What are you reading now?

[Linderbee]

I am listening to The Reagan Diaries right now.

Also listening to:

If I Did It (the oj confession book)

A Christmas Carol read by Jim Dale

American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic

Spook Country (barely started this one)





Around the holidays, I always seem to start up a variety of books for some reason.

:kablooey:

 

[Mulli]

I am listening to The Reagan Diaries right now.

Also listening to:

If I Did It (the oj confession book)

A Christmas Carol read by Jim Dale

American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic

Spook Country (barely started this one)





Around the holidays, I always seem to listen to ten audiobooks at a time for some reason.

wow, that is a lot.

 

[Pariah]

"The Great Influenza: The Story of the Dealiest Pandemic in History," by Johm M. Barry.

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From Publishers Weekly
In 1918, a plague swept across the world virtually without warning, killing healthy young adults as well as vulnerable infants and the elderly. Hospitals and morgues were quickly overwhelmed; in Philadelphia, 4,597 people died in one week alone and bodies piled up on the streets to be carted off to mass graves. But this was not the dreaded Black Death-it was "only influenza." In this sweeping history, Barry (Rising Tide) explores how the deadly confluence of biology (a swiftly mutating flu virus that can pass between animals and humans) and politics (President Wilson's all-out war effort in WWI) created conditions in which the virus thrived, killing more than 50 million worldwide and perhaps as many as 100 million in just a year. Overcrowded military camps and wide-ranging troop deployments allowed the highly contagious flu to spread quickly; transport ships became "floating caskets." Yet the U.S. government refused to shift priorities away from the war and, in effect, ignored the crisis. Shortages of doctors and nurses hurt military and civilian populations alike, and the ineptitude of public health officials exacerbated the death toll. In Philadelphia, the hardest-hit municipality in the U.S., "the entire city government had done nothing" to either contain the disease or assist afflicted families. Instead, official lies and misinformation, Barry argues, created a climate of "fear... [that] threatened to break the society apart." Barry captures the sense of panic and despair that overwhelmed stricken communities and hits hard at those who failed to use their power to protect the public good. He also describes the work of the dedicated researchers who rushed to find the cause of the disease and create vaccines. Flu shots are widely available today because of their heroic efforts, yet we remain vulnerable to a virus that can mutate to a deadly strain without warning. Society's ability to survive another devastating flu pandemic, Barry argues, is as much a political question as a medical one.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

 

[D-Dogg]

wow, that is a lot.

I almost started "Playing for Pizza" but I am holding off until I finish one of these (close to done on Christmas Carol and the OJ book).

 

[Pariah]

I almost started "Playing for Pizza" but I am holding off until I finish one of these (close to done on Christmas Carol and the OJ book).

That's a pretty fun read.

 

[D-Dogg]

"The Great Influenza: The Story of the Dealiest Pandemic in History," by Johm M. Barry.

You must be registered for see images

I have that on order at the library. I bought my father in law the flu novel you recommended on here, and saw that.

Looks good.

 

[D-Dogg]

wow, that is a lot.

caught the edit...slow but caught it.

 

[Heucrazy]

"The Amber Spyglass" the last book of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.

 

[Hollywood]

For the first time in a long time I am reading a book. The Bourne Identity.

 

[D-Dogg]

For the first time in a long time I am reading a book. The Bourne Identity.

Oh, man. The Bourne books are about ten billion times better than the movies.

Well, I only watched the first movie really because it really could not live up to the books, even if it was a decent movie.

The trilogy is great...another was written I think, but the first three are great.

Jason Bourne is so much more of a badass in the books than he is in the movies, and in the movies he's a pretty strong badass already.

 

[D-Dogg]

Finished the OJ book. Weird thing, man. I don't know how to describe it. He makes up a person who was there with him (so you don't know how he disposed of the clothes and the knife, etc. because "charlie" did that).

It was weird because the whole time I was waiting for the event that led to the murders, but none really came. Right before his "confession" he says "and remember, this is hypothetical" even though NOTHING in the book was hypothetical to that point. It was dumb, weird and BS.

Good forwards and afterwords though, from reporters and the Goldman family.

 

[Hollywood]

Oh, man. The Bourne books are about ten billion times better than the movies.

Well, I only watched the first movie really because it really could not live up to the books, even if it was a decent movie.

The trilogy is great...another was written I think, but the first three are great.

Jason Bourne is so much more of a badass in the books than he is in the movies, and in the movies he's a pretty strong badass already.

I will eventually get around to watching the movies but I want to read the books first.

 

[Bada0Bing]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Been working on this one for a while. To get some of it to sink in I have to go back a reread it a few times.

 

[Pariah]

You might want to check out "The Brief History of the Dead" by Kevin Brockmeier.

Just started this one, too. It's okay. A little odd. But it's a quick read.

 

[dodie53]

Bourne novels are way better than the movies.

the novels are much violent too.

 

[Zeno]

Finished the first 2 Dexter books, the first one just barely follows the first season of the Showtime show--the second one is on its own and bares no resemblance to any episodes in the show. Dexter is Dexter but the TV show took a lot of liberty with some of the other characters but I read an interview with Jeff Lindsay (the author) and he was happy with the direction of the show (which IMO is one of the best TV shows period right now).

After that last book I have Imperium by Robert Harris (http://www.amazon.com/Imperium-Novel-Ancient-Robert-Harris/dp/0743498666/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198296299&sr=1-1) and 1945 by Robert Conroy (http://www.amazon.com/1945-Novel-Robert-Conroy/dp/0345494792/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198296403&sr=1-1) still left to read. Then I'll be all caught up until the 27th when the new Star Wars book comes out (the nerd side of me must be fed).

 

[D-Dogg]

Jason, have you ever read Strange Life of Ivan Osokin: A Novel ?


After Replay, I was looking for something in a similar vein and this looked interesting...

Hey Pariah, did you ever find this book? I haven't read it yet but was wondering if you had.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Oh, man. The Bourne books are about ten billion times better than the movies.

Well, I only watched the first movie really because it really could not live up to the books, even if it was a decent movie.

The trilogy is great...another was written I think, but the first three are great.

Jason Bourne is so much more of a badass in the books than he is in the movies, and in the movies he's a pretty strong badass already.

Eric Van Lustbader wrote the fourth book - The Bourne Legacy.

 

[D-Dogg]

Eric Van Lustbader wrote the fourth book - The Bourne Legacy.

Never read it because it wasn't written by Ludlum.

Is it any good?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Never read it because it wasn't written by Ludlum.

Is it any good?

I'll ask my dad and get back to you. He's read all 4 Bourne books. The Ludlum estate hand-picked Lustbader to continue the Bourne saga in book form.

Here's a thread on it. The Bourne Legacy

If anyone has read it - maybe they could post what they thought of it...

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Eric Van Lustbader also wrote the 5th book, The Bourne Betrayal, which was released about the same time as The Bourne Ultimatum (the film).

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Eric Van Lustbader also wrote the 5th book, The Bourne Betrayal, which was released about the same time as The Bourne Ultimatum (the film).

Woohoo - time to buy one last Christmas gift !!

 

[Brian in Mesa]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bourne_Betrayal

 

[Louis]

Dreams From My Father

Barack Obama

 

[Pariah]

Hey Pariah, did you ever find this book? I haven't read it yet but was wondering if you had.

No, but thanks for the reminder. I'm due to another bookstore run in a couple of days.