My book club read that a few years ago, and I had the chance to meet the author (a nice guy, and very self-effacing) not long afterwards. The novel’s a very powerful but sad, slow-emotional-train-wreck kind of tale that will stay with you.
Not to mention the interlibrary loan request I’ve got on Tuf Voyaging. I swear, I don’t do everything I’m told to. 
That’s fine. Just follow my advice, and I won’t steer you wrong. 
I’m about to finish “the Berlin Stories” by Christopher Isherwood. I’m not sure what to read next…any suggestions?
Okay!
:smack:
He has a new one just out (or coming out in a minute) called Await Your Reply and will be doing a lot of area appearances.
Just read (in kind of quick procession):[ul][li]Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane: I picked it up not only because I’d read and enjoyed Mystic River and A Drink Before the War, but also because of the forthcoming movie adaptation directed by Scorsese. I found it an engrossing read and am looking forward to the screen version, even though its release has been pushed back.[]Dark Places by Gillian Flynn: Not bad but unremarkable entry in the mystery/suspense genre. An Amazon recommendation.[]The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: Also picked up due to a forthcoming movie adaptation (directed by Peter Jackson). Very affecting; also can’t wait for the movie.Storm Front (Dresden Files Book 1) by Jim Butcher: Very entertaining and, as mentioned, a quick read. Looking forward to the rest of the series.[/ul]I’ve also been reading In FED We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic by David Wessel, but though I find the subject matter interesting if not compelling (I work in the Financial Services sector), I’m not quite speeding through it.[/li]
The current fiction I’m reading is Dauntless (The Lost Fleet Book 1) by Jack Campbell, which I think is another Amazon recommendation. Space Opera, but seems like the good kind - fast-paced and character-driven.
Hope you and Khadaji enjoy The Magicians, it really struck a chord with me. I’ve actually started it over again already. Re-reading for me is very common; less common is when I actually feel like reading the exact same novel immediately after I finish it the first time.
I did finish up The Elegant Universe over the weekend. Good, very interesting. My brain did start to hurt once Greene started talking about 11-dimensional space and Calabi-Yau manifolds. I’m not going to pretend I followed all of it. I’ll need to return to this one in a few months. This was only near the end of the book; the parts near the beginning about where quantum mechanics and relativity are simply incompatible was a hoot. Took me back to my P-Chem days.
I finally finished volume 10 – the last – in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. I’ve owned the graphic novel for over a year and have been putting off reading it because I really didn’t want the series to end. It was so vast and creative and, well, good. But I read it finally and it was a bittersweet farewell, as I imagine Gaiman intended.
I also read Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. While I recognize the quality of writing in this novel, at no point was I swept away by the story. I feel like I’m betraying my carefully maintained pretentious intellectual elitism when I give it a “meh.”
Hmmm. The movie’s due out next year: Never Let Me Go (2010 film) - Wikipedia
Elendil’s Heir, Dan Chaon will be signing his new book at the Borders in Westlake tonight, and tomorrow at Joseph-Beth in Legacy Village. I have it at hand.
Hey, thanks! Doubt I’ll be able to go, but I’ll pass it along to my book club.
I finally read A Confederacy of Dunces about a week ago. I think I read half of it Sunday and finished it last Tuesday. I was repulsed by Ignatius physically for a while but I may have been looking at it wrong. The writing is excellent in any case.
Planned reading this month (who knows) includes Born to Run by Christopher McDougal, The Evolution of God by Robert Wright, and My Lobotomy by Howard Dully, which my girlfriend wants to read and I might borrow afterward. Before I do any of that I think I’m going to reread The Autobiography of Malcolm X as research for a project.
Finished Witches Incorporated (Rogue Agent). The second installment in the Rogue Agent series focuses more on Melissande, Bibbie and Reg, but also includes an adventure with Gerald. A weak addition to an already weak series, I thought through out that I would likely not read the third. If you took out all the squabbling between the women you’d trim the book to about 1/2.
A D+ at best. I am doubtful that I will read the last in the series, but maybe.
I’m making my way through A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again–and considering if I want to take on Infinite Jest.
I finished Robin Hobb’s Liveships trilogy. At close to 3000 pages it was quite a slog but I enjoyed it. Her writing style appeals to me, although I imagine that her slow plotting would turn many people off.
I’m halfway through Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job. It’s very funny, but surprisingly sad in places.
I finished I’m Down, which I got a huge kick out of. It’s a memoir, author Mishna Wolff grew up with her single, white father who was absolutely, positively convinced he was black, and raised his daughters accordingly. She does a great job of describing life as an awkward kid who struggles to fit in with the black kids in her neighborhood, who think she is too white, and then later when she attends a school for gifted children on a scholarship, completely mystifies her white classmates. I thought it was funny and well-written, but I will note that the father, who is presented as quirky, is oftentimes actually abusive and those parts were difficult reading.
Also, a YA title, My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger. It’s a very chaste, gentle high school romance. At first, all the characters struck me as much too perfect and stereotypical. But it’s so … I don’t know, it’s earnest and you end up really liking them despite the fact that they are all too good to be true. It’s like the high school you wish you went to. One straight couple, one gay couple, and one thing I did like is that it’s not so much a book about being gay, they just happen to be gay.
Just finished. Ho-lee shit. Haven’t had my mind blown like this since Gentlemen and Players. Buy this book now.
Just got an alumni postcard telling me that Chaon will be reading from Await Your Reply on Thurs. Sept. 17 at 4:45pm, in Craig Auditorium on the campus of Oberlin College, where he teaches.
What a month. My house got robbed & trashed a few weeks ago so I’ve been cleaning instead of reading. Some of my on-going books are…somewhere. They’ll turn up. I’ve been sticking to fluff reads as it’s been hard to concentrate on things right now.
Fail:
Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling ~ UGH. I realized about half way through that I hated everyone and wanted them all to die a miserable ‘blessed be’ death. Cast aside & will hopefully earn me a credit through Paperbackswap.com.
Read:
*The Moonlight War: the Story of Clandestine Operations in South-East Asia 1944-5 *by Terence O’Brien ~ enjoyed but I think I’ll look for his other book as I wanted to read more on the Chindits.
Yes Man by Danny Wallace ~ meh. Some of the scenarios made me squirm. I’m just not a fan of stories where people put themselves in awkward situations.
The Last Command (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Vol. 3) by Timothy Zahn
A Sundial in a Grave: 1610 by Mary Gentle ~ decent historical fiction.
His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire, Book 1) by Naomi Novik ~ Bought on a whim when I was at the Seattle airport. Once I landed, I headed to Barnes & Noble & bought the next three in the series. (I can’t read these without visualizing Patrick O’Brians’s Jack Aubrey as Will Laurence though.)
*Throne of Jade (Temeraire, Book 2) *by Naomi Novik
*Black Powder War (Temeraire, Book 3) *by Naomi Novik
Empire of Ivory (Temeraire, Book 4) by Naomi Novik ~ this one failed a bit for me. Didn’t like where it went.
Victory of Eagles (Temeraire, Book 5) by Naomi Novik
Shadow Moon (Chronicles of the Shadow War, Book 1) by Chris Claremont ~ Sequel trilogy to ‘Willow’. I read them once years ago. They have their appeal but drag in parts.
Shadow Dawn (Chronicles of the Shadow War, Book 2) by Chris Claremont
Shadow Star (Chronicles of the Shadow War, Book 3) by Chris Claremont
The Merchant’s Partner (Knights Templar series) by Michael Jecks ~ I really enjoyed this medieval detective novel. I will have to backtrack to the first in the series.
Jedi Search (Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Vol. 1) by Kevin Anderson ~ told you I was into fluff reads right now. I’m getting my Star Wars geek on.
Dark Apprentice (Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Vol. 2) by Kevin Anderson
Champions of the Force (Star Wars: The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Vol. 3) by Kevin Anderson
Shark!: Nature’s Masterpiece by RD Lawrence ~ a bit dated but a good book on Lawrence’s adventures studying sharks.
The Audubon Ark by Frank Graham ~ A history of the creation of the Audubon Society. Some interesting bits but mainly a dull slog.
Currently reading:
Heartsblood: Hunting, Spirituality, and Wildness in America by David Petersen ~ this has been misplaced. Hopefully I’ll find it soon.
The Rookie: The Incredible True Story of a Man Who Never Gave Up on His Dream by Jim Morris ~ was displaced in the robbery & forgot about it. Oops.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith ~ I’m reading this in bits. It’s a bit much for me in large doses.
Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators by William Stolzenburg ~ I just got an ARC for this and it’s really good so far.