That book is mentioned in this very interesting story, which appeared in my local paper just this morning: Hoarders leave behind disturbing mess for families to clean up - cleveland.com
Jack Batty, I’m no conservative, but even I have to say that Zinn falls into the “blame America first” camp. I understand that he was pushing back against the long-practiced hagiographic approach to U.S. history, but IMHO he went too far in the other direction.
Just finished a novel I can recommend to the American history buffs hereabouts: Parrot and Olivier in America, by Peter Carey. Parrot is the servant of Olivier, a French nobleman openly modeled on Tocqueville. After the French Revolution (1830), Olivier is sent to America basically to get him out of harm’s way, though the stated reason is a tour of American prisons, so he can write a treatise on crime and punishment in the new nation. The story is told through alternating chapters narrated by the title characters.
Extremely well written, well researched, and well conceived: a real page-turner. Enjoyed it a lot.
Some of these are leftover from April. My home computer died so I haven’t been able to get online much. (That leaves more time for reading!)
Completed:
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin ~ It’s dated but that doesn’t make it any less creepier.
The Animal Review: The Genius, Mediocrity, and Breathtaking Stupidity That Is Nature by Jacob Lentz, Steve Nash, Jake Lentz
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier ~ I put off this book forever but got sucked in almost immediately. Thoroughly enjoyed…except for the last few pages.
Candide by Voltaire ~ Working on the classics.
Captain Cook in Alaska and the North Pacific by James K. Barnett ~ follows Cook’s route as he meandered around Alaska looking for the Northwest Passage. Great book.
After the King: Stories In Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien by Various Authors ~ Short fantasy stories. Some were decent but I’m just not a fan of short stories.
Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb ~ Sci-fi convention hijinks.
Men of Blood: Murder in Modern England by Elliott Leyton ~ Good read on the murder rate differences between Britain and the US.
The Bastard King (Scepter of Mercy, Book One) by Dan Chernenko ~ Mediocre read. (Harry Turtledove under a pseudonym)
The Chernagor Pirates (Scepter of Mercy, Book 2) by Dan Chernenko ~ Even more mediocre.
The Scepter’s Return (Scepter of Mercy, Book 3) by Dan Chernenko ~ UGH!
When Justice Fails: The David Milgaard Story by Carl Karp & Cecil Rosner ~ VERY good read on the imprisonment of David Milgaard for a murder he did not commit. It’s mind-boggling how some people can live with themselves after what they did to this guy.
Sisters of the Raven by Barbara Hambly ~ Great read.
**The Poet and the Murderer **by Simon Worrall ~ Enthralling. A new Emily Dickenson poem is being auctioned at Sotheby’s and it turns out to be a fake created by the infamous forger & murderer Mark Hofmann. The book goes into detail on his life and the fakes that he created to stir up the Mormon church and fool collectors. The lengths that he went through to create the artifacts are fascinating.
Presently reading:
Morte D’Arthur
Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong
The Wolf’s Hour
Quest For the White Witch
Pigs Don’t Fly
Well, I’m only up to about the industrial revolution, but A) I’m interested in that point of view, as a balances to America, Fuck Yeah! and B) It’s about America – I mean the book is discussing issues and problems with America, in America. Who else is there to blame? Ze Germans?
I prefer The Penguin History of the United States of America for a neutral view. Written by a Brit! Hugh Brogan. He leaves out the vitriol of both sides in the US and is very well reasoned.
I’m halfway through The Information Officer a kind of murder mystery set on Malta during the WW II siege. My wife bought it when she saw it reviewed in the Times, and because we visited last year. So far, way too much about affairs and bombing, little about the mystery.
I’ve been reading through the Commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon, set in Venice. These are much more fun. I’ve been listening to the audio book for Doctored Evidence while driving, and it is the best yet - not for the mystery, which I think I have figured out, but because it is the funniest one in the series.
We’ve been watching the Inspector Jack Frost series from England on DVD, and got a few of the books they are based on. This is the rare case where the TV series is far superior to the books. Wingfield is a terrible writer - always telling, not showing, and changing point of view three times in one sentence. I got through the first, but gave up on the second in the series in disgust - especially because one of the episodes followed the plot exactly, so there was no mystery. The TV series is great, though.
I’ve started The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. It’s the opening volume in a multi-book series so this should keep me busy for a few weeks.
Also, I was at a used book store today and picked up a copy of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy. I read it when it came out back in the eighties but I’m interested to see how his ideas hold up a couple of decades later.
As I’ve said in other threads: it’s a great series, a lotta fun to read, and Hamilton has a wonderfully fertile imagination, but the ending is a HUGE letdown, IMHO. The books build and build and build and then… meh.
I’ve just finished “El Maestro De Esgrima” (“The Fencing Master”) by Arturo Perez-Reverte and have now started with “The Unfolding of Language” by Guy Deutscher.
Perez-Reverte’s book was an entertaining read, very well written and quite interesting for someone who used to fence but his characters, especially the female ones, lack authenticity and, all in all, it was too melodramatic for my taste.
A quickie: The Whitechapel Conspiracy by Anne Perry. Part of a detective series I haven’t read, but it’s not bad. Needed something to read while my husband was finishing The Remains of Company D: A Story of The Great War, which is my next book, followed by Preston & Child’s Fever Dream, the new Agent Pendergast novel!
I’ve been meaning to post something in here for a couple of weeks now. I’ve finished Carol Shields’ The Republic of Love. There is something incredibly compelling, to me, about her writing. No character is so peripheral that they cannot have an intricate back story, or some strange, unforeseen part to play in the lives of the central characters. And I love her exploration of the central theme that there are extraordinary things to be celebrated in ‘ordinary’ lives.
I’m currently reading a recent biography of Gabriel Fauré by Jessica Duchen, one more in a series of biographies that I’ve been reading over the last year or so. I’m particularly drawn to works that concentrate on the life of the composer, rather than the musical analysis. This is well in keeping with that trend, though so far (early 20’s) little of interest has happened in Fauré’s life…
I’ve also been reading Colin Dexter’s The Way Through the Woods, an Inspector Morse mystery. Loving it.
If you’ll forgive a blatant cross-thread promotion, I’m also slowly reading my way through the Anthology thread produced by the Weekend Flash Fiction Contest that came to an end last night. There are some remarkable stories that were produced by well-known Dopers, (as well as by some Dopers I’d never encountered before) and they are all worth a read.
I was away from home for a week and a half, and got plenty of reading in. Recently I finished:
Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett
Carrie, Stephen King
The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon – I didn’t love this as much as everyone else in the world appeared to. Melodrama isn’t my thing and this book was the very definition of it.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larson – I am on the bandwagon for this book, however. A lot more violent than I realized.
Finished Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. This is the 5th in her Mercy Thomson series. It was fast-paced and fun - I may think this may be the best of the series.
I finally finished Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets last night. I can’t recommend it enough. Afterwards I jumped right into The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. I found it very hard to put it down and go to bed.
I didn’t like the ending, particularly the whole sequence with the Fae and the quick wrap-up of Samuel’s issues.
On vacation I read Gail Carriger’s new novel, Changeless, which I thought wasn’t as good as the first book. That one was something of a novelty (romantic paranormal fantasy steampunk) but it’s worn off now and the tone is almost too cutesy for my taste. Plus she gave this second book a gratuitous cliffhanger for an ending, which I strongly dislike.
I also read Graveyard Dust, the third book in a historical mystery series by Barbara Hambly, set in New Orleans in the early 1800’s. (AuntiePam, I think you would like these.)
I’m in the middle of the new Dresden Files book. It had an awkward start, jumping into action even more quickly than usual, but I finally got sucked into it. Although now that I’m waiting a year between books, I’m starting to get hazy on the details of the overall story arc.
I’m a huge fan - just about to reread Devil’s Cub. My favourite book of hers was These Old Shades (which should be read before Devil’s Cub) My least favourite of her period romances would be A Lady of Quality. You could tell she was no longer enjoying writing romances & was just doing it to pay the bills.
Most unintentionally funny book was The Great Roxhythe. Its one of the titles she didn’t want republished so its not fair to judge her by it though.
Unlike some of the other contributors to the previous thread, I’ve enjoyed most of her detective books. The best of these was Death in the Stocks.
I’ve only read one of her contemporaries -** Helen**. That was so bad I haven’t bothered searching out any of the others.
I’m also sharing a book with my son - The Penguin (I think) history of New Zealand by Michael King. Some of the things I’m relearning about my country’s history are eye opening.
Siam Sam, that book sounds most intriguing.
Penguin does good history. Twice I’ve read The Penguin History of the World, by JM Roberts, and both times it made me feel stupid for what I didn’t know.
The NZ one makes me feel stupid for what I’ve just blindly accepted! I’ll look for the History of the World one when I’ve caught up a bit on my reading pile.
Currently reading Orange is the New Black: my year in a women’s prison, by Piper Kerman.
I abandoned Company D; I was interested in the topic, but the writing wasn’t up to par, and it got very repetitious. Am now about 40% through Fever Dream. Who killed Agent Pendergast’s wife? And why? 