What are you reading?

[Annie]

I don't get the chance to read many novels, I started one Friday and finished it yesterday afternoon, The Help

From the Amazon link:

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. Assured and layered, full of heart and history, this one has bestseller written all over it. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

It was so good! May be more of a 'chick' book, though deals in a novel way with the Civil Rights era, from a Southern perspective.

I'm happy to see it's being adapted for a movie:

'The Help' Movie To Start Filming This Summer In Mississippi

'The Help' Movie To Start Filming This Summer In Mississippi

SHELIA BYRD | 05/13/10 05:14 PM |

Inspiring
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Read More: Bestsellers, Books, Brunson Green, Emma Stone, Kathryn Stockett, Mississippi, The Help, The Help Book, The Help Movie, Viola Davis, Books News
JACKSON, Miss. — Brunson Green, a producer known on the independent film circuit for movies like "Chicken Party" and "Pretty Ugly People," says he had to fight to get his first major studio picture shot in his home state of Mississippi.

DreamWorks Studios announced Thursday that the "The Help," based on the 2009 best-seller by Kathryn Stockett, will mostly be shot in Greenwood, Miss., even though it's set in 1960s Jackson.

"It was really hard for us to bring the film to Mississippi, but state officials worked to make that happen," Green said Thursday.

While the majority of the movie will be filmed in Greenwood, Brunson said a few scenes also will shot in Jackson and other cities in north Mississippi.

The book is about black maids living in Jackson, Miss., in the 1960s as the civil rights movement was taking shape.

Stockett said her "heart would be broken" if it was filmed anywhere but Mississippi.

Greenwood is a rural city with a population of about 18,000, located in the impoverished Delta region known for blues music and cotton fields. Apparently, that's what appealed to producers.

"We looked for a town that had a lot of similar aspects of Jackson in the 1960s and Greenwood fit the bill," Brunson said.

The movie will star "Zombieland" actress Emma Stone and Viola Davis, who was nominated for an Academy Award in 2009 for "Doubt."

"The Help" starts filming in late July.

 

[Samson]

Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubry Series. Up to The Fortune Of War where Aubry and Maturin are captured abord the HMS Java after she's destroyed by the USS Constitution.

 

[Phoenix]

Still going through the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series - in Life, The Universe and Everything right now.

But on deck is a biography of Clint Eastwood, Gone With The Wind and a book called Masters of Deception - about artists such as Dali, Escher, Fukuda, Ocampo, Muniz, etc.

 

[boedicca]

I'm currently reading:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Kicked-Hornets-Nest/dp/030726999X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290876424&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (9780307269997): Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland: Books[/ame]

I love this trilogy!

One I'm done with this, I'm going to start on The Lymond Chronicles.

 

[eagleseven]

Been meaning to finish this book for some time...now I finally can.

 

[Anguille]

Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists

"The ancient Romans were responsible for many remarkable achievements—straight roads, decent plumbing—but one of their lesser-known contributions was the invention of the first tourist industry. The first society in history to enjoy safe and easy travel, Romans embarked in droves on the original Grand Tour, traveling from the lost city of Troy to the top of the Acropolis in Athens, from the fallen Colossus at Rhodes to the Pyramids of Egypt, ending with the obligatory Nile cruise at the very edge of the Empire. And as travel writer Tony Perrottet discovers, the popularity of this route has only increased with time.
Perrottet first discovered this ancient itinerary when he came across the world's oldest surviving guidebook in the New York Public Library—the Description of Greece, dating back to the second century AD. Intrigued by the possibility of re-creating the tour, and wanting to seize the opportunity for one last excursion with Lesley, his pregnant girlfriend, before their lives changed forever, Perrottet set off to rediscover life as an ancient Roman. He was armed for travel with only the essentials—a backpack full of ancient texts and a second-century highway map reproduced on a twenty foot scroll. As he retraced the historic route, fighting the crowds and reading two-thousand-year-old descriptions of bad food, inadequate accommodations and pushy tour guides, it became clear that tourism has actually changed very little since Caesar's day.
A lively blend of fascinating historical anecdotes and hilarious personal encounters, interspersed with irreverent and often eerily prescient quotes from the ancients, Route 66 AD recaptures the magic of the ancient world in all its complexity and wonder."




Very funny and illuminating. One of those books you wish would never end.

 

[Missourian]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Brasseys-Military-Blunders-Geoffrey-Regan/dp/157488252X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290905953&sr=1-2"]

[/ame]


Pretty self-explanatory. Interesting reading. The author does a good job holding your attention even where the repetitive nature of the same mistakes reoccurring over and over throughout the centuries becomes somewhat tedious.

 

[strollingbones]

another 'prey' book by sanford.....lucas davenport is the star character

 

[Sunshine]

I just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's nest. A trilogy by the late Stieg Larsson.

 

[Dr.Traveler]

Third Book of the Fire and Ice series by George R R Martin. only 4 of the 7 books have been released so far and HBO is working on a mini series. Great read.....

But one that needs a warning: Not for everyone.

My brother and most of my friends that read fantasy swear by that series, but every so often you get someone (like me) that just threw the first book at the wall in anger. For me, it was the moment that the kid got pushed out the window. I was so angry at the author for breaking the rules about kids and violence I just couldn't read on.

 

[FreeSpirit]

Since I am very interested in WW2, and pretty much anything and everyone apart of it, I have quite a few books I need to start in my little library, but one that I am planning to start soon, is a biography about Leni Riefenstahl.

And I need to finish a book I had started a couple months ago titled : "Patton and Rommel : Men of War In The 20th Century"

 

[SFC Ollie]

Third Book of the Fire and Ice series by George R R Martin. only 4 of the 7 books have been released so far and HBO is working on a mini series. Great read.....

But one that needs a warning: Not for everyone.

My brother and most of my friends that read fantasy swear by that series, but every so often you get someone (like me) that just threw the first book at the wall in anger. For me, it was the moment that the kid got pushed out the window. I was so angry at the author for breaking the rules about kids and violence I just couldn't read on.

Well, Bran's story doesn't end there. His story becomes one of the more interesting to me. The story line is more realist as far as personalities go, there is no good guy and bad guy. Sometimes the Bad guy turns out pretty good, And the good guys aren't your typical knights in shining armor. I can't wait for the next book and the mini series.

 

[westwall]

I am currently reading The Last Days of Henry the VIII. And also The USS Constitution Eagle of the Seas. Both are quite good.

 

[JBeukema]

just started

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Sex-Finding-Life-Long-Hook-Up/dp/1890626589]Amazon.com: Smart Sex: Finding Life-Long Love in a Hook-Up World (9781890626587): Jennifer Roback Morse: Books[/ame]

 

[Samson]

just started

Amazon.com: Smart Sex: Finding Life-Long Love in a Hook-Up World (9781890626587): Jennifer Roback Morse: Books

Jay-Zus-Christ

Chapter 1: If your a MAN, then don't read This Book

 

[Samson]

I've started Tom Clancy's Op-Center Series, and have made it to the 4th book, Affairs of State Where Kurdish terrorists destroy a dam in Turkey at Exactly the same time the Op Center's Remote Unit is in the area and for some unexplained reason is taken hostage by the terrorists..

...yeah, its not heavy, but it's my brotha.

 

[strollingbones]

the history of murder by colin wilson

Product Description
Murder provided public entertainment for the Caesars of ancient Rome, and executions drew huge, enthusiastic crowds in Elizabethan England and at the Bastille in revolutionary France. The thirst for blood and cry for deadly vengeance lie deep in humankind, as criminologist Colin Wilson authoritatively illustrates in this millennial history of the most heinous of human crimes. Analyzing the tangle of motives behind murder and examining an astonishing variety of homicidal methods over the past twenty centuries, Wilson not only profiles infamous historical figures like Vlad the Impaler, Ivan the Terrible, Gilles de Rais, Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Marquis de Sade, and Jack the Ripper, but also studies particular categories of homicide and such phenomena as the Jacobean witch hunts and gangland killings of America's Jazz Age. Wilson's chronicle includes, too, the serial killings, random shooting sprees, and cult murders that have troubled more recent times. The comprehensive history and illuminating analysis of how humans kill, and why, make crime-expert Wilson's volume one that no true-crime fan or student of criminology will want to miss.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Mammoth-Book-History-Murder/dp/0786707143]Amazon.com: The Mammoth Book of the History of Murder (9780786707140): Colin Wilson: Books[/ame]

 

[midcan5]

Still have too many books open, everyone should read the first two noted below:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Fares-Land-Tony-Judt/dp/1594202761/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Ill Fares the Land (9781594202766): Tony Judt: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Landscape-Science-Determine-Values/dp/1439171211/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values (9781439171219): Sam Harris: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Worldmaking-Nelson-Goodman/dp/0915144514/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: Ways of Worldmaking (9780915144518): Nelson Goodman: Books[/ame]


As a further note, this looks too depressing and the online info is enough bad news. lol

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Level-Equality-Societies-Stronger/dp/1608193411/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8]Amazon.com: The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger (9781608193417): Kate Pickett, Richard Wilkinson: Books[/ame]
The Evidence | The Equality Trust

 

[Samson]

the history of murder by colin wilson

Product Description
Murder provided public entertainment for the Caesars of ancient Rome, and executions drew huge, enthusiastic crowds in Elizabethan England and at the Bastille in revolutionary France. The thirst for blood and cry for deadly vengeance lie deep in humankind, as criminologist Colin Wilson authoritatively illustrates in this millennial history of the most heinous of human crimes. Analyzing the tangle of motives behind murder and examining an astonishing variety of homicidal methods over the past twenty centuries, Wilson not only profiles infamous historical figures like Vlad the Impaler, Ivan the Terrible, Gilles de Rais, Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Marquis de Sade, and Jack the Ripper, but also studies particular categories of homicide and such phenomena as the Jacobean witch hunts and gangland killings of America's Jazz Age. Wilson's chronicle includes, too, the serial killings, random shooting sprees, and cult murders that have troubled more recent times. The comprehensive history and illuminating analysis of how humans kill, and why, make crime-expert Wilson's volume one that no true-crime fan or student of criminology will want to miss.

Amazon.com: The Mammoth Book of the History of Murder (9780786707140): Colin Wilson: Books

Getting in the mood for the holidays.

 

[danielte]

Just finished the fall of the giants - ken folt
it was amazing .
now i will have to wait untill 2012 for the second part