What are you currently reading? - December 2010

[Kate]

I, too am loving Kavalier and Clay 150 pages in. I was a little leery as I am not a real comic book person but I am very pleased with the story.

[[deleted user]]

Herodotus was about 400 years before Cleopatra's time. But Plutarch, Dio, Cicero, and Virgil all wrote about her.

[Jessy]

I am rereading my hubby's new book. I read it as he was writing it and now it is together as a whole I am reading it again. It is not in print yet, but if you have a Kindle you can get it now for only 99 cents!!!
Sorrow

[Melissa]

Callie wrote: "Tanya wrote: "It's not about the vampires or the zombies or whatever, it's all really about what it is to be human!

This is what makes The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye (and the..."

I love the Walking Dead graphic novels!

[Melissa]

Eric wrote: "

A good biography is a good story. Most of the time, that story is a tragedy, since its subject often dies at the end. Sometimes, as in this book, it's a tragi..."

This is definitely on my TBR list. Thanks for recommending Eric.

[[deleted user]]

This is the story of Patti Smith's long relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their coming of age as artists as part of the bohemian culture of New York City from the late sixties to the early seventies. I'll admit that coming into this book I never really saw the appeal of Patti Smith's rock poet pose. With the exception of "Because the Night", her one hit single, I always found her music a bit harsh and grating for my tastes. And believe me, I've probably given "Horses" at least half a dozen plays. I fully expected Patti Smith the person to be harsh, grating, pretentious and precious.

This book surprised me. Patti Smith is a person I'd like to know. She comes off in this book as vulnerable, nurturing, friendly, and not stuck on herself at all. And yeah, maybe a little precious and pretentious, but what self-described poet isn't? I find I like her enough to cut her some slack there. I'm interested now in going back and listening to her music again, this time using a different album, maybe "Easter", as my starting point.

Patti and Robert lived as a couple for a few years, before Robert accepted his own gay sexual identity. At one point, they passed themselves off as husband and wife to Robert's devout Catholic mother, and impression which was never corrected. The two remained close until Robert's death from complications of AIDS in 1989. After a period of early hardship, they scored the smallest room at the famed Chelsea Hotel, home to artists and free spirits of all kinds, by leaving some of their artwork with the owner as collateral until they could afford their rent. The Chelsea Hotel address was fortuitous. Gradually their circle of friends comes to include folk music compiler Harry Smith, beat writer William S. Burroughs, Dylan associate Bobby Neuwirth, Johnny Winter, Janis Joplin, Todd Rundgren, and others. They are both able to grow these associations into successful artistic careers. Both start out in different media than what they'd become known for, but gradually Patti drifts into rock and Robert into photography.

This book works on two fronts: both as a portrait of an undying friendship and a "you are there" memoir of a cultural milieu.

[Amy]

I'm definitely not a comic book person either, but I really enjoyed the book. In fact, I found the comic book background pretty interesting; it was artfully woven into to a very entertaining plot of two cousins spanning decades. Let me know what you think!

[Lil]

Recently finished the audio of The Postmistress The Postmistress and really enjoyed it. This is a story of the lives of several women during World War II that eventually intertwine. One of the main characters is a female reporter stationed in London before the US joins the war. I found her story and her accounts of the bombing of London and personal stories of Jewish refugees most compelling. I think this book would be solid for a book group.

In the ongoing read the books I already own project, I read Marilynne Robinson's Home last week Home This book is the story of Jack Boughton, the beloved prodigal son of the Reverend Boughton. This book runs during the same time period as Gilead (which I LOVED) but lets us know what's going on down the street. The Boughton household is less about love and the beauty of life and more about painful self consciousness and self hatred by the main character. Robinson's writing is wonderful and her portrayal of the real, frustrating ways that people just can't seem to be anything but themselves is spot on. That accuracy and the painful family interactions made the read of this book uncomfortable for me, but the book is overall excellent. I do want to be honest and admit that I didn't really enjoy this book and I wanted to love it.

Now, I'm scanning my shelves and trying to talk myself down from buying something new on the Kindle!

[Esther]

I've just finished Dead Until Dark which was great fun and now I'm reading Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. The first Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood was the first (and until now only) graphic novel I've really enjoyed. Part two seems to be just as good.

[Callie]

I finished The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus on Christmas Day, and it was a charming, heart-warming read. I would definitely want to share it with my kids (if I had any), although some parts might be too dark for littles. I would whole-heartedly recommend, especially if you're having trouble getting into the Christmas mood. I can't wait to reread next year!

I received Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter for Christmas, and I just started it. Fingers crossed for a good one!

[Wendy]

I just started two galleys - The Tiger's Wife and Cycling Home from Siberia. Always interested if anyone else is reading pre-publication copies - it's lonely to be the only one.

[Melissa]

I was blessed this Christmas with a total of seven books under the tree, as well as a Kindle! I am also thrilled that my teenage son has finally moved on to a new author, George R.R. Martin. My teenage daughter has been flying through Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series. I need to finish Lucky Jim and The Hunger Games, then I am on to my new books. Merry Christmas!

[Gerald]

Busy December cut my reading considerably and I am stuck on "Our Kind of Traitor" by John LeCarre.He takes some time to get into which comes out in his TV versions of his Smiley novels.Ger

[Melissa]

Eric wrote: "

This is the story of Patti Smith's long relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their coming of age as artists as part of the bohemian culture of New York City from ..."

Everytime, I go to Barnes and Noble I pick upthis book up and then I put it down. Not from lack of interest but because I already have so many books I have to read. I might just pick it up after the New Year. I've heard some really great things about it and I know it recently won some prestigious book award.

[[deleted user]]

Wendy wrote: "I just started two galleys - The Tiger's Wife and Cycling Home from Siberia. Always interested if anyone else is reading pre-publication copies - it's lonely to be the only one."

I read a ton of Advanced Reading Copies, and blue lines copies in the course of work; but I do not like to review anything but Finals. Having seen how much can change between an ARC and a Final, I prefer the finished product.

[Gerald]

Melissa (Mel) wrote: "Eric wrote: "

This is the story of Patti Smith's long relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe and their coming of age as artists as part of the bohemian culture of New Yo..."
This seems to be the year of the rocker with Jayz also contributing.

[[deleted user]]

And Keith Richards.

[Melissa]

I have been listening to the audible version of the Keith Richards book. Johnny Depp does an excellent job reading.

[Linda]

I finished

It is a marvelous factual explanation of the 2009-2010 The Tonight Show debacle. Looks into the backgrounds of all the late-night hosts: Leno, O'Brien, Letterman, Ferguson, Kimmel, Stewart and Colbert. No one is painted explicitly as a "bad" guy. A confluence of people looking ahead without a crystal ball to show which steps would become missteps.

Today I started . It is written by a former president of Shell Oil and has been on my TBR list since I heard about it during the gulf oil spill. It's slim, so hopefully, I'll finish it before the year is out.

I also finished listening to . I had read it previously and gave it 3 stars. My book discussion group chose it. Listening to it didn't make me raise the bar.

by Erma Bombeck.

[Mis_Reading]

Okay! On the 2nd, i posted that I was finishing the 5th book of the Harry potter series and about to start the 6th. Since then I have read both the 6th and 7th books, finishing the series for the first time, which was fabulous, I might add, from a now fan who swore she would never read them. I have now started reading Beautiful Darkness, the 2nd book in the series. I think there are suppose to be five. Takes place in Gaitlin, Georgia and hits home for me as far as small southern town where everyone is born, wed, and buried just as their entire family before them was. It's more Urban Fantasy than some of you would prefer, and there's something in the tone and style of writing that is what I both love and annoys me. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Jay]

I finally finished I enjoyed many aspects of it quite a bit but there were other times I wanted him to get on with it. I'm also not sure how satisfied with the ending I am.

For my next book I decided to turn to some lighter reads so I've started several.






I have started all of them. I have never been able to read more than one book at once so I'm giving it a try in a big way. We will see how it goes.

[Trish]

Am hating the chapter on porn at the beginning of I Live in the Future by Nick Bilton so have begun to skim. Can the author really want us to think of porn when we think of the future of the internet? No, he's thinking "sex sells," so cutely thinks Chapter One will keep us reading. Instead, it is making me ill...I like the concept of the book and the preface, we'll see if I can keep on in spite of Chapter One.

[[deleted user]]

Today I finished Cathedral by Raymond Carver.



This is the collection where Carver shakes off the label of "minimalist".

His previous editor, Gordon Lish, was known for paring Carver's stories down to the bone. But in this collection, free from Lish's pencil, he is able to be more expansive. The stories still concern average shmoes living clumsy lives, but now Carver gives himself the space for more incident. More emotional nuance. Not only that, but he's funnier, and he was fairly funny to begin with.

I read a volume of his poems recently. Like these stories, those poems were written in the eighties, during Carver's sobriety. Whereas poetry is usually about economy of language, finding that perfect word or phrase, Carver's poems were like listening to a friend who's had a few drinks and is telling you a story. If his audience is laughing, he's not afraid to lay it on. Reiterate certain comic points. Be a little redundant. Rant a bit. Play to the crowd. These stories have a bit of that same flavor.

The best example is of this is in the title story. The protagonist is a husband who's annoyed that his wife has invited an old friend, a blind man, over to spend the night. The character initially feels uncomfortable about the man's blindness, and expresses this to the reader by sarcastically riffing on how put out he feels, and how alien and creepy the man's blindness seems to him. But this is only the setup. The payoff is truly remarkable, emotional, and inspiring. I won't give it away.

Carver's early work was great, but lay in the shadow of his alcoholism, and for that reason was somewhat morbid. The later Carver seems to be poking fun at the morbidity in his past, all the while embracing life and its small wondrous experiences.

[Esther]

I have read Heat Wave, Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return and The End of Mr. Y so far on my 2011 book-a-week challenge.
The End of Mr. Y took me longer than a week but I'm now reading Olive Kitteridge which is a quick read and very light after Mr Y.