What books are you reading right now?

The Odyssey by Homer (fun to read when there's no test on it)

The Scattered And The Dead, Book 1 by Tim McBain

Next up: Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died by Dave Hoekstra with Steve Dahl

 

A somewhat amusing story. My wife (MW) & I went to one of my favorite thrift stores, it helps support a men's addiction treatment program. I spotted what appeared to be an early edition of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. When I said "damn" MW asked what was wrong. "It's a Book Club edition, it'd be nice to find a 1st edition." A few shelves over I find a did a 1st edition but without the dust jacket. I bought it any way, even though I have it in PB, figuring it might be worth at least $50.00.

Nope. Over the years ICB was reprinted many, many times. At best, on a really good day, I might get $5.00 for it.

My other purchase, The Tree, text by John Fowles, photographs (they're fantastic!) by William Neill, is out of print and sought after by Neill collectors. The asking prices I found cover quite a range, but $25.00 is realistic.

 

I read all of those multiple times growing up. But I started in 5th grade or so. They aren't bad, but you always know what silk is going to do or say, and how the bear like north man is going to act. And aunt polgara reminds me of every queen Latifah character in a movie, where the men are all running around being spastic and she is always the calm cool head who also happens to only shit roses. But they are entertaining light. Still have them all in my basement.

 

Prince Lestat & the Realms of Atlantis, the latest in the Vampire Chronicles, and a really good read.

 

This spring break I will stop reading Business Analytics books and Qualitative Research books and focus on True Crime; Who Killed These Girls?

 

I'm 33 pages into Wild Animus by Rick Shapero. If something doesn't happen soon to keep my attention, I'm going to set it aside for Dennis Lehane's World Gone By.

WGB is the last book in the Coughlin triology, I've read the first two. I'll need to refresh my memory; I read very quickly, but have poor retention, at least for details, unless a book makes a serious impression.

 

I read very little Sci-Fi but I am a fan of John Scalzi and just picked up his latest, The Collapsing Empire.

 

I gave up on Wild Animus by Rick Shapero about half way through. Normally I'll tough it out if I reach the half way point; not this time. Now if I could remember who told me it was "really different" (true) and "a great book" (not true).

World Gone By by Dennis Lehane.

 

The Adventures of a Treasure Hunter - A Rare Bookman in Search of American History.

Originally printed in the 1950's, it contains the a multitude of short write-ups of transactions throughout this booksellers career. Fun reading for anyone who enjoys books and daydreams about a flea market score.

 

That would be me.

--------------------------

I finished Dennis Lehane's World Gone By. It's interesting how Lehane gets the reader, at least me, to have empathy for a character who is involved criminal activities. Some of which might be considered partially acceptable, such as booze running during prohibition, and some of which would be consider the lowest of low, namely forced prostitution, and heroin dealing. The main character knows that he has lived on borrowed time for quite a while (the second novel in the Coughlin trilogy, Live By Night, covers many of his activities and narrow escapes), yet feels as though he is above the retribution that has caught up to many in "their business."

In some ways WGB is like Dennis Lehane meets Cormac McCarthy.

--------------------------

Now I'm into a much more complicated novel, My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk. This novel helped Pamuk win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006.

My Name Is Red - Wikipedia

The downside is my PB copy isn't one of the better quality PBs (a retail store would not get $15.95 from me, a thrift store did get fifty cents), and the print is pretty small.

 

I've been reading the Wicked Years series. I read the first one when it first came out, with several rereads since then. The others...don't quite seem to capture that magic. I slogged through Son of a Witch, about halfwayish through A Lion Among Men.

 

Some authors can keep a series going, some can't. It's like they put all of their great thoughts into the first book or two, then struggle to match the initial work(s); it doesn't even have to be a series. Annie Proulx (The Shipping News), Charles Frazier (Cold Mountain), Ursula Hegi (Stones From The River) are just a few that come to mind.

 

A Kindle freebie today. I was hooked on "a reclusive insomniac with a weakness for 'The Beatles' on vinyl..."

 

Norse Mythology, by Neil Gaiman. He is one of my favorite authors, and I read anything of his that I can find. Very good, but a little thin. I think he could have put a couple more stories in. But he covered the big ones. I read a couple of the stories to my 6 year old daughters, and they liked them.

 

I finished My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk. This novel helped Pamuk win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006.

My Name Is Red - Wikipedia

This book might be of interest to people who are artist (drawing, painting, calligraphy, etc) and/or are interested in Persian history. I don't exactly regret reading MNIR, but I won't be in any hurry to read more of Pamuk's works. In some ways MNIR reminds me of something Umberto Eco might write, namely The Prague Cemetery.

 

Has anybody read American Gods by Neil Gaiman?

 

Yes indeed and I'm very much looking forward to the series coming up.

 

American Gods is in my To Be Read stack of books. The dust jacket description makes it sound interesting.

 

I'm about 90 pages into The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. This is definitely a 'female perspective' novel, which is fine with me, but I sincerely hope that LM doesn't introduce any more characters.
Keeping up with the mothers, daughters, (grand)children, girlfriends, husbands, & boyfriends she has introduced so far damn near requires taking notes.

Mentioning my To Be Read stack of books.....

THS got the nod over At The Water's Edge by Sara Gruen, even though I very much liked Gruen's Water For Elephants and Ape House.

Slumdog Millionaire (originally published as Q&A) by Vikas Swarup. I have a thing for novels set in India.