Books on the Nightstand discussion
What are you currently reading - August 2010
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Linda
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Aug 21, 2010 09:11AM
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Almost finished with Never Wave Goodbye and the narrator is hit or miss on this title, but the story more than makes up for it. I'm quite enjoying it.
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I also read a book of poetry after I finished that Poetic Gesture. Want to discuss that with someone who knows / understand poetry.
Linda wrote:Did finish The Magicians. Is there going to be a sequel? I didn't know where it was going until the last page or two. Very good.I Googled this after I read the book, Linda. Grossman says he is working on the sequel now. I thought he did a good job of wrapping the story up while setting up things for the future. For sheer entertainment, it was well done.
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This saying is available now, I hear."
nice one Eric!
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After I finish that, there are several Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 manuscripts I can't wait to start.
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I Googled this after I read the book, Linda. Grossman s..."
Thanks, Vanessa! I was too tired to check this out myself last night.
I just found out that Sara Gruen will be speaking in my area next spring!!! I'm stoked.
Just finished Super Sad True Love Story, and I can't decide how I feel about it. The book takes place in America, in an unspecified near future, where the American economy is in crisis. The dollar is pegged to the Yuan, and all of the country's financial backing comes from China, and other countries. A war is being fought in Venezuela, for reasons never discussed. When the National Guard troops are brought home, they are faced with no health care and no benefits, and many are living in makeshift tent cities in the parks in NYC. Almost all human-to-human interaction is through aparats (with dots over all the a's), they call regular talking "verballing". No one reads books anymore, they are considered smelly doorstops (sad!). It's fantasy mixed with too much reality- at the beginning, I felt like this was taking place in another universe, but by the end I was accepting this as a possible future.The two main characters are realistic and unlikeable... Lenny Abramov is a guy in his late-30's, who is a semi-ugly, needy child of Russian immigrant parents with a great credit score and a job at Post-Human Services. He comes back from a year-long sabbatical in Italy where he has been trying to find HNWI's (high net-worth individuals)who will pay to live forever (something his company hasn't actually figured out how to do, but is selling nonetheless), but has been thoroughly unsuccessful. He meets and falls hard for a much younger Korean girl named Eunice Park. Eunice is hard and cold, at times loving and at times scathing. She is a consumer, with no job and a problematic spending habit. She flies back to the US and moves in with Lenny, to avoid living with her family (an abusive father, an enabling mother, and a political sister). Her feelings towards Lenny confused me- by the end of the book, I couldn't decide if she actually loved Lenny, or loved how he felt about her.
It'll take me awhile to be away from SSTLS to decide how I feel about it- I think I liked it, but I would only selectively recommend it. It's highly vulgar in parts (Onionskin jeans, anyone?), so my Dad won't be finding this under the Christmas Tree, for example.
Not sure where to move on to next... I have a vacation coming up in a week, but I'd like to read something else before then... I'm thinking about grabbing something random off my shelves and giving something I already own a go.
Just starting A Secret Kept
for review on my personal blog. It is narrated by Simon Vance so I am expecting good things.
I'm halfway through The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.. Fascinating reading both from a medical history and from a cultural history standpoint.
Karen wrote: "Lil wrote: "I just finished Run and absolutely loved it. This novel tells the story of a complicated family (prominent white father, adopted black sons, semi-stalker birth mother) in ..."I am really enjoying A Fine Balance, but took a break to read Po Bronson's Why Do I Love These People from the library. Excellent read. Now, back to A Fine Balance and my own shelves!
Thanks, Eve. I have read Gawande and was so inspired by Checklist Manifesto that I bought a couple of copies for friends!
I am reading Nancy Atherton and it's 2 books in one. The first one is Aunt Dimity's Death and the other is Aunt Dimity and the Duke. I think I picked this up because of a recommendation from Ann and/or Michael. Really, what are the chances of that though? :) I've finished the first book and am on the 2nd. I really like them and may have to read some others.
I just finished a brilliant but very intense memoir of The Cultural Revolution (Spider Eaters: A Memoir) and I am drained. It occurred to me I have read a few other intense books this summer (The Grapes of Wrath and Lord of the Flies) and I need a break. So, once I finish the library book that was handy (Jar City-- a mystery set in Reykjavik), I am happy to say that I will be reading a Sidney Sheldon novel I just put on reserve. I haven't read me some good trash in years. Or ok, months if you make me count Sookie Stackhouse in that category.Sorry Patricia Highsmith. I'm afraid you'll have to return to the library unread. I cannot handle hearing about Ripley's socipathic social climbing at the moment. But our paths shall meet again.
Back from vaction and finished
. Loved it! Still reading
, but it is a little intense (hope my book group doesn't hate me when they are finished. Started
, also intense, but funny so it helped me through a delayed flight last night.
I finished The Thieves of Manhattan this weekend. GREAT recommendation Michael!!! Still working on Anna Karenina - slow going, but worth it I think.
I just finished Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists. I loved it! The characters were so well-developed, I really wanted to know more about the employees of this struggling newspaper. This is one of the few books of recent memory that I wished was longer.It draws comparisons to another book I read recently, Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. Very similar feel to each cast of characters, but I'm surprised to say I related more to the Rome-based cast of The Imperfectionists (surprising because I really enjoyed Then We Came to the End as well).
I finished two graphic novels.
The first was Wilson by Daniel Clowes, of Eightball fame. Clowes is still as talented as ever, but I weary of the misanthropic post-modern despair he slings. This book follows one of his trademarked losers through his life. For Clowes, this is nothing new. But the fun comes in the artistic style-switches that occur throughout the book, and in a running gag that is set up early and finally pays off.
The Second was Other Lives by Peter Bagge. Bagge, Clowes' old compatriot at Fantagraphics Books, where Bagge turned out the long-running Hate, is also normally a merchant of misanthropy, of a less despairing and more snarky type than Clowes. In this story, he manages to find some sympathy for his protagonists, who turn out to be more than just the butts of a joke. He manages to create some suspense along the way and have some fun satirizing the "Second Life" phenomenon.
The first was Wilson by Daniel Clowes, of Eightball fame. Clowes is still as talented as ever, but I weary of the misanthropic post-modern despair he slings. This book follows one of his trademarked losers through his life. For Clowes, this is nothing new. But the fun comes in the artistic style-switches that occur throughout the book, and in a running gag that is set up early and finally pays off.
The Second was Other Lives by Peter Bagge. Bagge, Clowes' old compatriot at Fantagraphics Books, where Bagge turned out the long-running Hate, is also normally a merchant of misanthropy, of a less despairing and more snarky type than Clowes. In this story, he manages to find some sympathy for his protagonists, who turn out to be more than just the butts of a joke. He manages to create some suspense along the way and have some fun satirizing the "Second Life" phenomenon.
I just finished A Secret Kept
I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I was actually moved. Reviewed on my blog: http://wp.me/pTRJE-3Q
Eric wrote: I finished two graphic novels.The first was Wilson by Daniel Clowes
Ahhh, I just finished my first graphic novel since Watchmen many years ago. I just heard an interview on PRI with Daniel Clowes talking about Wilson. He started working on it while sitting with his Dad in the hospital.
I just read Ghost World, the book that made Clowes famous. It was kind of a no brainer pick since I already loved the movie. I did love the differences between the two and was able to appreciate how well the film captured the look and attitudes of Enid and Rebecca so perfectly. I was excited to see that Michael had read it too and....oops, didn't really like it.
Recently finished The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus which I liked. It was interesting seeing things from Penelope's perspective. I also just finished Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I loved, I hated to see this one end.Currenlty I'm 110 pages into Inkheart and so far I like it.
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Ann you can be forgiven for putting aside the Poisonwood Bible to read Mockingjay. I'm so looking forward to finishing that trilogy, but my husband has first dibs on the book....so I have to wait until he's done. So I will continue to plod through Anna Karenina which I am really enjoying, it's just taking forever to read, and I'll keep bugging him to finish quickly....
Actually all the books I've read recently were rather disappointing. I haven't found any that I was captivated with, most of them I've had to force myself to finish.I finished reading Sunshine the other day and am now working on Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
I think maybe I'm burnt out on reading right now. Since out of the past- five? six? books I've read the past couple of month have not been even remotely interesting for me. They had potential, and failed miserably.
I'm over half way thru Inkheart and I'm already looking forward to the rest of the series. I'm also reading The Island of Dr. Moreau
I started Book 3 in the audiobook series of Mysts of Avalon, which is The Mists of Avalon: Book 3: The King Stag. On my way home today, something terrible happened. I finished "disc 2", which is the second mp3... and all of a sudden, it started with "disc 5". I pulled over, and checked the files. Yup, it was called part 3, but it was really part 5. Just for kicks, I checked part 5, which was also part 5. Plus, before I had a chance to pause it, I got spoiled on a pretty major plot point. I've emailed BN to see if they can send me the missing file. My commute is going to be long and quiet with no book in the car...
Recently started Sea of Poppies: A Novel for my face-to-face book club. It seems to be taking me a while to get into it. And it's my pick - hope it picks up soon!
Crooked Little Vein which is weirding me out in a good way and V for Vendetta in my summer quest to read as many classic graphic novels as I can.
You'll have to review Crooked Little Veinwhen you're done, Eric. I run hot and cold on Ellis, but I often like what he does.
Is it confusing to have two "Erics" on here who are comics readers?
Is it confusing to have two "Erics" on here who are comics readers?
I'm reading Affinity by Sara Waters. Not too far in yet but I'm really enjoying the story and her writing.
Original Eric,Just hold off on adding a baby to your profile pic and we'll do fine!
Lil
But this pic IS of a baby! He's just chockful of testosterone!
I'm currently reading
Neverwhere.Hm. How to say? The writing style is different for me. Not good or bad, really, just not what I'm use to. I'm not sure if it is because he is a British writer, or because he is a man. Perhaps I'm spoiled on the rich details lacking from this book. He isn't very descriptive when it comes to setting or scenery or anything, really. If it's night, you know it's night. It's very cut and dry, is what I think I'm trying to say. The story moves forward, the characters interact... I couldn't tell you what any of the characters look or dress like.
But, I'm only on pg 25 so far, and it IS interesting, just... different.
Still reading Anna Karenina....the never-ending book and started Dark Places a BOTNS recommendation from way back. So far very dark, but very good.
For what it's worth Misty, several of my co-workers raved about Neil Gaiman. But come to think of it, they were all boys. I do want to read him. I heard a story right on BOTNS about how charming he was to a fan. And, he narrated a segment on NPR once about the near death and life of the audiobook that was very funny. It's curious the little details that will tip an author into a "Must" pile.
I loved Gaiman's Sandman. It's about as good as a comic series ever gets.But I'm hot and cold on his prose work. I recommend The Graveyard Book to start. If you like that, go on to Coraline, then to American Gods, then to Anansi Boys.
I've been curious about American Gods, Eric, but I added Graveyard Book to my "to read" list.
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Yep, in addition to Melissa's story about meeting Neil Gaiman on a plan, he was charming to another fan. That fan was my daughter (then 7) and he left a comment on her new book blog (now mostly abandoned), where she reviewed Coraline. Made me a fan for life (and I've never read him :) )
@ Vanessa: Well, I heard about from a girl on Deviantart.com, she has a comic series called 'Girls Next Door' which is a cross over mainly of Labyrinth and Phantom of the Opera, which is very light hearted and funny. In it, all these characters from differnt books/movies live in the same apartment building, and several of the tenants are from Neil Gaimen's books, mostly Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens (co-written with Terry Pratchett), with appearances by various others. Her portrayl of the various characters and their personalities is actually what intruiged me to look into his books.@ Eric: You're a big graphic novel fan, aren't you? ^_^ I saw V for Vendetta yesterday when I was at the bookstore, and though it intruiges me and I LOVE the movie, I've never picked it up.
And I thought Anasi Boys, Stardust, American Gods weren't considered some of his better books. I'm simply going by the ratings and people voting which of his books were their favorits; I could be wrong.
Misty, get V for Vendetta and anything by Alan Moore you can get your hands on.
Tanya wrote: "I finished The New Adventures of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (performed by a full cast, starring Stacey Keach) yesterday (click on the title and you should be able to read what I thought about it) and now I've started The Patience Stone (by Atiq Rahimi; narrated by Carolyn Seymour.) I read The Patience Stone back in January and really liked it; but it was so short that I know I read it too fast. I got the audio to that I could savor the words more (you can't skim even a little in audio!) I have a copy of EARTH AND ASHES (by Atiq Rahimi) here with me now that I'm going to start either later tonight or tomorrow. "
I finished both EARTH & ASHES (by Atiq Rahimi) and THE PATIENCE STONE (by Atiq Rahimi; narrated by Carolyn Seymour.) I wrote reviews of both titles on my blog (http://dogearedcopy.blogspot.com/2010...) late into the evening earlier this week. I asked my DH for his thoughts on it. This was how the conversation went:
ME: "So, what did you think?"
DH: "Too many commas!"
ME: "Um, what about the ideas in it?"
DH: "OK, but what's with the different fonts from one blog post to the next?"
ME: "I'm trying to find the one I like the best. But did you get a sense of what I was trying to say in the post?"
DH: "Yes, but I really don't like Courier. I like the regular one."
So really, I have no idea if my ideas were cogent or well-atriculated or not or; whether he was being peevish after a hard day at work or not or; what!
I also listened to The Things They Carried (By Tim O'Brien; narrated by Tom Stetschulte.) I read the book in print last month and wasn't terribly impressed with it; but as it is a title of some literary acclaim, I decided to give it another chance. I thought if I got the audio, I would get some more nuance from the stories; but really, the audio was just as underwhelming as the print. The narrator didn't have the range that would have brought the characters to life and the style of the book (writing *about* writing about Vietnam, created a distance from the action.
Last night I started Orsinian Tales: Stories (by Ursula K. LeGuin.) It's a short story collection. After reading the first short, "The Fountains," I was a little disappointed as I was expecting something more along the lines of "Those who Walked Away from Omelas" and "The Fountains" is definitely more modern in style. But the next story, "The Barrow" was more in line with what I expected and I expect to finish the whole collection (total eleven shorts) this weekend.
I'm also starting Richard Harvell's THE BELLS (narrated by Paul Michael Garcia.) I read the ARC a few months ago. At first, I hard time getting a handle on the story; but I ended up loving it! I'm a little nervous about listening to the audio (and the narrator is a little nervous about me listening to it;) but into the brach we go!
I finished both EARTH & ASHES (by Atiq Rahimi) and THE PATIENCE STONE (by Atiq Rahimi; narrated by Carolyn Seymour.) I wrote reviews of both titles on my blog (http://dogearedcopy.blogspot.com/2010...) late into the evening earlier this week. I asked my DH for his thoughts on it. This was how the conversation went:
ME: "So, what did you think?"
DH: "Too many commas!"
ME: "Um, what about the ideas in it?"
DH: "OK, but what's with the different fonts from one blog post to the next?"
ME: "I'm trying to find the one I like the best. But did you get a sense of what I was trying to say in the post?"
DH: "Yes, but I really don't like Courier. I like the regular one."
So really, I have no idea if my ideas were cogent or well-atriculated or not or; whether he was being peevish after a hard day at work or not or; what!
I also listened to The Things They Carried (By Tim O'Brien; narrated by Tom Stetschulte.) I read the book in print last month and wasn't terribly impressed with it; but as it is a title of some literary acclaim, I decided to give it another chance. I thought if I got the audio, I would get some more nuance from the stories; but really, the audio was just as underwhelming as the print. The narrator didn't have the range that would have brought the characters to life and the style of the book (writing *about* writing about Vietnam, created a distance from the action.
Last night I started Orsinian Tales: Stories (by Ursula K. LeGuin.) It's a short story collection. After reading the first short, "The Fountains," I was a little disappointed as I was expecting something more along the lines of "Those who Walked Away from Omelas" and "The Fountains" is definitely more modern in style. But the next story, "The Barrow" was more in line with what I expected and I expect to finish the whole collection (total eleven shorts) this weekend.
I'm also starting Richard Harvell's THE BELLS (narrated by Paul Michael Garcia.) I read the ARC a few months ago. At first, I hard time getting a handle on the story; but I ended up loving it! I'm a little nervous about listening to the audio (and the narrator is a little nervous about me listening to it;) but into the brach we go!
Finished The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell.
An absorbing historical novel.
Most of the action takes place in Dejima, off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1799-1800, and culminates in an actual historical event. Dejima was an artificial island built as a center of Japanese/Dutch trade, and was constructed for the reason that foreigners were not permitted to live on Japanese soil. Creating a canal between the mainland and a peninsula solved this problem to the satisfaction of the Japanese.
The title character is a young clerk for the Dutch East India Company looking to make his fortune, at least to an extent that would enable his marriage to his sweetheart back home. Complicating this are his innate honesty and his immediate attraction to a young Japanese midwife.
The storyline takes a somewhat fantastic turn that involves a cult claiming the ability to bestow immortality through horrific means. The actual historical event I mentioned actually took place in 1808, but was moved by Mitchell, presumably for dramatic reasons, to 1800.
The book is well plotted, but doesn't take you on the path you expect, and there are numerous well-drawn characters, many of an earthy and bawdy nature. I particularly liked the crusty and unconventional Dr. Marinus. There's just the right mix here of adventure, terror, humor, and yes, fun. Yet there's enough ambiguity to satisfy the literary-minded who want some questions to chew on when the book is finished.
In the final analysis: a cracking good read!
An absorbing historical novel.
Most of the action takes place in Dejima, off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1799-1800, and culminates in an actual historical event. Dejima was an artificial island built as a center of Japanese/Dutch trade, and was constructed for the reason that foreigners were not permitted to live on Japanese soil. Creating a canal between the mainland and a peninsula solved this problem to the satisfaction of the Japanese.
The title character is a young clerk for the Dutch East India Company looking to make his fortune, at least to an extent that would enable his marriage to his sweetheart back home. Complicating this are his innate honesty and his immediate attraction to a young Japanese midwife.
The storyline takes a somewhat fantastic turn that involves a cult claiming the ability to bestow immortality through horrific means. The actual historical event I mentioned actually took place in 1808, but was moved by Mitchell, presumably for dramatic reasons, to 1800.
The book is well plotted, but doesn't take you on the path you expect, and there are numerous well-drawn characters, many of an earthy and bawdy nature. I particularly liked the crusty and unconventional Dr. Marinus. There's just the right mix here of adventure, terror, humor, and yes, fun. Yet there's enough ambiguity to satisfy the literary-minded who want some questions to chew on when the book is finished.
In the final analysis: a cracking good read!
Just finished The Island of Dr. Moreau and also The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and I loved both of these. Getting ready to start The Catcher in the Rye with a little trepidation, not really sure what to expect with this one.
Arson and Old Lace. It's the first of a series that was canceled, though I can't imagine why. It's a charming British style cozy. Next up A Nail Through the Heart.
I am currently working my way through Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World. It's a bit of a slow read.
Books on the Nightstand
Books mentioned in this topic
Dead and Alive (other topics)The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (other topics)
Little Bee (other topics)
Presumed Innocent (other topics)
Star Island (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Terry Pratchett (other topics)Nancy Atherton (other topics)
