What Are You Reading Now?

[LiveCoug]

I've tried twice to listen on Duderino's quoted recommendation. Found it to be really aggrevating.

You got a problem with angry swedes?

[creekster]

You got a problem with angry swedes?

He wasn't angry, it's just that everyone else in the world is an idiot.

[SteelBlue]

Digging the new Salman Rushdie novel, Golden House. Kind of a modern day Brothers K.

[SteelBlue]

Finished The Golden House. An enjoyable skewering of Trump by Rushdie. Highly recommend.

Finished the new Haruki Murakami, "Men Without Women". I happened to read his best novel first (The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) and each subsequent novel or story collection has been a bit of a disappointment. This one is a short story collection that felt like the usual smattering of cats, whiskey, jazz, and lonely men. Largely forgettable.

Finished "Homesick for Another World" by Ottessa Moshfegh. Uh, I'm not exactly sure how to describe this one. Let's just say that it's really hard to shock me and this short story collection shoved me out of my comfort zone several times. Some redeeming moments but overall way too weird for me. I'd rate it a solid "WTF?".

Reading "Exit West" by Mohsin Hamid. This is the novel that has been recommended to me the most this year and so I'm finally diving in. So far it is living up to all the praise.

[Armenag]

Lincoln in the Bardo - After his death, Willie Lincoln meets the denizens of the cemetery where he is interred -- all with unfinished business or problems letting go of their past linger in the bardo (Tibetan concept of a kind of liminal state - I had never heard of it). Abraham Lincoln comes to say goodbye to his son's corpse one night, throwing the various ghosts into a tizzy. Very strange but interesting portrayal of grief. Not a great book but an interesting one. Audio book is the way to go -- it supposedly has the largest cast ever, including some very good talent (and the characters often talk over each other, finish each other's sentences, etc., lending itself to audio format). Nick Offerman and David Sedaris are the two most central ghosts; also has Ben Stiller, Megan Mullaly, Bill Hader, Julianne Moore, etc. in various roles and Kirby Heyborne of all people as Willie. The actual plot is not particularly good (the notion of a kid being damned forever basically to give the plot some impetus was annoying, etc.), but for a short listen I'd recommend it.

[SteelBlue]

Lincoln in the Bardo - After his death, Willie Lincoln meets the denizens of the cemetery where he is interred -- all with unfinished business or problems letting go of their past linger in the bardo (Tibetan concept of a kind of liminal state - I had never heard of it). Abraham Lincoln comes to say goodbye to his son's corpse one night, throwing the various ghosts into a tizzy. Very strange but interesting portrayal of grief. Not a great book but an interesting one. Audio book is the way to go -- it supposedly has the largest cast ever, including some very good talent (and the characters often talk over each other, finish each other's sentences, etc., lending itself to audio format). Nick Offerman and David Sedaris are the two most central ghosts; also has Ben Stiller, Megan Mullaly, Bill Hader, Julianne Moore, etc. in various roles and Kirby Heyborne of all people as Willie. The actual plot is not particularly good (the notion of a kid being damned forever basically to give the plot some impetus was annoying, etc.), but for a short listen I'd recommend it.

I really liked this one, and still have it rated as one of the year's best. I haven't heard the audio book, I have a tough time paying proper attention to that format, but I was definitely tempted by the cast. I'm curious, had you seen the text before you listened to the audio book? With the structure being so different, it seems like it could be confusing to listeners who are expecting a normal read. Throw in all of the citations in the historical sections (assuming they read those) and I have to think there will be some head scratching reactions.

[Armenag]

I really liked this one, and still have it rated as one of the year's best. I haven't heard the audio book, I have a tough time paying proper attention to that format, but I was definitely tempted by the cast. I'm curious, had you seen the text before you listened to the audio book? With the structure being so different, it seems like it could be confusing to listeners who are expecting a normal read. Throw in all of the citations in the historical sections (assuming they read those) and I have to think there will be some head scratching reactions.

I had not seen the text but heard it lent itself well to audio format and was looking for something to listen to during my commute. The citations were a bit odd but each one has a different speaker, so you can tell when it's on a new text. Apparently Saunders even had his old school teachers read parts in order to get enough voices. Even if you've read it already, it might be worth a listen -- or at least portions of it.

[Scott R Nelson]

John Sanford - Shadow Prey.

The second book in his "Prey" series. Trying to get started on a new author. Supposed to be a real page turner.

I'm 135 pages into this book and still waiting to get hooked on it. I'll be taking it back to the library and get something else by an author that I know I'll like reading.

[SteelBlue]

Finished "The Leavers" by Lisa Ko. This tale of an immigrant mother and her young son is timely and the novel was highly anticipated with a ton of pre-publication hype. I liked it, but due to all of that early excitement, I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed. It seemed heavy handed at times though I am not qualified to state that it was. If any of you read it let me know, especially you attorneys, I have some questions about the likelihood of the main plot point (staying vague here as I don't want to post a spoiler).

[Scott R Nelson]

I'm 135 pages into this book and still waiting to get hooked on it. I'll be taking it back to the library and get something else by an author that I know I'll like reading.

I just started And Sometimes I Wonder About You by Walter Mosley. Two pages into it and I'm already hooked. Walter Mosley has to be one of my all-time favorite authors.

Be aware that if you want to read a group of his books, like the Easy Rawlins or Leonid McGill mysteries, it's best to read them in order to keep from getting "spoilers" about earlier books. I've enjoyed reading them that way.

[SteelBlue]

American War by Omar El Akkad. A near future American civil war but this time race is not at the root, and in fact is hardly mentioned. Instead the catalyst is the use of fossil fuels (their use banned by the federal government, the South rebels). An interesting and well written novel but whose purpose seems to be to convince American readers that their policies in the Middle East create more terrorism than they defeat using a "what if it happened here?" approach. While I don't disagree, this main theme felt like old news and I think this novel has arrived a few years too late to have the impact El Akkad probably imagined on its inception and likely leaves him preaching to the choir.

Autumn by Ali Smith. I loved this one. Could have been cliché, it's about a friendship formed between a bright young girl and an eccentric old man who loves reading, but it's used to meditate on time, art, pop culture and the politics of our time (Brexit more than Trump but you get it) and in a way that felt to me quite innovative and fresh. Moves forward and backward in time frequently from her youth and his late life to her thirties and his hanging on at 101.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Returning to non-fiction (my first preference), I am just finishing American Caesar, a bio of General Douglas Macarthur. Fantastic book. The General is the perfect subject for a bio: brilliant, larger than life, important figure in world history, and yet flawed like the rest of us.

[LiveCoug]

I started Station Eleven, but got bored pretty quickly and couldn't stick with it.

Seems like folks like the Bosch series, so I decided to start that, although my library doesn't have audiobooks for the first 6 books. Starting with book 7 and it's good so far.

[falafel]

I started Station Eleven, but got bored pretty quickly and couldn't stick with it.

Seems like folks like the Bosch series, so I decided to start that, although my library doesn't have audiobooks for the first 6 books. Starting with book 7 and it's good so far.

Which one is book 7?

[LiveCoug]

Which one is book 7?

Angels Flight.