Not comics, but books.  Fiction.  Non-fiction.  Coffee table.  Art.  Whatever.  What are you reading now or have read recently that you recommend to the board?

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins - Already a hit with the teen crowd, this is going to blow up once Lionsgate ramps up production of the film.  I found this book to be wildly fun and entertaining.  Yes, it's another Young Adult (YA) book, but it's definitely got something for everyone.  What I enjoy about it is the female protagonist, Katniss Everdeen.  She's written in such a way as to really believe that she's a 16 year old girl fighting for her life in the annual Hunger Games, which pulls a male and female contestant from each of the 12 districts to compete in a fight-for-your-life nationally televised event.  Win and you are forever immortalized, your family set for life.  Lose and you are no longer among the living.  Fast paced, exciting action, characters you care about and relationships that feel real, this first book in a three-book series is a ton of fun to read.  I got the other two books as gifts, so they're next on my reading list.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN by John Ajvide Lindqvist - Exceptional book upon which the equally exceptional Swedish film is based.  Having seen the movie before reading the book, I was a little concerned that I had seen and learned everything there was to know about the story.  I was wrong.  There are entire stories and characters excised for the film, understandable as the story needed to be trimmed for a feature.  The writing is fantastic, the characters compelling, and the story itself feels fresh in an age where it seems even the most lame vampire story will get exposure (I'm looking at you, TWILIGHT).  Highly recommended even if you've seen the movie.

THE MONSTER OF FLORENCE by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi - Non-fiction account of the gruesome serial killings that occurred over a 15 year stretch in and around the city of Florence, Italy.  Not only is it a straightforward and compelling look into the investigation, but it's also a look into the Italian judicial system. Spezi is a journalist who was present at the discovery of the first Monster killings and Preston is an American novelist drawn into the crazy conspiracy theories cooked up by an aggressive Chief Inspector and prosecutor.  As the story goes into more detail, I can't count the number of times I was absolutely flabbergasted at the contrivances, absurdities and lengths to which people at the highest levels of law would go to substantiate them.  Their one and only source?  An extremely conspiracy-minded blogger who inexplicably was able to bend the ear of prosecutors and who nearly ended up destroying many lives in the process. 

So what's been on your reading list?

For bedtime reading, finally getting around to "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young", a non-fiction book about the War (one battle in particular) in Vietnam.

Floating around, to dip into when I feel the urge, I am also rereading "M*A*S*H".

Over Xmas, I re-read The Poisonwood Bible, Hamlet, The Great Gatsby,
and The Body of Christopher Creed because I'm teaching all of them this
semester.

Right now, I'm in the middle of reading the PENDRAGON series by D.J. MacHale.  Just about to begin book 8.

Next up, hopefully, will be the DRESDEN FILES series of books.

STORIES- ALL NEW TALES EDITED BY NEIL GAIMAN & AL SARRANTONIO - by Various -for breakfast

COOKING DIRTY by Jay Sheehan -for dinner

CRESCENT DAWN by Clive Cussler -for Coffee

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I just finished that the week after Christmas.  I enjoyed it, even though it was not Cussler's best.  I'm finding that I'm enjoying his Oregon Files novels a lot more lately.

The Big Rich by Bryan Burrough

The Elephant to Hollywood by Michael Caine

Collapse by Jared Diamond.  Why some societies fail and other succeed.  Heavy emphasis on environmentally fragile environments and poor resources management.

Upstream Metropolis by Various.  Hisotry of Omaha, Nebraska.  I made it to the 50's and lost interest.  I need to finish it.

I've also been downloading and reading public domain stuff in iBooks...the first couple of "John Carter, Warlord of Mars" books as well as the first couple of "Tarzan" books. When "The Wizard of Oz" was on over the holidays, I was inspired to start "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Read that as well as "The Marvelous Land of Oz" (I had the Marvel Treasury edition when I was a kid) and am now reading "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz".