What are you reading the week of March 7, 2010?

[DUgosh]

Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen

[saltpoint]

1. Carl Hiaasen is terrific.

I thought I'd dive back into THE LAST OF THE WINE by Mary Renault.

My name is saltpoint and I am addicted to Mary Renault's historical fiction.

[Richard Steele]

2. I just finished "Reflecting the Sky" by S.J. Rozan...not the best mystery novel, I tellyawhut.

I enjoyed the premise, I enjoyed the writing, I enjoyed the characters,
but the whole "wrap up" at the end was no "wrap up" at all.
I recommend skipping the last 3 chapters and making up your own ending
to that one- there's a 99% chance you'll do better than the author did.

I'm now 30 minutes into a vintage SF novel, Harry Harrison's
"West of Eden". The thing was published sometime in the 70's,
and I'm just now getting around to reading it.

So good so far.

[Onceuponalife]

6. Loved Harrison's "Eden" trilogy

read it about 20 years ago.

[Richard Steele]

14. If I had known it was this good, I would have read it 20 years ago as well!

It's a brilliant & fascinating premise~!

The IDIOT who chose the "descriptive paragraph"
on the back page should die a painful death,
and spend an eternity in HELL listening to Ben Stein
reading bus schedules!

[mvccd1000]

3. The Wizard and the Glass.

I'm finally getting around to book 4 in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

I like Hiaasen a lot, too, though.

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. I have just started "Litany of The Long Sun" by Gene Wolfe...

...who does for SF what Jeff Beck does for guitars- IOW, is the person all the other practioners of their respective arts
justfiably praise to the skies...

[pscot]

20. Wolfe is a gifted writer

but I could never quite figure out what he was getting at.

[mrmpa]

5. Monongahela Dusk-John P. Hoerr

I first read "Harry, Tom, and Father Rice: Accusation and Betrayal in America's Cold War" by John P. Hoerr. Great non-fiction. Harry was Congressman Harry Davenport (1950-52) Tom was Thomas Quinn a union activist with the UE and Father Rice was a labor priest. They were all from Pittsburgh. Harry Davenport was the author's Uncle.

"Monongahela Dusk" takes place in Pittsburgh the "Mon Valley area" In the 1930's a man picks up a hitchhiker, who talks about needing to kill a union leader. The driver gets involved. I'm only on chapter 3, but I sense I will finish it tomorrow or Sunday.

[pnorman]

9. Father Rice of the ACTU (Associationof of Catholic Trade Unionists)

played a major part in opposing the "leftist" leadership of the UE (Electrical Workers Union). He worked closely with union-hating McCarthyite people in doing so. UE wasn't destroyed, but fissured. A faction led by James Care, formed the IUE (?, and received a charter from the recently "purified" CIO. (UE had recently left the CIO). The results were all too predictable --a disaster for wages & conditions, for all in the industry, as well as a major setback for the entire American labor movement. It's just now barely beginning to recover.

Not too many years later Father (then Msgr.) Rice expressed deep regrets over the results of his actions, and also spoke words of praise for the UE leaders he had so fiercely opposed. He spoke warmly of their firm commitment to unionism. Carey was a disaster for the union, and it ultimately merged with the CWA. UE and ILWU are the only 2 of the 11 PURGED from the CIO in 1949 that remained. The others were gobbled up by other unions. ILWUY returned to the merged AFL-CIO some years back, with held high, while UE remains independent.

Msgr. Rice then went on to become an outspoken critic of the Viet Nam invasion.

PS: Thanks for bringing that book to my attention!

[Onceuponalife]

7. Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton

The second part of Hamilton's marvelous Commonwealth Saga.

[Ozymanithrax]

8. Colors of a Different Horse - Wendy Bishop and Hans Ostrom

and It by Stephen King

[YankeyMCC]

10. "The Graveyard Game" by Kage Baker

also "Answer your love letters" by Adam Genkaku Fisher

[abluelady]

11. Thomas Mullen's

"The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers." It is wonderful and if you haven't read his "The Last Town on Earth," I would highly recommend it.

[azmouse]

12. "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova

[hippywife]

13. Mountain Time by Ivan Doig.

Got two more books to pick up at the library tomorrow. :hi:

[shimmergal]

15. The Mercy Seller, a

marvelous historical novel by Brenda Rickman Vantrease.

Just finished it. Now about to start Connie Willis's BLACKOUT.

[fadedrose]

16. SHADOWS by Edna Buchanan

Very good . . .

[fadedrose]

17. THE CAT DANCERS by P. E. Deutermann

Good

[fadedrose]

18. SPIDER MOUNTAIN by P. E. Deutermann

Half-way through, good..

[fadedrose]

24. Good, recommend..nt

[HuckleB]

19. A Thousand Moons on a Thousand Rivers by Hsiao Li-Hung

It's not the type of story I normally can get engaged with, but the author and translator have made this one a true classic, IMO.

[pscot]

21. The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

I'm waiting for book 2 of the Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb. Book 1, Fool's Errand was terrific. I hope the series holds up.

[Cash U Nutt]

22. "Young Men and Fire" by Norman MacLean

a stunning book.

[japple]

23. Starting tonight: Ben Okri's The Famished Road n/t

[NEOhiodemocrat]

25. starting Horns by Joe Hill