Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

May Reading
Quote | Reply
What have you been reading?

On my trip to Mississippi I picked up a few books and finished the first of them.

Short Mean Fiction: Words and Pictures
by William Dunlap

Dunlap is an artist and he wrote a collection of short stories (almost flash fiction) and the illustrations to go with them. This was a very very bizarre book. The stories were rampant with sex, violence, and death. Very strange. The ratings on goodreads.com were either 5 star or 2 star, not much in the middle.

Still plowing through the Obama book. Taking two different writing classes has put a damper on my reading time.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I'm re-reading The Looking Glass War by John LeCarre.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Strange Weather in Tokyo, Hiromi Kawakami, book club choice.

Swann in Love, Marcel Proust, other book club, mutual enforcement to read a classic

I haven't read much Proust. Many pages of unpleasant people manoeuvring through the social hierarchy, mixed in with brilliant insight into sensations, misguided love, human frailty.

Hats off to anybody who works their way through the whole series.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I'm finishing up the Cromwell trilogy by Hillary Mantel... The three of them have won a bunch of awards, but the first two definitely didn't do it for me and the third one has started off... oof... pretty rough. My sister (who—objectively—has far better literary taste than me) recommended them really highly, but... It's been a slog for me so far.

If you end up thinking Dunlap is closer to a 5 than a 2, you could check out Mary Robison's "Why Did I Ever"... They sound like they might have a similar format and she also tends to lean into some jarring content...
Last edited by: trois_pample: May 9, 21 3:04
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I finally got around to reading some Andy Weir.

Finished Artemis which was laugh out loud funny.

Now working my way through the Martian.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [davec] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
davec wrote:
I finally got around to reading some Andy Weir.

Finished Artemis which was laugh out loud funny.

Now working my way through the Martian.

You're on a good path. I just picked up his new novel, Hail Mary.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Started long bright river. Liz Moore. I think it's "literary crime", very much focused on deprivation and crack in the inner city. So far so good.

It's been a bit of a drought as its been a crazy 6 weeks.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [davec] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
davec wrote:
I finally got around to reading some Andy Weir.

Finished Artemis which was laugh out loud funny.

Now working my way through the Martian.

Personally I did not think Artemis held a candle to the Martian. Not quite Dan Brown level regression...but definitely didn't have the same "magic" (to me). His new book just came out, I believe ("Project Hail Mary"). Will definitely be reading that when I'm done with current book selection.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
last week's book: The Guest List, a thriller by Lucy Foley
it was okay; good plot but the writing was meh. Still, I'm likely to track down her other books.

I'm back on James Grippando books now.

maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
all of my reading is espionage and westerns. go figure. i've read just about every classic western (including contemporary classics), and there's a lot more espionage in the pipeline, so for the last couple of years it's been espionage.

if you like "literary espionage" in the vein of john buchan, eric ambler, graham greene, john le carre, the two just fantastic current authors out there today (according to me) are mick herron and john lawton. i've just finished reading a couple of series' by charles cumming. i wish these guys wrote as fast as i read.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
In our ongoing/rolling book club my son and I are reading Harold Holzer's The Presidents VS The Press: The Endless Battle Between The White House And The Media. "From Founding Fathers to Fake News."

in fact I'm meeting him online in a few minutes to go over this week's chapters on: Lincoln. TR. and W. Wilson.

Steve
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [Slowman] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I love mick herron. I cracked through them all when I found them earlier this year.

If you like le carre. I think Robert littell is excellent. Charles cummings, olen stenhauer et al are very good
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Just finished Richard Thompson's autobiography ''Beeswing''. I've been a fan of Richard, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny and all the other Fairport spin-offs for a very long time. It's a fast read, only around 300 pages and it a good look into an interesting time in music and some very significant players in the world of British folk/rock.

If you're a fan, it's well worth reading. If you've never heard of him, it's still quite a story, read it anyway!

---------------------------
''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [Steve Hawley] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I believe we will get a precis of this upon completion?

I'd be interested in the changing dynamic from Kennedy through Bush, Clinton, Obama, trump

This is an apolitical observation, but overseas, we really have heard little on the current admin. There have obviously been announcements about climate, infrastructure but the press coverage here is very different to the last 4 years and, I think, (though this may be a bias) even quite different to the Obama presidency. We just don't seem to hear much.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [Slowman] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I've not read lawton, but just finished box 88.

Something worth reading is "witchfinder"

I've reread le carre over the last 2 years and espionage aside, he may be the greatest British writer on the British, and specifically the English and the social classes of the last 50 years.

He really was an enormous loss. I like the fact he got a cameo in the night manager as a late career swansong......
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Have gotten back to reading after a super busy work period

Range - Why Generalists Triumph in a specialized world - David Epstein
Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell

Found both of these quite interesting for different reasons. Talking to strangers provided some perspective on policing and policing behavior in light of current news.

A bit more of what I consider to be literary fluff but a nice distraction:
The law of innocence - Michael Connelly - part of the Lincoln lawyer series
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
 
Cadillac Desert = Marc Reisner - Classic read on the disappearing water in the west.

The Kaiser's Holocaust = Germany's Genocide in Namibia = Interesting read, starting with Colonial Germany throughout Africa. Have always wanted to visit the skeleton Coast.

The Water Will Come = Jeff Goodell - Great read about Miami & Florida in General , move north people you are going to have just the opposite of the western US.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Project Phoenix - Kim/Behr/Spafford (work-related, a couple of peers mentioned it as being a worthwhile read. Not bad so far, certainly not as dry as its subject matter suggests).

Under the Wave at Waimea - Paul Theroux. Just started, only a few pages in right now.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [WelshinPhilly] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
WelshinPhilly wrote:
Under the Wave at Waimea - Paul Theroux. Just started, only a few pages in right now.

This is high on my want-to-read list. I'll be curious to hear what you think.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [jkhayc] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
jkhayc wrote:
davec wrote:
I finally got around to reading some Andy Weir.

Finished Artemis which was laugh out loud funny.

Now working my way through the Martian.


Personally I did not think Artemis held a candle to the Martian. Not quite Dan Brown level regression...but definitely didn't have the same "magic" (to me). His new book just came out, I believe ("Project Hail Mary"). Will definitely be reading that when I'm done with current book selection.

I read Hail Mary this weekend. I’d put it between The Martian and Artemis. I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t as impressed as I was with The Martian.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
slowguy wrote:
jkhayc wrote:
davec wrote:
I finally got around to reading some Andy Weir.

Finished Artemis which was laugh out loud funny.

Now working my way through the Martian.


Personally I did not think Artemis held a candle to the Martian. Not quite Dan Brown level regression...but definitely didn't have the same "magic" (to me). His new book just came out, I believe ("Project Hail Mary"). Will definitely be reading that when I'm done with current book selection.

I read Hail Mary this weekend. I’d put it between The Martian and Artemis. I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t as impressed as I was with The Martian.

Just finished it. I have to say I didn't enjoy the ending. But I liked the book more than Artemis, but a good bit less than the Martian.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [jkhayc] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I’m reading “Shuggie Bain”. It won the Booker prize last year. So far it is pretty good...grim though
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
The Son

By Phillip Meyer
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
I am currently bouncing between puppy training books and Younger next year- although I bought Roar on your recommendation and read a little- but really want to finish the other one before I dive in.
Quote Reply
Re: May Reading [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
ironclm wrote:
What have you been reading?


On my various trips, I have been reading:

A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South
(nonfiction)

Outstanding. But a small addendum: the confederate solider was fighting for justice. The freed slave was fighting for his life (more specifically, fighting against his own execution).


A great historical nonfiction read. Kentucky was not pretty in those days, and 1,000 times more so if you were black.

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook

--
Quote Reply