What are you reading?

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 12/9/08 at 11:54pm

Hey guys,

Thought it would be interesting to start a thread sharing thoughts on books we've recently read or are currently reading.

I recently finished a novella entitled DISQUIET by Julia Leigh. It's quite gothic--almost horror but not quite, and it's one of the best works I've read in ages. It concerns a woman, fresh out of an abusive marriage, and her children finding solace in the manor of her mother. It's creepy and there is a sense of dread and unease everywhere, from the grandmother's habit of leaving chicken legs all over her bedroom floor for her cats and not picking them up to the way the woman continually answers questions about her husband with a simple "He murdered me." It's a short read, probably two to three hours, but it stays with you long after you finish. I still get goosebumps thinking about certain passages.

http://www.amazon.com/Disquiet-Penguin-Original-Julia-Leigh/dp/014311350X/ref=ed_oe_p

I'm currently a few chapters into THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, which is engaging if ordinary so far. I want to finish it before the film comes to the dollar theater this Friday, so I'm going to read for two or three hours tonight. For those who don't know, it's about (so far anyway) a fourteen year old girl and her black nanny escaping a group of racists and an abusive father in South Carolina during the Civil Rights era. The girl is on the hunt for the truth behind her mother's background. It's pleasantly written and I can see why it is so popular with book clubs, but none of the characters are clicking with me yet. Perhaps when the "Sisterhood of the Bees" shows up the book will perk up as well.

Next up I'm diving into Austen's PERSUASION which is her only novel heretofore uncracked by me.

What about you guys? Any recommendations?
Updated On: 12/9/08 at 11:54 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 12:04am

I just want to hear more about what you're reading and every little thing you're up to!

[lesmis]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 6:33am

I'm reading My Most Excellent Year, A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger. With a title like that how can it be anything but excellent.

[danmag]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 6:37am

I just finished The Good Earth by Pearl Buck - great book!

[StockardFan]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 7:22am

I'm reading Origin in Death by J.D. Robb.

But I read like 5 books a week so that will probably change by tomorrow.

[danmag]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 7:24am

I do too, Stockard! I think you and I might really be the same person!

[StockardFan]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 7:30am

LOL!

Split personality?

[tazber]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 8:22am

What happened to the other reading thread?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 5:07pm

That's the other reading thread.

This thread is about what Robert Taylor's reading.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 5:56pm

he needed to start a new thread? sheesh!

[clever name]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 7:55pm

How do you guys read 5 books a week? Do you read fast? Are you reading 5 at the same time? I must be the slowest reader on the planet!!

[KathyGriffinLovesYou]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 8:00pm

Im rereading Wicked for the gazillionth time... I want to reread the series before I start readin 'Lions Among Men'.

[nexttoelectric]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 9:40pm

I'm reading I Hope They Server Beer in Hell, next i'll be reading dennis leary's book Why We Suck.

[colorandlight2]

Posted: 12/10/08 at 10:23pm

Sondheim by Merle Seacrest

(again)

[StockardFan]

Posted: 12/11/08 at 8:12am

clever, I guess maybe I do read fast? I usually read in the afternoon for a little while, and then at night for a few hours. I went to the library on Saturday, and have finished 4 out of the 5 books I checked out. I just started the 5th. I'm having trouble getting into it though. It's all narrative. No dialogue so far. Weird.

The Fourth Hand by John Irving, BTW.

[danmag]

Posted: 12/11/08 at 8:22am

oh I love John Irving. That book was a little tougher for me than most of his others though. A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my all time favorite books.
btw I get alot of reading in when my kids are at school. I always just fall asleep when I try to read at night.

Updated On: 12/11/08 at 08:22 AM

[StockardFan]

Posted: 12/11/08 at 10:40am

I almost checked that one out instead! I'll get it next time.

I really liked A Widow For One Year and Cider House Rules too.

[saveusmike]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 3:24pm

I just finished Wishful Drinking (Carrie Fishers auto)
It took me two days (about 2 and a half hours of actual reading)
but it was a very good read. A big suprise to alot of you is I didnt buy this book because im a huge star wars fan. Infact im really not a fan of it at all.. I was just interested in Carrie Fishers life through the ups and downs and Triumph and Tragedy.

Very good read and you dont have to be a star wars fan to appreciate it.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/14/09 at 3:38pm

Well I posted this in the other thread on books we are reading but I will post here also.

Just read "Wishful Drinking" also. It also only took me two sittings. A must read for anyone interested in the book and the cover is worth the price alone!

Earlier this summer I read "The Silver Shoes" by Paul Miles Scheneider. Excellent twist on the OZ stories. I hear it may be a series and I am ready for the next book if it is!

The last book I read was " Tweaked - A Crystal Meth Memoir" by Patrick Moore. A friend had read it and wanted to know what I thought. I was not really impressed. (It took me almost 3 weeks to read it and it is only 215 pages long) While reading it I thought Mr. Moore had read Augusten Burroughs' books and was trying to copy his style a bit. And if he wasn't, the book just didn't thrill me and really didn't go anywhere. By the end you really weren't sure if things had been resolved or on their way to being resolved.

I now want to read the "Sookie Stackhouse Chronicles" but am not buying new books now so may go back and re-read The Half Blood Prince and the final Harry Potter book. Have been wanting to re-read "Wicked" also. "Giovanni's Room" by James Baldwin has been sitting here so I may pick that up since it is kind of "required" reading. I have never read it.

Updated On: 9/15/09 at 03:38 PM

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 1:18pm

"Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You" by Peter Cameron.

A friend gave it to me to pass onto my daughter but asked me to read it first due to some "mature" material. It's quite good so far and I think she'll be able to handle it.

[mominator]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 8:26pm

Just finished Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking, and just started Julie and Julia

[EugLoven]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 8:46pm

Currently reading:

THE VELVET RAGE:
OVER-COMING THE PAIN OF GROWING-UP GAY IN A STRAIGHT MANS WORLD

Excellent read and highly recommended that ANY queer read it. Not only am I learning a bit about myself (and I was lucky to come-of-age and come-out in a very progressive family and city) and more-over, I am learning about my loved-ones and fellow gays I surround myself with. Blessing in disguise has been being stopped on the train, walking or at parks by various NYCers who have ALSO read the book (and getting in a great conversation about it)


Next to read:

NEW MOON
(gotta finish before the movie)

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 8:55pm

Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 8:58pm

Ghosts Of 42 nd St

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 9/15/09 at 9:24pm

I just finished "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Steig Larsson. I highly recommend it if you're into Swedish murder mysteries that involve rich industrial families with many secrets, modern day investigative journalism and mentally disturbed hacker chicks. The sequel "The Girl Who Played With Fire" was recently released and I plan on reading it soon.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through David Foster Wallace's "The Broom of the System" and it's somewhat hard to define. It's essentially about this girl Lenore whose father is the owner of a highly successful baby food manufacturing company. Her grandmother, also named Lenore, goes missing and her father enlists her to figure out where she is. Lenore's boyfriend, 20 years her senior is Rick Vigorous and is also her boss at a fake publishing house and her brother has a fake leg that he uses to stash drugs.... It's something you can read to your seven year old at bed time. Oh and her bird Vlad the Impaler starts to develop a naughty mouth and is subsequently borrowed by a rabid televangelist who puts the bird on its own TV special.