What books are you reading right now?

Finished up Hannah's Dream. Totally cried at the end.

Broke into Following Atticus yesterday. It's good so far, but still kinda in the "setting up the plot" part of the book.

 

...and done.

 

Ha anyone read Donna Tartt's the goldfinch?
I am considering this 800 pages novel...

 

I have not personally, but I work at a bookstore and we can't keep it on the shelves. People love it. We're constantly selling out.

 

I haven't read any Vonnegut in many years, picked up Hocus Pocus yesterday.

 

Monument 14-finished a few weeks ago, but it was a decent YA book.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-finished yesterday afternoon

Stephanie Plum-Takedown Twenty

 

Just starting Complete Stories, Dorothy Parker.

 

I just finished several of the stories in The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag, a collection of short stories (the main story might be considered a novella) by Robert A. Heinlein. Not being much of a sci-fi fan, I had no idea who Heinlein was, especially that he was/is considered to be an equal talent with Asimov and Clarke.

I don't like relying on Wikipedia, but this article at least provides a detailed summary of Heinlein.
Robert A. Heinlein - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I like Heinlein very much, although I don't take his philosophy particularly seriously-- there are some libertarian types who think his later works are like teachings of a prophet. But I am never disappointed with his creativity, his ability to create characters, and his fascinating ideas.

IMO, the title piece of the collection you're reading is Heinlein's strangest, most outre and discomfiting work-- one of my favorites. I would also recommend the novel Stranger In A Strange Land as being a particularly standout work.

 

Started Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects last night.

Wish I didn't have anything else to do these days—work included—so I could devote all my time to reading it.

 

I am reading A memory of light, the last book in the wheel of time series. I am enjoying it.

 

I'm about half way through Fannie Flagg's Can't Wait To Get To Heavan. It's an interesting read about a woman who dies, everyone close to her thinks that she's dead, but she's only dead for five hours. God, such as he is (and he & she are, as his 'wife' is very nearly his equal), return her to life on Earth. I'm at the point just after she miraculously recovers in the hospital. Although I'm not a religious person, so far I'm enjoying the book.

EDIT--Oops, something I didn't know, apparantly CWTGTH is the third book in a series. I don't like reading books out of sequence, but maybe it doesn't matter in this case?

I thoroughly enjoyed Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe, which is a far more 'serious' read than the whimsical (at least superficially) CWTGTH. If you enjoyed the FGT movie, I highly reccomend the book.

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I recently finished The Last Juror by John Grisham. It was OK, some things in the book were just a little too neat and pat to me. While the book appears to be about the failed judicial system in early 1970s Mississippi (which it is in part), it's more about life in small rural town, and it's inhabitants. I much preferred Grisham's A Painted House (a very good read) and his non-fiction book The Innocent Man (disclosure--I'm biased, I have relatives who lived in Ada, & some who still live there).

 

Finished Brandon Sanderson's "The Way Of Kings" which I found out after 1300 pages is Book 1 in a yet-to-be-written series. Excellent book but...gah, I have to wait now? Now I'm reading, "The Third Coast - When Chicago Built The American Dream." Quite compelling. Sort of disconcerting to start the book learning about the sordid history of the former Armour Institute of Technology, now Illinois Institute of Technology, where my son just began studies. I suppose most big cities have their dark underbellies, including their educational institutions, at one time or another. Chicago and Illinois Tech are no exceptions, though it seems the school at least is on a more even keel than it was 80 years ago.

 

Quite a few of the people who founded and/or supported some of our best museums, universities, symphonies, etc. got the money to do so by being ruthless capitalists. Some them also inherited 'dirty' money. And let's not forget crminal enterprises.
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Yep. I suppose we'd sometimes prefer not to remember--that why I pick up a history book now and again. In Chicago's case, after the devastating fire and the hasty rebuild, it was primed for shenanigans with three-pronged powers of the church, the political machine and the mob.
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Very interesting how Flagg has segued from successful comedian to best-selling author. Quite a hat trick.

 

I grok this.

Currently Im into Complications, by Atul Gawande.

 

Has anyone read Drood by Dan Simmons? Per the dust jacket description it's about the last five "dark" years of Charles Dickens life. I'm thinking that I should read Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood before tackling the 771 page Simmons novel.

A related note--about eight years ago my M&FIL gave to me a set of all of Dickens' works.

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I'll keep my eyes open for SIASL. I liked the short story All You Zombies.

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I didn't know that Flagg used to be a comedian, time for me to search for some background info on Flagg.

 

Sorry for the delay in replying to people i jusfinished reading Tony Benns The wilderness years

 

Jack Reacher - A Wanted Man

by Lee Child

 

The last book I read that I really liked was "Our Lady of Darkness" by Fritz Leiber. Its just a ghost story, but a really good one.

At the moment I am reading a book about the Dylatov Pass incident. It's interesting, but sort of fruitless. cos there really is no way anyone will ever know what happened to the kids, and everything is just speculation. Its what makes it fascinating but also it means you never really get to the bottom of it.