I like to read. A lot. I read several things at once. Here’s what my nightstand has on it now.

• Moses, A Life, by Jonathan Kirsch – a scholarly piece. A description of the real Moses, from the bible as well as the rabbinical writings
• Justinian’s Flea, by William Rosen – another scholarly piece of the world’s first plague during the reign on Justinian in 600-something.
• Master and Commander, by Patrick O’Brien. – a swashbuckling adventure on Napoleonic-era English warships. Maybe you’ve seen the movie?
• Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand – conservatives love this for the free market thought. This is another audio book that occupies me while I ride the bike.
  

Here’s what’s kept me in prose so far while I’m here in Korea. I started this list in early 2007.

• Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian – a story of a go-between accused of murder. A well done tale.
• Lost Lake, by Philip Margolin – a whodunit murder mystery. I bit too much BS, but I finished it.
• Stone Cold, by David Balducci - a spy tome. This one is took me some time to read. It wasn’t entirely boring, but the macho spy bravado was a tad much.
• Pilars of Creation, by Terry Goodkind.  A bit sci-fi and magic, a bit sword-y and ax-y. Probably one of the biggest build-ups and large let-downs I’ve ever read.  I can’t believe I got through the first 700 pages to read the last 50 indisgust at the lameness. A real circ de so-lame.
• The Lost Symbols, by Dan Brown. Another symbology tome, this time he’s left the Catholics to lick their wounds and has focused on the Freemasons. I’m listened to this as an audio-book while I rode the bike.  Completely wasted time as a serious book. Lots of metaphysical BS.  The Freemason’s secret’s were lame, if Brown is giving the truth.
• The Lovely Bones, by Kathy Sebold first person view from heaven of a murdered girl’s family. I hear this might be a movie soon.
• Lord of  the Rings; The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkein. I loved the movies. I found the 2nd and 3rd books while back home in the US and am engrossed in this one.
• Lord of  the Rings; Return of the Kong, J.R.R. Tolkein.  finally finished the 3rd
• All Things are Lights, by Robert Shea. A tale of knights and crusades.
  
• By Sorrow’s River, by Larry McMurtry, One of my favorite authors. McMurtry writes of the old and new west in this novel of exploration in America’s early days. This is the 3rd in the Berrybender series, following The Wandering Hill. I found this and the next book at a 1/2 price book store in Texas. I need the 4th and final book, “Folly and Glory” to round out the Berrybender Narratives.  Anyone wanna ship me a copy?
• The Wandering Hill, by Larry McMurtry. McMurtry writes of the old and new west in this novel of exploration in America’s early days.
• 11 Minutes, Paulo Coelho -. A young brazillian woman goes into prostitution and finds true love.
  
• Victoria Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho, A failed suicide attempt leaves a woman wanting to experience life in the nuthouse
  
• Bluebeard, Kurt Vonnegut. An abstract painter in the Hamptons.
• The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett, another tale of Olde Englande, this time about how the building of cathedrals fared
• Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut. A must read anti-war story about an author who writes of the fire-bombings in WWI Dresden Germany – more dead than Hiroshima, far less media coverage. Tastes great, less filling.
• The Awakening, Kate Chopin. New Orleans, 1895-ish. A woman awakens to her own independence as a woman in society. Classic for its portrayal of society in that period and the beginnings of the women’s movements.
• Lord of  the Rings; Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkein. I loved the movies. The book so far is, as expected, far fuller with details.
• Lady Chatterly’s Lover, D.H. Lawrence -  This was banned in England until 1960. I think it was banned less for the porn and more for the way Lawrence treated the upper classes with their constant whining about how England was turning into a land of grubby iron and steel workers and rustic commoners. He wasn’t kind to the upper crust and imagine they resented him for it. For the minimal sex content, it was tame at best. I’m guessing the “F” word and the “C” word (which, incidentally, Lawrence used as a verb and not a noun as its used today) got the book its banning.
• The President’s Plane is Missing, by Robert Serling (Rod Serling’s bro) interesting, especially from a technology perspective. This was written in 1966 and reporters had to rush to find a pay phone to call in a story and teletype was the way to send things across the nation. Lame ending, however.
  
• Don Quixote, by Miguel Cervants. This one is an audio book that I listen to while riding the bike. Classical literature of derangement and knights errant.
• The Switch, by Sandra Brown. Identical twins change lives in mid-career.
  
• The One Percent Doctrine, by Ron Suskind. A tell-all, mea-culpa for the CIA and George Tenet during the first 3 years of the “war on terror.” Paints Tenet as a saint doing his best. Paints Bush as the bumbing ass that he is. Paints Cheney as the puppet-master pulling Bush’s strings.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kessy. Classic tale of “modern” psychiatric treatment and the struggle of good vs. evil.
• The Loop Group, by Marry McMurtry.McMurtry is one of my all time favorite novelists, but book didn’t make it even close to being one of my favorite books. Its the story of two old hags in Hollywood trying to get by among dysfunctional families, shrinks and other tail ends of tinseltown.
• The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone, the story of Michaelangelo. Gawd, it took me forever to finish that book and it wasn’t even worth it. The Artist, while undoubtedly very talented, was a whining cry baby with no personality and the book had even less. I take that back – he had a personality and it has a name: OCD
• The Rising Tide, by Jeff Sharra. Another historical novel, this one set in early WWII. Sharra is one of my favorite historical authors.
• Viking, Odinn’s Child. By Tim Severin. A tale of Vikings, as the name justly implies with ties into Queen Emma, (below)
• Lisey’s story, by Stephen King. Another dual world story with shades of autobiography
• Gone, by Jonathan Kellerman – a murder mystery set in LA
• Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott – A Tale of Olde England
• 1812, by David Nevin – historical novel of America’s 2nd war with Britain
• The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson – history documentary/novel of the 1893 World’s Fair
• Raging Silence, by Amanda Stone – self-published autobiography of backwoods W.VA girl and seriously dysfunctional family
• The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck – a Classic for anyone wishing to understand China
• The Devil and Miss Prym, by Paulo Coelho – another allegorical tale of greed and morals
• Deception Point, by Dan Brown – government conspiracy re: NASA
• Queen Emma and the Vikings, by Harriet O’Brien – Historical documentary of 980-1100s England
• The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova – A different sort of vampire novel
• The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel – Life in a lifeboat with a tiger.
• Saving Fish from Drowning, by Amy Tan – A novel of South East Asia, particularly Myanmar.
• I know this much is True, by Wally Lamb – twin brothers, mental illness and family dysfunction
• The Street Lawyer, by John Grisham – atypical Grisham, stuff – small money, big morals
• Journey to the End of Night, by Louis-Ferdinand Celine – French boy turns man but never quite grows up during/after WW1
• Wild Swans, by Jung Chang – trials and tribulations of a Chinese Communist Party mid-level boss’s daughter after the Kuomintang were ousted.

Still on the nightstand but unable to read more than a couple of pages without falling asleep:

• The Age of Turbulence, Alan Greenspan’s biography/fingerpointing
• The Man in the Mirror, by Patrick Moreley. A Christian-centered self-help book for men.

3 Responses to “Books I’m Reading”

1. peggy says:

   July 18, 2007 at 7:14 pm

   Read the street lawyer if i remember correctly.. His books are always good
2. circe says:

   December 25, 2008 at 3:16 pm

   need to read any romance yet? get the twilight series… DAMN good for me!
3. Marty says:

   December 27, 2008 at 4:16 am

   I can’t get into romance stories – unless they’re the bodice-ripper variety.