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icy
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|  | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #30 on Sept 28, 2009, 9:43am » | ![[Quote]](http://images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
Bixaorellana, a monthly thread would simply be a new thread each month, titled "What are you reading in xxxmonth?" It would help keep the threads short and easy to search so that if someone remembers, for example, that you or I or anyone else posted about a particular book in a particular month's thread, the posting would be easier to find than on one big thread. It would also work as a prompt for members to post if they saw the month in the title.
The downside is, as you mentioned earlier, that once the month is over, the threads would tend to get pushed off the board. So maybe we should just stick to one big thread that is constantly updated so it doesn't roll off the board. Can you post unlimited posts on one thread?
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #31 on Sept 28, 2009, 5:48pm » | |
We'll just have to find out!  (No, really, I think the threads are unlimited or almost -- I've seen threads on other ProBoards sites go on for at least 100 pages.)
Right now, I am reading Métronome by Lorŕnt Deutsch, a French actor of Hungarian origin. It's a history of Paris using the names of metro stations as the starting point for each chapter. (He has a university degree in history and philosophy, so he is not one of those actors who left school at 15 to pursue an acting career.)
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #32 on Sept 28, 2009, 7:13pm » | |
I checked, Icy, and threads can have an unlimited number of posts, so ........... you are off and running with your big reading thread!
If you wanted to, you could continuously modify your OP to include a list of books about which there was meaningful discussion.
A new feature has been added to AnyPort which will facilitate dialogue within threads. It allows one to accumulate quotes from various posts before writing ones reply. Here are the directions.
Icy, it's so great that you started this discussion. You can see how quickly and eagerly everyone responded. You are so right in anticipating a mega-thread!
Kerouac, are you saying that auto-didacts are incapable of writing well-researched books?
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icy
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #33 on Sept 29, 2009, 9:02am » | |
OK, lets go for a mega thread!
I've finished Heaven's Command, which is an interesting and informative look at the forces that shaped the British Empire in the 19th century.
Also finished <i>London Match</i> by Len Deighton. Very good spy thriller. I can see that I will have to read the other books in the series because the game is clearly only just beginning.
Am now reading a romantic thriller, Force of Nature by Suzanne Brockmann. She is one of few writers I have come across who can combine a good thriller with a good romance.
I am not very happy with the English translation of The Girl who played with Fire and am considering getting the Icelandic one instead.
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casimira
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #34 on Sept 29, 2009, 1:06pm » | |
Last night I finished "The Snakehead",by Patrick Radden Keefe. Somewhat of a departure from my choice of reads however,I had read some excerpts of the book in both The New Yorker and New York magazine and was intrigued both with the topic and the real life characters portrayed. While it revolves around a single incident that occurred in 1993 when a ship went aground off the Atlantic shores just outside of NYC that was carrying 300 undocumented immigrants,the author treats this single incident as a touchstone to explore the world of human smuggling. An incredibly fascinating, well researched read. I highly recommend it as it really gives insight into the incredible lengths people will go to live in a free world.
It also serves as an excellent history of Chinatown,NYC and its people as well as the Fujianese Province of China.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #35 on Sept 29, 2009, 6:21pm » | |
Boy, did I have a fruitful visit to the library yesterday! I got The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly, plus The Closers, one of his books I've not yet read. I was thrilled to find Run by Ann Patchett, her most recent book, as far as I know. The other two books I took out are A Sudden Country by Karen Fisher and *drumroll* The Hornet's Nest - a novel of the Revolutionary War by my hero, Jimmy Carter. Yes, that Jimmy Carter.
Being the shallow, self-indulgent person that I am, I'm starting with The Scarecrow.
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casimira
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #36 on Sept 30, 2009, 1:43am » | |
I'm a little confused so, in an effort to not botch this up,say, the next book I'm reading is by an author that has a thread on here (Alan Furst). Do I not post under Alan Furst ,or on here?
Seems a shame to not have that continuity of one author even though it's been ages ago since anyone posted on there.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #37 on Sept 30, 2009, 1:51am » | |
I'd say if you wanted to keep the continuity of the Alan Furst thread going, you should post there.
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icy
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #38 on Oct 1, 2009, 8:22pm » | |
I had a sleepless night last night (being abruptly laid off from work will do that to a person) and delved into Force of Nature by Suzanne Brockmann. It's steamy, violent, over the top and ends well, and totally what I needed under the circumstances. I think I just may start delving more into romances while I am getting over my shock at being laid off, because I really need to believe this will have a happy ending for me.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #39 on Oct 1, 2009, 11:14pm » | |
Oh, Icy ~~ I am sorry! I hope that you quickly find something that is suited to you in every way.
What a good idea to use books to keep you optimistic.
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icy
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #40 on Oct 2, 2009, 10:56am » | |
Bixa, I know I will find a job, it's just a question of what kind of job, and when. I will take anything that will allow me to pay my mortgage and eat (beggars and choosers and all that), but I'm hoping for something in one of my fields of expertise: housing finance, intellectual property or translation. The translation field looks like it's going into a boom, but the competition in the freelance market is fierce.
Next read will be The Girl Who Played with Fire. The movie premiers here today and I want to go see it soon.
Then I have lined up several funny books with happy endings, including some of my perennial happy reads: The Hobbit, My Family and other Animals, Three men in a Boat. I am also reading up on India, because I have this crazy idea to go there for a month before I start job hunting full time. My severance pay will cover that and all my at-home expenses and I am well set up with savings, so I will only have to start worrying if I haven't found work in six months time.
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kerouac2
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #41 on Oct 2, 2009, 12:14pm » | |
Sorry to hear about the job situation, icy. India (as well as some other parts of Asia) is a good place to purge one's mind at minimal expense.
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casimira
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #42 on Oct 2, 2009, 1:46pm » | |
Good luck with this icy.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #43 on Oct 2, 2009, 2:42pm » | |
Gosh, Icy, you really have strong career skills and a plan. I'm glad to hear this lay-off did not lay you low, and that you got a good severance package. What a great idea to take a major trip that wouldn't be possible when working full time.
==========================================================================
As to what I'm reading ............ I'm still on The Scarecrow and definitely think Michael Connelly is taking his Jack McEvoy character into interesting directions. It's also good to see that an author who created an immensely popular character and series (the Harry Bosch novels) is keeping that character alive peripherally in a new series, rather than churning out pedestrian additions to the Bosch series. I see on michaelconnelly.com that a new Harry Bosch novel will be released in the US on October 13. Be still, my heart!
To be honest, I avoided Connelly for a long time because of my prejudice against authors who write "too many" books. However, once I gave him a first chance I was hooked and he's never disappointed.
The theme of The Scarecrow is upsetting enough so that I don't like to read it when I go to bed at night. Thus, I've also started the Jimmy Carter book, The Hornet's Nest, which will be the "full-time" book once I've finished Scarecrow. So far on Hornet's Nest I give it a strong recommendation. It's the teeniest bit stilted because of all the history background which has to be worked in at the beginning. However, the way the history is presented is so interesting that I'm really enjoying the stage setting and can cheerfully wait for more character & plot development.
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #44 on Oct 3, 2009, 7:03pm » | |
I am about to start "Three cups of tea" - will report on it. it does sound promising.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #45 on Oct 3, 2009, 7:11pm » | |
Can't wait for your report, Annie. I've been eying that book.
Finished The Scarecrow and found it quite satisfying.
I'm enjoying The Hornet's Nest a great deal because of all the history and the fascinating details about life in that time period (pre-American Revolution).
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #46 on Oct 3, 2009, 8:30pm » | |
Oct 3, 2009, 7:03pm, auntieannie wrote:| I am about to start "Three cups of tea" - will report on it. it does sound promising. |
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Greg Mortenson lives just down the road from me in Bozeman. When he's not out saving the world, that is.
I'm reading Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines, about Australia's Aboriginal population and their worldview.
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casimira
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #47 on Oct 4, 2009, 12:11am » | |
Brushing up on the native view before your big trip kimby? I try to do the same but usually end up reading more about a place AFTER the trip somehow. One little thing will intrigue me where I happen to be and I will voraciously devour whatever I can get my hands on after the trip. Maybe,in a way I'm prolonging the experience.
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #48 on Oct 4, 2009, 3:36pm » | |
I finished the Magician's Assistant, thought it was very well written and the ending although not surprising, left quite an impact on me. The whole book was so different, and it really gives food for thought on what the true description of love is.
I am now reading The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon. She also wrote The Alchemist's Daughter. I really like this book, it has just enough drama and mystery to keep you turning the page. I had read years ago about the Crimea war and Florence Nightingale however, this book takes a different point of view on the war and her involvement. I haven't read The Alchemist's Daughter but since I like this one and the writing I will put it on reserve to read.
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #49 on Oct 5, 2009, 2:07am » | |
Oct 4, 2009, 12:11am, casimira wrote:| Brushing up on the native view before your big trip kimby? |
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Yes and tonite we'll be watching Road Warriors (Mad Max 2), to see where we'll be headed. (I already watched Australia and Priscilla Queen of the Desert!)
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #50 on Oct 5, 2009, 2:15am » | |
Don't want to high-jack this thread, but will quickly recommend In a Sunburned Country, by the insanely talented Bill Bryson.
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #52 on Oct 5, 2009, 2:12pm » | |
Oct 5, 2009, 2:15am, bixaorellana wrote:| Don't want to high-jack this thread, but will quickly recommend In a Sunburned Country, by the insanely talented Bill Bryson. |
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Thanks bixa, but I just finished re-reading that one. Read it years ago, but wanted to read it after having researched the geography of australia. Means a lot more now.
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icy
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #53 on Oct 6, 2009, 2:49pm » | |
The Girl who Played with Fire is slow going - I simply can't work up any enthusiasm for it. Am also furious with the effing reviewer who gave away an important shock factor plot twist - I have now officially stopped reading reviews for books I plan to read, because too may reviewers don't play by the rules.
Am instead enjoying a prose translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Next up will probably be The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde.
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bixaorellana
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #54 on Oct 6, 2009, 3:25pm » | |
Boy, you touched a nerve there, Icy! "Reviewing" does not mean "telling the plot". I've gotten to the point where I'm almost afraid to read jacket flaps.
I love the Tuesday Next series by Jasper Fforde, although his nursery series doesn't do it for me.
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icy
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #55 on Oct 7, 2009, 6:59pm » | |
Finished Gilgamesh. It was an interesting look at very early literature and I could see in it the precursors to a number of myths I am familiar with, both ancient Greek and Biblical. Funny to read a piece of literature where the introduction is longer than the story.
Have started reading The Well of Lost Plots, which looks promising. I expect mayhem is just about to erupt.
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bjd
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #56 on Oct 8, 2009, 7:22am » | |
I liked Three Cups of Tea. Not so much for his writing as for what he is talking about. I have also enjoyed a couple of the Jasper Fforde books.
Right now I'm reading several books at the same time, which is something I have only started to do recently. A book called 1848 about the European revolutions of that year. A French detective story set in Perpignan and written in a slangy way. (I usually avoid French detective novels -- they just don't do them all that well.) The first volume of Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles -- I stopped reading it when I went on holiday and haven't picked it up again. I'm not really having a hard time with it, but it doesn't seem to be a book "I can't put down".
And I bought Patagonia Express in Spanish by the Chilean writer Luis Sepulveda, which I started reading the other day, trying to get my Spanish back in working order.
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bixaorellana
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casimira
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #58 on Oct 11, 2009, 12:27am » | |
Thanks for this B. Fascinating. NPR covered this a couple of days ago. Look how much the First Lady resembles her mother in the photo. I really get so emotional when I read or hear these stories,followed by goose bumps.
Did you read Cane River B.? I believe I mentioned my mother reading and enjoying. I gave it to her caretaker Cristina to read while I was visiting. She is slowly and painstakingly trying to learn reading English and wants to read American History so...
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tillystar
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| | Re: What is everyone here reading?
« Reply #59 on Oct 15, 2009, 8:34am » | |
I just finished The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. I started it yesterday morning and read it like a mad person all day yesterday, snatching any moment with it I could. It’s a very short story, written as a monologue of a young man talking to an American in a bar in Lahore. He was born in Pakistan and went to study in America and tells of falling in and then out of love with the country and the life that he lived there. He describes that working for a big American finance organisation feeling like a modern day janissary – Christian’s captured by the Ottoman empire made to fight against their own people.
A quick read, written in a very simple, straightforward style but very thought provoking and clever.
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