Retired: What are you reading? Showing 2,051-2,100 of 5,490

[Kirk]

LeAnne wrote: "Ooo, Rick Bass is somebody whose work I keep meaning to sample. We have two of his books here at the house that I got for my husband but have yet to open them. I used to work for a small oil compan..." It's a small world. Always just a few degrees of separation. He's good!

[LA]

Josh has recommended his works, too, but I usually am turned off by short stories. There is another book of short stories I put down for a bit (by Steve Weddell) that I need to pull back out and getting a running start on. I swear, having three apps with separate collections of free audio books is interrupting my reading flow! If only our southern lit and grit-lit books were on audio from the library, I'd be elated.

[Kirk]

Oh, sorry to find out those selections are not well represented on audio. Boo%^^$@%!#^&*^^*^$# *** I try like heck to be condescending toward short stories, but I've got probably 10 more on my to-reads shelf. I'm mostly past suffering from bad hangovers, but if I did and wanted something easy, soothing, and reliably tone perfect, I would reach for Bass.

[Diane S ☔]

I have that one too, Kirk. Looking forward to your thoughts.

Reading As I Lay Dying and finished You Should Pity Us Instead
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

On a small get away and I'm bringing quick and thrilling reads and josh is yelling from the other room "where's my newest Bass book"!?!?

[Kirk]

Laura wrote: "On a small get away and I'm bringing quick and thrilling reads and josh is yelling from the other room "where's my newest Bass book"!?!?" Only Goodreads people would know we're not talking about fishing, here. Lol

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

That is so true Kirk!

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

Kirk wrote: "Laura wrote: "On a small get away and I'm bringing quick and thrilling reads and josh is yelling from the other room "where's my newest Bass book"!?!?" Only Goodreads people would know we're not ta..."

Hah! Absolutely love your comment. Thanks for a great laugh on a gray day.

[John]

BASS FISHING 101

It's a cheep shot but I couldn't help myself. Gotta beet Tom to the punch

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

John wrote: "BASS FISHING 101

It's a cheep shot but I couldn't help myself. Gotta beet Tom to the punch"

Anybody up for Trout? Kilgore Trout? Ahem...

[LA]

PARIS Trout! ;)

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

John wrote: "BASS FISHING 101

It's a cheep shot but I couldn't help myself. Gotta beet Tom to the punch"

I was too busy wondering if the Bass brothers LeAnne did business with were pros and if they had a shop.

[LA]

Y'all are a hoot!!

[Diane S ☔]

Finished Dimestore: On Memory, Place, and Writing
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm reading Sinners Welcome by Mary Karr, which is her fourth poetry collection. Anyone familiar with her life will understand almost everything here - mother, father, and relationship poems, poems about friends who have died, and Catholic themed poems. I'd like to go back and read some of the pre-Catholic poetry, I think.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

I started reading A Good Man Is Hard to Find last night. The title of this story never appealed to me but everyone who read it said I would love it. They were right.

[Kim]

One of my favorite stories to teach @ the Naval Academy Prep School back in the day. I love Flannery O'Connor, and I especially love her short stories. Her voice is so distinctive, her details so well-observed.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Another one I'm reading and really enjoying is Kindred. While not technically a southern writer, Octavia E. Butler has, through the device of a time-travel novel, given me one of the best slave's-eye views of 19th century plantation life that I have read. This is my first book by Ms. Butler and I'm sure it won't be my last.

[Kim]

I also love Octavia Butler, Tom. I read a slew of her books a few years back, she is an original.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Kim wrote: "I also love Octavia Butler, Tom. I read a slew of her books a few years back, she is an original."

It's humbling to realize that when she was my age she had been dead for a year.

[Ron]

In Intruder in the Dust, I love Miss Habersham's final statement about the murder of Vinson Gowrie. She says, "He buried him in quicksand!"

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Ron wrote: "In Intruder in the Dust, I love Miss Habersham's final statement about the murder of Vinson Gowrie. She says, "He buried him in quicksand!""

That's almost as good as "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

[Doug H]

Tom wrote: "I started reading A Good Man Is Hard to Find last night. The title of this story never appealed to me but everyone who read it said I would love it. They were right."

Moral: Never ever EVER bring your annoying mother with you when you take your family on vacation.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

But if they had listened to her, they wouldn't have been in the situation in the first place. Revised moral: Listen to your mother.

[Doug H]

Diane wrote: "But if they had listened to her, they wouldn't have been in the situation in the first place. Revised moral: Listen to your mother."

Okay, listen to your mother. Re-revised moral: Never ever Ever let your mother bring her cat along when you take your family on vacation.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Doug wrote: "Diane wrote: "But if they had listened to her, they wouldn't have been in the situation in the first place. Revised moral: Listen to your mother."

Okay, listen to your mother. Re-revised moral: Ne..."

Having just finished Kindred, it occurs to me that another interpretation might be, "If someone says it is a good idea to visit a plantation, they might not have your best interests at heart."

[mef]

Tom wrote: "I started reading A Good Man Is Hard to Find last night. The title of this story never appealed to me but everyone who read it said I would love it. They were right."

Something else I was reading referred to "A Stroke of Luck", a story in that collection, and I got somebody to send me a copy (I was out of the country, and couldn't find it in English), of just that one story.

Oh. My. Goodness. What writing! What a deft hand with the character's voice. I'll definitely get the whole collection, and I'll be interested to hear what you think.

THis is my first acquaintance with Flannery O'Connor, and I'm wondering why I waited so long...

[mef]

Tom wrote: "While not technically a southern writer, Octavia E. Butler ..."

Talk about serendipity! The other work referred to by the same author who touched on A Good Man is Hard to Find was Dawn by Octavia Butler. Believe it or don't, the local library where I was in Sweden had a copy in English, so I read it.

It's been a while since I've read fantasy or science fiction, which used to be about half of what I read when I was young. I thought the alien world she invented showed tremendous powers of invention, but the story very weak indeed. And since it seemed that all the author's passion and all the page-time had been given to explaining how the aliens worked, I thought that maybe the problem was at my end, and I'd just forgotten how much world-building a writer of speculative fiction has to do.

In any case, I don't plan to read the other two books of the trilogy.

[mef]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm reading Sinners Welcome by Mary Karr..."

I loved her memoir, The Liar's Club -- but I'm sure you all have discussed that here before!

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

mef wrote: "Tom wrote: "I started reading A Good Man Is Hard to Find last night. The title of this story never appealed to me but everyone who read it said I would love it. They were right."

Som..."

Be sure to join in the group discussion of O'Connor's stories next month. It appears that a lot of people are already anxious to get started.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

The copy of A Good Man Is Hard to Find And Other Stories that I have has a blurb from the NYT review on the back that refers to her as an American De Maupassant. That's a perfect description if the three stories I've read so far are any indication.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

FYI: Anyone interested in reading The Kitchen House, this book is on sale at Amazon today for $1.99 for the Kindle edition. Heres' the link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003...

[mef]

Tom wrote: "Be sure to join in the group discussion of O'Connor's stories next month. ..."

Thanks for that -- drove me to look around until I found the group read area. (GoodReads...isn't easy for Shelfari transplants. Or maybe it's just me.)

I'm so booked up with things I *have* to read for work I can't imagine fitting anything else in...but I'll try...

[Jane]

Just received Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith this is my weekend read Diane you ate reading it too ?

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Yes, Jane, just started it and I'm impressed. Can't wait for the thread to be posted so I can discuss. It's quite a book.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

It's my next book to start. This sounds like positive feedback so far, yay!!!! So, remember I ordered a copy of A Serigamy of Stories for $3.99? It ended up being a signed copy, wow!! There was no note saying it was signed. On another note, I ask my hubby how to pronounce "Serigamy". He said it doesn't exist. So I'm saying how is that. I pick up the book and the back reads "Serigamy is not in any dictionary. It is a made up word...." This sounds like it could be interesting.

[Diane, "Miss Scarlett"]

Laura, I ordered "A Serigamy of Stories" for $3.00 too, but didn't get a signed copy, darn it. Mine is a discarded library book. But it will read just as well.

[Laura, "The Tall Woman"]

It was a nice surprise Diane!

[Angela M]

Finished A Doubter's Almanac. 4 stars . My review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ann]

Re-reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin because it's so lush and sentimental. I love it.

Also into The Virgin's Lover by Phillipa Gregory because it's easy and fun for the weekend.

[LA]

Anybody having issues with Goodreads not accumulating your notifications via the iPhone app? If I ignore a question or comment you've directed at me, please forgive me - barely seeing diddly doodle lately.

As for good reads, I've bumped into a mixed bag lately but was thrilled by an unusual little novel by Vendela Vida who, interestingly, is married to writer Dave Eggers.

The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty is contemporary fiction centered around a solo vacation trip taken by a Miami woman. The book opens as she is on a plane headed to Morocco, and finding out why she is going there is a fantastic little reading journey I thoroughly enjoyed. The author does a really nice job with dual meanings, and the slow-reveal was excellent. This would make a great choice for a book group discussion. I gave it 5 stars.

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

LeAnne wrote: "As for good reads, I've bumped into a mixed bag lately but was thrilled by an unusual little novel by Vendela Vida who, interestingly, is married to writer Dave Eggers.

The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty is contemporary fiction centered around a solo vacation trip taken by a Miami woman. ."

Interesting. My four GR friends who have read this have rated it everything but 2 stars. I guess it's one of those books that I'll have to read for myself to see what I think.

[LA]

Tom wrote: "LeAnne wrote: "Anybody having issues with Goodreads not accumulating your notifications via the iPhone app? If I ignore a question or comment you've directed at me, please forgive me - barely seein..."

Isn't it funny how we all see things differently? Love that! One thing that was unusual about "Diver" is that the author used second person sentence structure for the entire book. You notice it right away, of course, but you gradually see it as a natural progression of getting inside the main character's skin. You may not understand the choices she makes, but you can relate to her emotions. See that "you" thing I just wrote?

I listened to this novel as opposed to reading it, so the second person "you" became comfortable and conversational. Perhaps reading all the "yous" is distracting.

But I liked that usage because of the identity thing. The dust jacket will tell you that the main character ends up switching identities when her passport & wallet are swiped in the first chapter, She is sort of forced into it, but the fact that the author never reveals the woman's name and that she puts "you" in the skin of this main character all ties together.

[Diane S ☔]

Finished She's Not There
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Seem to be missing quite a bit of my notifications or they are delayed.

[Connie]

I got double copies of four of my notifications. Maybe that's supposed to make up for the ones that were missing :-)

[LA]

Lol!! Glad you girls are in the crazy bin with me!

[Kim]

Reading Joe R. Lansdale's first Hap & Leonard novel, Savage Season. East Texas noir--really like the characters, the voices. If Trudy were in a Sam Spade novel, she would be the dame bringing trouble & chaos through the door.

[John]

Trouble and Chaos. two good names for horses

[Tom, "Big Daddy"]

Kim wrote: "Reading Joe R. Lansdale's first Hap & Leonard novel, Savage Season. East Texas noir--really like the characters, the voices. If Trudy were in a Sam Spade novel, she would be the dame bringing troub..."

I really need to read that one. I watched the first episode of the new TV show last night and it is called Savage Season so I can only assume it follows the book. It looks like it will be in a one season equals one book format.

[Kim]

I have the first episode on my DVR. Waiting until I get 1/2 way through the book at least before I watch.