Currently Reading

[BRobinsonfan]

The Anthologist, Nicholson Baker (about a guy trying to write the introduction to a poetry anthology).

Tinkers, Paul Harding (a friend from graduate school, first novel).

The True Believer, Eric Hoffer (a classic as much for it's Nietzsche-like discourse on the individual w/in society as for its well-maintained relevance).

A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander. (" A Pattern Language offers a practical language for building and planning based on natural considerations. A beautifully-done, but quietly reactionary, response to modern and post-modern architecture).

Not to toot my own horn - but I won 1st Place in the B. Frank Hall Philosophy and Religion Society Essay Contest for an article I wrote on Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer."

Hoffer essentially set out to answer the question: How - in the 20th Century - in an educated society - could Nazi Germany happen? His work is regarded as one of the finest on the development of mass movements ever produced.

Hoffer was basically self taught. He was a longshoreman and migrant worker in California for most of his life. After a bout with blindness as a boy (brought on by a fall) - he became a voracious reader - always fearing that his eyesight would disappear.

[backwardsk]

The Killer Angels. Yes, it was on my 11th grade reading list. Sixteen years later, and I'm finally getting around to it.

[BaltimoreTerp]

The Killer Angels. Yes, it was on my 11th grade reading list. Sixteen years later, and I'm finally getting around to it.

My all-time favorite book. Enjoy

[TGO]

Right now I'm working on Slaughterhouse Five (somehow never read this, though I have read Cat's Cradle).

Also reading Nudge, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I just finished a book called Medicus, by Ruth Downie. It's basically an ancient Roman murder mystery: an army doctor stationed at a fort in Britannia investigates a series of murdered prostitutes from a local bar.

Really interesting read, and I'll be starting her next book shortly.

I'm also reading Field of Schemes, the book that basically tears to shreds every argument supporting publicly-funded stadia. Probably the same way Death to the BCS will destroy the arguments around that system when my copy shows up.

[OrangeJerseys]

Cannery Row - Steinbeck
War - Sebastian Junger
Generation Kill - Evan Wright

[VThokies]

Just finishing up Richard Price's Lush Life, moving on to Don DeLillo's The Names.

[Tank]

Just starting 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. Saw the movie first and loved it, hope that doesn't take away from the book.

[clapdiddy]

Just finished reading "Johnny U.", a biography of John Unitas. Very good read.

[KansasO'sFan]

Just got done reading The Day Before Midnight, by Stephen Hunter. I've read several of his books, and I've enjoyed every one I've read. He's the same guy who wrote Point of Impact, which the movie Shooter was based off of.

I'm getting ready to start Ball Four (finally), and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

[cindyluvsbrady]

"Cats And Their Slaves".....By Michelle Lovric

[Tank]

Finished 'Dragon Tattoo' and have moved on to 'The Girl Who Played with Fire'. Loved the first book, even better than the Swedish movie. Can't wait to see what David Fincher does for the American version.

[weams]

Sixty Feet Six Inches

This book may be a little too technical for the casual baseball fan, but if you know and love the game, and want to learn a little more about the nuts and bolts of pitching and hitting, this is a great read. It's not great baseball literature like Roger Angell, or the best of Roger Kahn, more of an informal conversation between two hall-of-famers and World Series greats. It's a wealth of information about how the game is played, and more importantly, how it should be played.

What makes it great is that there are a lot of fascinating anecdotes from both Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson interspersed with the technical stuff. Both men talk at some length about their early years in the game, and what they had to go through coming up as young black players in the 50's (Gibson) and 60's (Jackson). I already had great respect for Gibson, but have even more after reading this book. I wasn't as enamored of Reggie Jackson, but after reading Sixty Feet, Six Inches, I have new respect for him as well. Any serious student of baseball and baseball history would thoroughly enjoy this book.

How much fun would it be to read an account of Cy Young sitting down and talking about the pitcher/hitter battle with Ty Cobb? Or Warren Spahn with Ted Williams? We don't have any such account, but we do have Bob Gibson talking with Reggie Jackson! This book will only grow in importance over the years.

For those of us who remember Reggie's and Bob's playing career, this is a wonderfully vivid reminder. For those who do not, it will paint a detailed portrait of who they are and show why, even among vastly talented athletes, intelligence and will power decide true excellence.


The battle between hitter and pitcher is the ultimate baseball battle. These two warriors share with the reader how they survived the war so long and with so many victories.

[Lateralus]

Midway through The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1 by Doyle.

Such a good read.

On deck, Into the Storm: Violent Tornadoes, Killer Hurricanes, and Death-defying Adventures in Extreme Weather by Reed Timmer.

[Tank]

The Girl Who Played with Fire was better than Dragon Tattoo. Just got The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest from the library to finish the trilogy.