How many of our members here enjoy reading books? I am not referring to technical manuals or the like. I mean novels, fiction, non fiction, etc. I enjoy real life mysteries like Chappaquiddick, The Princess Diana Affair, fictional mysteries like Sherlock Holmes, historical non fiction like accounts of the Revolutionary War, biographies of the founding fathers, and other people that made our nation great. I think Moby Dick is one of the greatest novels of all time.
Some folks follow specific authors like Stephen King or John Grishom.
It seems to me that the younger generation eschews reading for the more immediate media of television and movies. What was the last book you read, and what type of books to you like in general? If you don't enjoy reading books, then tell us why? Remember comic books do not count! Brien

 

Since I was blinded by a arc welder,had acid in my eyes numerous times,I don't read anymore.
Michelle does though.

She reads: Stephen King,John Grisham,Ken Follett,Maeve Binchy & Sandra Brown.

Me, I'll wait for the movie thanks.

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I like to read just about anything that tickles my fancy. That "fancy" changes genre (sp??) from time to time. I am currently working on A Hitchhikers Guide To the Universe (Fiction British Humor). The last books I read were A Catcher In the Rye, John Adams, Flags of Our Fathers, and North Star Over My Shoulder. The last of which was an awesome book. I bounce around quite a bit, but prefer non-fiction.

 

My appetite for reading has dimmed a little in the last few years. I tell myself it's because there are no good authors any more. But in all honesty, it's more of a combination of having to wear glasses now (grrrrr) and spending a lot of time in interactive discourse (read forums such as this). But I do still read, just not as voraciously as I once did. My tastes run an extremely wide gamut, including horror, science fiction, fantasy, true crime (I know it sounds sick, but the workings of a criminal mind fascinate me at times), historical biographies and accounts, and even the classics at times.

I used to be a devoted Stephen King fan, but feel that lately he is losing his ability to scare the bejeezus out of folks and has gone to doing some quirky plot twists. For horror, my favorite is Dean Koontz. Robert R. McCammon blurs the lines between horror, science fiction, and fantasy at times, but is one of my favorites. I'll put his "Swan Song" up against "The Stand" any day.

Science fiction are the standbys; Heinlein, Douglas, Vonnegut, Asimov.

Mention fantasy and you have to say Tolkien. He gave the genre life with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I also like The Wheel of Time series (my current read) by Robert Jordan, The Shannara series by Terry Brooks, and The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson.

Mystery/suspense/whodunits run to Lawrence Sanders, Trevanian, and Robert Ludlum.

Anything to do with any of the great wars; specifically the Civil War.

Sorry for the long post but you touched on something very dear to me.
Excellent post Brien!!

Ron

 

I like the crime/suspense novels.

A few of the authors I like are William Diehl, J.F. Freedman, D.W. Buffa, Carsten Stroud, but my favorite is Tami Hoag.

Carlene

 

Brien,

Ain't you the little anthropologist?

Damn boy, when you get done we will be able to view a Doctoral Thesis on Ford Owner Motivation, (I Hope).

Good questions anyhow.


My garage "library' has about 2100 volumes right now. Stephen Ambrose, Samuel Clemons, and E. A. Poe are probably my favorite but you will find the names Clancy, King, Koontz, Diehl, Solomita, Bond, Wambaugh, and Sanders more than once.

I still have most of my college texts, (the history and lit ones anyhow), as well as a bunch of any sillydamnthing that ever piqued my imagination.

Reading is more fulfilling than movies because you get to know what the characters are thinking.

 

I'll read mysteries, suspense, adventure, science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, you name it. If I think the first fifty or so pages are any good I won't be able to put it down.
BTW, my all time favorite book, never read anything close, is Frank Herbert's Dune. The movie and the miniseries are simply incapable of capturing the epicness and complexity of the story.

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I read all kinds of books, but mostly non-fiction. Recently read an interesting non-technical math book titled, "Zero, the Biography of a Dangerous Idea." Also am in the middle of "Ford Trucks Since 1905." I used to read like a madman (even while walking down the street), but am older and more tired now. My only reading time is late evening and I tend to fall asleep by then.

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Dennis: So sorry to learn of your vision handicap. It must be a bummer.

Briefly: Wow, you library rivals Thomas Jeffersons. I never saved all of my text from college even though I majored in History. I have some. Having moved a few times over the last 30 years, you tend to unload the heavy books. Now I wish I had saved a many of them Oh well.

Ron: I am not a big Stephen King fan but do like Bradberry, Vonnegut, and the classic horrors. I also find myself having to block out specific time to read unless it does'nt get done. My wife sometimes gets a little upset because it takes time away from her, so I have to be careful not to upset the household harmony. I usually read while she stares at the black box lit up with sensless situation comedies. Funny, I don't hear her laugh all that much!

I scour flea markets and yard sales for previously read hard covers unless I find my self in a book store, which is dangerous for me.
I can drop $100 easy. Some for myself, others for the great presents they make. I tried Amazon but realized in some cases, after shipping & handling, the price difference was not that great. Sometimes I go there for books on Vitamin & herbal supplements, and anything related to cancer. I find there is not much new ( in the last year) written on cancers. I try to say current with the latest developments there anyway.

I am glad to see we have a avid reader contingency here at FTE

 

Besides garage sales, my wife and I scour Library book sales and some libraries have used book rooms/stores. Usually these are very cheap, like 25 cents to a buck a book. Most used book stores are very expensive.

 

I read a lot. Many books, mostly non fiction, and I enjoy to learn things. The Bible is my most read book, not surprisingly, but I have a great number of reference books, teaching books, and some nice picture books, like Jane's Firearms of the 20th century I like to read such as Tolkien - why I have no clue. I have also read some Anne Rice, and Steven King, These are not particular favorites of mine, though An Interview with the Vampire was interesting. I much prefer to see a classic made into a video - it is more easily understood than reading alone. I have just bought the Lord of the Rings, and that is a superb interpretation of Tolkien's book, I hope the rest are as good.

Shakespeare is a favorite of mine - the wit and drama of the man is amazing, considering the age of the works. Chaucer is also a good thing to plough through on a cold winter's night, though without comprehension of Middle English, reading is somewhat labored. I also like a good comic book. The Incredible Hulk is very good reading, as is Batman. I had to say that, to defend the rights of the noble comic book reader.


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Hey Theologian: I guess you are right. I should not have excluded comic books because some can be very entertaining these days. I grew up in the generation of Donal Duck, Richie Rich, and Gasoline Alley. Not much intellectuality there.

You make a good point about Chaucer, ie, his Canterbury Tales. They are halarious, yet very difficult to read. I did read Shakespeare but never really got what I think I should have out of them. Probably too busy reading history assignments for college credit. We had to read the few required ones like The Merchant of Venice, MacBeth, etc, but just because they were assigned. Afterall, it was only English Lit. We were'nt majors. More often than not, Monarch notes came to the rescue.

Perhaps someday I can return to them with a better attitude. Till then, I think the saying goes: Pax Vobis ***.:-)
Brien

 

Who has time to read books? I too busy reading the post on FTE!

 

I love books. I'm currently reading OUR NATION'S ARCHIVE-OUR HISTORY IN DOCUMENTS, it's about 4" thick and will take awhile. In the Army, one of my jobs was reading the Chicago paper, cutting out the articles and posting them on the board under NATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL and SPORTS for the troops to read. It's a hard habit to break and I still read the paper front to back every day.
Dono

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 14-Aug-02 AT 04:58 PM (EST)]Dono: What kind of douments are in that book you are reading? Sounds very intersting as source material. Who did the compliation?
Brien:-)