What are you reading?

anakhouri79

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I've read two chapters of The Stand and suddenly everywhere I go there's a bunch of people coughing.
 

iszevthere

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I am reading Laura Antoniou's "The Killer Wore Leather" for the second time and oh, it is even more marvelous. This is the book that I talked so much about the first time, that it led to me writing and e-mailing book reviews to my mom, which led me in a roundabout way to Goodreads, and so many wonderful paths. I'm so happy. I'm going to buy it when I can.
 

Brightdreamer

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Over a month, time for an update...

Recently Read:
Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression (Errol Lincoln Uys, history, Kindle): An examination of the underaged "hoboes" of the 1930's, boys and girls hopping rides in freight trains as they sought survival, jobs, or just adventure.

This isn't a bad look at an interesting, harrowing period of American history, including several firsthand accounts interspersed with more general information on the era, the hobo heyday, and so forth. Despite common opinion, the majority weren't lazy or thieves (though they weren't above the odd theft for survival), though their goals were as diverse as their origins. It suffers from iffy organization, mostly, reducing the impact of the stories. Still, these stories deserve to be told, and at times it manages to evoke the danger, the despair, and the occasional elation of the hobo life.

Currently Reading:
A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, Volume 1, Mary Brennan, fantasy, paperback): An elderly Lady Trent, long recognized as a leading expert on dragons of the world, relates her memoirs, starting with a rebellious childhood and her first obsession with the creatures.

I started this one a while ago, and loved it - but I keep having to set it aside, so I haven't gotten back to it in far too long. I really look forward to finishing it, though; very promising start, with an intriguing world.

How to Survive Anything
(Tim MacWelch, nonfiction, hardcover): A writer for Outdoor Life magazine presents tips and tricks to survive a number of potentially deadly scenarios, natural or otherwise.

It looked like an okay story sparker, an introduction to survival tactics. So far, it's not bad, though it's not terribly in depth. MacWelch debunks some common myths (such as drinking urine for hydration in the desert) and presents information simply.

Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America
(Shawn Lawrence Otto, science, Nook via Overdrive): Since America's founding upon principles of reason rather than religion, the country has had an up-and-down relationship with science and scientists... but recent years have seen anti-science forces rise to terrifying levels of power and influence, setting up a major disaster if the voice of science continues to be squelched.

An interesting, if occasionally depressing, look at the forces that have worked against science since the country's inception (and long before that), and how organized anti-science efforts are paying huge dividends in modern politics; if this had been written in 2016-2017, I think Otto could add several additional chapters. He doesn't let the science community entirely off the hook, either; its insistence on staying aloof from politics (despite science, like every other human endeavor, being inherently political on some level, particularly in the modern age) and tendency to look down on those scientists who work to reach the general public helped set up the current catastrophe. I think he came down a little hard on the social justice movements of feminism and minority studies for setting up anti-science attitudes - the extreme claims that facts themselves will vary depending on one's personal origins or culture is provably wrong and damaging, but there were and are biases in society (scientists also being products of society like every human) that had gone unexamined for too long, biases that it might be worthwhile to understand and correct for when asking questions and seeking knowledge. It's also a bit thick going at times... to the point where I'm forced to do a first in my Overdrive experience, and let my checkout lapse before I can finish it. (I will be checking it out again ASAP, of course, but it's been a very trying month, with little spare energy to devote to Otto's occasionally dense writing.)

Scarlet and the Keepers of Light (The Scarlet Hopewell series, Book 1, Brandon Charles West, MG fantasy, Kindle): A girl's dreams of a fairy world might turn out to be all too true - but there's a danger the dreams never warned her about, as she learns when the shadow-wrapped strangers arrive at her house, threatening her family. Fortunately, her adopted dog, Dakota, seems up to the task of protecting her... but he is not what he seems.

I needed something quick and relatively light to read, and so far this one's fitting the bill. Also, in an interesting twist, it's not just the girl and the dog, but her whole family - plus the family's original dog, Cricket, recruited by "Dakota" to help protect the Hopewells - who have now gone through the portal to the fairy world. Decent so far...
 

bin_b0x

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Just started Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. I heard it was popular and I want to bolster my YA shelf, so I'm diving in.
 

airandarkness

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Just finished Hounded and Hexed by Kevin Hearne, the first two books in his Iron Druid Chronicles. I enjoyed them, but don't know if I'll continue with the rest of the series. Kind of disappointed the focus seems to be turning to the Norse Gods, which I'm kind of tired of, between American Gods, Rick Riordan, not to mention Marvel. Whereas I got into the series in the first place because of the focus on Celtic mythology. Ah well. Not sure what I'm going to read next, but I'm thinking maybe something by Victoria Schwab.
 

Pippo Ranito

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I recently excavated a precious lump of gold in the form of Edmund de Waal's The Hare with Amber Eyes in a second-hand bookshop. I cannot even begin to describe how amazing this book is.

Its subject is ceramic art, but the breadth stretches more than that. It's a historical crawl through the lives and times of many personalities involved in preserving pieces of art. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in art, history, and good writing.
 

Jeff Bond

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Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Picked it up because I saw a forum post saying he writes great action scenes. Maybe 50 pages in and no major action yet, but the guy does write well.
 

EmilyEmily

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I'm rereading The Emperor's Children to get me ready for the release of Messud's newest, The Burning Girl, which should be available on Kindle next week: I'm SO EXCITED.
 

Mystery1995

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I've been reading all of the Erin Hunter Warrior Cat books. Right now I'm on Dawn of the Clans, A Forest Divided. I love warrior cats, absolutely love the series.