I finished Pride and Prejudice last night. It was a well-written love story and held my interest. But should I have gotten any more meaning out of it?
I’m about two pages into Free for all : oddballs, geeks, and gangstas in the public library, by Don Borchert.
Just started The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It is about the men who put the 1893 World’s Fair together, and a serial killer that stalks the fair. I haven’t gotten to the killer yet, but so far, so good.
I joined www.goodreads.com on the recommendation from this group and have found lots of new books to read. Like I needed more on my Amazon wishlist. 
When someone in the BookCrazy group mentioned that she didn’t care for The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen, I replied “Oh, phooey! That was on my Amazon wish list.”
We worked out a trade and the nice lady sent me the book. She even used priority mail. She said in a note that she hopes I’ll like it, it’s probably just her because she doesn’t care much for historical fiction.
Well, phooey. The book sucks eggs. Promising subject – a small logging encampment/town quarantines itself during the 1918 flu epidemic. The prologue was excellent, but it was all downhill from there. Cliches abound. Unrealistic dialogue. I managed a few chapters and re-read the glowing reviews from the professional critics, wondering what they saw that I couldn’t find.
I’m sad.
I’m halfway through Water Witches by Chris Bohjalian. I’m reading it for my book club and I’m enjoying it immensely.
I’m also reading *Salt: A World History *very slowly since Christmas. It’s very informative, but gets a little dry at times.
Up next is either God: A Biography by Jack Miles, Gravity’s Rainbow, or Live and Let Die. The Boyfriend finally convinced me to read a James Bond novel and I actually enjoyed the heck out of it.
Heh.
I just finished Sung In Blood by Glen Cook. I think fans of his *Black Company *series would enjoy it. It had a similar feel. But it also had the feel of an abandoned series. The ending was not satisfying for me and I think he planned to do more with the characters.
I have to pick out my next book(s) tonight.
Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week.
OK, I’m starting Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. His first was pretty good, but I felt let down in the end. I’m hoping that he has grown into his writing and this why leaves me more satisfied.
I usually have two (at least)fiction books running, one usually “lighter” reading - stuff that doesn’t require too much thought.
For lighter reading I’m starting The Unnatural Inquirer. Greene series is OK and I’ll keep up with them.
I also usually have a non-fiction book running. Usually a geek book and I don’t usually report it because - well who cares except other geeks? But this time I think I’m going to start Seven Years to Seven Figures: The Fast-Track Plan to Becoming a Millionaire. Mom got it for me for Christmas because for nearly as long as I’ve been alive I’ve told her that I would grow up and be rich.
Just finished Orange Blossom Boys: The Untold Story of Ervin T Rouse, Chubby Wise and the World’s Most Famous Fiddle Tune by Randy Noles. Prior to that it was Clapton’s much maligned autobiography. I can’t start anything else at present because I need to invest the time into research and writing a paper for publication. BUT, I post to make the point that I do read something other than discipline-specific academic stuff. You hear that, Twickster?
Working on the entire Discworld series, currently reading Eric.
Also, about to finish The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan. The finest book I’ve ever seen to support my feeling that science is IMPORTANT!
I just finished Lord of the Flies.
It reminded me very much of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. It was a very well written book and a delight to read, and definitely leaves one with something to think about.
Hmph. Nothing on, oh, say, enclaves of minority languages? 
Just finished-- Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert. It was pretty good, though some stories (such as the tale of Angelica) made me unbearably sad. I always knew librarians had interesting anecdotes. It was also cool to read about exactly how a library works.
I just started Wastelands : stories of the Apocalypse, edited by John Joseph Adams. So far I’ve only read the first story, The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King (which I’ve read before, but didn’t mind reading again). Other famous names that contributed to this anthology are Octavia Butler, Orson Scott Card, and George R.R. Martin.
Well, so much for that. I can’t bring myself to finish A Canticle for Leibowitz and there is too much chaos in the house with two little kids for me to concentrate on Robinson Cruseo. So I picked something fluffy for now. Master of the Five Magics isn’t high art, but it’s something I can read while answering the unending stream of “why” questions from my 3 year old.
I read that many years ago. I don’t recall a lot of the details but seem to remember that I enjoyed it. I didn’t realize that there were sequels.
In the past of weeks I’ve done a lot of reading.
I picked up the second edition of The Annotated Hunting of the Snark, by Martin Gardner. I hadn’t realized that there was a second edition, or that there was so much more in there than in the first.
I read John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades. Good stuff. But I wish they wouldn’t say he’s Heinlein – he’s not, although the subject matter naturally suggests a comparison.
Jules Verne’s The Kip Brothers. This was just translated into English for the first time last year. I’m a big fan of anything Verne, so I had to pick this up. I’m in the middle of it.
http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Early-Classics-Science-Fiction/dp/0819567043/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202496875&sr=8-1
I learned about the new translation while researching this:
http://www.osa-opn.org/Content/Departments/light.aspx
I just read Karen Armstrong’s A Short History of Myth. The title’s misleading, and I don’t agree with all of it, but it’s a fun, quick read.
I’m carrying around my paperback copy of Jack Williamson’s The Humanoid Touch, the little-known sequel to his novel “The Humanoids”, which, in turn, is the outgrowth of his classic story “With Folded Hands”. I might get to reading it yet.
I finally found a copy of James Lilek’s Gastronomalies
And I’m still reading The Annotated Huckleberry Finn.
Finished Crime and Punishment and am now on Mr. Polly by H.G. Wells.
I’m really struggling with Q - I mean everything is there for me to think it’s a great book (historical drama, love and know the period it’s set in, not badly written) but it’s almost become a chore to read and I’m only just about half way through. This doesn’t bode well does it?
Let us know how this goes. I was vaguely dissatisfied with his first one too. It read like a caper movie – Ocean’s 11 comes to mind. The characterization wasn’t all that great either.
I’m really enjoying the second Cornish Trilogy book – What’s Bred in the Bone. I adore books that take you deep into a person’s life. I should probably read more biographies.
Does anyone know if there’s such a thing as a degree in reading? Not Literature – reading. Someone at Goodreads (not a Doper, of course) is implying that those of us who hated The Historian just don’t get it, and she knows this because she has a degree in reading. :dubious:
I’ll let you know.
A degree in reading eh? I love that. I may have to go for that. Hi, I’m Khadaji, I have a doctorate in reading. 