What are You Reading Now?

[mawnansmiff]

Of my ever growing collection of antiquarian books, I have just started reading 'The State Of Physick And Of Diseases' by John Woodward MD, written and published in 1718.

It's all pustules, puss and phlegm with much 'biliose salts' and 'purges' thrown in for good measure! I'm not so much interested in medicine but am very interested in the language of the time and the thinking of that time.

This was a period in history where serious advances were being made in methods of curing diseases and such, it is actually quite a good read.....sort of

That all said, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of some of the remedies mentioned in the book!

Regards,

Jay.

 

[gamzultovah]

And…..

 

[simong]

That's one of my absolute favorites.

You've probably seen this photo before but just in case you haven't here's a photo of Cherry-Garrard & his chums from back in the day. Cherry is at the typewriter & if you look closely you'll see a couple of lovely old 'Cutter Top' tins. Capstan & Waverley Mixture. To the right of cherry sits another author Frank Debenham (The Quiet Land - Antarctic Diaries). Smoking what looks suspiciously like a Peterson Kaffir.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

The latest David Baldacci Atlee Pine Series "Mercy".

 

[renfield]

Robert Heinlein - Stranger In A Strange Land.

Science fiction done well.

 

[Briar Lee]

Castles of Steel by Robert K. Massie.

Castles of Steel - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[edger]

Just ordered two books: Short Story Collection (40) by Rudyard Kipling and Roughing It by Mark Twain.
Currently reading A History of the American People by Paul Johnson (an Englishman). Very good!

 

[JohnClyde]

Just finished Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting.

Better than I was expecting and superior to the film.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Better than I was expecting and superior to the film."

That often is the case. I remember the film Carrie, it was pretty good but the book (which I read later) was much better.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[JohnClyde]

"Better than I was expecting and superior to the film."

That often is the case. I remember the film Carrie, it was pretty good but the book (which I read later) was much better.

Regards,

Jay.

Because so much was made of director Danny Boyle's stylistic flourishes I expected the book to be just the script in embryonic form. But the text is markedly different - a collection of episodes without any explicit narrative arc, plus more depth on each character, with most speaking in first person. And its written in a more direct vernacular ah telt him I ken he wa a wee doss c*nt, etc.

Never read it but I bet Stephen King generally reads better than the films, perhaps with the exception of The Shining?

 

[judcole]

Grant's Memoirs.

 

[Fiddlepiper]

Just finished Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting.

Better than I was expecting and superior to the film.

The prequels and sequels are well worth a read too! ?

 

[ScienceSmoker]

This week is Stealing the Mystic Lamb by Noah Charney.
My goal is 1 book a week, but I always fall short of that.
Still, I just finished The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell last week.

 

[odobenus]

You've probably seen this photo before but just in case you haven't here's a photo of Cherry-Garrard & his chums from back in the day. Cherry is at the typewriter & if you look closely you'll see a couple of lovely old 'Cutter Top' tins. Capstan & Waverley Mixture. To the right of cherry sits another author Frank Debenham (The Quiet Land - Antarctic Diaries). Smoking what looks suspiciously like a Peterson Kaffir.
View attachment 115756

Such a fantastic photo. Thanks.

 

[edger]

Got my Rudyard Kipling stories anthology in the mail! Great stuff. I've come to appreciate short stories more and more over the years.

 

[ssjones]

Has anyone read this book? It won a literature award in 1962. I was at a park in a small town in Louisiana this afternoon, with my granddaughter and they have a statue for the author, was lived in the town (Covington). The book premise sounded interesting.

 

[Akousticplyr]

 

[username]

 

[Chasing Embers]

 

[orlandofurioso]

C.M. Doughty Travels in Arabia Deserta Jonathan Cape 1936 .
Jack Vance Tschai.