What are You currently reading?

[justusryans]

I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread about our current books on our bedside table. It doesn’t have to be necessarily a Buddhist text... just whatever you happen to be reading at the moment. I’m looking forward to getting new ideas for reading material!
Ok, I’ll go first. I just finished “Artemis” by Andy Weir, He is the author who wrote “ The Martian”. This is his follow up novel and quite a enjoyable read.

My current book is “Don’t be a Jerk” by Brad Warner. It is a approachable translation of Zen master Dogen. I am finding it very well done.

Looking forward to hearing from you!
With Metta
Mike

[Polar Bear]

I bought The Other Shore by Thich Nhat Hanh a couple days ago after finishing a retreat at a Plum Village branch monastery called Deer Park in California. It was recommended to me by a nun whom I worked with on the retreat. It’s a translation and commentary on the Heart Sutra and was recommended to me because she knew I liked reading Pali texts and have a bit of an intellectual inclination. I think I’ll start reading it today.

I also need to finish the last book in Margaret Atwood’s MadAddam trilogy, which is a science fiction series. Oryx and Crake, the first book in the trilogy was awesome, and I read the second book quickly as well. But this third book I put down some months ago and need to pick it up again to finish the series.

I’m also currently reading How to be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci and How to Create A Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach by Tobias Leenaert.

[dwlemen]

I just finished a short biography on Mozart: "Mozart: A Life" by Paul Johnson and am now starting a book on anti-consumerism that I heard about somewhere online: "Hooked!: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume" by Stephanie Kaza.

I also have "Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha" by Jack Kerouac on my nightstand. I liked a lot of his other books ("On the Road" is great) but this one I find myself struggling to get through.

Finally, I am working at a snail's pace through the immense trilogy "The Civil War: A Narrative" by Shelby Foote. It's not a bad read, but it is so detailed, I think it will take longer to read than the war took to actually occur!

Peace,

-Dave

[philg]

I'm currently working my way through C P Snow's 'Strangers and Brothers' series, as I studied 'Corridors of Power' for A level, but never got around to reading the rest. I'm on 'George Passant' at the moment, reading them in order of the internal chronology of the series rather than publication date.

[fuki]

Two books currently;

Song of Mind
Wisdom from the zen classic Xin Ming by Chan Master Sheng Yen

And started "The Rinzai Zen Way" today by Meido Moore.

[justusryans]

I’m currently working on 2 books... The Yoga of Max’s Discontent a novel by Karan Bajaj. It’s about a Wall Street Harvard grad who is looking for answers to the same things we all are . It’s quite good.

The second one is Zen and Now... On the trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance... It’s about a journalist who sets out to do over Roberts famous trip from Minneapolis to San Francisco. I may have to reread Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance again after this... it’s been awhile!

[lisehull]

Am almost done with Emotional Rescue by Ponlop Rinpoche. It is excellent!

[justusryans]

I just finished The Yoga of Max’s Discontent by Karan Bajaj. Really well done fictional story about looking within.

[justusryans]

Finished “ The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” by Steve Brusatte Very well done. If you are at all interested in the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. If you have read Robert Bakker “The Dinosaur Heresies “ then between the two, it will give a new perspective on how dinosaurs evolved and what happened to them. I’ve loved reading about dinosaurs since I could read!

I promise I will finish that Brad Warner, “ Don’t be a Jerk” I’m getting close.

[justusryans]

I finished “Don’t Be a Jerk” by Brad Warner finally! Phew. It was really very well done.

He took Zen Master Dogen’s teachings and make them approachable to those of us who struggle with Dogen’s seemingly inconsistencies. He makes a case for each one, then explains how they are each different teachings for different people at different times in his life.

My next book will be “What The Buddha Never Taught” by Timothy Ward