Constant Reader discussion
Constant Reader
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What I Just Put Down, and what I just began
WR:If you are in a non-fiction mood, I absolutely loved a non-fiction spy book I read earlier this year called Agent ZigZag. It is such am amazing story, it pretty much reads like fiction. I also enjoyed Tim Weiner's CIA history - Legacy of Ashes. It's a bit lengthy and a little repetitive, but quite an eye-opener.
Al,Thanks for the suggestions! I think we have similar tastes. I really liked Special Topics and What the Dead Know. I read The Secret History many years ago and it pretty much spooked me out. I haven't read the other books you mentioned, but I put them on my TBR (to be read) list because they sound like they would be right up my alley. I'm a teacher so I only have a few weeks of summer left. In the meantime, I'm reading up a storm.
Ruth,
Thank you. I thought I better attach at picture because there is another Ann that posts sometimes.
Ann D.
Hi, Peggy! Yes, I enjoyed it very much. Go get that book again and finish it. It was very interesting that the book I read two books later was Devil in the White City where they used his AC electricity to run things. The Hunt book made me want to go out and read more about him.
Peter Robinson is one of my very favorite mystery authors. His latest, Friend of the Devil, is great!Sandy
EVERYTHING by him.
Michael Connelly
Carol OConnell
Mark Billingham
Denise Mina
(that ought to keep you busy. I have more)
Michael Connelly
Carol OConnell
Mark Billingham
Denise Mina
(that ought to keep you busy. I have more)
Thanks for those suggestions, Ann. I'm a mystery writer and a big mystery reader. You're suggestions sound interesting. I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which has elements of mystery to it. At the moment, I'm taking a quick break from mysteries to read The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy.
Al (#218) !Last night after devouring Linda Pastan's poetry book mentioned above I started reading Agent ZigZag and am enjoying it very much! A quick and fun read, a bit breezier than most of what I've been reading lately, which is actually a relief.
I agree completely how in style it is midway between nonfiction history and fictionalized story telling if that makes any sense. Remember our genre discussion about 'nonfiction novels'??
Finished Brideshead Revisited which I absolutely loved.I've been slugging through The Emperor of Ocean Park but I'm having a hard time getting into it. Has anyone read this? Is it worth continuing?
I really need to pick up Revolutionary Road since it's my book club's current pick.
Hooray! Peggy's back!Sherry, did you like Devil in the White City? A friend made an unsolicited loan of it to me and it's been sitting in my bookshelf for a year. I keep wondering if it's worth the time.
I just finished Crackpots by Sara Pritchard. I thought it was excellent. "...he will stop and whistle like Benny Goodman or Woody Woodpecker." I was trying to put those sounds together when a few paragraphs later I discovered Benny Goodman was the name of the family's parrot.
http://sarapritchard.com/
I just picked up My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk. The inside cover says it is part mystery.
Barb, in the end I ended up liking it, although there were slow parts. Here's my review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Al...
I noted your analysis of the Benjamin Black mysteries, I have to agree, but let me qualify that agreement with the thought that Banville is building a series, and a great deal of Silver Swan was building for future episodes. At least that was my impression.
I just finished The Epic of Gilgamesh and am now reading A Plea for Eros by Siri Hustvedt.
I noted your analysis of the Benjamin Black mysteries, I have to agree, but let me qualify that agreement with the thought that Banville is building a series, and a great deal of Silver Swan was building for future episodes. At least that was my impression.
I just finished The Epic of Gilgamesh and am now reading A Plea for Eros by Siri Hustvedt.
Thanks, Sherry. The Devil in the White City does look like something I would like.
I thought the Emperor of Ocean Park was terrific, as was his second. Reading his third to review now.
Philip:I'm so glad that you are enjoying Zigzag! His life was really something! I need to go back and read the archive of the discussion on "nonfiction novels" - it is a genre that I adore, starting with the grand-daddy of the group, Capote's "in cold blood" which I just re-read this spring.
I think you'd probably also like the novel I just finished - Netherland by Joseph O'Neil - the writing is top-notch. My only issue is that was a little more of a "guys" book than I was expecting, even though that is a genre I usually love - i.e. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, Philip Roth, Richard Ford, etc. Mens vs. womens novels would make for an interesting CR discussion as well, although I would guess it has already been discussed here at length.
Pontalba:
I hear what you are saying about Black laying a foundation for a series with The Silver Swan, however he really did that with Christine Falls as a lot of the characters from that book came back in the second, yet the novel didn't feel like it was "laying a foundation" at all - just good storytelling. I guess I don't read enough series to be a good judge on this front. I just want good books, regardless of whether the characters reappear in later books or not.
Barbara:
I'm still enjoying "the trillion dollar meltdown" a lot - I had to switch over to Netherland as I was able to renew Trillion from the library but Netherland was on hold so I was on a tight timetable. And I've just started The Country Girls for next month's discussion - I like it so far, so I may be up for continuing with the trilogy too - I think you mentioned something about that in an earlier post.
I'm still slowly making my way through Enchanted April - I know the discussion has been over for a while. I am enjoying the book, although it reminds me a little of rich chocolate bar - too rich for me to eat all in one sitting, but I like to sneak a nibble here and there
Pontalba:If you are a Siri Hustvedt fan, you should join the discussion on The Blindfold here, it has been really good.
Barb, I raced through Devil in the White City during a "girls' weekend" trip to Sherry's in Tampa a couple of years ago. The plane travel gave me lots of time to read and I found it very interesting.My parents became interested in the book after they attended a lecture by the author in Des Moines last year. They decided to use it for their "read aloud" book this spring and I was somewhat surprised that they seemed to enjoy it too. I think the background they got from the author added to their interest.
(By the way, they decided to start doing a read-aloud book in the evenings when my dad's vision started failing, making reading and watching tv more difficult. They pick a book they're both interested in and Mom reads out loud so Dad can enjoy it too.)
Lynn
Just finished The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus and started The Da Vinci Code for some light reading. What a difference in writing styles! I really enjoyed The Sorrow of Belgium, Hugo Claus is(was) a great writer and I'm planning on reading more of his books. I also saw a film, Pallieter, he wrote the script for.
The Sorrow of Belgium is about the life of a boy, Louis Seynaeve, in Belgium during the Second World War. His father and grandfather are Flemish Nationalists and sympathise with the Germans. Louis even joins a Flemish version of the HitlerJugend. Even though it's hard to agree with some of their opinions, it is hard to say these persons really are immoral, ill-informed is a better way to put it. Louis has a very active imagination, so the story is often lighter than it sounds now.
I read it in the original Dutch/Flemish version. There is an English translation available.
The Sorrow of Belgium is about the life of a boy, Louis Seynaeve, in Belgium during the Second World War. His father and grandfather are Flemish Nationalists and sympathise with the Germans. Louis even joins a Flemish version of the HitlerJugend. Even though it's hard to agree with some of their opinions, it is hard to say these persons really are immoral, ill-informed is a better way to put it. Louis has a very active imagination, so the story is often lighter than it sounds now.
I read it in the original Dutch/Flemish version. There is an English translation available.
I read the book about four years ago and slogged through it. The protagonist seemed prickly and unpleasant. Doubtless he had his reasons, but it got tiresome to read about. However, he had lived in Shepherd Park, Wash. D.C. as had we at one time and there were some interesting associations that kept me to the end. Would never read this author again.
Lynn- Love the story of your mom and dad's read-aloud-evenings. I love being read to. One of my fondest memories is of reading aloud The Silent Gondoliers by the guy who wrote Princess Bride, in a cold El Nino winter in a drafty house where the vegetable cooking oil cooled solid. The only place nearly comfortable was about a foot from the fireplace. It probably only took a week of evenings for my 2 roommates and I to read the slender volume, but it's my memory of the winter.
I'm only through the first of the three sections of The Stone Carvers - Jan Urquhart but if you check the review, it's obvious it's a runaway hit already!And W&R -- if Sandy says Tana French is that good, you can bank on it holding up most likely! Heh -- sort of like the person who recommended The Stone Carvers to me, in fact!
I really loved In The Woods. I would recommend it highly, even for people who don't usually read mysteries.
Tana French's books are mysteries, but they go way beyond that. I am looking forward to many more from her.Currently, I am reading Jane Eyre and loving it.
Sandy
I agree with you ... like Toni Morrison opened a whole new way of seeing our fellow citizens so too did Stephen L. Carter.I'm waiting for my copy of his new book to arrive.
Who do you review for? I'd love to read some of your pieces.
Loved the interweaving of truth and fiction in "Devil in the White City" - and learned so much about the Chicago World's Fair! In fact, just the truth would have kept me entertained ...
I am reading Stephen L Carter's newest right now. I will review it for blogcritics. Like the rest, it's wonderful.
Just finished Angels by Marian Keyes, moving on now to P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern.
Finished The Da Vinci Code and started Brieven van den Nutteloozen Toeschouwer (Letters of the Useless Bystander) by Louis Couperus. Notes the author made during the two first months of World War I. Another book by Louis Couperus I highly recommend is Eline Vere, the tragic story of the life of a young woman from The Hague, ruled by fate.
Hi! I just finished reading Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman (which was a disappointmet) and just started reading Bill Bryson's "Im a Stranger Here Too...." I am loving this bood so far. Smart, funny writing that exposes the things about America that make it...well...American! Happy Reading!
I just finished The Master Of The Delta by Thomas H. Cook. It was excellent. Now I'm reading Nicholas Nickleby. Reading my way through Dickens one more time.Sandy
We read Middlemarch as a Classics Corner selection back in the Prodigy days. I really liked it, but it sure helped to be reading it with the group. Here is a link to our discussion. http://web.archive.org/web/2006110201...
Just finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates this morning. Spectacular book. I'll be starting Edgar Sawtelle later today. I'm very excited!!
Just finished P.S. I Love You, by Cecelia Ahern. I wasn't impressed. Just started on English as a Second Language, by Megan Crane, and I like it so far.
I just finished reading The Fiery Cross and liked it as much as I've liked Diana Gabaldon's other time traveler series books. They're so long, though, that I really will have to wait awhile and work up the nerve to start the next one.I'm now reading Eat, Pray, Love for my Book Club, and boy, is that woman a drama queen. I just couldn't live my life like she does. Too much excitement for me! I like reading about the Italian meals she's eating, though. :)
- Beth
I'm listening to Common Sense and I have only one word for this...WOW!!!!Everytime I heard one of his amazingly logical arguments, I would smirk and think 'now you take THAT, King of England', as if we were still fighting the British.
I just finished "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan. I can see why this is making the rounds at so many book clubs - the topic is really interesting, but in the end the book is not so well-written. It could have been so much better. Also, it made me realize how little I knew about Frank Lloyd Wright and also about the women's movement in the early 1900s and the German Modernists at that time as well.Barbara: I know you had been thinking about reading this - I can tell you that if you do want to talk about it with your sister, it probably wouldn't take you long to read it, but best to go in with pretty low expectations.
WR and Ruth: You both mentioned non-fiction pieces you read about FLW and the real story - anything worthwhile you'd recommend?
WR: I just added The Brothers K to my list - it looks really good. I am a huge baseball fan and usually try read at least one baseball book during the season - this looks perfect and it is the first I've heard of it. Although with the length of my list, I may not get to it until World Series time this year.
Also, I saw that the Booker long list came out yesterday. I've only read one of the books on it, Netherland, but a lot of the others are in my reading queue. What do you all think of the list?
Al, I haven't seen the list. Seems like there was a link to all things Booker in some other thread, but danged if I remember where.I just finished Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard. I am completely annoyed that I spent the time reading it that I did. Once I realized that the premise was too implausible for me to stomache, I should have put it down. But, no. I had to finish the thing. I know better.
I'm continuing on with the Country Girls trilogy. I better hurry.
http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news...Denise, hopefully the above link will take you to the Booker long list.
I think it is always a tough call to know when to put a book down for good. that is one thing that is helpful about library books, when something is due back, it goes back. And then i really get a chance to decide if i want to take it out again to finish it.
I hope you finish Country Girls trilogy soon - I am looking forward to the discussion and know it will be better if you can participate too.
I'm about 50 pages into "bright shiny morning" by james frey. I am enjoying it thus far. I must come clean here and admit I liked A Million Little Pieces too. but from reading this it is clear that fiction is definitely his proper medium.
I just finished reading Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems & Lyrics by Alicia Keys...which I thought was a great book, being a fan of her music and all! Today was a perfect rainy day for reading poetry, so I spent the day soaking it up! And now, I'm about to start what I've been waiting to do all summer--read the entire Harry Potter series from first to last! So I'm picking up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone tonight and couldn't be more excited! :)
Beth, I've heard quite a few people say the same thing about Eat, Pray, Love. I have it on my TBR list. I actually read the Italy part and felt the same as you...I liked the food part but the rest I could live without. i don't know if I'll ever finish it!
Is it possible for a book to be insightful without offering any insights?The Last Tycoons:The Secret History Of Lazard Freres & Co. by William Cohan is a gossipy look at investment banking. As such, it poses a great problem if you are trying to evaluate the work.
An escape from Vichy France by a Jewish banker gets just as much space as a scandalous merger, and old affair, or an attempt to get a zoning variance for an estate on Martha's Vineyard. The chief characters in the "history' are all called by their first names -- Bruce, Felix, Steve, and Michel -- while the less noteworthy characters are last names with the exception of William Loomis, one-time CEO of the firm who always is "Loomis" and never "Bill". Every possibly disreputable thing that the businessmen do is recounted, even false rumors that the author thinks we would like to hear. Ex-wives are given the stage to discuss their husbands' faults, while the husband's side is ignored, a failure that Cohan would no doubt blame on the husband's unwillingness to share rather than a gentlemanly discretion. Whenever a businessman does something that might be considered selfless like helping New York City avoid bankruptcy, it is dismissed as an attempt to build up his own ego.
Overall, this would be easy to dismiss as a fluff. And yet, the whole book has the distinct flavor of the after hours talk that goes on about every company and its executives. Cohan was an executive with both Lazard and its more reserved competitor Morgan Chase as well as being a journalist. Unfair as all the gossip might be, there is a reality to the group sensibility that generates the gossip. The stories we tell ourselves about others say a lot about us.
The challenge is to take this story to another level and try to imagine how vilified businessmen see themselves. As usual, I long for Henry James to be able to turn his talents to another age turning tawdry events like The Golden Bowl into an experience that those of us without no gold or princely connections can understand (provided we can unravel the sentences).
I also wonder how those who have no background in investments would take the book. The endless discussion of the partner's profit points and the endless intra-office politics do get tedious even if you have a feel for the business. Fortunately, you don't have to wait very long for more theft and sexual indiscretion.
Next up: Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski. "Jamie's boss smiles and tells his employees, 'We're a cover for a branch of the intelligence community. And we're being shut down.' He then tells everyone to drink some champagne, and in a few seconds they'll fall asleep for good. If they refuse, they'll be shot in the head". I am not sure that Henry James will be able to improve on this one.
Jim: The Last Tycoons sounds pretty good. I will add it to my list.WR: I will take a look at The Fellowship and keep my eyes peeled for other non-fiction stuff on FLW.
I stopped reading Bright Shiny Morning about half-way through, I just got sick of it. It reminded me a bit of Beautiful Children by Charles Bock that I read earlier this year and wished I had stopped halfway through, so I decided not to make the same mistake twice!
I have Into the Woods at home from the library and am anxious to start that, although I have other library books that are due first, so it makes more sense to go in order.
Jim, I may never read The Last Tycoons but I loved reading your review. I'm dying to hear about Severence Package when you finish it.Al and WR, I'm going to be visiting with my sister and brother both in a few weeks. She recommended Loving Frank. He recommended Billy Bathgate. I'm wondering if I can get them both read before I go. Discussions with the two of them are on a par with Constant Reader so I'm very motivated.
An original Constant Reader, Dale Short, always gave glowing reviews of The Brothers K. I've been meaning to read it for a long time. His recommendations were consistently pearls.
WR, I just took the audiobook version of In the Woods out of the library. Once I download it to my iPod, I'll start listening to it. I love listening to books like this--it gives me an impetus to houseclean and do exercise.
Barbara,Since you are not planning to read The Last Tycoons, I will give you a spoiler. On about page 630 after an excruciatingly dull explanation of how retired working partners would have their shares of good will valued in an IPO, one of the ex-partners is found tied naked to a chair in a Paris with four bullets through his head. Apparently he had decided to close a bank account that he had set up for a former mistress and wanted to celebrate by getting together with her for one last tryst. Getting together again wasn't the great idea that he thought it would be.
Fans of balance sheets will be happy to know that once the murder is solved, the book shifts back to a discussion of partner profit shares and M&A activity in 2003.
I just finished English as a Second Language, by Megan Crane. Typical chick-lit, light and "fluffy" but I found it to be clever and witty and quite enjoyable. Just started on This Charming Man, by Marian Keyes, not far enough into it yet to have much of an opinion on it.
sherry..is your IN THE WOODS..A PLACE IN THE WOODS ? both my wife and i read that. she didn t like it. i gave it 3 stars. i couldn t believe two supposedly intelligent people could be so unprepared to live in the woods.
No, Joe, this is by Tana French, a psychological thriller. I heard here, and when I saw it at the library I snatched it up.
Constant Reader
Books mentioned in this topic
Eat, Pray, Love (other topics)Naked Lunch: The Restored Text (other topics)
Beloved (other topics)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (other topics)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert A. Heinlein (other topics)Roger Zelazny (other topics)
Edgar Rice Burroughs (other topics)
Here are some mystery suggestions - albeit some of them fall into the untraditional, yet still what I consider a mystery category:
Special Topics in Calamity Physics - this book has been much discussed and recommended here, see earlier posts in this thread
The Snake Stone - the author won an Edgar for the first book in this "series" The Janissary Tree, but I had no trouble reading the 2nd before the 1st. This was a lovely mix of mystery and historical fiction as it is set in Istanbul many years ago
What The Dead Know - this is probably the most "mass-markety" of my recommendations. The author writes a lot of mysteries I believe but I found this well-written and engrossing
Christine Falls - this was the first book John Banville wrote under his pen name Benjamin black and I really loved it - set in Ireland a while ago, great characters. I read this follow up with many of the same characters and it just didn't have the same magic for me
The Secret History - I read this years ago and it was a cult classic for a while. Very engaging about a group of college friends.
Hope this helps.
WR:
Thanks for the heads-up on The Sister. I too read the same reviews as you and added it to my library request with some hesitation, not knowing anyone who had actually read it. I am taking it off my list now.