So, if you don’t mind sharing, what are > you > currently reading?
The Wisdom of Father Brown and Orthodoxy, both by G. K. Chesterton.
I read Orthodoxy a few months ago. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
Right now I’m speeding through Latin for Americans, volume two and Wheelock’s Latin for the placement exams during the summer (I want to get into Latin III next year so I’ll be able to finish high school with all four years. I’ve never taken I or II, and nobody in our school’s gotten into III without both I and II, but I took Latin all through elementary school and have studied it independantly since, so with some touchup I should be right and ready).
Recently finished “The Artful Dodger” autobiography by Nick Bantock.
Most of my reading is technical books or magazines. I was in a Chapters (large, barn of a chain bookstore) picking up a few mags. One of the girls working there, restocking magazines, saw me pick out Sky & Telescope. She asked me what is the difference between astrology and astronomy, as she couldn’t understand why they were filed separately in the rack. This scares me. 
djm
I’m trying to catch up on the classics
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers.
also
The new issue of Night Train, a literary journal of short stories.
I’ve been browsing in the Oxfam shop, looking for cheapies. People ask me why I don’t use the library. Their opening hours don’t match mine.
Recently I’ve read Collected Stories of Eudora Welty.
I feel as if I could go down to that township she writes about, and recognise every one of the people there. Not in a good way.
The Complete Father Brown by G.K.Chesterton.
I like detective stories, but reading these on the trot was a big disappointment. GKC uses them more as a hobby-horse for his own ideas on Catholicism than anything else. It’s irritating. And this book was supposed to be the “complete” Father Brown - but GKC did write some others, which I’ve read, and which aren’t included.
The Witches of Chiswick by Robert Rankin.
This is complete trash. No plot, no ideas, just crap jokes from start to finish. Yuk. One to take on holiday and leave there. A sunbathing book.
Then I got THREE Minette Walters on the trot. Wow!
I read The Ice House years ago, and was impressed.
I picked up Disordered Minds
The Echo and The Shape of Snakes.
The last one is about institutionalised racism and I found it very disturbing. But a very fine read. The people are all too real. I couldn’t help feeling there was a touch of autobiography in that, but I don’t know enough about the author to say what.
Then I picked up Hard Times by whatsername - the Detective’s name is V.I. Warshawski, and I can’t remember the author’s. Hunh!
But V.I. is so crotchetty and bad-tempered that when I found I had read it before, I didn’t want to finish it. The detective with permanent PMT.
So I re-read Virtual Light by Ian Gibson. Lovely book. Good Science Fiction, good story. Well written, nice social commentary. Lovely little bits like: “The music was that old guy, was black, turned white, and then his face fell in.”
Or “The guy in the films who was made out of metal and became governor of California.”
And now I’m re-reading Changing Planes by Usula LeGuin
If you haven’t read it, you should follow that up with The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, also by McCullers. It’s just a short read, but beautiful and powerful.
Congratulations
I hope “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was better than the movie.
I read “Fear and Loathing…” a few times in earlier years. I laughed heartily.
“Hell’s Angels” by Thompson is pretty good too.
I didn’t like “F&L on the Campaign Trail”.
Henke
I read Shogun a long time ago. It was pretty good.
Emm I think I ought to read that one. Boring or not. Do you order Vanilla at Baskin Robins? 
fel bautista I read a few books by Philip K Dick. The only one I can recall offhand was “Forever Man”. I liked his short stories better.
I’ve read tons of Steinbeck. “The Grapes of Wrath” is an all time favorite.
Dale The history of Islam sounds interesting. I want to read “The Satanic Verses” too.
Bloom The L. Rust Hill book sound interesting. I’ll look it up at the library. I’ve read “A Clockwork Orange” so many times I lost count. It’s been probably 20 years since the last time though. I also read “Behold the Man” by Burgess. I haven’t read “The Wanting Seed” yet but heard it’s good.
Cynth How was that book about the flu epidemic? I’ve seen it and wondered if I ought to read it. It’s interesting how books on World War I touch upon the epidemic as if it were a sideline.
JS The book about Russia sounds good. I went through a Russian history phase years ago. One of the best books ever is “In War’s Dark Shadow” by W. Bruce Lincoln. It covers Russian history from around 1870 to WWI. I was surprised that Russia had a sort of “hippie” movement nearly a 100 years before the United States.
cowtime “Eleanor & Franklin” sounds interesting too.
You were the one who interested me in “Our Southern Highlanders” so maybe “She Walks These Hills” would be a treat. Peeplj obviously likes them.
Wow hyldemoer The history books all sound great. I might check “The Male Herbal” too.
I haven’t read Chesterson but I think his name has popped up here a few times. Might be worth a look.
Currently I’m reading a book called “Dream West” an historical novel about John Charles Fremont, “The Pathfinder”. Last week I read two other run-of-the-mill novels. One by a Hugh Cave was exceptionally bad. The dialog alone was worthy of a gag reaction.
Another, called “Run” was a pretty good popcorn read. A fast paced, gritty book that reminded me of a Terrentino movie.
Before that I re-read “Confederacy of Dunces”. Always a classic.
This is a mystery/crime story about a murder, spending a lot of time looking back through the lives of the participants. It seems pretty straightforward at the start and, as usual, I started to identify and relate to some of the characters. Big mistake. Exceptionally well crafted book.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is great, with much more depth and style and sadness than the movie.
L. Rust Hill is hilarious. The book is really three shorter books in one volume, with the second and third ones (How to Lead a Good Life, and How to Retire at Forty) serious but well-written. Remarkable accomplishment to weave the humor and life’s lessons together. And you’ll be falling off your chair laughing when the “fussy man” lays out how to properly organize a family picnic, eat an ice cream cone, or set an alarm clock.
Flora Britannica by Richard Mabey
The Cloudspotter’s Guide by Gavin Pretor-Pinney (Cloud Appreciation Society)
The Beethoven Quartets by Joseph Kerman
I have never read a novel through in my life.
Atom From the Sun of Knowledge, Lex Hixon / Nur Al-Jerrahi
Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine, Lonnie S. Jarrett
Basically spiritual and professional stuff.
I’m finally going to try getting around to something a good friend and colleague passed along to me, Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of World War II, by John W. Dower.
Wow! I’m surprised to wake up and find this thread on page 3 already.
Myself, here is what I’m reading or have recently (last couple of weeks) read:
The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
Die Heilige Schrift***** (German Bible)
The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People : An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America by N. Brent Kennedy
Me, too! That’s why I start them.
*****The one thing I dislike about this book is that it has the old German type of type. It’s difficult for me to read. I wish I could find a cheap German Bible in modern font, but I can’t find one, even in the used book store. They all seem to be old and have the old kind of lettering, or new and cost $30. I got one through Interlibrary loan, but I want one to own. But I digress.
Haven’t seen the movie (everyone gasp, please), but the book was fairly amazing. Since it’s actually a novella, my copy has some short stories attached to it, and I’ve fallen in love with A Christmas Memory. Absolutely beautiful.
Are you looking for a Luther translation, or the modern standard version?
Currently rereading “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by G. G. Marquez - one of my favorites.
Also “A Man without a Country” by K. Vonnegut
That reminds me–I need to read Breakfast of Champions. I’ve put it off for too long, I say.
Either one, really. I’d prefer the new one but if I could find a Luther one in regular type for cheap I’d snap it up. The thing I don’t really understand is how you can find KJV and such for $0.50 or even free. I guess I should ask Steve (my Mennonite friend, not Steve Shaw) but I’m pretty sure he’s out of the country right now.
I see, Steve. You probably have a life. 
I’m with you Dale: I really enjoyed Burning Chrome, Mona Lisa Overdrive, Neuromancer and Count Zero after that, blah. IMO, don’t bother with Pattern Recognition - I read it and Gibson is still in the slump, big time.
Loren
Have you read “A Tooth from the Tiger’s Mouth” by Tom Bisio? I’m looking for a copy of that one locally, but would be interested in hearing from someone who’s read it, and perhaps tried some of the remedies.
rh, perhaps you’ve read it? You’ve probably even heard of Bisio, or perhaps have met him along the way…
Loren