What are you reading now?

[AGBF]

I just started the third book in a trilogy I bought by Michael Connelly. This one is called "Concrete Blonde".

marcy-

I haven't read every book he wrote, but I have read a ton of them...all out of order. Interestingly enough, about three weeks ago I read The Black Ice and I still have to read The Concrete Blonde! Are you enjoying it?

Deb/AGBF

 

[Strawdermangrl]

Tonight a friend and I are starting to read 'The Fountainhead', we are going to do a little book club about it. I have really gotten into Ayn Rand as of late.

LOVE The Fountainhead. The only thing stopping me from reading Atlas Shrugged next is the mountain of library books I currently have overdue!

Doodle- AWESOME read. Honestly? Atlas Shrugged was FANTASTIC. I big puffy heart Ayn Rand. She was so progressive for her time. I love her style. J and I are starting to go a few chapters at a time- I can't help but read through because it is SO damn good. This was the best part, for me, thus far:

Preface: "People have said that these characters could not actually exist, the fact that this book was written proves they do".

Boom.

 

[elrohwen]

I also just bought Water For Elephants and started it. So far I'm enjoying it.

I really liked that book! I tried to read some of the author's earlier stuff, since it was about horses (and I'm a horse nut) but the characters were so whiney and unlikeable that I couldn't even finish. I hope she writes more along the lines of Water for Elephants though because that book was great.

 

[Octavia]

I just finished The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. I highly recommend it -- it's about the "coming of age" of science in the 17-1800s and how it intersected with the art and culture of the time.

Now, I'm reading Carl Sagan's Billions and Billions, which hubby really enjoyed but I'm not feeling it quite so much. It was his last book and was written in the late '90s, so it seems a little dated. I'm also finding it didactic, which I don't like. But having read about half of it, I'll probably push through and finish.

Next up is 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann. I'm also interested in The Four Queens, I hadn't heard of it before but it sounds like just my kind of book.

 

[jaysonsmom]

I just read 2 books while on vacation last week:

Her Fearful Symmetry---Audrey Neffenegger (Author of The Time Traveler's Wife). This was a dud, waste of time. If you like ghost stories, then you might like it.

Let the Great World Spin---Colum McCann. This one gets 2 thumbs way up. Beautifully written fiction about random strangers whose lifes were changed and entertwined after a single event. This was amazon's 2009 book of the year, and on Oprah's list of books you can put down. I'm already re-reading it for the 2nd time!

 

[starshine]

I also just bought Water For Elephants and started it. So far I'm enjoying it.

I really liked that book! I tried to read some of the author's earlier stuff, since it was about horses (and I'm a horse nut) but the characters were so whiney and unlikeable that I couldn't even finish. I hope she writes more along the lines of Water for Elephants though because that book was great.

I just finished Water for Elephants and really enjoyed it! I'm now trying to get into The Moonstone, but having a hard time!

 

[AGBF]

I'm now trying to get into The Moonstone, but having a hard time!

It wasn't really escape reading for me, but it became "reading for pleasure" after a couple of chapters. I have to say that I didn't stay up at night for days to finish it the way I did with the book I read just before it, The Help, but everything is relative!

Deb/AGBF

 

[risingsun]

I really need recommendations.

I was such an avid reader all through elementary and high school...even winning contests for most pages read...and I like conventional books as well as non-conventional plus fiction and non-fiction...I always tell my mother "I'll read ANYTHING."

I have a confession: I haven't read anything (aside from 3/4 of a Stephanie Plum novel--what's it called?, seriously?) for a year.

I have been far too caught up in falling in love and making a life with my SO and reading has just...*sniffs*...gone away.

Help!!! Surely someone out there can know what it's like! Surely someone out there has a suggestion or two that could bring me backfrom this darkness, back from this cold, cruel, wordless world...please--can't someone help me???

Look at my recommendations, which were posted before your posts

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin.

It's amazing what you never knew about people in the limelight.

 

[marcy]

I just started the third book in a trilogy I bought by Michael Connelly. This one is called "Concrete Blonde".

marcy-

I haven't read every book he wrote, but I have read a ton of them...all out of order. Interestingly enough, about three weeks ago I read The Black Ice and I still have to read The Concrete Blonde! Are you enjoying it?

Deb/AGBF

Deb, Black Ice is one of the books in the trilogy I bought. Yes, I am enjoying them a lot. It looks like he has over 60 books published. So many books to read, so little time.

 

[ChinaCat]

Jayson's Mom- How funny, I just started Let The Great World Spin, and it was a toss-up between that and Her Faithful Symmetry!

I just finished One Day and The Good Thief.

I am currently reading:
Let The Great World Spin- Colm McCann
Wuthering Heights- Bronte
Diamond Age- Neil Stephenson
Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It- Maile Meloy

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I have an on-and-off project to read all the Nebula award winners (sci-fi), so I just finished Stranger in a Strange Land.

Before that, I was reading Charlotte Bronte's Villete. I have a love/hate relationship with that book (tending towards hate) and I was forcing myself to reread. Until I mentioned it to my analist (I see him because of rather severe depression), who raised an eyebrow and asked me what sort of masochist I was I decided he was right and dropped the book for, say, the next several months

 

[dragonfly411]

I am now reading about atoms, molecules, cells, and cytoplasm. I relaly wish I hd someone to quiz me too.

 

[princesss]

Well, I just finished Water for Elephants. I liked it, but I didn't love it the way most of my friends did.

 

[Snicklefritz]

Just started A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L' Engle out of nostalgia for 4th grade. I'm going to complete the 4 book series since I've never read the others. So far so good!

 

[packrat]

Just started A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L' Engle out of nostalgia for 4th grade. I'm going to complete the 4 book series since I've never read the others. So far so good!

That is one of my favorite books! I was in high school before I read it. I can't remember if my Novels teacher recommended it or my mom, but I was hooked the second I started reading, and have read it so many times my copy of it is all ratty. I've never read the others either-I knew there was another, but didn't realize there were 3 more. I best check at the library and see if they have them.

I have to say, there have been so many recs on here for Lee Child, so I don't know who to thank, but I've read the first two now, and loved them. I finished up John Sanford's latest Prey novel and in between times I've started at the beginning and am reading Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Ooh I haven't read A Wrinkle in Time (and the following books) in years. I think I was too young at the time to fully understand how that book ended (or the subsequent ones) but I did enjoy it.

I'm currently reading the second Mistborn book by Brandon Sanderson. It's very complex - the world and characters he draws - and I'm really liking it so far.

 

[gardengloves]

Hey Bean, took you suggestion and read The Strain this weekend, thanks for bringing this up. I had no idea, this one slipped under the radar, thanks to PS, I read it- Loved it, cannot wait for second installment.

Also reading the latest Steig Larrson, read the complete trilogy, what an amazing writer.... I am in book heaven, thanks for the suggestions everyone,

 

[gardengloves]

Tonight a friend and I are starting to read 'The Fountainhead', we are going to do a little book club about it. I have really gotten into Ayn Rand as of late.

LOVE The Fountainhead. The only thing stopping me from reading Atlas Shrugged next is the mountain of library books I currently have overdue!

If you liked the Fountain Head you will love Atlas Shrugged!


it's a project but well worth it.

 

[Snicklefritz]

Just started A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L' Engle out of nostalgia for 4th grade. I'm going to complete the 4 book series since I've never read the others. So far so good!

That is one of my favorite books! I was in high school before I read it. I can't remember if my Novels teacher recommended it or my mom, but I was hooked the second I started reading, and have read it so many times my copy of it is all ratty. I've never read the others either-I knew there was another, but didn't realize there were 3 more. I best check at the library and see if they have them.

I have to say, there have been so many recs on here for Lee Child, so I don't know who to thank, but I've read the first two now, and loved them. I finished up John Sanford's latest Prey novel and in between times I've started at the beginning and am reading Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series.

It is truly is a great book, packrat! I forgot how good. I can see why you've read it so many times. I just wanted to drop in to let you and BEG know that there are actually 5 books in the series. I missed one. I hope they're all as good as the first one.

 

[princesss]

I finally finished Atonement. It was well written, but I just couldn't get into it for some reason.

Okay, I know the reason. It's because I *hated* Briony.

 

[packrat]

5 in the series? Holy cow! All centered around the same characters?

 

[Bunny007]

Princess- Ditto both your posts!

I did like Like Water for Elephants but I was expecting more. It was an easy read, I guess.

And BRIONY, don't get me started. She's up there on my fictional hate list with Amy from Little Women. I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie- one of the rare instances where I thought the movie was better than the book (this and the Godfather)

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Whoa just finished the Mistborn series. They are LONG books. Two (of three) are around 700 pages and the other is 800. And I blew through them in 3 days. Must get a job. They were GOOD though. Definitely a nice original take on fantasy - not something you see too often lately.

I'm switching gears completely and reading the new Shopaholic book now - Mini-Shopaholic. I have a love-hate relationship with that series I think. I like the lightheartedness, but Rebecca REALLY drives me insane sometimes - and her daughter is a holy terror. Goodness.

 

[Haven]

I was reading The Moonstone but I lost it! And it was a library book. I think DH must have put it somewhere, but our house is small and I cannot find it anywhere.

I'm rereading The Fountainhead. Love Ayn Rand.
I'm also reading Jane Smiley's Good Will for book club.
I just started Fun House: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel. It's fabulous. The first graphic novel I've read in years.
I'm also reading Julie Orringer's short story collection called How to Breathe Underwater. One of my favorite short story collections of the past few years. "The Isabel Fish" made me cry.

I really loved Water for Elephants, and I was excited to learn that Sara Gruen is a local author from Illinois. THEN, imagine how my excitement grew when I also learned that she wrote the original draft of Water for Elephants while participating in one of my favorite writing events, NaNoWriMo.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/

 

[jaysonsmom]

With so many readers of Waters for Elephants, I'm definitely going to pick it up on my next bookstore run.

 

[princesss]

Agreed, Bunny. She was dishonest and manipulative to the end, and I absolutely couldn't stand her. I want to see the movie, but now I'm afraid I'll just end up throwing things at the TV.

 

[Strawdermangrl]

Princess- Ditto both your posts!

I did like Like Water for Elephants but I was expecting more. It was an easy read, I guess.

And BRIONY, don't get me started. She's up there on my fictional hate list with Amy from Little Women. I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the movie- one of the rare instances where I thought the movie was better than the book (this and the Godfather)

Bunny- I have known since seeing your GOB avatar we would have the same views. Amy from LW. Could.Shake.Child. Seriously!? You MARRY Laurie, Jo's long time love?!? Girl, I would have not made it in 'old school' America, if that was ok. I would have brought the business side of a backhand over to Amy...and burning my book? Yeah, she would have had some therapy in the future. I digress....

 

[Haven]

I want to make "Amy's a traitor" buttons for all of my PS friends.

 

[Strawdermangrl]

I want to make "Amy's a traitor" buttons for all of my PS friends.

You're awesome. That is all. I want to be your friend so I don't get left out of this.