What are you currently reading? Showing 151-200 of 1,649

[Andy]

Getting toward the end of "Stitch", a novel by Richard Stern whose short stories I had previously enjoyed. This one is also very good.

[Dottie]

I am just finishing The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke and highly recommend it. Like all his stories it is on the darker side of life but this one is particularly worth reading as it is set after Katrina. It is - at one level - a love song to New Orleans and at the other the most excruciating look at what happened during and after Katrina.

[Heather]

Conny-I read "All We Ever Wanted" this summer. I liked it but it frustrated me a lot, too!

[Heather]

I know what you mean Conny. I was just so mad through the whole book thinking, "will you people just TALK TO EACH OTHER!!!!!!" It was still a very good story though.

[Heather]

I'm reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I am in love with it. I think about it all day and can't wait to get home to it at night. :) It's such a cool story and more of an experience than just a book.

[Andy]

I'm two stories into Richard Burgin's collection "The Spirit Returns". He's a new author for me and I like the writing so far but I'm not yet sure how much. There's that kind of mildly surreal quality that I have always been partial to in the past and there's a flatness analogous to the flattened perspective in Di Chirico and Leger paintings which I'm adjusting to.

[Ann]

Andy, I'm not familiar with Burgin, but your description intrigues me. Di Chirico and Leger are two of my favorite artists. I'll have to see if I can dig up a story online to sample.

Heather, can you believe that I haven't read Extremely Loud? I did just pick up Everything is Illuminated in one of those cool new snazzy Harper Olive editions.

[Heather]

I can't believe that I had never even heard of either Extremely Loud OR Everything is Illuminated. I am STILL thinking about the EL characters 3 days after finishing the book!

Now I've moved on to East of Eden. I like it so far, but it seems like it may take awhile!

[Dottie]

Just finished the 3rd in the Wicked series - A Lion Among Men. I love the way that Maguire is able to talk so coherently about current issues using the OZ world as his venue. But I did wonder in reading this one whether I would have understood all of it without having read the two previous books.
Dottie

[Josh]

I just finished Fraction of the Whole (one of my new all-time favorites) and a re-read of Jonathan Hickman's Nightly News - probably my third or fourth time reading that one in the last year. Right now, I'm juggling The Ridiculous Race, Bonk by Sarah Roach, and Zot! by Scott McCloud.

[Michael]

Let me know what you think of Zot! Josh. It's on my nightstand, but not near the top right now...

[[deleted user]]

I am almost half way through And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts. It is absolutely fascinating. Each section is basically written like newspaper article which makes it very easy to digest and keep track of all the different players. Over 20 years later, it is still so frustrating to read how scientists and doctors tried to solve the AIDS crisis from the very beginning but they were met with every road block imaginable from the government, the press and the public. It is a great read.

[Sara]

I am currently reading Ashes to Ashes by Tami Hoag. It's really good but were not able to read where I work in between calls so it is taking me awhile to finish it,even though it's really good.I think the next book I am going to read is eat,pray,love.Has anyone read this yet? It looked good so I bought it at wal-mart last time I was there :)

[Ann]

Sara, I love Tami Hoag.

Haven't read Eat, Pray, Love, though it does seem that half the world has.

[Dottie]

I read Eat, Pray, Love and enjoyed it - thought it was very well written and especially liked her descriptions of her time in Italy.

Dottie

[Savvy]

Dottie,

I agree...after Italy it paled a bit!

Italy was 'laugh out loud' at times... perhaps because I breifly lived there have and traveled back many times?

But overall, it's a spirited read!

[Dottie]

I think the reason it's a bit more difficult after that first section is the shift from indulgence to thought and a bit of difficult soul-searching as well as the shift from a more prosperous setting to two settings which are obviously less so. I am not certain that the book lived up to its overall "hype" but I found it to be an interesting, entertaining and inspiring in some ways experience though a bit uneven at times.

Just 'the other Dottie's' thoughts there.

[Dottie]

I guess since we have two Dottie's I should be Dottie M. I have started reading Dry Storeroom No. 1 - The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey and am finding it fascinating. It would - I think - make a great gift for those people on your list who love poking in museums or who are always saying "Did you know...."

dottie M

[Michael]

Dottie (M)

I'm reading Dry Storeroom #1 too, though it's currently my "occasional" book, one that I dip into infrequently...

[Conni]

Currently reading Company of Liars.






I really like it so far.


Conni

[Dottie]

Storehouse #1 is my second book too - I am currently enjoying Dissolution by C. J. Sansom as my primary read - it is a mystery with a really interesting look at life in Cromwell's England - especially in the monastery.

Dottie M.

[Suziqoregon]

I'm finishing up Trinity by Leon Uris. It's been hanging around on the fringes of my TBR list for ages and I finally got around to actually reading it. It's a Chunkster and has taken me a while, but I've really enjoyed it. Historical Fiction set in Ireland in late 1800's - early 1900's.

[Ann]

Suziq,
That's been on my TBR for a hundred years, too. Not too many books published in that genre these days, which is a shame. My mom was always reading those big epic historicals, like John Jakes North & South.

[Dottie]

Trinity was one of the early books which got me back into reading regularly when my girls were just toddler/preschoolers. Another mother who was sitting in the waiting room with her own toddler (as I was with mine) while our preschoolers were in a dance class at the local YWCA was reading this and it caught my interest due to the Irish setting. I was actively working on genealogy at the time due to a family tale of ancestors who fled Ireland (as it turned out in the early 1700's) in order to marry.

After Trinity books gradually became once again as central to my life as they had always been B.C. (before children). there are two sequels to this I believe. I've read both of those as well but Trinity is high on a list of favorites and stands quite nicely on its own.

[Stephen]

My wife and I started listening to the unabridged audio book version of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and really enjoyed it (so far).

Using different actors for each character struck me as the perfect way to record this novel for audio. This is only my 2nd audio book, but I assume using multiple readers is unusual.

I'm a little disappointed I won't be able to put an actual copy on my bookshelf, since I can see this being a book I re-read and loan to friends.

[Debbie]

I just finished Dragonheart by Todd McCaffrey. He has taken over writing in the Pern world that his mother Anne McCaffrey created. I'm thinking there must be a sequel coming for this book, since I didn't feel things were resolved with this story.

I'm also reading Hood by Stephen Lawhead, which is a retelling of the Robinhood legend. Lawhead is great at bringing myths to life - like his Pendragon Cycle about King Arthur. I have the sequel to Hood, which is Scarlet waiting in the wings.

[Karen]

I think December calls for light reading! I'm reading some cozy mysteries by Elaine Viets, "Murder Between the Covers" a Dead-end Job Mystery. It's set in Florida, and is a fun quick read.

I think Edgar Sawtelle is too sad for the holiday season. After I finished it, I read online reviews and saw that it was a take on Hamlet. If I had read that first, I would have put it off for another time.

I must be the odd one, because I didn't think it was that wonderful.
Karen

[Ann]

I just started the new book by Anne Michaels, author of the oh-so-gorgeous Fugitive Pieces. I'm not too far in, but am enjoying her writing style. It's a slow, languid read, set on the Nile River in the 1960s during the reconstruction of an Egyptian temple. At least, that is the first 40 pages...

[Barbara]

Stephen, thank you for the description of the audiobook production of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I'm a lover of audiobooks and that sounds like a good way for them to present it. I'll be looking for it now. Who did the production? Was it Recorded Books?

[Barbara]

And, I recently finished The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller after a recommendation from my sister. So, I was delighted to hear Ann recommend it on the last podcast. I could never bring myself to read The Good Mother (which Ann compared it to) because my sons were small when it was published and I just felt too vulnerable to the subject matter. However, Family Pictures is my other favorite of Miller's and I think this new one is at, or surpasses, that level.

[Barbara]

I heard Dexter Filkins interviewed. I believe it was on the NYTimes Book Review podcast. I was so impressed with him at the time that I immediately put it on a list to read at the library. The experience obviously affected him profoundly and sincerely. But, I haven't been able to bring myself to read it yet.

BTW, very old threads frequently get revived with a new note. I'm glad you did that! I'm currently rereading Anna Karenina with the folks on the Constant Reader group. This is the new translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky and it's well worth revisiting this incredible novel.

[Andrew]

I'm reading "Twelve" by Nick McDonnell. Really enjoying it too. We'll see how it ends.

[Savvy]

I'm about halfway through CITY OF THIEVES by D. Benioff and am really, really impressed with this author!
The plot is sad, hilarious, fascinating, and
brilliant all at the same time!
Highly recommend!

[Ann]

Conny,
I know what you mean about The Forever War, and I fully agree. Enjoyable is not the right word. But it is such an important book, it is well worth the time and emotion spent reading.

[Graceann]

Conny wrote: "This is a very old thread. I guess everybody is reading so much so fast that nobody takes the time any longer to comment here. "

I'll jump in - I'm currently reading THE BOOK THIEF and it is an amazing read. I'm about halfway through, and just read a portion that was so beautiful that it made me cry my face off.

[Dottie]

I went on a C.S. Lewis binge recently -- first re-reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and following rapidly with the next five books inthe Narnia series. I must take a break from that however as I do not own a copy of the final book, The Last Battle, as yet and I also want to pick up the second film, Prince Caspian, to view that before I read the last of the books.

I am also crawling into the first part of Anna Karenina at a snail's pace after beginning it three times in the past couple of weeks and abandoning it after half a dozen pages. we shall see if I make it through the entire book.

[[deleted user]]

I am currently reading The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud. I am torn on whether I like it or not...the characters are interesting and I am curious to see where the story ends up. However, the sentences are sometimes way too long. At times it seems like they are a stream of conscience which is weird because it is a third person narrative. I counted on sentence had 8 commas, 2 semi-colons and one colon before it ended! I am only 125 pages into it and I need to finish for my book on Monday so we'll see how it all pans out.

[Karen]

I'm currently reading the Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini. I feel like I'm the last person in the world to read it! So far I'm finding it very absorbing. I also started to read Dr. Olaf van Schuler's Brain but Kirsten Menger-Anderson (as recommended on BOTN podcast a few months ago. I liked it but decided, given the short story format, it was a better read for when I'm back to work and have less time for reading. I'm on spring break now :-)

[Dottie]

Conny wrote: "Dottie, don't give up on Anna Karenina. I do not very often recommend books to others because usually they do not like to read what I enjoy reading and vice verse. However, Anna Karenina is one of ..."


Heh -- hadn't been here lately but I didn't give up on Anna and loved every bit of it! Next Tolstoy on the to-read is War and Peace. Hey, why not?

Now I'm racing along in The Fig Eater - Jody Shields and starting Winter in Madrid - C.J. Sansom. Also begininning Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin for Constant Reader group.

[Ann]

Spring break. I'm jealous!

Dottie, yay for Anna Karenina! I will get to War and Peace someday, though I hoe you have the newest translation from Pevear and Volokhonsky -- the intro to that is the best illustration I've read about the importance of the translators.

[Stephanie]

BO MY N:

In the Woods
Prince Caspian
Baker Towers
Revolutionary Road

Waiting on...
The Thirteenth Tale

[Graceann]

I'm reading Dogs of Babel, and I'm loving it. I'm starting a buddy read of Guernsey Literary ... on April 1. I'm really looking forward to that.

[Karen]

Graceann wrote: "I'm reading Dogs of Babel, and I'm loving it. I'm starting a buddy read of Guernsey Literary ... on April 1. I'm really looking forward to that."
I just finished Guernsey - great book!

[Graceann]

Karen wrote: "Graceann wrote: "I'm reading Dogs of Babel, and I'm loving it. I'm starting a buddy read of Guernsey Literary ... on April 1. I'm really looking forward to that."
I just finished Guernsey - great ..."

}}I keep hearing good things and that gives me hope. I spoke too soon about Dogs of Babel - I was mentally punching the lead character all through the last third. Ah well. Can't love 'em all.

[Heather]

Alright, Michael, I hope you are right...I'm starting The Book Thief as soon as I get home from work tonight. I was really excited about it but then our youth librarian at my public library said she didn't like it and couldn't even finish it. I hope she's in the minority!

Heather in KS

[Graceann]

It's a shame the librarian didn't like The Book Thief, Heather. Sadly, not everyone will like every book. I loved it, and it is so far my top read of the year (the year is young, but still). I was still thinking about it days afterward, and there was a bit about halfway through that had me in tears. YMMV, of course, but I hope it won't.

[[deleted user]]

Heather wrote: "Alright, Michael, I hope you are right...I'm starting The Book Thief as soon as I get home ..."

Heather, I don't think you will be disappointed with The Book Thief. It is fantastic.

[Michael]

she's definitely in the minority Heather. Since I've made my love of the book public, I can't tell you how many people have told me that they loved it too!

[Dottie]

The Book Thief was the first title we selected for our town wide read and while some people found the unusual format frustrating and a couple people just didn't want to read about that period, most loved it and we had some great events and discussions. My granddaughter was turned on to the book by a teacher who was a daughter of holocaust survivors and the teacher said the book had changed the way she thought about the world.

Dottie M.

[Suey]

Heather wrote: "Alright, Michael, I hope you are right...I'm starting The Book Thief as soon as I get home ..."

Don't worry Heather. Michael is SO right, and that librarian is SO wrong! :)