The obligatory “Pat Schroeder condescends exquisitely to conservatives” post
posted at 11:11 am on August 22, 2007 by Allahpundit
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We did a drive-by on this last night in the quote of the day but I guess it warrants a full post. HA’s resident best-selling author is understandably annoyed at this:
“The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: ‘No, don’t raise my taxes, no new taxes,’” Pat Schroeder, president of the American Association of Publishers, said in a recent interview. “It’s pretty hard to write a book saying, ‘No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes’ on every page.”…
She said liberals tend to be policy wonks who “can’t say anything in less than paragraphs. We really want the whole picture, want to peel the onion.”
Really? That love affair with the paragraph doesn’t seem to have hurt “Bush knew” or “No war for oil.” Here are the crosstabs. The breakdown:
Surprising to see history so high and sci fi so low. Fully 57% have read five books or less; included in that percentage, I regret to say, is the big A. I read all day long online and catch up with magazines when I can, but I’ve always preferred to read books at long stretches and long stretches simply aren’t available anymore. Offhand, I can recall starting three books since January and finishing two: Steyn’s “America Alone” and, of course, Hitchens’s atheist polemic. I took a run at “Mere Christianity” on the advice of two friends but gave up in exasperation about halfway through. Exit question, and be honest: How many have you read this year?
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>10. All fiction.
craig on August 22, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Pat Schroeder, the gift that keeps on giving. Just ask any divorced military retiree…
rbb on August 22, 2007 at 11:19 AM
6.8, but to be honest…there have been several nascar rainouts this year…so, you know, I had more time on my hands.
sunny on August 22, 2007 at 11:20 AM
Once again, the liberal mindset is one of superior intelligence and moral high ground!
portlandbob on August 22, 2007 at 11:20 AM
Rove mentioned Bush has read 134 books this summer. How many has that dyspeptic shrew read?
JammieWearingFool on August 22, 2007 at 11:20 AM
This year….probably 25.
History
Science/Astronomy
Biographies
Fiction(some)
My tri-focals can be called as a witness.
Limerick on August 22, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Heh.
Allahpundit on August 22, 2007 at 11:21 AM
My organization is an AAP member and I often visit their NYC headquarters. Resisting the temptation to deface her photo takes all the strength I have.
At the going rate, we could be a former member before long.
JammieWearingFool on August 22, 2007 at 11:22 AM
I’ve read 3 books, but read the internet all day as well…
well if you didn’t finish “Mere Christianity”, atleast you did Steyn’s America Alone, its an non-intentional Christian Apologetic in and of itself.
jp on August 22, 2007 at 11:23 AM
I have no idea how many books so far this year-dozens. Many genres. I read more off-line than online. And if audio books counts…
Doug on August 22, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Probably a dozen in the past couple of months. Mostly fiction.
Slublog on August 22, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Well, I am a student, so if we take away the books I am required to read, I have read 8 books already this year.
Incidentally, they count the Bible as one book. Technically, the Bible counts as 66 books (more for you Catholics). I read through the Bible every year, so, I read at least 75 books per year.
If they counted the multiple books in the Bible, I wonder how that would skew the count in favor of conservatives. Just food for thought….
balishak on August 22, 2007 at 11:24 AM
Probably not as many as I should, I read too much stuff online.
Let’s see…
Zombie Survival Guide
World War Z
1984
Lord of the Flies (again)
Currently reading Catch-22 and then I’ll be reading Clockwork Orange, and then probably Animal Farm.
Yes, they’re all classics that I should have already read as a kid, whatever.
Bad Candy on August 22, 2007 at 11:24 AM
I think I’m actually in the 13-15 category this year. I like to read in long stretches, too, and this year I’ve got a new job that gives me more time to read. Must confess — I’m catching up on all the children’s books I missed. Also keeping up with old fiction favorites, non-fiction, and the Bible. Anyone have some books they’d like to recommend?
Numenorean on August 22, 2007 at 11:25 AM
I like sports, porn, beer, bourbon, and books, in no particular order.
I read a minimum of a book per week. Reading Vonnegut’s Timequake and Steyn’s America Alone now.
RW Wacko on August 22, 2007 at 11:25 AM
I’ve read:
Who’s looking out for you
Treason
How to talk to a liberal (if you must)
tons of children’s books (to my kids. I heart the giving tree)
and a plethora of batman comics including Hush which is hands down the best Batman comic … ever.
between reading news, working a full time job, working on my music, and raising kids I have very little free time.
One Angry Christian on August 22, 2007 at 11:26 AM
I’ll repeat what I said about this last night:
Her:
Me:
RightWinged on August 22, 2007 at 11:26 AM
FEELING INADEQUATE…
Allahpundit on August 22, 2007 at 11:27 AM
I realize some of that may not have the proper emphasis:
Was meant to be sarcastic… most of you can probably figure that out, but I wanted to be clear
RightWinged on August 22, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Bad Candy are you a member of Zombie Squad?
:-)
One Angry Christian on August 22, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Okay, but admit it…we all do a little skimming in I Chronicles…
Slublog on August 22, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Yeah, but this thread is about books Allah.
RightWinged on August 22, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Exit question answer:
So far this year:
The Force of Reason, Oriana Fallaci
Atlas, Teddy Atlas
America Alone, Mark Steyn
Cinderella Man, Jeremy Schapp
The Punic Wars, Nigel Bagnall
Liar’s Poker, Michael Lewis
The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, Bryan Ward-Perkins
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
South Park and Philosophy, edited by Robert Arp
Started, but did not finish:
Japan: It’s History and Culture, W. Scott Morton
Currently reading:
Thermopylae: The Battle for the West, Ernle Bradford (just started)
Exit statement: Shut up, Patsy.
thirteen28 on August 22, 2007 at 11:29 AM
Books read, cover to cover:
4 classics
5 novels
3 politics
3 histories
15 cookbooks
2 dog books
Plus countless others that I skimmed. I work in a library and always bring a book or two home with me each day.
Qzsusy on August 22, 2007 at 11:29 AM
Okay, but admit it…we all do a little skimming in I Chronicles…
Slublog on August 22, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Hehehe not so in I Chronicles. But Numbers and Deuteronomy, I will admit it. So trim my number down a couple.
I might add, I rarely read fiction. Mostly history and politics.
balishak on August 22, 2007 at 11:30 AM
I’m currently reading “Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns Goodwin, “Freedom” by William Safire and “The Perfect Storm” by Sebastian Junger.
I’ve got reading ADHD.
Slublog on August 22, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Hardly my friend. Retention counts too. My tri-focals tend to be selective sometimes.
Limerick on August 22, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Oops. Forgot to include my textbooks — they count, too, don’t they? Maybe as technical manuals. That bumps it up to around the 20 mark. Also, the children’s books were more young adult (Chronicles of Prydain, Harry Potter), but I assume they lumped those two together.
Numenorean on August 22, 2007 at 11:32 AM
AllahP, I’m in your camp. Most of my reading is done online. If reading “City Journal” and “American Thinker” and “FrontPage” and “Touchstone” along with HotAir and affiliates makes me an idjit, then I’ll just have to live with it.
I was also surprised that sci-fi wasn’t higher on the list, and very surprised that history and “general fiction” scored higher than romance novels, given the amount of chick-lit I see in the front racks at Borders or Barnes & Noble. Perhaps nobody in the survey wanted to admit to reading sci-fi or romance novels, so they answered in the “general fiction” category.
Anton on August 22, 2007 at 11:33 AM
duz picher buuks and colorin’ buks count?
jeffNWV on August 22, 2007 at 11:36 AM
I am a voracious reader, starting in childhood when I would check out 20 books per week, usually of the Hardy Boys variety. In adulthood, my fiction reading turned to authors like Lee Child, Ted Bell, and P. T. Deutermann. I would read 1-2 books per week. Now my interest in fiction has drained away and I am reading about history and politics. My current book is The Captive Mind by Czeslaw Milosz. But I consume most books in Audio format. I have 70 or so on my ipod, and am currently listening (on CD) to Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present by Michael B. Oren.
RushBaby on August 22, 2007 at 11:38 AM
Heh, nah.
Bad Candy on August 22, 2007 at 11:39 AM
AP – Yeah, Mere Christianity is frustrating, even for a believer. I never finished it either, or any CS Lewis book for that matter. So it goes.
Thomas the Wraith on August 22, 2007 at 11:39 AM
Maybe I should join STARS.
Bad Candy on August 22, 2007 at 11:40 AM
In Defense of Internment – Michelle Malkin
Unhinged – Michelle Malkin
Invasion – Michelle Malkin
What?
Zetterson on August 22, 2007 at 11:40 AM
I have read at least 10 books this year and most of them fiction.
EnochCain on August 22, 2007 at 11:42 AM
A slim majority of those polled (54%) have listed non-fiction-history as a read.
31% of those polled claim themselves as (D), and/or 46% claim to lean (D) at some level.
Using fuzzy(ish) math, a good number of self-identified (D)s claim to have read non-fiction-history.
And yet, they continue to make the same mistakes, time and again.
Interesting.
yo on August 22, 2007 at 11:42 AM
Not as many as I should. Outside of a handful of fiction books I also read “America Alone” by Steyn and “Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece”. Heh.
Actually been reading tons of stuff online, too, though. Currently going through Lovecraft’s stuff.
http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600031h.html
CorinthianJest on August 22, 2007 at 11:43 AM
I read 2-4 books a month, so let’s take an average of three per month. So that’s around two dozen books so far this year. About 80% of that is popular fiction, with the balance non-fiction.
flipflop on August 22, 2007 at 11:43 AM
Both in my stack at home…
RushBaby on August 22, 2007 at 11:44 AM
AP, you sound like me. Too much online and work-related reading, no times for books, which I would rather read undisturbed. As you all know, I am often disturbed…
Jaibones on August 22, 2007 at 11:44 AM
Can’t….can’t….read on line except short (magazine style-opinion style) articles.
Tried reading a history book on the web. Couldn’t handle it.
Gimme the printed page, my Lazy-boy, and a couple of brewski’s.
The Schoreder Manifesto is just reinforcing the knuckle dragger image the left has of the right. Makes them ‘feel’ better about reading ‘An Inconsistant Truth’.
Limerick on August 22, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Off the top of my head:
Elizabeth I; a biography
The Prince
Pride and Prejudice (a re-read)
Sex and the Single Vampire (don’t ask)
The Illiad (with Cliffs Notes)
Body For Life Handbook
The Biography of Benjamin Franklin (to be fair I started it Nov 06)
Pulchritudinous Patriot on August 22, 2007 at 11:46 AM
Not counting the Bible, more than 12 in 2006.
Not as many in 2007 (I got married this year).
My collie usually reads books while I’m sifting through these blog comments. That is SO unfair, donchathink’?
CyberCipher on August 22, 2007 at 11:47 AM
Oh! How could I forget
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows!
Pulchritudinous Patriot on August 22, 2007 at 11:47 AM
Zero cover to cover, but a large number of articles and chapters on sciencey things, as well as a bunch of technical manuals related to my field of work.
Big S on August 22, 2007 at 11:47 AM
I tried to look up my library records, but I couldn’t access them. I am currently reading 2 books right now, but I’d have to guess that I have read 50 books since January. I usually check 6-8 out at a time, every three weeks or so. I read mostly fiction with some non-fiction here and there. I also just downloaded Mark Steyn’s America Alone so I can listen to it, but I have only listened to 1 other book on CD (or podcast) this year. I read much faster than I can listen.
So much for those dumb conservatives who can’t read, Pat.
How are you feeling now, AP? :)
acleaver on August 22, 2007 at 11:49 AM
No comic books on that “poll.” I often re-read some Pitt or Shadows of the Empire comics while watching the Phillies come really close but miss the playoffs for the 14th straight year.
sunny on August 22, 2007 at 11:50 AM
Let the boycott begin…let only libs read her crap…
areseaoh on August 22, 2007 at 11:51 AM
I hear ya, AP. The Intarweb has destroyed my attention span.
Hannibal Smith on August 22, 2007 at 11:55 AM
I read 3-4 books a week not counting what I read to my kids each night. I also listen to books in the car. Lately they have been skewing heavily to fantasy/mystery although I just reread some PJ O’Rourke for a palate cleanser.
Taleena on August 22, 2007 at 11:56 AM
HaHaHaHa…..I guess I better cop to the fact that I have almost every single Batman/Detective/LOTDK comic and graphic novel between 1955 and now.
Yeah yeah yeah…I’m a nerd…..and a knuckle dragger too.
I guess I should include the catagory then of ‘crap’.
Limerick on August 22, 2007 at 11:57 AM
See, that’s my problem too Hannibal. The intarwebs turns you ADD, and I know it does it to a lot of people.
Bad Candy on August 22, 2007 at 11:58 AM
All good books are alike in that they are truer
than if they had really happened
and after you are finished reading one
you will feel that all that happened
to you and afterwards it all belongs to you;
the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse,
and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.
~ Ernest Hemingway ~
there it is on August 22, 2007 at 11:58 AM
I must be way off the deep end of the curve. I bus to work so have a ton of sitting around time. I read a book every 1-2 days. So probably around 150 books this year alone. Mostly Sci-fi and fantasy, but also have completed some history, politics, crime, and a few odds and ends this year.
coyoterex on August 22, 2007 at 11:59 AM
I’ve read lots of fiction this year (and only partly because of the two months spent w/o Tivo) and a few non-fiction.
Now I’m buying some science books–kids and adult versions–because I’m homeschooling the kids and I keep responding “uh, I used to know” to their questions about how things work.
MamaAJ on August 22, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Read? Nah, I’m just an illiterate, knuckle-dragging, drooling moron. But Patsy knew that already….
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on August 22, 2007 at 12:01 PM
I’ve read one all the way through this year. Almost read another all the way through while sitting for hours at Barnes and Noble. I’m half through 1984, but it really is not my type of book. I also read magazines, local newspaper, and The Bible.
So I read.
terryannonline on August 22, 2007 at 12:01 PM
I read two books a week. All are nonfiction and most are historical and or current events related. Still plowing through von Clausewitz’s “On War” and “The Heritage Guide to the Constitution”. I consistently reference “The Devil’s Dictionary” by Ambrose Bierce as well as my New American Bible( official Catholic Bible). Ummm Ms Schroeder? Why am I not surprised by your comments; not factual as usual.
MNDavenotPC on August 22, 2007 at 12:01 PM
About one book per month.
Just finished Jihad Incorporated by Emerson.
Just started America, The Last Best Hope (Book 1 of 2) by Bennett.
Just ordered Lone Survivor by Lutrell.
Oh yeah, and I’ve been reading The 9/11 Commission Report for about two years now…and I’m skipping the footnotes.
I OD’d on Stephen King many years ago and haven’t read any fiction since.
Also OD’d on Tango many years ago and haven’t been able to drink a Screwdriver since; but that’s a whole ‘nother story.
IrishEi on August 22, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Someone should the liberals that books like:
Why Billy Has Two Moms
and
Dora the Explorer TV Companion
don’t count as real reading.
Vincenzo on August 22, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Huh? :)
Zetterson on August 22, 2007 at 12:04 PM
Anyone know if this survey qualified books on tape or books on CD as “books read”?
From my own acquaintances, books on CD is very popular for folks that drive to work or take public transportation to work.
Furthermore, do not studies show that conservatives tend to have larger families and as such, have less time for personal leisure?
gabriel sutherland on August 22, 2007 at 12:07 PM
It’s funny… she was intending to demean us and ridicule our intelligence, but, in the end, we are looking at her and wondering how someone who is so statistically illiterate can be so mistaken about their own intelligence. I mean, any reasonably intelligent person can see that she doesn’t understand what she’s talking about by just looking at the numbers. How embarrassing this must be for her!
And for what its worth, I’m fairly certain that I am much, MUCH more intelligent than she is.
DaveS on August 22, 2007 at 12:07 PM
You got further than I did on “Mere Christianity”. (I don’t know why my (overly) religous friend thought it would change me into a believer…)
Honestly, have read about 12 books so far this year – mostly novels – and usually read 25 to 30 a year.
Ann on August 22, 2007 at 12:08 PM
I read all the time! Before we had children, I read about a book a week. Now that we have five, it takes me, oh, maybe two or three weeks, depending on how long the book is. Except Harry Potter, of course. Just 24 hours on that one, much to my wife’s everylasting annoyance.
So, since January 1? I’ve read probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 12 books. Various genres–history, non-fiction, Star Wars, fiction, mystery/suspense, even a political one in there. Can’t say I’ve read the whole Bible this year, but we do study it, so I don’t know if that counts–I certainly wouldn’t, since I only count books that I’ve read from cover to cover this year… And no, I don’t count all the children’s books I read to my kids at bedtime, as the number would certainly jump up there by about a hundred or so.
But what I want to know is who did this poll? Most of the liberals I know barely read anything beyond their TV screens and the liberal newspapers. Then, like a cow chewing its cud, they regurgitate whatever their liberal “leaders” have spewed out for the day, thereby forcing me to open my mouth and set them straight… I don’t appreciate it when my ears are bleeding from the lies I’m hearing.
They need to talk to more people before putting out poll information like this, because it sounds like they didn’t really do an across-the-nation poll. If they had, they probably would have gotten clearer picture results. But why would any obviously-liberal agency want that?
jedijson on August 22, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Not that many this year; I was an English major in college and so front-loaded all of my reading into the first half of my life. Though recently I have read:
Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student (highly recommended)
A bunch of Web design books: Don’t Make Me Think, Web Standards Solutions, Macromedia Flash MX ActionScript for Fun and Games, etc.
I finally read State of Fear after watching Michael Crichton pwn Charlie Rose.
A bunch of shojo manga: Skip Beat, Full Moon, etc.
I read on my horrible stinking public transit commute…like Al Gore does.
saint kansas on August 22, 2007 at 12:15 PM
How many this year? 20 so far that I can think of off the top of my head. I also have 6 magazine subscriptions, QST, Home Power, Mother Earth News, Gulf Coast Cattleman, Working Ranch, and American Rifleman.
JackS on August 22, 2007 at 12:15 PM
Read a book? Why don’t I open a can of corn with a pointy rock while I’m acting like a caveman.
frankj on August 22, 2007 at 12:16 PM
Oh yeah, do comic books count? Then I’ve read a ton.
frankj on August 22, 2007 at 12:17 PM
I’m with you, Allah. My reading books has suffered because of constant reading online. I started reading AMERICA ALONE, but am not in the mood for it most of the time. And the last book I read was HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. Read that in a few days. I go through phases on reading…sometimes nothing…sometimes tons. This year – nearly nothing.
But when I am reading, I prefer historical fiction (Caleb Carr), Occult (Rice et al), some scifi (Douglas Addams), and some horror. The “smart stuff” is mostly online for me. ;)
tickleddragon on August 22, 2007 at 12:17 PM
10 books, mostly fiction, but I did get in Godless and Bankrupt.
drewmesq on August 22, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Oh…and I am waiting for my library to get the gumballs to stock ALMS FOR JIHAD.
Just remembered, I did read THE FAIR TAX (Boortz) too.
tickleddragon on August 22, 2007 at 12:19 PM
i’ve read 5…
“lullaby” by chuck palaniuk
“invisible monsters” by chuck palaniuk
“diary: a novel” by chuck palahniuk
“the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” by mark haddon
“flicker” by theodor roznac (sp?)
its vintage duh on August 22, 2007 at 12:21 PM
Is this really a story? Look at the enormous difference between liberal and conservative reading rates:
The numbers could hardly be closer. Looks like Schroeder is really talking about moderates – that’s the message we should get out.
geoff on August 22, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Chronicles of Narnia – I had never read them before the movie came out and so I wanted to see what I had missed.
They were relatively short stories but I can’t remember how many make up the entire work (8? 9?)
Tolkien’s Silmarillion (sp?) – my parents bought this for me while I was still in high school but at the time it a little ‘dry’ and textbook-y. I finally sat down and read it this past winter. It details the creation of Middle Earth and reminded me of the Bible in a lot of places.
I’d like to reread LOTR this year.
I love mysteries and have read at least a dozen or more this year. I have also read a few cookbooks.
I tend to keep the heavy reading for winter; the summer is for the lite stuff.
dbdiva on August 22, 2007 at 12:30 PM
People must be either generalizing all fiction, or picking only one answer. SciFi should be higher than that, sure, but children’s is a 2? And Harry Potter’s the most popular series on the planet? Something’s screwy there.
Exit answer: Since January, probably 20-25.
But I know plenty of people who’d rather read the WSJ from front to back, than read the same number of pages in a book. It’s still reading.
Tanya on August 22, 2007 at 12:31 PM
frankj wins the comment thread!
RightWinged on August 22, 2007 at 12:32 PM
FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY INCREASING…
Allahpundit on August 22, 2007 at 12:32 PM
Read (or re-read) about 30-40.
Recommended:
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the BiCameral Mind.
The Big Sleep.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades.
The Crisis by Tom Paine.
The Last Crusader: the untold story of Christopher Columbus.
Burned Alive.
Greenmantle.
The Poems of Catullus.
and:
Inside the Wire: a military intelligence officer’s memoir about Guantanamo.
profitsbeard on August 22, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Patriot Games
Cryptonomicon
Six Armies in Normandy
Xenocide
That was this month – and I may have missed one.
It matters not how many you read – the issues are comprehension, application and honesty. Oh yeah, and you have to not be reading dreck.
Prufrock on August 22, 2007 at 12:38 PM
I doubt a year has gone by since I was 10 years old that I haven’t read a minimum of 50 books. 100 is probably closer. I read every night at bed, like plenty of people (regardless of politics). I just finished one of Michael Connelly’s more recent Heironymous Bosch novels – “Echo Park” – and it was so damn good I couldn’t put it down and polished off all 445 pages in a day.
So do I get an award? Does the fact that I just plain LIKE reading make me smarter? Can I apply to be a liberal now?
Sigh. Oh – the stupidity. Yes, I read a lot. In fact, all that reading is part of what made me open my eyes to the emptiness of liberalism.
But reading has nothing to do with politics. The only thing that is political in this is that while conservatives DO things, liberals prefer to read about them … or, more commonly, to talk about reading about them. Or, even more commonly, talking about reading about books that tell them to think what they already think.
Give me one Midwestern farmer raising his crops and a family or one soldier in Iraq over a thousand faux intellectual liberals bleating about reading a lot.
Sheesh.
Professor Blather on August 22, 2007 at 12:38 PM
Well, on a pretty regular basis, I read between 3 to 4 books at the same time. I’ve slowed down this summer, but they usually take me about a week to finish.
Usually history, politics, and religion. Sometimes other stuff too.
mjk on August 22, 2007 at 12:41 PM
May I take this opportunity to thank you for furnishing all of us with a huge body of reading material? On this blog, I have been exposed to a huge variety of news, entertainment, and thought that I would never have known existed before. Books are fantastic, but once you get into a genre you tend to make a beeline to that section of the library or bookstore.
Like Rush said the other day, we all get to listen to the #1 radio show in the world, but he never gets to because he hosts it! Applies to you and this blog as well. So a HUGE THANK YOU.
ps. I recommend My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
RushBaby on August 22, 2007 at 12:42 PM
I’ve read about a dozen; golf, child-rearing, history, current events/politics, including Mark Steyn’s America Alone and Bruce Bawer’s While Europe Slept (highly recommend the latter, as it seems America Alone has been widely read here), history, philosophy, and religion.
I commute on a train about an hour and half a day so I get a lot of reading done…I also have trouble reading in short blocks of time.
Leonidas Hoplite on August 22, 2007 at 12:43 PM
25-30 so far this year but my televisions are dust collectors until footballs season starts.
4 recent top pics:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Black Order by James Rollins
for one more day by Mitch Albom
La Quinta Montana by Paulo Coelho
La Quinta Montana is also available in English as The Fifth Mountain. It’s the most interesting book I’ve read this year. I highly recomend it or anything else by Coelho.
I’ve been reading alot of Dean Koontz lately as well.
HA Book Club anyone?
12thman on August 22, 2007 at 12:43 PM
That’s an awesome book.
Tanya on August 22, 2007 at 12:43 PM
Do textbooks count?
looking4statesmen on August 22, 2007 at 12:43 PM
the vintage duh-
Theodore Roszak’s “FLICKER” is a book I give a copy of to everyone I know who loves movies/history. A rich, distrubing modern classic of the Secret of Cinema.
profitsbeard on August 22, 2007 at 12:44 PM
ha! Footballs season. So much for the preview button.
12thman on August 22, 2007 at 12:44 PM
You read THAT plus 3-4 others in a month? WOW! That was one fantastic book – but a huge undertaking. Took me 3 weeks, and I read FAST.
RushBaby on August 22, 2007 at 12:45 PM
I guess I am in the 8 to 10 range. Sci-fi for the most part, but I did take a break to read Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of MAJ Dick Winters.
BohicaTwentyTwo on August 22, 2007 at 12:49 PM
I just finished “The Hajj” by Leon Uris – interesting take on the Palestinian situation. I really enjoyed “Exodus” earlier this year. A book (can’t remember the name) by Dore Gold on the Saudi Kingdom. Next? Joel Rosenberg’s “Epicenter” and another crack at a book about Yom Kippur.
mjk on August 22, 2007 at 12:49 PM
I read the Lord of the Rings; not wanting to be a philistine. Could not find one redeeming quality in “the greatest novel ever written”.
Read mostly non-fiction: maybe 10 books (didn’t always finish all of them).
I think online reading should count, Allah. There’s nothing magical or engoodening about reading words printed on a dead tree…which the libs should be appalled at—just think of that big ol’ carbon footprint from all those precious books the libs are sooo proud of consuming.
jdpaz on August 22, 2007 at 12:50 PM
That’s a great book. Beyond Band of Brothers as well as Band of Brothers. Read those last month.
mjk on August 22, 2007 at 12:50 PM
About Lewis’s Mere Christianity: I had tried to read it before I had begun to learn about the various terms and concepts used in Christian Apologetics. As a result, I couldn’t get through it either.
Much later, when I had gained a basic idea of what he was talking about, I picked it up again and finished it. It’s wonderful.
Someone further up said that he couldn’t get through any Lewis book. You couldn’t get through The Screwtape Letters? Even if you don’t believe in demons, I would think that TSL would be popular simply for its entertainment value.
baldilocks on August 22, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Good job.
I was curious, what field are you a professor in?
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!!!!
I like your Calvinist collie.
ColtsFan on August 22, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Koontz fascinates me. He’s so prolific he makes Stephen King look like a slacker, yet (in my opinion) his books are completely inconsistent in quality. A few I’ve tossed across the room in disgust at their stupidity (”TickTock Man” or something like that?) while some others are among the best books of the genre I’ve ever read (”Twilight Eyes” has to be at the top; the “Odd Thomas” series and “Fear Nothing” and its sequels are close behind).
So whatcha readin’?
Lee Child is maybe the best writer working today – at least in his genre. There aren’t many people who could write books that violent and that appealing to the red-meat macho-man crowd that are also real works of art; “The Enemy” (that prequel where he and his brother go see his dying mother in Europe) is nothing short of literature for tough guys. Child is as good or better than Dennis Lehane and John Sanford (more great tough guy writers)
This thread is weird. It’s like the Oprah Book Club.
Obviously we must be liberals.
Professor Blather on August 22, 2007 at 12:53 PM
I read two to three books a week.
I’ll let you do the math.
(Mostly Scifi/fantasy, nonfiction history, biography, science.)
Bob's Kid on August 22, 2007 at 12:56 PM
Since I work in publishing and get paid to read, I crunched some numbers.
I proof at minimum 30,000 galley pages a year (and edit a good chunk of it) of published material, and likely read the equivalent of a couple of books a day between newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc.
So if you figure the average book is 200 pages or so, I consume the equivalent of roughly 750 books a year
Which leaves precious little time to read books, though I do read enough of them annually.
In my spare time, I’ve cranked out nearly 2000 blogposts the past nine months.
Outside of the directions on a container of Metamucil, what has Ms. Shroeder read reently?
JammieWearingFool on August 22, 2007 at 12:57 PM
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