What are you reading?

[lizziegrace]

A discussion with a friend revolved around books today. Interesting what others find interesting. :)

I'm reading Breach of Faith - Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City by Jed Horne (metro or city editor of the Times-Picayune)

Hard to read because the tragedy was so recent and so overwhelming.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. Nothing, but I finished "Contract with the World" a few days ago.

It was really good, although I wasn't too keen on the ending.

[MissMillie]

2. John Irving "Until I Find You"

I love his characters.....

[lizziegrace]

38. Is this part of a series?

Prequel or sequel? Or can I pick up this one for a read and not get lost? :)

[MissMillie]

94. It stands alone

I think... I'm not lost.

[WCGreen]

60. That is a good book...

I just finished it about three weeks ago....

[Broken_Hero]

3. still struggling with Tommyknockers...

been on page 104 for a month at least...

[reyd reid reed]

32. Not a very good read, huh?

I didn't like it either. Want a suggestion? Cut your losses and move on, unless you're like me and can't stand to leave something unfinished.

[Broken_Hero]

88. I always have to finish...

and its a shorter King book, I just haven't dedicated enough time to it yet...

[ZombieNixon]

4. I was reading the New Yorker.

But now I'm done. :shrug: :)

[LadyoftheRabbits]

18. Nothing else to read?

You could read some of the piles of books I have on my floor... :P

[ZombieNixon]

20. What have you got?

:P

There's some stuff on my floor, but once I pick it up, I'll have to finish it, and I don't know if I feel like doing that. :shrug: :P

[LadyoftheRabbits]

23. Let's see...

I have a history of Bess of Hardwick, a history of Europe, a historical fiction novel bordering on trashy romance, a trashy romance novel in French :evilgrin: and a crapload of Renaissance and Realm magazines.

[ZombieNixon]

29. Hmm...

what's the historical fiction/trashy romance like? :P

[LadyoftheRabbits]

33. It's about Pride and Prejudice...

continued, but basically all the author did was make it a novel exclusively about sex under the thin veil of Austen propriety and tradition. *eyes* The French one is more interesting, but I need to translate it.

[lizziegrace]

34. Ahem...

:tapping foot:

[ZombieNixon]

37. Eh...give me the history of Europe.

It must have pretty maps or something. :D

[lizziegrace]

39. Good answer!

Lelapin, we have to talk...

[LadyoftheRabbits]

41. ...

:rofl: :D

Awesome.

[WCGreen]

61. Right Now....

Ethan Frome on line...

One Hundred Years of Solitude for my bed side novel....

And 1776 for my bedside non fiction book....

[querelle]

104. I Love Edith Wharton

Just finished The Age of Innocence and will probably start The Buccaneers tonight.

Q

[WCGreen]

112. I was too young to appreciate it back in 11th grade....

So I picked up an old paperback at a friends house, started to read it and will finish on line.....

Good stuff...

[LeftyMom]

5. a book of political speeches for school and a trashy novel for me. nt

[LadyoftheRabbits]

6. I am re-reading...

Al Franken's "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" for a good laugh. Also, "The Historian," a novel about Dracula :D

[tinfoil tiaras]

7. Summer Reading (just finished a couple of days ago)

Which consists of...

-Catcher in the Rye (which reminds me, i need to review it for English on monday..)
-Black Boy
-The Bean Trees

and some history book about some guy... haha

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. My dear lizziegrace!

I am reading "Will in the World." About Shakespeare......

It is fascinating!

I recommend it highly.......

:hi:

[YankeyMCC]

9. A People's History of the United States

by Howard Zinn

And I can sum it up so far (very near the end) in one word:

Effing Wow!

Ok well two words.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

11. Whoo!

Awesome book... we had to read it for class a few years ago. Zinn was our hero :P

[graywarrior]

25. Isn't that the best book ever?

[YankeyMCC]

35. Possibly

It is probably the most 'disruptive' book I've ever read in that it has my relooking and reexamining my view of US History and really world society/politics/etc... I've always been liberal and in my adulthood have become even more progressive and really I guess I'm not far from seeing the world as Zinn presents it in this book it is still a jarring presentation and very thought provoking...there's a bigger difference from where I am and the view Zinn presents in this book than I would've thought.

[JitterbugPerfume]

107. an all time favorite

ZINN is a national treasure

[billyskank]

10. I am reading your post

Or, I was. :hi:

[lizziegrace]

21. Fast reader!

:hi: handsome!!

[babylonsister]

12. Just finished Greg Iles' 'Dead Sleep'; loved it. Now into Harlan

Coben's 'Just One'. Not far enough to decide yet, though I've read other Coben books I liked.

[graywarrior]

27. Just finished Turning Angel by Iles. Excellent.

[Arkham House]

118. I liked "Dead Sleep", but didn't love it...

...thought Iles was trying just a bit too hard to make book read like a movie script...but the premise was fun, and the N'Orleans setting was well-done, and a bit heart-breaking now...but I don't think he's ever topped "Spandau Phoenix"...

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. I heard Horne interviewed on NPR.

Fresh Air, I think it was. It sounds like a difficult and compelling read.

Right now, I am reading The Lion's Game by Nelson deMille.

[lizziegrace]

28. I heard him on Al Franken's show

a few weeks ago. The book is a timeline of events but woven in that timeline are stories about people from all walks of life who were impacted by the events and decisions - those made by officials and those they made for themselves.

[RetroLounge]

14. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Just finished The Myseries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon.

:hi:

RL

[lizziegrace]

24. There are mysteries in Pittsburgh??

:scared:

I had no idea...

:)

[RetroLounge]

99. Amazing, isn't it.

Never even gave Pittsburgh a second thought.

Now i do...

RL

[femmocrat]

96. What did you think of it?

I read it a couple of summers ago.

[RetroLounge]

98. Liked it quite a bit...

I will be getting his others soon.

RL

[L A Woman]

15. The Princess of Siberia

about Maria Volkonsky, who followed her husband into Siberia after he was exiled for challenging the Tsar and daring to suggest that something should be done about poverty in Russia. Amazing story. I love Russian history.

[IndyBob]

16. My partner grabbed Steven King's Cell

for me from the library. It may be the "fast food" or the literary world, but sometimes I prefer a burger to beef wellington.

[SeattleGirl]

17. Conservatives Without Consciense

John Dean

[lizziegrace]

22. That's next on my list.

How is it so far?

[dorktv]

19. I am reading Six Days of War and Bait and Switch.

[Richard Steele]

26. I'm reading Clive Barker's "Coldheart Canyon"...

And looking foreward to the REAL used bookstore treasure
I found the other day: Christopher Moore's "Coyote Blue".

I've been a Moore fan since I read the back cover of "Lamb";
this is only the third work of his I've found so far.
They don't seem to turn up used around here very often.

[Mojambo]

30. The End of Faith by Sam Harris n/t

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

31. Joe Eszterhas's autobiography "Hollywood Animal"

It goes in fits & starts, although I'm currently reading about something which I wasn't aware of. Just after http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100211/">Music Box came out, his Hungarian imigrant father was investigated over his role writing anti-semitic propaganda for the Nazi allied government during the second world war.

[lizziegrace]

36. I'm pleading ignorance here

who is Eszterhas?

on edit - checked the Music Box link. :)

[reyd reid reed]

40. Since it's summertime and summertime's the time for light, funny,

brain-not-required reading...I just finished rereading "Basket Case" which was pretty funny -- MC puts out an intruder's eye with a frozen lizard -- and I just started "Twelve Sharp."

I'm also reading the instruction manual for my new camera along with error messages telling me that my "Operating System is insufficient." And yes, I checked the operating system requirements before I spent the money. It says Windows 98 on the box.

Fuckass.

I think I might just go beat my head against a wall now.

:banghead::banghead::banghead:

:hi:

[lizziegrace]

43. Let the avatars do it

(beat head against the wall)

You got a camera?? What kind?

RRR's gonna post more pictures. :bounce:

[reyd reid reed]

45. LOL!

RRR ain't gonna post shit if she can't install the damn thing.

:mad:

But...I got an Olympus. It's not real fancy but all fancy does is confuse me. And, considering my "operating system is insufficient," it doesn't really matter anyway.

I think I'm gonna call Bonehead at work and have him give me the login for his computer...see if I can install it on his for now.

Pictures are going to be few and far between for a while, at least until I can get this damn thing figured out.

[Sugar Smack]

42. "The Robber Bride" by Margaret Atwood. Again.

:bounce: :toast:

[lizziegrace]

44. That good huh?

:hi:

[Sugar Smack]

46. It IS, you!!!

I think you might love it. Margaret Atwood is so painfully honest and so powerfully truthful & funny I had to take notes. :D :D :D :D :D :hi: :hi:

[lizziegrace]

48. Good!

I'll add it to my list. When Lelapin goes back to college, it'll be very quiet around here.

:hi:

[JitterbugPerfume]

108. I second that Sugar Smacks!

The Robber Bride IS that good ! ANYTHING by Margaret Atwood is That Good!!

[Sugar Smack]

113. She lets you have a good love-hate relationship with her characters.

Roz is the one I like best. If I knew her IRL, I think I'd love her. Tony at first annoyed me with the backward talking, but I identified with her hardness. Charis made me want to shake her a little sometimes, and on the other hand, if she really was the one who killed Zenia, YIKES. I kind of think she did. What do you think? :pals:

[JitterbugPerfume]

120. yes

that is what I thought too

I loved that book. I gotta re-read it SOON

[querelle]

105. That's A Good One By Atwood

Have you read Cat's Eye? By far my favourite Atwood novel. Another great Canadian writer you might want to try is Margaret Laurence if you haven't already discovered her. The Diviners is one of her greatest novels. It's part of the Manawaka trilogy.

Q

[Sugar Smack]

114. Cat's Eye was one I'd read 10 times!

I remember I started a thread about the cruelty of grade-school and Jr High Girls once, and I quoted that book. I KNEW a Cordelia! And like Elaine in the novel, she and I switched roles every once in a while. Not healthy, but it was to be expected. And the then/now scenes were always so intense. Like how she talked about her daughters being "immune" to the world. How Cordelia kept losing it, going into the hosp. and coming out in different manifestations.

Loved Atwood's descriptions of how Elaine made a bad child (rather, couldn't adjust) and a great strong adult, and how Cordelia made a strong child and a weak adult. Thanks for reminding me of that book. And for the recommendation of The Diviners. Have you ever read the short story "Bluebeard's Egg" by M. Atwood?

My reaction to that one was :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

:D :yourock:

[hyphenate]

47. A couple

Dan Brown's Deception Point--I think it was his first book, but I could be wrong;

Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity by Bruce Bawer

[lizziegrace]

49. YES!!

Someone else who's read Stealing Jesus! I read that several years ago and the chapters on Ralph Reed (aka The Choirboy) and Pat Robertson were right on the mark, years before they become as influental as they are politically.

I haven't read A Place at the Table yet. I need to add that to my list.

:)

[hyphenate]

52. Haven't gotten that into yet

Reading it because I needed to find arguments against the whackos out there in the RRR. The guy writes very well, though, and finding some good information in it. I'm also trying to research how other Christians look at the Radical Religious Right and see how much familiar ground an atheist like myself has with them.

[peacefreak]

50. Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman

brings snarkiness to a whole new level. Just started Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier. So far it seems the almost 10 years between Cold Mountain was worth the wait (due out in October) Another one I really loved is Rise & Shine by Anna Quinlen. Think Katie Couric calling someone a fucking asshole when she thought her mike was off & you've got the premise of this book. This one is due out in a couple of weeks.

[lizziegrace]

51. Anna Quinlen is one of my favorites

I like both her columns and her novels.

:)

[peacefreak]

53. Check this one out when it's released.

I've liked some of her older stuff, too. This one would have made a great beach read.

[_testify_]

54. The Lord of the Rings, for the zillionth time.

I recently read Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. Man's a frickin genius.

[Left Is Write]

55. Ann Rule.

[haf216]

79. She is the best true crime writter! I love her stuff.

[Reciprocity]

56. Robert Jordan's Lord of Chaos.

Eye of the World series.

[yellowdogintexas]

57. "Danzig Passage" part of a series about preWWII Europe

Jews, Nazis, mix of real and fictional characters,

[u4ic]

58. Siddhartha

I'm helping facilitate a service on the novel at my UU church. :-)

[Courtesy Flush]

70. Not enough info

Who wrote it? Is it a biography, or a spiritual work?

I don't think I could be a real Buddhist, but there's much to glean from the religion.

[Omphaloskepsis]

77. Hermann Hesse wrote it...

It is a spiritual work.. You really should read it. I did it in about three hours. I consider it amazing.


--edit: n * 2 in his first name...

[Omphaloskepsis]

73. I'm reading Klingsor's Last Summer..

I actually just finished:
Steppenwolf
The Journey to The East
Peter Carmizid (sp?)
and Demian..

I went on a Hesse binge... Now I want to kill myself.. After, I get old and make love to a soft young woman.

[SofaKingLiberal]

59. Burmese Days - Orwell

[Sugar Smack]

117. Have you ever read "Down & Out in Paris & London"?

GREAT read!! :bounce: :toast:

[haf216]

62. I'm reading The Great Deluge Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans

and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, By Douglas Brinkley. Brinkley is a Tulane professor and was actually in New Orleans for Katrina. In the book he takes a detailed look at the week after the Hurricane hit and what went wrong and what went right. And it was very hard to read, I had to put it down and read other things a couple of time. I live in Louisiana and last Hurricane season is still very raw here.

But still a very well written and very interesting book

[lizziegrace]

64. Welcome to DU!

We almost moved to Acadiana twice about 15 years ago. Ended up going north instead. I cannot begin to imagine how hard it is for someone living on or near the gulf coast.

I'll have to see if Brinkley is mentioned in the book I'm reading.

:hi:

[haf216]

66. Thank You

I live in Lafayette so I was lucky and the hurricane missed us. What was hard was watching what was happening in NO and not be able to do anything. I know people who showed up with boats and were turned away. I can not believe it has almost been a year, we all still talk about it like it was yesterday.

[lizziegrace]

67. That has to be the worst

Wanting desperately to do something to help and not be allowed. I don't think we'll ever know all the "truths" about N.O. and the whole Katrina disaster. History won't look upon it kindly, and it shouldn't.

[haf216]

69. I hope that Katrina is one of the nails in the coffin of the GOP.

[likesmountains 52]

71. Just finished that too...my son lives in NOLA so I was very interested..

I thought it was very good...and he was fair in assigning blame to all the different entities...it did not seem to me that he had any particular axe to grind with any one person or agency.

[lizziegrace]

72. So far

Horne's book seems to be the same. How did your son fare during Katrina?

[likesmountains 52]

80. He was a senior at Loyola, and planned on staying in NOLA..

He lived on the 2d floor of a house that had about 8 feet of water, so he was not flooded...just "molded". He is going to give NOLA another year and see how it goes. Recently he has been rather optimistic about the young people moving to NOLA..most came with the ides to help rebuild, and he says there are a lot of energetic, positive types that are deciding to stay. His main problem now is finding a decent job and affordable housing..both in short supply! I will have to pick up Horne's book also. Do you live along the Gulf coast?

[lizziegrace]

82. There's a lot of energy in NOLA now

and much sadness and grief. I'm glad your son wants to give it another shot.

Is the Gulf Coast question directed to me or haf216? haf216 is in Lafayette, LA. I lived in Mississippi for 6 years, but was up in the northern part of the state.

:hi:

[haf216]

83. I hope that the people with the ideas get a say in what happens in NOLA

and not just the same "old men" who always seem to make the wrong choices.

[likesmountains 52]

81. He was on a trip, and was due to return to NOLA on the Sunday

before Katrina hit...he instead went to Memphis and stayed with his girlfriend during the storm. His apt was on the 2d floor of a house that was flooded, but his stuff was not underwater...just moldy! I think the condition of his neighborhood still haunts him...

[haf216]

87. I'm glad he was never in harm's way.

[haf216]

78. Yes, he seams to be very fair.

Did your son stay or get out before the storm hit. How is he doing now?

[bicentennial_baby]

63. On Food and Cooking

by Harold McGee

[terrya]

65. "The Public Burning" by Robert Coover

Rather, I'm re-reading it. I found a copy at a used bookstore in Toronto last week.

"The Public Burning" is a novel that takes place in the few days before the executions of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in the 1950's....the Rosenberg's were convicted of passing along secrets of the atomic bomb to the Russians. It has a cast of characters from the Rosenbergs to J. Edgar Hoover to President Eisenhower to Joseph McCarthy to Richard Nixon...Nixon, in fact, is one of the main characters in the book.

This is simply one of the most amazing books I've ever read. Coover is a great author...and he presents a satiric book of America...at a particularly terrible time in our country's history.

A great, great read.

[JitterbugPerfume]

110. sounds fascinating

Is it still in print? I would love to read more about the Rosenbergs . I remember as a young teen reading about them in my local newspaper What a tragedy!

[Courtesy Flush]

68. 66 Days adrift

A true account of a couple adrift in the Pacific after their boat is sunk by whales.

[bikebloke]

74. The Prisoner of Guantanamo by Dan Fesperman

Popcorn mystery fiction set at Gitmo. Not bad so far.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

75. Nothing! Though I just finished Al Franken's THE TRUTH (WITH JOKES).

Damn, was that funny.

:rofl:

:D

[bluethruandthru]

76. The Kite Runner

I figured since everyone else liked it so much, I'd give it a try. It's pretty good so far. Just finished The Hour Game by David Baldacci and A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve.

[havocmom]

84. Walking To Mercury

by Starhawk

Powerful book.

[johnnie]

85. Autobiography of a Yogi

Again.

[Homer Wells]

86. Hammer of the Gods

bio of Led Zeppelin

[catbert836]

89. 3/4ths way through "Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian

and I bought the next two in the series, "Post Captain" and "H.M.S. Surprise". They're excellent historical novels, and there's 20 in the series so I won't be short of reading material for a looooong time.

[Spider Jerusalem]

91. I'm reading my way through the whole series...

read the first two in the past week, and I'm on HMS Surprise right now. I was looking for more good historical fiction after reading George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman series (also very well-written and meticulously researched, although rather different...the protagonist is a lying, lecherous, cowardly, bullying rogue), and so far I'm finding them quite good; rare to find historical adventure fiction with this much depth of characterisation and attention to period detail (especially dialogue).

[koneko]

90. Out by Natsuo Kirino NT

[reformedrepub]

92. Homegrown Democrat

by Garrison Keillor......Great Book...Whats up Jersey?

[NMMNG]

93. "American Theocracy" n/t

[femmocrat]

95. Just finished "Conservatives without Conscience".

I've just started "Who Let the Dogs In?", a collection of Molly Ivins' columns.

[tjwmason]

97. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates

Hugh Kennedy.

A history of the early days of the Islamic Empire...as the title suggests.

[TOhioLiberal]

100. My List:

1. Conservatives without Conscience--John Dean
2. Armed Madhouse--Greg Palast
3. Watchdogs of Democracy?--Helen Thomas

I just started Conservatives. The other two are next. My light reading is The Big Show--Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick.

On Edit: Can you imagine a 'What are you reading?' conversation at FR? :rofl::rofl:

[jus_the_facts]

101. A collection of Phillip K. Dick short stories....eom.

[mvd]

102. 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA

By Webster Griffin Tarpley. Just started it. I really think part of our government knew: it's obvious from the standing down that our defenses did. Now I'll see just how far he wins me over.

[lizziegrace]

103. Please let me know about this one

If it's worth the time, I'd like to read it.

[mvd]

109. I will

I'll be a little slow in reading it because of the subject line, but I'll make a note to PM you when I'm done. :hi:

[lizziegrace]

111. thank you thank you!!

:)

[JitterbugPerfume]

106. Windblown World, the Journals of Jack Kerouac

1947-1954

edited by Douglas Brinkley


a fascinating read

[TheCentepedeShoes]

115. I have Confessions of an Economic Hitman

plus 4 others checked out from the library.
Plus I went to the library's "brown bag" book sale yesterday.
Filled three grocery sacks at $3.00 each and came home with 30 more books, all hardcover except for one, mostly non-fiction. Got James Bamford's The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets and others on the CIA, MI5, JFK assassination, US/ Israel relationship. Books on the environment like The Planet According to Pymm. ANOTHER geography textbook. Joyce's Ulysses because I'd never read it. Gods, Graves and Scholars, an older book on archeaology...and more.
Did I say I like to read????

[Ekirh]

116. If you'll count Graphic Novels

I'm doing V for Vendetta right now and enjoying it

Actual book wise The Valchi(Spelling) Papers . . enjoying that as well.

[Arkham House]

119. Harry Turtledove's latest alternate-World War II novel...

...wherein the USA and the Confederacy keep fighting each other in the 20th century...a long series, but the latest--"The Grapple"--is one of the very best in the series...also: Doris Goodwin's "Team of Rivals", and for relaxation, good old Agatha Christie...