An Off Topic Discussion about Reading

[1967 R50/2]

Originally posted by Flatbutt1
Have you read "1776" by Mc Cullough?

No. I haven't. I read the jacket but it seemed to be almost a romance novel. Not my kinda thing.

Other favorite authors are Jeff Shaara and Edward Rutherford who writes in a James Michener type style.

Flatbutt-

If you like Scifi AND history an interesting book is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

[Taz's Master]

If you liked 1776, read April 1865. They are not romances.

Anyone with an interest in history without an inclination to wade through some pretty heavy reading should check out stuff by Shaara. Great overviews of the Revolutionary, Mexican and Civil Wars that are very readable and entertaining. Very much worth the time spent. A Brief History of Time is indeed fantastic.

C. S. Lewis wrote some tremendous material: The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and The Abolition of Man will all make you think.

For kids(which is more fun than King, and more rewarding than Conrad, Tolstoy or even Dostoevsky), Harry Potter is great, so are Artemis Fowl and A Series of Unfortuante Events, and I also like The Edge Chronicles, as well as the Narnia series (by C. S. Lewis), and even Tolkien. The kids like hearing them, and the time with dad, and it has helped the oldest with reading skills. By the way few things will have as positive an impact in the education of a child as helping them to read at a high level.

I personally enjoy Hemmingway, especially his short stories.

[Flatbutt1]

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
No. I haven't. I read the jacket but it seemed to be almost a romance novel. Not my kinda thing.

Well allowing for personal definition of "romance" I'd say give it a try. You can borrow my copy bro. It was more narrative than a straight history but offered it from the perspective that is achieved through the use of personal journals and letters.

[Moses]

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
No. I haven't. I read the jacket but it seemed to be almost a romance novel. Not my kinda thing.

Ahh... Never judge a book...

When I was handed a copy of this one, my first thought was I would be embarassed to be seen reading it. All it needed was a bold endorsement from Oprah. Well, I was stuck in an airport one day and the book was in my carry on. I started reading and couldn't put the damn book down. It's the story of Quanah Parker, the last free Comanche war chief. An amazing story well told. But the cover! Buy the book and re-cover it!

[jyl]

My dad got me reading a lot as a kid, I basically became a bookworm. Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, the French equivalents of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie, the Sherlock Holmes stories, I'm drawing a blank on what else I liked.

He made me read most of Shakespeare's plays as well - not sure what I got out of that, really.

At some point he got worried because I read so much, I recall several months when I was forbidden to read anything except mathematics textbooks. He wouldn't let me watch TV either. Can you imagine!

Then I read tons more as a pre-teen/teenager, mostly sci-fi. Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick, William Gibson, etc. All the Conan the Barbarian stories, all the Ian Fleming books. Loved it. Was a Trekkie too.

I read more classics in high-school and college. Stendahl, Stephen Crane, Homer, etc. I also read various philosophy works, Rene Descartes, Bertrand Russell and so on - I think I was too young for it though.

Also read lots on military history, took classes in it in college as well. What specific books do I remember - there was a book by Bertrand Fall on Dien Bien Phu, also General Ridgeway's history of the Korean War (or was it MacArthur's? I forget now)..

Popular science books. Lewis Thomas, Stephen Jay Gould are two authors I remember (write on biology and evolution). Stephen Hawkins' books too.

Various mystery/espionage/adventure authors. Tom Clancy and so on.

For some years I was really into New Yorker authors. AJ Liebling, who few people nowaday have heard of, and John McPhee.

As an adult, I've largely stopped reading fiction, except for the occasional dog-eared sci-fi paperback. Mostly I read books on economics and financial markets, and not all that many of them either. I did read "Ice Station Zebra" recently, since a friend is going to spend some time at an Antarctic research station. I also got into the Aubry and Maturin seafaring stories ("Master and Commander" etc), made it through the first ten before getting bored.

And, of course, the Harry Potter books, Wayne's 101 projects and engine rebuilding books, and the Bentley Manual for the Carrera.

My daughter is turning into a good little reader too, I'm really happy about it. My son, that's another story (sigh).