What are you all reading ??????

[Doreensfree]

Any suggestions for a good read !!!!!

[Nancy]

Have you read the "In Death" series of J.D.  Robb?  There are a lot of them and I really like them!

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00GEFPW9E/ref=sr_es_r?keywords=jd robb in death series in order

[Doreensfree]

Thank you Nancy...these look very interesting ..x

[Sazerac]

I don't read fiction very often but, if you like non-fiction...

I am reading again, a bunch of books/articles by John McPhee.

He has written a lot for the New Yorker.

My favorite is , Oranges.  (everything you possibly need to know about oranges)

 

Also, returning to, The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald.

Ostensibly about his walk through Suffolk,  but has me researching the many things he mentions.

I love google.

 

 

[notsmokinjo]

Depends what you want to read Doreen.. I have it all covered....

 

(Not prepared to public confess to the crap I am reading at them moment besides the 1 in red below)

 

Biography:

A Fortunate Life - AB Facey ... its an oldy but should still be able to get it as I know its on the VCE (Victorian year 12) reading list.

The Moons A Balloon - David Nivin ... I know you can still get this

The Happiest Refugee - Ahn Do

 

Faction (those books that are essentially fiction but so closely based on real events and people they might as well be fact):

The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flannagan

Anything by Peter FiztSimons, Gallipoli, Kokoda, etc... military history but written as a fictious novel, factually very accurate but also engaging story lines. (yes for those old enough to remember he did play rugby for Australia)

 

History:

How the Irish Saved Civilization - Thomas Cahill

Asbestos House: The Secret History of James Hardie Industries - Gideon Haigh

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

 

Dystopian Teen Fiction:

The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobel Carmody... this is a whole series

 

Fiction:

Small Great Things -Jodi Picoult

The ODD Thomas Series - Dean Koontz... not too scary but funny, especial with Elvis' silent ghost.

To Hill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee... you can never read this enough

Anything Dck Francis

The Finalists - Russel Braddon

 

Non-Fiction:

Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion - Elizabeth L. Cline

Owning It - Your BS Free guide to living with anxiety - Caroline Foran

Edited April 22, 2018 by notsmokinjo

[Boo]

Just finished "Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark" by Tamara Saviano this afternoon.

 

The last novel I read was "Child of God" by Cormac McCarthy.  I found it to be a good read, but am hesitant to suggest it.  It's a dark book.  Even by Cormac McCarthy standards.  Someone once wrote about McCarthy's writing that "If you are disturbed his writing will comfort you.  If you are comfortable his writing will disturb you."

 

So, there you have it.  A biography of a country music troubadour and a novel about a violent, disturbed drifter roaming around East Tennessee after his release from prison.  Enjoy!

[notsmokinjo]

I have more issues with McCarthy's disjointed writing style than I do with his subject matter.

[Boo]

27 minutes ago, notsmokinjo said:

I have more issues with McCarthy's disjointed writing style than I do with his subject matter.

 

That's certainly a fair criticism.

 

In "Child of God" the reader is just kind of dropped into Lester's life.  After that, it's a matter of putting the pieces together with what backstory is offered as the book goes along.

 

I enjoy Cormac's books, but rarely suggest them in random book lists.

[Nancy]

Oh for crying out loud!!  Am I the only one that will admit to reading something just for fun????

 

Ken  Follett

David Baldacci 

James Herriott

Jan Karon

Edited April 23, 2018 by Nancy

[Sazerac]

1 hour ago, Boo said:

Just finished "Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark" by Tamara Saviano this afternoon.

 

 

I love Guy Clark and will def read this.

[johnny5]

21 minutes ago, Nancy said:

Oh for crying out loud!!  Am I the only one that will admit to reading something just for fun????

 

Reading for fun is good.

 

I agree with @notsmokinjo , the Odd Thomas books are great fun to read.

 

After reading this thread, I was thinking of highly cerebral books to suggest (The World According to Garp, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, etc.) but it didn't feel right

 

Bitter Blood is a highly detailed true crime novel of some really weird things that happened in my hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Blood-Southern-Madness-Multiple/dp/0451402103

 

Replay by Ken Grimwood is an interesting sci-fi about time travel.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Replay-Ken-Grimwood/dp/068816112X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524446291&sr=8-1&keywords=replay+ken+grimwood

 

Just some random stuff that entered my mind.  Nothing groundbreaking but interesting reads.

Edited April 23, 2018 by johnny5

[notsmokinjo]

25 minutes ago, Nancy said:

Ken  Follett

Hell yeah..

 

@johnny5 ok am adding Bitter Blood to my wish list.. The Odd Thomas books are heaps of fun, glad I'm not the only fan.

 

@Nancy most of what i read is for fun, even the heavy nerdy stuff.... I had lots of fun stuff on my list... I am actually reading the a series of books at the moment that I got sucked into when the kid asked if she could read them and I read the first one... lets just say the 12 year old is not reading these books... so not my usual type of book at all (cos I like biographies, and thrillers and history stuff) but if your into raunchy vampire shit check out the Black Dagger Brotherhood series... I so feel like that should have been a post in confessions.

Edited April 23, 2018 by notsmokinjo

[Doreensfree]

Wow...ok I suppose I did ask..

It will take me a while to shift through this lot....there is only so many times you can read 50 shades of grey ..whahahaha...

Nancy ..reading for fun...that was soooo much fun....I agree ......

Thanks guys....

[Sazerac]

11 hours ago, Nancy said:

Oh for crying out loud!!  Am I the only one that will admit to reading something just for fun????

 

With all due respect, Nancy,

My reading list is not about offending or impressing anyone.

 

 

[TravellingSunny]

Ok.  Now THIS is a thread I can relate to...

 

Recently finished:  The Dark Tower series by Stephen King (surprisingly good)

 

Currently reading:  The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace (one of my favorite authors)

Edited to add:  Alan Carr's The Easy Way to Quit Smoking - THANKS, @Sazerac

 

Upcoming reads:

Checked Out from the Library:

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (Never read it as a kid)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (Part of a list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die)

ARC to read and review for publisher:

Desperate Girls by Laura Griffin (publication release scheduled for August 7th, 2018)

 

 

Edited April 23, 2018 by TravellingSunny

[notsmokinjo]

1 hour ago, Sazerac said:

 

With all due respect, Nancy,

My reading list is not about offending or impressing anyone.

 

 

Hey chooky, I think Nancy was just having a lend, not serious at all.

[Boo]

Found an old copy of "Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball" by George Will last night.  I read that book about 15-20 years ago.  Time for another read.

 

That spare room/Island of Misfit Toys at the end of the hall has some good stuff in it.  Eventually, I'm gonna sort all that stuff out.

[Doreensfree]

That spare room/Island of Misfit Toys at the end of the hall has some good stuff in 

Shhh Boo...you said you wouldnt tell ,about that room and toys !!!..it was our secret !!!

[johnny5]

Stephen King's Doctor Sleep is good.  It is the sequel to The Shining and it centers around Danny, the kid from The Shining, as an adult.   

 

It helps if you have read The Shining first, though, as the book is a lot different than the Jack Nicholson movie.

[Sazerac]

I love reading cookbooks.

Elizabeth David, of course,

and like an Oxford Dictionary for the caboose,

Larousse Gastronomique, 

in my kitchen, on my Hoosier Cabinet (that has seen better days) with a handy, dandy, old ladies magnifying glass.

It brings me great comfort and also inspiration.

[Stewie]

Mainly Schopenhauer lately.

[notsmokinjo]

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

 

Substitute truth for quit and you have the three psychological stages of a quit.

[Boo]

"Marrying means to halve one's rights and double one's duties."  --Arthur Schopenhauer 

 

"I've lived and I've loved, later on I even married."  --Al Bundy

[Reciprocity]

I've been trying to get through this one for months now. The plot's a little thin but the characters are awesome

[Doreensfree]

2 hours ago, reciprocity said:

I've been trying to get through this one for months now. The plot's a little thin but the characters are awesome

 

Ok...I admit...I have a dirty mind.....Dick said ..see it go.....I might read this ...whahaha....