What are you reading?

[Julien]

The novella _Albert Nobbs_ by George Moore. This 1913 novella has key elements that were changed for the film with Glenn Close. It is a good quick read.

[The JD]

I just finished Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir). There were certainly some laugh-out-loud phrases and anectdotes, but overall, I found it lacking. Jenny Lawson is best known as a blogger ("The Bloggess") who writes snarky and self-referential posts about being caught in (and creating) embarrassing social situations. This sounds like the perfect reading material for a David Sedaris enthusiast (me), but Lawson's snippy blog-style writing just doesn't translate to a longer work. I never really got engrossed in the tales of her manic life; instead, it was more like a stand-up comedy act, complete with SENTENCES IN ALL CAPS where she's actually screaming the one-liners from the page. She constantly got detoured off the main narrative, then made detours off the detours... I felt like I needed a flow chart to keep up.

If you love her blog, you'll probably love her book... but the reason the blog-style of writing works for blogs is because they're meant to be short and irreverent, and it's okay to throw in non sequiturs because each post is less than 500 words. But for a 300 page memoir? Time to modify the writing style.

** Warning: Shameless self-promotion to follow**

Now I'm reading Deaf American Prose: 1980 - 2010 (Gallaudet Deaf Literature Series), a collection of essays by Deaf and Hard of Hearing authors. It's a terrific anthology, though I admit I'm biased since I'm one of the authors.

[Arwen]

How about what book am I NEVER reading? Anything else by Orson Scott Card. And that's hard because I really liked his work. Until I read this. He's entitled to his opinion. I'm also entitled to mine.

[BrownEyedAngel]

I am currently reading The Twelveth Transforming by Pauline Gedge......fictionalized Egyptian history.....Child of the Morning is an amazing book by the same author

[JAGG]

Academically Adrift by Richard Arum it"s a compelling book, that sure clears up alot of nagging questions, reinforces what I already suspected.

[Julien]

Originally Posted by Arwen

How about what book am I NEVER reading? Anything else by Orson Scott Card. And that's hard because I really liked his work. Until I read this. He's entitled to his opinion. I'm also entitled to mine.

Arwen,
Thank you for the link on Orson Scott Card, I just had to pull out this quote from the article.

"In fact, the scientific evidence we have points in the opposite direction: Same-sex attraction is not a strait jacket; people's desires change over time; gay people still have choices; a reproductive dysfunction like same-sex attraction is not a death sentence for your DNA or for your desire to have a family in which children grow up with male and female parents to model appropriate gender roles."


The words "reproductive dysfunction like same-sex attraction" caught my eye and then some.

This article is sure to raise some eyebrows and rub people the wrong way.

Julien

[Kobi]

Heroes For My Daughter - Brad Meltzer

What a sweet book. Love the people he picked as heroes to teach his daughter about life and the power of the human spirit. Short, to the point, stories of the accomplishments of a wide variety of women, men, and kids.

[SimpleAlaskanBoy]

Trying to finish A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

[Talon]

Holiness, Truth and the Presence Of God
~by Francis Frangipane

Mein Kampf

[Talon]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Mein Kampf

Yowza!....nice little lite reading, eh?

[Fancy]

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson


...sometimes I just grab this to reread for inspiration. Her words never fail to move me.

Originally Posted by Talon

Yowza!....nice little lite reading, eh?

Not one for that's on the bedtime list that's for sure

MK is not a particularly riveting stand-alone read. If it I didn't *have* to read extracts for research then I wouldn't be reading it (again - I read it as a teenager just because I could! )

[Julien]

Passionate Detachments: An Introduction to Feminist Film Theory by Sue Thornham. Just a re-reading for the nuances I may have forgotten from earlier reads.

[Kobi]

How To Teach Physics To Your Dog - Chad Orzel

One way or another, I will learn physics.

[Talon]

Originally Posted by Incubus

Not one for that's on the bedtime list that's for sure

MK is not a particularly riveting stand-alone read. If it I didn't *have* to read extracts for research then I wouldn't be reading it (again - I read it as a teenager just because I could! )

What a rebel...*chuckle*


I needed something light-hearted and funny after the last book, so I'm reading "BABY LAUGHS" by Jenny McCarthy.

[Greco]

"DAYS OF DESTRUCTION DAYS OF REVOLT"

by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco

Just came out finally...real direct intelligent truthful


"HOME"

by Toni Morrison

skimming seems redemptive story looking
forward to this read as well


and after the intensity of the previous books
diving into tender poetry

"SWAN POEMS AND PROSE POEMS"

BY Mary Oliver her latest

Greco

[The JD]

I'm reading the new book by Augusten Burroughs-- This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.

I'm not sure how I like it yet. I expected a spoof on self-help books (even the title suggests this), with his usual biting insight on the dark and quirky side of human behavior (mostly his own). He does this, but more often, he seems to be offering real advice. It's like he doesn't know which direction to go. Still, the writing is good, and besides, you never know when advice on "how to be a good mental patient" might come in handy.

[ONLY]

Last night I started, "The Harlequin", the 15th book in the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton
I will be picking up "To The Nines" from the library this weekend, the 9th book in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

The series are very different from each other but I have really gotten into them since SS has introduce them to me. Anita Blake series, I think it has been 2 years since I first started and Stephanie Plum series, this past Christmas. Thank you baby

[nycfem]

Let me know what you think when you finish it. I was so torn about this book, as the reviews I read were similar to what you wrote. I am such an intense fan of Burroughs that I wanted to read it but it doesn't sound like his usual style.

Originally Posted by The JD

I'm reading the new book by Augusten Burroughs-- This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.

I'm not sure how I like it yet. I expected a spoof on self-help books (even the title suggests this), with his usual biting insight on the dark and quirky side of human behavior (mostly his own). He does this, but more often, he seems to be offering real advice. It's like he doesn't know which direction to go. Still, the writing is good, and besides, you never know when advice on "how to be a good mental patient" might come in handy.