Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I Know This Much is True was very good, IMO. It was long. & Half way through, I thought "okay, enough, I got the story, why could there possibly be another 300 pages??". But it got better! I'm going to read it again some day.
I'm 100 pages from finishing Wurthering Heights for my book club (tomorrow!). I first read it 6-8 years ago. I don't know that I "like" it, but it is a good story. I think it will make a good discussion.
I am reading my favorite Icelandic detective in a book Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason. Its the second one by this author I have read in the past month. A murder mystery set in Iceland with a moody but determined detective--foreign but still familiar Book Review: Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,013,815 times
Reputation: 28903
I just started Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. I noticed that there's no dialogue at all in it (which made me fan through his World's Fair and discover very little dialogue in that one). Not that it really matters, but sometimes I just need dialogue so it doesn't feel so dense. But I will persevere because I know that they're both supposed to be terrific books.
Is it okay to post the books I'm NOT reading? I always feel like a failure when I can't get into a book the critics liked. The Tragedy of Arthur, as well as Ten Thousand Saints. I even looked up what the straight edge youth movement was---thought it sounded interesting, but the characters didn't grip me at all.
Did start a nonfiction book---The Emperor of All Maladies. The author can really write! Makes cancer cells almost seem poetic...
"The girl who loved Tom Gordon" by Stephen King. It is so very different from what I expected the book to be. Probably better than I expected it to be. So far so good. Into Chapter 6.
I was so disappointed in the book "I am Legend." The story was great, I was really really really into it, and then it was over at page 159! Darn it. The rest of the book is a bunch of short stories by Richard Matheson, and most are dull, not scary at all. Some do not make sense. So I put it aside to start the one above. Better off just seeing the movie! Although the movie and the book are totally different.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,013,815 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by DandJ
I just started Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. I noticed that there's no dialogue at all in it (which made me fan through his World's Fair and discover very little dialogue in that one). Not that it really matters, but sometimes I just need dialogue so it doesn't feel so dense. But I will persevere because I know that they're both supposed to be terrific books.
This very well may change.
I only read 10 or so pages last night.. and then my smartphone Android thingy appeared at the door. So I spent the night setting that up, learning how to use it, and playing Words with Friends.
And now I've just got notification that my BBOB (big box o' books) from my friend in NYC is arriving today, by 3pm. I know that there will be some goodies in there that I just can't resist.
So, I'm sorry, Mr. Doctorow. You'll likely be going back into my night table drawer for a wee bit.
ETA: Maybe I *will* continue reading it. I'm flip-flopping. What to do, what to do...
Well after somewhat of a break from reading, I am now reading about one book per month give or take. Not happy about it, and hoping it changes but to answer the question, thankfully, finished Sarah's Key which was excellent. Next up is the new Philippa Gregory one which I will pick up at the library.
(And keep seeing commercials now for Extremely Loud the movie with Tom HAnks- which I did read back when I was reading )
I read a few books recently, including The Postman by David Brin, which I've seen referenced in various threads here. It was a struggle to get through the first half of the book - I didn't think the quality of the writing was that high. But I did think that the book might be an eye-opener for some of the extreme survivalist types eagerly awaiting the end of the world. They don't come off so well.
And I finished The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first - it is a dystopian vision but it isn't clear that this is our world or some alternative reality world. The back of the book says it draws it's influence from steampunk - a term I had never heard of but which Wikipedia describes as a "sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history and speculative fiction."
That would about cover it. Imagine the west being settled/conquered by people who are on four sides - one side is possessed by the spirit of progress, as defined by the railroads. The other side is the side of the Gun, with its own peculiar form of possession. Then there are the ordinary people caught in the middle and forced to choose between one side or the other, and the natives in the world - who literally come out of the ground.
I thought there was something of the Australian aboriginal Dreamtime in the book's premise - the idea that the world is created by people moving across it, and where people have not yet settled, the world is half-made.
The quality of the writing is very good - reviews describe it as a cross between The Road by Cormac McCarthy and King's Dark Tower series.
Now I'm reading Midsummer Night by Freda Warrington. It is fantasy - I picked up Elfland from a pile of my unread books last winter when I had trouble finding something to engage me, and to my surprise, I just loved it. Midsummer Night is the sequel.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
