What are you reading?

I'm in the middle of David Baldacci's "Divine Justice", which contains the following line...
 
Experience without cynicism was a sure sign your brain had dry-rotted and you hadn't bothered to notice.

I'm half way through Louis L'Amour's first Hopalong Cassidy Novel, "The Rustlers Of West Fork". My Hoppy research for a course I'll be teaching on the Hopalong Cassidy phenom led me to this great novel....three more to read!

leethebard


I'm half way through Louis L'Amour's first Hopalong Cassidy Novel, "The Rustlers Of West Fork". My Hoppy research for a course I'll be teaching on the Hopalong Cassidy phenom led me to this great novel....three more to read!

Did Louis L'Amour create the Hopalong Cassidy character that went on to 50s TV fame?

I am reading Trouble in Paradise by Robert B. Parker. It is his Jesse Stone series. I watched Thin Ice with Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone on TV last week so thought I would give this one a go. Thin Ice is not one of his titles so wonder if it was based on one of his books and renamed or just a borrowing of the character? Selleck looks great for the role but the book Jesse Stone is a lot, lot younger.

I just finished High Profile by Robert B. Parker - I really like his Jesse Stone novels - Tom Selleck absolutely nails the character to a T. 

Re-reading "Marjorie Morningstar" by Herman Wouk.  Sometimes you just need that kind of escapism....

Davydd

leethebard


I'm half way through Louis L'Amour's first Hopalong Cassidy Novel, "The Rustlers Of West Fork". My Hoppy research for a course I'll be teaching on the Hopalong Cassidy phenom led me to this great novel....three more to read!

Did Louis L'Amour create the Hopalong Cassidy character that went on to 50s TV fame?

Clarence E. Mulford was the creator of Hopalong Cassidy. "Bar-20" was written in, I believe, the early 1900's (1907?)  pb 

baileysoriginal


I just finished High Profile by Robert B. Parker - I really like his Jesse Stone novels - Tom Selleck absolutely nails the character to a T. 

The thing that bugs me about Robert B. Parker novels including Spenser with Susan Silverman and Jesse Stone with Jenn is the dialogue between the lead man and woman. It just doesn't ring true and seems so phony. But I've never been in therapy. Maybe people are like that. Maybe it was also because the Spenser dialogues had "said" overused. The Jesse Stone series is an improvement in more constraint of the use of "said" in the flow of dialogue.

Davydd


I am reading Trouble in Paradise by Robert B. Parker. It is his Jesse Stone series. I watched Thin Ice with Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone on TV last week so thought I would give this one a go. Thin Ice is not one of his titles so wonder if it was based on one of his books and renamed or just a borrowing of the character? Selleck looks great for the role but the book Jesse Stone is a lot, lot younger.

I am a Robert B. Parker addict.  I just finished Night and Day, the latest Jessie Stone novel, and have pre-ordered Chasing the Bear, Brimstone, and The Professional.

I just finished "The Snowball" (Warren Buffett and the Business of Life) by Alice Schroeder. An amazing man.  pb

The Lost City of Z....Incredible book

The Fire Kimono ....great series about fuedal Japan and a Japanese detective.

I don't know if anyone else has read these books, but I have just started reading Anne Perry's The William Monk Mysteries, starting with The Face of a Stranger.  The books are about a police detective in Victorian London but were written in our time.  So far the book is quite interesting and well-written.  For any fans of the TV show "Monk," sorry, but there is no relationship between the book and the show.

The Ruin Of The Roman Empire- a new history by james j. o'donnell
 .it begins at the time of ancient roman revival during the sixth century and goes to the rise of Islam.

"The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs. What a terrific book.

Hello All,
I just re-joined the History Book Club,
and am just starting  to read
"Iroquois Diplomacy On The  Early American Frontier,"
by Timothy Shannon.
After that I am eager to turn the pages of
"The Great Medieval Heretics," by
Michael Frassetto.
But it may take some time as spring is coming
and I have a garden to plan and plant.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

Fieldthistle

Have you read "The Frontiersman" by Allan Eckert?
It is a very detailed history of the early western expansion across Appalachians into KY/WV/OH.

It goes into both view points (whites vs Indians) of expansion. 

Just finished :The Lost Temple" by Tom Harper.  It was alright, ending kind of stunk.  Going to the library today to pick up a fresh batch.

"The IRS Taxpayers Guide"

Cheers, John 

seafarer john


"The IRS Taxpayers Guide"

Cheers, John

Aren't we all struggling through that.

I'm also reading The Shaman Laughs by James D Doss. The main character is Ute reservation policeman, Charlie Moon.

Hello All,
Cajunking, I haven't read "The Frontiersman."
It sounds interesting and I'll seek it.
Thank You,
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

I just read a couple of Brad Meltzer novels, The Book of Lies and The Book of Fate.

I'm familiar with Meltzer through some of his comic book writing for DC Comics, but these are the first novels of his that I've read.

The Book of Lies revolves around the death of Superman creator Jerry Siegel's father (his father was really murdered and to this day no one knows why) and how that ties in with a wide-reaching conspiracy. I'd always found it interesting that Jerry Siegel, a kid personally affected by violence, went on to create a hero that bullets couldn't kill, so it was really interesting to read a book that wonders the same thing. 

The Book of Fate is about a presidential aide who's horribly wounded during an attempt on his boss' life. Years later, he begins to discover that nothing about that day is as it seemed. 

I found both books to be kind of slow-starters, but once the plot really kicked in, they were really good reads. I'll definitely be reading more of Meltzer. 

I also read the first volume of Fantagraphics' Complete Peanuts Collection. It's a really wonderful packaging of the first years of the comic strip. I've already checked out Volume 2 and should start it tonight.   

The last Jesse Stone  T.V. mystery was not based on the books. Parker likes Tom Selleck in the role

Death - a life

George Pendle

It is death's autobiography!

That sounds great, GNeedles --

I'm reading Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures, by Walter Moers. It's a satire epic starring a wolfperting (doglike creature...)

The Secret of Chimneys (1925) by Agatha Christie.

I just finished The Seuss, The Whole Seuss, and Nothing But the Seuss: A Visual biography of Theodore Geisel. At first I was skeptical; the author admits he didn't interview anyone who knew Dr. Seuss personally. But this is a well-researched look at the work of Dr. Seuss, a must-read for any fan. I was surprised to learn that Dr. Seuss was disappointed by the way his only live-action movie (the ones with Jim Carrey and Mike Myers don't count, imo) The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T turned out. It's one of my favorite children's movies.

I also read The Mothman Prophecies. It was garbage.

The other night I finished The Trouble With Tom by Paul Collins. It's about what happened to the body of Thomas Paine after his death. His body had more wacky adventures than most people do in their entire lives.

Now I'm reading The Terror , a novel by Dan Simmons. It's about a polar expedition that goes wrong. Being iced in with dwindling food supplies would be bad enough...but something is hunting the ships' crews, picking them one at a time. I'm loving it so far.

In the last couple of weeks I've started reading four books at once.  One for grownups:
1. The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) by Agatha Christie.  And three for grownups who are kids at heart:  2. Don Sturdy on the Desert of Mystery (1925); 3. Tom Swift and his Motorcycle (1910), and 4. The Haunted Churchyard (1890), the latter a dime novel featuring the detective Old King Brady.

been recouperating by reading Company of Liars by Karen Maitland. a murder mystery set during the middle ages. as if the plague wasn't bad enough.