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What Are You reading June, 2012
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I'm listening to All Woman and Springtime on audio. No offense to Ann and Michael or Random House but I think Algonquin is my favorite publisher. It seems like everything they release is just exceptional.
I have started both Gone Girl to read on my Kindle and I am listening to The Stand. I haven't read much Stephen King. But after listening to BOTNS, I decided to read The Stand.
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because it was on my shelf because I bought it at Goodwill eons ago because it's like new and now I'm trying to read more books on my shelf and
Does anyone have some book recommendations for my niece, who is a 5 year old athletic, adventurous, confident girl? I'm not exactly sure of her reading level. I know this is a bit off-topic, but I wasn't sure where to post it. And THANK YOU to this wonderful group which has added stacks of books to my own TBR pile.
Susan wrote: "Does anyone have some book recommendations for my niece, who is a 5 year old athletic, adventurous, confident girl? I'm not exactly sure of her reading level. I know this is a bit off-topic, but I ..."How about Roald Dshl's Matilda? The heroine is 5 and a half and the reading level is age 7 and up.
I'm reading The Brief History of the Dead after hearing Kevin Brockmeier at Booktopia - and having it recommended by Amanda :-) - sofar it's really interesting!
I am struggling to finish the last 30 or so pages of Tinkers. At one point the story suddenly shifted to first person PoV and I couldn't figure out who "I" was, and that kind of killed my drive to finish it. The first half of the book is lovely, poetic and visual. I wish it had been a short story. I am going to sit and finish it tonight, and hope that the very end is as good as the very beginning.In my malaise I decided to bring another book out to the deck over the weekend (ostensibly to protect the hardcover library copy of Tinkers from whatever could happen outdoors), and started my June +12 in '12, Mister Pip. Love love love. I'm glad it worked out that I read this after I read Great Expectations, because otherwise a large portion of the book would be lost on me. I also heard a bit ago that they were making a movie of this, and that Hugh Laurie would be playing Mr. Watts, which is brilliant casting, imo.
I am also still enjoying Alice I Have Been, especially the audio work by Samantha Eggar. I have to say that some of the parts of the book are making me uncomfortable (taking pictures of Alice in the garden, for example), and I don't know if they are supposed to or not. It is possible I am being too sensitive.
OK - don't read this!
. I really enjoy a good fluff book and thrillers and science thrillers. This, however, is awful. I am going to finish it - I only have about 15 pages to read, but it's pretty bad. This was an unfinished manuscript found after Crichton's death and finished by someone else (another well-known author, but I can't think who). The story is just silliness - I could not suspend my disbelief on this one.
I have finally finished Wolf Hall. It was a difficult book at first for me to actually get into the story and keep reading, but by the last third of the book I was used to Mantel's writing style and I was so in to the story that I couldn't put it down. So of course once I finished it I immediately picked up Bring Up the Bodies which so far is even better.And today is a great day as I found out that Carlos Ruiz Zafon has a new book coming out on July 10th and revolves around the same characters in Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game. The Cemetery of Forgotten Books is in it as well. I am so excited!!!!!
Victoria wrote: "OK - don't read this! [bookcover:Micro: A Novel]. I really enjoy a good fluff book and thrillers and science thrillers. This, however, is awful. I am going to finish it - I only have about 15 pa..."You lasted longer than I did. I gave up after 40 pages or so, and I love his earlier books.
I reread the play as I'll be appearing in it this summer as Sir Toby Belch. Ah, what fun!
Shakespeare fact: most directors these days cut Shakespeare's plays down to a reasonable two hours for performance. That will be the case for the production I'm in. I'll miss the double-talk conversations between Sir Toby and the Clown, and some of the "mistaken identity" humor involving male/female twins Sebastian and Viola. Although I can see why the director removed this stuff. In the former case, the invented references to phony experts like "Qeuebus" (God, would I have loved saying "Qeuebus"!) would have been indistinguishable from other archaic references, thereby causing confusion to the average theater goer. In the latter case, the humorous situations are often repetitive.
Cutting Shakespeare is nothing new. David Garrick, an actor and director who was a friend of Samuel Johnson, used to do it routinely in the 18th century.
I'm rereading "Swamplandia" for a book club after first reading it a few months ago (technically listening to it). It's just as amazing the second time around. Before this was a selection for a different book club called "Untouchable" by Scott O'Connor, another one of those dysfunctional family books (that should be dysfunctional with a capital D--these folks are really messed up following a death in the family). It's won some awards, but our group gave it a so-so rating. I'm looking forward to finishing Swamplandia so I can move on to a nonfiction book called "Color: A Natural History of the Palette" by Victoria Finlay. I sneaked in a chapter or two and am eager to dig deeper.
My current audiobook is John Irving's "Last Night in Twisted River." Some aspects of the writing style and plot irk me, but not enough that I'll stop. The story begins with an adolescent boy accidentally killing his father's lover (he mistakes her for a bear and whacks her on the head with a heavy skillet--sounds ludicrous, I know). The father and son flee their New England lumber camp after arranging the scene so that suspicion of guilt will fall on someone else, but inevitably fate will catch up with them, and I'm interested enough to stick around and see what happens.
I loved Twisted River....but I love John Irving...
Kahneman describes two the two modes of thinking, the intuitive mode, which he calls "System One", and the engaged, active mode, which he calls "System Two". System One performs those automatic tasks of daily life that require no conscious thought, such as driving, recognizing faces, and reading people's emotions. System Two kicks in when we multiply numbers or have to make decisions requiring thought.
This book is really about decision making, and how the two "Systems" interact in making decisions. The problem is that humans don't make as good decisions as "econs" (hypothetical rational entities). The reason we don't make as good decisions as we could is that System Two is lazy, and will always seek a shortcut. Further, System Two is in thrall to judgments made by System One, which often set System Two off onto an incorrect premise. Even when presented with statistics which would result in better decisions, humans will ignore said statistics and "go with their guts", resulting in poor decisions.
This fascinating book intersects with concepts of game theory and with issues discussed in Susan Cain's
. Highly recommended. I listened to the audio, and grasped most of it, but if I had it to do over again, I'd read the physical book, as there are tables to refer to, and some of the concepts require a bit more mulling over than when a narrator is breezily reading it to you.
Finished
, which I really enjoyed. I should be starting
for one of my book groups, but
just came into the library and Ann recommended it so highly that I am going to start it instead. I usually wind up reading the "hot" books after everyone else! It is nice to be timely for a change.
Becky wrote: "I loved Twisted River....but I love John Irving..."Hated Twisted River, and now I just barely "like" Irving!
He was recently interviewed by Craig Ferguson (CBS Late Show) and it was pretty quickly obvious that he passed his prime as a writer (IMHO) and perhaps as a civil human being. And I loved his earlier books! If interested, read my (scathing) review of Last Night in Twisted River. Uff!
I am aiming to finish In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. Wonder if any of you have read his earlier book 'Devil in the White City' and how you think they compare?
I'm reading I am Forbidden, The Dead Do Not Improve, The People of Forever Are Not Afraid, and Gone Girl.A crazy good mix, a great way to get into summer reading (even though none of them are really "beach reads").
What puts the "summer" in a great summer read, you think?
I am reading River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh. I read Sea of Poppies last summer and liked it so much I wanted to read more.
Julie wrote: "Becky wrote: "I loved Twisted River....but I love John Irving..."Hated Twisted River, and now I just barely "like" Irving!
He was recently interviewed by Craig Ferguson (CBS Late Show) and it w..."
I saw him on Craig Ferguson & thought it was hysterical...
SPOILER:
No mockingbirds are harmed.
No mockingbirds are harmed.
That would be How to Kill a Mockingbird.
"Killing a Mockingbird for Dummies".
you guys are funny! i'm reading it for the second time as i don't really remember it the first time around.
Mass slaughter of penguins, though. Remember that part?
I never knew how vicious the mockingbird was until I read what it did to the penguins.
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I would be willing to avenge the penguins as well.
Becky wrote: "Julie wrote: "Becky wrote: "I loved Twisted River....but I love John Irving..."Hated Twisted River, and now I just barely "like" Irving!
He was recently interviewed by Craig Ferguson (CBS Late ..."
I feel so bad about not finishing Last Night.... Am 1/2 way through on my Kindle. I loved The World according to Garp and it saved me over holiday break when I was in college and home with bronchitis and stuck in the dcotor's office for hours. It is still one of my top ten books and I wished still loved John Irving, but....
I was lucky enough to snag a library copy of Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's
, which came out only a couple of weeks ago but is already at the top of the U.K. fiction charts. The first third reads like straight 1980s Pratchett, albeit without his trademark humor. I hope it holds up all the way through, especially since Baxter is slated to finish several more of Pratchett's unfinished drafts over the next few years.Am also halfway through Paul J. Bauer and Mark Drwidziak's
, which, like Tully's own books, is beautifully written but unrelentingly grim, and a mid-'90s edition of
. Next up: Lynn Sharon Schwartz's
, George Orwell's
, and Nicholas Basbanes'
.
I was really hoping that Eric wd review Thinking, Fast and Slow, the book I've learned the most from in years. . . I'm hoping it will change my life, we'll see! I did the audio also and plan on buying the print copy and re-reading to really 'get' all of his points. I just finished Disgrace which I really enjoyed and I would like to read more novels by Coetzee. Any recommendations? I'm currently readingBlind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth, what a page turner! Thank you Michael!
But even Kahneman noted that when he himself had the opportunity to use statistics instead of his feelings when making decisions, he chose his feelings. It's easy to believe we can change our human ways and behave as econs, but hard to put it into practice.
Becky writes, "I just finished Disgrace which I really enjoyed and I would like to read more novels by Coetzee. Any recommendations? I'm currently readingBlind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth, what a page turner!" Try the
Life & Times of Michael KLife & Times of Michael K or Elizabeth Costello. Both great and quick reads.
Becky wrote: "I was really hoping that Eric wd review Thinking, Fast and Slow, the book I've learned the most from in years. . . I'm hoping it will change my life, we'll see! I did the audio also and plan on buy..."post your thoughts on blind descent. it sounds interesting.
Eric wrote: "But even Kahneman noted that when he himself had the opportunity to use statistics instead of his feelings when making decisions, he chose his feelings. It's easy to believe we can change our human..."That is very true. . . I work in end of life care and I always see people making emotional, fast decisions re: their dying loved ones. Often the decisions are not very good ones. I keep thinking that maybe if I re-read the book very carefully, maybe I can do a better job advvising them and get them to make better decisions, but probably not. . . we'll see.
Re:
Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth, it's a non-fiction about cavers who explore very deep caves using scuba diving and rock climbing equipment. It's interesting, sort of the caving version of "into thin air". . . a nice quick page turner where you learn about a different part of the world you normally don't hear much about. . . supercaves. . .
Nancy, just saw your post about "Color: A Natural History of the Palette". I am going to look it up because it sounds like it would really interest me. I'll be interested in your rating of it.
I haven't read Swamplandia yet, but thought it might be a good choice for our book group.
Julie wrote: "Wonder if any of you have read his earlier book 'Devil in the White City' and how you think they compare ..."Devil in the White City is in my top 10 books of all times. I enjoyed In the Garden as well... just not as much as Devil in the White City. He seems to write about my interests, ie Chicago is my FAVORITE city and I've always been drawn to WW2 books ever since I was in middle school and read the diary of Anne Frank.
Julie wrote: "I am aiming to finish In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. Wonder if any of you have read his earlier book 'Devil in the White City' and ..."I liked Devil in the White City better than In the Garden of Beasts. I got really depressed reading about the rise of Hitler because I couldn't get rid of my sense of inevitability. It was hard knowing how much damage he would ultimately cause.
I liked Devil in the White City better because the murders of HH Holmes were contrasted with the building and running of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition. Reading about the fair was really interesting - and I found some old photos of the fair, which were incredible.
Judie wrote: "Nancy, just saw your post about "Color: A Natural History of the Palette". I am going to look it up because it sounds like it would really interest me. I'll be interested in your rating of it.[bo..."
I love both of Victoria Finlay's books - Color: A Natural History of the Palette, and Jewels: A Secret History. She takes these mundane topics and talks about their histories and the people who were shaped by them. And she's a very readable author.
Julie wrote: "Becky wrote: "I loved Twisted River....but I love John Irving..."Hated Twisted River, and now I just barely "like" Irving!
He was recently interviewed by Craig Ferguson (CBS Late Show) and it w..."
I confess that I gave up on Twisted River despite my original post saying I'd stick it out. I made it through 10 of 20 discs in the audiobook and just felt I'd had enough when Irving once again left things at what looked like it could be a critical turning point and wandered off into several long, seemingly unimportant flashbacks about unrelated events that had happened years ago. I got tired of waiting for the plot to reemerge. Maybe someday I'll pick up the book and skim through it to see how it ends, but for now I'm glad to be done with it.
Judie wrote: "Nancy, just saw your post about "Color: A Natural History of the Palette". I am going to look it up because it sounds like it would really interest me. I'll be interested in your rating of it.[bo..."
I'm still reading "Color," and it's fascinating. Color by color, the author explores how pigments and paints were made and used, going back not just to the eras of great masterworks in art but to the earliest cave paintings, Australian aboriginal societies, etc. I love her statement early in the book to the effect that when we think about art history, we think about the artists and their work but not about "the people who made the things that made the art," in other words, the people who make the colors.
My only minor complaint is that I would have liked more illustrations. Of course you can seek out relevant images online, but it would have been nice to have them reproduced within the book. There are several pages of illustrations in the center of the book, just not enough to satisfy me.
When I paint, I use 'Old Master' techniques and quite often grind my own pigments (with the appropriate oil) to make the paint. This book sounds like it could really be interesting for me!!
Books on the Nightstand
Books mentioned in this topic
Swamplandia! (other topics)Color: A Natural History of the Palette (other topics)
Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth (other topics)
Life & Times of Michael K (other topics)
Elizabeth Costello (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Erik Larson (other topics)Ray Bradbury (other topics)
Susan Glaspell (other topics)
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