What Are You Reading the Week of 5 April 2014?

Penn Fraser Jillette (born 5 March 1955) is an American illusionist, comedian, musician, inventor, actor, and best-selling author known for his work with fellow magician Teller in the team Penn & Teller. He is also known for his advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free-market capitalism.

He was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. His mother, Valda R. Jillette (née Parks; 1909–2000), was a secretary, and his father, Samuel Herbert Jillette (1912–1999), worked at Greenfield's Franklin County Jail. Penn became an atheist in his early teens after reading the Bible and was subsequently asked to leave the church after asking questions in a youth group that also made skeptics of his peers.

Jillette became disenchanted with traditional illusionist acts that presented the craft as authentic magic, such as The Amazing Kreskin on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. At age eighteen, he saw a show by illusionist James Randi, and became enamored of his approach to magic that openly acknowledged deception as entertainment rather than a mysterious supernatural power. Jillette regularly acknowledges Randi as the one person on the planet he loves the most besides members of his family.

In 1974, Jillette graduated from Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. That same year, he was introduced to Teller by Weir Chrisemer, a mutual friend. The three then formed a three-person act called Asparagus Valley Cultural Society which played in Amherst and San Francisco. In 1981, he and Teller teamed up as Penn & Teller, and went on to do a successful Off Broadway and later Broadway theatre show called "Penn & Teller" that toured nationally.

While the off Broadway hit was running, in 1988 Penn was in a speed mariachi power trio called Bongos, Bass and Bob (Penn played bass; bongos were by Dean J. Seal and guitar was by Rob (Bob) Elk (Running Elk). The last two became the a capella comedy duo Mr. Elk and Mr. Seal after Bongos Bass and Bob broke up due to Penn's movie commitments. They recorded a record with Kramer at Noise New York called "Never Mind the Sex Pistols, Here's Bongos Bass and Bob (What on Earth Were They Thinking?)" which was released to almost no notice outside of a mention in Spin Magazine. but was immortalized with a clay-mation video of the hit single Oral Hygiene.

Jillette was also a regular contributor to the now-defunct PC/Computing magazine in the early 1990s, having a regular back section column between 1990 and 1994. True to form, the columns were often as much about Uma Thurman as actual PC computing issues. Jillette and PC/Computing parted ways over a dispute with a new editor. illette asserts that he is unsure if he was fired or if he actually quit.

Jillette was the primary voice announcer for the U.S.-based cable network Comedy Central in the 1990s.

Starting in 1996, he had a recurring role on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch as Drell, the head of the Witches' Council. He and Teller both appeared in the pilot with Debbie Harry as the third member of the Council. The show was created by Jillette's friend Nell Scovell.

Starting in 2003, Jillette, along with his partner Teller, began producing and hosting the show Penn & Teller: Bullshit! on Showtime. In the show, the two analyze cultural phenomena, debunk myths, criticize people and aspects of society they deem "bullshit."

In 2005 with actor Paul Provenza, Jillette co-produced and co-directed The Aristocrats (2005), a documentary film tracing the life of a dirty joke known as "The Aristocrats."

In 2011 Jillette's book God, No! Signs You May Already Be An Atheist and Other Magical Tales was released and made the New York Times Best Sellers in its first week of publication.

Jillette is married to Emily Zolten and has a daughter named Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette, and a son, named Zolten Penn Jillette.

Jillette is an atheist, libertarian (he has stated that he may consider himself to be an anarcho-capitalist), and skeptic, as well as an adherent to Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy, as stated on his Penn Says podcast. Jillette is a Fellow at the libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, and has stated that he "always" votes Libertarian. In January 2007, Jillette took the "Blasphemy Challenge" offered by the Rational Response Squad and publicly denied the existence of a holy spirit.

In 2005 he wrote and read an essay for National Public Radio claiming that he was "beyond atheism. Atheism is not believing in God ... I believe there is no God." His atheism, he has explained, has informed every aspect of his life and thoughts, and as such is as crucial to him as theistic beliefs are to the devout. Jillette welcomes and even encourages open discussion, debate, and proselytizing on the issue of God's existence, believing that the issue is too important for opinions about it to remain private. Jillette does not, however, dismiss all who do believe in God: A 2008 edition of his Penn Says podcast expresses his appreciation for a fan who brought him the gift of a pocket Gideon Bible after a performance because he realized that this individual sincerely cared enough about him to try to help him.

Jillette has stated that there is not enough information to make an informed decision on global warming, and that it is an emotion versus logic issue.

Books by Penn Jillette

Every Day is an Atheist Holiday!: More Magical Tales from the Author of God, No! (2012)
God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales (2011)
How to Cheat Your Friends at Poker: The Wisdom of Dickie Richard (2005)
Sock (2004)
Penn and Teller's How to Play In Traffic (1997)
Penn and Teller's How to Play with Your Food (1992)
Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends (1989)

Wow, Richard! I didn't know that Penn was also an author. You always find the most interesting writers to showcase!

How fun! Nice pick, Richard!

He's an interesting person. I disagree with his politics, and agree with his spirtual stance, and **love** his unwillingness to let stupid go unchallenged.

Finished Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman. I really like the book. Started Colony Five by S. J. McCarthy.

>5seitherin: There a blast from the past! I remember loving Up the Down Staircase a long time ago. time for a reread!

Wow! What an interesting bio!

Reading-wise, I've finished The Rook and Insurgent and am now listening to Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and reading Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn.

I am trying to ignore the lure of yet another huge haul from the charity shop - they had a SALE!!!! It wouldn't have been right to resist and clearly they're short on space so I'm doing them a real favor, right? If anyone wants to know what was in the haul the details can be found in the Abundant Arrivals of April here http://www.librarything.com/topic/172217#4629335 (I clearly took the Abundant to heart and felt it my duty to make sure it was truly abundant).

I am listening to Skeletons at the Feast and started Broken Harbor. I've got Natchez Burning sitting in the line up but it's a big sucker so I have to psych up for it.

I'm about halfway through The Great Debate Between Robert Young Hayne of South Carolina and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts as edited by Lindsay Swift. It's basically the text of two long Senate speeches, one each by Hayne and Webster, about an obscure bill about the sale of public lands around which side were drawn, as they just about always were in those days, between the slave states/states' rights supporters and the free states/Federalists. I've just finished Hayne's speech and am about to dive into Webster's. Although the actual bill being debated was relatively unimportant, the speech's are interesting because they are a rehearsal for the fiery arguments that took place in the Senate just before the U.S. exploded into the Civil War.

Although the whole volume is only 216 pages, it is taking me a while to get through because Hayne's speech was somewhat slow going and because my reading time's been at a premium. Seems like that's always the case these days. However, as Webster was one of the great orators of U.S. history, I'm really looking forward to reading his speech.

Finishing House Girl by Tara Conklin, then back to Walk in the Woods (Bryson).
I had to set it aside to finish the one due back to the library!

Reading Confessions of a Sociopath by M.E. Thomas

Finished Colony Five by S. J. McCarthy and started Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks.

Still going on with my re-read of The Stand (the uncut version) - as good as I remembered but really long (1400 pages).

I didn't know Penn was a libertarian and a climate change denier. What a pity because I have such respect for him as an atheist. My daughter and I saw the play The Tempest last night directed and adapted by Teller (I always think of Penn and Teller as interchangeable, but I guess they're not). The magic was fantastic, as was the Caliban character. It almost made me think I could like a regular Shakespearean play.
I'm about halfway through an audiobook of Beauty Queens written and read by Libba Bray. What a delight. It's Lord of the Flies but with teenage high achieving girls, so - civilized. There's also a Sarah Palinesque villain, clones of GW and Kim Jong-il, and some lively characterizations of christian right-wingers, the NRA, and global corporations. I'm liking it as much as I did her Going Bovine.
Also listening to The Orphan Master's Son which gets better and better.

Just finished The Speed of Dark (thanks, Richard!). What to read next? I stacked a half dozen books upon arrival of April, and I don’t quite feel like reading any of them.

#11: I tried reading Confessions of a Sociopath last month, but gave up after several chapters. Hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Started Cat Sense By John Bradshaw. Hopefully it will help me understand my crazy cat better!

>14 Citizenjoyce: All idols disappoint sooner or later, I suppose. I focus on what I like and respect about him.

I finished Susan Minot's Thirty Girls, a novel which tells the story of two people: Jane, an American journalist researching a story about the children abducted and forced to become part of rebel forces in northern Uganda -- and Esther, an African teenager living at a rehabilitation camp, trying to come to terms with having been one of those children. The stories are told in alternating chapters and they are in stark contrast, but as the story progresses the two stories complement one another in ways I didn't expect. Esther's haunting voice combined with all that Jane is seeing and hearing in her travels reveals much about Africa, and about two women on journeys inside themselves. Jane begins her travels in Kenya and the mention of the Ngong Hills and the Kikuyu people brought to mind Isak Dinesen's colonial Africa and it never quite left my mind -- throughout the novel you see the legacy of those times, both good and bad. I found it a quite wonderful book, and Esther's story -- based on the true story of thirty girls abducted from their Catholic boarding school in 1996 -- is one I will never forget.

Next up: Ten White Geese by Gerbrand Bakker

>14 Citizenjoyce: Thanks for the reccie of Beauty Queens. I just downloaded the audio from my library.

I'm all over the map this week, unable it seems to settle down to any one thing. I've been listening to Shogun and today picked up a recording of The Voice of the Poet: T.S. Eliot, including Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (one of my favorite poems), and Thankless in Death. I'm also in the middle of The Midwife's Tale and am eying Hollow City, the sequel to Peculiar Children.

Rage of a Demon King by Raymond E. Feist

Slowly getting through this series in between work and uni. Liking it so far!

What an interesting biography, Richard. I was surprised by Penn's libertarian and climate change views because they are so different from my own. I have that too common tendency to think that people I like must hold my views because, of course, I am *right*. I may disagree with Penn but I still like him.

>14 Citizenjoyce:, I added Beauty Queens to my TBR list, too. I'd seen the book before but it didn't catch my interest but your post did. Thanks!

>19 Storeetllr: Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is probably my all-time favorite poem and has been since I first read it decades ago.

I'm finishing These Broken Stars, a SciFi YA book I got for review, and just started The Third Rule of Ten. I got notice this morning that the audio version of Frog Music by Emma Donoghue is ready for download from the library. I use the library often but rarely set foot in the physical building.

I finished Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother which is written to Chinese adopted girls to offer them insight into why their parents may have given them away. As expected it is poignant and rife with agonized mothers. I most liked it for its insight into Chinese life over the past 20 to 30 years from city to rural settings.

>18 mollygrace:, that Thirty Girls is on my to-read list. Glad to see that you found it unforgettable. I too was drawn to it because of the Out of Africa connection. But, of course, it's so much more than that.

I'm finally drawing to an end with The Museum of Innocence. Really, for the first book written after winning his Nobel, Pamuk doesn't half go on. Still, I picked up this book to read about an entirely different protagonist from myself and, if I skip some of the long diatribes about the man's obsessions, the writing and sense of place make up for everything.

I'm also starting an advance copy of Reading Style: A Life in Sentences by Jenny Davidson, which, a couple of pages in, sounds like my kind of book.

I'm reading Hollow City by Ransom Riggs for my book club. I liked Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children but I feel like the writing is stronger in Hollow City.

>>16 framboise:-I did enjoy it probably because my undergrad degree is in psychology.

starting Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

Hello, Toobusyreading
I really enjoyed the first and second rule of Ten but was a little disappointed with The Third Rule of Ten Would be interested in your comments after you read it.

Finally posted a review of my ER book Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991 by Orlando Figes. I also read the short Calculating Credibility: How Leaders Assess Military Threats by Daryl Press.

Now I've started The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen. The Putin book is engagingly written, but short on details. The problem is that in a country such as Russia, it's difficult to distinguish the crazy conspiracy theories from the truth. Simon Wiesenthal once commented about Russia, "It's not just another country, it's another planet."

It looks like I'm now settling on The Road to Paradise Island by Victoria Holt. In general, I don't read romance, and haven't since I was in my 20's. (Don't most of us go through that stage?). This, however, has enough adventure, suspense, and gothic flavor to interest me, and it is exactly the type of light reading I need right now. 3 days in the hospital followed by two straight days in the ER tend to wipe out one's reading mojo. What a week!

However, it looks like The Road to Paradise Island is already helping restore the ol' reading mojo. Whatever it takes!

I've posted my review of The Lantern at my blog...almost a four-star read.

Today's all ereader platforms deal that I must *squee* about is Maurice Druon's The Iron King. It's historical fiction about medieval France in all it violent and passionate glory. It's the inspiration for A Game of Thrones. And unlike that, it's cheap, only $1.99!

I had the fun of seeing Penn when he competed on "Celebrity Apprentice" on NBC twice.

Finished The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini
The novel is set in Civil War era Richmond, VA. I'd never heard of Elizabeth Van Lew so I picked this one up.

The "Accursed Kings" series by Maurice Druon continues! I bought The Poisoned Crown when it was released this past week. The 4th novel, The Royal Succession, will be out later this year.

>26 Rayaowen:
I loved The First Rule of Ten and enjoyed The Second Rule of Ten. I was hoping the third would bring me back to the level of enjoyment that the first did, but that remains to be seen. Some series don't have staying power, and perhaps this will be one of those.

#29
Is this historical fiction or is it fantasy. It was not clear from the descriptions I read.

I am reading Bel Canto as it is the next book on the list for my face2face book discussion group. So far so good. It is the first Ann Patchett book I have read so am looking forward to it. At a recent "old ladies club" meeting a few of the ladies were talking about Patchett's new book on marriage and they were loving it. I may have to put that on my TBR list. I am also slowly working on Wild Swans but am not as impressed by it as all the hype about it would have suggested that I be.

I am still listening to Mark Helprin's epic WWI novel A Soldier of the Great War. This is the second book of his I have read and I find that I have the same complaint about this one as I did with Winter's Tale. It is bloated. This huge book could have had equally huge sections of it trimmed out that would have made no difference in the content or meaning of the story the author was trying to tell.

>24 PaperbackPirate: PaperbackPirate: I agree that Hollow City is stronger than Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, but I, too, enjoyed them both. I'm reminded that the Harry Potter series got stronger as it continued as well. Hopefully, this series will do the same. Ransom Riggs has created something unique and captivating. I know it's fairly popular, but I have a feeling it could really take off. I just hope they don't ruin it by turning into a movie; at least too soon. I think that would ruin it. I'm no fan of most books to movies with the exception of a few older ones like To Kill a Mockingbird or A High Wind in Jamaica.

>32 benitastrnad: Historical fiction written in the 1950s. The entire series, The Accursed Kings, inspired Martin's Westeros. I think there were six books, which is another similarity.

>19 Storeetllr:, >21 TooBusyReading: I hope you find Beauty Queens as delightful as I am finding it.
I've added Thirty Girls and Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother to my wishlist, and, yahoo, they're both in my library system.

>32 benitastrnad: I agree on the bloat in Helprin's books but I still find them worthwhile. My favorite of his is Freddy and Fredericka.

I just started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Haven't read anything this strange in a while. It's quite fun, although i can see why some folks would feel otherwise.

I started The State of Steady Things by Ted Thompson and still working on The Moon Sisters and Flavia deLuce

>32 benitastrnad:, >34 richardderus: Excited to report that I just added The Iron King to my Kindle for $1.99.

>21 TooBusyReading: It is pretty interesting hearing Love Song read by the poet.

I've finished Dead Cold by Louise Penny and jumped right into the 3rd installment, The Cruellest Month. I love this series, and I have such a crush on Inspecteur-chef Gamache !

I also borrowed the audiobook U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton at the library, to listen to while commuting, but it would be my first audiobook in English so I'm not sure I'll be able to follow the story.

Finished Glitz by Louise Bagshawe in no time. It was lovely light chick-lit and I positively raced through it.

Now in preparation for a talk I'm going to give in a month and a half, which I've never done before and I'm quite scared to do, I'm reading Verbaal Meesterschap by the excellent Remco Claassen. He writes well, entertaining and has a lot of interesting information to offer, so I'll expect to be flying through this one as well.

>11 ollie1976:: I read Confessions of a Sociopath earlier this year, so I'll be interested to see what you think of it. I don't like unreliable narrators in nonfiction, so I had a hard time enjoying the book as much as I thought I would.

I finished The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh last night - a new literary suspense novel that a few people have compares to Gillian Flynn's novels. It doesn't have the same bite, but the settings are similar, and it actually works really well as a reading suggestion for anyone who watched True Detective on HBO. The ending was less suspenseful than I would have liked, but it was extremely well written and very atmospheric.

I've reviewed a Kindle Single, historical essay Blood on the Tracks by novelist Cecelia Holland, on my thread...post #133.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.

#42

Apparently Cecelia Holland did for you what Rosemary Sutcliff did for my sister - opened up the world of historical fiction to her and made her an avid reader of that genre.

Finished The Nomination by William Tapply. A good suspense read, but not up to his usual standard. Now reading Winter at Death's Hotel by Kenneth Cameron, a novel about the wife of Arthur Conan Doyle as she attempts to solve a mysterious death.

>43 benitastrnad: I think she must have done. I like looking for the stories in history now, as well. It's endlessly rewarding.

I started reading Inferno By Dan Brown.

I am reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and am really enjoying it so far. I'm not sure what I expected, exactly, everyone's opinions are so vastly different on this one! But I like it so far (only 20% in though - as per my Kindle). She is one of the more engaging writers I have read recently, hooks you right in there.

>41 coloradogirl14:-I enjoyed it. Better than a text book cookie cutter type of book about sociopaths and psychology

started Killer by Jonathan Kellerman today. Finished Brilliance yesterday

I'm nearing the end of the funny and charming The Rosie Project, recommended by Mark (msf59), and started Sula.

Still listening to Shogun, which is moving along at the speed of glaciers. It's very good, but at only about 1/3 of the way through after a week, I'm starting to think of reading something else for a change.

#50
I am feeling the same about Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. This one should have been streamlined big-time.

>51 benitastrnad: I agree with you. I've read three other Mark Helprin titles since falling in love with Winter's Tale back in the eighties, but none of them really scored very high with me. They all seemed thick, slow, and unmemorable. Too bad.

#49: I read & loved The Rosie Project a few months ago. Can't wait for another one by that author.

Just picked up the humongous The Goldfinch. Curious about everything I've heard so far. Never read anything by Tartt before.

Hi, everyone...I haven't posted here in several years, but yesterday I finished Joan Chase's During The Reign of the Queen of Persia, and since then, have felt compelled to beg, urge, cajole, or perhaps even bribe you all to read this gorgeous novel. It was originally published in 1983, won the PEN/HEMINGWAY Award that year, but has effectively been out of print for some time now. NYRB is publishing a new edition to be released on April 15, and I recommend the paper copy in lieu of a Kindle edition, because I guarantee you will want to pass this magnificent piece of American fiction along to friends and family. It's only 220 pages long, but I'll not be forgetting this one anytime soon, hands-down the best book I've read this year. You can thank me later.

I haven't posted here before. I'm reading Terribly Charming. It's a light-hearted take on fairy tales' Prince Charming and the various Princesses he rescued - then dumped! His younger sister, Princess Maxine Charming, is trying to get him to stop all his nonsense with rescuing and dumping damsels. Currently they are looking for a Princess who is supposed to be held captive by three beasts. However, a troll told them the Princess really didn't need saving, so they are just seeing what can be done and who does need to be saved.

When I get done with Terribly Charming, I will start on the second book of The Glass Wall series, a young adult series about the fae.

Just finished the engaging Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson.

Next up for listening at home is Sister by Rosamund Lupton, and I continue listening to Black Cross in the car, and reading Maidenhair.

>54 LouisBranning: Mr. Louis Branning! How very good to see you again.

I've paused in my greedy inhalation of the entire extant Chronicles of St Mary's series of novels about the zany, seriously disturbed, and hugely amusing crew of time-traveling Historians to warble as seductively as I am capable of doing.

My purpose is to entice everyone whose eyes light on my review into Kindle-ing for FREE this fun, funny, and quite unexpectedly touching first-in-a-series tale.

Go and read my happy yodels about Just One Damned Thing After Another.

>57 richardderus: I am completely "pantiwadulous" about spoilers, so while I didn't read any more of your review after that sentence, I did get the book. I need a little humor after The Orphan Master's Son.
I finished 4 books in the last 24 hours:
The Orphan Master's Son - 5 stars from me, but I'm not sure how I managed to get through it. What a harsh look at life in North Korea - though any book not written by their government would have to be so.
Sense and Sensibility - the best I can say about it is that it's over. If Jane Austen wrote about North Korea she'd include all the torture and none of the heart.
Beauty Queens - a great gender positive book to the end. Sarah Palin and Kim Jong-Un watch out.
Wicked for my RL book club. Very difficult because philosophy is always confusing for me, also, not a lot of laughs.
Now I've started
dog park audio: We'll Always Have Parrots which so far seems to be about a mystery connected with a TV show with lots of medical names - the show is called Porphyria set in the land of Amblyopia.
on ipad: Freakonomics
on paper: Not Even Wrong - about autism.

Just finished Lost Lake by NC author Sarah Addison Allen and liked it. Her books are all small-town, whimsical, contemporary, family secrets, romance, with a touch of fantasy and wonderful quirky characters. I do love quirky characters! Also liked Garden Spells, Sugar Queen, and Girl who Chased the Moon by same author. Only one of hers I didn't like was Peach Keeper.

Just started Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear. This excellent historical series about a female psychologist/detective is set in Britain in the aftermath of WWI. First in the series is Maisie Dobbs.

I'm putting Thirty Girls on my library list based on comments by mollygrace above. Thanks for the tip!

>58 Citizenjoyce: This will *perfectly* fit the lighter reading bill, Joyce, and hopefully it will cause smiles, cackles, and other miscellaneous merriment. I'm resting before reading book three in the series later today.

>57 richardderus:, you failed this time. Well, failed to part me from my money anyway. I did grab this free Kindle book, and it sounds like it will be great fun. Thanks!

I'm about to finish Wednesday Is Indigo Blue after lagging on it for more than a year. It's required a lot of marginal notations and commentary.

Also putting away another Cadfael quickie and doing a slow turn through several long works. Next up is one of two library books: Gone Girl and The House on the Strand.

>61 TooBusyReading: Oh, just you wait...the $8.97 will vanish before you know it.

>62 Meredy: Synesthesia is a fascinating subject to me. I hope this book will have given you your money's worth by the end!

I'm reading The Five O'Clock Follies. Historical fiction (seems well researched) about the Vietnam War http://www.amazon.com/The-Five-OClock-Follies-Anyway/dp/0984779914

>63 richardderus: It's my second book by Cytowic on this subject, and I had similar quarrels with the first one. Allowing that it's a difficult subject to discuss and that there's a wide range of phenomena that come under the umbrella of synesthesia, still parts of it just seem off the mark to me; or perhaps it would be better to say that he makes some generalizations and draws some conclusions that run counter to my experience. I have data points that belie some of his statements. I'm interested in what he has to say nonetheless.

>65 Meredy: A book that can engage you at that deep a level is a pleasure, even if it's a mitigated one.

>66 richardderus: True. In general I regard any nonfiction book as a dialogue.

I just finished The Storied Life of A J Fikry. I picked it up, intending to read just a page or two so I could finish another book, and was so completely taken by it, I didn't want to put it down. It's a quick, sweet book for book lovers and I loved all the characters.

Now back to The Outcast Dead.

#68 coppers - so glad you like The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. I loved it too. It was such a nice story. I loved all the literary references. A book lover's book!

Read my happy warbles of pleasure for A Symphony of Echoes on the book page or at my blog: http://tinyurl.com/lntl92j

I am so picking your pocket of $3.99 here, US Kindle users. The UK version's cost I don't know, but if it's more than two pounds I'd be amazed.

Good fun, some sex, a fair number of lasciviously inclined redheaded women, and dodos. You can not go wrong.

-70/Richard - Dodos? Did I read that correctly?

Dodos. Did you know that dodos say "grockle"? I have it on good authority.

#72 Richard. I just downloaded the Jodi Taylor series I just don't give a damn based on your recommendation-looks like fun!!

>73 cdyankeefan: I hope they're as much fun for you as they have been, so far, for me!

I'm just starting Headhunters on My Doorstep: A True Treasure Island Ghost Story by J. Maarten Troost.

I'm only a few pages in, but I think it's going to be a fun and interesting ride! He'll be following the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson, which is exactly the kind of book I adore.

Just starting Hemingway's Girl, a work of historical fiction. I enjoyed attending a signing by the author last month so was interested in reading the book.

>59nrmay:
I love the Maisie Dobbs series and your post reminded me that a new one should be coming out soon. I checked Jacqueline Winspear's web site and sure enough, The Care and Management of Lies is due on July 1st to coincide with the 100th anniversary of The Great War. Thanks for reminding me!

>77 NarratorLady: Well now I feel stupid. I just assumed the Maisie Dobbs series was older and that the writer was long gone. i love it, I just thought it was more contemporary rather than historical fiction.

33 bookwoman247
Part of the charm of the book is the photographs. I think it would be a challenge to translate that aspect in a movie.
Glad you liked it! It was a hit with my book club. From one Early Reviewer copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children it's encouraged 5 others to read that and all 6 of us to get the sequel. Wise marketing!

Just finished On Agate Hill by Lee Smith. Now I'm reading Hemingway's Girl by Ericka Robuck. I heard her speak a few weeks ago and was impressed that she actually goes to the places in her book and does much historical research in preparation for her books.

Hello there again! :) I'm catching up on last week's reading once more. :)

Well, I started reading Katie: The Real Story by Edward Klein on Tuesday, April 1st and actually finished it on Saturday, April 5th! :) It was quite an eye-opening biography.

It took me a couple of days to settle on which book to read next, but finally I chose Man, Woman and Child by Erich Segal and started reading it on Monday, April 7th! :) It was a very poignant but quick read for me, and I finished it on Tuesday, April 8th!

I picked up The Guardian by Jeffrey Konvitz, and started reading it on Tuesday afternoon, April 8th - It was certainly scary, but I found that the story was sort of jumbled in with some definitely horrific moments.

Mareena and I went off to raid our library's perpetual book sale on Wednesday, April 9th! :)

I'm 2 books behind schedule for my 100 book goal this year, so I chose my next reading options strategically: Crank by Ellen Hopkins (YA novel in verse - fast read, and a book I've been meaning to read for some time now) and Mother, Mother by Koren Zailckas (a disturbing, fast-paced reread). Hopefully that'll get me back on schedule!

Finished the RD-recommended Just One Damned Thing After Another and had a fun time with it. I'll be picking up the second. Now it's time to read my ER book, the Stars Wars/Shakespeare mashup, The Empire Striketh Back.