What are you reading right now?

For the first time I decided to keep track of all the books I read in a year. I am currently reading Honeymoon by James Patterson and let me tell ya, it rocks! So how about you? Anyone reading a great book?

I'm reading all of the DG forums! Can't get enough of them -LOL!

Good idea! I think I'll start a page at my website to keep track, too. I've only read one Patterson book, years ago. I should get some more of his. A few I've read lately include these:

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, Book 1: Prodigal Son - This one's an interesting twist, with the Monster still alive and seeking Victor Frankenstein, who discovered the secret to his own longevity. The second book just came out and I want to get it!

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Henff - A wonderful story of people brought together through their common love for books and their correspondence.

Tested by Fire, by Kathy Herman - A well-written Christian novel following a fugitive as he flees the FBI and grapples with the death of his entire family.

Writers of the Purple Sage, by Barbara Burnett Smith - A clever mystery with a writers' group at its hub. When someone in town is murdered using the method the group dreamed up, fingers are pointing.

This message was edited Apr 7, 2005 2:25 PM

Reading Ted Nugent's book "Kill it and Grill it". He ain't PC but sometimes funny. Also re-reading "Man-eaters of Kumaon" by Jim Corbett. Account of a 1930's english-man in colonial India called upon to get rid of proven man-eating tigers. He shows that all had been previously injured by gun-shot or accident and couldn't persue thier normal prey. He hated the idea of trophy hunting. Also perusing "If only they could speak" by a behavioral psychologist about critters. Frank

Do any of y'all start reading books and find you are unable to do anything else until you finish them? I'm lucky that I can get through an average book in one or two days. Otherwise, my family would starve and my pets and plants would all die. I've pretty much had to restrict my reading to weekends when my DH is home and can pick up the slack. DH says this is obsession but he says I'm obsessed with my roses too so I take his DX with a grain of salt.

Am I the only one out there with this problem?

Not the only one with that problem at all.

I bought and read "Assassin" by Ted Bell last fall. The guy on the radio said "When you get this book go ahead and tell your boss that you will be sleepy for the next couple of days because you will not be able to put it down."

Boy was that true. Talk about a page turner.

Then I read "Paranoia" by James Finder. Excellent read....lost some sleep to that one too.

Not really reading anything much right now. Too much going on with the yard and garden and planting season, etc in addition to some family things that have happened recently.

Lots of good books on the shelf but they will be there when I get ready.

Good Reading!

Aubrey

Dean Koontz's The Taking is a good one -- he is such a great storyteller. This one has a War of the Worlds feel, with the plot building as everyone tries to figure out exactly what is happening to the world.

I know the DaVinci Code is old news now. I've really resisted reading it but I got it by default from a book club so I caved. I've wanted to since it came out but I wasn't sure reading it wasn't a sin. I gave in when it was on my book shelf. Maybe I should have just sent it back but I'm glad I read it. It goes against everything I believe but then again, maybe it doesn't. What would be the harm in Jesus marrying and having a child? We've known for a long time that Mary Magdalene wasn't really a prostitute but a very pious woman. Who cares what she was before she met Him anyway? Is the Bible really that loosely translated and are major books really missing and/or left out? I'm still pondering it all and I finished two weeks ago. Have y'all read it? I know GW is a Christian, did you read it? Anyone else read it from a Christian perspective? I guess from any religious perspective if the religion believes in Jesus Christ as Messiah. It was a fascinating book, hard to put down and if you read it from a strictly secular perspective it's extremely entertaining. I just couldn't keep my secular hat on because He was the central character, in a sense. What do y'all think?

The Bible was "edited" over 36 times before it got to the state that most see it in today. According to older editions God himself had a wife - Sophia. and also Adam had a wife before Eve - Lilith. Cain and Able had two sisters named Talulah and something else... FWIW I'm of the mind that If the religion makes you feel good and right then it is right for you. It's not about the legends written on the pages, but the peace it instills inside.

LOL! I just hijacked my own thread! Currently I am reading Ghosts Among Us by Leslie Rule.

My son has the same world view as you do Tammy. The thing about my religion - Pentecostal - is that it's not religion, it's who we are. Christ is NOT a legend on a piece of paper but someone who is living in my soul. He's who I want people to see when they see me. Everything I exist for is Him and nothing else really matters except how He wants me to live. He's my body and my mind, my heart and my soul, He's not a legend. He is who I want to be, for me to die is for Him to live. It's about dying to my own flesh and letting Him live through me. The Bible is His word but it's Him as well. I learn how He wants me to live by reading the inherent Word of G-D, the Bible as we know it today. I'm not sure the edits you speak of weren't ordained by Him. I'm not sure they weren't invented by a secular world. I am sure they didn't really happen the way the secular world would have us believe. There is either more or less to the story we get from secular documentation and I don't know which it is. I do know that I live and breathe by the the Bible as it is now. It's hard to explain but I would dare say most people who practice their faith as a way of life feel this way no matter who it is they believe is G-D.

However, I opened up the DaVinci conversation because it's a very interesting book. Perhaps discussion of it should be moved to a separate thread.

Leslie Rule is Ann Rule's daughter. Ann Rule is an ex-cop who now writes true crime novels. True crime usually isn't for me but I love Ann Rule and intend to own her entire library. What does Leslie write about?

Edited to make my meaning a little more clear - if that is possible. RMM

This message was edited Apr 12, 2005 6:04 AM

aw, sweetie, if I offended you in the slightest I am so sorry. I did not intend it and I do fully understand and agree that many are simply born to serve Jesus - and that's a wonderful thing. I did not mean to imply that he was not real either. I meant to say it is more than the legend instead of how I put it. And I quite agree that those who practice their faith feel that way )about the word being changed). I like your perspective, it's nice when folks let their spirituality bring them joy. I feel that so often many get caught up in the guilt and forget to simply commune. As for the davinci code, it didn't impress me either.

Leslie writes about the supernatural, turns out Anne raised her in a haunted house. I used to live in one too so I love to read the stuff. (now that I am safe of course).

Have to admit to the 'reading from one cover to the other' syndrome. Since I'm a fast reader, that helps. lol I've been picking up John Grisham books at used book places, ok, I did buy a few new. DS enjoys them so that justifies buying a few, right? I think we have all but 1 now. He loves Tom Clancey too, as do I, so I think we've got about a 6 or 7 left of those to find. I also grab any James Michener, Leon Uris and Ken Follett books. Oh, and I found an Allistar McLaine I hadn't read too. I read a 'can't put it down' book this winter about some missing Bible scrolls that had been possibly located and the race to find then by different groups interested in either finding or destroying them before they were made public. There was murder and mayhem involved. Can't remember the name or author, and the book went home with my DB. Anyone know it?

Tammy, you'd have to work a whole lot harder than that to offend me. I probably tried too hard to explain what my faith means to me. It's something I feel deeply but don't often get to describe. I'm not a Christian who force feeds my faith to others. I do talk about it often but not in the sense of describing it. Talking about it here was mostly for the sake of the debate. I wasn't trying to tell you that I expected you to believe as I do. I believe everyone is entitled to their own belief system. I do love it when G-D allows me the honor of assisting someone in accepting what I believe to be eternal salvation but I would never try to force someone to believe as I do.

What was it like living in a haunted house? You need to open a thread about it. I bet there're lots of folks interested in that sort of phenomenon. Are Leslie's books fiction or non? I'm going to have to read a few of her books now. I didn't know she was writing, she is a photographer too. Gotta see if she's as good as her mom. Apple doesn't usually fall too far from the tree and all that muck.

Kooger, did that book have a woman archeologist and an Indian overseer? Did they end up hooking up after fighting through most of the book? If so, I know the book and it's great. That author wrote a couple other books that were very good too. Unfortunately, the names escape me right now. They'll hit me in about a month most likely.

Yeah, there was woman archeologist, can't remember and Indian overseer. It had KGB or Russian mafia involved and the CIA and a prominent rabbi and someone high up in the Caltholic church. A bunch of them met up on an isolated farm in England, I think. Gotta get that one back and read it again.

The haunted house was very...confusing. You don't realize it at first and rationalize everything away. I had heaters come on, told myself I had done it and forgot. Cold spots, it was unbelievable drafty. Doors swing open on me, told myself the floor was not level, didn't think about how it was a rare thing that the door did not always do that. Shadows walking about my room and I decided it was the sun through the trees - until it walked straight at me. But once I actually saw the thing in an energy form (it was an electrified orb but the FEELINGS that waved over me were horrible - dread and hate) there was no denying anymore and I moved about a week later.

I like Grisham too!

This message was edited Apr 12, 2005 11:09 AM

I have been and am still reading any and all books by Beverly Lewis. Currently reading book 2 "The Confession" in a series. Just in the last few months have read: The Covenant, The Betrayal, The Sacrifice, The Prodigal, and The Shunning. I think they are good books...easy reads...and really lets my mind drift off to a simpiler life.

Debcooper53, I've also read the Beverly Lewis books you've listed. I just finished "The Prodigal" a couple of nights ago. Right now I'm reading a book called "The Winter People", I forget who the author is, but its one of those old gothic mystery books. I get them at our used bookstore, for almost nothing. lol

I love to read Mary Higgins Clark mysteries. I love mysteries so much more than romance novels. It takes me forever to finish a book, because I only read at night (or shall I say the wee morning hours) to try to bore myself to sleep. Sometime it backfires. On more than one occasion, I got interested in a book, and couldn't sleep until I finished it. lol

Hello folks, I am reading a book from 1902. "First Things first" by Rev. George Jackson, B.A. On the inside cover,a handwritten note that says "This book is presented to Albert Leo Adams, as a reward for attending the Mayflower Sunday School every Sunday during the year 1902. It's a Christain walk bible study. Well I got to wondering about the little fellow and got myself on the internet and found the little guys history. He retired from the Post Office in 1956 and died in 1973. He had working for the PO for 39 years, Wow! I could never last 39 years anywhere). So now when I pick this wonderful little book up to read, I always think about his life and how God let me take a peep of Albert's life. Oh I forgot to say where I got the book, it was on old E-bay.

Scott

Scott, that is too cool. Did you know the age of the book and that the inscription was there when you bought it? Do you collect antique books? I do, I don't care about their technical value. I love to hold them in my hands and read them slowly and wonder about the people who have read them in the past. Inscriptions are a triple bonus. Most books I zoom through in a day or two but I savor the antiques. Do you?

HerbsWife, I read many books in which the characters and plots are contrary to my beliefs as a Christian. I just like a good story, and don't think it's a sin to be challenged in our thinking. Stephen King and Dean Koontz aren't exactly inspirational writers, though both have a decent knowledge of Scripture.

GW, I'm going to email you about that b/c I think we'll hijack the thread otherwise. I read a lot of secular stuff too. It's just that the whole basis for the DaVinci Code was whether or not the Bible is true about the life of Christ.

Has anyone read "Eats Shoots and Leaves"? I liked the book's premise but I got tired of reading about the comma and apostrophe. There's so much more to grammar. It is a funny book and for those of us who tend to be grammar nuts, very entertaining.

I'd heard people mention the title, but just assumed it was fiction - never knew what it was about until my mom mentioned it to me tonight. I so many solid want-to-reads on my list, that one wasn't of enough interest to me to get past the title.

P.S. I'm talking about The DaVinci Code -- I wasn't really clear which book I referred to.

This message was edited Apr 14, 2005 4:46 PM

GW, I completely understand, that's why I never finished it. I'm not going to read a grammar book that only speaks of commas and apostraphes no matter how funny it is. I have too many other books on the shelf that need to be read. If it had covered other subjects and remained entertaining I would have continued but my goal in life is to be a published writer. I had hoped that ES&L would help me in my craft. I was pretty disappointed in it.

I've got Ellen DeGeneres' autobiography next to me now. I don't usually read autobiographys, especially when the writer is a fairly young celebrity. I'm not into celebrities as it is. On the other hand, DeGeneres is such a warm, funny person and the book club sent it to my by accident so I'm gonna take a shot at it.

kooger - was it a Craig Parshall's novel

Wow this is great my two favorite things in one site - Plants and Books.....

I've been logging my books for a few years now. The thing that surprises me the most is that I find myself checking the same ones out on occasion..... LOL .

Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Dan Brown, Sue Grafton, James Patterson, Nelson Demille, Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton, Steven Frey, John Grisham, Iris Johannsen,Robert McCammon, Craig Parshall, JK Rowling, John Sanford ----- To many books not enough time.....

I wonder if Dave would start a Book file like our plant file with positives, neutrals and negatives.....

I was talking about the DaVinci Code when I said I never got past the title -- I mean, I'd heard about it, but assumed it was a novel and never read it. The book Eats Shoots and Leaves sounds like the kind of book I'd like.

I'd love to read Ellen's autobiography. Hers is the one daytime talk show I really enjoy watching. She's upbeat and positive, and her delivery just kills me. Paul Reiser's Couplehood was a good one, making me laugh aloud many times.

or maybe an entertainment forum where we could discuss books, movies and other such things that we enjoy.

I liked Ellen's bio, I also liked Fran Drescher's and that surprised me. But she was so down to Earth and warm in her writing. Without that voice to irritate you could actually "hear" her.

vs - not a clue who the author was , I'll email my DB and ask him cuz now I'm curious about the title and author too.

The DaVinci Code I probably will never read. Against my beliefs. I've read quite a bit about different religions, and a few about Islam and the Taliban - the history of the CARs (Central Asian Republics) region in the past few centuries. That was such difficult reading and understanding. I finally got a map and followed along that way because all the city names and many of the leaders are not familiar to us. (I may read the DaVinci Code some day, just so I know what people are talking about.) Also never read Stephen King - there's enough evil in the world, don't like to read about fictional evil and it gives me nightmares. Just my beliefs and opinions, not foisting them on anybody else. :) History?? I just gobble it up. I will admit some of the chapters on the Holocaust and Dr Mendele's experiments gave me nightmares too.

This message was edited Apr 14, 2005 9:22 PM

We've had many incarnations of an entertainment forum (originally the "bookworm forum" then expanded to "media forum"), but it was shelved for a while due to inactivity. I hope we can have one again, and that people will visit it and post. Dave's not doing any new forums for a while, but I wonder if he might consider re-animating an old one. Little Frankenstein reference there. ;)

I like this thread. With all the other forums I was a bit surprised/disappointed NOT to find a forum on books! I read everything! Currently I'm reading a statistics book for my class (yuck!) and I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, which is about a girl in college and the people and lifestyle she encounters there. It's written by an older man, and I think it's a bit overwritten-- him trying way too hard to sound like college students. We're really not that different from normal people!

Gardenwife, if Eats, Shoots and Leaves sounds in the least bit interesting to you, you'll absolutely love it! It was amazingly entertaining for a book on punctuation. It often had my laughing out loud, and it's currently making the rounds among family and friends. Highly recommended!

I also read the DaVinci Code, and Angels and Demons is on my list of upcoming reads. I enjoyed the DaVinci Code tremendously-- it was a very entertaining book, whether you get into the religion aspects or not. As far as the religion goes, it talks about real theories. I guess I'm the kind of person that couldn't fathom it being sinful to learn about a theory: you can reject it completely if you don't agree. Maybe you'll even find it interesting (once again, even if you don't agree)! I majored in Religion because I found the topic fascinating. I learned all kinds of things, but in spite of other things I learned and know now, that doesn't change the fact that I'm a Christian.

Some of my other favorite books? Secret Life of Bees, Life of Pi, The Good Earth, Year of Wonders, Fast Food Nation (another great nonfiction read that's making the rounds among friends and family!), Bless Me Ultima, East of Eden and many, many others. And many more to come!

Edited to say: Hey, speaking of DaVinci, right after I posted this I went to Google and they have a Leonardo da Vinci icon today for his birthday!



This message was edited Apr 14, 2005 11:56 PM

Danak, we sound a lot alike in our view of questionable books.

Word-wise, you'd enjoy Richard Lederer's Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language. Howie and I listened to the book on tape once on a trip and laughed ourselves silly.

I love the title! I'll have to check it out. :)

Kooger, earlier in the thread I said I had hesitated to read the DaVinci Code because I was concerned it was sin. I've been avoiding saying it but in Timothy 4:7 it says, " Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;", in my mind this means that to read the DaVinci Code is sin. I read it anyway and found it to be fascinating. I'm still not sure I wasn't sinning in reading it but that's really between Jesus and me. In the same way that what y'all choose to read is between Jesus and you. BUT, it was a very well written and interesting book and it does make you consider possibilities you might not have considered before. Y'all have to decide for yourselves whether you think those things are good or not.

I'm with you on Stephen King and the like, I have no time or interest in books like his. I did read one or two of his books that were unrelated to the evil he writes about but it was so long ago that I can't remember them. They were worth the read and if I ever run out of reading material I'll go look them up.

I guess I better go finish Eats Shoots and Leaves. I loved the first three chapters but got bored b/c at that point she hadn't discussed much but commas and apostrophes. If there is more to the book than that then I'll dig further. I really do have a stack of books and magazines a mile high and with spring coming I wanted to dig into the garden literature.

The Good Earth is in my stack but I'm afraid if I pick it up now I'll neglect sleep, garden, pets and husband to finish it. I'll get it done in a day or so but I'll be so wiped out I won't be able to get anything else done - unnacceptable this time of year.

Just remember that The DaVinci Code is a FICTION novel. Of course everyone will have a very strong opinion on this one because it centers around a very emotional concept for most of us .... I've never felt that a book was bad if it stimulated conversations and got you thinking about what you really believe or don't believe. It's a book that may make more people take a deeper look at what they truly belive - which to me isn't all bad. Some of you may want to read it just so you can offer those seeking the truth a different view - "Know thy enemy". Of course everyone still has to have their level of personal acceptance so I understand those of you who aren't big Stephen King followers. However, two of my ALL-TIME Favorite books center around good (mankind) vs evil , Stephen King's The Stand and Robert McCammon's Swan Song.

When all is said and done a book is just a book......... but aren't they wonderful.......

My only point was that the DaVinci Code falls into that category of "irreverent, silly myths", which of course defines it as fiction because that's what a myth is. I also don't think I could have picked a more irreverent book to read. So, for me, reading it was sin. Doesn't mean I'm going to hell. It just means that I should have continued to resist reading it. I'm sure each one of you have criterion you use to determine whether you will read a book or not. This happens to be one of the criterion I use.

Last year I read a book that had me in tears almost all the way through. No book ever made me cry before. It was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Has anyone here read it? The story was heartbreaking and wonderful too because it makes you think.

OH MY Goodness.... TammmyTN - I read that one too..... It was a tear jerker......

I haven't read it. Can you describe what made it a tear jerker without ruining the story for someone who hasn't read it? Was it fiction? It sounds really good but if a baby, animal or old person was involved my heart may not be able to handle it...

Oh phooey, I've gotta go to the library just can't resist.

I thought the title made it sound scary. I'm with a lot of others here-- can't read Stephen King, but for me it's that he's too scary. Why be scared and have nightmares? If the Lovely Bones is really good, though, maybe I'll have to read it, too. I've seen it's been a bestseller for quite some time.