Books: What have people been reading recently?

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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 - 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.