Just finished Coyote Blue leaving me with Fluke as the only Christopher Moore left to read. Started with Biff and loved it but, The Stupidest Angel struck a chord as the funniest. Maybe it was listening to it (audiobook) instead of reading it.
In the last month or so
A Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut Part autobiography, part essays with illustrations, song lyrics and poetry by the author. And lots of my thoughts and feelings, expressed much better than I could. (no surprise there)
Mental Floss Presents: Forbidden Knowledge - a wickedly smart guide to history’s naughty bits. I think any fan of The Straight Dope would find something of interest here. (Well, maybe not you. Or you. But you will love it.)
chameleon by Joe Haldeman IMO the best Haldeman I’ve read in a long time. And I like Haldeman’s books. I recommended this in another thread about books I’d like to see made into a movie. (and i guess i just did again, hunh?)
*Eldest *the sequel to Eragon. So far it has not “caught” me. However, sometimes I go through periods where I can’t get enough to read and periods where it seems like an effort. Perhaps I’m in one of those latter periods now.
Do you mean Camouflage? I haven’t tried that one yet because I was so disappointed with **Guardian **and The Coming. I love most of Haldeman’s stuff, though.
I seem to be caught up with movies right now. I just finished reading the short story Brokeback Mountain. Saw the Narnia movie on Saturday then went home and re-read **TLTWATW **and The Horse and His Boy. And I have ordered a copy of Memoirs of a Geisha.
BTW – what was the other?
Making Friends With Hitler: Lord Londonderry and Britain’s Road to War. Very good (IMHO) addressing of the question of whether Britain really had any chance of preventing Hitler from starting a war.
Richard Russo’s Empire Falls.
I think I liked Never Let Me Go a bit more, but this was definitely a great read. Part of it was that I live in a small town, and Russo really managed to capture the personalities you find in places that are off the beaten track.
I’ve only read one book (Straight Man) by Russo – because it was one of the funniest freakin’ things I’ve ever read in my life, and anything else would be a disappointment in comparison.
Just finished Krakauer’s Into the Wild, which was very good (if short), then I’m on to a book about the lost colonists at Roanoke, then onto the A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin. Then I should probably read some of the books I actually own, but haven’t read yet, instead of going back to the library.
I’m switching back and forth between The Beatles by Bob Spitz and Paperback Writer by Mark Shipper. Nice contrast between the detailed, sometimes long-winded Spitz book (that I know the rather depressing ending of), and Shipper’s humorous pipe dream, which has them reuniting in the final chapters.
I love these threads. 
Cool! Have you read her other books, too? These days I can’t read an Adam Dalgleish story without picturing Roy Marsden. 
I just read the synopsis, and added this to my wish list. Thanks! I love the idea of reading about the politics of a small English department … my professor this semester gave us some insight into the workings of our own department. I might have to read Empire Falls first, though, to avoid disappointment (thanks, Athena!). 
I just bought this with a B&N birthday gift certificate, but haven’t started it yet. I’m glad to hear it was good.
I’ve just finished Mortal Causes by Ian Rankin (Bogeywoman and I are working our way through the complete Rebus novels in chronological order). Excellent stuff.
I am also reading Stephen King for the first time in my life and am pleasantly surprised by The Dark Tower. (Currently about two thirds through The Waste Lands).
On the re-reading front is Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle. Bogeywoman gave me the paperbacks for my birthday since I wanted something more easily portable than the hardcover editions I already own. They still weigh a ton but are worth every ounce.
I’ve also just started Eats, shoots and leaves by Lynne Truss.
And finally (I think) there’s Eugen Roths Kleines Tierleben - the only book in my native German I’m currently reading - think Edward Lear writing an Encyclopaedia of Animal Life
On re-reading my post: please forgive punctuation errors. I will learn, promise. :o
I just finished The Life of Elizabeth I by Alison Weir. I took the biography out of the library after watching the excellent Masterpiece Theater drama on her life.
I’ve also just read The Food Lover’s Guide to New Jersey by Peter Genovese.
Right now I’m plouging through Evidence of Harm by David Kirby on the supposed autism/vaccines link. Frankly this one sucks so far because he has a lot of misinformation in the book. Still a compelling read though.
Having the library’s catalog at your fingertips is great, so I’ve been catching up on some long-delayed reading.
I just finished “Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman” and “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (Yes, the British edition, given to the Chicago Public Library by the British Consul-General in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the consulate’s establishment in Chicago).
I have “The God[sup]*[/sup] That Failed” (Richard Crossman, ed.) waiting at the library. And I’ll be reading my own copy of “The Annotated Christmas Carol” again.
- No, not that God.
I’ve discovered the soft comfy chairs of Barnes & Noble, so I am lately reading books I can’t afford while chugging down Starbucks drinks and overpriced pastries. I think this is a better way to unwind from work than what I’ve recently been doing.
The last week I’ve read the first three volumes of Fantagraphics’ COMPLETE PEANUTS and yesterday, Neil Gaiman’s ANANSI BOYS. I may find an omnibus of Wodehouse tomorrow and start on that, or maybe something by
Finished my previous truck book in traffic today, so the new one is an old favorite: The Histories of Herodotus.
I’m starved of new books for the moment. Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is on my wish list.
I’ve recently read Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow, which isn’t my sort of thing but it was new at the library and beggars can’t be choosers. I figured out the twist well before the end.
I also read Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro which I have to say I was a little disappointed by, so I was surprised to see the positive reactions in this thread. I thought it was so understated it ended up falling flat.
I’m a big fan of Annie Hawes Extra Virgin and although her sequels Ripe for the Picking and Journey to the South aren’t quite as good, they are well written, perceptive and witty.
Pack your own mug and snack and skip the Starbucks and you would be able to afford books again.
It is even more relaxing.
Am I the only non-literati book reader around here?
I’m about 1/3 of the way through a Carl Hiassen novel, I forget the title. It’s the one about the PR man at the Disney World competitor run by a mob guy in witness protection. It’s my second Hiaasen novel and better than the first one (the one about the ex-cop who lived in Stiltsville and the plastic surgeon and the killer with the weed whacker hand).
I’m currently not reading The Blind Watchmaker (too much like homework 
), and one by that real funny commentator/essayist who’s always on NPR? The gay guy who lived in France or something? Yeah, can’t do it for some reason. And I’m also trying to read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I stumbled accross a quote from some columnist comparing this guys verbosity with someone who writes a little more cleanly, and now I just can’t read it any more.