What are You Reading - A Then, Now and Next

I'm in the middle of Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles.  It's a beast of a book.  I don't think it flows very well.  

It's certainly not as good as The Autobiography of Henry VIII that the same author wrote.  Mary's years of confinement get pretty boring.

Then: Just finished Home Safe by one of my favorites, Elizabeth Berg, about a recent widow who learns her husband had withdrawn a great deal of their retirement savings before his death without telling her about it. The surprise was nothing like what I'd expected. Berg's last two or three books haven't been as good as the old ones like Range of Motion and Talk Before Sleep, so I was thrilled to see she's got her mojo back. I highly, highly recommend this book.

Now: Chasing Darkness, by Robert Crais, the latest Elvis Cole adventure (he's one of my favorite literary detectives); The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea, a novel about a distant relative of his, Teresita, "the saint of Cabora," a healer at the end of the 19th century in Mexico. This book is absolutely beautiful and vividly told; parts of it read like poetry. And The Fallen Man by Tony Hillerman, a Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee mystery about the bones of a climber discovered on a rock shelf on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico.

Next: Nothing to Lose by Lee Child, a thriller starring Jack Reacher, who, to paraphrase "Pulp Fiction," walks the earth and gets in adventures, all of which are terrific novels; Absolute Convictions, by Eyal Press, the son of a Buffalo, NY doctor who was "next on the list" of the nutcase who killed OB/GYN Dr. Barnett Slepian because he performed abortions; and probably A Beautiful Place to Die, by Malla Nunn, a mystery set in Apartheid-era South Africa.

Thanks, Vicky, for such a great post! You gave me a chance to rattle on about some of my favorite things. :)

I have Berg's Ordinary Life (short stories) in my "tbr this week" pile. Also Ellen Gilchrist, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Jim Crace.

I can't keep that many books going at one time.  I've been trying to keep two fiction books going at the same time the past few days, and I invariably keep choosing one over the other.  I can keep a fiction and a non-fiction going at about the same rate, however.  I really like Elvis Cole's character and Crais is an ace crime fiction writer.  I like the little touches, like Cole's cat.

I think Beaker and I have the same bookshelf! :)

I read my first Lee Child novel, ONE SHOT, a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed it.

I'm reading Deadlock by Iris Johansen currently.

I never know what I'll read next till I yank a book out of the unread stack, in current case box of unread books.

Marianne, I'm sort of like that, too.  I was sure I'd read Legacy next, now I'm fingering these other books that have to go back to the library soon.  I'll choose something before bedtime.

I'm reading Fault Lines by Nancy Huston.  It won The Prix Femina in France and is an amazing book about a six year old boy who learns about his families deep secrets in Germany during the war.  It flips back and forth between then and now.

It's taking me a while, my concentration is still off and I can't remember the last thing I read because it was before I got sick, back in February.

Who knows what's next but I'll report.

sharon, I had a lot of trouble concentrating on a book while my Mom was sick and then passed away.  It was like there was a part of my mind that just wouldn't give itself up to the story in the book and relax.  It did come back, though.  Sometimes it takes a change of pace.  My MIL couldn't read for a long time after her husband died.  She was always a mystery reader.  I got her that first Karon book about the priest and his town, and it got her back to reading and she read the whole series before she died.  So sometimes it takes a change of pace.  Lordy knows I'm eating up these historical fiction books, and I never thought they'd be my cuppa.

i'm currently reading "The Clerics Quintette" by RA Salvatore.  it's 5 books.  then i'm going to take a break from The Forgotten Realms and read a bit of Pullman and the last 2 books in the Maximum Ride series by Patterson.  by that point, a new book in the series by Diana Galbadon should be out and i'll have to start re-reading the other 6 in that series before reading that one.

I came across RA Salvatore a couple of years ago..and read 4 or 5 books of his in a row...he is the one who writes about the dark elf....right..I had to go check and yes he is...I read all of those and then the Icewind Dale series..

yes, The Cleric's Quintet is about the priest Cadderly.  I just finished the ones about Artemis Enteri (the assassin) and this was the next series.

CC, are these sci-fi?  They sound like something Van would like.  He loves sci fi that's about characters more than technology.

yes, they are more fantasy based.  i'm not much on the tech writing myself either.

The books I read transported me to a whole new realm.  Earth billions of years ago, before man took over, there were creatures and great battles fought and won or lost...The Dark Elf would be a clue to the type of beings ..but it's written so well that you believe it was possible and you become engrossed in their world...

You don't really want to know. Honest!

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING JEALOUS of all of you guys.

flit, you should be at about a point where you can enjoy a fiction book and get your nose out of textbooks for a while.  What's going on?

Just got the readings that I have to read for my summer school - in Victoria this week - and for the two weeks after that have HUGE files of stuff to read about editing....a LOT of theory

And of course, I still need to get my major research paper done.

Jesus Interrupted...

I don't know a thing about that Ron, is it on the net?  Or is that a statement?

Vicky, it's a new book by Bart Ehrman, a Biblical Scholar.  Harper One Pub.

I have been overdosing on foreign films lately and watching a lot of films centered on stories of Asian culture so I want to find books that will give me more insight into the movies that apawned the lush films like Memoirs of A Geisha, The Last Samurai, The Mongol, Raise The Red Lantern, Marco Polo.

But first I want to re-read the book Love In the Time of Cholera.  I could not sleep one night and ended up watching a re-run of Serendipity on TV.  The book played a big part of the plot and I thought it was serendipity when today, I found the movie was in the line up of my Tivo'd programs.  I didn't even remember scheduling it to be recorded!  I just finished watching it... I was kind of disappointed.  A good book is always hard to translate into film, I suppose.

I've never read Memoirs of a Geisha, but I think I'll try it.  My daughter loved it.

Back to the Tudors... I thought the book, The Other Boleyn Girl was really good, but the movie sort of sucked, especially if you'd read the book, so yes, book to movie can really be a mess.  An exception:  Mystic River which I thought was a brilliant film as well as a brilliant novel.

Memoirs of a Geisha is a beautiful read.  I cried like a crazy person.

I both read the book and saw the movie Memoirs of A Geisha, and I promise, the book is way, way better.

Right now I'm about finished with Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, it's a book about the anti christ, end of the world...and is a thrill a minute and makes me laugh out loud...To sum it up as the Phoenix New Times did...It reads like the book of Revelation as penned by Monty Python's Flying Circus..

Next I think I'll go for The Life of the World to Come by Kage Baker, this is one of many books in a series about "The Company" who has agents from the beginning of time who collect info, books, plants and all matter of things for the Company to preserve them or to make money off of.  It's funny at times, thrilling and very interesting because the story bounces around through time.

i need to read Good Omens myself.

I've heard nothing but good stuff about Neil Gaiman.  I think he's someone Van would like to read.  I am always hoping for a good time-traveling book like The Time Traveler's Wife.  I loved that book, although once I literally threw it across the room.  I know I should tackle The Outlander series.

Just ordered Good Omens on Katherine's say so.

I started the Outlander series and really hated it.

I've been known to throw and curse at books, I sometimes carry on a dialog with the writer or charecters... I really don't like it when the writer has the charecter do something that I don't think they would.

sharon, I've heard you either love the Outlander series or you hate them.  I've always been intrigued with time travel, so I thought I might give them a try.

Katherine, I literally threw the book, The Time Traveler's wife across the room but I did eventually pick it up again.  I hate to say what caused the pitch in case others haven't read it.

Finished the Company series a couple of months ago.  I think the last two or three books were a letdown.  Regardless, Baker is a very good writer and even when she's short on ideas she can present it in an interesting way.

I thought Good Omens was a good collaboration.  It really seemed like a fusion of Pratchett and Gaiman.

Vicky, I have THE TIME TRAVELERS WIFE sitting on a table waiting for me to read. I wish you'd write areview of this book.

I'm a history nut ,but decided I wanted to read anew some of the old school recommended lists. Also, some fiction ,which I felt I never had time for. Just finished "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society " by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows ,I was surprised at how weel I liked it. Good book.Also, " knocked out " Jim the Boy " by Tony Earley ,and 2 of Joshilyn Jackson's books . " Between,Georgia " and

" gods in Alabama " ,and yes , gods with a lower case g . I'm on a roll! I'm liking this fiction Ok, working on "Huckleberry Finn " right now .

I've been hearing lots of good things about "The Guernsey Library and Potato Peel Pie Society".  I might have to give myself an old England break and give it a try.  Gods in Alabama was a book first and then a movie.  I don't know about the book, but the movie was pretty good.

Vicky ,I didn't know it had been made into a movie . I don't get to the movies much anymore ! :-) Bet it is a good one.

Um, I would highly recommend "Night and Day" by Sherrie Hansen. :-)

I hope things are going great with your book.

am reading "New Valley" by Josh Weil. It contains 3 novellas set in the new River Valley, the rugged but beautiful area along the Virginia/West Virginia border. It deals with loneliness mostly, and the stories so far are harsh and beautiful too.

Just finished reading "The end of overeating" by Dr. David kessler. Disappointing, see my review here on Gather.

Plan to read "Into the Beautiful North" just as soon as my box of free books arrives from Gather for the Latino Authors month giveaway. Yeay!!

"The Guernsey Library and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Barrows and Schaffer, that is a heck of a novel. As a librarian, I put that into the hands of many, and got to tell you, nobody hates that book

Technically good, to write the whole book in letters and keep it flowing. Also good in terms of emotional impact- not shying away from the ugly horrors of World War II, but still including considerable humor and romance along with the heartbreak. Definitely one of the best novels of 2008, along with Olive Kitteridge, the Pulitzer prize book by Elizabeth Strout.

Chris, I'm glad to see your comment on 'Guernsey' ,I'll have to try "Olive Kitteridge".

I'm thinking might need to read "The Guernsey Library and Potatoe Peel Pie Society"..a whole book in letters....Mmmmmm interesting

phil- "Olive Kitteridge" has harsh edges. It's about a small town of people who have emotional problems or family tragedies. It's not eactly a novel, it's more a series of interlocking stories from various viewpoints that forms a picture. Olive herself has done her best to live a positive life, but it's been a long struggle to deal with the suicide of a parent without pushing the pain down the road, into the life of her son.

Her use of language, her ability to create a living character in one page, then reveal more and more, are awesome. It's not a happy book, but it is rewarding in many ways.

Just finished Chasing Darkness and The Hummingbird's Daughter last night -- I want to read the one Chris mentioned, Into the Beautiful North, which is by the same author, Luis Alberto Urrea. It's getting good reviews and looks wonderful.

I'm in the middle of The Count of Monte Cristo and trying to re-read Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.  The Count is a great comic book story.  I'm sorry I didn't try it earlier.  The only annoying thing is that the translation is wretched.  Apparently the English translation almost every publisher uses is one from 1846.  Might be because it's in the public domain, eh.  If I weren't so far into it I'd get the Penguin edition, which as an English translation done in the 1990s.

I'm in the middle of J. Gregory Keyes Age of Unreason fantasy series.  I'm looking for more stuff by Charles Willeford at the library.  I just rediscovered Hoke Moseley and think Willeford is even better than I thought he was ten years ago.

Also I've just plowed through the three police procedurals by Stuart MacBride.  There's something about Scotland that appeals to me very strongly.  MacBride has a sick sense of humor and a flair for eccentric characters that makes his books very entertaining.  I'm eagerly waiting for more.

What I really need to do is spend a couple of hours a day with my Java Certification test prep book for the next few weeks.

I LOVE Stuart MacBride, Nippy!

I can think of lots of reasons why Scotland would appeal to you...  We're lovely people, the scenery is great - and we have great food/chefs, too - despite what is written!

I just finished a book late last night and am about to start a new one, so I have no current book going, unusual for me.

The book I just finished is THE SCARECROW by Michael Connelly, his latest book that just came out about a month ago. It's the first Connelly for me, and I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. It's about an LA Times reporter who is about to be laid off and decides to write a series of news stories that will be so great, they'll be sorry to lose him. He gets involved in more than he meant to.

I'm about to start ONE GOOD TURN by Kate Atkinson, which I know nothing about.