What are you reading?

[Caligulette]

Eff! Flannery O'Connor is one of my all-time faves. Can you find out who last had these two books and track her down? Also - I was very pleased that the vote from the readers of the National Book Critics Circle voted the Collected Stories of F O'C as the best book evar. It's true and for once the truth actually did will out!

[Crumb]

Currently reading Gondar by Nicholas Luard. An interesting historical novel of Africa in the mid-19th century.

[freemonkey]

Originally Posted by wildernesse

... Flannery O'Connor ...

Hey, thanks! I just Googled her and came across Wise Blood, which reminded me of a movie by the same name which I heard highly recommended by a Seattle Public Library librarian on NPR last weekend. I'd forgotten to put it in my Netflix queue, but I think I might like to read the story first.

Right now I'm reading Snow Flower & The Secret Fan, by Lisa See. Some queasy sadness at the footbinding descriptions.

[wildernesse]

Originally Posted by Caligulette

Eff! Flannery O'Connor is one of my all-time faves. Can you find out who last had these two books and track her down? Also - I was very pleased that the vote from the readers of the National Book Critics Circle voted the Collected Stories of F O'C as the best book evar. It's true and for once the truth actually did will out!

If I ever track this person down, I will pelt her with erasers.

[Caligulette]

Pointy or gum? Tough choice, because the pointy ones can hurt but the gum ones can get stuck in her hair....

[wildernesse]

Flannery was good, and I suspect if you are more familiar with her work than I am, you would enjoy it even more. (I haven't read any of her work in a long time.) It would be easier to keep up with the many family members if there were a family tree chart. I'm going to talk to my aunt this Christmas about any memories she has of going to GSWC when Flannery O'Connor was still living/just passed away.

Now it is on to Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

ETA: And it would be POINTY erasers.

[The Man]

In addition to the stuff I mentioned above, which I'm still working on, I've also picked up The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones, because Glenn Beck hates him. Glenn Beck's hatred has proven to be a reliable barometer as to whether someone is worth paying attention to, at least in this case. Sometimes his writing is a little too glib for my taste but the substance of the book is very insightful.

[Deadlokd]

Originally Posted by Caligulette

Powell's Books - Perfumes: The A-Z Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez

I am feeling the lust for scent again. I am happy with my usual fragrance (Alien) even though they gave it mneh marks (they've never smelled it on *me*!), but am also opening some older bottles (Joy) and re-trying. Plus it's hilarious. ("Pleasant, clean, slightly melancholy little thing, in the ugliest bottle since East Germany went under.")

You must read The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr. It's about Luca Turin and his quest to prove that we smell by molecular vibration as opposed to shape. Now his ideas have been all but decredited but the story is still excellent.

[Caligulette]

I did read that one a while ago - and liked it so much I bought a copy for my Macy's Perfume Lady. It was good.

[freemonkey]

Originally Posted by wildernesse

ETA: Oh LORD, the same person who scribbled annoying comments and checkmarks into White Heat, which I read a few months ago, appears to have added her insight (ha) to Flannery. I don't know if I can bear it. If you want to write in the book, lady, you should buy it.

I just started reading Flannery O'Conner's Wise Blood from the library, and guess what? Someone wrote in it and underlined stuff.

[wildernesse]

Originally Posted by freemonkey

I just started reading Flannery O'Conner's Wise Blood from the library, and guess what? Someone wrote in it and underlined stuff.

What is wrong with people?!?

If you liked Agatha Christie novels, you would probably like The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I can now return my books to the library tomorrow morning w/out the fear of fines.

My airplane book for tomorrow is: A High Wind in Jamaica, which I heard about on You Must Read This on NPR.

This will be my 9th book this month. I'm not sure if my insomnia fed my book consumption or if it was the other way around, but at least this pace makes me think my New Year's resolution of 100 books is not a complete stretch.

[Gonzo]

The only book I have with things written in it is Clockwork Orange, wherein the first chapter contains translations of slang... it also came with a plane ticket and several airline receipts and a college assignment folded in one half. I like to keep the things that come with used books inside of them. It becomes part of it's personality.


I would very much like to read the "insights" the woman placed in Flannery... did she do it while inside of a new Book Store? O.o Seems strange to me.


One chapter left in the Stranger Oh no his head!

I shall report back to this thread soon.

[Watser?]

Originally Posted by Watser?

Now reading Dreaming Metal by Melissa Scott. So far it is pretty good.

Just finished this. There are some pretty weird things in this book that remain unexplained, like the fact that literally all the characters that we get to know well enough are gay (there may be people on the planet who are not, but if there are they are not a part of the story) and that there seem to be so many deaf people that sign language is one of the major languages.

Although, I did check just now and it seems to be a sequel of another book.

Anyway, it is definitely a great book, would make a great movie too, especially with a scene in the ending that is almost a movie scene as it is written.

[freemonkey]

Originally Posted by Gonzo

I would very much like to read the "insights" the woman placed in Flannery... did she do it while inside of a new Book Store? O.o Seems strange to me.

In the case of the book I read, Wise Blood, the underlining was predominantly physical descriptions of people. The few notes were questions about why the main character was the way he was. It was a library book, not a new book.

BTW, I did not really care for that book, or the couple Flannery O'Connor stories I read. Maybe I just chose the wrong stories, but I hated every single character in them. I'm still gonna watch thetyer movie version of Wise Blood when it gets here, though.

Right now I'm reading Amy Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning.

[Qingdai]

Flannery O'Connor doesn't write characters one likes, she writes about characters one doesn't easily understand, with motivations steeped in the culture and beliefs of their time. She isn't particularly accessible in that way.
Sort of reminds me of "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" by David Foster Wallace. No one you'd like to meet, but interesting.

[One for Sorrow]

Originally Posted by freemonkey

Right now I'm reading Amy Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning.

I read that recently and enjoyed it.

I just started reading Walter Moers' Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures. I loved The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. It was a fun read, much like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so I've really been looking forward to this one.

[Ensign Steve]

I read Twilight and I am about to read New Moon. I've been meaning to pick up the series for a long time and I finally got around to it. I liked the first one more than I expected to.

[Ymir's blood]

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

I read Twilight and I am about to read New Moon. I've been meaning to pick up the series for a long time and I finally got around to it. I liked the first one more than I expected to.

show spoiler

So did I

[Watser?]

Now reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann. Very interesting book about the Americas before Columbus (although where I am in the book currently he is describing life in what is now Massachusetts/Rhode Island based on stories about the time just after Columbus).

Also reading Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling. Cyberpunk. A very different form of interesting.

[Waluigi]

It took me a month, but I finally got through Alexander Hamilton. It was an excellent book. It felt a little biased against John Adams, so I put McCullough's biography of Adams on my to-read list, just for some balance.

I got some Kindle gift cards for Christmas, so I spent those yesterday and put some new reading in my queue:

• Summer Knight (4th book in the Dresden series) <-- reading now
• Value of Nothing by Raj Patel
• DEC Is Dead, Long Live DEC by Schein, Kampas, Sonduck, and Delisi
• Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman

The Dresden books started to get a little old, but I figured I'd give them one more chance before I abandon the series. In a long-running series like that, not every installment is going to be a gem.

[Sock Puppet]

Just finished Jesus, Interrupted by Bart Ehrman. Good overview of the subject, although I found his overly conversational tone distracting at times. I realize it's a book for laymen, which I most certainly am, and I don't need it to be stodgy and stuffy, but he goes overboard and comes off as condescending in places. The tone reminded me of a professor doing an Introduction class for freshman undergrads looking to fill a breadth requirement.

Still, there's a lot of good information on the subject, some of which I hadn't heard before. And of the material I already knew, he connects the dots in ways I hadn't considered. He goes out of his way to be as respectful as possible, which I didn't need, but must admit it makes his points far more difficult for biblical literalists to refute. Impossible, I would say. I would have appreciated a bit more depth and detail, however.

[Lauri D]

A few chapters into "The $64 Tomato" by William Alexander (one of the fantastic SS presents from One For Sorrow!) about a guy's adventures in extreme home gardening. Love it so far; I'm sure I'll finish it today so will report back. So far, very entertaining.

[Gonzo]

JUNKY by William S. Burroughs

[Watser?]

I was just reading about the Inka and some of that stuff is quite stunning. Apparently they managed to eradicate hunger completely and they had no markets. The whole economy was planned. Commies!