Author Topic: What are you READING right now?  (Read 762411 times)

RetiredAt63

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #350 on: January 01, 2015, 05:45:14 PM »
Mustachian retirement planning book for math geeks:
The 7 most important equations for your retirement, by Moshe Milevsky (and he is Canadian)

senecando

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #351 on: January 01, 2015, 06:00:16 PM »
Just started reading Sibley's Birding Basics and I'm real excited about it. I tend to like activities (other than walking fast) when I'm out in the world.

justajane

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #352 on: January 01, 2015, 06:17:50 PM »
I just read "The Yellow Wallpaper," a late 19th century short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It's an interesting albeit sad exploration of postpartum depression and the lack of understanding of women's mental health in general.

I am currently reading Louise: Amended, an autobiography by a young woman who suffers from a brain bleed and has to pick up the pieces of her life. It's interesting as well. I love biographies and snapshots of the lives of others.

I wanted to thank people here for suggesting Into the Wild, which I finished last night. I should have heard of it before, considering how famous it is, but it somehow escaped my notice until I read about it here.

boy_bye

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #353 on: January 01, 2015, 09:27:41 PM »
Over the weekend I read "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents" and they are breathtaking in their depth, their brutality, and their clarity. Butler's teenage protagonist survives the slow-motion apocalypse of the early 2020s and creates a hard-ass religion that has exactly zero supernatural aspects, and you see how it all plays out in the chaos of the world around her.


Thanks for the rec. A friend who died this summer was a big Octavia Butler fan so I meant to read some but wasn't sure where to jump in. I agree, Parable of the Sower seems terrific so far.

Aaah I'm so happy that you are reading these! I am dying to talk about them with someone if you are interested/have feelings or thoughts :)

Peacefulwarrior

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #354 on: January 09, 2015, 01:12:29 PM »
Smart Money Smart Kids by Dave Ramsey and his daughter.

aetherie

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #355 on: January 09, 2015, 01:17:22 PM »
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (for the third time - one of my favorites)

matchewed

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #356 on: January 09, 2015, 01:21:07 PM »
Cool Tools A Catalog of Possibilities by Kevin Kelly

This is really just a compendium of a variety of tools for various pursuits. Want the best pencil for drafting? It's in there. The best book on project management? In there. Hiking resources, science toys for kids, tents, homesteading resources, best place to find specialized screwdriver heads, 3D printing resources, coral growing, learning programming languages? Yes to all.

It's the kind of book where all you do with it is make a list of things to read/buy for various goals and projects. Then someday when you need to you revisit it and make another list of things to read/buy for new goals and projects it will probably be updated by then or at least still relatively relevant.

Russ

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #357 on: January 09, 2015, 01:59:00 PM »

FunkyStickman

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #358 on: January 17, 2015, 08:09:46 AM »
I've got a boat load of books to get through... currently on book #3 of the Harry Potter series (my kids are huge fans). Also have about 6 novels to read, halfway through a few.

Last book I read was a Vegan cookbook. Made my first recipe from it last week. Tomato soup from scratch... so yummy with homemade bread!

sunshine

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #359 on: January 17, 2015, 08:22:37 AM »
Tony Robbins Money Master the Game.

midweststache

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #360 on: January 17, 2015, 08:28:13 AM »
A Dialogue on Love by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. It's a beautiful memoir on her time in therapy after a bout of depression following a breast cancer diagnosis. Because of Sedgwick's critical work, it's also a contemplation of how we interact with the world around us, how we embody our identities, and how we pursue fulfillment.

I highly recommend it.

iris lily

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #361 on: January 17, 2015, 08:37:51 AM »
I'm reading a book about digging up the remains of Richard III in England. it's fascinating , the book is not especially engagingly written but the story of how Richard IIIs remains were found is really really interesting

Cookie78

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #362 on: January 17, 2015, 09:30:49 AM »
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Sex at Dawn
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
The Little Book of Value Investing
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance


Just Finished 'Millionare Teacher' and I liked it so much I'm not ready to return it to the library!

1967mama

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #363 on: January 17, 2015, 07:14:04 PM »
"The Worst Hard Time" -- about the Great Depression. SO good so far!

Malaysia41

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #364 on: January 17, 2015, 07:31:27 PM »
How To Grow a Novel, By Sol Stein.

Bardo

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #365 on: January 19, 2015, 08:22:44 AM »
"One Summer", a history of events of the summer of 1927 by Bill Bryson.

Just finished re-reading "A Tale of Two Cities".  A tad overwrought, even for Dickens.


Adventine

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #366 on: January 19, 2015, 08:29:09 AM »
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Am halfway in and it's pretty good so far!

grantmeaname

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #367 on: January 19, 2015, 10:27:16 PM »
I just asked for Return of the King from the library because I didn't get to it last year when I reread the first two volumes. And When Genius Failed because now that football season is over I figure I should switch over to business books.

Wolf_Stache

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #368 on: January 19, 2015, 10:29:16 PM »
Ravensblood by Shawna Reppert. I picked it up after meeting her at Orycon. It is amazingly good.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #369 on: January 20, 2015, 04:46:00 AM »
"Yes Please" by Amy Poehler

I really wanted to like that book and just couldn't! Will be interested to hear whether you enjoyed it.

BlueMR2

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #370 on: January 20, 2015, 09:59:21 AM »
JUST finished "Almost Perfect" by W. E. Peterson.  I don't agree with some of his conclusions, but I find it an excellent read on the issues (both corporate and personal) involved with rapidly growing a business.  Best part is that it's web freebie.  :-)  http://www.wordplace.com/ap/

I'm a red panda

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #371 on: January 20, 2015, 10:08:32 AM »
Some romance novel I got for free in exchange for a blog review.  It was pitched to me as a "figure skating novel" (what my blog is about).  I was surprised to get a romance. It isn't bad, but it definitely isn't good.

Still, yay for free reading (our library sucks unless you are a kid).

arebelspy

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #372 on: January 20, 2015, 10:38:49 AM »
I just asked for Return of the King from the library because I didn't get to it last year when I reread the first two volumes. And When Genius Failed because now that football season is over I figure I should switch over to business books.

There's one game left!  ;)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

grantmeaname

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #373 on: January 20, 2015, 07:42:17 PM »


There's one game left!  ;)
I mean, I'll watch it, but pro ball just isn't the same as college.

HappierAtHome

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #374 on: January 20, 2015, 07:59:05 PM »
"Yes Please" by Amy Poehler

I really wanted to like that book and just couldn't! Will be interested to hear whether you enjoyed it.

I do like it (finished it last night), but it's not what I had expected. I was also really excited to read it (based on the AMAZING cover and the fact that I pretty much love everything Amy Poehler does).

I think I was expecting it to be more like Tina Fey's Bossypants or Mindy Kaling's Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me? (which is my fave of the three)  - It's not really like those. Overall, once I realized that it wasn't what I had imagined, I opened myself up more to its style and appreciated it for what it is.... not so much a humourous essay, but more of a memoir / reflections on her past and life in general. I'm a big fan of memoirs / autobiographies in general so that worked well for me.

Yeah, I think that a) it wasn't what I was expecting (along the lines of what you've said) and b) I felt like she was trying to be funny and it just... wasn't. But that also could have been because of my expectations.

Haven't read the Mindy Kaling yet but I love Bossypants, so I think Mindy Kaling could be next on the list :-)

Sibley

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #375 on: February 23, 2015, 10:56:59 AM »
Lord of the Rings by Tolkien... I'm one of the fanatical Tolkien purists. Read the book several times a year usually.

DragonSlayer

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #376 on: February 23, 2015, 11:08:26 AM »
A bunch of Dummies, Teach Yourself Visually, and Idiot's Guides to Twitter and Pinterest. Also, the Tao of Twitter. I've recently gotten into a situation where I have to establish a social media presence and, being an old fart, I have a lot to learn. I think Twitter and Pinterest are the best outlets for what I need to accomplish, so at least no freakin' facebook!

midweststache

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #377 on: February 23, 2015, 02:44:20 PM »
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. Am halfway in and it's pretty good so far!

Loved Hard-Boiled Wonderland.

mostlyeels

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #378 on: February 23, 2015, 03:28:43 PM »
I'm reading "The Frood - The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" (I had no idea the title was so long until I typed it out!), by Jem Roberts.

grantmeaname

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #379 on: February 23, 2015, 08:28:43 PM »
I just finished When Genius Failed and I have Fourth and Long on tap.

Adventine

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #380 on: February 24, 2015, 05:38:24 AM »
I'm going to start Underworld by Don DeLillo tonight, on a friend's recommendation!

Neustache

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #381 on: February 24, 2015, 05:41:10 AM »
I'm reading "Made to Stick"  and I love it!  Not sure where I got the idea to borrow it from the library - maybe here or Afford Anything. 

Bardo

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #382 on: February 24, 2015, 11:26:06 AM »
I just finished When Genius Failed and I have Fourth and Long on tap.

I loved 'When Genius Failed'. 
Right now I'm reading 'Orpheo' by Richard Powers.  Good stuff, especially if you like classical music

RetiredAt63

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #383 on: February 27, 2015, 07:40:04 AM »
+1 - I wore out my paperback copy, now I have the hard-cover books, they last longer.  There are not many books that can be enjoyed over a 40+ year span.

I was hesitant to go to the movie because I have seen so many books ruined by the movie version (and the animated one way back when was horrible, I only saw a few stills and that was enough to boycott it) - fortunately (except for omitting Tom Bombadil at the beginning) the movie was faithful and the visuals reasonably matched my internal view.

Lord of the Rings by Tolkien... I'm one of the fanatical Tolkien purists. Read the book several times a year usually.

RetiredAt63

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #384 on: February 27, 2015, 07:42:25 AM »
Party of One (by Michael Harris).  Great insight, incredibly depressing.  I can only read a bit at a time.

zhelud

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #385 on: February 27, 2015, 01:03:34 PM »
The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu.  And I'm already sad that the translation of the next book in this trilogy won't be ready until this summer.

Kriegsspiel

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #386 on: February 27, 2015, 08:52:13 PM »
I just read Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. It is, as it says on the cover, A Novel Of The Vietnam War, but I think many modern combat veterans will read it and say, "Hmm, yup, that kinda covers it." That motherfucker really nails the emotions.

DSKla

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #387 on: February 27, 2015, 09:01:28 PM »
Black Swan by Taleb
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
One Straw Revolution by Fukuoka

Exhale

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #388 on: March 01, 2015, 09:03:57 AM »
various small/tiny house and modular home websites... thinking real hard about buying a small plot of land and building one next summer. Not being able to build or change anything in this apartment is killing me, plus it would have hella ROI

I am also looking at plots of land and modular/small builders. 

Currently I am reading Dwell, Tiny House Blog, and there is this guy in upstate NY who builds new small energy-efficient homes that are designed to fit in wit the historic farm houses of the area.  It is way too far for us to move there, but he does gorgeous work and I really like the concept of his micro-cabins: www.thecatskillfarms.com

This would be a great separate thread. I've realized that Teardrop/on the road living isn't for me and so have started to look at tiny house and modular home ideas. Have started my reading with http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/ and http://www.rowdykittens.com/





Bracken_Joy

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #389 on: March 01, 2015, 09:16:52 AM »
The scorch trials- it's the second in the trilogy with the Maze Runner. Which was a super underrated movie, IMO, but I saw it before I read the book.

Travels in Alaska- John Muir. One of my favorite books. It's like Walden, without the author being an unauthentic asshole.

grantmeaname

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #390 on: March 02, 2015, 01:06:09 PM »
I just finished When Genius Failed and I have Fourth and Long on tap.
On to the next one! I'm shooting through pleasure reading lately which is pretty cool.

jopiquant

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #391 on: March 02, 2015, 05:37:26 PM »
Trying to read the first book of the Spiderwick Chronicles in French. My vocabulary has nothing on a French grade 4, apparently.

FunkyStickman

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #392 on: March 06, 2015, 12:00:25 PM »
I've been busy. So far this year I've read:

Harry Potter 1-5 (reading #6 now)
Late Autumn Trees by R. Crow (90% done)
The Ark Wars: Exodus by Aaron Johnson (whom I helped motivate to write, it's pretty good, too)
Faith and Magic
Wild At Heart (again)
My Utmost For His Highest (daily readings)

I also started reading a few books on debate and culture, and started going through Charles Hodge's Systematic Theology (the 3 volume edition). Maybe a few others... I lose track.

Also, I started journaling with a paper journal and ink pen. It's fantastic for getting thoughts out without distractions from teh Interwebz. Had to get some rollerball refills for my nice pens, I actually ran 2 of them dry.

rocketpj

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #393 on: March 11, 2015, 12:52:43 AM »
Recently finished 'The Peripherals' by William Gibson, which was fantastic.

My heavy book right now is 'Capital in the 21st Century' by Piketty.  It's a slog but so many of the financial types and conservative political types I read online have thrown huge handgrenades his way that I feel compelled to read the thing.  Also it was my xmas gift from the kids.  So far I'm not convinced any of them made it past the introduction.  I usually balance my heavy book of the month with a bunch of fiction all around it.

The science fiction section in the local library is starting to run out of books for me, so I'm now on to reading 'The Magician's Land' by -cough-cantremember-cough which is the third in an excellent series and a paperback zombie story for my commute (which has a 45 minute ferry ride in the middle and biking at both ends).

When I feel like I can handle the bleakness I like to read Ian Rankin crime novels as well, but not much recently.

homehandymum

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #394 on: March 13, 2015, 07:43:04 PM »
Travels in Alaska- John Muir. One of my favorite books. It's like Walden, without the author being an unauthentic asshole.

OMG thank you.  I was wondering if I was the only person who felt that way about Walden.  I started reading it a couple of weeks ago because I saw it free for the kindle.

Nearly sprained my eyes from all the eye-rolling it induced.  It read like a smug 20-something's self-indulgent blog about how broken everyone else is, especially boring old people who obviously live small unimportant lives, and how he has amazingly unlocked the key to vibrant living  (which seemed to mostly involve having the means and opportunity to do whatever the hell he wanted with his time, with no obligations to anyone else, except those he chose to accept in the moment).  Then proceeds to patronise you with his generously shared knowledge.

I did not finish the book.

Reminded me of a PhD student I worked with once who 'knew what hard work was', because he'd spent one summer sanding and refinishing his Daddy's yacht.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #395 on: March 15, 2015, 10:43:53 AM »
Travels in Alaska- John Muir. One of my favorite books. It's like Walden, without the author being an unauthentic asshole.

OMG thank you.  I was wondering if I was the only person who felt that way about Walden.  I started reading it a couple of weeks ago because I saw it free for the kindle.

Nearly sprained my eyes from all the eye-rolling it induced.  It read like a smug 20-something's self-indulgent blog about how broken everyone else is, especially boring old people who obviously live small unimportant lives, and how he has amazingly unlocked the key to vibrant living  (which seemed to mostly involve having the means and opportunity to do whatever the hell he wanted with his time, with no obligations to anyone else, except those he chose to accept in the moment).  Then proceeds to patronise you with his generously shared knowledge.

I did not finish the book.

Reminded me of a PhD student I worked with once who 'knew what hard work was', because he'd spent one summer sanding and refinishing his Daddy's yacht.

I might have laughed out loud when that PhD student said that. Not sure I could help myself.

I read Walden because it was my college boyfriend's favorite book (and is supposed to be SO GOOD, and I've tried to read most of the american classics). I really should have taken it as a sign that the author struck me as immature and self-indulgent. Took me a couple of years to catch up with that observation re: the boyfriend.

Yeah, I think Thoreau was the original whiny and yet self-congratulatory millenial blog ;) Ahead of his time!

Torgo

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #396 on: March 31, 2015, 04:50:50 PM »
"Moondust: In Search of the Men who Fell to Earth"

Not a technical book about the Apollo program by any means. The author goes around finding and interviewing all the surviving moonwalkers as of the time he was writing it (9) about the effect the event had on their lives. Some report massive changes in perspective about the Earth. Some feel massively betrayed by NASA, having taken part in something they felt was the first step in a direction and which was then not followed up on (be the reasons for that good or bad). There's pretty much as many reactions as there are moonwalkers.

But then, most fascinating to me was the difference between living the history and watching the history. Armstrong and Aldrin on Apollo 11 didn't really appreciate how much importance was projected on their mission and how much mythologization of the event was going on back home, with half a billion people watching them live (and indeed it was the first huge live media event of this type). They were just doing their jobs - and then the president gets on the line with them on the surface of the moon and they scramble to not make asses of themselves talking extemporaneously while lugging around hundreds of kg of equipment on their backs. And when they get back and are in isolation (as all the first moonwalkers were in case of living microbes on the moon) and are dealing with a constant parade of dignitaries outside their little window, eventually they gather the gravitas that the event had for the world at large. Aldrin turns to Armstrong and says "Neil, we missed it!"

1967mama

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #397 on: April 01, 2015, 12:31:43 AM »
"As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride" by Cary Elwes (aka Westley)

"Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity and Diseasy" by Robert H. Lustig, M.D.

MandalayVA

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #398 on: April 01, 2015, 07:25:08 AM »
"Pioneer Girl" by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  As a long-time Little House geek I've been waiting to see this published--I put my order on Amazon literally the second I saw a publication date--and so far I have not been disappointed.   

Bardo

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Re: What are you READING right now?
« Reply #399 on: April 01, 2015, 07:46:57 AM »
Just picked up "Buddha's Brain" from the library yesterday.


 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!