What is everybody reading? (Both GCA and non-golf)

[Bruce Leland]

"Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA" by Tim Weiner and "The Best There Ever Was" by John Ed Bradley.  Just finished "Dead Solid Perfect" by Jenkins for the 3rd time.

[Lloyd_Cole]

Jane Gardam's 'Old Filth' was a fantastic surprise for me.  Bought on a whim in Atlanta with an afternoon free to read and an excellent bar to do so in .  A portrait of older age which I'm now somewhat more interested in that I might have been, say, fifteen years ago. I'm now reading her 'Faith Fox' which looks at the British North-South divide very entertainingly, so far.

[Brad Fleischer]

On a side note, how do people read fiction when you have movies and great tv shows?

Because 99% of the time the book is better.....

reading the lost city by shcukman and where golf is great....

[Pete_Pittock]

Golf - My personalised copy of Golf Architecture - A Worldwide Perspecive -Volume 4 by Paul Daley

Political Fiction - Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley. A president with low ratings nominates a TV show judge for a Supreme Court vacancy.
Great characters, Jenkinesque.

Fiction - The Little Book by Selden Edwards. One of the most intricately woven books I've read. Was lent a copy and then bought it for my library.

Movie seen which will win oscars -Changeling

[Eric Pevoto]

Non-golf:

Thomas Pynchon Against the Day--after loving Mason & Dixon this has been a test.  Just finished Don Delillo's Underworld and White Noise.  Both were good reads.  Found my way to them through David Foster Wallace (rip). 

Also recently finished Francis Fukuyama's America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy ;  imho a good primer on the progression of neoconservative ideas.

Golf: 

Always have something open, whether its architecture or instruction.

Instinct Putting by Apenfels at Pinehurst. 

Your 15th Club Rotella

The Golfing Machine  Kelley-- This, along with the rule book, are great toilet reading.

[Anthony Gray]

  I do not have time to read. I am always on this site. Somebody please help me.

 

[Steve Lapper]

The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace

Excuse Me, Aren't You in Charge? - Mike Policano (yes, our very own)   

[Ally Mcintosh]

re-reading two books at the moment

- golf courses of the british isles (darwin)
- the trilogy: molloy, malone dies, the unnamable (beckett)

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Non golf: Philip Roth's latest- Indignation

Golf: nothing at the moment although I always have handy for review the classic How to Line Up Your Fourth Putt  

www.4putt.com

[Sam Maryland]

The Power Broker by Caro...

...fascinating.

[Brad Tufts]

Non-Golf:  Just finished "Thunderstruck" by Erik Larson, about Marconi's Wireless inventions, and its use in apprehending the second most famous murderer in England's modern history (after Jack the Ripper).  Currently reading "Empire of Blue Water" about Port Royal, Henry (Capt!) Morgan, and the real pirates of the Caribbean in the 17th century.  On deck I have a double novel by Dennis Lehane involving the P. Kenzie and A. Gennaro characters he used in Gone Baby Gone.

Golf:  Paul Daley's Volume 4, with the new Pete Dye book on deck.  I also have something called "Secrets of the Great GCAs," but it looks very coffee-table-ish...

[Bill_McBride]

Golf - My personalised copy of Golf Architecture - A Worldwide Perspecive -Volume 4 by Paul Daley

Political Fiction - Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley. A president with low ratings nominates a TV show judge for a Supreme Court vacancy.
Great characters, Jenkinesque.

Fiction - The Little Book by Selden Edwards. One of the most intricately woven books I've read. Was lent a copy and then bought it for my library.

Movie seen which will win oscars -Changeling

Peter, another zero degrees of separation - Selden Edwards is an old friend from Santa Barbara who is a private school head.  He has never published anything  but worked on this book for years.  An overnight success!  Apparently Hollywood has picked it up for a movie version.  I haven't read it yet, need to get a copy soon.

[Charlie Goerges]

Admittedly, not reading anything currently except for reference, or to read small bits of my favorite sections of various books.

But one recent read I recommend is "Mark Twain's Helpful Hints for Good Living...A Handbook for the Damned Human Race". Basically a compendium of Twain's essays and most enjoyable. And immediately before that, "Letters from the Earth" also by Twain. If you check this one out, pay special attention to the selection "Cooper's Prose Style". Probably the finest example of literary criticism extant.

[Bill Shamleffer]

My 9 year old daughter is a voracious reader.  I was concerned that she was not reading any of the classics.  Although I also realized any reading is good, and forced reading is usually unproductive.  So I came up with a list of about 40 classic titles.  Every month she gets to pick any book from the list and we will both read the book.  It is sort of a father-daughter book club.  So this month we will be reading some Mary Louise Alcott.

For my own reading, after the sad news of the death of Studs Terkel, I decided that I need to pick one of his books for my next reading.  (Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.)

As for golf, I have recently been reading Peter Dobereiner collections.

[John Kirk]

"The Secret Life of Words", by Henry Hitchings is on the bedside table, but it gets little attention.  I'll eventually plow through the book, which is a history of the development of the English language.

Mike Policano's book is on deck, as well as a book called "Bird By Bird", which Dan Kelly suggested to me.

Mostly I read economics and golf news on the Internet, along with the following magazine subscriptions:  Science News, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, and most importantly, the Economist.

[Dan Kelly]

Nothing about golf lately -- but I'm on a hot streak of non-golf books. The last three books I've read, I recommend highly:

-- The Bottom of the Harbor, by Joseph Mitchell -- the sainted New Yorker reporter, whom all of the other reporters idolized. Six pieces about life on and near the waters of NYC. If you like McPhee, you'll love Mitchell. (I'm sure McPhee must have.)

-- Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott: wisdom about writing, and about life.

-- Canoeing With the Cree, by Eric Sevareid: The story of two novice canoeists (Sevareid and his fellow high-school grad, Walter Port) and their attempt to canoe from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in the summer and fall of 1935. A short, simple, fast-paced yarn -- about which I'll tell you only this: You should never have heard of Eric Sevareid.

[TEPaul]

I'm back to reading the old classic comic books from the early 1950s. I guess I want to feel like a kid again.

But maybe what I really want to do is look back to some of my memories of that time 50 plus years ago and then look forward from there to where we are now, and maybe to consider the future too. Thinking back to what I remember and saw and knew over fifty years ago and then seeing what happened last night, it's pretty hard not to get pretty thoughtful and also emotional. What a journey we've been on over those decades but even I never thought I would live to see something like this. From the announced projection around 11am until the time I feel asleep around midnight I also noticed that even all those hard-bitten "talking heads" on CNN were having a pretty hard time keeping it together.

[Dan Kelly]

I'm back to reading the old classic comic books from the early 1950s. I guess I want to feel like a kid again.

Check out "The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America," by David Hajdu.

[TEPaul]

"Check out "The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America," by David Hajdu."


Dan:

I don't have to---I was there. Comic book guys like Sgt Rock and even early TV's Herb Filbrick were some pretty interesting American dudes.  

[George Pazin]

I hope everyone has read Rick Shefchick's latest, Green Monster.

Bill Shamleffer, I am damn impressed that you are doing a father-daughter book club with your 9 year old, and reading classics at that. Well done. I don't know if you're up for suggestions, but Animal Farm might be worth a go.

Re: comic books, I'm about 1/3 into Watchmen by Alan Moore, but I'm having a hard time sticking with it.

A few books on top of my pile: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Freedom For The Thought We Hate, Choke.

No golf books lately, haven't ordered Paul Daley's latest yet.

Oprah loves her Kindle, but I can't imagine reading a computer tablet. I have a hard time reading long posts on here...

[Rick Shefchik]

In my hopeless quest to catch up to the most recent installments of some of my favorite thriller series (while embarking on writing the fourth one of my own series), I just finished John Sandford's "Certain Prey" (the one that introduces Mafia hitwoman Carla Rinker.)

For a mood lightener, I am currently reading Carl Hiaasen's "Nature Girl," in which yet another disgusting Florida tourist meets a gruesome end.

[Matt Bosela]

I love reading about the history of classic courses so I'm re-reading the following:

"Oakmont - 100 Years" by Marino Parascenzo
"The Riviera Country Club - A Definitive History" by Geoff Shackleford

I also have to pick up Robert Thompson's new book "Going for the Green".

Outside of golf, just reading some books on marketing and investment strategy...boring stuff

[PCCraig]

Re: comic books, I'm about 1/3 into Watchmen by Alan Moore, but I'm having a hard time sticking with it.

George-

I am not a comic guy at all, but I just read this and actually enjoyed it. I would try to stick with it to the end.

[John Kavanaugh]

I have been very fortunate to have been given a chance to read a very personal document that may or may not end up published.  Gillette Silver recently sent me a diary created in a form that I did not know existed.  Each night his mother would request that he write down his thoughts of the day and then without reading what he wrote she would put her thoughts on the opposite back page.  It is an interesting study that I think each parent of a child should read to see and reflect on how differently a parent and a child can feel about the same event, big or small.  The added feature of a somewhat nomad bohemian life adds a spice not found at least in my personal experience.

Sadly, Gillette did not find this document until his mothers recent passing after a respectfully quick bout with pancreatic cancer.  Perhaps with time he will find the strength to share it with the world.

[Phil_the_Author]

For me the problem is that I've been doing far too much golf-related research to be able to sit down and simply enjoy reading a golf book of any kind.

Non-golf fiction is a quite different story. I just finished reading "Armageddon's Children" the last book in Terry brooks "Shannara" series.

I am about to begin William Horwood's incredible work of fantasy "Duncton Wood." Since picking it up for the first time far too many years ago this will be my 5th time through it. I can not recommend this highly enough to anyone who finds pleasure simply in the written word. Rarely have words ever been put on paper carressed one's inner world of hope and desire as will be found within this work...