What are you reading the week of August 15, 2015?
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1fredbacon
Dorris Alexander "Dee" Brown (February 30o 1908 – December 12, 2002) was an American novelist and historian. His most famous work, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1970) details the history American expansionism from a point of view that is critical of its effects on the Native Americans.
Born in Alberta, Louisiana, a sawmill town, Brown grew up in Ouachita County, Arkansas, which experienced an oil boom when he was thirteen. Brown's mother later relocated to Little Rock so he and his brother and two sisters could attend a better high school. He spent much time in the public library. Reading the three-volume History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark helped him develop an abiding interest in the American West. He also discovered the works of Sherwood Anderson and John Dos Passos, and later William Faulkner and Joseph Conrad. He cited these authors as those most influential on his own work.
While attending home games by the Arkansas Travelers baseball team, he became acquainted with Chief Yellow Horse, a pitcher. His kindness, and a childhood friendship with a Creek boy, caused Brown to reject the portrayals of Indian peoples as violent and backward, which dominated American popular culture at the time.
He worked as a printer and reporter in Harrison, Arkansas, and decided to continue his education at Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway, Arkansas. His mentor, the history professor Dean D. McBrien, helped set him on the road to becoming a writer. They traveled west along with other students on two occasions in a Model T Ford. On campus Brown worked as editor of the student newspaper and held a student assistantship in the library. The latter convinced him that he should become a librarian.
So, in the middle of the Great Depression, he set out for George Washington University in Washington, D.C. for graduate study. Brown worked part-time for J. Willard Marriott, took classes, and married Sally Stroud (another graduate of Arkansas State Teachers College drawn to Washington by the New Deal). Eventually he found a full-time position and became a librarian for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1934 to 1942. He lived at 1717 R Street NW, in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
Brown's first novel was a satire of New Deal bureaucracy, but it was not published due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The publisher suggested "something patriotic" instead. He responded with Wave High the Banner, a fictionalized account of the life of Davy Crockett (who was an acquaintance of his great-grandfather). A few months after its publication, he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he met Martin Schmitt. After the war they collaborated on several works. During the war, Brown worked for the United States Department of War as a librarian and never went overseas.
From 1948 to 1972, he was an agriculture librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he had gained a master's degree in library science, became a professor, and raised a son, Mitchell, and daughter, Linda, with his wife Sally.
As a part-time writer, he published nine books, three fiction and six nonfiction, by the end of the 1950s. During the 1960s, he completed eight more including The Galvanized Yankees, which Brown described as requiring more research than any of his other books, and The Year of the Century: 1876, which he described as his personal favorite.
In 1971 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee became a best-seller. Many readers assumed that Brown was of Indian heritage but he was not. He did come from a family with deep history on the frontier.
In 1973, Brown and his wife retired in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he devoted his time to writing. His later works include Creek Mary's Blood, a novel telling of several generations of a family descended from one Creek woman, and Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow, which described the chicanery and romance surrounding the construction of the western railroads. His last book-length work, Way To Bright Star is a picaresque novel set during the Civil War. He never completed its sequel, which was to feature P. T. Barnum and Abraham Lincoln.
Brown died at the age of 94 in Little Rock. His remains are interred in Urbana, Illinois, along with those of his wife Sally Stroud.
Legacy and honors
The Central Arkansas Library System named a branch library in Little Rock, Arkansas for him.
Partial bibliography
Histories
Novels
Other
With thanks to Wikipedia, as always.
Born in Alberta, Louisiana, a sawmill town, Brown grew up in Ouachita County, Arkansas, which experienced an oil boom when he was thirteen. Brown's mother later relocated to Little Rock so he and his brother and two sisters could attend a better high school. He spent much time in the public library. Reading the three-volume History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark helped him develop an abiding interest in the American West. He also discovered the works of Sherwood Anderson and John Dos Passos, and later William Faulkner and Joseph Conrad. He cited these authors as those most influential on his own work.
While attending home games by the Arkansas Travelers baseball team, he became acquainted with Chief Yellow Horse, a pitcher. His kindness, and a childhood friendship with a Creek boy, caused Brown to reject the portrayals of Indian peoples as violent and backward, which dominated American popular culture at the time.
He worked as a printer and reporter in Harrison, Arkansas, and decided to continue his education at Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway, Arkansas. His mentor, the history professor Dean D. McBrien, helped set him on the road to becoming a writer. They traveled west along with other students on two occasions in a Model T Ford. On campus Brown worked as editor of the student newspaper and held a student assistantship in the library. The latter convinced him that he should become a librarian.
So, in the middle of the Great Depression, he set out for George Washington University in Washington, D.C. for graduate study. Brown worked part-time for J. Willard Marriott, took classes, and married Sally Stroud (another graduate of Arkansas State Teachers College drawn to Washington by the New Deal). Eventually he found a full-time position and became a librarian for the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1934 to 1942. He lived at 1717 R Street NW, in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
Brown's first novel was a satire of New Deal bureaucracy, but it was not published due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The publisher suggested "something patriotic" instead. He responded with Wave High the Banner, a fictionalized account of the life of Davy Crockett (who was an acquaintance of his great-grandfather). A few months after its publication, he was drafted into the U.S. Army where he met Martin Schmitt. After the war they collaborated on several works. During the war, Brown worked for the United States Department of War as a librarian and never went overseas.
From 1948 to 1972, he was an agriculture librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he had gained a master's degree in library science, became a professor, and raised a son, Mitchell, and daughter, Linda, with his wife Sally.
As a part-time writer, he published nine books, three fiction and six nonfiction, by the end of the 1950s. During the 1960s, he completed eight more including The Galvanized Yankees, which Brown described as requiring more research than any of his other books, and The Year of the Century: 1876, which he described as his personal favorite.
In 1971 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee became a best-seller. Many readers assumed that Brown was of Indian heritage but he was not. He did come from a family with deep history on the frontier.
In 1973, Brown and his wife retired in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he devoted his time to writing. His later works include Creek Mary's Blood, a novel telling of several generations of a family descended from one Creek woman, and Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow, which described the chicanery and romance surrounding the construction of the western railroads. His last book-length work, Way To Bright Star is a picaresque novel set during the Civil War. He never completed its sequel, which was to feature P. T. Barnum and Abraham Lincoln.
Brown died at the age of 94 in Little Rock. His remains are interred in Urbana, Illinois, along with those of his wife Sally Stroud.
Legacy and honors
The Central Arkansas Library System named a branch library in Little Rock, Arkansas for him.
Partial bibliography
Histories
Fighting Indians of the West (1948) with Martin F. Schmitt
Trail Driving Days (1952) with Martin F. Schmitt
Grierson's Raid (1954) Describes a Union foray into Confederate territory
Settlers' West (1955) with Martin F. Schmitt
The Gentle Tamers: Women of the Old Wild West (1958)
The Bold Cavaliers: Morgan's Second Kentucky Cavalry Raiders (1959) Republished as Morgan's Raiders (1995). Describes John Hunt Morgan's Civil War activities.
The Fetterman Massacre (1962)
The Galvanized Yankees (1963) Republished (1986)
Showdown at Little Big Horn (1964)
The Year of the Century: 1876 (1966)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1970)
Fort Phil Kearny: An American Saga (1971) Republished as The Fetterman Massacre (1974) (First published 1962)
Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans (1972)
The Westerners (1974)
Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow (1977)—about the Union Pacific Railroad
Wondrous Times on the Frontier (1991)
The American West (1994) Collected excerpts from earlier books co-authored by Schmitt
Great Documents in American Indian History (1995)
Novels
Wave High The Banner (1942)
Yellowhorse (1956)
Cavalry Scout (1958)
They Went Thataway (1960) republished as Pardon My Pandemonium (1984)
The Girl from Fort Wicked (1964)
Action at Beecher Island (1967)
Creek Mary’s Blood (1980)
Killdeer Mountain (1983) A mystery revolving around an officer in the Battle of Killdeer Mountain
Conspiracy of Knaves (1986) A Civil War historical saga about the Northwest Conspiracy
The Way To Bright Star (1998)
Other
Tales of the Warrior Ants (1973) For young people
American Spa: Hot Springs, Arkansas (1982) An illustrated history
Dee Brown's Folktales of the Native American: Retold for Our Times (1993) Originally published as Teepee Tales (1979)
When the Century Was Young (1993) Memories of growing up in 1920s & 1930s
Images of the Old West (1996)
With thanks to Wikipedia, as always.
2fredbacon
I'm currently about a third of the way through a biography of Charles II: King of England, Scotland and Ireland by Ronald Hutton.
3rocketjk
Very cool biography, Fred. Thanks.
I'm still reading Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall. It's going to be a while, I'm afraid. It's interesting and mostly understandable, but slow going nevertheless.
I'm still reading Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall. It's going to be a while, I'm afraid. It's interesting and mostly understandable, but slow going nevertheless.
4seitherin
Still working on The God of Small Things, The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, and Red Country.
6mollygrace
Michael Kernan's The Violet Dots was quite interesting and well-written. The book tells the life story of Tom Easton, a Scottish soldier who survived four years of service in WWI (including a few months as a prisoner of war). Easton was a coal miner -- by the time Kernan interviewed him he was retired (after 52 years in the mines). Throughout his life he was active in his community, serving as an alderman, a leader in his union, and in many capacities as a volunteer. Kernan used Easton's diaries, letters, and reflections, as well as many other sources for his book. The two men visited several of the military cemeteries in France where Easton pointed out the graves of men who had been friends. I've read quite a lot about WWI, but seeing it through the eyes of this one man brought it all that much closer.
Now I'm reading Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites.
Now I'm reading Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites.
7hemlokgang
I finished listening to two books while on a road trip. I listened to the brilliant Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut and the entertaining Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton.
Next up for listening is Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.
Next up for listening is Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult.
8Limelite
I really enjoy keeping tabs on the chronic posters' reading logs here. Some I admire for the bravery of their choices, others for their good senses of humor, and still others whose juxtaposition of reading material makes me laugh out loud.
Finishing Thirteen Moons, a satisfying saga, very original story. Don't want it to end. Feel the same way about the CD recording of The English Patient, which I'd read when it was a new book. Even more seductive when the words enter the ear rather than the eye. The tree book I'm half way through is Decoded: A Novel, brilliantly constructed novel about cryptography and so much else in human relations and psyche.
Spent my day committing the unpardonable sin of whiling away two hours at the local public library friends of sale, where I fell upon a Folio Society 1977 edition of Cold Comfort Farm and a Heritage Club 1970 production of Death in Venice. It's publishing and title pp haven't even been cut. I don't think anyone even opened it. Both are in fine condition.
Those two books don't even begin to tell the tale of the other bargains I found there. Discovered a first ed. of Patrick O'Brian's The Chian Wine and Other Stories. These are nothing like his Aubrey-Maturin sea stories. Sentences like this. . .
Finishing Thirteen Moons, a satisfying saga, very original story. Don't want it to end. Feel the same way about the CD recording of The English Patient, which I'd read when it was a new book. Even more seductive when the words enter the ear rather than the eye. The tree book I'm half way through is Decoded: A Novel, brilliantly constructed novel about cryptography and so much else in human relations and psyche.
Spent my day committing the unpardonable sin of whiling away two hours at the local public library friends of sale, where I fell upon a Folio Society 1977 edition of Cold Comfort Farm and a Heritage Club 1970 production of Death in Venice. It's publishing and title pp haven't even been cut. I don't think anyone even opened it. Both are in fine condition.
Those two books don't even begin to tell the tale of the other bargains I found there. Discovered a first ed. of Patrick O'Brian's The Chian Wine and Other Stories. These are nothing like his Aubrey-Maturin sea stories. Sentences like this. . .
It was all that I could have wished. Warm, still, gentle, luminous air; a mild, veiled sun; the light brighter in some places than in others -- Seurat near to, Claude Lorraine farther off.
9Meredy
Just about to finish The Rabbit Back Literature Society, an entertaining oddball of a novel. On deck: another Zen book, or another Nevil Shute, or something else entirely.
10jnwelch
I enjoyed Marriage Can Be Murder, the first in a new series. Now I'm reading another Liaden book with a character I like, Theo Waitley, called Ghost Ship, and I'll be starting Iris Murdoch's The Bell.
11mollygrace
In a few days I will finish reading Ted Kooser's Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison. I've been reading it one poem per day for most of the summer. They are remarkable poems -- small in size, always beginning with a one line report on the weather experienced by Kooser on that particular morning's walk. I am going to miss reading them. I know I could start over again, and I will, but not right away. I've already begun the book of poems I've chosen for my next one-poem-a-day collection: Stuart Kestenbaum's Prayers & Run-On Sentences. There's a blurb by Ted Kooser on the cover so I feel as though I have his blessing as I make the transition. Kooser says that Kestenbaum's poems have "no hidden agendas . . . no theories to espouse, nothing but life, pure life, set down with craft and love." Just what I need to start my day -- and the first few poems in the book seem to bear that out.
I'm just getting into Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites, but it looks quite promising. I'm also reading the autobiography of one of my favorite actors, Karl Malden, When Do I Start?
I'm just getting into Alice Hoffman's The Marriage of Opposites, but it looks quite promising. I'm also reading the autobiography of one of my favorite actors, Karl Malden, When Do I Start?
12snash
I finished reading Legendary Locals of Center City Philadelphia. As always with such a book, one might quibble with who's included and who's not but putting that aside, the short biographies were not all the usual listing of accomplishments but also some colorful side stories. Quick and enjoyable.
13benitastrnad
I finished reading Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson and finally found a Walt Longmire that was interesting, intelligent, and kept my attention. I think it took Johnson three books to get people to read the Longmire series and to do that he had to create a stock action figure that fit the mold of modern detective. Finally, in this book Longmire develops a personality and a reason to like him as a person rather than as a knight in shining armor who rescues people. I am still disappointed in the sidekick character and find him little more than a Tonto type, but now that I have read this book I have hopes that the sidekick's character will develop and I will come to understand him and then like him much the same as has happened with Longmire. I just have to wonder how many people gave the series a chance to develop before they bailed out on it? I can now say with honesty that this is a good series and feel like I can recommend it with the caveat that the reader has to let the series develop.
14NarratorLady
Three Georgette Heyers have just arrived at the library for me although it's hard to imagine them being as good as The Grand Sophy. Stay tuned!
It's sweltering here and heavier reading will have to wait....
It's sweltering here and heavier reading will have to wait....
16LheaJLove
I'm reading Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the world and Me. I LOVE it.
I'm also reading Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction because I have a lot to learn.
And I'm going to start reading Robert Sheer's They Know Everything About You.
I'm also reading Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction because I have a lot to learn.
And I'm going to start reading Robert Sheer's They Know Everything About You.
17brenzi
I'm about a hundred pages into Amitav Ghosh's Flood of Fire and so far it is excellent historical fiction, just like the first two books in his Ibis Trilogy.
18enaid
>14 NarratorLady: My mother has read all Georgette Heyer over the years and her top two faves are The Grand Sophy and Venetia. I've only read The Grand Sophy but I loved it.
I've got a lot a lot of books on the go this month: Roman Fever and Other Stories by Edith Wharton which is great, so far. I think I read this when I was young but I'm sure I missed a lot of the humor, especially in the second story Xingu which was quite unexpectedly funny. Pirate Hunters by Robert Kurson who wrote the wonderful Shadow Divers. This book is in much the same vein. I will be reading it and realize I'm holding my breath as if I were deep sea diving and about to run out of air! Kurson makes it all so present and alive.
Also, Present Indicative by Noel Coward which is charming and funny. I pick it up and put it down when I need a break. I'm also very half-heartedly reading an ancient Victoria Holt King of the Castle.
I've got a lot a lot of books on the go this month: Roman Fever and Other Stories by Edith Wharton which is great, so far. I think I read this when I was young but I'm sure I missed a lot of the humor, especially in the second story Xingu which was quite unexpectedly funny. Pirate Hunters by Robert Kurson who wrote the wonderful Shadow Divers. This book is in much the same vein. I will be reading it and realize I'm holding my breath as if I were deep sea diving and about to run out of air! Kurson makes it all so present and alive.
Also, Present Indicative by Noel Coward which is charming and funny. I pick it up and put it down when I need a break. I'm also very half-heartedly reading an ancient Victoria Holt King of the Castle.
19Meredy
My "something else" has turned out to be Donna Tartt's The Secret History.
20seitherin
Finished up my bedtime read of The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart. The new bedtime read is The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
I also finished John Scalzi's The Human Division and started his The End of All Things as my daytime read.
I also finished John Scalzi's The Human Division and started his The End of All Things as my daytime read.
21Bookmarque
Merely, I like TSH, but each time I've read it, it struck me differently. Is it your first go round?
22Iudita
I have started Black Snow by Paul Lynch. The writing is excellent. I am also listening to Go Set a Watchman
23Meredy
>21 Bookmarque: Yes. So far it's reminding me very much of a number of other things I've read, but I'm willing to give it a little time.
24cdyankeefan
I started Kitchens of the Great Midwest yesterday and loving it also reading Ten Thousand Saints which I'm not lving so mch Dexter is Dead and re-reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry for a book group
25TooBusyReading
I've finished the very entertaining Willie Nelson autobiography It's a Long Story and have started The Library at Mount Char, but the jury is still out on that one. I'm listening to Fall of Giants, and will be for quite awhile.
26jnwelch
I'm a good ways into Iris Murdoch's The Bell. Not loving it so far.
27grkmwk
>9 Meredy: The Rabbit Back Literature Society has been on my TBR list for awhile. Glad to hear you enjoyed!
>24 cdyankeefan: I was just looking at Kitchens of the Great Midwest at a bookstore on Sunday. Adding to my TBR list!
I'm close to finishing Nick Hornby's Funny Girl, which was exactly the light, funny (no pun intended!) book I needed after a summer of hyper-focused Southern lit reading. Also reading Fat Girl Walking, which is providing good laughs as well.
>24 cdyankeefan: I was just looking at Kitchens of the Great Midwest at a bookstore on Sunday. Adding to my TBR list!
I'm close to finishing Nick Hornby's Funny Girl, which was exactly the light, funny (no pun intended!) book I needed after a summer of hyper-focused Southern lit reading. Also reading Fat Girl Walking, which is providing good laughs as well.
28Meredy
>27 grkmwk: At that point I hadn't finished it. There's a little more discussion here:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/185709#5246100
I haven't posted my review yet, but it will be mixed.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/185709#5246100
I haven't posted my review yet, but it will be mixed.
29ahef1963
I just unearthed a pile of paperback Dick Francis novels in my basement. I remember in my teens and early 20s how much my parents and I looked forward to his next novel coming out, and I've begun to read my way through the stack. I've started with the earliest that I have (1966), Flying Finish.
30Tara1Reads
I finished Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Now I am reading The Dog Stars by Peter Heller.
>4 seitherin: How are you liking The God of Small Things? It is one of my favorite books.
>13 benitastrnad: I bailed after the first book. I did not really care for the characters. I am not much of a series reader anyway.
>16 LheaJLove: They Know Everything About You sounds interesting. I added it to my wish list.
>4 seitherin: How are you liking The God of Small Things? It is one of my favorite books.
>13 benitastrnad: I bailed after the first book. I did not really care for the characters. I am not much of a series reader anyway.
>16 LheaJLove: They Know Everything About You sounds interesting. I added it to my wish list.
31cdyankeefan
#27 grkmwk-hi! I have exactly 100pages left in Kit hens and this will easily be in a tie for mt favorite book tnis year-I absolutely loved Wonder by R jPalacio too. Enjoy!!
32jnwelch
Finishing Ghost Ship, and starting Jane Austen: A Life. Lonesome Dove is ready at the library, so that'll be next, too.
33TooBusyReading
I am just a few pages into Jeanette Winterson's The Gap of Time, a retelling of Shakepeare's The Winter Tale, and so far, I am loving it. Apparently, there is going to be a series of Shapekspeare plays retold by some prestigious authors, and I want to read them all.
I have a lovely, if utilitarian, collection of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, and I have been slowly making my way through them, rereading some, reading others for the first time. I got off track, let too many other books push their way to the forefront, and reading this book should get me back on track.
I have a lovely, if utilitarian, collection of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, and I have been slowly making my way through them, rereading some, reading others for the first time. I got off track, let too many other books push their way to the forefront, and reading this book should get me back on track.
34seitherin
>30 Tara1Reads: I'm sorry to say The God of Small Things is boring me silly. I've read the first three chapters and I couldn't bring myself to read any of it yesterday. I don't actually dislike it. It's just not holding my attention. I seem to be in a space opera sort of frame of mind.
I finished The End of All Things by John Scalzi and started Ghost-Walker by Barbara Hambly. Much more what I'm in the mood for.
I finished The End of All Things by John Scalzi and started Ghost-Walker by Barbara Hambly. Much more what I'm in the mood for.
35Travis1259
Just started Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. Been meaning to read it for a while
36benitastrnad
I finished Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas. This one is a book of short stories that form a prequel to the Throne of Glass series. However, it was a disappointment. I had already read the three Throne of Glass books and already had the backstory pretty much figured out so I shouldn't have bothered with this one. I am now reading Demelza the second Poldark novel and am liking it. It is a far cry from the Throne of Glass books.
37Copperskye
>34 seitherin: I tried to read The God of Small Things at least three times and got about as far as you did. I finally gave away my copy to free myself from the obligation. I know many people loved it.
>29 ahef1963: I loved Dick Francis's books back when I was about that age, too - several decades ago. Fond memories.
I just finished Academy Street by Mary Costello, a debut novel by an Irish author. Achingly sad even though there was no poverty or starvation. I also finished the audio version of In the Heart of the Sea. It was excellent. I'm looking forward to the movie.
Now I'm going to start Circling the Sun, Paula McLain's latest about Beryl Markham.
>29 ahef1963: I loved Dick Francis's books back when I was about that age, too - several decades ago. Fond memories.
I just finished Academy Street by Mary Costello, a debut novel by an Irish author. Achingly sad even though there was no poverty or starvation. I also finished the audio version of In the Heart of the Sea. It was excellent. I'm looking forward to the movie.
Now I'm going to start Circling the Sun, Paula McLain's latest about Beryl Markham.
38Meredy
>34 seitherin: >37 Copperskye: et al. I found The God of Small Things a remarkable and compelling read. I'm not sure "enjoyed" would be the right word for it, and I didn't love it, but I certainly admired it. When it was still fresh in my mind, I wrote:
The first novel I’ve read that was structured in concentric circles. A love story slowly revealed through intricate, interlocking puzzle pieces and a tragedy of ruthlessly converging forces. The quality of sensory detail seems to bypass the left brain and go straight to experience.Hmm, I wonder whether I can even write reviews as succinct as that any more.
39benitastrnad
I read God of Small Things years ago and liked it. It is one of those books that you think about from time-to-time and wonder about. Then all of a sudden it will hit you - "That's what was going on." One of the most vivid memories I have of that book was reading the passage about the temple dancing. It was so dreamlike - real and yet surreal. For me it is one of those books I am going to reread someday.
40grkmwk
>28 Meredy: Ahhh...good to know.
>31 cdyankeefan: Great!
Finished both Funny Girl and Letter to a Future Lover night before last. Good solid 3-stars, enjoyable but not remarkable, good summer reads.
In recognition of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina next week, I am reading Zeitoun.
>31 cdyankeefan: Great!
Finished both Funny Girl and Letter to a Future Lover night before last. Good solid 3-stars, enjoyable but not remarkable, good summer reads.
In recognition of the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina next week, I am reading Zeitoun.
41nrmay
Now reading Preacher's Boy by Katherine Paterson
42princessgarnet
Killers of the King by Charles Spencer
Non-fiction about the men who were involved with the trial and execution of Charles I in January 1649
Non-fiction about the men who were involved with the trial and execution of Charles I in January 1649
43whymaggiemay
>30 Tara1Reads: I started The Dog Stars on Monday because I couldn't sleep and needed something different than the other things I was reading. Boy, did I get it. I'm nearly finished and have been driven to read it every moment I could. I definitely need to finish by Friday because I have This Side of Paradise to read for Monday night's book club.
44CarolynSchroeder
Talking about different, I am in a drug-like stupor reading the truly weird but sort of wonderful The First Bad Man by Miranda July. Oy.
45Tara1Reads
>43 whymaggiemay: I am nearly finished with The Dog Stars too. I should finish by tonight or tomorrow as well. I could've already finished it today if it wasn't for running around doing other things. It's good but I space out a little when Hig gets philosophical or talks too much about fishing. It reminds me of The Martian in terms of the protagonist's voice, the simple prose, and a man surviving alone (not really alone in Hig's case) and the math and science needed to problem solve their way out of situations. I loved what Hig had to say about grief.
46Erick_Tubil
Just finished reading the book The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.
47seitherin
Finished Ghost-Walker by Barbara Hambly. Worse than I remembered it being.
Next up is Warchild by Esther Friesner, another of my Star Trek rereads.
Next up is Warchild by Esther Friesner, another of my Star Trek rereads.
48lansingsexton
>46 Erick_Tubil: A great favorite of mine. How did you like it ? Are you going to read The Second Jungle Book?
