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Any Port in a Storm :: On the Plaza :: The Library :: What is everyone here reading?
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AuthorTopic: What is everyone here reading? (Read 30,703 times)
joanne28
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #870 on Jun 19, 2012, 6:40pm »		[Quote]
Currently reading Wolf of the Plains, which a historical novel about Genghis Khan. It is the first of a quartet and I'm enjoying it in a bloody knife licking, then hold it in my mouth and lope away like a Uruk-hai sort of way.

Bix, I read At Home by Bill Bryson quite a while back. He has never failed to delight me.

Kimby, another of my many guilty pleasures is that I'm a big fan of the "cozy" style of mystery, best exemplified by Agatha Christie. To be fair to her, her plot twists and turns were always fun even if the characterizations were a little wooden. I always think of that style of book as an after-dinner mint - tasty, light and quickly gone.
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bixaorellana
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #871 on Jun 19, 2012, 8:30pm »		[Quote]
Heh heh, Joanne has turned feral!

Wolf of the Plains sounds like exactly what I'd like to read right now.

Lola, thanks for reminding me of Richard Russo. I'll be looking for Straight Man on my next trip to the library.

And I note that two of anyport's library patrons are reading books with "wolf" in the title. Let's be on the alert for baying.

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kimby
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #872 on Jun 20, 2012, 1:16pm »		[Quote]

Jun 19, 2012, 8:30pm, bixaorellana wrote:
I note that two of anyport's library patrons are reading books with "wolf" in the title. Let's be on the alert for baying.

Bixa, hounds bay, wolves howl. Clearly the wolves in your area have gone extinct!
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bixaorellana
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #873 on Jun 20, 2012, 2:53pm »		[Quote]
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&newwindow=1....iw=1023&bih=638
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lugg
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #874 on Jun 24, 2012, 8:09pm »		[Quote]
I am reading The Sisters brothers ( about 35% through according to my Kindle)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sisters-Brothers-Patrick-deWitt/dp/1847083188

I am not sure why and how I came to be reading this as it is way out of my comfort zone and the first, and possibly only , Western that I have ever read. ( possibly because I wanted to understand more about " picaresque" ! ) I am still awaiting the black humour, although it has occasionally elicited the odd , slightly uncomfortable, snicker.


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joanne28
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #875 on Jun 24, 2012, 9:32pm »		[Quote]
Finished off Wolf of the Plains and went back to Bess of Hardwick, which is a biography of a very interesting woman. I do enjoy reading about strong women and Bess was that. She married four times, each time improving her fortunes and was a very savvy business woman. She was also close to Elizabeth I. Her fourth husband was the warden of Mary, Queen of Scots for 15 years and it is an eye-opening description of Mary.

Now, to be fair, here's my bias upfront. I've never been a Mary fan - I've always been an Elizabeth I fan.
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bixaorellana
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #876 on Jun 25, 2012, 12:34am »		[Quote]
With good reason!
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bjd
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #877 on Jun 25, 2012, 8:31am »		[Quote]
When I was in Montreal a few weeks ago, I stayed just beside Rue St Urbain, which reminded me of a Canadian author I had never read -- Mordechai Richler. So I bought one of his books, partly set in that same neighbourhood, although several decades earlier -- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

I am enjoying it and don't understand why I never read anything by him when I used to live in Canada.
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casimira
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #878 on Jun 25, 2012, 11:01am »		[Quote]

Jun 25, 2012, 8:31am, bjd wrote:
When I was in Montreal a few weeks ago, I stayed just beside Rue St Urbain, which reminded me of a Canadian author I had never read -- Mordechai Richler. So I bought one of his books, partly set in that same neighbourhood, although several decades earlier -- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

I am enjoying it and don't understand why I never read anything by him when I used to live in Canada.


I will have to check him out.
Good to see you btw, you were missed.

Alan Furst has a new thriller just published. Mission to Paris. The NYT Book Review gave it an excellent review. I'm so looking forward to it. I may have to wait on the paperback though unless my library can get it. At $27.00 USD, I can ill afford that kind of luxury these days. :-/
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #879 on Jun 25, 2012, 11:19am »		[Quote]
Thanks, Casi.

I too am waiting for the Alan Furst to come out in paperback.
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casimira
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #880 on Jun 26, 2012, 9:57am »		[Quote]
I greatly underestimated our public library big time.
When I went yesterday I inquired about the new Alan Furst thriller mentioned, thinking, they won't even have it in the computer.
I found out that there is a waiting list of folks and I am #20 on the list!!
They said they have 13 copies so I shouldn't have to wait that long.
I was hugely impressed.
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bjd
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #881 on Jun 26, 2012, 12:23pm »		[Quote]
You are so lucky, Casi. About the only thing I miss about living in Canada is the library system.
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kimby
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #882 on Jun 26, 2012, 1:17pm »		[Quote]

Jun 20, 2012, 2:53pm, bixaorellana wrote:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&newwindow=1&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=wolves+baying&oq=wolves+baying&a q=f&aqi=g-K4&aql=&gs_l=hp.3..0i30l4.332.3500.0.3704.13.13.0.0.0.0.297.2141.0j8j3.11.0.eish..0.0.5W4FZpVtFHk&pbx=1&bav=on. 2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=8fc59b0846d98760&biw=1023&bih=638


Is the link broken, or is it me?
Or did you just point me to the Google search page so I can do the research myself?
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casimira
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #883 on Jun 26, 2012, 2:08pm »		[Quote]
if anyone can do it you can Kimby!!! ;)
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kimby
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #884 on Jun 26, 2012, 3:10pm »		[Quote]
I hadn't realized our dear bixa was a witch, but that's what Google tells me!

http://www.spellsofmagic.com/coven.html?coven=533

We are a coven based on the idea of wolves howling at the moon, and what it stands for when they do so. The word baying, rather than howling, was used to purely aesthetic reasons, rather than a belief that wolves bay at the moon, which they most certainly do not. Wolves howl at the moon, and nobody knows exactly why. There are logical reasons experts have come up with, but when you hear a howl come from a dark forest at night, it can be mysterious, chilling, inspiring, and beautiful. The howl of a wolf instills different feelings in everyone who hears it. Wolves, as far as we can understand, howl at the moon for reasons such as:

To let fellow pack members know where they are.
To rejoice in the birth of cubs.
To rejoice in a successful hunt.
To say to any nearby, rival packs that ''We are here, we are strong, and we are a force to be reckoned with.''

BTW, they are accepting applications, so we can all be witches, if we want to!
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lugg
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #885 on Jul 2, 2012, 8:23pm »		[Quote]
I forced myself through to the end of The Sisters Brothers and would love to hear others views ?

I kept waiting for the humour but just found it generally, depressingly horrible.

I have read the reviews and the criticisms when it was shortlisted for the Booker .......but
".... most of the pundits said that it was an outsider. Perhaps it was a little too quirky, a humourous add-on the short-list to provide some light reading for those who struggle through the complete set." .... The review lost me at humurous and light ?
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bixaorellana
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #886 on Jul 3, 2012, 4:35am »		[Quote]
That's kind of disappointing, as the Amazon review you linked earlier made it sound pretty good.

Here's something amusing ~~ The Financial Times exuberant venture into redundancy:

'A blackly comic witty noir version of Don Quixote. DeWitt's story is hugely entertaining' --Financial Times
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joanne28
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #887 on Jul 3, 2012, 1:43pm »		[Quote]
I've started 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I'm enjoying it, as I like his style of writing. Nothing much in the way of supernatural or horror - a couple of oblique hints. It's a time travel story, which is a bit of a change for Stevie.
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #888 on Jul 3, 2012, 3:18pm »		[Quote]
Oh, I'd like to read that. I love the time travel theme and really liked Stephen King back before Cujo, Pet Sematary, etc.

Joanne, what is the book by Stephen King that flashes back & forth between modern times & the medieval world? It has a werewolf in it & the CCR song "Run Through the Jungle" runs through the book.

It was a fun book, but the main thing I remember about it was how the beings from the medieval world had burning eyes & noses from standard 20th century air pollution.
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #889 on Jul 3, 2012, 5:46pm »		[Quote]
Ive bought my hub 11/22/63 for his holiday read as he was a huge fan in the past,.... so I might get to read it myself later, looking forward to reading your review Joanne.
Thx Bixa ;D for the FT's review of the Sisters Brothers. Here is hoping you or someone else reads it cos I would love to read about another AP's view of this book. Maybe it was just the wrong book at the wrong time

Anyway now for a good news story - I am two chapters into the The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and absolutely loving it and fingers crossed that I will continue to.
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #890 on Jul 3, 2012, 7:49pm »		[Quote]
Ooooooooo ~~ Just looked up a review & really want to read that!

I might give the Sisters Brothers a try, as that kind of humor done well can appeal to me at times. (other times I truly don't get it at all)

A friend forced me to read Wolf Whistle, although I furiously balked. It's the real thing of very dark humor and an absolutely brilliant book.
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #891 on Jul 3, 2012, 8:21pm »		[Quote]
I haven't read that one, Bix. A quick scan turned up Cycle of the Werewolf but he did write a couple with Peter Straub that might fit the bill. I've read The Talisman but don't recall werewolves.

I picked up The Language of Flowers but have yet to start it.
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #892 on Jul 3, 2012, 8:55pm »		[Quote]
Just googled. The book was The Talisman, but it wasn't a werewolf but a wolf.

Need to read that again!
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #893 on Jul 3, 2012, 11:33pm »		[Quote]
It doesn't help you if I say I have it, does it? ;D
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #894 on Jul 3, 2012, 11:37pm »		[Quote]
Make coffee. I'll be right over!

(just realized that, without realizing it, I'd continued the wolf theme)
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #895 on Jul 5, 2012, 4:28pm »		[Quote]
I've finished 11/22/63 and I enjoyed it. A pleasant time-waster. Not my favourite of his but I would reread it some time.

It's a departure from King's usual work as there is little to no supernatural or horror in it. The only thing is the time portal itself, which is given a rather cursory explanation at the end.

The concept of going back in time to stop JFK from being assassinated is interesting. How the main character tries to accomplish this is what kept me reading it. I think King did a good job in pulling that off.

I'm now on book 2 of the Genghis Khan series Lords of the Bows. I'm around page 75 and lots of people are dead already. ;D
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #896 on Jul 7, 2012, 7:35pm »		[Quote]
I'm reading some crap by Bret Easton Ellis at the moment. I don't even remember the title, but his stuff is always easy to read.
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #897 on Jul 8, 2012, 5:35am »		[Quote]

Jul 5, 2012, 4:28pm, joanne28 wrote:


The concept of going back in time to stop JFK from being assassinated is interesting. How the main character tries to accomplish this is what kept me reading it. I think King did a good job in pulling that off.


I don't think it's a fresh idea on King's part. Years ago I read a SF book in which time is seen as a closed system and a team of people are sent in to intervene before some drastic event happens.
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joanne28
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #898 on Jul 8, 2012, 2:59pm »		[Quote]
No, it's certainly not a fresh idea on King's part but he did a good job with it. Just as I find The Stand a dark version of The Lord of the Rings, as far as the idea of the quest goes.
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Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #899 on Jul 8, 2012, 3:18pm »		[Quote]
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
  Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us."
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