What are you reading?

[charley]

Just looked at the list and realized that I wasn't clear about all the books that I have read, which may or may not interest some:
1984 by Orwell, which I won't read again
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Alice's... by Carroll
All of Agatha Christie's books
Anne of Green Gables
Another Country by Baldwin
Atlas Shrugged
Catch22
The Catcher in the Rye
the Auel series
I have all the series of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones
The Grapes of Wrath
Gulliver's Travels
I can't stand Atwood.... lol
Have read all of the Potter books
Conrad's Heart of Darkness ..."the horror, the horror" (Kurtz uttering it also in Apocalypse Now)
All of Tolkien's books
many of Marquez's books
quite a few of Austen's books
Siddhartha & Steppenwolf by Hesse
all of Vonnegut's books, anything sci-fi actually...
most of Hemingway
all of the Twilight books

I would also recommend any of Yasunari Kawabata's books, each book a work of art (shame he committed suicide...)
As well, any of V.S. Naipaul's books

[Katniss]

"Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women"
by Kate Moore


"The incredible true story of the women who fought America's Undark danger

The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these "shining girls" are the luckiest alive ― until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women's cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America's early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers' rights that will echo for centuries to come.

Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives..."

Well-written book on a topic I was mostly unfamiliar with although some of the images will stay with you. Certainly makes me give pause to "newly discovered" things/processes that will help me lead a smart/futuristic lifestyle that claim to be perfectly "safe." Whatever "safe" means anymore.....


Katniss~~

[Martina]

I started this before and lost interest. I tried it again a few days ago, and while I am not loving it, I am able to stick with it. It's called The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them. Elif Batuman is the author. She writes, or used to write, for The New Yorker. And her second book, a novel, was widely and well reviewed. It was a Pulitzer finalist. It's called The Idiot. From the reviews, some of it sounded so like my twenties that I decided not to check it out. I feel no need to revisit that decade.

The Google books blurb:

Batuman takes the reader on a journey both literary and physical as she traces the evolution of her fascination with Russian literature across the globe and several centuries. This is a deeply funny, fiercely intelligent portrait of the not-always-rational pursuit of knowledge.

I can see that some of the situations are humorous, but deeply funny, no.

[homoe]

The Whip: a novel inspired by the story of Charley Parkhurst

Inspired by the true story of Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst (1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man in the old west. As a young woman in Rhode Island, she fell in love with a runaway slave and had his child. The destruction of her family drove her west to California, dressed as a man, to track the killer.

Charley became a renowned stagecoach driver for Wells Fargo. She killed a famous outlaw, had a secret love affair, and lived with a housekeeper who, unaware of her true sex, fell in love with her. Charley was the first known woman to vote in America in 1868 (as a man). Her grave lies in Watsonville, California.

[homoe]

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn


An enthralling historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

Decisions decisions.........

[Wrang1er]

I am on the library waiting list for Barracoon: The Story of the Last Slave by Zora Neale Hurston.

Brilliantly illuminates the horror and injustices of slavery as it tells the true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade—abducted from Africa on the last "Black Cargo" ship to arrive in the United States.

I heard about it on NPR and I am excited to get it. I haven't read for pleasure (which I sorely miss) since starting school in January. I am hoping I can make time for it.

[Breathless]

Upcoming flight, so I have loaded up my reading material, mostly educational, however.. The Lord of the Rings.. is purely for pleasure. re-reading..

[homoe]

Originally Posted by Wrang1er

I am on the library waiting list for Barracoon: The Story of the Last Slave by Zora Neale Hurston.

Brilliantly illuminates the horror and injustices of slavery as it tells the true story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade—abducted from Africa on the last "Black Cargo" ship to arrive in the United States.

I heard about it on NPR and I am excited to get it. I haven't read for pleasure (which I sorely miss) since starting school in January. I am hoping I can make time for it.

There was an excerpt of this book in the April 30-May 13 issue of New York Magazine. It looks will worth the wait