I tried really hard to read Steig Larsson, and couldn't get through the first couple of chapters of the first book. Then I tried the movie and didn't make it past the rape scene that happened pretty early on. I keep hearing about how great the series is, but I just couldn't do it. I guess I have weird taste in books.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through my second reading of Terry Pratchett's new book, Snuff. It's fantastic. I love Sam Vimes. If it were still possible to be a Sam Vimes-style copper, I would have stuck with my law enforcement degree.

I have read Steig Larsson’s “The Girl Who…” series and I agree that the first one “The Girl Who Played With Fire” was very difficult to get into, but once I managed to get past all the history and hard to keep track of names, it was a pretty fun ride.

Right now I'm reading Terry Pratchett and will continue to do so until I've read everything he's written. In between and during I have read lately:

Bottle Rocket Hearts
by Zoe Whittall
Interesting, pleasant little read.

The Strain
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.
It was okay but I kept thinking they wrote this with the movie they planned to make in mind. However I will read the next in the series.

The Passage
Justin Cronin
I’ve read comparisons to “The Stand” made by reviewers of this book. I think it is definitely worth a read, and since it is a trilogy I look forward to the other two books. But it’s not equal to “The Stand” in my opinion.

Robopocalypse – it was okay.
Daniel H. Wilson

I thought I might reread A Confederacy of Dunces next. Just to see what I would think of it today. It cracked me up when I was younger.

I also think I will reread Clive Barker’s stuff like Imajica, The Great and Secret Show and Everville.

Oh, I should have posted this instead of my previous post:

I am an excellent student and never, ever neglect my academic reading in favor of my fun reading. So I am currently reading:

The World's Religions by Huston Smith (for Philosophy of Religion)
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex (for Human Sexuality)

I am definitely not way behind on either of these books. Really. I promise.

crap, I didn't notice that there is a more active thread about books (this one).

now I take back my comment about "what, has nobody read anything in over a year?"



I just finished Last Night In Twisted River this morning. It's very John Irving, which means that I loved it.

When I say "It's very John Irving" I don't mean that it has bears, wresting, running, New England, Canada, and transgressive women....although it does have all of those things. I'm talking about the voice.

The thing that I love the most about his books is the way he starts his stories in the middle and jumps back and forth in time through the entire novel. Since I've started reading him I can't hardly make my way through a book that is mostly chronological.

Currently I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. I'm only a chapter in so far, but I think I'll enjoy it. The author's voice reminds me of Gregory Maguire - although maybe it's really just the subject matter that's bringing me there. I can't wait to have a couple of days off so I can devour it.

Next up is The Sisters Brothers. It's on my bedside table waiting for me right now. I know nothing at all about it other than that it was recommended by someone I think is super smart...and the cover art is freaking cool.

good one
 

"The Way Forward Is With A Broken Heart"
by Alice Walker

Almost didn't pick it up because of the title

opened it read the first paragraph

and was caught with her directness

and transparency her writing

taking me to places I haven't been in

for a long time. Rich writing.

Greco

Just finished re-reading Catcher in the Rye.

Now onto The Sight.

I'm currently reading the Kushiel's Legacy series.... really loving them. I'm on the second book right now. Anyone else read these?

The First Assassin- historical fiction by John J. Miller. Enjoying...

Nonfiction:

Bluets by Maggie Nelson. I finished it a month ago and it's still bouncing around in my head. Highly recommended.

Party Out of Bounds: The B-52s, R.E.M., and the Kids who Rocked Athens, Georgia by Rodger Lyle Brown. Almost done with it. Fun read, lots of "oh yeah!" moments, since I was doing some of my own rocking in Athens during that time period.

Fiction:

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. Good, but getting kind of bored with it. Pushing through.

The Last Patriarch by Najat El Hachmi

The Hand Of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones

I am reading The Foremost Good Fortune by Susan Conley, a memoir about the author and her family living in Beijing. It took 8 months to get it from the library, which would suggest that a lot of people really loved it. In actuality, it probably means that it took people FOREVER to finish the damn thing because the author writes in short, dull sentences, and is relentlessly whiny while her husband and two young sons seemed to be having the time of their lives...

Oh, and eventually, she gets cancer, but I'm not there yet.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
Chip Heath, Dan Heath

Just picked this up, so I'll be back later with a book report.

I read and loved them. I stopped reading once the series switched to a different character's voice, though (book 6, I think? Maybe 7? I forget). Phedre's voice was one of my favorite things about the series, and I kind of lost interest once the perspective changed.

Gandhi the Man: How One Man Changed Himself to Change the World
Just started, but I'm enjoying it so far.

"On the Plurality of World" by David Lewis

I'm reading The Mayfair Witches trilogy by Anne Rice. I am just finishing the second book titled, Lasher.