Currently Reading (Take 2) — Page 29

I loved that book. It was completely absorbing. And a fascinating look into aspects of a culture I knew very little about.

I also read 'Peony in Love' by Lisa See. She's a gifted writer.

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I am reading book three of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series! A very good series with lots of history, romance, suspense, and great characters. If you like "saga-like" historical fiction, I would definitely recommend checking out her books!

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Biggest Brother, by Larry Alexander

Yes, this was prompted by a Band of Brothers rewatch. DON'T JUDGE ME.

I found a used, in good condition, hard copy of Pauline Kael's FOR KEEPS. Since it is reviews and some essays, I have been going all over the place looking at her old stuff. I know some of her negative critiques got attention but her rave of The Godfather Part II is sublimely written among other stuff.

Gone Girl is our book club book for December (we are skipping November because of T-giving)

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There's so little non-fiction, especially history, mentioned. It's reflected in bookstore and library stacks, too, - very disheartening.

Anyway, my current read, State of Deception, was published by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2009 as a companion piece to the exhibit they were running at the time. It's been surprising in that never before have I seen the Nazis revealed as so calculatingly politically aware and utterly in control of what they were doing during their rise to power and the pre-war years.

It's also apropos of the recent US election cycles where blatant propaganda and media-driven sound bites have dominated to the exclusion of honest discussion and presentation.


State of Deception

Updated On: 10/23/12 at 10:58 PM

Just before Canada, I read a book full of excerpts from memoirs - ranging from Albert Einstein to Billie Holiday to Stephen Fry...'twas fascinating!

Um, I can't seem to remember the name of it though.

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The new Tom Wolfe novel just came out. Going to B&N today to get a copy!

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I just finished Broadway Nights by Seth Rudetsky. Haven't decided what I'm going to read next.

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I just started JK Rowling's new book for adults, The Casual Vacancy. 19 pages in and I already feel like I need to get a huge wall of post-its with character names and connections, like what I felt I needed to do with the HP series to remember everything.

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I just finished The Fun House and am now reading Are You My Mother?.

I'd love to read a Mileziner bio--had no idea there was one, though I loved the glimpses they had into his life in that beautiful coffee table book of his designs. I'll have to look for it.

To fill up some credits I had to take for school I've been doing a class that compares books to their film adaptations, and is focused on American ideas of masculinity. In the past two weeks I had to finish Deliverance and Revolutionary Road--I loved Rev Road, though it was pretty depressing (a lot of people I talk to in class found it tough going just because it is pretty long, and despite some satire, prtty heavy), and I liked Deliverance--certainly more than the film--but I get why Dickey is considered himself more as a poet than a novelist. Still, I'm glad I read both, and probably wouldn't have without the class.

When I have time right now to read something I want to read I'm still thumbing through Pulp Friction, a collection of excerpts of gay pulp novels. It's really fascinating--often campy, but a number of the excerpts are actually really good and make me want to try to track down the full book--and there's great historical context about each choice.