I was reading Sartor Resartus, but I pitched it six chapters in because it made my brain hurt. So now I’m working on The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. I’m about halfway through and it’s really really good. I may have to peruse more of this man’s writings.
Right now? My own reply as I’m typing it.
I’ve also been reading “You Shall Know Our Velocity!” by Dave Eggers. It’s pretty good. Entertaining at least.
I went to Amazon just now to buy this book. I put the title in the search box, and up comes two separate listings for Engagement, followed by The English Passengers. Weird. 
I recently finished The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett – it’s the second time I’ve read it; I have not yet seen the movie (Bogart version) but plan to do so soonly.
I’m now about a third of the way through Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, and absolutely loving it. It’s all signed and stuff, too – Chabon was here in Denver for a book signing last week. I was so pleased to find that my favorite current author is super-witty, super-sharp, super-friendly and super-gracious – the book signing was one of the highlights of my recent history.
Sarahfeena’s recommended book about pie has made it onto my to-read list.
You, sir, are deprived. A Coffin for Dimitrios is fairly typical of his plotting, though the innocent bystander (Latimer, in this case) takes more positive steps towards involvement in the situation than in most of his books. He generally had the innocent bystander get involved via naiveness or just not thinking. Pre-WWII, I’d recommend Cause for Alarm; post-war, I guess I like Passage of Arms and The Intercom Conspiracy the best. Still, the only Ambler book I thought was poor was his first. Even his pedestrian stuff is still enjoyable. (Doctor Frigo is pedestrian.)
Eric Ambler, for those reading along, was a writer of magnificent and influential spy/thriller novels.
I am astoundingly jealous. I wish I had had the chance to meet him.
Excellent…I hope you enjoy it! It actually inspired my mother to look for a couple of the places in the book on her driving trip from California to Chicago next month. It really, really makes you want to eat pie.
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. I’m about a hundred pages in; it started weird, and then got really weird. I’m enjoying it, though.
Totally agree! I just couldn’t finish it. The footnotes were a big part of why I hated it. Some of them had more text in them then the rest of the text on the page. 1/3 of the way through I realized I just didn’t care what happened and put the book on a shelf. I’ll give it away now that I remember I have it.
I recently finished I am Jackie Chan: My life in Action and have to say though the timeline of the book was a little off, it was such a fascinating read. Fascinating man.
I am presently stuck for new material, so I am reading ( gird your loins, me hearties.) Knitting without Tears ** by Elizabeth Zimmerman, Knitting for Peace Betty Christiansen and ** Knitting in Plain English by Maria Something.
Yarn Pron.
Just finished re-=reading A Treasury of Great Science Fiction, Vol. 1 – it’s one of the first SF books I ever read (picked it up cheap, because for over a decade it was a premium for joining the SF Book Club), and I recently bought a new set. I also just finished Christopher Moore’s first novel, Practical Demonkeeping. I’m starting his Lamb right now, along with re-reading AToGSF II.
Silverlock by John Myers Myers and Orlando by Virginia Woolf.
I also read and enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale, koeeoaddi. Also, The Observations, which I’m pretty sure was a twickster recommendation.
Just finished: Round Ireland With a Fridge, by Tony Hawks. Another board recommendation, I’m sorry I don’t remember who. Very nice and funny, kind of reminiscent of Dave Barry. It’s about a guy who hitchhikes “round Ireland with a fridge” to win a bar bet. It sounds like a wonderful country.
Next up, probably: Confederates in the Attic: dispatches from the unfinished Civil War, by Tony Horwitz.
Just quit on: Tracker, by Gary Paulsen, which I was reading to my son a chapter at a time. We were three quarters of the way through when we quit by mutual consent. My son chose Jerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee for our next book.
In the queue – and I’ll read it when I’m damn good and ready. (Vacation maybe? It’s awfully thick for the 20-pages-a-day pace that is all I can manage when I’m this busy.)
I think this book pops up in just about every “Whatcha Reading” thread and with good reason. I predict you’ll love it. It’s fantastic. I’ve read it at least six or seven times.
I’m reading The Pesthouse by Jim Crace–a post-post-post Apocalyptic novel (it takes place at least 100 years after civilization bites the dust). Very bleak. It’s also very The Road-esque although Pesthouse doesn’t pick up the pace until about halfway through. It took awhile to get into but now I can’t put it down.
…okay, then. I’ll shadddup already.
I’ve got to stop reading book threads here. In the last few days, I’ve bought four or five books and I just ordered Pesthouse.
Ditto on Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I complained about it over at SFF World and someone directed me to a review that helped me appreciate it – a little bit. So I finished it, but wasn’t satisfied. I thought the footnotes were the best part.
I’m re-reading the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian in order. I’m up to The Far Side of the World (No. 10).
And twicks, A Soldier of the Great War is my favorite novel. I hope you enjoy it.
I’m up to O’Brian’s The Wine-Dark Sea, first time through them. (I was stuck for a while because I was missing one from the middle of the series, and I try not to buy new books.)
I just finished Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome, in an edition with his ghost-stories piece. I’d take a vacation with him!
Next might be The Long Wait by Mickey Spillane that I got as a birthday present. He’s not my favourite hard-boiled writer (that would be either Raymond Chandler or Lawrence Block), but he did some good stuff.
Oh, hey, I should say that someone recommended Mary Stewart’s The Ivy Tree on here a while back, and I read it. Enjoyed it, so thanks very much!
I’m on a paranormal fiction kick - I’ve just finished Charlaine Harris’s Altogether Dead, Kim Harrison’s For a Few Demons More, and Kelley Armstrong’s No Humans Involved. The Harris book was the best of those.
Next is probably the newest Tony Hillerman mystery, The Shape Shifter. I’m waiting on new books due out in June from Tanya Huff, Janet Evanovich, MaryJanice Davidson and Laurell K. Hamilton (yes, I’m still reading those.)