What books are you reading right now?

Just think the movies underplay the level of violence and psychological trauma. In the book, Katniss is severely burned, is close to death on several occasions, etc. Many of the other tributes' deaths were pretty gory. It's not over-the-top violence, but it's certainly not PG-13 level either

 

What the hell do Texans know about music?


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Updates:

My Life As An Explorer by Sven Hedin (1925). I'm a little over halfway through. It's interesting to read how Hedin justifies his drive to explore, even when facing almost certain death, at the cost of human and animal life. At times he seems more upset about the deaths of certain dogs than he does the deaths of two of his hired men. Perhaps that's a coping mechanism he needs.

The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham, volumes I & II. I'm reading these a few at a time because they're rather depressing & dark; the stories are in chronological order, maybe the later ones won't be so morbid. They tend to run together to a certain degree if I don't take a break. Being able to step away for a while is one of the good things about reading short stories.

New:

I'm a fan of Dennis Lehanes's novels, and have just started Live By Night. Only recently did I learn he had written a trilogy, The Given Day (which I've read), Live By Night, & World Gone By.

 

I am not much for conspiracy theories, but this looks fun: "Tails of Tinfoil: Stories of Paranoia and Conspiracy" is a Kindle freebie today.

 

Yup. This is my life now.

 

Thank you for such elegant banter on this literary board.

 

I finished Live By Night by Dennis Lehane. It's an entertaining read, but there were (for me) too many situations that made me think 'He is really lucky' and 'Why would he do something that stupid?'. Thankfully it's much pared down compared to The Given Day.

Next up is Hardcore Troubadour, The Life & Near Death of Steve Earle by Lauren St. John. Many musician and celebrity autobiographies and biographies leave a lot to be desired; I'm not far enough into it yet to see if LSJ did a good job.

 

Steve's kid, Justin Townes Earle is making a name for himself. The "Townes" is for Townes Van Zandt.

 

I never realized how involved Steve Earle was in the Houston music scene. I don't remember all of the clubs mentioned (I was too young to go to clubs or pay close attention to music that wan't played on the radio), but I recall some of them. Reading the names of many of the people he hung out with is like a walk down memory lane of Houston's active alternative music (I'll use Country Folk as a general description) scene.
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Townes Van Zandt, who had a complex and many times very trying personality, was Steve Earle's mentor in some ways and definitely his musical "hero." It's amazing that Townes lived to be 52, given his addiction issues and destructive behavior.

 

Finished. Quite an interesting read. I found myself pausing and opening up Google Streetview of Seoul a few times to see the setting. This was a quick read, and when it ended, I kind of wished for it to go on.

 

The graphic adaption of The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman. It's a two volume graphic novel, picked them both up from the library. So far it sticks close to the book. Loved the book by way.

 

Just started Jack Glass - The Story of a Murderer by Adam Roberts.

From an Amazon review: This is most excellent stuff, this triptych of 'locked-room mysteries'. Inspired by both the 'Golden Age of Sci-Fi' and similarly classic whodunits, Adam Roberts has fashioned a Space Opera that satisfies both the imagination and the intellect.



Jack Glass eBook: Adam Roberts: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store

 

Rocannon's World by Ursula K. LeGuin, the first novel in a book of three LeGuin novels. I like her writing style, but so far the story is more fururistic fantasy than Sci-Fi. I don't know if the other two novels tie into this one, but I won't bother finding out unless something really interesting happens in RW.

 

I set aside Le Guin / LeGuin for now.

I just started Middlepost by Antony Sher. I'm having to adjust to his sense of humor, I'm on page 22, but so far so good.

Sher did the cover art and six (?) illustrations in the book. Check the cover art in the link, pretty cool IMO.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Middlepost-Antony-Sher/dp/0340506156/ref=sr_1_8/277-1231362-3421059?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441647493&sr=1-8

 

I managed to get my hands on the entire set of Scott Pilgrim graphic novels.
I loved the movie and much of it comes straight from the book but there are some major differences.
It is a great series.