What BOOK are you reading right now?

Now that's interesting. I read "Name of the Rose" and loved Eco and started reading about semiotics and then one day Eco was destroyed for me by.... catching part of the movie on TV. I don't know why exactly. Movies sometimes do that so I'm really cautious about what I watch!!

As for reading anything, I'm completely with you -- to the point that if I'm sitting across from someone at their desk I can hardly look at them I'm so busy trying to read the papers on the desk upside down! Not because I'm nosy. I don't care what the content is, just that it's print! I only knew one other person who had this disease, even worse than I did. He literally couldn't concentrate on a human being if print was present, including signs, odd bits of paper, whatever. His eyes would travel, glaze over, and he was gone -- leaving his body behind. Maybe there's a polar opposite to dyslexia. The key to the world lies in print somewhere... if only I could find it...

I'm with you there, Tartarin, re always being interested in what someone nearby is reading. My father used to chastise me for doing it when I was a wee lad riding the subways. I still do it now, only it's on the city buses. I'll even wait to eat breakfast so I can read my own paper for a while--it's almost addictive, but as addictive behaviors go, it's not a bad one...

I'll confess I've been doing something lately which is finally driving me mad. I've oversubscribed to periodicals -- got way too much stuff coming in. Cuts down book time. I spend more time reading reviews of books than reading the books themselves. Now, if I dropped all interest in politics, things would improve greatly...

Yes, I do that too -- sneak a look at what others are reading. Even when it's a picture in the paper of someone holding the book. I twist the photo every which way to see if I can figure out what book he has in his hand...

Oh, goodness, I do that too, Tartarin. I have oversubscribed and bought more books than I can possibly read ever since the 2000 election debacle/selection. I have definitely cut down on book reading with all the periodicals that I now receive in the mail. I can't stop myself, so it is somewhat reassuring that I am not alone! I used to read at least 3 books a week and can no longer attempt that goal. I also used to have time to do the New York Times Crossword Puzzle and Anacrostic and I don't do them either!

Well, I see we have a club. I, however, was strong of heart and determined of purpose, and stopped with most magazines. (One of my problems there is I don't throw them out.) VNN - I keep the crostics in the bathroom, which solves a lot of problems)

And reading other peoples' reading stuff - the true test for that is doing it on the NY subway.

Nothing (I think) to do with reading. My other gift is being able to listen to several conversations at the same time. Used to drive my husband nuts when we were out for dinner, but he came to enjoy it, and would ask me about them. This does serve me well at the frequent family get-togethers.

Tartarin - I know, I was one of the few who really liked the movie. But then I like Steven Seagal movies, so what can you do?

D'art - I hadn't thought of it as addictive, but of course it is.

Hello, Tartarin!

The obsession with print: .... I know it well!
I think I'm going to have to become MUCH more selective about which print is worth spending time on.

Mamajuana, I also love to listen to all the conversations around me. And of course it drives my husband crazy :-)

I like Seagal too -- he doesn't strain the intellect and moves like a big ol' tomcat.

VNN -- You too are hooked on the NYT crossword puzzle? I use it as a measure of my decline in brainpower. The horrible thing is that I sit in my father's old chair, twisting my hair exactly the way he did, and do the crossword puzzle in ink as he did -- a real exercise in bravado and tomfoolery! Ruins My Day if I miss something.

I listen to others' conversations, imagine what's going on, am judgmental, and sometimes write them down when I get home in one of the endless notebooks which are to become The Great Amer.Novel. Pynchonesque. In my next life.

Does anyone else keep a tape recorder in the car? For every use -- from memo pad to Great Ideas?

Rampant self-absorption.

A notepad. I no longer drive, so as a passenger I can write. And I've been writing short family stories for the family, who are more interested in that than in geneology. An interesting thing about this reading, conversation, etc. --- I find that when my husband and I are together (which, with retirement, means a lot, and since we also worked together for many years...) we still hold long, heated, animated discussions about everything and anything.

I suspect curiosity is the governing force here.

Curiosity. Also unable to leave stones unturned?

"Winner's Guide to Texas Hold'em Poker"

By Ken Warren

I'm also one of those who subscribes to too many periodicals, but I cut down recently to stem that tide. Because, as others have mentioned, I found myself reading fewer books. Newspapers and magazines demand my attention, because if I ignore 'em, they're superceded a day, two weeks, or a month later. Then guilt kicks in. But books wait patiently, hoping to gain my attention and that I'll remember they're in the house. It's almost poignant...

I, too, attempt the NYT crossword most days. As those who share this vice know, it gets harder as the week goes on. I managed to complete a Saturday puzzle a few weeks ago, and I felt smug for hours. I'm not boasting here--some days, late in the week, I can barely make a dent in it!

Lord of the Rings
I finished the Hobbit.. So I bought the trilogy Lord of the Rings in one book... It's quite an undertaking..

Welcome to A2K, need.

LOTR is worth it, I promise!

"Seabiscuit" in the Palm e-reader, "The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk" (Susan MacDougal) and "The Best Money Democracy Can Buy" (Gregory Palast), dead-tree versions.

How unattractive, PDiddie! Do you mean, by chance, "recycled tree"? The other is so... un-American...

I'm reading the 'Myths and Realities in Eastern Europe' and forbid myself to read any belles lettres until i finish the first chapter of my dissertation :-( growl growl.

What's your dissertation on, d?

Now reading "Sometimes a Great Notion" at the behest of a friend who virtually demanded I read it. Normally I ignore advice to read certain books, but I lived in the same town as Kesey in the '70s (Eugene) and met him a couple of times. I figure I owe it to his memory to read his second major book!

It's on persistence of ethnic cleavages on the political scene in Central Europe. Focus is on manipulation with historic memory of ethnic communities. I have one full page! Well, and some older stuff I wrote that I can just throw in after some adjustment. But it't a huge monster still very much ahead of me... grrrrr.

Sounds interesting. Hang in there--and good luck!