Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: Mad Dr Jeffe on April 18, 2003, 04:18:47 PM
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So we know what your reading at the beach, but what about when you get really serious? What books do gamers pick up when they want to expand their minds?
Currently Im reading John Steinbeck translation of the Mallory Text of Le Morte De Arthur ,Entitled "the Acts of King Arthur and his noble knights." Im also reading a book about Journalism During WWII.
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Unfortunately most of my reading is for school, but when I have the time I'm trying to read Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. My wife bought it a while ago and it's taken me a while, but I finally have sat down and started it.
Aside from that, I just finished reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee for the second time.
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Thats a great book! I love Dee Brown
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Hey! Are you saying that my reading *isn't* serious? All my reading is serious. From Harry Potter to Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces and Marina Warner's From the Beast to the Blonde, I'm expanding my mind! ;)
Okay, so maybe Harry Potter's a little more on the light reading side, but oh well. I get to at least pretend to be serious about it.
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By serious I just mean not currently on the best-seller list. Or if you prefer Classics and Non-fiction.
PS does anyone know the most widely read type of book in the world?
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I've got the whole Romance of the three kingdoms...Talk about a hard read.
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WOW, like the time I read war and peace. You know when I was 10.
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Sun Tzu's Art of War tops my serious list now...on top of several book on ocular disease. Also Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Tao of Pooh are up for being reread.
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I just finished reading a book called "Japans longest day". All about the last 24 hours of the japanese empire, and the process of surrendering. Very good read. Made the 16 hour trip back from Japan more bearable.
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Now Im reading Citizen Soldiers which really is a great book to get free at Borders.
Er they have a buy 3 get 1 of = or lesser value right now.
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PS does anyone know the most widely read type of book in the world?
The Bible, I'm pretty sure... I think the LoTR trilogy could be considered serious reading considering how much of his life Tolkien put into the story. Other, than that it would be 1984 by George Orwell.
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I only read RPGs and fiction for the most part
That's not true, I read Understanding Literature this summer. However, I listen to college lectures in my car. I usually listen to Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition (a survey course about, well, great authors and their written works). I'll be done with that in a few weeks. I don't know what I'll listen to next, but I've got about 100 of them at home, so I won't be bored. Maybe I'll go with a science course, like Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution.
When I don't have access to a car with a tape player, I'm listening to Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition. Which is, of course, a survey course on Intellectual history. Going is slow because I can usually take my own car to work. It's also not as interesting. I recently finished Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism, Discovery of Ancient Civilizations, King Arthur and Chivalry, and Great World Religions. Only the last of which I won't recommend, primarily because it sucked. However, not recommending it is kind of moot because my company has realized it sucks and is releasing a new version in a few weeks.
Oh yes, these are the courses my company produces. http://www.teach12.com is the site if you're interested.
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You have lots other non fiction.... and a BOM does count toward serious reading.
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Yes, but I haven't been READING that other nonfiction. Having it sitting on the shelf is fine, but it really only helps if you read it.
I said in the other "reading" thread that I tried to start Understanding Media and Comic Book Nation, and while I do still intend to get to those, they weren't what I was looking for at the time. Looks like Will Eisner and Scott McCloud will be my primary sources still for that project.
There is, however, the Llama book. I'm still slowly working my way through that. It really only takes about an hour a chapter, but I tend to go for 3 or 4 weeks between chapters.
So yeah, in my library? I have loads of books on aesthetics, religion, and literature (Guillen's book on lit is particularly good). But read recently? REally only the courses and RPG books.
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I'll loan you some stuff on Napolean III.
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Wilkie Collins - "The Moonstone" is a great classic mystery. The first half is a bit boring but the second half makes up for it.