I tried to read Herb Vonnegut's new novel, but didn't like it. Dale Brown's new novel is atrocious.

Currently I am reading Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.

On my library hold list, I have

Portrait of a spy

Carte blanche : the new James Bond novel

Buried prey : Harlan Coben

A drop of the hard stuff : by Matthew Scudder

Betrayal of trust : a J.P. Beaumont novel

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne dominion

Before I go to sleep : a novel

Trader of secrets : a Paul Madriani novel

I am always interested in suggestions. I love spy novels, don't read much non-fiction or romance novels!

I listened to an interview with Dale Brown a few days ago. I was singularly unimpressed with his aeronautical acumen, at least as presented that night. He has credentials but he was a bomber/navigator in the USAF, not a pilot. That is not a slight but merely a fact.

I,too have had "trouble" getting into the books he has written that I have tried to read.

Best regards,

RA1

When I said I didn't read much non-fiction, well, I did read Manning Marable's book on Malcolm X and just finished Erik Larson's book In The Garden of Beasts, about the American ambassador to Germany during Hitler's rise. Both well done. But Phillip Kerr's series on detective Bernie Gunther does a great job of taking the reader into Nazi Germany, making you see, feel, and hear all about life during that time and in that place. They don't get any better.

I love that Robert Ludlum manages to send, from the grave, fresh copy to his publisher.

Currently, I'm lumbering through Tom Clancy's latest: 'Dead or Alive.' It's been a real disappointment. I'm going to check out your recommendations. I wish Timothy Hallinan or John Burdette would get going on some new Bangkok thrillers.

If you want to read really top-notch crime novels, then the best are by R. J. Ellory. A Quiet Belief in Angels, A Simple Act of Violence, and City of Lies are my 3 favorites. Order from Amazon as the only the first one has been released in the US. The stories all take place here, however. The writing is fantastic. City of Lies will be especially popular with New York aficionados.

I am trying two books.....The Brain and the Meaning of Life by Paul Thagard and In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction by David Perrett

If you want to read really top-notch crime novels, then the best are by R. J. Ellory.

Yes, they are!

On my list this summer:

The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Building Findable Website by Aaron Walter

Prayers for Sale by Sandra Davis

Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron

Unprotected Texts: The Bible's Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire by Jennifer Wright

For me, I am a Kindle guy so I have downloaded them and will read them mostly in travel and in the late afternoon. I love reading as the sun is going down and night is upon me.

I don't know if I will find time this summer to read some of the interesting suggestions recommended by some of our members.

I think I will be much too busy reading every line of all those Palin e-mails released today by the State of Alaska :frantics:

I just finished an oldie but goodie, Michael Crichton's Timeline.

I seldom or never read fiction. Here are the last four nonfiction books I have read and enjoyed:

1. Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership the Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe by Jonathan W. Jordan.

2. The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans.

3. Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans.

4. Justice Brennan: A Liberal Champion by Seth Stern & Stephen Wermiel

I am currently reading:

1. The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda by Peter L. Bergen.

2. Bismarck: A Life by Jonathan Steinberg.

I have to following on hand to read:

1. Modigliani: A Life by Meryle Secrest.

2. Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa by Jason K. Stearns.

3. The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life by Bettany Hughes.

I'm reading "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness.

It's getting good reviews and may be the next Twilight set of stories but with witches.

I watched Bill Maher and saw an author I like and immediately went to download one of his books. So, I'll add this to my Summer List!

Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

Ray Kurzweil (Author)

I have a few books lined up that I'll be reading for a while:

Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life by Len Fisher

AND

Mind Programming: From Persuasion and Brainwashing, to Self-Help and Practical Metaphysics by Eldon Taylor

I just finished reading "Mrs. Keppel and Her Daughter" by Diana Souhami, a double biography of King Edward VII's mistress Alice Keppel and her lesbian daughter Violet Trefusis, the lover of Vita Sackville-West and grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles, mistress and now wife of Prince Charles. That led me to read "Love in a Cold Climate" by Nancy Mitford, a hilarious mid-20th century novel whose main character is based on Violet.

Now I am going in a completely different direction with "Berlin at War" by Roger Moorehouse, about everyday life in Berlin during World War II.

I just finished reading "Mrs. Keppel and Her Daughter" by Diana Souhami, a double biography of King Edward VII's mistress Alice Keppel and her lesbian daughter Violet Trefusis, the lover of Vita Sackville-West and grandmother of Camilla Parker-Bowles, mistress and now wife of Prince Charles. That led me to read "Love in a Cold Climate" by Nancy Mitford, a hilarious mid-20th century novel whose main character is based on Violet.

Now I am going in a completely different direction with "Berlin at War" by Roger Moorehouse, about everyday life in Berlin during World War II.

I realized after I had posted this that I misstated the relationship of Camilla: Mrs. Keppel was her great-grandmother, but her grandmother was not Violet but her sister Sonia.

Now I am going in a completely different direction with "Berlin at War" by Roger Moorehouse, about everyday life in Berlin during World War II.

Hans Falluda's Everyman Dies Alone is a great book, saved from the war, about life in Berlin during the war for the average man. For some reason, I have read a lot about this era...I guess because it is of great interest and because we try to understand it. Let us know how you like the Moorehouse book.