Currently working my way through:

The Left at War -- Michael Berube

A Revolution of the Mind: Radical Enlightenment and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Democracy -- Jonathan Israel

Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America -- Eugene Robinson

I'm also listening to a couple of audiobooks:

Eye of the World: Wheel of Time Book 1 -- Robert Jordan

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany -- William L. Shirer

When I'm done with Shirer (which I should be by next week) I'm going to start at the beginning of Richard J. Evans "Third Reich Trilogy" (The Coming of the Third Reich) and then go through all three books in sequence. In part this is done for comparative purposes. Shirer's book, while a work of history, is mostly a work of journalism (he was a reporter). Evans, on the other hand, is considered the world's foremost scholar on Nazi Germany and having read through books 2 and 3 of his trilogy, I want to go back and catch the whole magisterial sweep of his work.

Cheers
Aj

kindle-less
 

kindle-less and for good reason...to each their own

I love books the texture of their pages the ink forming
their words

a book the patience it shows to my reading
from right to left or from back to front and back again

when we fall asleep together and I accidentally crush it with
my body in the morning to find it happy to be alive and
read

I love to throw them into my "man's" bag as we go off to the
office and there take a few moments together between folks.

the feel of their weight in my hands, my total control of how
we will proceed...alright going off here.

yes, I love books, hard cover, paperbacks, books.

love in print.

Greco

Water for Elephants. It's a fascinating read.

On my bed table: Wanderlust

Your views speak to my love of 'physical' books, as well.

And there is a sweet feeling that overcomes me when the book has been a gift to me. Someone has thought enough of me to want to share something they had spent their precious time ingrossed in perhaps over days, weeks, months. Take it a step further...to in turn, pass the book on to someone for their pleasure and on and on it goes. Pay it forward.

Some of my dearest, sweetest thoughts left to me from my precious father were those written in the front of his favorite books.

I certainly understand the want/use of a kindle or something similar for some folks, however for me, my books are a part of my being. They help define my interests, my likes and yes, even my needs.

I studied British Literature throughout college. I just don't think I could read William Shakespeare from an e-reader. At least not for a long time.

on the inside covers
 

Yes, exactly. I have known love through what was written between the covers of my soon to be favorite books. and the ritual of spending an afternoon looking through shelves of books in old used book stores while leaning against each other then going out with our "new" finds and taking her home for readings to each other between mouthfuls of comforting food.

and well you know the rest...and all because of books. Lately, I've been keeping my forever favorites and actually writing in the margins for my nieces and nephews to find after I'm gone from here...they are in my Will for them...books what gifts.

Greco

I'm definitely one of those reading-several-books-at-once people. And while I do love the tactile pleasure of physical books, I am also a complete iPhone cyborg, and I do appreciate being able to carry numerous tomes with me without, well, carrying numerous tomes.

Currently reading:

An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears

FM 6-22 Army Leadership Manual (no, I'm not in the military, but this was recommended to me by an Army Captain friend of mine as an excellent guide to leading people in general)

Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light, Leonard Shlain

Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat Hanh

make my head stop hurting please
 

left my bag at the house and picked this up at work.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Table-Memoir-My-Father/dp/B001TK2BMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1295022443&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father (9781615544851): Augusten Burroughs: Books[/ame]
.

turning page after page hoping it would get better... it did not.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot (author)
 

http://freerangetalk.com/wp-content/...ver-at-350.jpg

Here's a link to Rebecca Skloot's blog and a brief review of her book:

LINK <<~ click me

Thanks for your responses about ebooks - I see the points of view about space/storage, the upside about green issues and also the concerns for the publishing and related industries. I see where the ebook can impact not just printers and publishing houses, but also the logging, paper manufacturers, ink manufacturers, transportation and warehousing industries.

For now, I think I will stick with old school. I like being able to hand a book to someone and saying, "I'm done with this now and I think you will love it. When you are done, pass it to someone else." I like that my son has children's books that were mine as a child and that I have a collection of his that I envision him reading to his children.

These days, I have two paperbacks I am reading - "Live To Tell" by Lisa Gardner and "Eight Days to Live" by Iris Johansen.

I am attempting to patiently wait for "Namah's Blessing" by Jacqueline Carey - June 2011 seems SO far away! Charliane Harris has a new Sookie Stackhouse book due out in May 2011 - "Dead Reckoning". I'm tellin' ya - for those of us with gnat-like patience, its a conspiracy to make us buy other books as we wait!

I have to revise my take on The Help. It seemed condescending.

this book has been in my bag for over a month. why did i wait so long?

it's a page turner...liking it.

Isn't it though. I had it on my shelf for months, and I'm so glad I just happened to grab it on my way out one day.