What books are you reading right now?

I'm bout half way through The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It's an interesting read so far. At first I was a little concerned because Diamant mentions many characters, but her focus stays mostly on the ones key to Dinah's story.

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I recently finished Primal Fear by Richard Diehl. This novel contains some flaws, but nothing serious for a crime novel, and Diehl keeps the story moving.

Spoiler alert,

which might be unnecessary since most people have seen the movie.

Most readers probably figured out fairly early that Aaron (actually Roy) was faking having a split personality. Even before Roy appeared something struck me as odd. Many people had commented on how intelligent Aaron was, and he was voracious reader....yet Aaron spoke with a heavy backwoods Kentucky accent (I wonder if people in backwoods Kentucky got a laugh out of the accent?). Even though he lived his first 18 years in Crikside, KY, I had a hard time seeing him still having that much of an accent if he was bright and read that much.

 

If you ever have spare time to read some bad "pulp" sci-fi, try The Pollinators of Eden. I've posted some comments in this thread, 1753 is the first one.

 

Decided to try Forrest Gump. It's...not what I expected. Kinda lost me on the believability scale after he went into space

I'm also reading a fantasty/sci-fi anthology revolving around cats, Tails of Wonder and Imagination. Like any anthology, some stories are fantastic, some are awful, the rest are somewhere in between. Authors/contributors include Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, GRRM, Tanith Lee, and Peter S. Beagle.

 

The book has never tempted me because the movie, while entertaining, contained too much NFW!.
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The Wiki info makes Silent Running sound like an interesting movie. I like Bruce Dern's acting.....even though he was the first man to kill John Wayne. I'm thinking, but my quick search on IMDb didn't find it, early in his career he was in a weird movie about intelligent and virtually indestructible roaches.

 

Death of Innocence by Mamie Till-Mobley with Christopher Benson.

Emmett Louis "Bobo" Till, a black teenager, was kidnapped and murdered* by two white men in Money, MS on August 28, 1955. His murder, and some of the decisions made by and actions taken by his mother Mamie Till provided a considerable amount of fuel to the civil rights movement.

Emmett Till - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first 100 pages or so provide the background on Mamie Till and her family. It's a bit tedious for anyone wanting to get to the circumstances surrounding Emmett's murder and what followed. I had to remind myself several times that the author was his mother and therefore a certain amount of rosiness was to be expected. On a positive note it provides a good look at the lives of middle class blacks. It might help some people to understand that most blacks want the same things as do most people--good jobs where hard work leads to advancement , safe neighborhoods, good schools for their children, etc.

*The men were charged, tried, and acquitted. Their acquittal is widely considered to be bullshit.

 

Your Cheatin' Heart by Chet Flippo, a biography of Hank Williams (Sr).

I've probably read some articles by Flippo over the years, but never noted his name. So far the first 60 pages of this bio haven't blown me away, but in all fairness to Flippo information on the the early part of Hank's life can be sketchy.

 

Finally picked up Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman. It is delightful.

 

The Monk by William H. Hallahan. I try not to judge writers by just one of their works, but this book is not very good. Hallahan has written several books that were very popular and critically acclaimed; perhaps in this case he decided to take a break and write a Why-the-hell-not? book.

If I got the spoiler marks wrong, it's no big deal, you really shouldn't waste your time on this book.

After fallen angel Timothy is forgiven by Brandon (a mortal who has the rare purple aura) and is restored to heaven, Satan decides to take heaven by force rather than wait for Gawd's final punishment. He and the evil horde arrive only to find heaven abandoned.....and that is supposed to be Satan's final punishment (??????).[\spoiler]
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While I wasn't impressed with Flippo's writing overall, it did improve once he started getting into parts of Hank's life that were easier to document. I doubt that many people here actually care to read about a C&W singer/songwriter who died over 63 years ago, but this book is worth reading. Hank was not an easy person know or get along with, and he earned much of the scorn heaped on him, but the few people close to him who should've helped him instead failed him miserably.

 

I'm about half way through Stephen King's Under The Dome. I've only read about five? six? of King's books, and I usually avoid the horror novels. Why I chose to read a 1,200+ page book by him I don't know. I just hope that UTD doesn't out to be like It--a great first half with a lousy second half.

FTR the book is different enough from the TV series so that I don't consider seeing the series a major spoiler. Teaser--In the book Junior Rennie is seriously and truly disturbed; his "girlfriends" would agree.

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EDIT: I now see that I accidently included my comments on another book in the spoiler notice for The Monk.

 

Finished Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny last night. I would love to see this as a mini-series. It would be epic, if faithfully translated.
Now, I've started The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth by the same author. Not what I expected, by I'm really enjoying it.

 

I'm about 30 pages into My Present Age by Guy Vanderhaeghe.

Edit: Under The Dome was meh. It might've been OK if it had been edited down to 600-700 pages. I guess that Stephen King no longer has editors asking him to remove unnecessary characters and subplots .

 

OMG GUYS! GUUUUYS! I have my final tomorrow. After that it's spring break!!!! I should probably pack, but I think I'll read a book. Oh holy christ. Imma gonna read a book that isn't a textbook!

I don't even know where to start...ooooooh. Jesus Mary and Joseph. A fucking book....for entertainment purposes.

 

I was so burned out by the time I graduated from college, I didn't read anything longer than a magazine article for several years.