What are you reading?

quote:

Originally posted by baileysoriginal


I'm about halfway through "Under The Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes - .

I LOVED the movie.
I love the Italian countryside, and if I ever won the lottery, that is where I would make my new home!

Last night I finished "Brain Droppings," by George Carlin. I liked it a lot. I could hear his wise, weary, cantankerous voice in my head the whole way through. RIP George.

Then I started reading "Fork It Over" a collection of food writing by Alan Richman, which is pretty good so far, although Richman, like all food writers, can sometimes be a snob.

I've read a lot of food writing this year. I'm starting to think of it as food torture, reading about fancy exquisite meals that I cannot possibly afford right now. That's another thing to like about the Sterns' writing. Everything they review and write about is attainable, even under my budget, except for a couple places like Peter Luger.

Speaking of Roadfood, I'm going to eat at The Beacon in Spartanburg, SC for the first time next week. I can't wait.

The DaVinci Code and Nickle and Dimed. I'm a few years behind.

I just finished The Book Thief. Dude, it was awesome. About a young girl growing up in WWII Germany, her foster family, and narrated by Death.

Anyone want it? I'll mail. . .

Anything by F.Paul Wison...I have read his entire Repairman Jack series....Better than any Stephen King(Stephen King is THE president of the Repairman Jack fan club...also for those of you who liked the Da Vinci Code please read F.Paul Wilson's VIRGIN...A superb page turner!!!

just finished "The Monsters of Templeton" by Laurie Goff...amazing book! wonderfully written! go ahead and treat yourself, it's a page turner...

I finished "Fork It Over", which I really enjoyed. I recommend it, especially the chapter on Richman's search for the perfect NC barbecue sandwich. Pure Roadfood.

I also finished "Granny D: Walking Across America in my 90th year," by Doris Haddock, an account of her remarkable walk across America to draw awareness for campaign finance reform. What a spunky lady.

Tonight I'll probably start "Toast" by Nigel Slater. I've been wanting to read this for awhile and found a copy at a used bookstore yesterday. The blurb on the back from Jane Stern sealed the deal.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Anything by F.Paul Wison...I have read his entire Repairman Jack series....Better than any Stephen King(Stephen King is THE president of the Repairman Jack fan club...also for those of you who liked the Da Vinci Code please read F.Paul Wilson's VIRGIN...A superb page turner!!!

Come on Lee, you can't compare DaVinci code to Virgin. DaVinci code didn't try to get away with having Da Vinci come back to life at the end to resolve everything.

Yes,but that's Wilson...his Supernatural stuff mixed with mystery and a pinch od detective is fine by me...you're right,it's not the same category exactly...just the germ of an idea...Still I loved the book and its wild ending...but I'm a bit prejudiced...F.Paul Wilson is my doctor and I can occasionaly talk about his books with him....I can't do that with Dan Brown!

quote:

Originally posted by Sandy Thruthegarden

I'm most of the way through "Clapton, The Autobiography". It's mostly a history of his drinking, drugging, womanizing, and recovery. It is amazing he could remember any of it. It's moderately interesting.

Can't agreee more...made me think he should cover Jimmy Buffett's "I'm a piece of work".

"The Economist" (weekly news magazine) - I like it because you get US and world events from a non-American point of view. Very interesting to see an outsiders view on our nation, as well as news not typically covered in American news magazines.

"Sailing Alone around the world" ~ Capt. Joshua Slocum. Written 1899, the account of the worlds first solo circumnavigation. (On a shoestring budget!) Wonderfully written in a form of english from another era of a world long gone. Not just logbook accounts, but observations of people and places from a seasoned mariner.

I read a book over vacation that I thought many of you folks might like; it's called 'Deer Hunting with Jesus' by Joe Bageant. The author is an editor of a military history magazine and grew up in Winchester, VA, moved away for his career, and recently moved back. It covers politics and economics and psychology and all kinds of stuff and is also pretty funny. Y'all should check it out.

I got a 4-week trial subscription to The Economist awhile back, War Toad. While I really like the magazine overall, as a reporter myself I find their lack of bylines really annoying. If I really enjoy a piece, I want to know who wrote it so I can keep an eye for more of their work. Not knowing who wrote an article is frustrating to me.

"Sailing Alone Around the World" sounds really interesting.

Right now I'm reading William Zinsser's "On Writing Well," which is great so far. It really makes me think about how I can reduce clutter in my own writing.

I'm reading a really good spin on Dracula: "Fangland" by John Marks. It takes the tale of Dracula and sets in the cutthroat world of TV news. I'm really liking it so far.

"A Buffalo in the House" about a couple with ties to relatives that fought to preserve the bison when they were being wiped out. They adopted a 3-month buffalo named Charlie that lost his mother in a stampede. Guess I never realized how close to extinction they were and that it was a deliberate attempt to exterminate the Indians.

Last week I finished a must read for anyone who just might happen to live on the planet Earth (If you don't, simply disregard this recommendation).
"The Earth Is Hot Flat & Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman, puts in language I think everyone can understand, what we face not only as a country, but as global community and presents some very sound solutions.
Finally after over thirty years, here is an author who explains without the "hippy" baggage of "The Mother Earth News" types (like me...and after thirty years, frankly, I'm tired of screaming) the very real issues we face today, but what needs to be done so that our great great.......great grandchildren can have a pleasant home in which to live.
Huge props to Mr. Friedman!

Last night I finished Christopher Buckley's "Supreme Courtship".
This book is excellent and a genuine hoot about a Texas raised, good 'ol common sense kinda gal TV judge (who packs heat), that is appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Buckley is as intelligent & funny his daddy was, but in satire (yes, I think William F. had a great sense of humor..just had to read him reeeal slow), without having to sign up for advanced college courses and needing the thousand lb copy of the Oxford English Dictionary to "get it".
It's a fairly quick read and I'd recommend it to anyone...it really is funny!

I also just finished "The Brass Verdict" the new Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly.
His new character, attorney Micky Haller, is one I believe we'll be seeing a lot more of.
Good 'ol Harry Bosch isn't the prime character in this one, but there's enough of him to get your Hieronymus fix if your a Harry fan....and I have been since The Black Echo.
It's a decent page turner with believable dialogue as I believe is usual for his books.
There's an interesting suprise at the end I didn't see coming. I like interesting suprises in these kinds of reads and Mr. Connelly weaves it in pretty good without it being just manufactured tripe...at least I think so (& I don't do tripe...or chittlin's)...you'll see.

Just started Ted Bell's "Tsar", another Alex Hawke swashbucker.
So far it's kind of a stinker, but then I usually have to warm up to Mr. Bell before I really get into it.
For me anyway, it's just that he takes time his time getting to the story itself in the beginning while he plays with setting up his characters, but once he gets into it, so do I. The dust jacket describes him as "Think Tom Clancey and Robert Ludlum, meet Stephen King" and I think that's pretty apt.


Also getting ready to start John Updikes "The Widows of Eastwick"....I like "The Witches of Eastwick" years ago.
We'll see if he puts me to sleep...not that there's anything wrong with that necessarily, Updike just makes me sleepy sometimes, but he's a genuine pleasure to finish[|)] .

I haven't read but 2 or 3 book in about 2 years. Too much on the 'net to read. Well I finally ordered 3 books off of Amazon 2 weeks ago. I just started David Shugarts "Secrets of the Widow's Son" An insight to Dan Brown's upcoming, maybe, new follow on to "The DaVinci Code" Supposed to be called Solomon's Key. Pretty good so far.

Here is a great read but also a true story about the author that can break your heart.

I just finished "Wolfman" by Nicholas Pekearo. If you enjoy some escapist supernatural type thrillers, you will enjoy this. It's an easy read with a sympathetic "hero," and a very interesting twist on the old Lon Chaney type wolfman. If you liked "Heart-shaped Box" by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King), you will like this.

But the author will never write another book. This fine young man was an auxiliary police officer in New York City, and was recently gunned down along with his partner by an apparently deranged man. He and his partner were trying to apprehend the guy after he had already murdered a store clerk in an attempted robbery. If you google his name, he is all over the net.

What a good writer, and how many more gifts he could have given us, but it is one more case of our brightest and best being removed by one of our worst.

Now reading "By The Sword" by my current favorite author, F.Paul Wilson...the latest in his "Repairman Jack" series...what an exciting read...soon hopefully to be a movie!!

I just finished "State of Denial" by Bob Woodward and am currently reading his "The War Within". They provide an inside look that will confirm one's worst suspicions about the Irag war. Prior to these books, I read "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. An excellent story about the circus, the Great Depression, and love. I've been on the library wait list for "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski. It's very popular right now since it's one of Oprah's selections. I'm not sure what it's about, but has been recommended by many. pb

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins

The Masked Rider by Neil Peart. he is the drummer for the Canadian rock band, RUSH. He writes most of the music and lyrics and gets his influences from books he has read, art and from his travels around the world. He took a bicycle tour around West Africa in the late 1980s and this book chronicles his experience. Fascinating stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

The Masked Rider by Neil Peart. he is the drummer for the Canadian rock band, RUSH. He writes most of the music and lyrics and gets his influences from books he has read, art and from his travels around the world. He took a bicycle tour around West Africa in the late 1980s and this book chronicles his experience. Fascinating stuff.

Thank you for mentioning that title. A cycling friend recommended that book to me a couple of years ago and I forgot to write it down and was reading something else at the time.

I just finished Clive Johnson's "The Devil's Labyrinth," which details some of the attempts to reach the North Pole, including a couple of tries of his own. It was pretty good.

I just finished Sharon Kay Penman's "The Queen's Man" & "Cruel as the Grave." They're sort of traditional English who-done-its, but with any interesting twist. The time period they're set in is 1190's. The protagonist is a problem solver for the Queen...Eleanor of Aquitane.

I just finished Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and Christopher Buckley's "No Way To Treat A First Lady."

Both wonderful, each funny in a very very different way.

I'm reading a marvelous collection of Howard Waldrop short stories, "Things Will Never Be The Same."

It's a dang shame that Howard isn't more well-known. His stories are little gem. This collection contains stories about what happened to the last of the dodos, what happens when sci-fi and doo-wop collide and War of the Worlds as seen from the POV of a Texan Sheriff.

Check him out. If you like quirky stories, you won't be disappointed.

I'm actually halfway through 'The Golden Notebook' by Doris Lessing, who I think won the Nobel last year? So far I'm loving it.

I've heard good things about Doris Lessing, though I've never read her.

I'm also reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, which I'm really enjoying. I've been meaning to read it for a long time.

I just finished Thunder Bay by William Kent Krueger. It takes place in a fictional town of Aurora, MN near the BWCA. The main character is Cork O'Connor, former police chief and now a PI running a summer walk-up fast food stand on the lake. Cork is 1/4 Ojibwe indian and most of the ongoing series weaves in Ojibwe lore. In this novel Cork's 90 year old friend, Henry Meloux, a midi has a vision that his 70 year old son, whom he has never seen needs his help. Cork, of course, gets involved.