Are miniaturists illiterates?

[Uruk-Hai]

Or more precisly now that I have your attention, what fiction and which authors do we like to read. So put aside the big shelves with reference litterature and let us know what fiction you like to read or are reading right now.

I thought this would be interesting and seeing that Gordy actually blesses off-topic listing threads, I am taking my chances with this.

Myself, I find it hard to find time to read, not to buy books though, but I do listen to CD-books while I build or paint.

I have just started with Conn Igulden´s, The Gates of Rome. Having recently gone through the series about Djengis Khan.

Before that, I listened to Clive Cussler´s, Sacred Stone, which actually sucked. Some Clive Cussler I find interesting as there often is some aero or nautical historical connection in the plot. One I really liked was Atlantis Found.

Other authors that I have like to listen to while modelling is such as David Morrell(not Rambo), J k Rowlings, Jan Guillo(see links) to name a few.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Guillou#Hamilton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Guillou#Crusades_trilogy

Now let me hear yours, and please update when you start reading or listening to a new book.

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

 

[gothicgeek]

Mervyn Peake, Ray Bradbury, Tolkien, Moorcock, Dickens, H.P.Lovecraft, Frank Herbert, Solzhenitsyn, Primo Levi, Antony Beevor, Jack Vance, Poul Anderson, P.K.Dick, Philip Jose Farmer, A.C.Clarke and Many others..


Fantasy, Scifi, Horror and history. and a few other bits and bobs

Gooood thread

 

[jmpva]

I'm the opposite and not ashamed to admit it. At the age of 55, I have yet to read any fictional book. I own 50-60 books and they are all reference material for my hobbies. I also must read/study Navy equipment tech manuals in order to teach the equipment to my students.
I have zero desire or time to spend reading fiction, when I have 100+ cars, ships figures, Aquariums, fishing and slotcars to play with.

 

[Wendy]

Let's see, Tolkien, CS Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, Jane Austen, Conan Doyle, Dumas, Agatha Christie, L'Amour, Wodehouse, GK Chesterton. I'm a re-reader, so I've read a good number of those in the last six months...

Plus I have Thucydides, Herodotus and other historical stuff too.

I won't be reading anything till after Chicago show.

 

[Don Johnson]

I've been on a Gettysburg path this summer. In the past, I've read Bruce Catton's Centennial trilogy, plus lots of fiction like The Killer Angels, but I had not read about this battle in depth.
Based on strong recommendations, I went looking for Stephen Sears' one-book overview (Gettysburg) at my local library, but could only find a similar volume (Gettysburg - A Testing of Courage) by Noah Trudeau, which I enjoyed immensely. It had lots of detailed maps with regimental units clearly marked (instead of "IV Corps" or "Longstreet"), and presented the battle's phases in an understandable manner. I then grabbed Sears for US$3 used online (the shipping was $4!), and while it clearly deserves its reputation, the maps were fewer and less detailed than the Trudeau. Between the two, however, I feel much more informed about this pivotal struggle.
In addition, I've read Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire" novel about Thermopylae, Dave Barry's "Big Trouble" South Florida crime farce, and Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point". Oh, and Billy Crystal's "700 Sundays".
A bit of a mixed bag, to be sure!

 

[mikec55]

Michael Shaara, Jack Whyte, Robt. Crais, Harry Turtledove, James A. Thom, Vince Flynn, Conn Iggulden, Carl Hiaasen, Ben Kane, Wilbur Smith, Dr. Seuss.

Unfortunately, after being bumped back to shift work, I've had to stop painting. On the other hand, that's freed up more time to read & to lurk around all the figure painting sites.

 

[gordy]

Been doing the 'analog reading' with my 10 year old son, Potter series , The Hobbit and Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators!

 

[megroot]

I don't have much time to read since i painted figure's.
Mainly i read books about WW 1, from Steve Barton, Lynn McDonald,
Further i read books mainly Fiction just as Tolkien, JeanM Auel and other fiction writers. Really like that stuff.
Marc

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Oh dear......

I may have to admit to the fact that I can read......not just lift heavy things.....

Like my science writers, such as "Stolen Continents" by Ronald Wright. Jared Diamond "Guns germs and Steel"

Plus Jack London, great writing that I can always return to.

Have read Clive Cussler, Isaac Asimov, Tolkien, Malcolm Gladwell, lots of the other names here...

mind you, I also admit to the occasional trashy novel, like the Bolo series (Tanks with AI, sense of honour....) plus some of the old Destroyer martial arts books (Remo Williams and Chuin, of the art Shianju (?))

Plus military histories too......

+1 on the good thread......

(off to find my copy of "where's Wally)

 

[tonydawe]

I've had the same copies of the Lord of the Rings and The Simarillion on my bedside table for the past 20 years. I read a little bit from either book every night before dropping off to sleep.

Just finished reading "The Great War" by Les Carlyon.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Been doing the 'analog reading' with my 10 year old son, Potter series , The Hobbit and Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators!

The Three Investigators where my favourites being in that age. There must be 100 titles at least of them. Tried to introduce them for my own son when he was around 10, he thought them to be too scary? Ah, the memories.

Funny, thats actually how I grew a bit found of Harry Potter as well. When the later books came out my kids preffered to read themselves so I bought them on CD for myself, I wanted to know how the story ended.

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

 

[billyturnip]

I am currently reading the fifth book in the Erast Fandorin series by Boris Akunin. Great stuff, described as a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond in late 19th century Russia. These books have sold over 18,000,000 copies in Russia alone!!

Roger.

 

[Andrew Craft]

Being a school teacher when I do read it tends to be childrens books. Recently found the "monsterblood tattoo" series, they are great books for kids (better than the Harry Potter series IMO), an interesting spin on the old fantasy genre. The princess bride is also one of my favorites. Kids books are great, fast paced and I don't have to think too hard

 

[kansas kid]

Janne: Good topic, IMHO

Well Janne, I'm glad you brought up this topic. And find each Planteer's
comments very interesting. Obviously, ignorance is a terrible thing, as any
one who has studied the past even slightly, is well aware of. I was drawn to
the reading of History and Historical Fiction in my early 30s. And I started
reading about the ACW. I do not sell my books, and I have approx. 350 or
more, on mostly Historical Subjects. One member mentioned Stephen Sears
book on Gettysburg. I have that book but haven't read it yet. I did read his
good volumes on Chancelorsville and the book Landscape Turned Red, about
Sharpsburg, or Antietum. I highly recommend those. I have a number of
Michael Shaara's Historical Fiction books. To me is best his The Glorious Cause.

William Shire's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is a masterpiece. altho
it took me a while to get thru over 1,100 pages. I can definitely see why it is
a must read for anyone wanting to have some understanding about WWII. I
was 5 yrs. old when Pearl Harbour was hit.

Wendy, your taste in reading is similar to mine. I have read all of Jane
Austen's novels, and I feel that the reading of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities
and Robt. Louis Stephenson's Kidnaped are two of the great experiences in
my life. C.S.Lewis, Robt. Remini's 3 volume tome on Andrew Jackson, and
on Senator Henry Clay are both good reads. And I have read all but a
couple of Barbara Tuckman's books; read both of her Pulitizer Prize volumes.

As we know, the reading of history explains why things are like they are
now. And for me, that makes so much about life easier to accept, to
understand and to deal with. Now I'm reading Seizing Destiny, a fasinating
book about we Yanks and how we chomped at the bit for more and more
land, and during President Polk's "tenure" came up with the phrase Manifest
Destiny. Rather shameful deeds by my forefathers, but so helpful in my
understanding of the period.

Jayhawker. . . and even the term Jayhawker is very historical prior to the
ACW.

 

[AJLaFleche]

I just discovered the relatively new author, Jon Clinch, who has all of two books under his belt, Finn, which I started last night, a retelling of the life of Huck Finn's father and Kings of the Earth. Click here for my review on a friend's blog site. I also enjoy Jeff Shaara's historical fiction, occasionally Stephen King, though he could use some editing, Steven Hunter for guilty pleasure action books (the Swagger stories) Steven Pressman for good historical fiction, Harry Turtledove for alternative history. Other than that, I tend to pick books based on how well he topic seems to grab me. Earlier this summer, I read the heavily buzzed The Passage and really didn't like it.

 

[Wendy]

Kids books are great, fast paced and I don't have to think too hard

They aren't kids' books, they're books for everyone.

James Herriot, Jim Kjelgaard, Walter Farley, A.A. Milne (ok, as much for the illustrations...) are still on my shelves.

 

[kansas kid]

Way to go Wendy. I am in complete agreement. I have read The Secret
Garden and Rebecca of Sunnybrooke Farm. And both have such a wonderful
message for humans, regardless of their age. The classics are classics for
a very good reason. . .

Jaybird

 

[bonehead]

Janne,

Thanks for bringing up an interesting subject! As usual, I will be coming from left-field. I don't do this to be contrary or upset people. That's just how I roll.

I don't read fiction. I think the last such book I read was Bram Stoker's "Dracula", which I read only out of curiosity. I thought it was difficult to get through, kind of stilted, sophomoric and highly overrated. Some will argue that I do read fiction since my primary interests are books on UFOs, quantum physics and consciousness. Right now I am reading Richard Dolan's "UFOs and the National Security State", Ervin Laszlo's "The Akashic Experience" and Jacques Vallee's classic "Anatomy of a Phenomenon". Vallee was the real world inspiration for the character of the French scientist in Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

Also, nobody can accuse me of being Illiterate, despite my lack of formal education. For the past several years I have been writing a regular column for UFO Magazine, called - what else, "Outside the Box". In it I use lots of $64 terms such as "cognitive dissonance", "popular somnambulism" and "quantum entanglement".

I figure my interest in human consciousness and other things outside the realm of my profession (sculpting) and popular thinking make me a more well-rounded guy. At least it keeps me a few steps ahead of the wretched torpor of popular somnambulism......

Cheers!!

Bonehead

 

[theBaron]

Go over to the Treefrog Toy Soldier forum and have a look at the "What Are the Members Reading?" thread, it's been running for about 3 years now.

Currently re-reading Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism", I recommend it. Before that, I re-read Dr. Robert Bakker's "The Dinosaur Heresies", outlining what was at the time iconoclastic interpretations of the fossil record, but are now more or less mainstream theories.

Usually, lots of history, science, politics. I've re-read Christopher Duffy's "The Army of Frederick the Great" about 30 times since I first bought it around '95. But yes, I'm also a Tolkien fan and re-read TLOTR and "The Hobbit" at intervals. I usually re-read James Clavell's "Shogun" once a year, too, "Banzai, Anjin-san!"

Prost!
Brad

 

[Jim Patrick]

I don't read fiction.... Some will argue that I do read fiction since my primary interests are books on UFOs, quantum physics and consciousness.

I needed that laugh Mike It's one of those days.....

I like reading both fiction and non-fiction. I have enjoyed Dan Brown as of late. Found Angels and Deamons to be a bit slow (slower than the other two Robert Langdon series) but personally enjoyed TheDa Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol. I have a very good friend in Colorado that mailed me a lot of books (both audio and paper) after my surgery, which I have enjoyed.

Other books I like to read? Mike.....get ready.....Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, heck, anything dealing with the current political conundrum in this country. Not just the Right's view, but any and all.

Dennis Leary's book was friggin hilliarious! I couldn't stop laughing while I read this book.

Do comic books count? I read those too!

What about here on pF? I find reading all of your posts to be very relaxing and while I don't paint much at all these days? I stay abreast in the hobby by visiting here.

Hell, I will read anything and everything as long as it grabs and holds my attention.

Jim Patrick