What You're Reading the Week of 14 Oct 2006

The Complete Poems E E Cummings I notice that we've just passed 100 posts in last week's thread.

I read Christopher Brookmyre's Country of the Blind this week, he's an excellent and developing writer - a Scots Carl Hiaasen perhaps, his more recent books are less introvertedly philosophical and IMHO better written. I also got to complete Before and After Graphics for Business by John McWade tough to put your work on the line in book full of graphic illustrations but he carries it off well and I was reminded on a lot an learnt a whole lot more. Highly recommended even if you are a user of graphics not a creator.

But does anyone read what the people before them have put ?

However that may be, I got through The wisdom of W E B Du Bois, Service With a smile and Throw Away the Key by Felix Bogarte last week.

At present, I`m reading English Humour by J B Priestley.

After that, we`ll see.

I read over the posts above mine. I like to see what others are reading.

I've just started I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak for the group discussion over at Read YA Lit.

I am reading "the ground beneath her feet" by salman rushdie

(Huh. It's still the 13th here in North America - looks like this particular thread is keeping GMT. I would have expected LT to run on Portland Standard Time....)

Last week, as part of my ongoing '17th-Century' binge, I read God's Secretaries.
For dessert, I knocked off Christopher Hill' s Some Intellectual Consequences of the English Revolution, my first Mooched book.

I have a stack of TBR (well, a house full of TBR, actually) and I haven't really picked out what's next. One possibility is spending an hour with the new Nick Hornby that arrived via BookMooch: Otherwise Pandemonium.

I imagine I'll find something for after that.... there are several recent Ken MacLeods that I've been meaning to get to.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
I'm about a third the way through this, my first Ishiguro novel.
Certainly not what I was expecting, very interesting and intriguing so far.
More than likely, I'll be reading more of his works.

Also, skimming over On Literature by Umberto Eco. I always enjoy reading what he has to say, though I'm certainly not well read enough to fully appreciate it.

getting ready to go with The Poet of Loch Ness by Brian Jay Corrigan for a Yahoo book discussion group.

I always at least skim all of the posts here, see if anyone's reading something I have a strong opinion about.

Reading Wonder Boys, which is taking me a while to get into. I love and have devoured everything by Chabon I've read this far, and I'm enjoying Wonder Boys, but there's just not that hook that makes it unputdownable.

Almost done listening to Wuthering Heights, will probably wrap it up tomorrow and start in on The Immortals series (Wild Magic) by Tamora Pierce.

I always look at all the posts too. Sometimes I find out about a book that I'd like to read, and if nothing else it's just interesting to see what books are currently popular (like when Special Topics in Calamity Physics had just come out).

I'm glad to hear you're going to read the Immortals series, fyrefly - I was wondering whether you'd like Tamora Pierce enough to read more.

I've almost given up posting what I intend to read here, since it never works out as planned. And I'm currently in the middle of too many books to be making much progress on any of them.

For my leisure reading right now I have Voices from Chernobyl, which I found out about on one of these threads, and I Am the Messenger for the Read YA Lit discussion group.

A school book that I expect to finish reading in the next month or so is Theories of the World from Antiquity to the Copernican Revolution. There's also much more school reading, but it never seems to end up being complete books.

Started, and quickly finished Come Dance With Me, by the wonderful Russell Hoban. All the standard trademarks bats, london, synchonicity and kookiness seen as normality. He’s great at modern relationships, and this one is especially nice when you realize they are not the standard thirty something protagonists. Always quotable too – “There’s a chasm between men and women, and love is the rope you fling across. If the other person catches it you have the beginning of a suspension bridge. My rope always fell short.”

Just started Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima, and am liking it. Beautiful writing, about first love in early C20 Japan. Can’t quite find myself liking Kiyoaki yet, but can see it materializing on the horizon.

I too like seeing what everybody is reading, a few trends, but it’s always very eclectic. This group contributes pretty heavily to my almost un-manageable ‘books to get’ list

AsYouKnow_Bob: (Huh. It's still the 13th here in North America - looks like this particular thread is keeping GMT. I would have expected LT to run on Portland Standard Time . . .)

LT does run on Portland Standard Time, it's just that I started this thread before going to bed on the night of the 12th (usually around midnight but a bit early this week) and I'm not far off the Greenwich meridian so this bit works on real time.

PS I read pretty much all the posts here - and wonder why I don't recognise most of the books or authors. I'll have to go search the 'imports' section in Borders in London next time I'm there.

I read most of the posts here too, the source of much extra stress on my bookpile!

I read love at arms which was sweet; then Piratica which was amusing and now onto Elantris which has me intrigued

Yes, I look at other posts which sometimes give me ideas. Currently reading The Blind Assassin and very much enjoying it.

Never Let Me Go is the Ishiguro book that has made me place him among my favorite authors. It is one of the most beautiful and strange novels I've ever read, and has Ishiguro's trademark skewed first-person point-of-view. I also strongly recommend The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans.

I just started here on LT a week or so ago so I'm also still pretty new to the group here but I do skim over what others have been reading, find it of interest. (Gee, everyone here seems so much more "high brow" than I am, at least according to what they're reading.) :)

I just finished V: Death Tide by A.C. Crispin and Deborah A. Marshall last night (or, rather, early this morning). I'm going to be moving on to another "V" novel, V: To Conquer the Throne by Tim Sullivan, next.

I enjoyed Death Tide. It focuses on the main "V" characters (many if not most of the novels focus on original characters in other locales) and it works pretty well continuity wise with the short lived "V" television series. And since Crispin is one of the co-authors we get to see some of her characters from the earlier V: East Coast Crisis novel in this novel, as well, which was a nice touch of inter-novel continuity.

_Zoe_ - Yeah, I enjoyed the Song of the Lioness books enough to pick up the next series, although I did get the feeling that I would have liked them better if I had read them when I was actually a YA and hadn't read all of the "high" fantasy first. The Prydain Chronicles suffered in the same way when I read them a few years ago.

Mainly, though, I need something light. I've spent the past three days listening to Wuthering Heights almost non-stop, and I need something a little less clothes-rending breast-beating angsty and a little more escapist to change it up.

Philip Roth's american pastoral...loved the first chapter and am looking forward to a good read, by, if i may say so, one of the great masters of american fiction!

"Never Let Me Go is the Ishiguro book that has made me place him among my favorite authors. It is one of the most beautiful and strange novels I've ever read, and has Ishiguro's trademark skewed first-person point-of-view. I also strongly recommend The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans."

Over half way through now, and I have to say I'm less impressed than I was. The narration style is getting annoying; too many "..maybe I was wrong but I don't think so..." pieces when remembering stuff. Also, the prose isn't that good, compared to John Banville's The Sea or Cloud Atlas (I'm certainly no expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt; I'd love to be shown the error of my ways)

I've read Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go a couple of times already, Andrew, and you might wait until you're through with it, and have had maybe just a little time to absorb it thoroughly, before making any hard judgments on it. As far as I'm concerned, it's not only one of his better novels, but one that a lot of folks will be reading for a very long time, a classic clone novel.

Finished it now.

Immediate thoughts - still unimpressed by the prose style, for the same reasons as specified earlier.
The story is rather good though - well laid out, releasing parts of the plot at certain intervals really worked well I thought.

I guess this would be classed as "magical realism"? I mean, my first thought after finishing it would be why didn't Kath, Ruth and the others not know about Hailsham being different by reading a paper? Why don't they rebel about their lot in life? I loved the book on one level, but hated it on others. I thought Kath and Ruth were both rather unpleasant people, rather selfish.

So, one of the better novels I've read recently (the fact I'm thinking so much about it, even though there are certain aspect I didn't get/like means it worked on a certain level), but some areas that didn't 'gel' for me.

It's already mid-October and here's what I've read so far this month:

L.A. Rex by Will Beall is a first novel, which I usually tend to avoid, but Beall's also a working officer with the LAPD and his gruesome, gritty story of hope-to-die Crip and Blood gangsters, dirty cops, and LA's all-powerful Mexican Mafia, was nearly unputdownable all the way. Despite the fact that Beall tries to cram too much story into a single book, and his ending winds up being maybe a mite too pat and predictable, I still thought it was terrific hard-core stuff and almost breathlessly readable.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy turned out to be one of my favorite books of the year, a postapocalyptic nightmare of a story about a father and his young son trying to survive in a harrowing world of nuclear winter, and I felt this was as affecting a novel as any McCarthy's ever written, and coming from a die-hard McCarthy fan like me, that's saying quite a lot.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe remains just as wonderful as it was 30 years ago when I first read it, and time's not diminished the power of Achebe's novel by one iota, a great book forever.

The Rainbow Stories by William T. Vollman was just a knock-out, 13 astounding stories that show case Vollman's solitary genius, and if you've never read any Vollman before, this is probably an excellent entry point to his work, with only a modicum of literary heavy-lifting required.

Right now I'm nearly 200 pages into Vikram Chandra's sprawling gangster epic Sacred Games and am enjoying it quite a bit, even though there are times when I wish Chandra had provided a simple glossary of Indian terms, as he uses many of them quite liberally throughout; nevertheless, I've found that most of these, if not all, can be easily understood by their context, so this is not nearly as off-putting as it might be. Despite the absolute foreign-ness of some of the language though, this is still a strikingly written page-turner of a high order(sort of The Godfather meets Shantaram), and I'm already curious as to what the critical reaction to it will be when it's published in the US in January.

On Friday I started The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie- I don't know whether it's just her early novels, but I find myself preferring the thrillers without Poirot.

Yesterday I finished up The Mephisto Club by Gerritsen and my overall feeling is 'meh'. Rehashed plot elements from dozens of other novels combined with truly annoying characters will make this my first and last Gerritsen.

In honor of Halloween, the book I'm into now is The House Next Door, which I haven't read in 10 years or so. After that will be a Stephen King and maybe some classic horror as well, like Poe. Gotta let the horror thing it run its course.

AndrewL: I read Never Let Me Go last year and found it very moving. I also recall describing it as understated, and this would be due to Ishiguro's style. Simple, economical writing can be as effective as poetic writing and I think that this is part of Ishiguro's skill: for me, he communicates wonderfully without playing with language.
At the same time, I loved Cloud Atlas and The Sea for their cleverness with words.

Elantris was a great read, I'm following it up with faking it partially because my brain needs some brain candy after being sucked in by Elantris

I finished Leviathan by Paul Auster this morning. Great writing, but parts of it didn't hang together for me. I'm left wondering at the motives of the main character.

Later today I'll be starting Kitchen Essays by Agnes Jekyll. Right now, however, I'm going to listen to some more of The Moonstone while I take care of some neglected housework.

Just started Them, the memoir of her parents by Francine du Plessix Gray, while also reading Redemption The Last Battle of the Civil War by Nicholas Lemann and Rereadings, edited by the wonderful Anne Fadiman.

Trying to edit so touchstone for Rereadings shows up correctly, but no luck so far. I have it listed with Anne Fadiman as editor, and so do some other people, but others have it listed with no editor and that's the version the touchstone always reverts to.

rebeccanyc, I read du Plessix Gray's Them: A Memoir of Parents back in January and loved it, still one of my favorite books this year.

I always read the messages here too: good to see what I might want to pick up next...

I finished a couple of books last week but can't decide what to start next - it might be Ronnie Corbett's And It's Goodnight From Him..., or perhaps some fiction - it feels like I've been reading memoirs and biographies all summer. (John Simpson, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Adam Ant, Kenneth Horne...)

Too many good things to choose from, that's the problem.

I jump onto the "always read all the posts" bandwagon with glee and vigor. I'ts amazing what I've discovered that I never suspected I didn't know existed.

I'm onto research reading for my National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) novel...presently reading The Essential Rumi and The Language of Life for themes and epigraphs.

After The Dwellings Debacle which is a fun children's book, I now moved to the next two classics on my tbr pile. So for the next two days or so it's Albert Camus' The Stranger and Friedrich Nietzsche's The Antichrist, both in German. So far I enjoy both of them, on a completely different level. Both seem to be pretty short and quick reads and then I'll move on to Tad Williams' Tailchaser's Song for something lighter again.

I'm still reading American Prometheus about Robert Oppenheimer and am almost done listening to Oliver Twist.

This morning someone lent me The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen so I may take a break and read that tonight. Sorry to hear that Bookmarque (msg #23) didn't care for it. I really enjoyed Gerritsen's other books and often finish them in one sitting.

Apart from the usual reading of a literature undergrad, I've just finished On Beauty by the excellent Zadie Smith. I was thrilled to learn that she, too, is a fan of E.M. Forster - the novel does owe itself somewhat to him, but that's no weak point in my opinion. I'm currently burdening myself with a perusal of Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho as additional reading as part of a study of Jane Austen for college. If, some time in the future, I get a spare minute, The Accidental by Ali Smith is a recent purchase that I'd love to start reading.

My earlier message few victim to the gremlins of message-devouring, so I will make another attempt:

I too avidly read this thread and its siblings from other weeks, and have frequently put books on my to-be-read list because of positive reviews I read here.

Last week I finished Coram Boy and found it less original than its striking opening had suggested. Now I have moved on to Eight Skilled Gentlemen (which I read when I was younger, but had sadly forgotten - it is quite lively and inventive so far) and Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. I am much fonder of Gaiman's work in comics than the few novels of his I have read (only American Gods, Good Omens and half of Anansi Boys so far) - the novels are funny and enjoyable, but lack the mythological complexity that characterizes the Sandman series, for instance. Next I have my eye on My Name is Red, in honor of Orhan Pamuk's Nobel win.

I read through about a third of Kitchen Essays this evening--a fascinating window into pre-WWII middle- and upper-middle-class domestic life in England. I'll continue to read it while I'm cooking, but in the meanwhile I'm starting Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks.

cabegley,
I hope you enjoy Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks as much as I did. It was one of those books that made you want to follow the geography of the entire novel. And the history of every side story. Best wishes - I hope it's a good read for you. I just finished The Constant Gardener by John Le Carre and found it riveting - never expected it but he is one amazing writer I also read another wwii novel but for some reason the title won't come - oh yes Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi again, a work of excellence that I cannot recommend highly enough. Very touching. Tonight Im starting a what at first glance looked like a junky novel I found in the clearance bin of the second hand book shop Finding Laura Buggs by Stanley Gordon West who wrote a book that they made a movie from that won an emmy. Sorry for the typos but I don't have my glasses and so in order to be able to type appropriately, I need to close my eyes and just let the feel of the keys guide me. Sometimes I'm right but when I lose my fingerhold, the results can be unpredictable to say the least.

-- "In honor of Halloween, the book I'm into now is The House Next Door, which I haven't read in 10 years or so." --

Bookmarque, I have this book, too, and I thought it was great. Very creepy, but then again, I am a scaredy-cat. :)
Anyway, I do skim through the posts that others write, for no other reason than I'm nosey, but also because, like others have said, it gives me ideas on books to read. And I have to agree that, reading through these posts, I honestly feel like I'm on an elementary reading level compared to everyone else, although I read more than anyone I know. I mean, my list is full of fiction authors like Nicholas Sparks, Judith McNaught, Jackie Collins, and Dean Koontz, and it seems as though everyone is reading intellectual, college-required readings that, usually, I've never heard of. Granted, I do look them over and see if I'd be interested in reading any of them, and I do find many I think I'd like, but I don't have oodles of spare time, so I don't get as much read as I used to. Therefore, I generally stick to authors I know and have heard of. I'm not really interested in non-fiction, but I think that may be because of my age. One day I think I'll take more of an interest in it, therefore expanding my reading possibilities.
Geez, long post! Anyway, I'm currently reading Velocity by Dean Koontz. I love him, he scares me to death! Very "Halloween-ish" author.

warbrideslass - I'm glad you enjoyed Stones from the River... I randomly picked it up at an airport years and years ago and was totally blown away. I should dust it off and re-read it, but my to-be-read pile is already so full of never-read books...

Almost finished The Mathematics of Love by Emma Darwin which is rather trite but quite enjoyable nonetheless. Started Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami - my first novel by this author. I was a little afraid to plunge in Murakami. He is so prolific, I was thinking: Where do I start? and What if I don't like him? So far I'm doing fine although the next chapter is about Mr Cat so I'm entering strange territory.

-->39 amandameale:

Don't become intimidated by Murakami. He really is an accessible author. The fun of his longer novels are that they sometimes run in labyrinths. You can take them at face value or you can interpret them as you'd like. Only do with them what you'd like. You're sure to enjoy them either way. I just finished reading Kafka on the Shore myself and thought it was great.

Murakami's shorter novels are not as strange. His short
stories are simply wonderful. Try them all.

Where do I start?

You've already started! :-D

What if I don't like him?
You can feel free to not like him. It's not a crime if you don't! We all have different opinions about books.

Mr Cat...

Ooh! I loved the idea of being able to talk to cats! I found it a fun part of this book.

Do come back and let us know what you thought of this book when you're done. Enjoy!

I'm just about to start Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks

I am reading Rabbit Redux by John Updike and The god of small things by Arundhati Roy

#42: I loved the Rabbit trilogy and Arundhati Roy's book. Would be interested in your opinion.

Faking it finished and it was light and fun, had a couple of bus trips and read dead girls don't write letters and Patterns of Love both of which were light but interesting, now onto Free live Free which will possibly get put aside for something lighter while my brain tries to recover from my flu/cold.

I just finished Moscow 2042 by Vladimir Voinovich. It's a Soviet dystopian science fiction satire. It's the perfect storm of all of my favorite genres.

I'm just about to start either Catch-22 by Joseph Heller or A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. I loved Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, but my fianceé will kill me if I don't FINALLY read Catch-22. Such a predicament!

The Protector's War by S. M. Stirling, and I have a whole stack of new-to-me books from Half-Price Books when I finish it, as well as some I unearthed while entering my library.

I'm just starting Elantris, which- judging by this topic- seems to be pretty popular.

I certainly do check out what other people are reading, even if it is the case that my tastes seem to run diametrically opposed to the usual enthusiasms of the posters.

Be that as it may, "auto week" continues for me as I've finished "Driving with the Devil" (Neal Thompson's enjoyable chronicle of the pre-history of NASCAR (the review is now up)) and have been perusing Open Roads and Front Engines by Janos Wimpffen. The second is a massive pictorial work that is the first of a four-part series examining international sports-car racing. Which reminds me that I'd just like to give a shout-out to Appalachian State University's library for investing in expensive books on the history of auto racing and then letting them circulate to penurious enthusiasts like me; three cheers for inter-library loan!

Next up is probably The Radioactive Redhead.

Bought and finished off Candide today. Not what I was expecting at all. Literature should be staid and complex :p

Back to reading The Golden Age...

I'm also one to read other posts

Am reading Alice Munro short stories for the first time, having just finished & enjoyed The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. Despite its length, I couldn't put it down.

Ahh...Catch-22 I stayed up all night reading that in college, and laughing so hard my roommates wanted to suffocate me. Things are funnier (as well as scarier) in the middle of the night. And OF COURSE I read the previous posts. What's the point of the group otherwise? Still reading The Gangs of New York Will tear through One Monday We Killed Them All for pure R and R, on the recommendation of somebody who posted about it in another group.

Just finished Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and thought it lived up to its hype. Atmospheric and kept me hooked. Breezed through most of Thomas Perry's The Butcher's Boy in a night with only about 25 pages left. This was an Edgar Award-winning first novel by Perry which received lots of accolades however frankly I disagree. Maybe it's because I haven't read this type of book in a while but I thought the writing left something to be desired. But it's obviously a plot-driven book so maybe I'm looking for too much. Next on tap is something by Barbara Pym but I haven't decided which book yet -

On October 13, I've just finished reading Little Children by Tom Perrotta. Very nice story about neighborhood couples and the challenges of their marriages. I read it because I am planning to watch the movie version .

Now I am reading Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley which I started on October 14, again an upcoming movie .

I'm re-re-reading You're a bad man, Mr Gum! by Andy Stanton. It's a book for eight year olds and I have rarely laughed so much (P G Wodehouse aside) when reading. Despite its being for children, I'd recommend it highly to anyone in need of a smile.

I'm re-reading David Copperfield and loving it. I'm also reading The Rebel and - frankly - am struggling. Maybe the recent drop in temperature has frozen my brain?

I love reading all the posts for the weekly threads. I get a good idea of what to look for next, and I also get to see how many people are reading a bestselling book and why.

Currently I'm still stuck on Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum, which I've been reading for the last couple weeks. I'm now in the latter half of the book, so hopefully I'll finish soon, when my schedule finally stops being so busy. I also started Slant by Greg Bear, which is an interesting read because it's in present tense. I normally don't like fiction that uses this particular voice.

The Secret Laboratory Journals of Dr. Victor Frankenstein by Jeremy Kay for fiction; The Faces of Fantasy by Patti Perret for non-fiction. I'm also reading through the second draft of my own novel before I start the daunting search for readers.

I had a box of books given to me tonight. Twenty-three lovely books from a friend and I totally trust her "book" judgement. So for starters, I'm going to read Ursula,Under by Ingrid Hill. I'm excited. With school, I haven't had much time to read lately anything besides my textbooks. I finished The Armless Maiden last night which is really heavy and dark. Maybe this will be something a bit lighter. Although the story of a girl caught in a well doesn't seem to be very light reading, does it?

I'm about half way through "Us" by Richard Mason. I'm quite enjoying the story at the moment but the short, fragmented chapters are getting to be quite anoying.

zimberline, Ingrid Hill's Ursula, Under isn't light reading by any stretch, it's a relatively complex, multi-layered story, but it remains one of my favorite books of the last few years, and I've recommended it to more than a few people since I first discovered it.

Just starting The scheme for full employment by Magnus Mills ... I've also read his restraint of beasts and all quiet on the orient express ... he's really got a great black humor kind of thing going and I can't wait to get into this one.

Oooh, I love Magnus Mills. I must go and reread him at some point.

I did opt for And It's Goodnight From Him, which was a good read, if a bit sad in places. It benefits from being co-written with David Nobbs who adds a recognisable light touch to the story.

I started Two Little Girls In Blue this afternoon, having not read any fiction for a while, and it's gripping. Not great literature, perhaps, but it sucks you in quickly and keeps you hooked.

I'm reading the Grey's Anatomy book, Overheard at the Emerald City Bar.

Seeing as I've read the first two books in the series The Radioactive Redhead was a quick read. Now it's back to academic military history with A Gallant Defense.

I've just begun The Sandman: King of Dreams by Alisa Kwitney as my non-fiction selection for the next little bit.

I just finished rereading a favorite, I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb.

I'm currently reading Midwives by Chris Bohjalian and Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2 by Annie Proulx

rgag86,
Now I'm curious!! What's this about Grey's anatomy book? Is this the book the TV series (my favorite show - and I'm not a TV fan) is based on? I'd love to read it if it is. Or maybe not....... sometimes that ruins the movie if you read the book. Or the other way 'round. Since I love the show, I might not want to read the book.

I'm reading:
(1) Christ, the Eternal Tao by Hieromonk Damascene, which lays out the arguement that Lao Tzu was a prophet of the Christ
(2) The Jesus Sutras by Martin Palmer, which is about the syncratic nature of 7th Century Christian/Taoist scrolls found in China
(3) Women with Attention Deficit Disorder by Sari Solden, which is confirming my self-diagnosis!

Finished Redemption by Nicholas Lemann, a brief history of the real battles, terrorism, and murders that ended Reconstruction. Now planning to look through ltos of my unread books to figure out which I'm going to take on vacation in a week, and which I should read first!

Am reading a biography on Anne Boleyn and it's quite interesting to read about her life before marrying Henry v111.
Also, am nearly finished The Innocent, a lovely story and very descriptive in the 14th century.

Recently finished:

A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan
Prayers to Broken Stones by Dan Simmons
Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams
Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie
Psychopath by Keith Ablow

Currently reading:

Dragon and Phoenix by Joanne Bertin
The Red Thread by Nicholas Jose

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Currently reading three books by Oklahoma authors (I'm living in Oklahoma) and am liking all three very much. Twisted Perceptions by Bob Avey is a new mystery by a new author (although he's been a wannabe author for over ten years -- breaking into the publishing world is HARD). I've only read the first chapter but so far on Amazon it is rated at a full five stars. I just listened to an oral presentation by him yesterday, and if his book is as good as his speaking, I'm in for a treat.

Sometimes A Wheel Falls Off by Connie Cronley is a set of essays about life and death and cats and lots of things that hit home with me; plus she talks about events and landmarks in Tulsa and it's always a kick to see "familiars" in print.

Shoot by Jay Cronley is a fun book which I am pretty sure he wrote with "tongue in cheek." He's telling the story of a husband and wife who decide that they each will be better off if the other is dead, and each hires a paid assassin to "off" the other one. Before either murder happens, circumstances change so that they decide to reconcile and need to call off the murders. Of course, it's not that easy to undo and everything goes wrong. I think this is what they call a "madcamp romp."

I've also just finished reading two speculative novels on different periods in Edgar A. Poe's life. The Poe Shadow is by Daniel Pearl who wrote The Dante Club, and covers the last few days of Poe's life, or rather the investigation of the last days. Clark, an avid Poe fan is convinced that there is something mysterious about Poe's death and is concerned that the local papers have trivialized his death by attributing it to alcoholism. Clark interrupts his law practice and his engagement to a Baltimore socialite to take two years off to discover the truth about Poe. The concept is intriguing, but some of Clark's actions require suspension of rational belief -- in fact his relatives sue for him to be declared incompetent of keeping his family estate. I found the other Poe book to be more enjoyable -- The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard. This book tells a tale of murder and detection during a year that Poe is at West Point. It left many questions in my mind that I am still mulling over, but which I can't discuss without spoilers.

Okay, just one more then I'm done. Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason by Zoe atkinson and Kristine Atkinson took about an hour to read, and I quite enjoyed it. It got pretty mixed reviews on Amazon, seems they either loved it or hated it. It was written like a diary with artwork and hints at possible foul play, but we'll never really know because it just stops.

Finished The Golden Age - great hard scifi, onto The Cyberiad - more childish than I expected, but still a good read I guess.

At this time I am reading Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an IMperfect Science by Atul Gawande.

Finished free live free and followed it up with countdown and Mythology abroad. Now onto Tigana

I'm new to this forum, so I thought I'd post something. I'm reading, slowly, Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games by Edward Castronova and The Burned-Over District by Whitney Cross, also slowly. Enjoying both of them.

Just finished The Grantville Gazette.

I'm reading "The Truth" by Terry Pratchett to my daughter, before going to bed where I've been winding down this week reading "Going Postal" by Terry Pratchett. In the morning on the #194 southbound along I5 I've been listening to "The Fifth Elephant" by once again...Terry Pratchett. Today I find some of the regular characters (all three books tread their tale through 'Discworld') are less fictional and more companiable. I mean I can't quite keep them fixed to the page, it is as if my orbital cortex is juggling more vibrant familiars than it can handle and I'm momentarily confabulating with in my fictional vision. Very enjoyable. Quite surreal.

Just finished the scheme for full employment ... didn't quite match The restraint of beasts, but a nice read nonetheless ... will be starting Idlewild by Nick Sagan today.