What Are You Reading Now?

[Levin]

CUF

[KillerDog]

I am reading George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Very good reading. Four books are out. Three more are expected to complete the series.

I understand the newest book in this series is coming out this summer and that an HBO series is coming out in April. Very cool books.

[happyone]

finished Fire in the East - pretty good historical fiction. Set in 257-8 AD, it is about the Sassinid reconquest of the the Roman provinces in the Euphrates valley, specifically the city of Dura-Europa which the author renames Arete. The main character is a romanzied barbarian who is given the command of Arete and ordered to defended it until relieved.
currently reading

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Heartstone-C-J-Sansom/dp/023074415X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301844300&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Heartstone (9780230744158): C J Sansom: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OdoUaGPRL.@@AMEPARAM@@51OdoUaGPRL[/ame]

This is the fifth book of a mystery series set in the reign of Henry VIII
This book is set in the summer of 1545 against the backdrop of a threatened French invasion.

[Brian]

Just put down "A Thousand Splendid Suns"
What a beautiful story.

[happyone]

Finished Heartstone - good read. I would highly recommend the whole series. This entry explores the abuse of the courts of wards by the monarchy that used them to raise funds. The hero, Matthew Shardlake is asked to look into a wardship by Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife. It is also a pretty good murder mystery. Sansom also incorparates how the Tudors raised armies, the treatment of mentally ill and physically handicaped, Shardlake is a hunchback, and even works the sinking of the ship Mary Rose into the finale of the novel.

It works as a stand alone novel, but reading the preceding entries in the series would help one understand the relationships between the reoccuring characters.

Currently reading

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/First-Tycoon-Cornelius-Vanderbilt-Vintage/dp/1400031745/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302231298&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Vintage) (9781400031740): T.J. Stiles: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/414iONCXKuL.@@AMEPARAM@@414iONCXKuL[/ame]

I saw the author on booktv a couple of weeks ago it looked interesting.

[eldiente]

Just started listening to this

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Matterhorn-Novel-Vietnam-Karl-Marlantes/dp/080211928X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302277167&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (9780802119285): Karl Marlantes: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41xTZEOWt%2BL.@@AMEPARAM@@41xTZEOWt%2BL[/ame]

Just started this in audio form. Very gripping characterizations so far, and seemingly realistic.

[happyone]

Amazon.com: Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (9780802119285): Karl Marlantes: Books

Just started this in audio form. Very gripping characterizations so far, and seemingly realistic.

I saw the author interviewed on BookTV a few months ago. It looks fantastic. It on my hold list at the library

[LA Ute]

Just finished "Unbroken" today. What a fascinating read. I also ran across this Wall Street Journal piece about the book:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...le_LeadStoryNA

You might need a subscription to read that.

The book made birthday gifts easy for my brother and my sister. They both love it too.

[old_gregg]

do we have any david foster wallace fans? it was a bad day for american literature when he died, but his last manuscript the pale king is available on amazon. i will likely wade into it soon.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Pale-King-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316074233/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302489480&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The Pale King (9780316074230): David Foster Wallace: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Kp%2BZwtnWL.@@AMEPARAM@@41Kp%2BZwtnWL[/ame]

[All-American]

www.cougaruteforum.com

[Brian]

I'm comfortable enough with my own sexuality to admit that I started reading "The Royals" by Kitty Kelley last night. I just ordered some Dickens from Amazon, and needed something to read for a few days. I saw it in the local used bookstore for 2 quid, and since I don't know much about the Windsor family, thought I couldn't miss. 100 pages in and it's pretty interesting.
And, Queen Elizabeth was quite a looker when she was younger. rawrr.

[happyone]

I'm comfortable enough with my own sexuality to admit that I started reading "The Royals" by Kitty Kelley last night. I just ordered some Dickens from Amazon, and needed something to read for a few days. I saw it in the local used bookstore for 2 quid, and since I don't know much about the Windsor family, thought I couldn't miss. 100 pages in and it's pretty interesting.
And, Queen Elizabeth was quite a looker when she was younger. rawrr.

As a rule, I haven't liked Kelly's bios, I admit I haven't read the one on the Windsors. It seems she takes a grain of truth or dirt and then sensationalizes it.

[Brian]

As a rule, I haven't liked Kelly's bios, I admit I haven't read the one on the Windsors. It seems she takes a grain of truth or dirt and then sensationalizes it.

That's the sense I get from it. But the general lay of the land is kind of interesting, and it's a really fast read. She has too much unreferenced, detailed information to be totally believable.
However, until today, I had no idea that Phillip was from Greece. Embarrassing to admit, I know....

[eldiente]

Matterhorn

I saw the author interviewed on BookTV a few months ago. It looks fantastic. It on my hold list at the library

Fairly graphic language so far, but probably realistic. Military lingo is hard to follow for non-military types like me, and the audio version is impossible to look at the directory of charters in the front of the written version. Still I am enjoying this.

[happyone]

finished The First Tycoon. Interesting read, Vanderbilt was an complicated man. I thought it was a pretty even handed look at the man. It doesn't portray him either as a monster or an angel.

Some interesting facts - he started his first business - a ferry at sixteen with money he borrowed from his parents to buy a boat.

He fired his oldest son, William, the first two time he had him work for him and finally bought him a farm on Staten Island. When William made a go of the farm, he brought him back into the business and eventually made him his heir and turned over the management of his empire to him about 10 yrs before he died.

His second son was a gambling addict and Vanderbilt cut off financal support, but always kept hoping he would beat his problem.

His third son graduated from West Point just before the Civil War, but never served in combat and died in 1863.

At the time of his death he was the richest man in America and his fortune was worth 1/9 of all the currency in circulation.

When the Commodore died he left 95% of his fortune to William and his daughters sued to break the will - It was finally settled and the daughters got appox another 5%

One thing I've never seen in a biography before - Another bio of Vanderbilt came out just before this one and Stiles basically calls the author a fraud.



currently reading

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Professor-Madman-Insanity-English-Dictionary/dp/0060839783/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302890884&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) (9780060839789): Simon Winchester: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XNi51TR3L.@@AMEPARAM@@51XNi51TR3L[/ame]

that Utestar mentioned