What book(s) are you reading currently?

[Berferd]

Originally Posted by gapedhok

Having lived in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, I had the pleasure of meeting briefly with Stephen King years ago while attending the College World Series (King is somewhat of a baseball junkie). Note the mention of towns like Lavista in his books, which is a suburb of Omaha. Currently I am revisiting "It" by King, rekindling my childhood fear of clowns.

Wow--major deja vous! I attended Lavista Junior High lol My cousin's hubby was stationed at OffutAFB and they bought a place in Papillion lol as a teenager I worked at the McDonald's on 84th and (I think) Cornhusker Hwy. I didn't know King was that much of a baseball junkie. If I did I'd have gone to more games! lol

[haldane4]

The Old Men At The Zoo, by Angus Wilson.

I'd been somehow hoodwinked into thinking there weren't any great post-war British novelists, and while I can't stand Martin Amis and Salman Rushdie and that shower, it's a great pleasure to discover Wilson.

All points to one thing - my teachers were illiterate.

[MaxJoker]

Hey was just wondering , know this excellent thread is about books that are currently (Or i hope just recently) being read but is it ok if i use it to ask for personal recommendations ?

See i`m really interested in finding the definitive (Ish) book (S) on these three subjects

1) Celtic druids
2) The Saracen empire
3) Crusades (From first to ninth )

Have had a look on amazon etc but the books i`ve seen at best only have one or two reviews , so was wondering that if any fellow member has read or knows of a very decent publication concerning these subjects could they point me in the right direction

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by GreenSkull

Hey was just wondering , know this excellent thread is about books that are currently (Or i hope just recently) being read but is it ok if i use it to ask for personal recommendations ?

See i`m really interested in finding the definitive (Ish) book (S) on these three subjects

1) Celtic druids
2) The Saracen empire
3) Crusades (From first to ninth )

Have had a look on amazon etc but the books i`ve seen at best only have one or two reviews , so was wondering that if any fellow member has read or knows of a very decent publication concerning these subjects could they point me in the right direction

There was a really interesting and informative BBC series co-written by Terry Jones (formerly of Monty Python) and Alan Ereira, and presented with dry ironic humour by Terry Jones. It gives a modern and iconoclastic analysis of how the Crusaders really behaved, which goes a long way towards setting the cultural divide between the Western and Islamic civilisations and George W Bush would have done better to at least dip into this series (the idea of him reading a book to learn something is a bit of a stretch) before talking about a modern crusade against terrorism. That very word ''crusade'' is toxic today.

Above is essentially the book of the series, setting out the arguments and anaysis made on screen. It also has valuable information on Princes Saladin and Beybers and how the Saracens had to adjust to dealing with enemies motivated by religious bigotry, lust for spoil and the desire to export violent hotheads who would otherwise be troublesome at home.

If I can think of anything on Druids and Celtic civilisation I'll let you know.

[blondifan]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

......
I'm not a big Stephen King fan in general, but The Stand is one of my favourite books.

Funny thing about King is I personally find that usually his novels make great screenplays and/or movies, which is the opposite of virtually every other author.
(If you can forgive his cameo appearances in the films. I see it like a strange version of 'Where's Wally ).
I must admit I was 'put off' when I joined a bookclub and received a hard cover plush edition of 'The Dead Zone', with so many typo's it took any joy out of reading it. Not Mr. King's fault, I know, but some things are hard to overcome. To date I still haven't read the Dead Zone.

[Berferd]

The Dead Zone? I enjoyed it almost as much as I enjoyed Cell; I found it well worth the read. Speaking for myself, I enjoyed the movie as well. Christopher Walken (of course) played the coma victim; I forget whom the presidential candidate was. Usually, I find that movies based on King's book leave a lot to be desired at best; to me, that one didn't. All three get my thumb's up. lol

[Mal Hombre]

This book tells the story of one of the strangest if least characters of the
Twentieth century,Baron Roman Von Ungern Sternberg,a russian nobleman who became (briefly) ruler of Mongolia and a man who managed to combine Buddhism with pathological cruelty.He was an army officer whose scruffiness,drunkeness and violence got him posted to a cossack regiment in the Transbaikal ,a region of Siberia close to China and crucially Mongolia.He became entranced by thie rugged land and it's native nomads-the Buriats .After fairly distinguished service in the great War,He found his homeland engulfed by revolution as a fervent believer in divine monarchy(and a virulent anti-semite) he joined the White cause in the savage civil war that followed.He returned to Siberia ,where joined forces with Grigori Semenyov,a charismatic half buriat leader of a rag tag cavaly unit.After the war was lost in a welter of blood and atrocity,Sternberg took his troops into Mongolia where he ousted the occupying Chinese and briefly ruled the country before his random savageries led to his being betrayed to the Bolsheviks who shot him after a show trial.I would recomend this book to those interested in history particularly Mongolian history-Hello Greenskull

[Berferd]

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston--I wish it were fiction...

[elf4736]

Now reading (Passport to Peril) next (Stop This Man)

http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi

[Wendigo]

Originally Posted by GreenSkull

Hey was just wondering , know this excellent thread is about books that are currently (Or i hope just recently) being read but is it ok if i use it to ask for personal recommendations ?
See i`m really interested in finding the definitive (Ish) book (S) on these three subjects
3) Crusades (From first to ninth )
Have had a look on amazon etc but the books i`ve seen at best only have one or two reviews , so was wondering that if any fellow member has read or knows of a very decent publication concerning these subjects could they point me in the right direction

Hi Greenie, I love reading about the Knights Templar during the Crusades, brave and foolish in equal measure so check out.
Dungeon, Fire and Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades by John J. Robinson

Probably the definitive book(s) on the Crusades are A History of The Crusades by Sir Steven Runciman, if you can find it.