igbomb
Footballguy
Very good book. Not as good as some of Mitchell's other work, but everything he writes is solid. His next book has a planned release date in 2009, so we'll be waiting a while.
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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter shuke
- Start date
Regular Crust Pizza
Footballguy
2009? I hope I don't forget about by then...Yeah the style was a little more straightforward in this book than the others, but still very good. I can't believe the only place I ever hear him mentioned is in this thread.
aardball44
Footballguy
I've read everything Mitchell has written except Number 9 Dream. Can't overstate how much I enjoy his novels. I'm saving Number 9 Dream for later this year, since it'll be another couple of years before he gives us anything new.Currently reading The Brief History of the Dead, a first novel by an author whose name escapes me. I'll check in once I'm done with it.2009? I hope I don't forget about by then...
Yeah the style was a little more straightforward in this book than the others, but still very good. I can't believe the only place I ever hear him mentioned is in this thread.
igbomb
Footballguy
The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
From Publishers Weekly:
Like Clarke's first novel, the bestselling Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, these eight stories (seven previously published) are set in an England where magic is a serious but sometimes neglected field of study. The first story sees the erudite Strange tangling with country witches. Others show Austenesque concern with love and its outcomes ("Did you not hear me ask you to marry me?"), often involving fairies. In "The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse," the duke visits Faerie, a kingdom located on the other side of the wall in the village of Wall (a location Clarke borrows from Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess), and meets a woman whose needlework affects the future. In the footnoted "Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge...," a "monumental" stone bridge is built in one afternoon. Clarke humorously revisits Rumplestiltzkin in "On Lickerish Hill," in which it is revealed that "Irishmen have tailes neare a quarter of a yard longe." Clarke may have trouble reaching a new audience in short form, as the stories provide less opportunity to get lost in fantastical material, but the author's many fans will be glad to have these stories in one volume. Illus. by Charles Vess not seen by PW. (Oct.)
My thoughts:
This book was nowhere near the level of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I got the feeling that she was just trying to capitalize on the success of her first book with some short stories that had weak tie-ins and not much to them. I hope she proves me wrong, but based on how long it took her to write Jonathan Strange, and how unique it was, I'd be surprised if she doesn't turn out to be a one-hit wonder.
Overall, if you really liked Jonathan Strange, it's a quick read with a couple of decent stories. Otherwise I'd pass on it.
From Publishers Weekly:
Like Clarke's first novel, the bestselling Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, these eight stories (seven previously published) are set in an England where magic is a serious but sometimes neglected field of study. The first story sees the erudite Strange tangling with country witches. Others show Austenesque concern with love and its outcomes ("Did you not hear me ask you to marry me?"), often involving fairies. In "The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse," the duke visits Faerie, a kingdom located on the other side of the wall in the village of Wall (a location Clarke borrows from Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess), and meets a woman whose needlework affects the future. In the footnoted "Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge...," a "monumental" stone bridge is built in one afternoon. Clarke humorously revisits Rumplestiltzkin in "On Lickerish Hill," in which it is revealed that "Irishmen have tailes neare a quarter of a yard longe." Clarke may have trouble reaching a new audience in short form, as the stories provide less opportunity to get lost in fantastical material, but the author's many fans will be glad to have these stories in one volume. Illus. by Charles Vess not seen by PW. (Oct.)
My thoughts:
This book was nowhere near the level of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I got the feeling that she was just trying to capitalize on the success of her first book with some short stories that had weak tie-ins and not much to them. I hope she proves me wrong, but based on how long it took her to write Jonathan Strange, and how unique it was, I'd be surprised if she doesn't turn out to be a one-hit wonder.
Overall, if you really liked Jonathan Strange, it's a quick read with a couple of decent stories. Otherwise I'd pass on it.
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Regular Crust Pizza
Footballguy
After deciding I know way too little about it, I'm looking for a history/workings of the Supreme Court. Any suggestions?
Read both of these recently.The Bryson book is a bit drier then I hoped but definetly worth reading.The first half of Dunces is tremendous. The second half is a bit of a letdown. Toole's sense of humor was way ahead of his time.
D_House
Footballguy
Stilll working on All the King's Men, but added another book by Weiner that I'm enjoying more than the first: Time, Love, Memory
igbomb
Footballguy
Conincidentally enough, just the other day I read a review on Amazon raving about this book; Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court.
firecrackerfreakshow
Footballguy
the 4th Dark Tower book, one of the worst books I have ever read
Tick
Footballguy
Collapse by Jared Diamond. It's kind of a follow-up to Guns, Germs, and Steel, which he won a Pulitzer for (deservedly).
I also have an audiobook called Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade. I'll be listening to that during my commute for the next month or so. It's another book on the development of humans, based on DNA discoveries.
I also have an audiobook called Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade. I'll be listening to that during my commute for the next month or so. It's another book on the development of humans, based on DNA discoveries.
facook
Footballguy
Wow. I actually really enjoyed Wizard and Glass.
kupcho1
Footballguy
Finished A Passage to India (EM Forster) and am now well into White Noise by Don DeLillo
A Passage to India was interesting story in that foreshadows the end of the British Raj. But the language is painfully dated and I had trouble (actually, a lot of trouble) accepting the motivations and behaviors of almost every character. Perhaps that's a product of the age we live in, but it seemed off somehow. Still, a well written book (6/10) and an interesting story.
A Passage to India was interesting story in that foreshadows the end of the British Raj. But the language is painfully dated and I had trouble (actually, a lot of trouble) accepting the motivations and behaviors of almost every character. Perhaps that's a product of the age we live in, but it seemed off somehow. Still, a well written book (6/10) and an interesting story.
patrickmcgroin
Footballguy
Me too, I think this is a love or hate type book.I am stuck about 3 chapters into King's "Lisey's Story". He just can't write from a woman's view IMO, I don't know why he tries. Geralds Game sucked too.Wow. I actually really enjoyed Wizard and Glass.
THIS could be really cool though.
I thought it was "delusion", not "dilemma". And I've been trying to find this book but haven't found it anywhere.
Just started "Short History". Yeah, it's not exactly what I expected and a lot of it is stuff I already know, but it's not bad. Looking forward to "Dunces".
igbomb
Footballguy
Traveler by Ron McLarty
From Publishers Weekly
Struggling actor Jono Riley, the narrator of McLarty's second novel (after The Memory of Running), is getting older—he's been tending bar for nearly 30 years—but his roles aren't getting any better. After he receives a letter from his childhood friend, Cubby, informing him that Cubby's sister, Marie, (the first girl Jono loved) has died, Jono takes temporary leave of the bar where he works and Renée Levesque, his girlfriend and an 18-year veteran of the New York City fire department. He goes home to East Providence, R.I., where he learns the cause of Marie's death: a bullet that was lodged in her shoulder after a freak, unsolved shooting during her childhood "traveled" and pinched an artery. Jono, with the help of retired cop Kenny Snowden, who was a young police officer when Marie was shot and has never forgotten the case, begins looking into the long-ago shooting. Friends and enemies from Jono's childhood still linger around East Providence, and the petty rivalries and deep bonds of the past take on new significance as the investigation grows in scope and points to an unlikely suspect. Frequent flashbacks add color to Jono's adult insecurities, and McLarty's prose remains convincing without crossing into treacly turf.
Thoughts:
I thought his first book, The Memory of Running was one of the top two or three books I read last year, so I was really looking forward to the follow-up. Excellent book. Maybe not quite as good as Memory, but I was completely absorbed in the book regardless. McLarty just seems to have a knack for creating compelling characters and telling a great story.
From Publishers Weekly
Struggling actor Jono Riley, the narrator of McLarty's second novel (after The Memory of Running), is getting older—he's been tending bar for nearly 30 years—but his roles aren't getting any better. After he receives a letter from his childhood friend, Cubby, informing him that Cubby's sister, Marie, (the first girl Jono loved) has died, Jono takes temporary leave of the bar where he works and Renée Levesque, his girlfriend and an 18-year veteran of the New York City fire department. He goes home to East Providence, R.I., where he learns the cause of Marie's death: a bullet that was lodged in her shoulder after a freak, unsolved shooting during her childhood "traveled" and pinched an artery. Jono, with the help of retired cop Kenny Snowden, who was a young police officer when Marie was shot and has never forgotten the case, begins looking into the long-ago shooting. Friends and enemies from Jono's childhood still linger around East Providence, and the petty rivalries and deep bonds of the past take on new significance as the investigation grows in scope and points to an unlikely suspect. Frequent flashbacks add color to Jono's adult insecurities, and McLarty's prose remains convincing without crossing into treacly turf.
Thoughts:
I thought his first book, The Memory of Running was one of the top two or three books I read last year, so I was really looking forward to the follow-up. Excellent book. Maybe not quite as good as Memory, but I was completely absorbed in the book regardless. McLarty just seems to have a knack for creating compelling characters and telling a great story.
aardball44
Footballguy
Nice. I just picked up a copy this week and now it's on my short list for spring.
igbomb
Footballguy
Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences by Dr. Leonard Sax
From Publishers Weekly
In the feminist conception of gender flexibility, no set rules apply: girls can play with trucks; boys can play with dolls. But pediatrician and psychologist Sax argues that our theories about gender's fluidity may be wrong and to apply them to children in their formative years is quite dangerous. Sax believes the brains of boys and girls are hardwired differently: boys are more aggressive; girls are more shy. And deliberately changing a child's gender—in cases of intersex (hermaphrodism) or accident (as in the case of David Reimer, who was raised as a girl after a hideous circumcision mishap)—can ruin a child's life. Sax also believes modern gender philosophy has resulted in more boys being given behavior-modifying drugs and more girls being given antidepressants. Much of his argument makes sense: we may have gone to the other extreme and tried too hard to feminize boys and masculinize girls. Sax makes a compelling argument for parents and teachers to tread lightly when it comes to gender and raises important questions regarding single-sex education, which he supports. His readable prose, which he juxtaposes with numerous interviews with school administrators, principals, scientists and others, makes this book accessible to a range of readers.
Thoughts: Excellent book. I would like to read a book from the other side of the argument since Sax is clearly biased, but having only read this one on the topic, I find his viewpoint to be pretty compelling. Basically, he claims that gender neutral teaching philosophies are ruining male children from kindergarten on, and are turning our young girls into sluts. While I don't agree with a couple of his perspectives (babies shouldn't be nursed on demand, it's okay to spank boys but never girls), he cites a huge number of studies that really helped me to better understand the differences in boys and girls brains and learning methods. I'm glad I read it and highly recommend it to anyone with young children, thinking of having children, or who teach.
From Publishers Weekly
In the feminist conception of gender flexibility, no set rules apply: girls can play with trucks; boys can play with dolls. But pediatrician and psychologist Sax argues that our theories about gender's fluidity may be wrong and to apply them to children in their formative years is quite dangerous. Sax believes the brains of boys and girls are hardwired differently: boys are more aggressive; girls are more shy. And deliberately changing a child's gender—in cases of intersex (hermaphrodism) or accident (as in the case of David Reimer, who was raised as a girl after a hideous circumcision mishap)—can ruin a child's life. Sax also believes modern gender philosophy has resulted in more boys being given behavior-modifying drugs and more girls being given antidepressants. Much of his argument makes sense: we may have gone to the other extreme and tried too hard to feminize boys and masculinize girls. Sax makes a compelling argument for parents and teachers to tread lightly when it comes to gender and raises important questions regarding single-sex education, which he supports. His readable prose, which he juxtaposes with numerous interviews with school administrators, principals, scientists and others, makes this book accessible to a range of readers.
Thoughts: Excellent book. I would like to read a book from the other side of the argument since Sax is clearly biased, but having only read this one on the topic, I find his viewpoint to be pretty compelling. Basically, he claims that gender neutral teaching philosophies are ruining male children from kindergarten on, and are turning our young girls into sluts. While I don't agree with a couple of his perspectives (babies shouldn't be nursed on demand, it's okay to spank boys but never girls), he cites a huge number of studies that really helped me to better understand the differences in boys and girls brains and learning methods. I'm glad I read it and highly recommend it to anyone with young children, thinking of having children, or who teach.
SofaKings
Footballguy
Regular Crust Pizza
Footballguy
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - I bought it a few years ago when I was on a kick to read all the books in highschool I ignored. Sat around for a couple years and then I pounded through it in just a couple days. It was a great story, I guess that's why it's a classic.
Now on to An Honorable Defeat about the last days of the Confederacy.
Now on to An Honorable Defeat about the last days of the Confederacy.
Maelstrom
Footballguy
I recently finished The End of Faith by Sam HArris. Interesting read about religion and it's influence on violence and government.
If you want more of the same type of book as Ender's Game, pick up Ender's Shadow which follows a parallel story by focused on Bean instead of Ender. And then follow the Shadow Book series which details Bean and the rest of Ender's "generals" as they are assimilated back into the Earth and Earth governments.The 3 "sequels" to Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the Mind pick up far in the future when Ender has grown up, and are quite a bit more philosophical in nature than Ender's Game was. I still enjoyed them and think most people will once they figure out it's not the same type of story.
igbomb
Footballguy
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
From Publishers Weekly
This highly original first novel won the largest advance San Francisco-based MacAdam/Cage had ever paid, and it was money well spent. Niffenegger has written a soaring love story illuminated by dozens of finely observed details and scenes, and one that skates nimbly around a huge conundrum at the heart of the book: Henry De Tamble, a rather dashing librarian at the famous Newberry Library in Chicago, finds himself unavoidably whisked around in time. He disappears from a scene in, say, 1998 to find himself suddenly, usually without his clothes, which mysteriously disappear in transit, at an entirely different place 10 years earlier-or later. During one of these migrations, he drops in on beautiful teenage Clare Abshire, an heiress in a large house on the nearby Michigan peninsula, and a lifelong passion is born. The problem is that while Henry's age darts back and forth according to his location in time, Clare's moves forward in the normal manner, so the pair are often out of sync. But such is the author's tenderness with the characters, and the determinedly ungimmicky way in which she writes of their predicament (only once do they make use of Henry's foreknowledge of events to make money, and then it seems to Clare like cheating) that the book is much more love story than fantasy. It also has a splendidly drawn cast, from Henry's violinist father, ruined by the loss of his wife in an accident from which Henry time-traveled as a child, to Clare's odd family and a multitude of Chicago bohemian friends. The couple's daughter, Alba, inherits her father's strange abilities, but this is again handled with a light touch; there's no Disney cuteness here. Henry's foreordained end is agonizing, but Niffenegger has another card up her sleeve, and plays it with poignant grace. It is a fair tribute to her skill and sensibility to say that the book leaves a reader with an impression of life's riches and strangeness rather than of easy thrills.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Thoughts:
Loved it. Best book I've read so far in '07. The time travel concept was pulled off perfectly. My only complaint is that other than the two main characters, none of the supporting cast was very well developed.
From Publishers Weekly
This highly original first novel won the largest advance San Francisco-based MacAdam/Cage had ever paid, and it was money well spent. Niffenegger has written a soaring love story illuminated by dozens of finely observed details and scenes, and one that skates nimbly around a huge conundrum at the heart of the book: Henry De Tamble, a rather dashing librarian at the famous Newberry Library in Chicago, finds himself unavoidably whisked around in time. He disappears from a scene in, say, 1998 to find himself suddenly, usually without his clothes, which mysteriously disappear in transit, at an entirely different place 10 years earlier-or later. During one of these migrations, he drops in on beautiful teenage Clare Abshire, an heiress in a large house on the nearby Michigan peninsula, and a lifelong passion is born. The problem is that while Henry's age darts back and forth according to his location in time, Clare's moves forward in the normal manner, so the pair are often out of sync. But such is the author's tenderness with the characters, and the determinedly ungimmicky way in which she writes of their predicament (only once do they make use of Henry's foreknowledge of events to make money, and then it seems to Clare like cheating) that the book is much more love story than fantasy. It also has a splendidly drawn cast, from Henry's violinist father, ruined by the loss of his wife in an accident from which Henry time-traveled as a child, to Clare's odd family and a multitude of Chicago bohemian friends. The couple's daughter, Alba, inherits her father's strange abilities, but this is again handled with a light touch; there's no Disney cuteness here. Henry's foreordained end is agonizing, but Niffenegger has another card up her sleeve, and plays it with poignant grace. It is a fair tribute to her skill and sensibility to say that the book leaves a reader with an impression of life's riches and strangeness rather than of easy thrills.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Thoughts:
Loved it. Best book I've read so far in '07. The time travel concept was pulled off perfectly. My only complaint is that other than the two main characters, none of the supporting cast was very well developed.
mr. furley
Footballguy
-OZ-
Footballguy
A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson
A good book on walking the Appalacian Trail, humorous and insightful. After reading this, I'm ready to go.
A good book on walking the Appalacian Trail, humorous and insightful. After reading this, I'm ready to go.
-OZ-
Footballguy
A buddy of mine insisted I read these in college. Very well written, if you're into science fiction and even good if you're not. I've never been a fan of this particular genre, but enjoyed these very much.
aardball44
Footballguy
This is the book that started me reading all of Bryson's travel books, and then everything else he has written.
kupcho1
Footballguy
Finished White Noise by Don DeLillo and All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (I've picked up the pace since I've had problems with almost every other "entertainment system" in the house: computer/internet/Civ 4, DVD player).
Both were very good and I recommend them.
Now on to V by Thomase Pynchon.
Both were very good and I recommend them.
Now on to V by Thomase Pynchon.
-OZ-
Footballguy
How does the rest compare?I picked Short history of everything up on audio from the library a year or 2 ago, enjoyed it. If everything else is this good, I'll be reading more.This is the book that started me reading all of Bryson's travel books, and then everything else he has written.
aardball44
Footballguy
Short History... is excellent.Next, check out In A Sunburned Country, a travelogue of his trip across and around Australia.How does the rest compare?I picked Short history of everything up on audio from the library a year or 2 ago, enjoyed it. If everything else is this good, I'll be reading more.
Fiddles
Footballguy
I bought memory of running for my wife for xmas and she loved it. I havent gotten to it yet. I am still tearing through Stephen Erickson's Malazan series. On book 6 now The Bonehunters. Each book is in the 1000 page range so taking awhile to get through the series. Not in a rush though as each new book becomes my new favorite in the series.
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Todd Andrews
Footballguy
The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield.
Like all his work, excellent. Second in Alexander the Great series.
Like all his work, excellent. Second in Alexander the Great series.
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
Just finished Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by Perkins. Anyone else read this? Fascinating stuff.
HellToupee
Footballguy
Just started The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain
HellToupee
Footballguy
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Faith-Fantasy-...TF8&s=books
Anyone read Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present by Michael Oren? Looks interesting.
Anyone read Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present by Michael Oren? Looks interesting.
Todd Andrews
Footballguy
Been meainng to pick this up. The first two were excellent and Ford is a great writer.
Redwes25
Footballguy
How was this Iron Brigade book? Looking for a new book and it looks interesting. Also, how about the French and Indian War book.
Sundays Rule
Footballguy
Salems Lot...just started.
E-Z Glider
Footballguy
A few months back I ordered a stack of books based mainly on recommendations from the "5 Books Everyone Should Read" thread. So far I have not been disappointed.
Last weekend I started reading "House of Leaves". I gotta say, this is THE STRANGEST book I have ever read, and there really isnt even a close 2nd. Despite this, I cant wait to read more. I can think of a lot of people I know that wouldnt even bother reading past the first chapter.
Last weekend I started reading "House of Leaves". I gotta say, this is THE STRANGEST book I have ever read, and there really isnt even a close 2nd. Despite this, I cant wait to read more. I can think of a lot of people I know that wouldnt even bother reading past the first chapter.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Let us know when you start seeing and hearing things. I'm being completely serious here.
Broncoholic
Footballguy
Just finished it 5 minutes ago......WOW!
coldchill
Footballguy
Excellent book.Just picked up:The Devil in the White City - Erik LarsonNext - Michael Crichton
