You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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What are you currently reading and why? (CLOSED)
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Larry
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Oct 09, 2010 01:46PM
Finishing off a Sheridan Le Fanu story then onto a Clark Ashton Smith short.
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Having finished Little Boy Lost and written my review, I will now start A Summer Without Dawn: An Armenian Epic. :0) Could be good.I hope so! I like reading historical fiction, and this is azbout the Armenian-Turkish conflict!I didn't like Little Boy Lost AT ALL! I actually read it b/c this group will be discussing it next month.
Reading The City of the Singing Flame by Clark Ashton Smith-kinda weird!
Now the book on hgere says its 204 poages, and its only,err, 36 pages on my ebook!
Well I didn't finish STOLEN. I am now reading CRAVE.
Larry wrote: "Reading The City of the Singing Flame by Clark Ashton Smith-kinda weird!Now the book on hgere says its 204 poages, and its only,err, 36 pages on m..."
I've noticed lots of old SF short stories got rewritten to be novels. It's also possible that the book is a collection that includes the story you're reading as an e-book, which seems to be the case here, actually.
Is it any good? The Timescape imprint (or whatever you call it) has some, um, interesting, titles....
Is it any good? Well, its different! Great if you like weird fantasy.
It's early, but I'm doing some Christmas books Holiday Grind and The Alpine Christmas. I would be doing Halloween stuff, but few new books are offering this year :-(.
Currently reading The Woods by Harlan Coben and it is a real page turner. I am also still reading The Illuminator which is equally as enjoyable but a much slower paced book.
Currently reading The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1764), the earliest piece of fictin I've read so far!
Just finished The Help which I enjoyed (did those maids ever know how to gossip), am now reading American Rust.
Larry wrote: "Currently reading The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1764), the earliest piece of fictin I've read so far!"Is it any good? or do you have to make allowances for it being so old?
City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris - got it in a giveaway. About half way through - detective story set in Saudi Arabia, raising lots of thoughts about how women live there.
City of Veils sounds interesting...I'm going to go to Find Books...Interesting review by Giovanni Gelati...
Just finished The Invisible Mountain which was quite good and now am about to start The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for my real life book club.
Shanon, I enjoyed both of them. The first has really very different perspectives depending on who is narrating! Most like one section more than another; they are so very different.
Chrissie wrote: "Shanon, I enjoyed both of them. The first has really very different perspectives depending on who is narrating! Most like one section more than another; they are so very different."Its very true, each section is completely different but interesting how each influences the next. I can't decide which section would be my favourite. Still have to write my review of the book but I am still digesting it. (The Invisible Mountain)
Carol wrote: "City of Veils sounds interesting...I'm going to go to Find Books...Interesting review by Giovanni Gelati..."
Where can I find that review? Though I'm not sure I want to read it before I've finished the book.
go up to the top of the page and click on 'find books', type in name of book and scroll down past the section that says 'your friends reviews', Giovanni's review should be the first one, or if not at least close to the top. Let me know if you find it.
Shanon, I think The Invisible Mountain was wonderful as a whole. I thought the section on Salomé (sp?) was the hardest to take.... I adored the magical realism in the beginning. I loved the quirky characters. It said so much about Uruguay AND how families function. LOTS about family relationships! I am pretty sure I wrote a review and think I gave it four stars!
Carol, thanks for the tip about Giovanni's review of the City of Veils! I read it too.
I just finished A Summer Without Dawn: An Armenian Epic. Here is a link to my GR review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Now I will start The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust. One of my GR friends is rereading this, and we thought it would be fun to read a book together. :0)
We both like memoirs and books about WW2.
I am leaving the court of Louis XIV for the happy trails of Roy Rogers. Another of my guilty pleasures, reading some of the old Whitman Publishing books that were based on lots of the old t.v. shows I grew up on. Never great literature but high on the fun factor!
The Shunned House by H. P. Lovecraft. Creepy house tale...
John, tell me more about Whitman Publishing books and the old tv shows...would there be a book about Hoppy?
Carol wrote: "John, tell me more about Whitman Publishing books and the old tv shows...would there be a book about Hoppy?"Hi Carol. Sorry I can't find any listing for Hoppy. So far I have collected books for the shows Have Gun Will Travel, Sea Hunt, Rin Tin Tin, Zorro, Annie Oakley, Roy Rogers, Combat, The Rebel, Maverick, Bat Masterson and Cheyenne. There are still lots more to collect. I am lucky because our city has an annual book sale (400,000 books) and the lady who looks after the kids section keeps an eye open for these books for me. Many of the shows have multiple books. I found a list of all their titles at kevintoys.tripod.com. Good luck finding what you want. Not long ago I read a Hopalong Cassidy novel. I didn't realize the original author chose Louis L'Amour to carry on the stories.
Wow, John, that I didn't know! I've never been a fan of 'Western Literature' but maybe LL'A bears a closer look. I'll also try the kevintoys link.
I am now starting The Road From Home: A True Story of Courage, Survival and Hope which is a Newberry Honor Book. It is a biography about the Armenian Genocide. The author speaks of his mother's experiences. I am reading this b/c I want to know more about the Armenian genocide in 1915 and I like biographies. A Summer Without Dawn: An Armenian Epic just wasn't enough. I just finished The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust and here is my GR review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I just finished The Road From Home: A True Story of Courage, Survival and Hope and here follows my GR review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...I did learn about Armenian culture, Armenian Genocide and the Great Fire of Smyrna, but the biography could have been better told. I gave it three stars.
Now I have begun, still on the Armenian theme, Passage to Ararat
Carey, I went in and marked all 32 JD ROBB In Death novels as TBR...I hope they aren't too thick, as reads go...
Carol wrote: "Carey, I went in and marked all 32 JD ROBB In Death novels as TBR...I hope they aren't too thick, as reads go..."I had a hard time at first in the beginning of this one but after I got past the future/past contents I am finally enjoying it. I will be right with you in regards to the series. I go back and forth when books get to heavy and go back to Fern Michaels she is a easy read for me.
I just finished reading The Shadow Catcher and thought it was one of the best books I have read this year,.
Now, having finished all those books listed below, I have started The Invisible Bridge. I wanted to read it b/c I adore historical fiction and several of my friends really did think I would like it. This book really does live up to the rave reviews it is getting! I am still loving it 2/3 of the way through! I have already begun a review to explain why I am enjoying it: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...NONE of these reviews have spoilers!!!
Both this and The Door take place in Hungary, so they are fun to read together. The link to The Door is below.
While in Brittany I read several books. The only book I gave 5 stars to was The Blind Contessa's New Machine, and my GR review follows here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... It is absolutely lovely. It IS a love story! And historical fiction!
I finished Passage to Ararat. For all those interested in the Armenian Genocide, you should read this book. Personally I think everyone should be informed about this issue, which in fact Hitler said everyone had already forgotten!!!! Here is my reviews for this book:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I can also very highly recommend The Door. Why? Well check out my review here at GR: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... Even though I would have prefered a different ending, it was a great book! I gave this four stars too!
I FINALLY read 84, Charing Cross Road. As my review states (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) I should have not put this book off as long as I have. I didn't think I would enjoy it because it is an epistolary novel. I don't usually like such writing, but this was definitely an exception!
For all ot us who really don't NEED to add more books to out TBR mountains, I guess this is not a good message. I have discovered some books that really are too marvellous to ignore!!! Now you know of them too.
Currently reading The Little Giant of Aberdeen County for my in person book club. Not sure what to think so far. I find the voice throws me a bit. Not sure yet that first person is working for me...
I finished In the Shadow of Gotham and I really enjoyed it. Good mystery and interesting historical setting in the early 1900s NYC. Criminal psychology/profiling was just beginning to make an appearance in police work.Now reading Wife of the Gods: A Novel
I just finished The Invisible Bridge and I loved it. Here follows my review:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... It is historical fiction.
Now I will start Not Even My Name: A True Story. This is a memoir and it concerns ethnic clensing in Turkey. The Turks not only kicked out the Armenians, but also the Greeks at the time of WW1.
Started Gridlinked, Neal Asher's first Ian Cormac novel. I've read one of his books before (Prador Moon, very good) so when I found another of his books in the library I had to borrow it!
Shannon said: Currently reading The Little Giant of Aberdeen County for my in person book club. Not sure what to think so far. I find the voice throws me a bit. Not sure yet that first person is working for me... How coincidental. The Lending Library at work had a copy of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, I was bored, so I picked it up, then let it sit at home. The title sounds like one of them home-spun things, perhaps cute anecdotes etc. about peoples' lives that only people who knew them would appreciate. Perhaps I should give it a closer look.
Nikki wrote: "I just started The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. It was a Today Show recommendation. Any thoughts?"Nikki, The Post-Birthday World is a GREAT book. I read it a few years ago and I just loved it from start to finish. I checked out another Shriver book (So Much For That) a few months ago from the library but didn't get around to reading it, but plan to eventually check it out again and try again because I loved TP-BW sooooo much. What did you think? (I wrote this reply and then realized your post was written in Nov. 2008-not 2010-whoops :))
I'm 60 pages into Her Fearful Symmetry. I LOVED the Time Travellers Wife so I hope his one lives up to that.
What do you think of Her Fearful Symmetry so far? I checked it out from the library a month or so ago but didn't get around to starting it. I do want to read it although all the reviews I read said that it pales in comparison to The Time Traveler's Wife. (Did you see the movie version of TTTW?)
Reading currently, 'Susan Hayward, Portrait of a Survivor' by Beverly Linet...November 15, 2010 - So far this is a treasure trove of history dealing with Hollywood goings-on surrounding Susan Hayward's beginnings, entry into 'show-business', marriage to Jesse Barker, and behind-the-scenes treatment of her and others she knew, and Hollywood politics. Interesting if you care about such things, and I do, but probably a little boring because the details do slow down the action. I did learn a lot from the inside information, for instance how much a discrepancy in salaries the stars had, and what the studios could do to 'punish' those that didn't conform or that they just plain didn't like. I think at present I am up to Chapter 9, which I think is a little after Susan and Jess separate... (less) Nov 16...Well, Susan and Jess separate, reconcile, separate, reconcile again, separate again...don't know whether they reconcile again or not, haven't got that far. This seems to be a very candid portrait of SH, outlining her shortcomings as well as her qualities...a lot of information packed into this book, and I'm not a quarter of the way through yet. Ms Linet has done a prodigious amount of research on SH's past, through material already printed, but also interviewing anyone and everyone associated with her at one time or another, including early teachers, maids, wardrobe mistress, studio bigwigs...you name it, I don't think she left any stone unturned. There is no fluffy filler in this book, yet it does have many anecdotes...an enjoyable read, at least so far.
As for the 'why'...I recently attended a screening of cartoons at 'the Lasky Barn' which is the home of the Hollywood Heritage Museum. I found this book on their 'used bookshelf' and it interested me so I bought it even though I am wary of bookshelves and bookstores in general because I buy way too many as it is...but I bought it anyway. As I was having it rung up by the cashier he remarked "Oh, this is one that I brought in. I bought it here, read it, and brought it in again. We just love Susan." I'm a sucker for a personal touch, so I left feeling good about the book, and actually bought a membership to HH also, along with a book about the best 100 Loony Tunes Cartoons, signed by the author, who was our speaker that night. (Unusual for me to buy a book new, but I was just so carried away by the event...)
I'm reading Paris '97 by Eric Hamilton. I chose it because: 1. I LOVE Princess Diana, 2. I love mysteries, 3. I used to read Eric Hamilton books as a kid, when he was still known as Eric Wilson, and 4. Its website is all dark and mysterious and had some really good excerpts and reviews (www.paris97.com, if anyone's interested)
My daughter is coming home from 2 1/2 months in South America so to celebrate I am going to read Faithful Travellers: A Father, His Daughter, a Journey of the Heart - a father and daughter book!
I highly recommend Not Even My Name: A True Story. Here follows a link to my GR review: http://www.goodreads.com:80/review/sh...Give it a chance. In the beginning I was a bit disturbed by the varying prose styles. It is NOT just about the massacres of Greek Pontians in Turkey after WW1. It is also a biography of one woman who, having lived through these horrors, came ot singing, loving life. It has a large emotional impact.
And now I will start Nothing in the World. Writing reviews has taught me that what I like best are those books that both teach and make an emotional impact on me. I think this will do that, as it did with Not Even My Name!
I just finished Nothing in the World, historical fiction concerning the Serb/Croatian Civil War of the 90s. My review is at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...I do not know if anyone could call this a comfort read.....I gave it 5 stars. Amazing writing!
Now I will start The Homecoming Party - a coming of age novel covering Italian, French and Albanian culture.
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
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