What books are you reading right now?

Re: The Road--I guess I was just expecting it to be more gory. It's been a while since I've read it, but I seem to remember Dies the Fire being a lot more graphic, and I was expecting something more along those lines. Speaking of which, I need to reread that.

As for now, I've just started The Kings and Queens of Roam, by Daniel Wallace.

I'm not very far along, but I'm enjoying it very much so far.

 

Just finished Team of Rivals; still trying to decide on my next book....

 

I'm definitely putting that on my reading list. I was thoroughly impressed with depth of information in Team of Rivals.

 

Ida Tarbell, a supporting player of significant influence in taking down the biggest monopolies of the day , is my new hero.

I am barely into TR's second term and as much as I thought I knew of the politics and progressive movement of the day, it has been enlightening.

 

I'm contemplating some F Scott Fitzgerald.

 

I've read The Great Gatsby (somehow never had to read in high school or college), a very entertaining read. Also Tender Is The Night, which I found very tedious, not to mention a mother telling her 18yo virgin daughter to pursue & seduce a married man.

 

I've just started on This Side of Paradise, by Fitzgerald. It was his first novel and I understand that it's thought to be somewhat autobiographical.

 

Have you read McCarthy's Blood Meridian?

In the movie The Road some scenes are unsettling with out being overly gory--The folks held captive in the basement, and the cooked baby.

 

Unsettling, yes. There definitely were unsettling scenes. I don't think I'm articulating my point very well... I went into it thinking, "you can never unread this, and you're going to want brain bleach when you're done." That wasn't the case, which I was honestly kind of relieved about.

 

I found The Road to be more about a man's love for his son than trying to survive in a post-apocolyptic world, although it was certainly both. The mention of needing mind bleach made me think of Outer Dark.

 

Fitzgerald's writing style is very interesting and it's certainly distinctive. I understand that this was his first published novel as well, and it's considered to be somewhat autobiographical.

 

Just a Geek - Wil Wheaton

 

I finished Brandon Sanderson's first novel, Elantris. Elantris tells the story of the cursed inhabitants of a once-great city who once wielded powerful magic.
It's apparent now that I've read his subsequent Mistborn triogy, that his style is to bring his stories to a slow boil and then in the last quarter of the book just explode all over the place, so I need to be planful about taking on his next effort.

For now, I'm finishing a 'musical memoir', Heart Like A Wheel, by Linda Ronstadt. She knew seemingly everyone from the music scene of 1970's LA (and beyond) which makes for some interesting tales to tell. It's kind of sad that she is no longer able to sing due to an incurable condition. But, since the book is chronological, I know of that from the news, not her writing of it. Not even sure if she does. She has a sort of detached writing style, considering that she's telling her life story.

 

Just finished This Side of Paradise. Hmmm, what to read next....

 

Ring, by Stephen Baxter

 

I managed to narrow my next read down to a choice between two books, The Vision of Emma Blau by Ursula Hegi, or The Soundtrack of My Life by Clive Davis. TVOEB got the nod because I enjoyed Stones From the River, and when I was randomly going through TSOML much of what I read sounded like a view through rose colored glasses.

Update: I finished In America by Susan Sontag, and I have no idea what she was trying to say or accomplish.