Summer reading!

[FindingNamo]

During our winter vacation on a balmy beach in Puerto Rico, I read the book Ham: Slices of Life, the collection of essays and short stories by Sam Harris. I meant to write about it then, but forgot. Then today I saw the Kindle edition is on sale for $2.99, which is a steal. I had seen Sam Harris in Grease and remember thinking what an appealing performer he was. Still, he's never been much on my radar and I didn't know what to expect when I started the book.

I laughed out loud a lot. And teared up a few times. For some reason his essay about buying a new washing machine has stuck with me the most. I giggle every time I shove stuff into our efficient front loading washer.

The only downside to a Kindle version is you don't get the tactile pleasure of rubbing the fuzzy pig butt on the book cover art.

Anyway, I thought this might be a fun way to start off a summer reading thread.


Ham, the one-day sale

[Eris0303]

I've been following Sam since he stole the show on the short-lived show The Class (now available on DVD). I find him to be very funny and he gets to the heart of a matter in a way not everybody can.

[ShbrtAlley44]

I'm going to download that - thanks, Namo! I've been reading a lot of Liane Moriarty's work. I haven't liked her other books as much as The Husband's Secret, but she writes great characters.

[NYadgal]

I echo the praise for Ham: Slices of Life! Loved every page.

[FindingNamo]

I'm sure he's not the easiest guy to live with, but man does that give him some hilarious stories.

I will totally not spoiler anything, but the tale of Liza's wedding is priceless.

[Liza's Headband]

Happy Summer Break to all of the professors out there.

[FindingNamo]

Is your mission not yet accomplished or is it an ongoing thing?

[Eris0303]

[Gothampc]

I'm glad that you've progressed beyond "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret."

[FindingNamo]

I get the feeling from his book he's a lot like that in real life.

[FindingNamo]

In this thread I asked the accessory, "Is your mission not yet accomplished or is it an ongoing thing?"

Just like always, there was no response.

In another thread on the main board, the accessory had the gonads to critique somebody else's behavior:

"{He] conveniently disappears when proven wrong or when someone actually speaks up against his incredibly polarizing ways."

[Liza's Headband]

I don't respond to moronic questions, Fn.

[FindingNamo]

Oh, accessory, you project more than the AMC Empire 25.

[HenryTDobson]

Thank you for the book suggestion! I just started gathering my books for the summer, and this seems like the perfect addition. What other books are people recommending?

[FindingNamo]

I've been slowly getting through Middlemarch because of an offhand comment Gaveston made ages ago. It's remarkably adaptable. Serious reading, bedtime reading, beach reading, coffeehouse reading.

[PalJoey]

I think Sam Harris would be delighted to know his book is recommended in the same discussion as George Eliot.

Really delighted.

[FindingNamo]

I also started Elizabeth Warren's "A Fighting Chance." I love all the great lady writers; George, Sam, Liz...

[Platypus]

I'm reading Orange is the New Black right now. For anyone who didn't know, the show is actually loosely based on a memoir by a woman named Piper Kerman. I'm really enjoying it. It amazes me how many events and characters from the show that seemed totally random and made up were actually true. It also has some commentary on the messed up prison system and their failure to rehabilitate and the overall shortcomings of the "war on drugs." So a bit more serious than the show, but all in all, worth reading.

[EricMontreal22]

Interestingly, I just finished Mead's My Life in Middlemarch which not only made me want to re-read the novel, but is a gorgeously written book for anyone who love books (as blurby a comment as that sounds...)

[NYadgal]

Thanks for that recommendation!

I am currently reading (literally - as I can't sleep tonight - so am reading and decided to come here to share) "I Always Loved You" by Robin Oliveira.

It's a novel of the great romance between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. Set in Belle Epoque Paris, the book is just gorgeous.

[PalJoey]

I have several friends who love Robin Oliveira's writing. Have you read her first novel, My Name Is Mary Sutter?

[Mister Matt]

I need to read that Harris collection. I met him during the tour of Joseph and he is one of the sweetest and kindest performers I've ever met (not to mention crazy talented).

Since I'm in classes, I'm just breezing through some light reading. Finished the Divergent series and now onto the Matched series. I'm embracing my inner tween girl.

[AC126748]

If anyone is looking to discover a new(ish) voice, I just finished--and highly recommend--Roxane Gay's debut novel An Untamed State. Gay's name might be familiar to some; she edits PANK and regularly writes for Salon. It's a smashing first novel, and Gay is an unique stylist. The plot's deceptively simple: a young, wealthy Haitian-American woman is kidnapped on vacation in Port-au-Prince, and the novel recounts (in alternating first and third person perspectives) the aftermath. And it really is, to quote one of the book jacket blurbers, "the kind of book you have to keep putting down because you can't believe how good it is." I read it in a sitting on the beach last weekend. See the link for more.
Roxane Gay, An Untamed State

[FindingNamo]

That sounds great.

[NYadgal]

PalJoey - no, I haven't. This is the first book I've read of hers (at the recommendation of the owner of Diane's Books in Greenwich). I now consider myself a fan of her writing, and look forward to reading more! I'll be sure to read that one next.

[sabrelady]

Knocking on Heavens Door: The path to a better death. Katy Butler. Yes I KNOW! but that's my life..

My Mother Was Nuts -Penny Marshall's memoir - dang that gal did a sh!ton of drugs.

Drama An Actor's Education John Lithgow

The Prince- Machiavelli cos i read it every 2 yrs just to remind myself

Seven for a Secret- Lyndsay Faye, a sequel to the The Gods of Gotham a mystery series set w/in the founding of the NYPD.

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman about a boy raise by ghosts in a graveyard. No really, it's much better than it sounds- it's a re read but I'm always reading something Gaiman.

About to start Frog Music by Emma Donoghue . Set in San Fran in 1876 a young woman called Jenny Bonnet is shot dead through the window of a railroad saloon. Her friend is a French burlesque dancer who set out to discover the killer.