What Are You Reading Now?

[Art Vandelay]

I thought I would reread the tale of Holden Caulfield again. But to my GD surprise, there doesn't seem to be an ebook, of CITR, for Kindle or iPad. What a bunch of phonies!

[SteelBlue]

Good news for Marilynne Robinson fans:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-gilead-novel/

[Pelado]

Anyone read this one yet:



http://www.amazon.com/All-Truth-Is-O.../dp/0307273385

[clackamascoug]

I'm halfway through "The Innovators" and I learned something that may prove beneficial to my long term prospects.

[SteelBlue]

The 2015 Pulitzers will be announced today at 3:00 Eastern. One of the most interesting things about this award is that nobody knows who the finalists even were until the announcements. I enjoy trying to guess the 3 Fiction finalists from my reading over the previous year and so here are my predicitions:

Finalists:

Lila- Marilynne Robinson. This is also my pick for the winner.

We Are Not Ourselves- Matthew Thomas- This book was one of the very best 2014 American novels that I read and to my knowledge it has not even been long listed for any prizes. I'm guessing that changes today.

Fourth of July Creek- Smith Henderson- Style reminded me a lot of Philip Meyers who was a finalist last year.

A few critically acclaimed that I could see as finalists:

Euphoria- Lily King. A lot of folks are really high on this one. I liked it, but it wouldn't make my 2014 top 5.
On Such a Full Sea- Chang Rae Lee. Another one I liked but that critics seem to really love.
Orfeo-Richard Powers. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this as a finalist.

And a few I really liked but wouldn't bet on:

Everything I Never Told You- Celeste Ng- Fantastic debut novel.
All the Light We Cannot See- Anthony Doerr- Perhaps too much of a mainstream feel
Station Eleven- Emily St. John Mandel- I'm not sure she's even eligible, but a lot of folks seem to think she is. Great Book.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The 2015 Pulitzers will be announced today at 3:00 Eastern. One of the most interesting things about this award is that nobody knows who the finalists even were until the announcements. I enjoy trying to guess the 3 Fiction finalists from my reading over the previous year and so here are my predicitions:

Finalists:

Lila- Marilynne Robinson. This is also my pick for the winner.

We Are Not Ourselves- Matthew Thomas- This book was one of the very best 2014 American novels that I read and to my knowledge it has not even been long listed for any prizes. I'm guessing that changes today.

Fourth of July Creek- Smith Henderson- Style reminded me a lot of Philip Meyers who was a finalist last year.

A few critically acclaimed that I could see as finalists:

Euphoria- Lily King. A lot of folks are really high on this one. I liked it, but it wouldn't make my 2014 top 5.
On Such a Full Sea- Chang Rae Lee. Another one I liked but that critics seem to really love.
Orfeo-Richard Powers. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see this as a finalist.

And a few I really liked but wouldn't bet on:

Everything I Never Told You- Celeste Ng- Fantastic debut novel.
All the Light We Cannot See- Anthony Doerr- Perhaps too much of a mainstream feel
Station Eleven- Emily St. John Mandel- I'm not sure she's even eligible, but a lot of folks seem to think she is. Great Book.

I am about 2/3 the way through Fourth of July Creek right now. Outstanding novel.

[YOhio]

Just finished an outstanding book for the InfoSec minded. Future Crimes by Marc Goodman is as good as it gets in the non-fiction/cybersecurity/criminology genre. Very readable.

[Uncle Ted]

Just finished an outstanding book for the InfoSec minded. Future Crimes by Marc Goodman is as good as it gets in the non-fiction/cybersecurity/criminology genre. Very readable.

Marc Goodman gave a pretty interesting TED talk a few years back...

http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_goodma...re?language=en

I might need to give his book a read.

[Mormon Red Death]

Marc Goodman gave a pretty interesting TED talk a few years back...

http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_goodma...re?language=en

I might need to give his book a read.

geez talk about freaking me out...

[Uncle Ted]

geez talk about freaking me out...

Man, that's nothing... Give this podcast with Marc Goodman a listen:

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/12/09/future-crimes/

[Armenag]

Recently finished the Silo trilogy (Wool-Shift-Dust). Very good. I see the movie rights have been purchased.

Just finished the trilogy. Thought it was decent. Better writing than I expected but the series ran a little long for the material. Not surprised someone snatched up the movie rights.

[SteelBlue]

Wow. Anthony Doerr wins for All the Light We Cannot See.

Fiction:

Winner- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

an imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II and written in short, elegant chapters that explore human nature and the contradictory power of technology.

Finalists-

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "Let Me Be Frank with You," by Richard Ford (Ecco), an unflinching series of narratives, set in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, insightfully portraying a society in decline; "The Moor's Account," by Laila Lalami (Pantheon), a creative narrative of the ill-fated 16th Century Spanish expedition to Florida, compassionately imagined out of the gaps and silences of history; and "Lovely, Dark, Deep," by Joyce Carol Oates (Ecco), a rich collection of stories told from many rungs of the social ladder and distinguished by their intelligence, language and technique.

They added a 4th finalist, haven't seen that before.

Non-Fiction:

Winner- The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

an exploration of nature that forces readers to consider the threat posed by human behavior to a world of astonishing diversity.

Finalists-

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "No Good Men Among the Living," by Anand Gopal (Metropolitan Books), a remarkable work of nonfiction storytelling that exposes the cascade of blunders that doomed America’s misbegotten intervention in Afghanistan; and "Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China," by Evan Osnos (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), the story of a vast country and society in the grip of transformation, calmly surveyed, smartly reported and portrayed with exacting strokes.

I did quite poorly this year with my guesses, but I have read both winners. Happy for Doerr, that's a surprising win to me.

[SteelBlue]

Hall of Small Mammals by Thomas Pierce. I love short stories and so far (I'm about halfway through the collection) these are some of the best I've read in a couple years; in the vein of Saunders and Russell.

22309576.jpg

[Armenag]

Just finished City of Brick and Shadow, recommended by a friend who knew the author, Tim Wirkus, at BYU. About a pair of missionaries trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of a recent convert in their favela. Owes a lot to Borges, in a good way. Entertaining and well written. Unconventional in ways I enjoyed. The missionary aspect provides a setting but it's not an "LDS book." I highly recommend it.

Also recently finished the Silo series. Entertaining but not great. Went on too long for the material.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just finished The Friends of Eddie Coyle, by George Higgins. This is the novel referenced in the last episode of Justified (Raylan's favorite book). Elmore Leonard supposedly called it "the greatest crime novel ever written". Not sure I am in a position to judge that, but it was a quick, fun read.