# What book are you reading?



## adiaphane (Jun 13, 2006)

Since there is a thread on movies and music, I figure we should start one on what we are all reading.

Currently I am reading Elizabeth Hand's Waking the Moon, which is a mass market, quick read, suspense novel. 

My personal favorites are Faulkner's early works (Sound and the Fury, Light in August), Haruki Murakami, Paul Auster, I love Victorian novels (can't get enough of them), detective novels, i.e. Chandler and Hammett, Hemingway short stories, Coetzee and Nabokov. 

There is nothing better to me than a good book. 

Oh, and I should add, I love Harry Potter. I have read all of them three times.


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## Jon in SW Ohio (Jun 13, 2006)

I am so out of my element here...do orchid and aquarium books count?

I can read for hours about some mundane tiny plant from a stream in New Guinea, or how to calculate calcium uptake in association with carbonates...but can't get myself to open a book just for the entertainment value of a good story. There must be something wrong with me.

Jon
________
NEVADA MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY


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## adiaphane (Jun 13, 2006)

Yes, Jon, of course those count! I wish I read more nonfiction. The last nonfiction I read was about super massive black holes. I read too many lies!


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## Merrick (Jun 13, 2006)

I'm just the opposite of Jon  
I love to read books but not informal ones.

at the moment I'm reading the Dark Tower of Stephen King - and I'm finishing the last book.
The whole story has 7 Books and Stephen King started to write it in 1970's and finished it 2005.
I must say he is really weird but very intelligent - great story.

Merrick


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## Heather (Jun 13, 2006)

Jon in SW Ohio said:


> I am so out of my element here...



uh, you are? Did you forget where you were Jon?  

I have been reading the sequal to "Wicked" for months. I just cannot get into it. So mostly, I've been reading orchid stuff instead. 

i haven't started it yet but I got a book about the history of taxonomy. Looks fascinating! I'll have to look up the title when I get home.


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## bench72 (Jun 13, 2006)

I'm reading two books... 

fiction - "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" - Mark Haddon (yes, I know it's a children's book, but it is so good)

non-fiction - "The Slipper Orchids" - Catherine Cash


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## couscous74 (Jun 13, 2006)

Orchid Fever


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## Heather (Jun 13, 2006)

couscous74 said:


> Orchid Fever



I like the fact that now I know people written about in Orchid Fever. 
:rollhappy:


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## kentuckiense (Jun 13, 2006)

The Panda's Thumb - Stephen Jay Gould


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## Wendy (Jun 13, 2006)

I LOVE Stephen King and Dean Koontz books and try to collect them all. At the moment I am reading The DaVinci Code. Saw the movie and absolutely loved it...one of the best I've ever seen....so i had to read the book.

My favourite Stephen King short story has to be 'The Mist' Anyone else read it? It freaked me right out. When he wrote as Bachman I liked 'The Long Walk' the best.


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## bwester (Jun 13, 2006)

I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter books.....


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## PHRAG (Jun 13, 2006)

I am reading a book on Sushi. History, how to roll it, recipes etc.


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## likespaphs (Jun 13, 2006)

y'all grow great orchids and know how to read? i'm jealous...


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## Marco (Jun 13, 2006)

Wiley CPA Exam Review 2006 : Financial Accounting and Reporting  It's a great book if you ever need something to fall asleep on. It's not comfy though. They should make pillow bindings on these! oke:


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## Mycorrhizae (Jun 13, 2006)

I have been reading the phone book a lot, lately.

Trying to find reliable and qualified contractors to get some work done around this place.


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## adiaphane (Jun 13, 2006)

PHRAG said:


> I am reading a book on Sushi. History, how to roll it, recipes etc.


Great! Make a setting for one more, cause I'm coming over for dinner!:clap:


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## PHRAG (Jun 13, 2006)

adiaphane said:


> Great! Make a setting for one more, cause I'm coming over for dinner!:clap:


 

Ok, but can you bring some fresh seafood? I live in Phoenix, and you know what they say about land-locked states and seafood.


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## adiaphane (Jun 13, 2006)

Yeah, we get really nice seafood here... although the mercury level in the bay is a little high.


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## Heather (Jun 13, 2006)

PHRAG said:


> Ok, but can you bring some fresh seafood? I live in Phoenix, and you know what they say about land-locked states and seafood.



I actually "learned" to eat sushi in Albuquerque.


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## PHRAG (Jun 13, 2006)

Heather said:


> I actually "learned" to eat sushi in Albuquerque.


 
I ate sushi there too, but most sushi places can get their fish overnighted, next day at the latest. If I go to the grocery store to buy some, there is a good chance it will be three days old. I just have reservations about how safe it would be for me to eat it raw.


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## Heather (Jun 20, 2006)

Ok, this is the book I started reading the other night about the history of Taxonomy. I got it when I was hoping to get a job in the plant world, but haven't had much time to read lately. So far it is interesting. I have high hopes! Has anyone else read it yet? 

Here's the link but it is _The Naming of Names_ by Anna Pavord. 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15...f=pd_bbs_1/002-6085080-6617649?_encoding=UTF8


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## bwester (Jun 20, 2006)

Ernest Gaines 'A Lesson before Dying'


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## Marco (Nov 5, 2006)

I haven't done any real leisurely reading lately cause ive been "trying" to study for the first section of my test. im so gonna bomb that test with flying colors....next test in jan...hope i can get into gear with that one

but anyways i digress....I will be on vaca this next week so i was looking at my bookshelf and i have a whole bunch of books sitting collecting dust many of which I haven't read yet. I came across two books one that read and one that i partially read that was interesting that i would love to finish

read - "Slum as a way of life" by F. Landa Jocano : And anthropological/sociological case study on the life of people in a slum community of Manila

partially read - "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander" by Thomas Merton : Collection of thoughts by a trappist monk

I'm gonna toss a coin to see which one I'm gonna read first. I really should pick up a book that i haven't read yet but i do love the book by Jocano it keeps me grounded.
***edit

tails......Slum as a way of life it is


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## kentuckiense (Nov 5, 2006)

I've been (extremely) slowly pecking away at Stephen Jay Gould's _The Structure of Evolutionary Theory_. However, I haven't had a whole lot of time lately and that is definitely not a read-while-tired book, so I'm only a few dozen pages in.

I think the last real novel I read was Yann Martel's _The Life of Pi_. I kind of hated it.

I think I'll try to read _Siddharta_ or something when I'm home for Thanksgiving break.


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## Heather (Nov 5, 2006)

I want to read Madhur Jaffrey's new book about growing up in India (she's a pretty famous Indian chef). I also want to read Martha Stewart's new Homekeeping book.  ...I know, don't say it...

I have not been reading anything tho, lately.


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## TADD (Nov 5, 2006)

I can never read just one book at a time, currently on the nightstand....

Impact Teaching - Richard Allen(Teacher stuff...)

Dharma Punx - Noah Levine (Have read it a hundred times....but)

Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner

And of course the obligatory father's manual

The New Father - Armin Brott


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## Mark (Nov 5, 2006)

Heather, you need to read "I Like You: Entertaining Under the Influence" by Amy Sedaris. Much more practical than Martha Stewart.:evil:


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## streetmorrisart (Nov 6, 2006)

_Stardust_ by Neil Gaiman


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## Heather (Nov 6, 2006)

Ooooh I LOVED _Stardust_!!!


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## streetmorrisart (Nov 6, 2006)

I like it so far, too. Did you know there's a movie being made of it?... We shall see if it measures up!


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## Heather (Nov 6, 2006)

I did. 
If you like that read the Philip Pullman _His Dark Materials_ trilogy. You'll solidify your placement in Level 6 if you do. :wink:

(seriously, it's very good, and quite blasphemous.)


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## Mark (Nov 6, 2006)

Loved Stardust. Loved His Dark Materials but got a little confused-->Now, which world are we in?

I need something new to read. A librarian friend recommended Terry Pratchett's latest series.


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## Heather (Nov 6, 2006)

Mark said:


> Loved Stardust. Loved His Dark Materials but got a little confused-->Now, which world are we in?
> 
> I need something new to read. A librarian friend recommended Terry Pratchett's latest series.



Another good one...


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## Per (Apr 19, 2007)

For the next few days, Hart and Wechsler's, _The Federal Courts and The Federal System_. Yep, it's that time of year again -- exam review.:sob:


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## ohio-guy (Apr 19, 2007)

I read The Pandas Thumb yrs ago, and ended up reading all of Gould's collected essays....they were great. 

Recently I have been trying to finish Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" which reviews the prehistory of the human race, but it has gotten pondersome in the last bit. Still, it is a great encapsulation of the important bits of our collective "history", which lead to the development of civilization.

And Harry Potter is a great escape, I am looking forward to the final installment!

Another fun escapist read was "The Time Travlers Wife"


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## Bolero (Apr 19, 2007)

The White Earth by Andrew McGahan

I have to say it's one of the most interesting and beautifully written books I've had the pleasure to read and it's hard to put down. It's won some literary prizes as well so if you like good literature then give it a go.


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Apr 19, 2007)

Pigeons, by Andrew Blechman.......don't ask.....I'm enjoying it a lot though...pretty funny. Just finished Flower Confidential, by AMY Stewart....very little on orchids, but still a great book about the flower industry. Take care, Eric


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## kentuckiense (Apr 19, 2007)

_Darwin's Dangerous Idea_ by Daniel Dennett. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do a whole lot of pleasure reading lately.


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## Jon in SW Ohio (Apr 19, 2007)

Wow...this thread has been around for almost a year and I still haven't opened a single book in that time. That must explain my progressive dumbening.

Jon


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## eOrchids (Apr 20, 2007)

Book? What's a book? :rollhappy: 

Haven't read anything lately besides excerpts from The Orchid Thief or Orchid Fever. Most of my readings are magazines.

Though I can't wait for the final Harry Potter book to be released.


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## Barbara (Apr 20, 2007)

I currently reading David B. Coe's third installment of Winds of the Forelands series.


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## Mark (Apr 20, 2007)

Recently finished "The Ghost Map" -- Very interesting


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## practicallyostensible (Apr 20, 2007)

Class:
Art in Theory 1900-2000
After Modern Art 1945-2000
Gargantua: Manufactured Mass Culture
Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society

Leisure:
The Tin Drum (a wonderfully bizzare book)
The Panda's Thumb
Paradise Lost:evil:


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## Heather (Apr 20, 2007)

Not reading now but I loved "Across the Nightingale Floor" (for any of you Asian buffs!) and also "The Time Traveler's Wife" Love=Yummy. Sigh....


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## Mrs. Paph (Apr 21, 2007)

Anne McCaffrey's my all-time favorite author. JRRT would be too, but he didn't write as much, so Anne wins by volume and variety! I used to assume SF/F was all too heavy on the Fiction & Fantasy, but I was immediately converted after reading one of her books! I collect them now, mostly used though, since I'm poor and need more money for orchids:rollhappy: 
~Miss Paph


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