What are you currently reading?

[Scarpia]

The Lacuna, the new Novel by Barbara Kingsolver. I loved her Poisonwood Bible, and this one is good so far, but without the bite of PB. It's about a boy who becomes the assistant of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and meets Leon Trotsky.

I've read Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible and one other novel.  Good, but can be a bit preachy.

[Harry]

Oscar Wilde
Richard Ellmann 1988.

Still the best book about dear Oscar.

[SonicMan46]

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin - illustrated edition published in 2008 for the upcoming 2009 anniversaries of his birth (1809) and publication of the first edition of the book (1859).

I was able to pick up this beautiful tome for $10 new (holiday offer from the History Book Club which I've been a member since the mid-1970s).  I first read the book as a teenager 'moons ago' and had another illustrated edition a while back - just getting started.   

[CD]

I just couldn't get into The Devils so I'm reading this instead:

Pretty good; not as deep as Il Nome Della Rosa but great fun and probably more allegorical than is immediately apparent. On one level it is simply an adventure story with fantastic settings and characters — but it is also a rumination on the veracity (or rather, the lack of it) of historical writing.

Now reading (and almost finished with):

[Bogey]

Oscar Wilde
Richard Ellmann 1988.

Still the best book about dear Oscar.

Please report a bit more, Harry!

[greg]

Just finished reading Crime and Punishment.
Loved it, as expected.
Heavy stuff... the only thing I didn't like about it was the overly-long group conversations which got tedious after awhile, but there's tons to like about it- the dreams, murder scene, confessions, cat and mouse games, Raskolnikov's philosophies, etc. definitely an amazing book.

Unfortunately, I can understand Raskolnikov a bit too well. Often, I felt like I was him.  Especially the whole thing about having way too much pride- so much that he justified it with murder. He thought of himself as an Ubermensch and everyone else as a louse. I know that's not right and all... but I have to admit, I understand the feeling. 

[jlaurson]

just finished "Decline and Fall" by Evelyn Waugh. (Mitchells' --from Mitchel & Webb--favorite, for what it's worth. Uproarously

now I'm reading this ever so fine op-ed on Forbes: "Shameful Self-Righteousness -- or "Seppuku Light". How the staged appearances before congress are bullshitting the American customers and voters.

Next up: Oblomov re-reading.

[Opus106]

How Facebook was Founded

An intense tale filled with intrigue, deceit and law suits.

[karlhenning]

Just finished reading Crime and Punishment.

just finished "Decline and Fall" by Evelyn Waugh.

Two of my favorites.

[karlhenning]

Just finished (re-reading) a very cool Chapter III.

[Lethevich]

Does anybody have a rec for "urban" fantasy or scifi, something with is heavily focused on the day-to-day life of a city environment - like Dickens, but more fantastical?

[Florestan]

Does anybody have a rec for "urban" fantasy or scifi, something with is heavily focused on the day-to-day life of a city environment - like Dickens, but more fantastical?

Try this: Juan Marse --- Lizard Tails. Not scifi, not very much fantasy, but really fantastic.

[greg]

So, I ended up reading Camus' The Stranger (even though I said I wouldn't). 
What an amusing little book. Very interesting going through a story with that kind of perspective.

[karlhenning]

Amusing is certainly one element in that 'un.  I don't know if I should characterize the whole like that.

Personally, ever since reading that one in high school French class, I've always loved the name Meursault.

[karlhenning]

Greg, how about La peste (The Plague)?

[greg]

Personally, ever since reading that one in high school French class, I've always loved the name Meursault.

Do you mean you read the whole book in the original French in a high school French class? 

Greg, how about La peste (The Plague)?

Well, I do intend on reading that one and The Fall. What do you think of those?

[karlhenning]

Do you mean you read the whole book in the original French in a high school French class? 

Yes; we did have an excellent teacher!

Well, I do intend on reading that one and The Fall. What do you think of those?

I don't recall reading La chute.  I've re-read The Plague (en anglais) more often than I have L'étranger.

[Valentino]

Just finished this one. It's quite good, actually.

[Renfield]

Does anybody have a rec for "urban" fantasy or scifi, something with is heavily focused on the day-to-day life of a city environment - like Dickens, but more fantastical?

The Difference Engine (Gibson & Sterling) feels too obvious for you not to have read or considered, but I'll mention it anyway.

[Bogey]