Summer Books: What are you guys reading right now?

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:36 pm

Just since a lot of us are going on vacation, or spending lazy days in hammocks, I'm wondering what everyone is reading right now.

Me? I'm reading a great investigative book called "Delirium" - a look at anti-sexuality policy (anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-women's rights) in the U.S. over the past 40 years since Nixon, and how Republican discussions re: same-sex marriage are high-jacking U.S. politics.

The book I want to read next though is this...

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Roa ... kwsec=Home

sounds really interesting, almost like Hollywood dreamed it up...

boney · Post by **boney** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:03 pm

Ha! No vacation for me, but I'm trying to keep the mind away from work on my down time. Probably no surprise based on my posts from the last couple of days, but I finally got around to reading The Civil War of 1812 by Alan Taylor. A fascinating look at the war of 1812, examining contexts on both sides of the boarder and how chance, contingency and subtle political and military decisions could have changed the course of North American history. Cool stuff.

irishkyle21 · Post by **irishkyle21** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:28 pm

Just finished reading The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, on of the best "newer" fantasy authors out there.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:39 pm

irishkyle21 wrote:Just finished reading The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, on of the best "newer" fantasy authors out there.

Funny, that, I'm in the middle of China Mieville's Kraken. Also, I have a book polygamy issue, so I'm reading Edward Abbey's The Hidden Canyon and Stephen Brunt's Diamond Dreams concurrently.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 8:39 am

boney wrote:Ha! No vacation for me, but I'm trying to keep the mind away from work on my down time. Probably no surprise based on my posts from the last couple of days, but I finally got around to reading The Civil War of 1812 by Alan Taylor. A fascinating look at the war of 1812, examining contexts on both sides of the boarder and how chance, contingency and subtle political and military decisions could have changed the course of North American history. Cool stuff.

Cool - I've been looking for a good book about 1812.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:24 am

Just finished reading:
The Conundrum, by David Owen - "a mind-changing manifesto about the environment, efficiency and the real path to sustainability. "

Into The Silence, by Wade Davis - the exploration of Everest and WWI, great book!

Reading now - Last Train To Memphis, by Peter Guralnick - Elvis, the early years

Another recent read - Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee

I like good, long non-fiction.

munrets · Post by **munrets** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:14 pm

I love hearing what people are reading...

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. A must read. Perhaps for the summer.

cratez · Post by **cratez** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:50 pm

Occupy by Noam Chomsky

Not exactly "light" summer reading but an important work nonetheless

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:54 pm

Autobiography of a Yogi (reprint of the original edition.) Not just a book but a journey to India and the Infinite.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 3:19 pm

I don't set aside nearly as much time for reading as a I should - but assuming that I'm able to do so soon, I'm planning to read "Skagboys", the new Irvine Welsh novel (& prequel to "Trainspotting") that I picked up at his appearance at Luminato last month.

saints_gambit · Post by **saints_gambit** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:12 pm

A buttload of cookbooks. I think that is a metric measurement.

cmadd · Post by **cmadd** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:37 pm

Light in August by William Faulkner. Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy, probably one of the most powerful books I've read.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:22 am

munrets wrote:I love hearing what people are reading...

Me too, when I hear of books from other folks or websites, I add them to my queue. I always have good books waiting for me at the library.

MatttthewGeorge · Post by **MatttthewGeorge** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:35 am

I try to read the Giller Prize shortlist every summer, as they're Canadian and usually quite different from what I regularly read (ie classics, non-fiction, graphic novels, etc).

I just finished The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt, and highly recommend it. Before that I read Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan. A great story poorly told with an unsatisfying ending, sadly. I was going to read The Antagonist by Lynn Coady next, but my wife just finished it and said I would hate it, so I'm going to pass.

Next up is The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud, which won the previous year but I was never able to get around to it.

velovampire · Post by **velovampire** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 11:05 am

MatttthewGeorge wrote:I just finished The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt, and highly recommend it.

I've got this next in the pile, so after I finish one of the two I'm currently reading, I'll be getting into that. Looking forward to it.