What are you currently reading?

[Mookalafalas]

I just finished Ken Auletta's "Googled" and am now reading

[asin]1416596585[/asin]
  This second is, so far, more fun than the first, although both are very good, IMO.

[Ken B]

I just finished Ken Auletta's "Googled" and am now reading

[asin]1416596585[/asin]
  This second is, so far, more fun than the first, although both are very good, IMO.

Don't be evil. That's our job.

[stingo]

Put Triffids on hold and am re-reading The Once and Future King by T. H. White (and really loving it so far).

[asin]B00AEDDSQG[/asin]

[kishnevi]

Put Triffids on hold and am re-reading The Once and Future King by T. H. White (and really loving it so far).

[asin]B00AEDDSQG[/asin]

Lancelot's return from the Grail Quest is a passage that always made me, not precisely cry, but at least get very moisteyed and melancholy, in part because it is magnificently understated.
Thread duty
Bart D. Ehrman. How Jesus Became God.
Only three chapters in but not terribly impressed.

[Ken B]

Lancelot's return from the Grail Quest is a passage that always made me, not precisely cry, but at least get very moisteyed and melancholy, in part because it is magnificently understated.
Thread duty
Bart D. Ehrman. How Jesus Became God.
Only three chapters in but not terribly impressed.

It's his least impressive book. Apocalyptic Prophet is his best. On the same general topic as Became, Rubenstein has an excellent book of the same name (or very nearly). I recommend Shadow of the Sword if the origins of Islam interest you Jeffrey (pm me if you want some more detailed books on that.)

[kishnevi]

It's his least impressive book. Apocalyptic Prophet is his best. On the same general topic as Became, Rubenstein has an excellent book of the same name (or very nearly). I recommend Shadow of the Sword if the origins of Islam interest you Jeffrey (pm me if you want some more detailed books on that.)

Thanks, I just put a hold for one copy of Shadow at the local lubrary.

[Henk]

Reading Nietzsche and Foucault.

[stingo]

Finished The Queen Of The Big Time by Adriana Trigiani. Not a book I'd've chosen given my druthers but I liked it well enough.

[milk]

I'm juggling several things:

The first chapter was surprisingly funny.

I just started this. It's fun so far but let's see if it keeps my interest.

So far I'm in suspense. But I haven't gotten very far yet. I'm betting this is going to keep me interested.

[Brian]

I'm beginning my absurdly ambitious summer project: a 3-4 month immersion in some pinnacles of Russian literature. The reading list, roughly in the order I plan to read them:

Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
Chekhov, collected short stories
Sorokin, The Queue
Tolstoy, collected short stories
Dostoevsky, The Idiot
Pushkin, Eugene Onegin
Platonov, Soul and Other Stories
Bely, Petersburg
Gogol, Dead Souls
Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
Platonov, The Foundation Pit
Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita
Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov

Updating on progress. Right now, Dead Souls is reminding me just how much I love Gogol, which is a lot.

[Ken B]

Updating on progress. Right now, Dead Souls is reminding me just how much I love Gogol, which is a lot.

That has been on my to read list for 25 years.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Updating on progress. Right now, Dead Souls is reminding me just how much I love Gogol, which is a lot.

When you've read Brothers Karamazov do share how you feel about  it! It is extremely intriguing and rewarding book. I can never read the nose conversation near the end between two certain characters without laughing my ass off.

[Florestan]

Of all Russian classics, Turgenyev gets the least attention and it's a pity because he is a very fine writer and a delicate and compassionate observer of human soul's pains and sorrows.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Apart from Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky I have never read that much russian classics (and with Tolstoy I never really finished the books that I started), so I really don't know Turgenyev. I consider reading some of his books but I often have difficulties getting started with a new author. What novel/s Turgenyev has that you would recommend for the first-timer?

[Florestan]

Apart from Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky I have never read that much russian classics (and with Tolstoy I never really finished the books that I started), so I really don't know Turgenyev. I consider reading some of his books but I often have difficulties getting started with a new author. What novel/s Turgenyev has that you would recommend for the first-timer?

Fathers and Sons and A Nest of Gentlefolks.

[Ken B]

Fathers and Sons and A Nest of Gentlefolks.

The opening chapter of Fathers is brilliant. So brilliant in fact that the rest of the book adds nothing, it's all there in the opening chapter. So my feeling is that this is one of the very best short stories, needlessly expanded. YMMV.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Thanks, I'll see if I can find them in local library. At least I'll try.

[Florestan]

The opening chapter of Fathers is brilliant. So brilliant in fact that the rest of the book adds nothing

I beg to differ. 

[Brian]

When you've read Brothers Karamazov do share how you feel about  it! It is extremely intriguing and rewarding book. I can never read the nose conversation near the end between two certain characters without laughing my ass off.

I loved Brothers Karamazov when I read it the first time, in fact my favorite novel ever, but that was in 2008, so a reread is badly needed.

Apart from Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky I have never read that much russian classics (and with Tolstoy I never really finished the books that I started), so I really don't know Turgenyev. I consider reading some of his books but I often have difficulties getting started with a new author. What novel/s Turgenyev has that you would recommend for the first-timer?

Disregard Turgenev; read Gogol. Dead Souls and the big book o' glorious short stories. The Inspector General is one of the funniest plays ever written.

[Artem]

Brothers Karamazov is one of my least favourite books by Dostoyevsky, but, nonetheless, I think it is worth reading.