What are you currently reading and why?

[[deleted user]]

I'm interested to know why people choose certain books - recommendations, pretty cover, good reviews, liked the film?

[C.G.]

The Red Badge of Courage
The Good Soldier

I am reading The Red Badge of Courage (1895) by Stephen Crane and The Good Soldier (1915) by Ford Madox Ford.
These books are for my second month in my first term for my MFA at Southern New Hampshire University. My mentor is acclaimed author: Dr. Matt Bondurant, author of The Wettest County in the World
The Wettest County in the World: A Novel Based on a True Story - which will be released as a movie in August, 2012 with Shia LeBeouf as lead actor, and Tom Hardy (in Inception) and Gary Oldman.

Movie link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212450/

The reason I am reading these novels is because my protagonist, Levi Fiske, is a CIA agent in 1970s Iran who is dealing with PTSD and suffers from hallucinations because of the Vietnam War and he is also married to a beautiful Iranian named Leila Bakr.

[Shivani , Moderator]

Maximum Ride: Max, I've read the previous books and I loved them.

[Christa VG]

I'm reading [book:The Count of Monte Cristo|7126. Just because it is a classic and I loved the movie. The book is a hundred times better!

[Carri]

I am reading "Sugar" by Bernice McFadden. I started off reading it because I found the book at a library sale. Then it opened up so many creative ideas for me. Before long I will be starting a book club on steroids for teenagers and "Sugar" is the first!!!