Read anything good recently?

[jane_pippin]

Or something wretched. Either way really, but I'd rather find out about good books.

I just picked up The Children's Hospital. It's fantastic. Here's the little summary of it from McSweeney's:

A hospital is preserved, afloat, after the Earth is flooded beneath seven miles of water. Inside, assailed by mysterious forces, doctors and patients are left to remember the world they’ve lost and to imagine one to come. At the center, a young medical student finds herself gifted with strange powers and a frightening destiny. Simultaneously epic and intimate, wildly imaginative and unexpectedly relevant, The Children’s Hospital is a work of stunning scope, mesmerizing detail, and wrenching emotion.

Chris Adrian is the author of a previous novel, Gob’s Grief, and his short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Zoetrope, and The Best American Short Stories. He recently completed a pediatric residency at the University of California San Francisco, and is currently a student at Harvard Divinity School.
http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.detail/object_id/A9BEDCDE-47AF-41CA-B146-4B4BBEA9F44B/TheChildrensHospital.cfm

It's the best thing I've read in years so I hope at least one of you checks it out. It's pretty long--600 pages or so--but it can't be any other way. Plus, it's one of those books you don't want to ever end. (I'm reading it slowly to make it seem like it won't end.) Buy it, borrow it, read it at the library--just read it. :thumbsup:

How about youse guys?

[dolo amber]

1. I just read 2 metric tons of school forms

Permisison slips, emergency contact forms, handbooks...

I hate the first day of school. :cry:

(ps - I can run them by the store if you're interested. :D :hi:)

[jane_pippin]

3. Aw, precious school-time memories!

I'll put 'em on the rec shelf!

"I, _____________ give _______________ permission to skip gym/eat a bag of hot fries for breakfast/yell loudly and often."
That's what they say. I know it is.

:hi:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

2. Reading LORD OF THE FLIES right now.

Golding MUST have been an addict...How does any sane person write this craziness? I mean, I know exactly what the metaphor/symbolism is, but....

Who thinks to make a bunch of preteen asshats running around on an island a metaphor for the dysfunction of society at large?

Good, but crazy. :crazy:

[jane_pippin]

5. You know, I've yet to read that one.

Shame on me. What's worse is I've owned a copy of it for about 15 years.

[lizziegrace]

4. I'm about halfway through Jeb Horne's book about Katrina

It's a tough read because everything is still so raw and the stories are heartbreaking and maddening.

[jane_pippin]

7. Oh, I bet that would be tough.

I still don't think I could do it. Then again, when will it ever be a "good" time to read about that.
The Great Deluge is supposed to be really good too. Maddening and heartbreaking also, but well done.

[SoyCat]

30. The Great Deluge is a really good read; however, it does contain

minor factual errors. Brinkley is a very thorough historian.

edit: Can't get the italics correct!

[haf216]

39. I just finished the The Great Deluge.

I live close to New Orleans, so it was hard to read. It took me about a month to read because I kept having to put down and read something else for a day or two. But it was very good.

[reyd reid reed]

6. I just picked up a new book yesterday

Haven't started it yet, though.

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter"

Tonight, maybe...

I just finished a couple of Carl Haissen (howeveryouspellit) books...hardly intellectually stimulating, but great fun. "Basket Case" and "Skinny Dip"

[jane_pippin]

8. My mom just picked that up

She seemed to like it well-enough. In the next book thread let us know what you thought of it. (If you remember, that is.)

That Carl. I've never read him and I don't know why. There's no reason not to.

[bluethruandthru]

9. Just finishing up North by Frederick Busch.

It's for my book club and I'm really enjoying his writing. Too bad he just passed away.

[jane_pippin]

11. I'm not familar with that name. What sort of things

has he written? What's North about?

[eyesroll]

10. LeClerq's "Guide to Legal Writing Style"

(which really should be subtitled: "If you don't know the difference between it's and its by now, you have no business being in law school")

Exciting stuff.

[jane_pippin]

12. Sounds like a scorcher!

"If you don't know the difference between it's and its by now, you have no business being in _________ school..." should just be a series.

[Redstone]

13. The Electric Universe. I forget the author's name, but find it and

read it. Now.

Redstone

[jane_pippin]

19. Is that fiction or non? What's so hot about it?

Expand on that rec, Redstone. The kids have to know. :D

[Redstone]

32. Nonfiction. Terrific book about electricity, both on the macro and

micro levels.

What he says about the role of sulfur atoms in the process of nerve conduction is something I hope the MS researchers all read.

Redstone

[lizziegrace]

14. Kick! n/t

[Left Is Write]

15. I've been reading a lot of Ann Rule. I'm in the middle of...

"The Stranger Beside Me" right now.

[jane_pippin]

20. What's she like?

I've never read her. And, nice to see you back finally. :hi:

[Left Is Write]

29. I like her writing style.

With the notable exception of Ted Bundy's story, she usually writes about lesser known but compelling cases. She is quite good at building the suspense and not giving away too much of the story at once; she is also very adept at getting inside the lives and feelings of the people involved. It's very easy to know them in that sense.

[haf216]

40. I love her. And that is her best book.

I have read all of Rule's books. I read a lot of true crime books and I feel that she is the best there is.

[datasuspect]

16. i just finished a collection of essays on theater by diderot

it was excruciatingly boring, but i kinda liked it.

[jane_pippin]

21. Oooh, that's fancypants readin'...

So you liked it? I've got a friend who works in theater and I never know what to get him for birthdays and so on. Think that might be worth tracking down as a gift?

[datasuspect]

22. it's kinda dense

i wouldn't know to recommend it, it would depend on the person.

[jane_pippin]

25. I see. Well, he's a pretty hardcore theater nerd...

so if I happen to be in a store and remember to look for it I'll check it out. The problem is he always seems to be a step ahead of me as far as finding interesting things he'd like to read go. (Though I suppose that makes sense). Thanks for the title.

[datasuspect]

27. "selected writings on art and literature"

denis diderot

penguin classics

there's sections about painting too.

[RetroLounge]

17. Oh, yeah, all kinds of good books lying around my place...

Waiting to be read. Damn Schwartz Books gets all my money... :D

Recently read:

The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (Just found an autographed hardcover.

One Breathe at a time: Buddhism and the 12 steps.

The Poet's Companion - Kim Addonizio and Dorrianne Laux

Bird by Bird - Anne lamott

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh - Michael Chabon

Reading now: The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank

RL

[jane_pippin]

23. Those bastards get all of my money too. Oh well...

:D

That Time Traveler's Wife is supposed to be great. And Chabon--I keep meaning to pick up something by him but I haven't gotten around to it yet. You know, you might like something called "The History of Love" by Nicole Kraus(e?) (I think that's her name. She's Johnathan Safran Foer's wife, I think). It's a love story, but apparently it's not overly sappy. A friend read it and can't stop pestering me to read it. (Kind of like I can't stop pestering people to read the Children's Hospital. Read it, dammit! You'll like it!)

[haf216]

42. I keep meaning to read The Time Traveler's Wife.

It's one of those books that is on my list but I never seem to get to.

[Broken_Hero]

18. nope...not lately

I need to ditch tommyknockers, and try reading it later...I did start The Similirrion by JRR Tolkien yesterday, so far its interesting....:)

[jane_pippin]

24. I've only read his LOTR stuff. Is this one a stand alone book

or does it cross over into LOTR land? I liked the LOTR stuff, but I could have done without the hobbit songs, so if this one is without that sort of thing I might check it out. What's it about?

[Broken_Hero]

28. from the foreward by JRR son Chris

its pre "Hobbit/LOTR" events. Its 3-4 short stories dealing with the first, and second ages of middle earth...LOTR was 3rd age, and the hobbit I believe was tale of the second Age.

I have only read the foreward by C. Tolkien, and the intro by JRR Tolkien...

[nosillies]

26. Re-reading Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer

It always gives me nightmares!

[peacefreak]

31. Anna Quinlan's Rise & Shine

13 Moons by Charles Frazier (he wrote Cold Mountain)--due out in October.
And the Birth House by Ami McKay.

[haf216]

41. Is Rise and Shine any good?

It's next on my for my book club. I should receive it in the next couple days. I bought just because I loved Blessing so much.

[peacefreak]

52. I loved it.

(sorry this took so long). About two sisters, one is a struggling social worker, the other a well known, national morning anchor (insert Diane Sawyer/Katie Couric here). Famous sister has an interview from hell. Doesn't know her mike is still open & calls the interview-ee a name he richly deserves. Her husband has just walked out & her well ordered life is about to fall apart. That's the first chapter or so. It is one of my favorite books of the year so far.

[haf216]

55. Thanks . I'm looking forward to reading it.

[BreweryYardRat]

33. Unfortunately, I read something wretched.

Books 1-3 of Steven Erickson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series (Gardens of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, and Memories of Ice) are absolutely excellent. They're long, generally 600 pages or more, but they're outstanding examples of fantasy.

Recently, I picked up Book 4: House of Chains. I settled down to read it last night...and put it down before I'd hit page 150. That book sucks. Sucks beyond belief. Sucks so badly, makes so little logical sense as it sucks, and is so bloody stupid and nasty as it does so, that I'm trying to block out the passages I remember. So no details in this review, I'm afraid.

I don't know what it was that fucked up Erickson's previously considerable talent, but that book is absolute shit. I've sworn off the rest of the series.

[Sacajawea]

34. "Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer".....excellent history.

The story alternates between John Wilkes Booth's attempts to escape from DC after shooting the president and the manhunters' attempts to capture him. The info. all comes from legitimate sources. This is history that's as exciting to read as the best fiction.

Also, "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Subtitled: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. It made me fall in love with Lincoln. And even though I knew how the book was going "to end", I still cried when it happened. What a tragic waste of a brilliant, yet humble and loving man.

[hippywife]

35. I'd like to read that one.

It sounds pretty good but I just searched the website of my public library and can't find it there.

I've recently read two books by Markus Zusak:

I Am The Messenger
The Book Thief

They are considered juvenile/teen reading but they were still interesting.

[hippywife]

36. Some of the best books I've ever read

second only to those of my beloved Michener novels, are by Margaret George. They are really interesting historical fiction of characters such as Mary, Queen of Scots, Cleopatra, Mary Magdelene.

I just searched the library and she now has Helen of Troy out! Yaaaaaa! I put in a request for it and I'm next!! :woohoo:

I also loved The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Excellent read!

[XemaSab]

37. Pelican Blood

It's a book about a British birder who decides that when he hits 500, he's going to kill himself. But first, he wants to take out a few other people. :D

It was BADASS I tell ya.

[grannylib]

38. Working on "The Name of the Rose". Also picked up a couple of my

favorite kids' books: "The Little Brute Family" and "The Silver Whistle".
Wanting to get the latest John Sanford from the library.

[WCGreen]

43. Just finished 100 years of solitude......

wonderful book.....

[Omphaloskepsis]

44. Currently...

Adobe Illustrator CS2 Revealed
Adobe Photoshop CS2 - Classroom in a Book
Foundations of Ajax

</nerd>

[graywarrior]

45. No, but I read Brian Kelly: Route 1 and wanted to kill myself at the end.

[txwhitedove]

46. "The Dogs of Babel" by Carolyn Parkhurst... very unusual, of

love and loss.

[bertha katzenengel]

47. An engrossing political history of Lincoln & his political contemporaries

Team Of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Doris Kearns Goodwin & David McCullough have done more to educate me in the last ten years than all my history teachers combined. From grade school through college.

[Mutley]

48. I'm reading "If I Never Get Back" by Darryl Brock right now.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0452283728?v=glance



The cover doesn't look like this, though.

[Telly Savalas]

49. I read a really great thread in GD.

Some guy was pissed off because some talk-radio host got canned.

:hide:

[NMMNG]

50. Just finished "American Theocracy"

I'm now reading Skipping Towards Gomorrah.

[NMMNG]

51. Just finished "American Theocracy"

I'm now reading Skipping Towards Gomorrah.

[Trailrider1951]

53. I'm currently reading "Dances with Wolves" by Michael Blake

I really loved the movie, and I found the book this past weekend at Half Price Books.

[taterguy]

54. In Time of War by Pierce O’Donnell

It's a non-fiction account of the German commandos who landed on US shores in 1942 and planned to blow stuff up. They were arrested before they did anything.

The book is mostly about their trial and its application to the current war on terror. It's kind of a like a strange fusion of Harper Lee, Robert Ludlum and Sey Hersh.

Very entertaining and educational