What Are You Reading? Sept. 18, 2014

[Louisiana1976]

I'm reading The House by Bentley Little, who is one of my favorite horror authors. It's delightfully creepy.

[busterbrown]

1. House on Haunted Hill

Hardy Boys..

[rogerashton]

2. The Insanity Plea

nt

[hifiguy]

3. My usual variety pack

- Bill Bruford - The Autobiography. Best autobiography by a musician since Rubinstein's book
- Terry Pratchett - Reaper Man. It's a Discworld book. Nuff said.
- Mr. Mike - biography of National Lampoon co-founder and first SNL head writer Michael O'Donoghue (can't remember author's name right now)
- Sheldon Walin - Democracy Inc. Recommended to all who want to know what is wrong with this country
- Patrick O'Brian - Blue At The Mizzen. Slowly savoring my way through the last of the 20 Aubrey/Maturin novels, which I read in sequence every ten years. This is my third trip through them.

[1StrongBlackMan]

6. For most of my adult life ...

I could be found read 4 books, at any time ... 1 non-fiction book on African-American history/experience, 1 non-fiction book on some aspect of politics, 1 fictional court/legal story and 1 "spy" novel.

But it seems I just don't have the time/attention-span any longer.

[Greybnk48]

18. I've read the Aubrey/Maturin novels through three times too

but I have always stopped at 17. Next time I'll just go to the end since I have them all here. I love those books like an old friend. My family always knows when I'm "at sea" because I start shouting things like "God rot your eyes you Godless sodomite!"

I also bought the cookbook with recipes for "boiled baby," etc.

[Codeine]

31. I never re-read books, or at least not since I was a kid.

That said, I fully intend to do the Aubrey/Maturin books at least one more time.

[hifiguy]

44. They are well worth the effort.

O'Brian wrote so beautifully and I just fall completely into that world. I also identify strongly with Stephen as I am over-educated, cranky and eccentric. I have no doubt that I too would plunge into the sea trying to board a sailing ship and have to be fished out by the sailors.

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. Laws of Our Fathers ...

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-374-18423-0

It's my first Turow novel (and won't me my last), that I picked up in a "Bag full of Books for $1.00" rummage sale/fund-raiser.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician

A fascinating guy who came to a bad end by picking the wrong side in a civil war.

I'm reading aloud, "Band of Angels", an historical novel about woman who joins Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War.

And, "Sleepwalkers" about the start of WWI.

I am a very undisciplined reader.

[RGinNJ]

7. Doyle, The tales of Sherlock Holmes

One of my old friends.

[WonderGrunion]

8. All of them Katie. I read them all.

[malaise]

9. Sen

The Idea of Justice

[sweetloukillbot]

10. Got a couple going right now

"Authority" - Jeff VanderMeer - the second in his "Southern Reach" trilogy about government investigation of a mysterious "Area X" that may house some sort of Lovecraftian horror. Creepy weird sci-fi.

"The Cold Commands" - Richard K. Morgan - second in his "Land Fit for Heroes" trilogy. Brutal dark fantasy about a trio of war heroes unable to adjust to postwar life who are returning to fight an ancient evil. Incredibly graphic, but cool because it is the first fantasy series I've seen with LGBT main characters.

[Brigid]

11. No Country For Old Men.

Maybe that's why I'm in such a cynical mood today.

[femmocrat]

12. I just finished "Mr. Mercedes" by Stephen King. (Summer reading)

I am currently trying to figure out what I am in the mood for next. I have the David Brinkley biography of Teddy Roosevelt... I might tackle that one since the TV series has piqued my interest in all things Roosevelt.

[Louisiana1976]

30. I've read reviews of Mr. Mercedes and it sounds good. Unless I can find it for sale cheap I

have to read it when it comes out in paperback and I can hardly wait.

[femmocrat]

41. Yes, it's pretty good. Doesn't take long to read it.

I think it would make a good movie. There are some exciting "action" scenes and interesting characters.

[B2G]

61. Just finished that and have started Dr. Sleep

It's a Stephen King summer...

[TorchTheWitch]

13. A Dance with Dragons

Again. I decided to re-read the whole series. Every time I re-read them I keep picking up more things I'd missed before.

[whistler162]

14. Ummm Democratic Underground????

weird!!!!

I am also reading James Benn's latest Billy Boyle WWII mystery.

[tammywammy]

15. Getting to Yes

It's for a negotiations & conflict management class I'm taking. Also, various HBR cases on conflict. During the semesters I'm pretty limited on what I have time to read. For leisure I've been trying to get to a book about the history of flappers.

[Greybnk48]

16. The Goldfinch By Donna Tartt

It's a wonderful book that has held my attention from page one. The downside is that it's almost 800 pages long, which for some is a turn off. But I'm almost at p. 500 and I already don't want it to end. It's quite a tale.

[Codeine]

32. I bought that for a friend for Christmas last year

and very nearly decided to keep it after reading the first bit.

[Louisiana1976]

33. I'm looking forward to The Goldfinch's coming out in paperback. I've read reviews and it

sounds good.

[femmocrat]

42. Yes, same here! I really want to read it.

That is going to be my big summer novel next year.

[greatlaurel]

17. For fun, anything by Lois McMaster Bujold, her VorKosigan series is fun and insightful SF

Last edited Thu Sep 18, 2014, 08:53 PM - Edit history (1)

"Dirt The Erosion of Civilization" by David R. Montgomery. Absolutely fascinating reading. He is a really great writer.

[craigmatic]

19. Passage of Power and most of the Easy Rawlins mysteries.

[beveeheart]

20. The Other Side by Lacy M Johnson

Review from the Houston Press: Should I Read It? The Other Side is required reading for anyone who is skeptical of the inherent misogyny in heteronormative culture. There is an overt war on women, this war is not a new one. Johnson shows that the major battles are fought in the interior lives of women, the sanctums of domesticity that are seldom glimpsed by outsiders. The social media outlets of today have brought the conflict to the forefront of public discourse, but this chilling memoir is a reminder of the violence that very often goes unnoticed, and, worse yet, unpunished.


I think I picked this book to read because of the many recent misogyny threads on DU. And no, I'm not a skeptic as I do believe "there is an overt war on women". I read it in one sitting. It's not that long, but an extremely compelling 1st person account of her experience with the man she identifies as The Man I Used To Live With.

[GeorgeGist]

21. The Bone Clocks

by David Mitchell. Terrific writing.

[chowder66]

22. Varney the Vampire/The Feast of Blood

Funtastic!

[betsuni]

23. "Heat" by Bill Buford

A writer in Mario Batali's restaurant kitchen. Just finished the part where he's at the pasta station: "I have never been so hot. It would take hours before my body temperature started to drop. At four in the morning, when I finally went to bed, I continued to radiate heat, my insides a meaty something still cooking, my mind unable to stop the recurrent thought that this was my life: I'd become a sausage." I'm making pasta for dinner, of course.

[Codeine]

24. I'm always reading several books at once.

Right now between the physical books and the Kindle books I'm working on

A Bridge Too Far, the Cornelius Ryan examination of the Market Garden fiasco,

Coltrane: The Story of a Sound, which isn't about Coltrane so much as his musical development and legacy,

The Pacific War, From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, which is exactly what it says on the tin,

Songs of a Dead Dreamer, fantastic creepy fiction from Thomas Ligotti,

The Mediterranean, the classic Braudel history (been working through this for far too long.)

and some Green Lantern trade paperbacks I picked up a few months back at Comic-Con.

[DonnaM]

25. "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid"

by Bill Bryson - awesome book!

[Skittles]

28. aw I loved his Tales From a Small Island

will have to check out the one you're reading......welcome to DU

[DonnaM]

38. Thank you :)

I read Notes from a Small Island and loved it - one of my favorite quotes - "What a wondrous place this was - crazy as fuck, of course, but adorable to the tiniest degree. What other country, after all, could possibly have come up with place names like Tooting Bec and Farleigh Wallop, or a game like cricket that goes on for three days and never seems to start? Who else would think it not the least odd to make their judges wear little mops on their heads, compel the Speaker of the House of Commons to sit on something called the Woolsack, or take pride in a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy? ('Please Hardy, full on the lips, with just a bit of tongue.') What other nation in the world could possibly have given us William Shakespeare, pork pies, Christopher Wren, Windsor Great Park, the Open University, Gardners' Question Time and the chocolate digestive biscuit? None, of course"

[Skittles]

47. I spent a few years in England when I was growing up

the book really cracked me up

[betsuni]

39. "I'm a Stranger Here Myself"

Or UK version, "Notes from a Big Country" is my favorite of his. Going to the supermarket after being away from the States for a long time is always a shock. The sizes, the amounts, the science. With his English wife in the chapter "Junk Food Heaven": "She didn't really understand the rich, unrivaled possibilities for greasiness and goo that the American diet offers. I longed for artificial bacon bits, melted cheese in a shade of yellow unknown to nature, and creamy chocolate fillings, sometimes all in the same product. I wanted food that squirts when you bite into it or plops onto your shirt front in such gross quantities that you have to rise very, very carefully from the table and sort of limbo over to the sink to clean yourself up."

[DonnaM]

40. Love it!

"I longed for artificial bacon bits, melted cheese in a shade of yellow unknown to nature, and creamy chocolate fillings, sometimes all in the same product." Cannot even begin to imagine what that might be

[Tracer]

66. Don't Forget "A Walk in The Woods"!

Loved that book and didn't want it to end!

[Skittles]

26. Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay

one of my Half-priced Books........I love his writing style

[Louisiana1976]

35. Linwood Barclay is one of my favorite authors and I've Too Close To Home in one of my TBR

mountains.

[Skittles]

48. this is only the second book I've read of his

the first was Tap on the Window - I just love how natural and true the dialogue sounds - the stories are outlandish but the characters ring so true it make it all believable, and very entertaining

[Brother Buzz]

27. Larry McMurtry's The Last Kind Words Saloon

Doc Holliday, the Earp Brothers, William (Buffalo Bill) Cody, Charlie Goodnight.... Just a fun story written by a fine story teller.

[applegrove]

29. History and characters of Alberta. I forget the title.

[Warpy]

34. "Drunk Tank Pink"

OK, so I was bemused by the title but it's turned out to be a rather good study of current subliminal persuaders in advertising and political propaganda. It's a worthy successor to "The Hidden Persuaders" which has become terribly dated.

[Louisiana1976]

36. Sounds like an interesting book. I read The Hidden Persuaders long ago.

[librechik]

56. removed to put in correct thread location (oops)

Last edited Fri Sep 19, 2014, 01:27 PM - Edit history (1)

[Glimmer of Hope]

37. To Kill a Mockingbird now that it is on Kindle. Next is Nick Kristoff's new book.

[hack89]

43. Children of Dune. Nt

[RagAss]

45. Give Us this Day - E. Howard Hunt

[Action_Patrol]

46. Creepy. Meant to be read on paper. Not a screen

House of Leaves - mark danielewski

[A-Schwarzenegger]

49. When Things Fall Apart, by Pema Chödrön

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2464740-when-things-fall-apart-heart-advice-for-difficult-times

[Heidi]

50. Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution

by John Paul Stevens

This is a great thread!

[hifiguy]

53. Thanks for mentioning this, Heidi.

Didn't know that Justice Stevens had written a book. Now at the top of my must-read list.

[Heidi]

54. It's not a long read, but it's a high-value read.

I didn't know about it, either, until a comstitutional lawyer friend recommended it. Enjoy!

[hifiguy]

55. I will. Stevens writes exceedingly well, so I am

looking forward to it.

[Heidi]

59. I hope my close family and friends are as eager

as you are, hifiguy, because this book is what they're getting for Christmas/New Year's.

[locks]

62. This Changes Everything

by Naomi Klein

[Heidi]

63. Thank you!!! I've ordered it, but have not yet received it.

After reading "The Shock Doctrine," I'm very much looking forward to "This Changes Everything."

[Tikki]

51. The POD..A Space Adventure...by Gill Chapple

with my grandson for his 1st term book report...


Tikki

[democrank]

52. The New England Indians by C. Keith Wilbur, 1979

Very interesting, especially the part on building birch bark canoes.

[hardluck]

57. Commentarii de Bello Gallico by Gaius Julius Caesar

but not in the original Latin.

[deutsey]

58. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Strangely enough, I have never read anything by David Foster Wallace aside from "This Is Water". It's strange because I like Pynchon and Wallace gets lots of comparisons to him.

I wanted to check out some of Wallace's essays before tackling one of his works of fiction. I'm finding what I'm reading now a mixed bag so far.

The first essay on tennis, tornadoes, and growing up in the Midwest almost turned me off with its dense, obfuscating narrative until I made it about halfway through when the style changed into something more engaging. I'm not sure if that was intentional on his part, but I'm intrigued by it. It's almost like he was daring me to get through that first part and once I did, said: "Great! Now let me tell you what I really want to say." Not that the first part is a put-on (I think it serves a purpose, actually), but I found it rough going there at first.

I just finished re-reading Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, one of my favorite books. It really endures with me, especially since I'm now in the same age range as Clarissa, Peter, and Sally. The sections with Septimus, though, remain my favorite parts of the book.

[Blue_Adept]

60. So many things

Still working through book five of the Game of Thrones books.

Really digging the Inhuman series.

Ms. Marvel is delighting me.

[kairos12]

64. I Am Pilgrim. Spy Thriller

[librechik]

65. Capital/Piketty, and Goliath, Life and loathing in Greater israel by Blumenthal

light reading