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What book are you currently reading, or recommend?

Tibor, I was dissappointed to see your question was only what book are you currently reading?, singular. From most of this group, I'd expect several books at a time to be sucked down.
So, what books am I reading?
On the lighter side, I am rereading Congo, by Micheal Crichton.
On the political side, The Cheating of America, by Charles Lewis & Bill Allison.
And on the metaphysical side, I am trying to read (steadily working at it!) Bhagavad Gita, by Mahatma Gandhi.
 
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I'm functionally illiterate and only read things on computer screens and books with the kids (Harry Potter, C.S. Lewis, etc), but I've been making an exception lately to read "The Purpose Driven Life". I've really been enjoying it and it's a very easy read as you should only read one 6-7 page "chapter" a day. Actually, I found the Potter books to be very well written, but again, being illiterate my standards are admittedly low.
 
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I am currently reading "Return of the Shadow" by Christopher Tolkien (regards his father's work on LOTR). I am just started reading The Inferno by Dante.

Now I need to get started on another book regarding history. Has anyone read the new biography on Alexander Hamilton? I've been thinking about picking it up.
 
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I am currently reading "Return of the Shadow" by Christopher Tolkien
I figured you'd have some Tolkien on your nightstand, Buckeyegrad :wink: I'm still (slowing) browsing through the Lays of Beleriand by J.R.R. Tolkien and I just finished Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 by Garrison Keillor. My reading has been at a standstill as of late because all my books are packed for our impending move...
 
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OSUsushichic,

I just read a review of the book on amazon.com. It sounds interesting, but does the book focus more on the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, of which I would be very interested in learning more about, or on the serial killer? Crime does not interest me much as a subject, so if the book emphasizes it more than the Exhibition it may not be for me.
 
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I just finished The Hellpig Hunt by Humberto Fontova.

It is politically incorrect, juvenile and funny. It was gift from my mother in law.

Much like many I read for work and with two kids I get a great deal of night time reading in. Reading for pleasure has taken a low priority lately.

I found a website that has quite a few of the classics and I have downloaded then for reading while I travel. Right now I am working through The Prince, Divine Comedy and Civil Disobedience. I am hoping with age the meanings will have a different impact.
 
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Buckeyegrad,

There is a pretty fair representation of both in the novel, and in some great detail. I found the history of the expo VERY interesting. The part about the serial killer is worth the read -- the dude was seriously fucked up! But I think you will find it a worthwhile read.
 
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I know it has been asked on here before, but its been a while, and in light of last week's National Endowment for the Arts' report on the decline of reading I thought it might be interesting to see what everyone else is currently reading (if anything at all).

My reading is kind of light right now as I am only working to two books: the Odyssey and an informative history on Medieval Europe.


Personally, I am aghast by the declining rate of reading. George Will addresses the problem in his column today: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/georgewill/gw20040722.shtml.

There have been times when reading was regarded with suspicion. Some among the ancient Greeks regarded the rise of reading as cultural decline: they considered oral dialogue, which involves clarifying questions, more hospitable to truth. But the transition from an oral to a print culture has generally been a transition from a tribal society to a society of self-consciously separated individuals. In Europe that transition alarmed ruling elites, who thought the "crisis of literacy'' was that there was too much literacy: readers had, inconveniently, minds of their own. Reading is inherently private, hence the reader is beyond state supervision or crowd psychology.

Which suggests why there are perils in the transition from a print to an electronic culture. Time was, books were the primary means of knowing things. Now most people learn most things visually, from the graphic presentation of immediately, effortlessly accessible pictures. People grow accustomed to the narcotic effect of their own passive reception of today's sensory blitzkrieg of surfaces. They recoil from the more demanding nature of active engagement with the nuances encoded in the limitless permutations of 26 signs on pages. Besides, reading requires two things that are increasingly scarce and to which increasing numbers of Americans seem allergic -- solitude and silence.
 
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