What are you reading the week of October 3, 2015?
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1fredbacon
John Champlin Gardner Jr. (July 21, 1933 – September 14, 1982) was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor. He is perhaps most noted for his novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth from the monster's point of view.
Gardner was born in Batavia, New York. His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school. Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and made Eagle Scout. As a child, Gardner attended public school and worked on his father's farm, where, in April 1945, his younger brother Gilbert was killed in an accident with a cultipacker. Gardner, who was driving the tractor during the fatal accident, carried guilt for his brother's death throughout his life, suffering nightmares and flashbacks. The incident informed much of Gardner's fiction and criticism — most directly in the 1977 short story "Redemption," which included a fictionalized recounting of the accident.
Gardner began his university education at DePauw University, but received his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1955. He received his M.A. & PhD. in 1958 from the University of Iowa. He was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Detroit in 1970 or 1971.
Gardner's best known novels include: The Sunlight Dialogues, about a brooding, disenchanted policeman who is asked to engage a madman fluent in classical mythology; Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf legend from the monster's point of view with a philosophical underlying; and October Light, about an aging and embittered brother and sister living and feuding together in rural Vermont. This last novel won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1976.
Gardner was a lifelong teacher of fiction writing. He was a favorite at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. His two books on the craft of writing fiction—The Art of Fiction and On Becoming a Novelist—are considered classics. He was famously obsessive with his work, and acquired a reputation for advanced craft, smooth rhythms, and careful attention to the continuity of the fictive dream. At one level or another, his books nearly always touched on the redemptive power of art.
In 1978, Gardner's book of literary criticism, On Moral Fiction, sparked a controversy that excited the mainstream media, vaulting Gardner into the spotlight with an interview on The Dick Cavett Show (May 16, 1978) and a cover story on The New York Times Magazine (July, 1979). His judgments of contemporary authors—including such luminaries of American fiction as John Updike and John Barth—which could be termed either direct, courageous, or unflattering, depending on one's perspective, harmed his relations with many in the publishing industry. Gardner claimed that lingering animosity from critics of this book led to the lukewarm critical reception of his final novel, Mickelsson's Ghosts. What was seemingly lost in the furor over On Moral Fiction was Gardner's central thesis: that fiction should be moral. Gardner meant "moral" not in the sense of narrow religious or cultural "morality," but rather that fiction should aspire to discover those human values that are universally sustaining. Gardner felt that few contemporary authors were "moral" in this sense, but instead indulged in "winking, mugging despair" (to quote his assessment of Thomas Pynchon) or trendy nihilism in which Gardner felt they did not honestly believe. Gore Vidal found the book, as well as Gardner's novels, sanctimonious and pedantic, and he called Gardner the "late apostle to the lowbrows, a sort of Christian evangelical who saw Heaven as a paradigmatic American university."
Gardner inspired and, according to Raymond Carver, also intimidated his writing students. At Chico State University, when Carver, who was almost five years younger, mentioned to Gardner that he had read but not liked the assigned short story, Robert Penn Warren's "Blackberry Winter," Gardner said, "You'd better read it again." "And he wasn't joking", said Carver, who related this anecdote in his foreword to Gardner's book On Becoming a Novelist. In that foreword, he makes it clear how much he respected Gardner and also relates his extraordinary kindness.
Gardner taught at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and spent the years before his death as a professor at Harpur College of Binghamton University.
In 1977, Gardner published The Life and Times of Chaucer. In a review in the October 1977 issue of Speculum, Sumner J. Ferris pointed to several passages that were allegedly lifted either in whole or in part from work by other authors without proper citation. Ferris charitably suggested that Gardner had published the book too hastily, but on April 10, 1978, reviewer Peter Prescott, writing in Newsweek, cited the Speculum article and accused Gardner of plagiarism, insinuations that were met by Gardner "with a sigh."
Gardner was killed in a motorcycle accident about two miles from his home in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 14, 1982. State Police said that at about 2:30 pm Gardner completed a curve on Route 92 about 3 mi (4.8 km) north of Oakland, when he lost control of his 1979 Harley-Davidson, went into the dirt shoulder, and then was thrown from the motorcycle. He was pronounced dead at Barnes-Kasson Hospital in Susquehanna. Gardner's fiancée, Susan Thornton, stated that Gardner had been drinking the night before the accident. An autopsy revealed Gardner had a blood alcohol level of 0.075; the legal limit for driving at the time was 0.08. Thornton also mentioned exhaustion from overwork as a contributing factor, and that the curve on Route 92 had been freshly-oiled gravel. The crash was four days before his planned marriage to Thornton. He was buried next to his brother Gilbert in Batavia's Grandview Cemetery.
Gardner was born in Batavia, New York. His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school. Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and made Eagle Scout. As a child, Gardner attended public school and worked on his father's farm, where, in April 1945, his younger brother Gilbert was killed in an accident with a cultipacker. Gardner, who was driving the tractor during the fatal accident, carried guilt for his brother's death throughout his life, suffering nightmares and flashbacks. The incident informed much of Gardner's fiction and criticism — most directly in the 1977 short story "Redemption," which included a fictionalized recounting of the accident.
Gardner began his university education at DePauw University, but received his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1955. He received his M.A. & PhD. in 1958 from the University of Iowa. He was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Detroit in 1970 or 1971.
Gardner's best known novels include: The Sunlight Dialogues, about a brooding, disenchanted policeman who is asked to engage a madman fluent in classical mythology; Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf legend from the monster's point of view with a philosophical underlying; and October Light, about an aging and embittered brother and sister living and feuding together in rural Vermont. This last novel won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1976.
Gardner was a lifelong teacher of fiction writing. He was a favorite at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. His two books on the craft of writing fiction—The Art of Fiction and On Becoming a Novelist—are considered classics. He was famously obsessive with his work, and acquired a reputation for advanced craft, smooth rhythms, and careful attention to the continuity of the fictive dream. At one level or another, his books nearly always touched on the redemptive power of art.
In 1978, Gardner's book of literary criticism, On Moral Fiction, sparked a controversy that excited the mainstream media, vaulting Gardner into the spotlight with an interview on The Dick Cavett Show (May 16, 1978) and a cover story on The New York Times Magazine (July, 1979). His judgments of contemporary authors—including such luminaries of American fiction as John Updike and John Barth—which could be termed either direct, courageous, or unflattering, depending on one's perspective, harmed his relations with many in the publishing industry. Gardner claimed that lingering animosity from critics of this book led to the lukewarm critical reception of his final novel, Mickelsson's Ghosts. What was seemingly lost in the furor over On Moral Fiction was Gardner's central thesis: that fiction should be moral. Gardner meant "moral" not in the sense of narrow religious or cultural "morality," but rather that fiction should aspire to discover those human values that are universally sustaining. Gardner felt that few contemporary authors were "moral" in this sense, but instead indulged in "winking, mugging despair" (to quote his assessment of Thomas Pynchon) or trendy nihilism in which Gardner felt they did not honestly believe. Gore Vidal found the book, as well as Gardner's novels, sanctimonious and pedantic, and he called Gardner the "late apostle to the lowbrows, a sort of Christian evangelical who saw Heaven as a paradigmatic American university."
Gardner inspired and, according to Raymond Carver, also intimidated his writing students. At Chico State University, when Carver, who was almost five years younger, mentioned to Gardner that he had read but not liked the assigned short story, Robert Penn Warren's "Blackberry Winter," Gardner said, "You'd better read it again." "And he wasn't joking", said Carver, who related this anecdote in his foreword to Gardner's book On Becoming a Novelist. In that foreword, he makes it clear how much he respected Gardner and also relates his extraordinary kindness.
Gardner taught at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and spent the years before his death as a professor at Harpur College of Binghamton University.
In 1977, Gardner published The Life and Times of Chaucer. In a review in the October 1977 issue of Speculum, Sumner J. Ferris pointed to several passages that were allegedly lifted either in whole or in part from work by other authors without proper citation. Ferris charitably suggested that Gardner had published the book too hastily, but on April 10, 1978, reviewer Peter Prescott, writing in Newsweek, cited the Speculum article and accused Gardner of plagiarism, insinuations that were met by Gardner "with a sigh."
Gardner was killed in a motorcycle accident about two miles from his home in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 14, 1982. State Police said that at about 2:30 pm Gardner completed a curve on Route 92 about 3 mi (4.8 km) north of Oakland, when he lost control of his 1979 Harley-Davidson, went into the dirt shoulder, and then was thrown from the motorcycle. He was pronounced dead at Barnes-Kasson Hospital in Susquehanna. Gardner's fiancée, Susan Thornton, stated that Gardner had been drinking the night before the accident. An autopsy revealed Gardner had a blood alcohol level of 0.075; the legal limit for driving at the time was 0.08. Thornton also mentioned exhaustion from overwork as a contributing factor, and that the curve on Route 92 had been freshly-oiled gravel. The crash was four days before his planned marriage to Thornton. He was buried next to his brother Gilbert in Batavia's Grandview Cemetery.
The Resurrection, New American Library, (1966); Vintage Books, (1987)
The Wreckage of Agathon, Harper & Row, (1970)
Grendel, New York: Vintage Books, (1971), illustrated by Emil Antonucci
The Sunlight Dialogues, Knopf, (1972)
Jason and Medeia, Knopf, (1973)
Nickel Mountain: A Pastoral Novel, Knopf, (1973)
The King's Indian, Knopf, (1974)
October Light, Knopf. (1976)
In the Suicide Mountains, Knopf, (1977)
Vlemk the Box Painter, Lord John Press, (1979)
Freddy's Book, Knopf, (1980)
The Art of Living and Other Stories, Knopf, (1981)
Mickelsson's Ghosts, Knopf, (1982)
Stillness and Shadows, Knopf, (1986)
The Life and Times of Chaucer, Knopf, (1977)
Dragon, Dragon (and Other Tales), Knopf, (1975)
Gudgekin The Thistle Girl (and Other Tales), Knopf, (1976)
The King of the Hummingbirds (and Other Tales), Knopf, (1977)
A Child's Bestiary, Knopf, (1977)
The Forms of Fiction, (1962)
The Poetry of Chaucer, (1977)
On Moral Fiction, Basic Books, (1979)
On Becoming a Novelist, (1983)
The Art of Fiction, (1983)
The Complete Works of the Gawain Poet, (1965)
The Alliterative Morte Arthure and Other Middle English Poems, (1971)
Tengu Child, (with Nobuko Tsukui) (1983)
Gilgamesh, (with John Maier, Richard A. Henshaw) (1984)
On Writers and Writing, Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., (1994)
2fredbacon
Just a quick comment on this week's choice of author. I can highly recommend Nickel Mountain as a good entry point to John Gardner's work. It's not so much a novel as a set of interlocking stories with the same core characters. I think the wedding scene is one of the loveliest things that I've ever read.
I was vacationing with my brothers this past week, so I didn't have much time to read. I'm only about half way through C. V. Wedgwood's The Thirty Years War. Because I forgot to remove the book before I checked my luggage, I ended up buying The Cuckoo's Calling at the airport. I haven't read much of it yet, but I've liked what I have read.
I was vacationing with my brothers this past week, so I didn't have much time to read. I'm only about half way through C. V. Wedgwood's The Thirty Years War. Because I forgot to remove the book before I checked my luggage, I ended up buying The Cuckoo's Calling at the airport. I haven't read much of it yet, but I've liked what I have read.
3framboise
Halfway through The Nightingale which is good, but not the quick page-turner I thought it'd be given the five-star ratings on Amazon.
5seitherin
Still working on A Hat Full of Sky and The Aeronaut's Windlass.
6hemlokgang
Finished listening to a very disappointing Take Me With You by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Next up is The Son by Jo Nesbo.
I am reading The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov. Not much reading time this week. I have a new 10 week old Golden Doodle puppy and have been quite occupied with him and sleep deprived as well.
I am reading The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov. Not much reading time this week. I have a new 10 week old Golden Doodle puppy and have been quite occupied with him and sleep deprived as well.
7BooksCatsEtc
I started The Complete Works of Elizabeth Gaskell and had no idea it would be so entertaining. She's better than the Brontes and nearly as good as Austen. I'm nearly thru the Cranford stories, can't wait to get to North & South.
The Scarlet Cord: conversations with God's chosen women, by Lindsay Hardin Freeman. Recommended by a devout friend, the illustrations are fantastic.
New and Selected Poems, Volume I, by Mary Oliver. This one's been slow going, I haven't been in a poetic mood lately.
The Elegance of a Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. Just started this one, seems interesting tho I'm not usually one for stories containing precocious children.
The Scarlet Cord: conversations with God's chosen women, by Lindsay Hardin Freeman. Recommended by a devout friend, the illustrations are fantastic.
New and Selected Poems, Volume I, by Mary Oliver. This one's been slow going, I haven't been in a poetic mood lately.
The Elegance of a Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery. Just started this one, seems interesting tho I'm not usually one for stories containing precocious children.
8rocketjk
I finished the compelling A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle. Now I've taken my second step into Travis McGee country, reading Nightmare in Pink by John D. MacDonald.
9seitherin
Finished The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. Enjoyed it.
Next up is Greenmantle by Charles de Lint.
Next up is Greenmantle by Charles de Lint.
10Meredy
Closing in on the end of Neal Stephenson's 1000-plus-page tome REAMDE. It's been a good ride, and now I just want it to wrap up satisfactorily.
11richardderus
Well, I'm a fan of Gardner's, so Fred's choice makes me smile.
Today, I hope to finish THE LAST POLICEMAN...I swore I'd read it before, but if I did it was in the downslide time, and I remember nothing of it.
Tomorrow's completion will be, if all goes according to plan, WHAT MAKES YOU DIE. Weirdly compelling, this book.
Today, I hope to finish THE LAST POLICEMAN...I swore I'd read it before, but if I did it was in the downslide time, and I remember nothing of it.
Tomorrow's completion will be, if all goes according to plan, WHAT MAKES YOU DIE. Weirdly compelling, this book.
12Iudita
After 3 months, I have finally finished Don Quixote which I completely enjoyed. I have now started an audio book called The Nothing Girl which is a comforting, very relaxing story. I am also going to start reading The Fishermen which I am really looking forward to. It sounds like the type of thing I usually love.
13TooBusyReading
I'm just starting Golden Age: A Novel, the third book in Jane Smiley's trilogy. I loved the first book, Some Luck, was less enamored with the second, Early Warning, and don't know yet about this one. There are certainly plenty of characters to track!
14framboise
Just finished The Nightingale. The second half was much quicker than the first. Let me just say that I wish almost everything about the ending was different. But the book was very good.
15ahef1963
Just started reading The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint.
16fredbacon
>11 richardderus: Richard, it's good to see you again! A belated happy birthday! Is this just a drive-by posting, or are you going to be here more regularly?
17CarolynSchroeder
RICHARD!!! ((((big crazy hug)))) Nice to "see" you!
Thank you everyone, so much, for the great suggestions for "lighter" reading fare amid Mom's (non-secretory multiple myeloma with secondary/metastic cancer to the bones - we now know) cancer treatment journey. I spend so much time at the hospital while she dozes off and on, I'm really going through a lot of books. I'm grateful to have the concentration now for it.
I finished Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall about her breast cancer journey and the unlikely and deep friendship with her gardener (and his family). It was a very, very honest look at cancer and while it was not uplifting, per se (at times it was), it really helped me understand some of the things my Mom has articulated, which I did not understand very well. I am grateful Ms. Wall left this book for us to enjoy/gain insight from.
I am now onto The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and loving it, albeit I'm super late to the part on this one.
Next up is High Fidelity as per recommendation! Thank you!
Thank you everyone, so much, for the great suggestions for "lighter" reading fare amid Mom's (non-secretory multiple myeloma with secondary/metastic cancer to the bones - we now know) cancer treatment journey. I spend so much time at the hospital while she dozes off and on, I'm really going through a lot of books. I'm grateful to have the concentration now for it.
I finished Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall about her breast cancer journey and the unlikely and deep friendship with her gardener (and his family). It was a very, very honest look at cancer and while it was not uplifting, per se (at times it was), it really helped me understand some of the things my Mom has articulated, which I did not understand very well. I am grateful Ms. Wall left this book for us to enjoy/gain insight from.
I am now onto The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and loving it, albeit I'm super late to the part on this one.
Next up is High Fidelity as per recommendation! Thank you!
18PaperbackPirate
Welcome back Richard!!!
I've been reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck for Banned Books Week. It's so beautifully written and still relevant 76 years after being published.
I've been reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck for Banned Books Week. It's so beautifully written and still relevant 76 years after being published.
19Zumbanista
I'm off to a good start with Divergent, my chosen trilogy for my 2015 Book Challenge.
20jnwelch
>10 Meredy: I've been thinking about reading Reamde for ages, so I'll look forward to hearing your reaction when you're done.
I'm nearing the end of the very good Neurotribes.
I'm nearing the end of the very good Neurotribes.
21NarratorLady
Finished Georgette Heyer's The Corinthian in a day. Loved it. Now on to Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl. Apparently I've decided that October is light reading month.
22richardderus
Hi y'all, and thanks for the greetings! Fred, I plan to be a more regular visitor as I've had a chance to settle in at my new (beachfront, boardwalk access) digs.
I've reviewed THE LAST POLICEMAN, and THE BARON IN THE TREES; workin' on a review of THE COLORS OF INFAMY, which I hope to put up tonight.
I've reviewed THE LAST POLICEMAN, and THE BARON IN THE TREES; workin' on a review of THE COLORS OF INFAMY, which I hope to put up tonight.
23fredbacon
Richard, if and when you feel up to taking over the creation of this thread on a weekly basis just let me know. I'll be happy to hand it back to you. :-)
24Meredy
>20 jnwelch: I wouldn't look at it for a long time because I found the title irritating. But a good reader from around these parts made it sound pretty attractive, so I finally dug in.
I finished it yesterday, all 1000-plus pages. And I enjoyed it a lot. I've just given it 4 1/2 stars, but you know, I'm going to have to take that down to 4 because on reflection I'm bothered by the way he set up so many characters with a ton of background and, shall we say, screen time and then just let them disappear. And yet, with all that, there are principal characters who last right through to the end without our getting much or any background on them at all. That disproportion seems to me to be a structural flaw big enough to affect my rating.
I finished it yesterday, all 1000-plus pages. And I enjoyed it a lot. I've just given it 4 1/2 stars, but you know, I'm going to have to take that down to 4 because on reflection I'm bothered by the way he set up so many characters with a ton of background and, shall we say, screen time and then just let them disappear. And yet, with all that, there are principal characters who last right through to the end without our getting much or any background on them at all. That disproportion seems to me to be a structural flaw big enough to affect my rating.
25Heduanna
Hi, Richard! Looks like I picked a lucky time to drop in :)
Just finished up Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which is a delightfully deceptive book: I expected a romance novel, and got dry humour, social commentary in a package worthy of being mentioned along with Austen. I'm not doing it justice here, but I'm trying to recommend it heartily!
Just finished up Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, which is a delightfully deceptive book: I expected a romance novel, and got dry humour, social commentary in a package worthy of being mentioned along with Austen. I'm not doing it justice here, but I'm trying to recommend it heartily!
26cdyankeefan
Richard-great to see you!!
I'm currently re-reading Gone Girl for a book club I'm running at an assisted living center. Also reading The Al he it's by Paulo Coehlo Fates and Furies which I'm struggling with a bit and Villa America by Liza Klausmann which I'm enjoying
I'm currently re-reading Gone Girl for a book club I'm running at an assisted living center. Also reading The Al he it's by Paulo Coehlo Fates and Furies which I'm struggling with a bit and Villa America by Liza Klausmann which I'm enjoying
27CarolynSchroeder
I finished and love The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and am now reading and enjoying the quirky (but rather astute!) High Fidelity. I am about twenty years late to the the party on that one, but that said, despite some technological advances, the relationship woes/reflections/ups and downs remain exactly the same as today.
28richardderus
Hi Fred, yeah well don't be makin' them plans just yet...I'm still not operating at 80% yet.
I'm really glad to be back around more of the threads. It's doing dirt to my teensy budget, but it was ever thus.
I'm really glad to be back around more of the threads. It's doing dirt to my teensy budget, but it was ever thus.
29seitherin
Finished A Hat Full of Sky and started Wintersmith. I'm really enjoying these books.
30jnwelch
>21 NarratorLady: Oh good, NarratorLady. I have The Corinthians on my radar. Very encouraging that you enjoyed it.
I liked Fangirl a lot. Hope it works for you.
>24 Meredy: Sounds fair, Meredy. I liked his Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, but haven't tried any of his doorstoppers. This one looked intriguing - I imagine that oddball title gets explained somewhere in it, right?
>25 Heduanna: I loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, too, including that dry humour and social commentary.
I liked Fangirl a lot. Hope it works for you.
>24 Meredy: Sounds fair, Meredy. I liked his Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, but haven't tried any of his doorstoppers. This one looked intriguing - I imagine that oddball title gets explained somewhere in it, right?
>25 Heduanna: I loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, too, including that dry humour and social commentary.
31sebago
Nine Mile Bridge by and about Helen Hamlin. I picked this up in New Hampshire on our way to Pittsburg NH and somehow forgot I had it!! I am enjoying it very much so far, getting an insight about the logging industry during the late 1930s early 1940's. Will review once I have finished it. :)
33varielle
I've started The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks because I saw the author speak last year. Henrietta's life and ultimate fate is so depressing I don't know if I can go on.
34snash
Finished Close Range: Wyoming Stories which is an excellent collection of stories of desperate lives struggling to eke out a living under harsh conditions. The weather and landscape are the forces, exquisitely drawn, who win most of the conflicts, leaving the protagonists desperate and lonely.
Next up, Anna Quindlen's Object Lessons
Next up, Anna Quindlen's Object Lessons
36richardderus
>35 momom248: Thank you, Maureen!
37Limelite
Another Neal Stephenson fan here. So far, Anathem is my favorite. Totally captured my imagination.
And another "Maj. Pettigrew" fan here. Brit writers seem especially adept at delivering the Lesson without preaching. Sara Alexi does it chramingly with her Greek island series. The first, The Illegal Gardener, theme deals with the illegal immigrant crisis. Heartfelt and thoughtful, cozy as well.
Finished a wonderful sojourn in Imperial Russia reading Massie's unputdownable bio. of Catherine the Great. About to open the precocious debut novel of Marisha Pessl, Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Promises to be quirky and erudite. Have had luck reading young precocious female authors like Eleanor Catton. Hoping my luck holds.
And another "Maj. Pettigrew" fan here. Brit writers seem especially adept at delivering the Lesson without preaching. Sara Alexi does it chramingly with her Greek island series. The first, The Illegal Gardener, theme deals with the illegal immigrant crisis. Heartfelt and thoughtful, cozy as well.
Finished a wonderful sojourn in Imperial Russia reading Massie's unputdownable bio. of Catherine the Great. About to open the precocious debut novel of Marisha Pessl, Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Promises to be quirky and erudite. Have had luck reading young precocious female authors like Eleanor Catton. Hoping my luck holds.
38rocketjk
I quickly finished Nightmare in Pink, the second book in John D. MacDonald's famed "Travis McGee" series. I thought it was good but not great, but I am nevertheless looking forward to more McGee.
Staying in the "thriller" mode for the time being, I've started The Cleaner, by Brett Battles. This is the first in Battles' "Jonathan Quinn" series.
Staying in the "thriller" mode for the time being, I've started The Cleaner, by Brett Battles. This is the first in Battles' "Jonathan Quinn" series.
39Copperskye
Welcome back, Richard!!
>27 CarolynSchroeder: I loved both of your current reads.
For Banned Book Week, I read and enjoyed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Currently, I'm reading Missoula and listening to All the Wild That Remains.
>27 CarolynSchroeder: I loved both of your current reads.
For Banned Book Week, I read and enjoyed The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Currently, I'm reading Missoula and listening to All the Wild That Remains.
40Meredy
>30 jnwelch: Yes, fairly early. The front half is laden with backstories and explanation--entertaining enough (they really are), but not all necessary to what takes place in the back half.
I liked this one much better than Anathem.
I liked this one much better than Anathem.
41CarolynSchroeder
I finished and loved High Fidelity! Thank you for the recommendation. It would not even been on my radar for novels to choose in a troubled moment in life. Kind of a little sappy at the super very end, but hey, I'll take it.
I am now reading one of my huge nerdy, pre-order with excitement October joys, which came in the mail yesterday afternoon: The Best American Short Stories 2015, guest editor T.C. Boyle. Starts off with a bang and also worth a gander at the Forward, which discusses the issue of "likability" in fictional characters ... which apparently makes or breaks novels these days ... and it suggests that is a pretty irrelevant inquiry! Made me ponder.
I am now reading one of my huge nerdy, pre-order with excitement October joys, which came in the mail yesterday afternoon: The Best American Short Stories 2015, guest editor T.C. Boyle. Starts off with a bang and also worth a gander at the Forward, which discusses the issue of "likability" in fictional characters ... which apparently makes or breaks novels these days ... and it suggests that is a pretty irrelevant inquiry! Made me ponder.
42jnwelch
>40 Meredy: Good to know, thanks. I plan to get to Reamde soon.
43Zumbanista
A little underwhelmed by Divergent ago taking a break with Lightening by Dean Koontz (my first by him) before I dive into Insurgent.
44bell7
>22 richardderus: Glad to see you enjoyed The Baron in the Trees. I read it in college and always meant to go back and read it again, figuring I'd get a lot more out of it now that it's not required reading and I could have my own timetable for completing it.
I finished Americanah over the weekend, I'm almost finished with the last Tiffany Aching book, The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett, and have just begun The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow which starts off with a fascinating post-apocalyptic premise - we'll see if it continues to hold up.
I finished Americanah over the weekend, I'm almost finished with the last Tiffany Aching book, The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett, and have just begun The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow which starts off with a fascinating post-apocalyptic premise - we'll see if it continues to hold up.
45ahef1963
I'm not reading much. My son, who is also my roommate, has decamped to Churchill, Manitoba for two months, cooking in a sightseeing lodge, and the house is unsettlingly quiet. This means that I turn the TV on every chance I get, and instead of reading, I'm binging on Grey's Anatomy and Bones.
Am slowly making my way through The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo, but until I get used to my son's absence, the TV will be on.
Am slowly making my way through The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo, but until I get used to my son's absence, the TV will be on.
46CarolynSchroeder
I get that ahef! I'm not a TV person, but there was a time in my life where I was super lonely and a "Modern Family" binge was the only thing that brought me 'round ... laughs, drama and just life. It helped. Hope you get your reading mojo back soon.
I am a few stories into the excellent Best American Short Stories 2015.
I am a few stories into the excellent Best American Short Stories 2015.
48grkmwk
Finished the excellent novel, The Martian, week before last, and then moved onto Kate Atkinson's latest. However, I haven't returned to it - A God in Ruins - since last Wednesday. Not yet calling it abandoned, but definitely not missing it either...it just doesn't have the same magic (pun intended) as Life After Life.
My real-time reread of A Discovery of Witches is quite fun. Finished the less-than-good Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil last night. Nearing the end of Mary Oliver's A Thousand Mornings poetry collection, which is just lovely.
Need to start on The Big Sleep for book club later this month...
My real-time reread of A Discovery of Witches is quite fun. Finished the less-than-good Sharp Knives, Boiling Oil last night. Nearing the end of Mary Oliver's A Thousand Mornings poetry collection, which is just lovely.
Need to start on The Big Sleep for book club later this month...
49seitherin
Finished Greenmantle by Charles de Lint. I always get caught up in the mystery when I read his books.
Next up is Rising Tide by Rajan Khanna.
Next up is Rising Tide by Rajan Khanna.
50dianeham
Hi, I'm new to LT. I am just about done reading The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara.
51richardderus
>50 dianeham: Many welcomes, Dianeham! Have fun!
52nrmay
Finished Make Me Lee Child, and now reading One Second After by William Forstchen.
53cdyankeefan
# 50 welcome aboard Dianeham and enjoy!! I'm reading Villa America ; Gone Girl for a book club; Fates and Furies and Canada
54princessgarnet
Finishing The Bronte Cabinet by Deborah Lutz
56framboise
Still taking my time reading and enjoying The Bees.
On another note, I will be going to see David Sedaris at the start of his tour tomorrow night and have been reading some of his New Yorker essays this week. It is sure to be a funny and entertaining night.
On another note, I will be going to see David Sedaris at the start of his tour tomorrow night and have been reading some of his New Yorker essays this week. It is sure to be a funny and entertaining night.
57Tara1Reads
>56 framboise: Sedaris is one of my favorite writers. I have seen David Sedaris twice and he's always great! Enjoy!
I am reading and enjoying The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.
I am reading and enjoying The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.
59grkmwk
>57 Tara1Reads: I loved The Marriage Plot! To me, it was one of the most perfect endings: it fit the arc of the story exceptionally well.
60Tara1Reads
>59 grkmwk: I haven't finished The Marriage Plot yet, but I am absolutely loving it so far!
