Christopher Hitchens “Hitch-22”
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I really liked that book. I really liked ***Sunnyside ***too, and I think a bit more of that book is real.
I’m reading I Slept With Joey Ramone. Too early to say if it’s good.
Still reading Game of Thrones - I was sidetracked with this when a whole bunch of stuff I had on reserve at the library came through at once.
Finished:
Unfamiliar Fishes, the new(ish) Sarah Vowell about Hawaii. I enjoyed this a lot, and realized I knew almost nothing about Hawaii that I didn’t learn from repeated 4th grade readings of the Queen Liliuokalani volume of the “Childhood of Famous Americans” series.
Pardonable Lies, the third in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series - these are contemporary books written in the style of high English mysteries. I find the characters annoying, but the plot on this one was pretty good.
Still reading: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which is interesting but maybe it was overhyped to me because it feels a little flat to me. Very sincere, but not that much substance.
Listening to “Leviathan” by Scott Westerfield, narrated beautifully by Alan Cummings.
Reading “Lost Empire” by Clive Cussler. He’s just fun 
Action! Adventure! Witty banter! Exotic locations! funfunfun.
Just finished “The Measure of the Magic” by Terry Brooks, 2 of 3 in his current ongoing telling of the Shannara series. Yes, yes, I know - his first book was beyond Tolkienesque - but after that, he found his own storytelling voice, building a remarkable world of the Four Lands, and he simply weaves a good tale with strong characters. Highly recommend his Word & Void series of 3 books, too. Brilliant.
Finished it. 'Fraid it didn’t live up to the hype. Filled with unbelievable coincidences, and at times the writing was just so damn self-consciously LITERARY (you can’t see, but I’m extending my pinkie).
Next up: God’s Secretaries by Adam Nicholson, about the committee which wrote the King James Bible. I’m to lead a book discussion on it at my church on Oct. 5. That means reading ten pages a day until then. Hmm. Should be doable.
Excellence on page 113:
Reading A Bitter Truth, WWI mystery about a murder in a country house with series narrator Nurse Bess Crawford. Pretty slow moving so far.
I’ve just finished The Great Gatsby, which I’ve never read before. I’m glad I wasn’t in any of the high school classes that had to go through it – I’d’ve hated to have to write an essay about the Significance of the Green Light at the Buchanan’s Pier, or some such. I also never saw the film version. As a result, I think, I loved the book. Now I have to read more F. Scott Fitzgerald.
I’ve read a couple of van Gulik’s Judge Dee mysteries for fun. I’m strating Maguire’s Wicked, which both Pepper Mill and MilliCal triede to read, and gave up on.
Didja know the fifth movie is in production as we speak?: The Great Gatsby (2013 film) - Wikipedia
Don’t’cha love it when a classic lives up to the hype and you can form your own point of view / relationship with it as a work of art?
I strongly recommend either Tender is the Night, or, better IMHO, a collection of Fitzgerald short stories; or, just follow these links to:
- Winter Dreams - written before GG was published; used to work out some character and theme ideas that got into the novel…
- The Rich Boy - the story which actually uses the line “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.”
Finished Kraken. It was enjoyably weird, but the plot never really engaged me all that much. In other words, a fun journey, but not much of a destination.
Just started Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman. The authorship of the Bible has interested me for a long time and I like what I’ve read from Ehrman in the past, so I’m expecting to get a lot out of this one.
Yeah, we’ve had a thread about it. There’s talk of it being in 3-D, which lead me to suggest that they make the glasses in the shape of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s sign.
I second Tender Is the Night.
Just finished up C Street, by Jeff Sharlet. It seemed a bit of a jumble, but chilling jumble.
Also just finished the last book in the Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb. I’m depressed over the whole thing.
I have a few more pages left in Smiley’s People, by John LeCarre. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.
Currently reading* Where Death Delights* by Bernard Knight. Mystery set in the 1950s.
Just picked up Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson and Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd. The first is a medieval mystery, and the second is the murder (well deserved, I bet!) of Fanny Price. 
I need some epic fantasy that doesn’t break my heart.
I enjoyed The Privilege of the Sword, a “fantasy of manners” by Ellen Kushner. It’s a sequel of sorts to her novel Swordspoint, but I liked this one better. The books have an invented medieval society where the nobility hire professional swordsmen to settle their disputes. There’s no magic at all, but there’s a lot of casual bisexuality. This second book is about a country girl who comes to town to live with her mad, debauched uncle who insists that she dress like a man and learn swordsmanship. Kushner writes great characters, and the book is amusing and often poignant.
I’m nearly finished with Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. It’s cute, in a twisted, macabre sort of way, but I haven’t decided yet if I really like it.
I’m about halfway through Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, by Walter Isaacson, and learning a lot about “the founding father who winks at us”.
I’m also reading The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters, by Rose George. It’s a pretty frank discussion about how societies around the world dispose of their shit - and the people who have no way to do so, which has disastrous health and social consequences.
I have finished Morpheus Road The Light.
Marshall Seaver’s best friend Cooper, has disappeared, Marshall is seeing/experiencing supernatural events and Marshall and Coop’s older sister set out to solve the mystery.
This was a slow starter, but I ended up liking it. I had a feel of some of Dean Koontz’ earlier work, but I can’t remember which one. I had not known it was 1 of 3 and certainly had not known that not all 3 are published - this is always annoying.
But I have ordered book 2 and will read it.
It is, I think, targeted at young adults.
I’ve just started Bill Bruford’s autobiography, and it’s an absolute blast. I’d be curious to hear other bandmembers’ side of the story, as I think BB is a little harder on them than he is on himself, but to read someone who went through the 70s prog rock scene and can still write in an articulate and witty manner is a real joy.
I just finished The Murder of the Century. (Not that one, or that other one either…)
I had never even heard of it before, but about the murder (and subsequent trial) of the “Scattered Dutchman” - a man who was chopped up and pieces of him were found all over NYC - never his head though. The book uses this case to highlight the newpaper wars between Pulitzer and Hearst. People would buy up to 3 newspapers *a day *to get the latest news. So strange in our modern times…
Now I am on to The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. I got it based on reccommendations here. Pretty good so far!
Still working through the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. Up to The Reverse of the Medal.
I just started Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, and I’m really liking it. I’m not that far into it, but the main character is engaging enough and it’s funny. At one point, there’s some snark: “Magic is hard. It’s not just waving a wand and saying some made-up Latin.”
There’s a sequel, The Magician King, that I might check out after I finish this. I just heard about the sequel here on the Boards yesterday.