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I recently finished The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo. The book chronicles the life of Richard Kuklinski from his tormented childhood to his married life to his many murders committed for pleasure and hire. Easily one of the most disturbing yet fascinating true crime novels I have ever read.
My dad loves true crime, and he's very selective about what he thinks is good. He LOVED this book. He read it months ago and still talks about how horrible the guy was (with the rats).
I finished SNOW IN AUGUST- which I enjoyed very much, except the ending was a bit too much for me.
I just started OLIVE KITTERIDGE which is really "different" in a good way. I am surprised I don't recall seeing it mentioned here. Anyone else read it?
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,521,793 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayvenne
I just started OLIVE KITTERIDGE which is really "different" in a good way. I am surprised I don't recall seeing it mentioned here. Anyone else read it?
I finished SNOW IN AUGUST- which I enjoyed very much, except the ending was a bit too much for me.
I just started OLIVE KITTERIDGE which is really "different" in a good way. I am surprised I don't recall seeing it mentioned here. Anyone else read it?
I like almost anything that Pete Hamill writes. Snow in August is one of my favorites.
We discussed Olive Kitteridge about a year ago. That's when I first heard of it (I do love this forum). I really enjoyed that book. When I read Jayber Crow recently it reminded me of Olive Kitteridge and I have no clue why.
I finished SNOW IN AUGUST- which I enjoyed very much, except the ending was a bit too much for me.
I just started OLIVE KITTERIDGE which is really "different" in a good way. I am surprised I don't recall seeing it mentioned here. Anyone else read it?
I LOVED Olive Kitteridge. I've also read Amy and Isabelle and Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout. Amy and Isabelle is about a mother/daughter relationship and it made me cry when I was reading it in the vet's waiting room. Abide with Me is about a pastor living in a small town and what happens when tragedy strikes (don't want to give anything away). It's good, but not as good as the others.
I like almost anything that Pete Hamill writes. Snow in August is one of my favorites.
We discussed Olive Kitteridge about a year ago. That's when I first heard of it (I do love this forum). I really enjoyed that book. When I read Jayber Crow recently it reminded me of Olive Kitteridge and I have no clue why.
I can see the connection. They're both about people in communities that grow and change over time. I finally finished Jayber Crow last night. It took me a long time because I found myself really slowing down to picture what was happening and savoring the discussions about about the nature of love in the world.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,521,793 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlow
I LOVED Olive Kitteridge. I've also read Amy and Isabelle and Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout. Amy and Isabelle is about a mother/daughter relationship and it made me cry when I was reading it in the vet's waiting room. Abide with Me is about a pastor living in a small town and what happens when tragedy strikes (don't want to give anything away). It's good, but not as good as the others.
Agreed!
Personally, I didn't finish Abide With Me. The religion parts were lost on me. But Amy and Isabelle and, of course, Olive Kitteridge, were outstanding.
I just got done reading Dean Koontz Frankenstien the last book in the many years long series.
It seems to me he just kind of threw it together to be done and over with it.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 32,521,793 times
Reputation: 28896
Nothing. This has been the longest dry spell in my life.
You know when you have too much bad stuff going on, and your brain is mush, and you couldn't concentrate on the written word even if your life depended on it? That's where I am if you're looking for me.
I can't wait to be a reader again.
In the meantime, I'm reading (!?) this thread and expanding my "to get and to read" list for when I'm in a better head space.
I gave up on The Wolf at Twilight by Kent Nerburn. It isn't that it doesn't give some insight into Native American issues but Neither Dog Nor Wolf covered essentially the same territory without page after page of page of conversations between the author and his main Native character that all sound the same. Halfway through I thought No more!
My brain needed cleansing after that page after page after freakin' page thing, and so I picked up Preston and Child's new book, Gideon's Sword. It is a new series. I finished it, but unless you are a rabid Preston and Child fan, don't bother getting this one. I couldn't buy into the how-things -happened stuff that the main character did at all.
Then I picked up once again the already-started Where Men Win Glory, the story of Pat Tillman. I hadn't known that Tillman basically considered the war in Iraq an illegal war, so that made it more interesting than it might have been. I thought it would be a rah-rah story presenting a hero ready to die for his country, but the tone of the book is very anti-war. Since the author describes the paperback as 'substantially revised' I'm a little curious as to whether the hard cover book read the same way, if anyone would know.
The story of the cover-up is pretty horrible, and goes all the way to Mcchrystal. I skimmed over the stories of Tillman's football plays. I'm not a sports fan and so the details of his sports career weren't interesting for me. Tillman comes across as a much more complicated man than I would have thought.
Overall though, there was nothing in the quality of the writing itself that lifted the book above itself so I didn't consider it that good a read.
After these last 3 books I desperately need something to take my breath away so I am starting on The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant, the author of The Tiger. The Tiger took my breath away and my husband says that The Golden Spruce is even better. So my plans for tomorrow involve a book and the pool now that summer is finally here.
Waiting in the wings is Miriam Toews new novel, Irma Voth, which my sister gave me for my birthday. As I was reading other books, my husband read it first and he says it is one of the worst books he has ever read. I skimmed the first few pages and found them engaging so I will likely still give it a try. My hubby and I don't necessarily have the same taste in reading.
I've read all of Toews' other books and I really only liked The Summer of my Amazing Luck (her first one) and another one, whose title I can't remember.
Dandj - when you are up to reading, try The Tiger. I hope life straightens out for you soon.
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