715 replies to this topic

[Andy Whitman]

I'm also reading The Art of Fielding, which I like very much. I just finished The Map of Time, by Felix J. Palma, which was tepidly written and horribly plotted in spite of the intriguing premise (H.G. Wells as a time-traveling detective). And I'm slowly making my way through Gibbons' massive The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

[J.A.A. Purves]

Andy Whitman, on 19 July 2012 - 05:04 PM, said:

And I'm slowly making my way through Gibbons' massive The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Yes! So have I. What do you think of it so far? If you want to discuss any of it, let's.

[anneelizabeth]

I'm reading many books right now, but here are a few:

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
-Her long descriptions and observations take a lot of focus for me sometimes, but I enjoy her poetic soul as she reflects upon her natural surroundings.

Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey
-Really great philosophical breakdown of some of the cultural movements within the U.S. More of an overview, but full of a lot of insight for me as a student of the big, wide world of the Humanities. I'm learning a lot, but there is still so much I have to learn...Which is also why I am here on this site.

Also, I just finished Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter. That was a beautiful read!

[Christian]

anneelizabeth, on 21 July 2012 - 04:18 PM, said:

Also, I just finished Wendell Berry's Hannah Coulter. That was a beautiful read!

I'm glad you mentioned this. I'm listening to the audio version, having listened to and enjoyed Jayber Crow last year. It's too early in Hannah Coulter for me to say with certainty, but I won't be at all surprised if I ultimately find Coulter the superior read. So far it's lovely, helped immensely by a superb narrator (isn't that always the case with good audiobooks?).

[Jason Panella]

Christian, on 21 July 2012 - 08:54 PM, said:

It's too early in Hannah Coulter for me to say with certainty, but I won't be at all surprised if I ultimately find Coulter the superior read. So far it's lovely, helped immensely by a superb narrator (isn't that always the case with good audiobooks?).

Most of the Berry fanatics I know would say Coulter is the better book (I'm a Berry fanatic but haven't read it yet, so I can't say).

[Christian]

Jason Panella, on 22 July 2012 - 12:25 AM, said:

Christian, on 21 July 2012 - 08:54 PM, said:

It's too early in Hannah Coulter for me to say with certainty, but I won't be at all surprised if I ultimately find Coulter the superior read. So far it's lovely, helped immensely by a superb narrator (isn't that always the case with good audiobooks?).

Most of the Berry fanatics I know would say Coulter is the better book (I'm a Berry fanatic but haven't read it yet, so I can't say).

Interesting. I had no idea. Thanks.

[winter shaker]

The Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning

[CherylR]

The Time Traveler's Wife. It's a painful read.
Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie. I'm on an Alexie kick right now.

[Tyler]

CherylR, on 24 July 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

The Time Traveler's Wife. It's a painful read.

Then why are you reading it?

[CherylR]

Tyler, on 25 July 2012 - 08:31 PM, said:

CherylR, on 24 July 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

The Time Traveler's Wife. It's a painful read.

Then why are you reading it?

It's one of the books on my required reading list for school--it dovetails into the critical paper I wrote last semester by being a good example of what *not* to do when trying to get a reader to buy into your storyline/world. That wasn't the intent when I added to the list--being an example of what *not* to do--but that's the way the reading goes this time.

[BethR]

Thanks, Cheryl. If it's any consolation, at least you have spared me the pain of trying to read The Time Traveler's Wife. I had a feeling it wouldn't live up to the hype.

What am I reading? Just finished reading The Vampire Defanged: How the Embodiment of Evil Became a Romantic Hero, by Susannah Clements (Brazos), which I'm supposed to review, so I'll have to reserve my thoughts on that.

And for fun, an amusing YA confection by Shelley Adina, who also writes Amish romances (which do not interest me) as Adina Senft. She seems to have come up with the perfect antidote to Twilight with Immortal Faith, with combines vampires and an imaginary "plain" religious community in the northwest. I know! I can't believe it works. She writes better than S. Meyer. Only available as e-books/Kindle. Get this woman a contract! Her YA steampunk series is nicely done, too (Lady of Devices, etc.).

[CherylR]

BethR, on 26 July 2012 - 07:45 AM, said:

Thanks, Cheryl. If it's any consolation, at least you have spared me the pain of trying to read The Time Traveler's Wife. I had a feeling it wouldn't live up to the hype.

You're most welcome, Beth. I do what I can to help. I've since started Anansi Boys by Neil Gaimen. Much better.

Edited by CherylR, 28 July 2012 - 07:17 PM.

[Christian]

Darren H, on 11 May 2011 - 12:06 PM, said:

Next up: I'm looking forward to Patti Smith's memoir, Just Kids, which should arrive from Amazon in a day or two.

I've just started this and came here looking for posts. Yours is the only one that turned up in the Lit forum. What did you think of this book?

[Andrew]

Cutting for Stone - between this and My Own Country, I'm in awe of Abraham Verghese's storytelling skills.

Edited by Andrew, 10 August 2012 - 08:48 PM.

[andrew_b_welch]

Reading "Unnatural Causes" by PD James. It's been awhile since I've wanted to read a novel. I've been in comic book mode lately.

[NBooth]

andrew_b_welch, on 10 August 2012 - 08:41 PM, said:

Reading "Unnatural Causes" by PD James. It's been awhile since I've wanted to read a novel. I've been in comic book mode lately.

My progress through James' oeuvre has been startlingly backwards; I'm nearing the end of The Murder Room (not to be confused with this book) right now, and it's...interesting. Nowhere near as strong as Death in Holy Orders and not as tight as The Lighthouse or The Private Patient. It takes a beautifully Golden Age idea (murders in a murder museum) and makes it, somehow, deadeningly realistic as opposed to surreal (imagine what Carr would have done with the idea! He came close at least twice). It's also disjointed in a way that I don't recall in anything else I've read by her.

Also on-track: Dick Taverne's The March of Unreason. Which is interesting in a whole 'nother way.

Edited by NBooth, 11 August 2012 - 12:32 PM.

[Jason Panella]

Recently finished:

Burning Chrome, the early short fiction collection of William Gibson. I love cyberpunk as much as the next guy, but was strangely disappointed with Neuromancer when I read it a few years back. Maybe I was just having an off week or something, but I absolutely, completely loved this. Every single story.

All for the Union, the collection of journal entries and letters from Elisha Hunt Rhodes. Rhodes was a Union soldier in the American Civil War, and his regiment was involved in basically every major battle over the course of the war. I can see why Civil War buffs like this: Rhodes is a no-frills writer, and the journal lacks some of the flowery sentimentalism that other writing from that period had. I was surprised at how funny the collection was, too (at least in spots).

Working on:

Anathem, by Neal Stephenson. For some reason the premise was small hurdle for me, but now I'm loving it. The book feels quite different from any of Stephenson's other works, and I can't put my finger on the why.

The Innocent Man, by John Grisham. Grisham's first work of non-fiction, and something I got as a freebie from Borders when I worked there years ago. I'm really interested in the story, but Grisham's writing is...bland. I've never read any of his other books, and I'm not sure I'll want to after this.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker. Another classic I missed, until now. This is a blast — Stoker's prose is much more nimble than I had imagined it would be, and the epistolary model is really cool.

[Buckeye Jones]

My bedstand overfloweth:

Milton, Paradise Lost. Currently on pause at Book IX for

Cullen, Columbine. Which when I'm not reading it it's becuase I'm slowly progressing through

Smith, A New Age Now Begins, where I'm at page 1234 and in year 1778. We should have taken Montreal, that's all I'm saying about this exhaustive (and exhausting) history of the American Revolution from 1976.

[Ryan H.]

THE PROPHET by Kahlil Gibran

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD (also published as VERTIGO) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac

[Crow]

Recently finished:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Geeky gaming 80’s trivia fun, highly enjoyable.

The Chosen by John G. Hartness. Satircal religious humor in the vein of Good Omens or The Life of Brian. Adam and Eve as immortals in the modern world who get mixed up with the Father of Lies among Texas honky-tonks and the open road.

Getting ready to jump into:

The End of Baseball by Peter Schilling, Jr. It’s speculative baseball fiction, what would happen if Bill Veech had bought the Philadelphia A’s in 1944 and imported the stars from the Negro Leagues: Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and Cool Papa Bell. An intriguing premise.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson when I have more free time. Then again, I've been saying that for a few months now.

Edited by Crow, 22 August 2012 - 02:06 PM.