Books you're currently reading??? - Page 51

Urbane Guerrilla · 03-27-2007, 03:49 AM

I just finished John McPhee's latest: Uncommon Carriers. It's a McPhee go-there-and-explore look at the business of commercial transportation, and a slice of the lives of the people who make their livings at it: owner-operators of eighteen-wheelers, river towboats (which actually are push boats) -- you know, navigation gets interesting when the river is narrower than your barge string is long -- a digression into a canoe trip replicating more or less the trip Thoreau and his older brother (who died young of septicemia) took; a coal train out of Wyoming taking low-sulfur coal to Georgia. As is usual with McPhee when he writes about this kind of thing, you get a lot of I-never-knew-that tidbits.

This may not be the titanic work Annals of the Former World was -- anyone who enjoys geology should read that -- but it upholds McPhee's reputation.

Trilby · 03-27-2007, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf

The Carl Hiassen book you (everyone) need(s) to read is "Skin Tight".

It's the best of all of them.

I thought we'd agreed that Hiassen is insane.

A Bried History of Nearly Everything

Lucy Gault - Wm. Trevor

Evolution vs. Creationism - Eugenie Scott

monster · 03-27-2007, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluecuracao

But I never did read the one Hiaasen book I picked up (I don't remember the name...it had a dog head on the cover). .

Sick puppy.

---

xob -you're right about the doorknobs. Goldfinger has the most excruciating game of golf. I'm at the skimming point now, this may well be my last Bond. (Who am I kidding, I'm seriously short of alternatives in the mindless fiction category.....

)

Bullitt · 03-27-2007, 09:54 PM

Anyone read "Next" by Michael Crichton?
I'm just starting and it's.. interesting.

Clodfobble · 03-27-2007, 10:44 PM

I got it for my birthday back in November. It's next in line in the to-read pile, which means I might get started on it, oh, by July if I'm lucky. I miss having time to read.

Shawnee123 · 03-28-2007, 10:23 AM

"Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood" by Koren Zailckas.

This relatively young woman writes her memoir about her relationship with alchohol, starting with her first drink in high school and culminating in her alcohol-ridden college experience. She uses facts about women and drinking and her own experiences. She writes in a wonderfully honest voice. I think young women should read this book.

TheMercenary · 03-28-2007, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guyute

Ghost wars : the secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001

A very good book about a very good group of dedicated individuals.

bluecuracao · 03-29-2007, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster

Sick puppy.

Ah--thanks.

Just finished The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell, by Loraine Despres. A "Southern romance novel," I figured it would be sappy fluff, so I put off reading it until I needed help falling asleep one night. But it turned out to be really interesting. The story's set in 1920, so the author took advantage of the time period, and wove a few well-researched issues of the day into the plot--women's suffrage, eugenics, spread of the Klan and the automobile, etc.

Sundae · 03-29-2007, 03:08 PM

I'm reading Lord Foul's Bane. Finally.
I've seen it around for years but until reading about it here I wasn't fussed about reading it.

I have to admit I'm mildly disappointed so far.
It just doesn't have a lot of substance to it.
I should have read it years ago.

glatt · 03-29-2007, 03:10 PM

That's a sequel right? Did you read the one(s) leading up to it? Thomas Covenant, right?

I'm just starting Bel Canto.

Sundae · 03-29-2007, 03:15 PM

I'm pretty sure I'm reading the first one
The character is introduced before he travels to the other world - it starts with him going to pay a telephone bill...

glatt · 03-29-2007, 03:35 PM

My bad. It's been 20 years or so since I read it.

Sundae · 03-29-2007, 03:38 PM

Don't worry - I know what that's like
I actually bought a book from the charity shop the other day and got 3/4 of the way through before I realised I'd read it. In my defense it was really generic chick-lit though.

Guyute · 03-29-2007, 10:14 PM

Andy McNab: Recoil

TheMercenary- yeah, it's sad to see the sticks thrown in the wheels of guys actually trying to make a difference...Wonder where the world would be now if they had been able to operate like it was 1975.

wolf · 03-30-2007, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

I thought we'd agreed that Hiassen is insane.

Completely nuts, which is why you should read Skin Tight.

03-27-2007, 03:49 AM	#751
Urbane Guerrilla Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,674	I just finished John McPhee's latest: Uncommon Carriers. It's a McPhee go-there-and-explore look at the business of commercial transportation, and a slice of the lives of the people who make their livings at it: owner-operators of eighteen-wheelers, river towboats (which actually are push boats) -- you know, navigation gets interesting when the river is narrower than your barge string is long -- a digression into a canoe trip replicating more or less the trip Thoreau and his older brother (who died young of septicemia) took; a coal train out of Wyoming taking low-sulfur coal to Georgia. As is usual with McPhee when he writes about this kind of thing, you get a lot of I-never-knew-that tidbits. This may not be the titanic work Annals of the Former World was -- anyone who enjoys geology should read that -- but it upholds McPhee's reputation. __________________ Wanna stop school shootings? End Gun-Free Zones, of course.

03-27-2007, 09:54 PM	#754
Bullitt This is a fully functional babe lair Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Akron, OH Posts: 2,324	Anyone read "Next" by Michael Crichton? I'm just starting and it's.. interesting. __________________ Kiss my white Irish ass.

03-27-2007, 10:44 PM	#755
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	I got it for my birthday back in November. It's next in line in the to-read pile, which means I might get started on it, oh, by July if I'm lucky. I miss having time to read. __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

03-28-2007, 10:23 AM	#756
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	"Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood" by Koren Zailckas. This relatively young woman writes her memoir about her relationship with alchohol, starting with her first drink in high school and culminating in her alcohol-ridden college experience. She uses facts about women and drinking and her own experiences. She writes in a wonderfully honest voice. I think young women should read this book. __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

03-29-2007, 03:08 PM	#759
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	I'm reading Lord Foul's Bane. Finally. I've seen it around for years but until reading about it here I wasn't fussed about reading it. I have to admit I'm mildly disappointed so far. It just doesn't have a lot of substance to it. I should have read it years ago. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

03-29-2007, 03:10 PM	#760
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	That's a sequel right? Did you read the one(s) leading up to it? Thomas Covenant, right? I'm just starting Bel Canto.

03-29-2007, 03:15 PM	#761
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	I'm pretty sure I'm reading the first one The character is introduced before he travels to the other world - it starts with him going to pay a telephone bill... __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

03-29-2007, 03:35 PM	#762
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	My bad. It's been 20 years or so since I read it.

03-29-2007, 03:38 PM	#763
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	Don't worry - I know what that's like I actually bought a book from the charity shop the other day and got 3/4 of the way through before I realised I'd read it. In my defense it was really generic chick-lit though. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

03-29-2007, 10:14 PM	#764
Guyute Gamehenge Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Halifax, NS Posts: 168	Andy McNab: Recoil TheMercenary- yeah, it's sad to see the sticks thrown in the wheels of guys actually trying to make a difference...Wonder where the world would be now if they had been able to operate like it was 1975. __________________ It's Really Plain and Easy To See, The Family grows like fungus on a tree.

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