• Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

    We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides. Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?

    Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

  • NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

What are you reading?

Going Postal: The ups and downs of travelling the world on a postie bike - Kindle Edition - (Feb. 1, 2011) by Nathan Millward
 
"NO ORDINARY TIME" by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Pulitzer prize winner, about FDR/ Eleanor leading up to and during WWII. Good Read... (In between, maybe a little D. Koontz)
 
Steppenwolf, at present. In the queue is On The Road, by Kerouac.

I started Steppenwolf last summer and never finished it. I enjoyed what I read but wasn't in the mood. I need to go back and finish it.

As for On the Road, the unedited version is available. Compared to the edited version it seems more complete and you don't have to juggle the aliases with who they belong to as their real names are used.

On the Road: The Original Scroll

I see they're making a movie of On the Road. I'm afraid to watch it. Movies from books usually never do the story justice. Though, I am interested in seeing how they pull off his rambling life and rambling writing.
 
I have been working my way through a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith that begins with The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. This is definitely not typical detective genre material. It is set in Botswana and is more about life and the intricacies of how it is viewed from that setting.
 
If it's Lawrence of Arabia and Brough Superior motorcycles you're interested in there are two books published in 2010 which you should read -

"Brough Superior - the Complete Story" by Peter Miller, published by Crowood Press.

And "Legends in Their Lifetime - George Brough & Lawrence of Arabia" by the late C.E Allen, published by the Vintage Motor Cycle Club of England.

Both books available through the Vintage Motor Cycle Club at http://www.vmcc.net/

There is more interesting, and behind the scenes information, about Broughs and Lawrence in those two books than most people in the world will ever really want to know.

Korda's book is very good and interesting about Lawrence and his life and times - particularly the political and his continuing impact on the middle East. However Korda seems, in my view, to have never considered the motorcycling aspect of Lawrence's life as of any great significance until the accident of May, 1935.PT9766

I have read reviews and heard him interviewed on his book tour but have yet to read Korda's book. I have long felt that biographers of Lawrence have not understood what motorcycling really means to the understanding of him. It may take a motorcyclist to have the insight into that importance and not just dismiss it as an anomaly resulting in his demise. Thanks for the book suggestions. I will have to seek them out.
 
Re-read Catcher In the Rye and read for the first time Fight Club this week.

Both books have quite a considerable bit of similarities between them, even the ending.
 
Running with Scissors: Augusten Burroughs

A random pick off the friends bookshelf while in PGH.

Good story, burned right through it. Definitely a dark comedy memoir of the authors childhood, his nut of a mother and her psychologist who took over custody, the psychologists own ridiculously goofy family situation and the authors pedophile of a boyfriend. A story on manipulation and working with what you got.

First read of this author, I will read more.
 
I have been working my way through a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith that begins with The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. This is definitely not typical detective genre material. It is set in Botswana and is more about life and the intricacies of how it is viewed from that setting.

If you haven't already read it yet, you need to read "Corduroy Mansions" by Smith. I'm about half way through it and I have not stopped laughing yet. One of the characters is a bomb sniffing vegetarian Pimlico Terrier named Freddie de la Hay who insists on wearing a seatbelt. Freddie lost his job at the airport due to affirmative action - all the bomb sniffing dogs were male.

Smith has a gift for blending good storytelling and humor.

Easy :german
 
"Even Silence Has An End", by Ingrid Bettencourt. Her true story of being held captive/hostage/political prisoner by the FARC in the Columbian jungle for over 6.5 yrs. If some of you have read the Vikings/Hegstad's book about his own experience, this is an even better read about a similar experience. One of the best stories of its kind that I've read!
Also just finished Neil Pearts(Rush drummer and BMW rider) Ghost Rider story of his travels subsequent to losing his teen age daughter to an accident , then his wife to cancer, then his dog even dies-all inside 10 months! He starts riding to find "his baby soul" and the tale unfolds. Nice bike travel read and human insight story.
 
"Life on the Mississippi" by Mark Twain. Just got a Kindle, and it's one of the free downloadable books. It's surprisingly engaging, being partly autobiographical and partly fiction, written in Twain's unique style.
 
Reading Now

"We All Hear Voices" by Sam Taggart, M.D. Sam is a friend of mine. We grew up in the very small town of Augusta, AR. The book is about a man who suffers from a rare condition called synethesia. This is a mental disorder where the person may smell colors, or associate different stimuli with totally different things. The lead character is a short order cook who creates wonderful dishes only if he hears or sees certain things. He is also a stock car racing fan and has irrestible impulses to watch all the races. I now my description may not sound very interesting but I'm not very good at writing book reports.

Growing up in Augusta I recognize many of the people in the book from my childhood. Sam has done a very good job integrating them in this book. It is available from Amazon and I can say it is worth reading.
 
If you haven't already read it yet, you need to read "Corduroy Mansions" by Smith. I'm about half way through it and I have not stopped laughing yet. One of the characters is a bomb sniffing vegetarian Pimlico Terrier named Freddie de la Hay who insists on wearing a seatbelt. Freddie lost his job at the airport due to affirmative action - all the bomb sniffing dogs were male.

Smith has a gift for blending good storytelling and humor.

Easy :german

He certainly does. He is originally from Zimbabwe. African literature has a strong story telling history that is very different from the staccato bare bones form so common now. It is also a oral tradition that enjoys humor very much. Thursday In the Company of Cheerful ladies arrived by inter library loan to finish out the detective series. I will have to have my A No.1 Librarian track down your suggestion when my stack is a bit smaller.
 
Back
Top