Currently Reading (Take 2)

[Jay Lerner-Z]

^ What better way to spend a Saturday night? :)

I'm currently reading The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Being prone to pretension, I sometimes find myself slogging through literary fiction I have no business reading, but this is both very readable and quite moving, so yay.

[N2N Nate.]

At the moment I am reading ORDINARY PEOPLE. We had to read it for HS and I ended up loving it. This is my 4th time reading this great book.

[sally1112]

[StockardFan]

I'm reading a book called So Much for That. It's by Lionel Shriver (We need to talk about Kevin). I'm having a hard time getting through it.

[spiderdj82]

Stephen King's new book Doctor Sleep

[Roscoe]

Thomas Pynchon's BLEEDING EDGE, a fascinating and funny look at life in NYC in the months before, during and after 9/11.

[NYadgal]

I recently finished the first two books of the Ken Follett "Century" trilogy.
I eagerly await being able to read the third book when it is released.

I couldn't put them down.

[AC126748]

I don't have much free reading time when I'm teaching, as most of it is taken up with re-reading the texts I've assigned or reading student writing. But I did burn through BLEEDING EDGE pretty quickly when it came out and found it to be Pynchon's best work since MASON AND DIXON, if still not entirely satisfying. I'm teaching both GRAVITY'S RAINBOW and THE CRYING OF LOT 49 this semester, so I'm kind of all-Pynchon all the time, and I felt the need to put other things on hold to give it a read.

I did by THE LOWLAND and I'm going to read it this weekend on a flight.

[Roscoe]

AC -- I'm a big fan of MASON & DIXON myself, I'm feeling like it is time for another go-round. I liked good old INHERENT VICE a good deal, much more than that AGAINST THE DAY thing which is the one Pynchon that I've just got no interest in re-reading.

[AC126748]

I barely finished AGAINST THE DAY once, so I doubt I'll ever tackle it again, and while I enjoyed INHERENT VICE, it doesn't warrant a re-read in my book. BLEEDING EDGE has been on my mind since I finished it, so I'm definitely going to re-read it when I have a little more time to really devote to it.

I love MASON & DIXON and haven't read it in close to a decade. I should definitely make some time to revisit it soon.

[Roscoe]

I've read INHERENT VICE three times already. Great fun, for my money Pynchon's most entertaining and accessible work since CRYING OF LOT 49.

I'm dreading the upcoming film.

[Roscoe]

I will note that Chapter 37 of BLEEDING EDGE contains the most gloriously awful pun I've come across in a while -- involving the gang from Scooby Doo and assorted Colombian drug cartels.

[Reginald Tresilian]

I actually worked on "Mason & Dixon" years ago. I think I still have an advance reader's copy somewhere.

I just finished Rachel Joyce's "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry." I liked the writing, but I found the rather slender story to be too drawn out, and the big surprise to be not so much of one. But I did enjoy it.

I started "Doctor Sleep" a few days ago; so far it's a perfect October read. (Now if only the weather would cool down again . . . )

[SonofRobbieJ]

I'm almost through CHRISTIAN NATION by Fred Rich. It's a historical fiction work that posits the question what would have happened had McCain won the election...and then died shortly thereafter. The dialogue is a little...unrealistic. But the unfolding political events are expertly captured. It's terrifying and fascinating. I highly recommend, even though there are flaws.

[doodlenyc]

^^
Too much horror for me!

I'm reading 11/22/63, which I'm enjoying, but am looking forward to Doctor Sleep and may break two rules of mine. Don't read the same author in a row and dont pay full price. I heard it is on sale somewhere, so may pick it up when I'm finished. I'm also jonesing for the new Amy Tan book.

Good to see Spidey on here!

The Alienist is one of my favorite reads of all time! Enjoy Sally!

[SonofRobbieJ]

^^ 11/22/63 is truly an all-time favorite. I'm not much of a Steven King fan (horror isn't my thing), but the book isn't really all that horror-y, and it moved me to no end.

Next on my list is Seven For a Secret by Lyndsay Faye. I met her at a party once and was smitten with her. I decided to pick up her books The Gods of Gotham and Dust and Shadow because I liked her so much. I really, really enjoyed them...so I'm looking forward to Seven.

[javero]

FRACTALS EVERYWHERE by Michael R. Barnsley

It's completely reshaping my view of the universe.

[StockardFan]

I'm almost done with Lionel's Shriver's So Much for That. This book is almost as depressing as We Need to Talk About Kevin. Maybe even more so. Me thinks Lionel Shriver needs some anti-depressants.

[Mister Matt]

11/22/63 is King at his story-telling best. And because it's not really horror, it would probably translate beautifully to film with the right (Ang Lee) director.

[Plum]

Djibouti - Elmore Leonard
Let the Great World Spin - Collum McCann

[spiderdj82]

Hey Doodle *hugs* I still pop in from time to time lol

11/22/63 is such an amazing book (although it got a little muddy towards the end for me)

Doctor Sleep is SO good so far

[Jay Lerner-Z]

So did y'all get any nice reading material over the holidays?

I just finished Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis, needless to say a hoot - why did I wait so long to read it?

Just started The Letter For The King, a 1962 book by Dutch writer Tonke Dragt, available only recently for the first time in English. It's lazily described as a Tolkien-esque adventure. Recommended!

[spiderdj82]

Currently Reading......

[spiderdj82]

Double Trouble

[NYadgal]

I received an advance copy of E.L. Doctorow's new novel "Andrew's Brain".

I'm going to an evening with the author in a couple of weeks, and I'm very much looking forward to it!

[PalJoey]

Love Doctorow.

Spider--I'm in the middle of the Fosse biography too. Great detail, but the author is pretty self-indulgent and gets weird frequently.