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30 July 2009
What's everyone reading lately?→[More:]I just finished Crazy for God, Frank Schaeffer's memoir, which I found really interesting, and Kristin Chenowith's book A Little Bit Wicked, which I found fake, name drippy, and annoying.
I'm reading Not Just a Pretty Face and it's making me extra vigilant about what I'll use around the house and on my skin (and I was already pretty vigilant so it's fair to say I'm in paranoid obsessive territory now).
I also got a tattered copy of Dear Sisters at Powell's and have been reading that. So far it's a really well-written and elegantly stated read.
I just finished Let the Right One In (entertaining and creepy), The Inhabited World (just beautiful) and The Right Stuff (less thrilling than I wanted it to be). I have the Lost City of Z in my bag and Descartes' Bones at home.
Catch-22! Because, shamefully, it's been sitting on my shelf for years, and I've never read it. Now that I've started, I can't imagine why I put it off so long.
I'm reading 'Losing You' by Nicci French (which is actually a husband and wife writing team). Like the other Nicci French novels, it has a female protagonist, and is a great read, really gripping.
Totally bogged down and considering abandoning The Last Wrestlers: the wrestling stuff is interesting, but not his self-pity and quack therapies.
Interesting recent stuff. Shambling Towards Hiroshima, tragi-comedy about an actor playing a monster in WW2. The Damned Utd was damned good: psychological breakdown/football novel.
I've been reading The Lady and the Monk, continuing with my recent interest in Japan. In mangaland, I've just finished Elfen Lied. Not really recommended for the weak of heart or if you demand a sensible plot line, or well, for other unnamed reasons too.
The Cold 6000 by James Ellroy. A great book if you like conspiracy theories, and a well written novel to boot. I'd recommend reading American Tabloid first, or it can be a bit confusing.
Just finished Allan Guthrie's Savage Night, reading How the Beatles Destroyed Rock & Roll and Roseanna (Sjowall/Wahloo), soon to start Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.
Ken Follet, Pillars of The Earth. Surprisingly involving. Never thought I'd like a book by Ken Follett. Who knew that he wrote historical fiction (an oxymoron, but convenient)?
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Allen Bradley, was a cute little detective story. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson, is pretty good, but I found it distasteful in several spots. The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez is a nice take on the hardbitten detective and the wacky sci fi future genres.
Currently I'm rereading Shadows Linger, by Glen Cook, a gritty fantasy war series (debatably -the- gritty fantasy war series).
Very slowly reading Valley of Decision, a family saga novel from the thirties about a Pittsburgh steel family. Not really what I'd normally read but it's set right in my neighborhood so it's cool to read the characters walk through streets that I know (although a lot of them have been erased by urban re-development). The author did a lot of research and got most of it right, even a lot of pretty nerdy details about steel mills. It was made into a very melodramatic movie in the forties with Gregory Peck and Greer Garson.
Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence which is very interesting from an "OMG, they really thought this was so controversial?" point of view. I'm also trying to figure out what the theme and the point of it is... so far, I'm totally lost. It must be because I'm not British, or of the upper class.
I just finished Six Moon Dance by Sheri S. Tepper (someone recommended her at Mefi, I've read several of her books now and also recommend her) and I'm reading various books about local history (Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, etc.).
I'm also considering re-reading the HP books and the Little House series. I re-read the LH series every couple years.
Oh yes, I'm also jumping through Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy; there were some parts that interested me more than others, so I read those first, and now I'm getting back to others. Lots of helpful tips for managing moods!
Well, Feeling Good is not really meant to be read front to back like a novel. You can totally pick and choose which sections are relevant to your current needs.
Alabaster by Caitlin R Kiernan. Although the protagonist is a 16 year old gutter tramp who fights demons with a rusty, dull kitchen knife and is guided by an angel of questionable benevolence, her actions have consequences.that stretch far beyond our collective space-times.
House of Leaves. I started it on the train to DC for the failedmeetup and I read it in little chunks before my dance classes now. It's a nice 'me time' book.
Recently finished: Poltergeist by Kat Richardson, and Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez, which is a bit better, and subtler, than the cheesy cover might suggest.
I just finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Pretty entertaining, and a couple of very well-drawn characters. I'm still casting around for my next novel to read.
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