What are you reading?

[Medusa]

I've been hearing a lot about "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and started listening to it today while I'm puttering around the house.

I am pleasantly surprised and have stayed with it all day! It's really engaging and I will probably stay up late tonight to finish it in print!

[blush]

The World's Strongest Librarian- memoir of a weight-lifting librarian with Tourette's Syndrome

Every Day-great premise about a teenage being who wakes up in a different body every day, poorly excecuted, IMO.

[Fancy]

Read this off and on over the last several months. It's been tough to get through, but an amazing journey.


The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

by Candice Millard

[maryam]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Rites_(novel) by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden number 6. Nice brain candy.

A Short History of India and Pakistan by T. Walter Wallbank. This is the 1958 edition, which has been revised slightly from the original. I've just started it, but at this point, it seems a bit Pro British with a bit of Colonial Apologism on the side, but not as much as I was expecting. It's remarkably objective for the time when the book was written. It's also interesting to see what the British attitude was towards the Middle East (Jordan/Israel/Palestine/Syria area) and the Far East (India/Pakistan) at the roughly the same time. It's also a bit uncomfortable to see how little has changed in Western attitudes towards the area.

and....

The Handbook of Needlework by Miss Lambert. Found on Google Books, as it's from 1901 ish and in public domain. Very good, super interesting!

[KCBUTCH]

Intercultural Empathy:Myth, competency, or possibility for alliance building?
Sara Deturk Oct 23 2001 Peace Corps Online

[Bleu]

HOME by Toni Morrison.

I'm only about one quarter of the way through it. Morrison's ability to build character is blistering. However, at a quarter way through, I am still unsure of the real meat of the story line. How can I be worried about it as, after all, it's Toni Morrison. I could probably read her grocery and to-do list and be glued.

[Italianboi]

I just finish to read "se il sole muore" by Oriana Fallaci
and i just start to read "news of a kidnapping" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez....

[Mopsie]

Originally Posted by Italianboi

I just finish to read "se il sole muore" by Oriana Fallaci
and i just start to read "news of a kidnapping" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez....

Do you read books in Italian, English, and/or another language?

** Curiosity killed the cat ... and probably the Mopsie ...

I am jealous of people who are good languages ... I never have been ...

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I've been hearing a lot about "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and started listening to it today while I'm puttering around the house.

I am pleasantly surprised and have stayed with it all day! It's really engaging and I will probably stay up late tonight to finish it in print!

Ok, so I finished this at 3am. In other words, I gulped this book down like free ice cream!

A couple of spoiler-y things so read no further if you plan to read this:

First, I've never read anything by this author and was prepared to be disappointed because I don't like a lot of popular fiction. This, however, was so different than what I expected that I will be reading all of her other stuff.

And second: The PACE is fantastic. The writing style is both jarring and stark...and really beautiful. The characters are fucked up beyond all belief and the sheer mental illness in that one is beyond most of what I've read about supposed "-paths".

I told a girlfriend of mine that I felt like I had been punched in the butthole after reading this. It's such a fucked up, wonderful read.

[daisygrrl]

i'm (of course) an incorrigible bibliophile; and this is my latest pleasure (that had nothing to do with school, etc.)

I just read [ame="http://www.amazon.com/The-Impostors-Daughter-True-Memoir/dp/B005OHUK7M"]The Imposter's Daughter[/ame]--and loved it. I wanted something confessional and structurally complex. For those who love a memoir, it's fantastic--and for those who adore comic prose, it's breathtaking.

[nycfem]

daisygrrl, I soooo loved The Imposter's Daughter! It would figure you loved it too! You're the first person I've talked to who has also read it .

I am reading "I am the Central Park Jogger." Well, I'm listening to it on tape, let's be honest here. It's read by the author which is cool. It's certainly a heavy topic. It's very well-written and flows beautifully. Much of it is about how one recovers from a traumatic injury which I find to be quite fascinating.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Central-Park-Jogger-Possibility/dp/B000C4SZ10/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369443499&sr=8-1&keywords=the+central+park+jogger"]I Am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility: Trisha Meili: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]


On a much lighter note, I'm listening to the CD of the new David Sedaris book: Let's explore Diabetes with Owls. It's a collection of his usual humorous, memoir-type essays. He always reads his own books for the recording, and I love his voice. It's very soothing, and he clearly gets a kick out of himself which is kind of sweet. I'm a little less into it because I've already read most of these essays by him in the New Yorker. Oh, what can ya do?

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Explore-Diabetes-David-Sedaris/dp/0316154695/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369443666&sr=8-1&keywords=understanding+owls+diabetes"]Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls: David Sedaris: 9780316154697: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

Originally Posted by daisygrrl

i'm (of course) an incorrigible bibliophile; and this is my latest pleasure (that had nothing to do with school, etc.)

I just read The Imposter's Daughter--and loved it. I wanted something confessional and structurally complex. For those who love a memoir, it's fantastic--and for those who adore comic prose, it's breathtaking.

[RockOn]

Hi everyone, I am very interested in reading a biography about Elena Sendler. Google search provided "Courageous Heart."

I welcome your suggestions regarding a good read
about her.

Thanks.
Brock

[The JD]

Originally Posted by daisygrrl

I just read The Imposter's Daughter--and loved it. I wanted something confessional and structurally complex. For those who love a memoir, it's fantastic--and for those who adore comic prose, it's breathtaking.

I downloaded this last night, just finished. I usually buy graphic novels (or in this case, graphic memoirs) in hard copy, but the iPad/Kindle app did a good job with the graphics.

Great read, thanks for bringing it to my attention! It has this interesting blend of titillating and insightful. Now that I think of it, that's the standard addiction-memoir formula, but it's interesting to see it as an illustrated narrative. The ending is a bit too tidy and abrupt for my taste, but that might have more to do with the comic book format/presentation.


Recommended!

[WickedFemme]

I'm reading the 'Killer Wore Leather' by Laura Antoniou. It's very amusing, humorous, and if you have ever been to a leather contest - you will laugh your arse off.

I'll look that one up, thanks for posting WickedFemme.

Currently reading The Dark Lord's Handbook by Paul Dale. I'm only 17% through it - I may be a super speller but a dyslexic, slow reader Really enjoying what I've read thus far and have laughed out loud numerous times.

"After many spectacular failures, Evil decided to lend more than inspiration to these would be tyrants. He wrote an easy to follow Dark Lord's Handbook. And yet the next Dark Lord that came along screwed up like all the others.
It had been hundreds of years, and the Handbook was lost in the annals of time, along with all that was mythic and exciting in the world. Then one day a randy dragon had a chance encounter. Nine months later a Dark Lord was born.
In time, the Handbook found its way to this new contender, Morden. To become a Dark Lord is no easy thing. Morden had better be a quick study."
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...ord-s-handbook

[Semantics]

Currently reading:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/End-All-Wars-Rebellion-1914-1918/dp/B009LPNH0K/ref=la_B000APHVX4_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369616575&sr=1-2"]To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918[/ame]
by Adam Hochschild.

World War I was supposed to be the “war to end all wars.” Over four long years, nations around the globe were sucked into the tempest, and millions of men died on the battlefields. To this day, the war stands as one of history’s most senseless spasms of carnage, defying rational explanation.

To End All Wars focuses on the long-ignored moral drama of the war’s critics, alongside its generals and heroes. Many of these dissenters were thrown in jail for their opposition to the war, from a future Nobel Prize winner to an editor behind bars who distributed a clandestine newspaper on toilet paper. These critics were sometimes intimately connected to their enemy hawks: one of Britain’s most prominent women pacifist campaigners had a brother who was commander in chief on the Western Front. Two well-known sisters split so bitterly over the war that they ended up publishing newspapers that attacked each other.

As Adam Hochschild brings the Great War to life as never before, he forces us to confront the big questions: Why did so many nations get so swept up in the violence? Why couldn’t cooler heads prevail? And can we ever avoid repeating history?

[Kätzchen]

My summer reading list will comprise largely a re-reading of books authored by Salman Rushdie and Dr. Khaled Hosseini:

Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children, 1981; Shame, 1983; The Satanic Verses, 1988; The Moor's Last Sigh, 1995; The Ground Beneath Her Feet, 1999; and, Shalimar The Clown, 2005).

Dr. Khaled Hosseini (And The Mountains Echoed, 2013).

I once took several sociology study classes, at an undergraduate level, wherein the current professor of studies was an ardent admirer of Rushdie and his post-colonial views, as both Rushdie and my former professor are members of the Indian Diaspora. Reading the Rushdie collection of books will be my all-summer immersion study on the works of Salman Rushdie and to add toward notes I have kept since the time I undertook sociology courses in post-colonialism.

Reading the newest book by Hosseini will largely be my own independent and extended study on issues pertinent to Family Communication studies. When I set time aside for this reading project, it won't be for pleasure (per se), but more along the lines of critical analysis on as-near current theorems pertaining to Family Communication. My approach will be to read his newest book as if it were an upper-graduate course reader; compiling an annotated bibliography that connects previous scholarly authored works within the frame of Family Communication.

Toward the end of summer, I was just sharing with Katniss that, I was looking for recommendation, hoping to come across a book (fiction or non-fiction) that might have a dose or two of romance but not mushy romance: I am looking for something more along the lines of a good crime-like novel or mystery or, unsuspectingly, something that un-nerves the reader in a good way. I would welcome any suggestions, from our coummunity of readers, with appreciation.

[nycfem]

I'm reading (well, listening) to the book:

"On Whale Island: Notes from a Place I Never Meant to Leave"
by Daniel Hays

This is my second time listening to it. I'm listening to it on tape (Yes, I love old-fashioned tape recorders.). It's a memoir about a man who takes his wife and step-child to live on a small, rugged island for a year. He goes through the day to day tasks and problems and miraculous moments with nature. I love it because it takes me out of my urban world and makes me feel like I'm living on the island too. The author reads it aloud himself so that only adds to feeling like I'm there. His love for the hardship and beauty of this way of living is evident, and clearly if his wife didn't feel understandably stifled by it, he'd stay there indefinitely. I love learning about other cultures and ways of life by hearing/reading someone's lived experience. He's a good writer and funny too. It's a very real book, like he's sitting across the table, telling all about it. Thumbs up. I always love this kind of book.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Whale-Island-Notes-Place-Never/dp/156512345X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369789817&sr=1-1&keywords=whale+island"]On Whale Island: Notes from a Place I Never Meant to Leave: Daniel Hays: 9781565123458: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

[Sparkle]

I finally finished 'Life After Life' by Kate Atkinson.
It was a tome, and it was a bit of a slow start; I had to push through the first 100 pages, when I finally got into it I finished it in two marathon sessions. I enjoyed it once I got it to it.

I've just started reading '[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Penumbras-24-hour-Bookstore-ebook/dp/B008FPOIT6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369855109&sr=8-1&keywords=penumbra"]Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore[/ame]' by Robin Sloan. It's a very funny and easy read... delightful, in fact. I was giggling aloud all the way through the first few chapters.

[Greyson]

I am almost finished reading History's Greatest Mysteries and The Secrets Behind Them - Bill Price

The next two books I have lined up to read are

Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World - John Shelby Spong

In this thorough, substantive guide, Spong explores the origin and essential meaning of each of the individual books in the Bible, examining the background, the context, the level of authenticity. He explains why these particular books, written between two and three thousand years ago, came to be regarded as authoritative and preserved as sacred; he traces the pathway that biblical religion has traveled as it evolved through the centuries, and shows how people have misused many of these texts in the service of their prejudices.


Civil War Top Ten - Thomas R. Flagel

A ranking of the best, the worst, the bloodiest, and the most important people and events of the war between the states.