What are you reading?

Just finished Ask the Parrot by Richard Stark and Casino Royale by Ian Flemming and working on Children of Men by P.D. James (a little dry to start) and Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

Going slowly through Steinbeck's East of Eden, while at the same time re-reading (for what seems like the umpity-umph time) Washington Irving's Sketch Book. Gotta be prepared on that one . . . .

Finished Joy Luck Club. Now reading Hannibal Rising.

All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot.

Is there anyone on this planet who, after reading All Creatures Great and Small, didn't rush right out and snarf up the sequel? I think not. Great stuff, all of it.

My-Immortal said:

Just finished Ask the Parrot by Richard Stark and Casino Royale by Ian Flemming and working on Children of Men by P.D. James (a little dry to start) and Stardust by Neil Gaiman.

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Children of Men is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I like P.D. James a whole lot, but that book is...not one of her best efforts.

Simple Living said:

More Than a Skeleton by Paul L. Maier

"What if Jesus returned for an interim appearance before His final coming? And in a manner least expected?"

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I finished this book last night. It will have you running the full gamut of emotions!

Today, I start my next read. It's the author's debut novel, Waking Lazarus by T.L. Hines. Below is the blurb.

"Jude Allman has died and come back to life three times, becoming a celebrity despite his best efforts to go unnoticed. When the world crushes in around this miracle man, this modern-day Lazarus, he chooses to vanish into the vastness of Montana. He changes his name and withdraws from the public eye, trying to forget all that came before.

But the past, like Jude, won't stay buried.

A prowling evil circles his adopted hometown of Red Lodge, Montana. Chldren are disappearing -- and Jude may have the key to solving the crimes, hidden inside the mysteries of his own deaths. His days as a recluse are over, and now he must face the questions that have haunted him for years.

What if his resurrections aren't merely accidents? What if there's a reson behind it all? What if he's been brought back just for this moment?"

Just finished William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel.
Now reading his Odd Corners.
Skipping around in a book of Hindu Myths, by Penguin Classics,
with another Penguin Classic on the nightstand, Freud's, The Uncanny.

Will Lavender said:

Children of Men is one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. I like P.D. James a whole lot, but that book is...not one of her best efforts.

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I finished the book earlier today and just rerented the movie from the library tonight. I watched the movie a while back - it was good, action-packed, dark, and a bit depressing - and then learned about the book. I started reading the book, and while it was good, it was just very dry to start. I was waiting for at least some action...and there was very little...and after all the dry set-up, I guess I expected more from the ending. It seemed like it ended rather quickly and tidily compared with the rest of the book.

8/24, I reported a Wally Lamb bestseller, I know this much is true.

I'm now on page 192, out of 897 pages. I want to throw it out the window. The writing is good, the characters are good, but my gosh, there's a lot of words. Too many words, methinks. Slam, bang, the first three chapters start with great hooks. And then...meh.

If someone could point me to the page where plot picks up again, I'd appreciate it. I feel like I'm in Wizards and Glass all over again.

Laurie Champion said:

THIS MUCH I KNOW IS TRUE is an amazing novel, ALL 897 pages, but I'll quote my take on good novels:

He leaned sideways to see the book I was reading. "A FAN'S NOTES?" he asked. "What's that about?"
Maybe it was because . . . I'd had one too many of Mapes's potent Bloody Marys, but I couldn't take it anymore. "I hate that question," I said. "I hate when people ask what a book is about. People who read for PLOT, people who suck out the story like the cream filling in an Oreo, should stick to comic strips and soap operas. What's it about? Every book worth a damn is about emotions and love and death and pain. It's about words. It's about a man dealing with life. Okay?"
---J. R. Moeringer, THE TENDER BAR---

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Actually, I have it in front of me, and it's titled "I know this much is true", so if you're going to tout how good it is, perhaps you should know the title.

Double-ha.

Just finished "An Idiot's Guide To Representing Yourself In Court".


Wish me well...

brokenfingers said:

Just finished "An Idiot's Guide To Representing Yourself In Court".


Wish me well...

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...wait, are you serious??


I just started My Dream of You by Nuala O'Faolain. I bought it because I liked the author's name.

Just finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. Think I'll start Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch next.

~DragonHeart~

Finally getting to read the second in the Temeraire series, Throne of Jade! Yay Naomi Novik!

Just finished "Henderson the Rain King" (thus my avatar), what a trip that was. Started the text of "Swimming to Cambodia" but that probably won't take too long.

'Dead Men's Boots' by Mike Carey. Book 3 of the Felix Castor series - really good, a British Harry Dresden

I've been reading The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls to my kids.

Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima, but Confessions of a Mask (same author) should be here any day, and then I might swap and read that first. I've been wanting to read that forever, but it's never in stores! I had to order it.

I'm reading four books concurrently right now:

A History Of Warfare by John Keegan

Tales Of The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Lions Of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

brokenfingers said:

Just finished "An Idiot's Guide To Representing Yourself In Court".


Wish me well...

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Talk about a redundant title!

The Reincarnationist by MJ Rose. Good story so far.

Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. My fourth reading, I think it is, and it remains one of the most honest thingys ever written. You look at it and go, "Wow, so short, I can whip through that in the doc's waiting room." You fool. You are so wrong. You sit and think between chapters. Yes, you do. 100 pages, 5 days? Yep, sometimes it's like that. But not often enough, alas.

Just finished Bird by Bird (don't remember the author, Anne something), and Confessions of a Mask is finally here. Yay! I'm going to go read myself to sleep now.

Siddow said:

8/24, I reported a Wally Lamb bestseller, I know this much is true.

I'm now on page 192, out of 897 pages. I want to throw it out the window. The writing is good, the characters are good, but my gosh, there's a lot of words. Too many words, methinks. Slam, bang, the first three chapters start with great hooks. And then...meh.

If someone could point me to the page where plot picks up again, I'd appreciate it. I feel like I'm in Wizards and Glass all over again.

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Oh NOES!!! I stopped reading the Gunslinger series w/ Wizards and Glass. Can't help you w/ the Lamb novel...figure I'm not touching it w/ a ten foot pole.

I'm reading Son of a Witch (sequel to Wicked) and Sun Tzu's Art of War.