January 2008 - What are you reading?

I probaby get through 25-30 books a year. Some are on CD while I drive. Right now I am reading The Hard Way by Lee Child. I just finished Loving Frank by Nancy Horan and have published a short book review.

Well, we just finished a minor collection of I Spy books. It was very refreshing to have someone read aloud to me ;-)

The other day I finally cracked open Eureka by Jim Lehrer. I've been saving it for myself.

I'm in the middle of _The Zookeeper's Wife_ and considering abandoning it. (I forget the author's name, probably because I'm not crazy about the book.) The reason I may continue reading it is that the story is great (nonfiction about a couple who ran a zoo in Warsaw when the Germans occupied it during WW II). But the writing is boring, like reading a textbook.

Next up is _March_ by Brooks.

I would recommend Ayn Rand's _Atlas Shrugged_. But people either love it or hate it, so if you hate it, I'd recommend either Richiard Preston's _The Hot zone_ or his _Deamon in the Freezer_.

I am reading some Science Fiction/Fantasy popcorn literature. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files is a fun romp through modern day Chicago with a self proclaimed wizard/detective Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Fun stuff. This morning I just picked up Steve Almond's latest (Not that You Asked). I am wanting to read locally this years, see my article here:

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977218471&nav=Namespace

I have a portable metronome about the size of a cell phone. Pacemaker II is the registered name of the metronome. Taped to the inside of a removable plastic cover covering the wind-up, spring powered, inverted pendulum there is a list of musical tempos. Largo, Larghetto, Adagio, Andante, Moderato, Presto, and Prestissimo, are the listed tempos. Alongside that list on the same slip of paper there are two columns of numerals indicating ranges of beats per minute for each musical tempo. Click-Clack is the sound the metronome makes.

I recommend metronomes for weak readers. I attended a speed reading course almost thirty years ago; I think the teacher of that course might have used a metronome to help us improve our reading skills.

I just finished _Water for Elephants_. It's very engaging, and a fun read for lazy afternoons. I read it over the course of New Year's weekend. I'm now reading _The Populist Persuasion_ by Michael Kazin. He's speaking at the History Center next month. The book is interesting, though slow going. Lots of Minnesotans figure into the history of populism, though, so it's been fun to learn more about some of the names I see on plaques around the Twin Cities. I'm looking for a new novel to pick up, so thanks to everyone else for their suggestions.

Our bookclub is reading "The Beast in the Garden" by David Baron...with "The True Story of a Predator's Deadly Return to Suburban America" prominantly featured in a red circle on the paperback's cover. The story that begins the book...with suspense and hype...took place in Boulder Colorado in 1991 when a cougar killed a jogger. It's rather corny in approach, because you already know who killed the man before you even open the book. But the author goes on to explore the interface between nature, wildlilfe and suburban America and current attitudes toward wilderness and wildness.

The people who recommended the book said it is an interesting exploration that should generate lots of discussion, but with the caveat that it isn't very well written. I haven't read very far, but so far, I agree with their assessment of the writing.

We just finished reading Sherman Alexie's "Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven" and I found his writing astounding and want to read more of his work. I also re-visited the film based on the stories "Smoke Signals" and was pleased with the way he pulled them all together (he wrote the screen play as well) into a way to come to closure with his father.

With the news of Carol Bly's death, I found a copy of her early short stories on my book shelf. I read "Last of the Gold Star Mothers". The stark contrast of her writing style with Sherman Alexie's really struck me...not in a negative way, but she is so classic in style and structure, and he is more free wheeling.

As to recommending one book you should read...our book club, which spends at least an hour each gathering to decide on the one next book to read, this last meeting decided to wing it by each person picking one book to read, throw it in a hat and we would pick the next month that way. So...I am faced with a similar task: Pick one book I want to read with the bookclub and keep my ideas to myself the rest of the year. So I will be watching the comments for ideas.

If you haven't read "Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, that might be a good one to throw in the hat. It has time travel in it (duh), but somehow it seems completely real in the world created by the book without seeming like sci-fi.

I'm also reading that "Water for Elephants" book. My book club spent the last half a year on books that were only available in hard-cover. I kept getting the email that the book was finally available for me at the library right before we were supposed to meet. So our new rule is that everyone has to bring a paperback to the meeting, so we can judge it by the cover and choose something we can all afford or get at the library without too long a wait. I'll be trolling here for more ideas.

Have been avoiding reading and writing as if both are diseases. Listening to cassette tapes of "Joseph Campbell and THE POWER OF MYTH with Bill Moyers" has helped. Finished WOMEN, A BOOK FOR MEN yesterday; wish I had read and learned from it years ago. This morning I read, "The World's Silver Lining / Somewhere Over the Rainbow," in the January 24, 2008, edition of www.economist.com.. Visited DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS website yesterday.
Luckily, I have chores to keep me busy.