What are you reading the week of July 11, 2010?

[DUgosh]

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

[NBachers]

1. "Nine Dragons" by Michael Connelly

[TheMadMonk]

2. Shadow warrior: Chris Bunch.

And just pollished off all my Larry Niven Known Space books.

[applegrove]

3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery,

[Bobbieo]

4. The Devil's Punchbowl by Geg Iles - a long novel about lust.,greed, murder and corruption

in the Deep South. A way of life that will never be the same following the Gulf oil spill

[abluelady]

5. One of My Favorite Books Ever

Hope you enjoy it. Have to admit most of my friends didn't like it! Wonder what that says about me? :shrug:

[applegrove]

10. It was really different. It opened itself up as a story quite slowly. I really liked it too.

[abluelady]

15. It Has Been Made Into a Movie

It was shown at a French Film Festival in my city, but I was unable to attend. I can't seem to find it anywhere, but am hoping it will come out on DVD soon. The name is Le Herisson (The Hedgehog).

[applegrove]

17. Thanks.

[abluelady]

6. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

by Rebecca Skloot

[azmouse]

7. "Outrage" by Vincent Bugliosi

About the OJ Simpson murder trial. It's fascinating.

[fadedrose]

11. How does it come up?

for or against?

I was one of the few people in the US who thought OJ was innocent (still do)....

[azmouse]

12. You wouldn't like what Bugliosi has to say then.

He believes without a doubt that Simpson is guilty... so do I.

And he was very angry at the not guilty verdict... so was I.

The book was written soon after the verdict so it doesn't mention Simpsons current jailed status but I imagine Bugliosi would be very happy about it... as am I.

The evidence against Simpson is overwhelming. Why do you think he was innocent?

[fadedrose]

14. Can't remember all the reasons, but..

The restaurant (mezzalona, or something like that) had a few people who were killed, presumably because of drugs.

OJ's condition seemed just as much as tho he were drugged himself, as well as it seemed he committed the murders.

Don't believe he would have left the bodies for his kids to find.

But the No. l reason, drum roll please, was

the phone calls from the mother-in-law to Nicole, from Nicole to the restaurant - from Nicole to the mother-in-law - time of the call to the restaurant and then to the mother-in-law was TOO brief. Phone calls are rounded off.. that call lasted no more than 2 minutes, and I don't think that was enough time for the waitress to check the table, the floor, and the sidewalk, return to the phone to say she'd found the sunglasses. Just not enough time. Testimony was somewhat different from the original trial to the civil one re the mother-in-law's entrance with sunglasses, but I don't remember now what the difference was.

I always thought the sunglasses were sitting by the register waiting for a call.

[MountainLaurel]

8. Fledgling by Octavia Butler

Will probably also start Susan Jacoby's "Freethinkers"

[hippywife]

9. Avalon by Anya Seaton.

Ordered the book from the library and it is a first edition.

[Onceuponalife]

13. The Patron Saint of Plagues by Barth Anderson

Most of the way through it and it's quite good. Here's a synopsis from Random House:


In this biological thriller of the near future, postinsurrection Mexico has undermined the superpower of the United States. But while the rivals battle over borders, a pestilence beyond politics threatens to explode into a worldwide epidemic. . . .

Since the rise of the Holy Renaissance, Ascension—once known as Mexico City—has become the most populous city in the world, its citizens linked to a central government net through wetware implanted in their brains. But while their dictator grows fat with success, the masses are captivated by Sister Domenica, an insurgent nun whose weekly pirate broadcasts prophesy a wave of death. All too soon, Domenica’s nightmarish prediction proves true, and Ascension’s hospitals are overrun with victims of a deadly fever. As the rampant plague kills too quickly to be contained, Mexico smuggles its last hope over the violently contested border. . . .

Henry David Stark is a crack virus hunter for the American Center for Disease Control and a veteran of global humanitarian efforts. But this disease is unlike any he’s seen before—and there seems to be no way to cure or control it. Racing against time, Stark battles corruption to uncover a horrifying truth: this is no ordinary outbreak but a deliberately unleashed man-made virus . . . and the killer is someone Stark knows.

[Goblinmonger]

16. Rereading The Stranger by Camus

Haven't read it for decades. When I first read it I read the British translation; this time the American translation. I like the American translation much more. Really pulls the journalistic style through more clearly.

[YankeyMCC]

19. I read "The Plague" a copule months back

first time I read Camus.

The Stranger is on my list of to read, but I figured I needed a nice comfortable gap and maybe some more cheerful reading in between :)

That's not entirely fair, I did want a gap because it was so powerful, but I actually felt a very positive message about human life in the story. It's just not an easy road to that lesson, just as all true lessons are, and he - or at least the translation I read - created a very powerful and compelling image and story. I described the skill with words to someone by saying, "This man can depress you by describing a spring day." - and I mean that as a compliment :)

[japple]

18. Dennis Lehane's book, The Given Day. eom

[fadedrose]

20. MURDER WITH PEACOCKS by Donna Andrews eom

[closeupready]

21. George Sand's "The Black City".

I just finished something fun, so I can go for something a little deeper now, just for a change of pace.