked up a couple of times, but I've never finished. Brown has a knack for making a story real for his reader with the technical info to back his plot. (Another story about hijacked airplanes. Odd how many of these were written pre- 9/11)

Tom Clancy's OP CENTER I just started. I'll review it appropriately later. (I'm also a huge fan of Clive Cussler, the man Tom Clancy notes as being his mentor. Ever hear of the Dirk Pitt books? LOVE Cussler. It's good stuff.)

The Basic Writings of Martin Heidegger, philosopher. It's not light reading, but it's fulfilling.

Then there is LITTLE MYTH MARKER, a humorous sci-fi that is full of subtle and not so subtle commentary of things absurd. Dragon Poker - what a game!

and lastly, TO BE A JEW. Pretty self explantroy, no?

As far as the things y'all are reading....

The Simarillion hurt my feelings. LOL It's like reading the dull parts of the Bible....where one person begot so and so...and so on down the line! LOL After you read it, you can use it to hold a door open. Narnia is a favorite place to escape to for this tickle girl!And, a litte question....am I the only person in America who's never read a Stephen King book?

Joby

 

[Daumantas]

I've never read a Stephen King book either, Joby. I also haven't ever read Tom Clancy, which I guess makes me an anomaly around here.

Right now I'm reading "Russia: A History," edited by Gregory L. Freeze. Some interesting perspectives, especially of the Cold War years.

 

[TicklingDuo]

Let's see...I've read just about everything that Patricia Cornwell and Robin Cook have done. In the past year or so, I've decided to try some new authors as well as some established ones I hadn't read yet. I just finished Tom Clancy's "Mission of Honor" which was very good. He has a whole series of them that are Op-Center stuff. They're all good. I needed a break from the murder mysteries. So, what do I do?...change to war! lol

Overall, I mainly like suspense and mystery. So, anything along those lines that's well written is good for me.

Ann

 

[Moses25]

I'm reading the 2nd book in a SW Trilogy called "Dark Force Rising".

"Join me, or die!"


hehe

Cheers.

 

[JoBelle]

I'm reading the 2nd book in a SW Trilogy called "Dark Force Rising".

I FINALLY finished up The Last Command a few months ago. That is a good series.

I met Timoth Zahn at a convention and bought the books because he was a nice guy. LOL Go figure, by his being nice, he got a one more person to buy his stuff. That just never happens anymore! Smiles go a long way!

Joby hehe

 

[Neutron]

Biggles LOL

Having served on a US Submarine, and having spent some time on one of Uncle Sams carriers (and at times I still do ride them as a consultant on sea trials, you can't take a sailor away from the sea) I'm here to ask you WHY would I want to read an innaccurate book?, By a guy who just takes public sources and makes uneducated guesses then calls it a book? I read about the first three chapters, then let some guys at work read it so they could laugh too.

IF you want a far better book on Carrier and carrier life get Sailors To The End. In my mind the best book on any Navy. Interesting, factual, and a fascinating read on a tragedy.
Clancy writes interesting fiction. BUt it's still fiction. Even his Submarine and Carrier books are mostly just guesswork.

His tales are interesting (but like KIng he's lost his edge because his contract says no editing) But they are just that, tales for entertainment.

When Clancy writes enjoy it at face value, BUT please make sure you understand he's about .5% accurate on his facts.

Tron

 

[Neutron]

Hey And If You Aussies...

Haven't read The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes you're REALLY short changing yourself. IMHO it's the best history written about any country. Usually Aussie histories tend to suck because the writers fail to take an honest look at the countries past, but Hughes hits it right on the head. A very enjoyable read.



Such is Life (Ned Kelly just before he was executed)


Tron

 

[Celticrose2001]

Other than the usual interminable books that we University students HAVE to read, I'm simultaniously reading 1) DreamCatcher by Stephen King( one of my ALLTIME fave authors..even did a paper on Good vs Evil themes in his works in an early college creative writing class) and 2) How the Irish Saved Civilazation, which IMHO is a must for fans of things Celtic or Medieval.
CR

BTW any Civil War/Revolutionary war fans among us ticklephiles? If so any good books on these subjects you could read/reccommend?

 

[Celticrose2001]

Ann,
Did you like PC's Isle of the Dogs? I just read my Mother-in-Law's copy and thought it was pretty good. Have you read any Kathy Reicks(sp)? She writes medical dective stories in much the same mold as Cornwell, save that her heroine, Tempe Brennen, is a froensic anthropologist who spends half the yr teaching in North Carolina and the other half working cases in Montreal. The first book in the series is, I believe Deja Dead.


CR
aka Maggie aka Lady Mairead(my new SCA name)

 

[Neutron]

Dreamcatcher..

CelticRose how did you like DreamCatcher?
That's the first King Book since IT that I thought was worth a shit.
It wasn't great but it was readable.
Did you like it?

Tron

 

[Celticrose2001]

Neu,
I though it was nicely done.. wordy in the usual SK style, and prone to tangents, but I thought it interweaved the various plot lines( duddits and his strange gift, Owen and his divided loyalties, the insane Kurtz ect)fairly well, and the conclusion was pretty explosive too. Btw have you read the Long Walk( SK as Richard Bachman) IMHO I thought that was a good book, one that scared the pants off me.
CR

 

[Neutron]

I Know Some Civil War Buffs...

What kind of Civil War books are you interested in? I'm a modern naval warfare buff. But I know some guys who are deep into the civil war.

I can either ask them, Or just give you the website we all post at.
It's a naval Warship site BUT no one minds if you ask about other stuff.

www.warships1.com

Go to Discussion Boards.

Battleship Vs Battleship

Then post your question (you have to register as a member first, Also make sure you put OT in front of the subject.


Tron

 

[Phineas]

I'm not one for reading lately. Too tired. But here's what I'm currently in the middle of:

The Phantom Menace

Java 2, Volume II (again)

The Black Art of Java Game Programming (again)

 

[Myriads]

Currently beign read:

The Hunt for Zero Point by Nick Cook: A look into the possibility that antigravity was developed by the US govenment in the 1950's.

The Seven Sisters by Anthony Sampson: A very dry book written in the early 70's discussing the interactions and manipulations that the (then) 7 major world oil companies got themselves into

Let there be Neon: Rudo Stern A look at the history of neon signs, the art in the craft, and what it takes to make such.

Pufnstuf & other stuff by David Martindale A History of the television production company founded by Sid and Marty Krofft and the shows it produced.

Mouse Tales by David Koenig: A hard hitting book about how Disney makes it's parks work, and all the behinds the sceens stuff that the public never finds out.

The Fifties by David Halberstam: A huge tome that takes a very very indepth look at the decade of the 50's and the seeds that grew from it.

The Cruel Peace by Fred Inglis: A history of the cold war, it's roots, effects on life in the 50's and the long term results it had on american culture.

Conrad's Time Machine by Leo Frankowski: A lighthearted Science fiction book that is the newest in a multi book series.

Sojourn Vol2: The 2nd TPB collection of a Crossgen comic book series that involves a quest to rid a planet of an undead evil.

Wonder Woman Archives Vol3: Third in DC's reprint series of WW's comics from the 1940's.

Myriads