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

• Just After Sunset by Stephen King. A set of short stories from the master of horror.
• The River God by Wilbur Smith. A rather large novel of ancient Eygyptian royals
• Moses, A Life, by Jonathan Kirsch – a scholarly piece. A description of the real Moses, from the bible as well as the rabbinical writings. This is hard to read – I sometimes fall asleep while reading. I’m still plodding through this – it’s interesting, but taxing. I’m considering moving this to the bottom – the unread pile, but I still read this when I can’t sleep – its a great sedative.
• The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. Another audiobook to keep me pedaling every morning.  This one is a modern vs. established conflict using architecture as it’s premise.

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

• Made in America by Bill Bryson – a series of anecdotes and vignettes on how American culture came to be – why we have one fox, one box, one ox, but two foxes, two boxes and two oxen. Lots of other strange things that people take as gospel on America and how they (surprisingly) evolved.
• Azincourt, by Bernard Cromwell. A tale of Olde England and Henry V as his people fight the French up to and including the famous battle of Azincourt. A page turner for me.
• House of Illusions, by Pauline Gedge. A fluff piece of ancient Egyptian times. A friend was moving home and asked if I wanted it. I probably wouldn’t have picked it up at the bookstore.
• 1984, by George Orwell. The Classic big-brother story of government gone too big. An audiobook that kept me wanting to peddle to find out what happened next. I read this in High school but it seems somehow different now. It all seems, so…so…Republican.
• Captain Alatriste, by Arturo Perez-Reverte. A swashbuckling, Spanish novel set during the Inquisition. A friend here in my neighborhood, also an avid reader, gave me a few books and this one was pretty good. Swords, international intrigue, and young love – what else does a boy need?
• Folly and Glory, by Larry McMurtry. The 4th and final story of the Berrybender narratives of the early American western frontier. Geez, I love this writer. Great but sad ending to a long saga. Perhaps a little overblown with all the historical figures of import the characters meet, but that’s an author’s prerogative.
• Justinian’s Flea, by William Rosen – another scholarly piece of the world’s first plague during the reign of Justinian in 600-something. A historical look at the military, biological, architectural and cultural issues of the fall of the Roman Empire.
• Duma Key – by Stephen King. Another audio book that occupies my mind whilst riding the bike. I have yet to read a King book I didn’t like. This one is about a guy who loses a limb and gains some ESP powers. Ends up being a haunted pottery piece.
• The Steel Wave, by Jeff Shaara – the 2nd book in Shaara’s historical novel trilogy of WWII. Good stuff. I like Shaara’s work and I usually chew through them quickly. This one didn’t take long to burn through.
• Straight Into Darkness, by Faye Kellerman. A serial killer is on the loose in pre WWII Germany. The brown shirts remind me of the Republicans these days. The story was great until the last 25 pages and then the author seemed to have forgotten she needed to wrap things up soon and it got weird.
• The Road, by Carmac McCarthy. Apocalyptic future with a man and his son fighting off all the scum that left on the earth while spending their days walking and finding food. This one was ok. I read it in short order. The movie wasn’t as good.
• Master and Commander, by Patrick O’Brien. – a swashbuckling adventure on Napoleonic-era English warships. Maybe you’ve seen the movie with Russell Crowe?
• Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand – conservatives love this for the free market thought. This is another audio book that occupied me while I rode the bike. A bit unrealistic, but its easy to see why the conservatives get their panties in a wad over Obama’s policies which they deem “socialist.”
• 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 largest let-downs I’ve ever read. I can’t believe I got through the first 700 pages to read the last 50 in disgust 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 listened 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 bumbling 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 :

• 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. I don’t need any help – the voices in my head told me so.
• The Witching Hour, by Anne Rice. I’ve liked most of the things she’s written. But this audiobook just didn’t get me. After riding the bike and listening for over 50 minutes I was ready to crash the bike into the river and end it all.