What Books Are You Reading?

Arts & Sciences Arts & Entertainment
#1

The need to escape from the backwoods of Taichung County, and re-familarize myself with the English language above a grade two level, compelled me to spend a couple of days in Taipei. Before I came away, I made the obligatory trip to Page One and picked up a copy of a book I hadn’t read since the ninth grade, To Kill A Mockingbird, and had it half read by the time the train lurched into Cin Shuei.

I was an avid reader until I started studying Computer Science a few years ago. However, my time in the ROC seems to have whet my appetite for the written language. The problem is there are so many books at Page One I hardly know where to begin, so I thought it would be good for people to share what they are reading (or what they have read in the past) with others. That way we might be turned on to some really good books we otherwise might have missed.

Please limit your list to ten items or less. Thank you.

Here are my recommendations:

The Grey Goose Of Arnhem (Leo Heaps)
To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
War Of The Worlds (HG Wells)
The First Man In Rome (Colleen McCullough)
The Grass Crown (Colleen McCullough)
Shogun (James Clavell)
I, Claudius (Robert Graves)
Broken Ground (Jack Hodgins)

What movies are you watching? (2021)
#2

Contemporize Maaan.

I am reading Neil Gaimans ‘Coraline,’ which I personally recommend to IronMan, as he enjoyed ‘The Blind Assassin.’ And to Imaniou, cos she is so awesome at teaching, and it’s a kids book, kinda.

The Godfather book is a very enjoyable yarn too.

#3

Don’t lecture me about contemporizing. The Godfather is older than five of the eight books I recommended. :raspberry:

#4

Here’s a variety of good stuff, in no particular order.

Fall on Your Knees, by Anne Marie MacDonald
The Assault, by Harry Mulisch
All Men Are Mortal, by Simone de Beauvoir
Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore
The Wheel of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
Collapse, by Jared Diamond
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides, Robert B. Strassler, Victor Davis Hanson (There is no better edition.)
The Rings of Saturn, by W. G. Sebald
The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff

Currently reading:
Identity and Violence, by Amartya Sen and The Compleated Autobiography, by Benjamin Franklin (Completed Autobiography).

There’s A LOT of great stuff available in mp3 audio book format available, which might set you up well if getting to the good stuff is an issue. I always found Eslite in Taichung was a good source, though not nearly as comprehensive as Page One, obviously.

#5

I’ll definitely grab The Landmark Thucydides if I can find it.

I recommend Victor David Hanson’s The Western Way Of War: Infantry Battle In Classical Greece to anyone interested in hoplite warfare.

#6

Some good books here :slight_smile:

Im going through an Iaan Banks phase at the moment. Just finished reading the Wasp Factory. An unusual and well written novel.

Also just finished reading ‘Trainspotting’ again by Irvine Welsh, and currently reading a collection of Hunter S Thomson letters, which so far have been very entertaining :slight_smile:

Taichung Social Club - do you know of any decent english book stores in Taichung?

#7

There used to be a Caves, but I’m damned if I can find it again.

#8

If Eslite’s store in Chungyo is still what it was five years ago… the last time I looked… that’s the place to start.
Is Caves no longer on the boulevard leading to the science museum?

#9

It used to be, but I didn’t see it last time I went by. It was almost midday, but most of the store fronts had their big assed metal pull-down doors pulled down. Maybe I didn’t see it because of that.

#10

[quote=“Jaboney”]
Is Caves no longer on the boulevard leading to the science museum?[/quote]

Sorry, that’s gone - not sure when it left, though.

I’m getting too lazy to read - I’ve been doing tons of audiobooks with my iPod lately. Some I’ve “read” recently are:

The Kite Runner
Anansi Boys (fun Neil Gaiman book)
Freakonomics
The Undercover Economist
Guns, Germs and Steel
The Professor and the Madman
Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Last Chance to See
Watership Down
Status Anxiety
A Million Little Pieces (finished it a week before he admitted he lied :fume: )
Shogun
The Artemis Fowl Series

#11

Just finished David McCullough’s 1776 and am now reading his biography of John Adams…good stuff.

simonsays.com/content/book.c … pid=506476
simonsays.com/content/book.c … pid=406074

#12

I loved that book!
One of the best twist endings EVER!

#13

[quote]Jaboney wrote:

Is Caves no longer on the boulevard leading to the science museum?

Sorry, that’s gone - not sure when it left, though. [/quote]

You serious? That was a three or four story bookstore.

It’s gone, or relocated?

#14

Currently reading The Night Stalker, The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez. Philip Carlo.

Not bad so far, if ya like that kind of reading.

#15

Good thread!

I used to run a bookshop here in Oz called ‘Bent Books’. We specialised in beat authors, underground and independent books. It was a fantastic 2 years of my life, but sadly was not profitable enough to keep going…

Hmm… I wonder if there is a need for an english book shop in Taichung? Sounds like it :wink:

#16

I picked up one of these today.
A friend of mine of raving about it.
He said it was the next Harry Potter.
About a criminal-boy-genius or something.

#17

The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Tasty little snack, nothing heavy. Great prose, good plot twists and turns, lots of intrigue, mystery, a dash of romance, melodrama, interesting characters, and more than a bit of self-directed humor. The prose, despite being a translation, is on occasion so good (although not flawless) that I’ll probably reread it in Spanish (La Sombra del Viento) at some point just for fun. I’m very curious to see how the translation compares to the original. Recommended.

#18

Finished In Cold Blood. Should be required reading for ALL new parents.

#19

[quote=“Baas Babelaas”][quote]Jaboney wrote:

Is Caves no longer on the boulevard leading to the science museum?

Sorry, that’s gone - not sure when it left, though. [/quote]

You serious? That was a three or four story bookstore.

It’s gone, or relocated?[/quote]

It’s still there - right across from the science museum. I was in there last weekend.

#20

White Line Fever

Lemmy Kilmister (the Motorhead guy) - The Autobiography