What are you currently reading?

[Karl Henning]

This morning, in MS.: "The Capture of Major Mosby"

[stingo]

A Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin - this has pretty much swallowed up my reading time because it's so good. I'm about halfway through the book, with at least three more to go.

The Monuments Men, by Robert M. Edsel - started this as the next book for the book club to which I belong. About 100 pages in, it's ok, but I am hoping (as some Amazon reviewers have suggested) that it picks up in ensuing pages.

Shift, by Hugh Howey - I check in for about a chapter or two at a time of this one but only because ACOK takes up so much of my reading time.

[Philo]

Image and the Witness edited by Guerin and Hallas
German Idealism by Beiser
Rhetorical Criticism by Foss
Collage of Myself by Miller

[lisa needs braces]

So I developed a problem over the last few years: My reading pace has considerably slowed down. I only completed about six books in 2012, and less than that in 2013. I probably averaged about 16 from 2000 to 2007. There's two epic novels I started in 2013 and stopped reading half-way through despite enjoying them ("A Storm of Swords" by GRRM and "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens) due to distractions and my inability to stay focused.

So I started exploring audiobooks, a form that I only sampled over the years. I signed up for Audible.com. It's a bit pricey at $15 a month, but you get one credit per month for any audiobook in their selection. Combined with the fact that you can simply install the Audible app on your smartphone/tablet, the service makes it easy to experience audiobooks. This is my current selection:



Stephen King at his absolute best!

[lisa needs braces]

This was my previous selection:







Hear hear for audiobooks!

[stingo]

I finished A Clash of Kings yesterday and thought it was very good (since I spent part of Saturday and most of Sunday finishing it). I also took a glimpse into A Storm of Swords which I've been told is even better. So now, I have:

A Storm of Swords, by George R. R. Martin
The Monuments Men, by Robert M. Edsel
Shift, by Hugh Howey

[Fëanor]

A Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin - this has pretty much swallowed up my reading time because it's so good. I'm about halfway through the book, with at least three more to go.

I'm never going to read those Martin books -- though I'll follow the TV series for sure.

[Mirror Image]

Received this book in the mail today:



A very nice laid-out book and what makes this book particularly invaluable are the interviews with the composer himself. Can't wait to dig into this book.

[milk]

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

So far, the best I've read in a packed field.

[asin]0316118788[/asin]

[kishnevi]

Ben Aaronovitch   RIVERS OF LONDON
London Police with wizardry.   Author  wrote  one of the Dr. Who series

Bought this today, in its US edition with a different title and cover (although apparently newer copies have been published reverting to the UK cover design but keeping the US title).

[Ken B]

So far, the best I've read in a packed field.

[asin]0316118788[/asin]

You a Maupassant fan Z7?

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

You a Maupassant fan Z7?

Big time.  (Flaubert was his mentor, you prob. know).  I've been meaning to ask - your Nietzsche quotation compels me to inquire: have you ever heard his piano music? 

[Ken B]

Big time.  (Flaubert was his mentor, you prob. know).  I've been meaning to ask - your Nietzsche quotation compels me to inquire: have you ever heard his piano music?

I have but a long time ago, little memory of it.
Maupassant is one of my 3 or 4 favourite writers. I have managed some in French, but his vocabulary is hard as I recall. I always say though that the best short stories in English are the ones Maupassant wrote in French. an excuse not to better my French!

[kishnevi]

I have but a long time ago, little memory of it.
Maupassant is one of my 3 or 4 favourite writers. I have managed some in French, but his vocabulary is hard as I recall. I always say though that the best short stories in English are the ones Maupassant wrote in French. an excuse not to better my French!

My sole exposure to Maupassant is one story of which I can not even remember the title, and Albert Herring.  Are there any specific translations you would recommend?

My Flaubert is also relatively weak--Salammbo, and not even the obvious one (Madame Bovary).

[Ken B]

My sole exposure to Maupassant is one story of which I can not even remember the title, and Albert Herring.  Are there any specific translations you would recommend?

My Flaubert is also relatively weak--Salammbo, and not even the obvious one (Madame Bovary).

None in particular. There are lots of good anthologies. Penguin. An older Viking collection was good. I have seen several "best of" anthologies with no stories in common! Boule de Suif probably the most famous story, his first published one I believe, and a good one. It is anthologized quite a lot. I like the stories of peasant life the most, but Parisian ones are more popular and  a popular and excellent one is the necklace.
Dover has a couple dual language books if your French is up to it. I find the ability to cheat my way out of confusion is helpful 

[Artem]

I finished Andres Neuman's "Traveler of the Century" today. Such a great book, was really moved by it, which I find to be a rare occasion for modern novels with me. At certain points as I was reading it I was reminded of Musil, Mann and Kafka, but it is also very modern and has a very strong sexual aspect to it. The author calls this book a love story and it is also a story of ideas, wonderful images and characters.

[Karl Henning]

A great typo in a quiz at the on-line Christian Science Monitor:

True or false? All marijuana is derived from the plant species Cannabis saliva.

[Karl Henning]

I completed the quiz, and I suppose I do not know all that much about weed:  I had 10 correct answers and 10 incorrect.  I beat the "Average Reader," whose score was 45%.

[stingo]

How do you do an ASIN link for books? I see the ISBN listings, but no ASIN numbers for them.

A Storm Of Swords by George R. R. Martin
The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel
Shift by Hugh Howey
Saints Alive by Lou Schuler