Books: What have people been reading recently?

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Monique
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 03:33 PM

Understanding Cultural Differences, Germans, French and Americans by Edward T. Hall, Mildred Reed Hall. Interesting, I'd have liked it to deal with more than business but it's meant to improve business relations, so I can't complain! Now I'm reading Green Paradise #5 by Max Rouquette. Only #1 has been translated into English -btw, Amazon review is somewhat outdated, he passed away 6 years ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Max Johnson
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 02:57 PM

Just finishing John Le Carre's Our Game.

I tend to alternate what I read with a Patrick O' Brien, and regret to say that I have to disagree with Ebarnacle, with the possible exception of a couple of short stories in The Chian Wine.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 02:32 PM

I meant to add that at the moment I am re-reading 'The Bible, according to Mark Twain'.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Ebbie
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 02:32 PM

John-in-the-sunset, I too have cataracts and I find I need really good light to read more than just a few minutes. Cataract removal is on my list to have done this year - involves flying to a city 600 miles away - and then maybe I can read again to my heart's content.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 12:51 AM

As I am old and afflicted with cataracts, I don't read much fiction these days, saving my eye strain mostly for tomes of history and archaeology. However, I plan to read THE FINKLER QUESTION by Howard Jacobson. Has anyone here read it? If so, what think you of it?

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 19 Jun 11 - 12:42 AM

I've just read a couple by Christopher Moore.

Fool is a bawdy retelling of King Lear from Lear's Fool's point of view. Though Moore is American, the book is an homage to British humor. (Think Monty Python, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, etc.) If you find the exclamation "Fuckstockings!" offensive, it's probably not for you.

Bite Me is a vampire tale set in San Francisco and mostly related by an annoying teenaged goth vampire wannabe. There are a few real human vampires, but lots of cat vampires, led by Chet, who is both huge and shaved. If you find the exclamation "Fucksocks!" offensive, it's probably not for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 07:01 PM

I read that when I was in my 20s, Shimrod, and agree with your assessment. I never did see any of the movies. I didn't think I could stomach them, plus I didn't think they could do justice to Capote's complex genius.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 05:32 PM

I've just read 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote. It's a chilling account of the murder of a Kansas farmer and his family in 1959. It also examines the lives of the two murderers in great detail, plus an account of how they were tracked down and of their trial and execution.

I've recently seen two films based on the book but they are really about Capote (a complex character - to say the least!) and of his relationship with one of the murderers.

Nevertheless, the book is cooler, more objective and less 'emotional' than the films - which, somehow, gives it a greater impact. Capote handles the moral ambiguities involved in the story with great insight and skill.

It's not the sort of book that I would normally read but I was very impressed by it, and it's undoubtedly a masterpiece.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 04:08 PM

That's neat, Ebbie.

Haven't heard of, or read, Mary's Mosaic. Will watch for it.

I never, ever wanted to read Moby Dick because I thought it would just be all about killing whales. Well I finally read and and OMG! It's almost Shakespearean in style and eloquence. Really almost indescribable the way it effected me. I suppose maybe it took me this long to get to it because I wasn't ready before to appreciate it as much. "Ahab's Wife," which I read recently, was horrific in its detailed explanations of how a whale was caught and rendered. A good book but nothing of the caliber and finesse of Melville.

Also just finished Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho. Excellent true account of his trek across the Strange Road to San Tiago, an old pilgrim's route in Spain.

Read Pagan's Vows Crusade by Catherine Jinks, a young adult to adult series. Fun enough for me to order the next two in the series.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 12:00 PM

I'm just finishing 'A Singular Woman' by Janny Scott. About President Obama's mother, (Stanley) Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro, it is ell written, an indepth look at her life, her upbringing, her drive, her ideals.

Before it, I had no idea of how hard she worked and how much she accomplished. Her focus was always on improving the lives of women through access to financial support. She was a hardworking, clearheaded, witty woman.

Reading it, the Birther Bunch with their yelping at the non-existent issue of the President's birth and whether or not his mother had abandoned her 'Americanism' are clearly shown as foolish, even though the issue is never mentioned. To Ann Dunham, America - and Hawaii in particular - was always home.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: freda underhill
Date: 18 Jun 11 - 09:35 AM

Has anyone read "Mary's Mosaic - about Mary Pinchot Meyer and JFK? It's not available in Australia yet, and the first run sold out. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's read it!

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Apr 11 - 10:51 AM

Just discovered the Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell books by Laurie King; picked up "O Jerusalem" in the local exchange store and just finished it. I wished now that I had caught on to them and started with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice".

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: bobad
Date: 13 Apr 11 - 07:56 AM

"Just Kids" an autobiography of Patti Smith and her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe -- surprisingly well written.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 13 Apr 11 - 07:34 AM

'Here on Earth' by Tim Flannery.

The author is an Australian scientist, writer and explorer. This a 'dual biography' of the Earth and our species, Homo sapiens. The impact of us 'upright, tool-using apes' on the planet has so far been dire. The damage started when we moved out Africa about 50,000 years ago and we're now just mopping up what's left - albeit at an accelerating rate. Flannery suggests that there are two possible futures for our species: A 'Medean' one where we consume all available resources and become extinct or a 'Gaian' one where we learn to live in harmony with our planet. My money is on the former but Flannery is more cautiously optimistic.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 10:43 AM

Just finished the best book! Ahab's Wife or the Star-gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund. More info HERE. I've never wanted to read Moby Dick. Now, because of this extraordinary book, I think I shall.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Janie
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 10:49 PM

Have just finished listening to "The Red Pyramid," the first book in Rick Riordan's new trilogy, the Kane Chronicles. My son and I both enjoyed it thoroughly. I don't think either of us will ever outgrow our enjoyment of well-written fantasy series for children and teens.

My darling ex sis-in-law sent 3 books to me for Christmas. The Glass Castle by Jennifer Walls, which the one I have decided to read first, Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese, and The Help, by Kathyrn Stockett.

Looking forward to reading all of them. It will probably take me a year to do so.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Eiseley
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 02:38 PM

I just checked out The Mapping of Love and Death. Also, Good Omens is one of my very favorites! For Christmas, I gave one child and another Nation, both by Terry Pratchett, and both very good. I'm still wandering through Ulysses and will take it with me to San Diego.

Eiseley

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 02:12 PM

I just picked up two Maisie Dobbs novels off the "loonie books" table at church. For a dollar each, I figured I couldn't go wrong even if I didn't like them much.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 05:04 PM

Just finished Jacqueline Winspear's "The Mapping of Love and Death." Like all books in the fictional Maisie Dobbs series, it deals with crimes resulting from World War !.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 02:17 PM

Ignore them. They are barbarians and believe that their ways should be the ways of all people.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 01:42 PM

As to the Honor Harrington series, yes, I've read, and re-read, "On Basilisk Station," and all the others, including the ancillary ones, like "Torch of Freedom," and the anthologies of short stories ("Ms Midshipman Harrington" occurs in something like three different collections, which is overkill). I suspect there isn't one I haven't read, and most of them I've read at least twice.

Ditto the Grantville/Ring of Fire ones, complete with the anthologies, which include fan-fic as well as alternate authors.

And I'm going to look up a bunch of the Pratchett books, mostly at one or another of the used book stores around here. I can't tell you what it's like to be looked askance at by other subway/Metro riders because I'm chortling, guffawing, and outright laughing while reading. Then again, I don't much care what they think of me on the Metro.


Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 11:50 PM

I hope you are reading the Honor Harrington series from the beginning: On Basilisk Station. Even though the novels stand alone, they work best as a sequence. Also, consider reading the secondary stories and anthologies if you can get them.

Eric Flint's 1632 series, aka the Ring of Fire series and its related stuff is also very good, especially as he brings in other writers who are producing in his alternate universe.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 11:45 PM

Terry Pratchett is brill! Have you read Good Omens: the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, yet?

We're trying to decided what to do with all of our SciFi...MZBradley, Charles de Lint, and a few others. May be time to re-read a few.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Songster Bob
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 11:32 PM

Just recently I've been re-re-re-re-re-reading the Harry Potter series (I do this whenever a new film comes out). Also reading "A Mission of Honor" in Dave Webber's Honor Harrington series of Sci-Fi books. But the interesting thing to me is just discovering Terry Pratchett -- just finished "Night Watch," which was pretty enjoyable, though it had a lot fewer puns than the other one, "Lords and Ladies."

I'm also addicted to the "Ring of Fire" series (a West Virginia town is transported to the middle of the 30 years' war, in central Germany -- Thurinigia, to be specific) by Eric Flynt and others.

You may notice that all of these are Science Fiction. I occasionally read mysteries, plus an even more occasional history book. One non-mystery-non-sci-fi-non-history I read recently is "Fool," a hilarious retelling of King Lear. I don't recall the author, but it's findable at Amazon.

Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Allen in Oz
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 11:15 PM

Stephen Fry's Autobiography

AD

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:33 PM

If you wish to read O'Brian, consider his other books, most of which are better written the than the Aubrey/Maturin series.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Eiseley
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 03:32 PM

I've decided NOT to read the last Patrick O'Brian book yet---I will be too sad when that wonderful series is done. So instead I just reread Jane Eyre and have begun Ulysses. Maybe after a bit of Joyce I can bravely advance to that final 20th book.

Eiseley

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 03:25 PM

Time to take it back to the library. What I Eat has been a fascinating trip around the world and through the diets of a huge variety of persons. I doubt there is anyone who would not find something of interest - the photos are memorable , from scenery to people to the tent in a valley in Tibet with satellite dish and solar panels. The variety of foods, of occupations...

What I have been left wondering is: people who eat under 2000 calories and maintain a reasonable weight - or do not and people who eat over 4000 calories and maintain reasonable weights - or do not. It does not always appear to be the more active occupation. Is it the difference in types of foods? Do some foods utilize more calories in digestion than others? We know about glycemic index; does it make a huge difference. Is 1000 calories from junk food worse than 1000 calories from cornmeal porridge, eg.?

I have a whole new area to consider. The web site:

http://www.aroundtheworldin80diets.com/home/home.php

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 10:05 PM

framus, I see several editions, any one in particular?

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: framus
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 09:58 PM

I still insist that the "Best of Myles" is required reading for any body who aspires to Irish ancestry. Though they may not understand it.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 04:28 PM

EJ, 'Coming into the Country' (John McPhee) was the first Alaska book I read when I got here; that first summer I worked at a wilderness lodge and they had a copy of it.

I have re-read it a couple of times and enjoy it. The only thing wrong with it is that McPhee didn't like Juneau, but I comfort myself with the fact that he didn't know the people I know or the life I lead.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Joe_F
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 08:43 PM

I have just been given a copy of _Tales from the Bear Cult_, which is about furry men doing what & with which & to whom. I haven't read it yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 12:55 PM

Keef's Autobiography right now. Previously, read Coming into the Country, a nonfiction study of Alaska from the 1970s, and before that an account of the Battle of Chancellorsville in the American Civil War.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 12:02 PM

Happily reading "Paris to the Moon", the first of two volumes of essays by Adam Gopnik that dear Edmund gave me for Christmas, and listening to an audio version of "A Dance to the Music of Time" by Anthony Powell. I'm into "At Lady Molly's," the fourth of the twelve volumes of the Powell; the cycle should keep me entertained through gym workouts and household chores until at least Easter.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 11:48 AM

Just finished Ian Frazier's "Family." His writing is so stream of conciousness, he'll go off on a tangent which you think is not going to lead anywhere and then suddenly he's summed it all up, brilliantly, and you've just finished a great book that wasn't just self-absorbed looking back, but a history of our country with a myriad of personal stories and "big picture" touches. Whether one read the whole book or not, anyone who wants to talk about religion should read the last chapter, imo. It's brilliant.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 09:56 AM

Re-read 'The Dark is Rising' by Susan Cooper, as is my habit at this time of year.. not helped by having the dreadful film adaptation on TV several times this last week...

Also reading 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader' preparatory to going to see the film soon.. hope I'm not disappointed, the others have been quite well done.

In the last couple of days I've read 'Heartstone' by C J Sansom... brilliant and so evocative of Tudor England, smells included.

Also have a copy of the writings of Hildegard of Bingen to read on the train but suspect 'Tale of two cities' might get in there first.... been 33 years since I read it so hopefully I'll get a bit more out of it...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: framus
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 11:28 PM

Re - reading "the best of myles" flann o'brien. Almost a laugh a line.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 11:00 PM

I'm extra busy these days so my reading is fairly fragmented.

One I am reading/re-reading is Mary Mapes book, Of Truth and Duty, about the Dubya Bush National Guard Years and the political fallout she and the other investigators suffered.

One that I'm excited about - bought a couple of days ago - and haven't yet got through the Introduction is 'Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1;
He stipulated, about four months before he died in 1910 that it was not to be published for 100 years. It came out this year.

It is a big book- about 650 pages - followed by a number of pages of footnotes, index and commentary.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 10:56 PM

On the lighter side, I have been catching the Carrie Vaughn series which begins with "Kitty and the Midnight Hour." The series is a totally interesting confection about wherewolves,vampires and other beings who inhabit the night. There is discussion of both lycanthropy and vampirism as disorders with peculiar advantages.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: LilyFestre
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 11:22 PM

The Emperor of All Maladies, A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: JHW
Date: 26 Dec 10 - 01:52 PM

On my request the town library kindly bought Larkin's 'Letters to Monica'
I'd only read a quarter when my time was up but I was glad someone else was awaiting it. I'll borrow it again.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: gnu
Date: 26 Dec 10 - 11:22 AM

Directions.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 26 Dec 10 - 04:54 AM

'Eradicating Ecocide' by Polly Higgins. A fascinating book about the ongoing destruction of the environment by big corporations, why they are allowed to get away with it and what we could do to stop them.

Ms. Higgins is a British barrister who has decided to devote her talents and professional expertise to challenging the thoughtless, profit-driven destruction going on all around us. She believes that, what she calls 'Ecocide' should be made a fifth international Crime Against Peace along with: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes and Crimes of Agression. Company Executives should be in the dock and not allowed to be able to hide behind the legal trickery which declares a corporation to be a 'fictional person' with rights but few responsibilities - apart from maximising profits.

Ms. Higgins has a website at: www.thisisecocide.com. She is also a mesmerising public speaker.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Dec 10 - 11:38 PM

"Kiki's memoirs" - intro by Ernest Hemingway, photos by Man Ray - Kiki was Queen of Montparnasse, free spirit, artist's model & artist in Paris in the 20s, Man Ray was one of the greatest photographers of the period. Originally published in France in 1929, the English translation of her infamous memoirs was banned in the US, & the 1996 Eco Press edition is the first US edition.

Dorothy L Sayers "Complete Short Stories" & Lord Peter Whimsey novels

"Textile Arts of Japan" by Sunny Yang & Rochelle M Narasin - a feast for the eyes

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Dec 10 - 12:48 PM

Phillip Longman's "Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care Is Better Than Yours" -- I very, very, very highly recommend it. (By the way, it started under "Fortune" magazines auspices and has been recommended by such people as the Cato Institute).

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 25 Dec 10 - 12:06 AM

Recently finished Chaim Potok's The Chosen and am almost done with David Ebershoff's The Nineteenth Wife.My favorite books take me to another place, another time, or another culture. Some do all three. Both of these books were selections of my local YMCA's book club. In between I read Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country which I chose myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 05:33 PM

Ken Follett - Fall of Giants

I just finished it, and it's very good, though it can't match the absolute brilliance of "The Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End".

The only criticism I'd make of Follett's writing in "Fall of Giants" is that he puts too many overwrought sex scenes into the story. I imagine he's found that doing that helps to sell books! ;-) However, his grasp of the historical period is great, he shows very clearly the political motivations of the various people in the UK, Germany, Russia, and America, and why the various decisions were made that led to war. He's very even-handed and fair in his treatment of the Germans and Russians, which is refreshing to see from an English-language author. I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to the next part of the trilogy which will obviously focus on the Depression years and the WWII era.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 03:36 PM

I'm back to working my way through the Sherlock Holmes Short Stories.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 24 Dec 10 - 12:46 PM

I have just finished the last of the Patrick O'Brien books..I am so lonesome for Jack and Stephen..what great characters and wonderful stories..I will miss them.
Have just begun A History of Warfare by John Keegan..but will put it aside til after Christmas, not very cheerful reading.
   A Happy Christmas to you all..and many thanks for all the great book suggestions.

Subject: RE: BS: Books-What have people been reading recently?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 12 Dec 10 - 10:37 AM

And I've just started the 1968 biography of Ian Fleming -- to tie in to my rereading the James Bond books.

Did an assessment yesterday and see that I need a couple of the old (1960s) Signet paperbacks to fill in my collection: Casino Royale, Goldfinger and The Man With the Golden Gun.

Readily available cheaply (more or less) at Bookfinder.com when I save up enough pennies.

Linn